EB appreciation thread for betterment of EBII!

Heya! After reading this quote from EBII Mod Leader Foot in the Eagle Standard interview

Quote:

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We love it when our work is enjoyed by anyone, and when a someone posts praise on our forums (or elsewhere) we gather round it like moths around a flame (quick note to fans of any mod: if you like it do post about your experiences, even the smallest post is incredibly rewarding).

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I figured we could condense the EBI specific appraisals for a way for the team to see what elements of EBI really grabbed us, or maybe didn't. This isn't kissing the marble butts of the EB team when this simply could go on the EBI forum, but a legitimate place where our appraisals of the first game can; Give the EB team a general view of what we truly loved in EBI as a reference point or morale booster, as well as just showing the EB team that even the smallest touches don't go to waste.

This can also be a place to raise valid criticisms, but don't air your greivances, give us the disgression in a thoughtful and critical manner.


I'd like to start that whoever wrote the Carthaginian building descriptions truly did make me chuckle and a few times laugh out loud while still being informative. He had a distinct voice that was undeniable. However, this distinction was also sometimes disparaging, for instance in breaks between the jokes and the "Historically,..." seemed to have been by different writers.

Also, I think all of us truly, truly love the 'Historically,..." part of the description. I've read the descriptions multiple times for each unit, as they are often quite rich and rewarding. Sometimes, however, there seemed to be tangents that seemed unrelated; The Indo-Baktrian Horsemen have probably the longest description of all, almost as this was meant to describe an entire sub faction or group.

I love in the descriptions it's outright stated the decisions made in designing the unit. For instance It was a Persian Rider who was specifically described as to the design influences (since there were probably no engravings or images to reference from)

Also; The ATMOSPHERE. I think we all agree that EB is just thick with atmosphere, like you are personally present breathing in the thick mist of the morning. The music, unit detail and unit descriptions allow for a good feeling.

Eh eh remember the first time playing EB picking the Aedui, because they held the territory where I live, and I simply started to read every description :)
After that I got back to the menu and read all the faction descriptions, decided to try a custom battle, but the rosters were too complicated (SP XD), so moved to google...
Ended up here and jumped to the FAQ, saw all the reforms and said "screw battles, Hayasdan sounds awesome!"...
I didn't know anything about Armenia, beside few facts from the 20th century, not to mention the Seleucids etc; and it was fantastic every turn with new infos, the year-in-history, the voices: I was sold :D
Got owned by the Arche pretty early on, but was a wonderful experience :)
Moved to the Romani to get the hang of it, and from then I played many campaigns and tried all factions ^^

But most of all now I just can't stop reading about history, I always liked it even at school, but reading any book before was out of the question; unless I was forced XD

I remember when I first downloaded and played EB, it was late at night. Started a file with KH, played one turn, sat around reading every building/unit/trait/special building (i.e. Acropolis) I could find, realised how much time had passed and how late it was, so went to bed. So I didn't really play it the first time :laugh4:

I've learnt so much from EB, more than any history class or discovery channel program combined!

I have actually been playing on a Romani campaign for about two years now. It was the second campaign i started and i have reached 78 B.C i think. Every city west of Babylon have been subdued and are fully developed. And the only thing that now stands between the imperial legions and complete control over the map (apart from that huge desert area of course) are the Baktrians, the Saka and the Sarmatians.

That is probably what i have enjoyed most with this game. The fact that i have been able to play two years on the same campaign and there is still new things to discover and land to conquer (although the
diplomacy is at this point a bit non excistent). I have a few other files with different factions, but i love those romans.

I completly agree with the OP about the atmosphere part. The music and the other things combined just forms a really great atmosphere when armies are marching or you just watch the campaign map. Also the desciptions are of course really well written and informative with a bit of humour in some places.

I do not have any real complaints that the team have not said they will adress in EBII however. So i am just looking forward to the release of the mod

And of course i would like to thank the team for the enourmous amount of information and motivation for further reading this mod have given me about the timeframe. Its just been so amazing to look at ancient history with new eyes.
So good luck to the EB team with the mod and with their future endeavours

Hi there. i just want to say how brilliant EB is. the level of detal that the team put into it with the unit and buildings discriptions and the historical accuracy and the altogether epicness of looking at the campain map is absolutly mind blowing. if the team put even half as much effort into EB2 it will be fantastic.

Most of the wee annoying things from EB (like super stacks of invincible elite units arriving out of the mist to the gates of my newly conquered city) seem to be taken care of according to what i have read, so all i can say is please please keep up the good work and please finish soon

PS I also love reading the posts on the forums and have learnt more 'classical' history here than i ever did at school, and that there is ALWAYs two different interpretations of whatever historical artifact is being discused

PSPS just read my post there and it does look like i am kissing the EB team's marble butts, but honestly i dont care.
keep her lit
D

For the countless epic campaigns with the mediocre RTW game.

For the countless last stands .

For the countless "nigh-impossible"-yet-successful campaigns

For the countless nerdrages and ragequits .

For the careful grooming of favored generals .

For what all that will be when EB2 is delivered to us .

Thank you and be well .

Satyros

P.S. : I am almost sad that EB2 seems to be the end of an era . I secretly hope the legacy will live on the WAY BETTER STW2 engine . This "end of an era" seems to me as the "pc gaming equivalent" of losing a great pal .

So much about the game is just facinating, but for me what I found most interesting were all the quirky little building descriptions. OP mentioned the Carthiginians but I think the greeks also had a strange little story with the ports and when building roads and honestly it was just a joy to sit there and build infrastructure for a few dozen turns.

This joy was more pronounced in the fact that the game went for so long. Its ruined other games for me now because I tend to sit back and go at a slow pace and they all finish way too early. Shogun 2 has too few turns for me; Sengoku by Paradox is too short for me; pretty much any game now that doesn't have 1000 turns feels like I don't have enough time to acheive my goals. I love it!

Hey guys , it's that time again .

Sorry for the necromancy here , just wanted to say that we are still here , waiting for the Mod to End All Mods , I think this is the right place .

I hope you guys are well .

Cheers .

Satyros

I still have deliciously fond memories of sitting down to a long session of EB on Saturday and Sunday afternoons years ago (when I should've been writing chemistry lab reports :clown:). Thank you, EB Team, for the literally hundreds of hours of enjoyment you provided me. I look forward to plenty more.

I've been following the development of EB for a very long time now, and I am sure I never had higher hopes for a game. True, EB II has been in development for a long time, but I don't really care. Everybody knows that when it finally 'is done', we will enjoy this more than anything else. Huge respect for the team, which has changed through the years, but has always put detail and care before finishing up quickly or enjoying well-earned popularity. For me, besides the obvious epicness of the historicity and improved gameplay of EB I, I enjoyed this project most because of the development itself. It is awesome to slowly see things coming together, and to know how people have (in their free time) spent hours to painstakingly make sure every little detail can be backed up by some source. For me this shows love and devotion not only to the fan-base or the ultimate goal of an epic game, but also to history.

Ι will post here my request as it is slightly relevant and unworthy of a new topic .

Please , oh please , do not change the faction description of Sauromatae .

It is one of the most inspiring texts I've ever read in a game .

"Why should there be an an end to the fighting ?"

This would easily be my motto of choice in half of all games I play , whether these are PC games , tabletop RPG's , tabletop miniatures , hex 'n counter wargames , relevant board games etc .

"Why, then, not let the dragon standards fly forever?..

..why should there be an end to the fighting?"

By the gods if this wasn't a moment of genius I don't know what is !

We convoke nebular dimensions
as real as the realms we ride
with none above and none at side

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEf68qcRhbE

Smell the battle with the wind
Before you see us
Winterhorde of fury ride
The wind will lead us
Banner high onward ride
Domestic purebred
Of the everlifted north sky

Conquer all with permafrost
(Phantasmworlds)
Then wait at our final gate
Lay waste this world on ice
Let it crumble underneath us

Ride the breeze of better times
Where there are enemies to die
High fame and honor
Won on the fields of battle
Warriors fight
With longswords in hand
Valleys drink from the open wounds
Of a thousand men
Hear the battle on the wind
So obvious
Winterhorde of fury ride
The wind now lead us
Banners high onward ride
Domestic purebred
Of the everlifted north sky

Conquer all with permafrost
(Phantsmworlds)
Then wait at our final gate
Lay waste this world on ice
It will crumble underneath us

Valleys drink from the open wounds
Of a thousand men
Eldritch talons eat hearts out of the fallen

Proud with battlelust we ride
Savagely towards the battlefields
And into greater strides


... Battlefields await ...

Also check the sig :D




There , got it off my system . Sorry if this was an inappropriate place for posting this .



P.S. : This post is a repost . I am awfully sorry for origianlly posting this in a sticky thread , as the contents are not that important ( or serious ) .

... right.

Hey , I even wrote that it wasn't a serious post .

:P

Edgy post is edgy ?

Satyros

P.S. : But I'm really serious about the first bit : love the Sauromatae faction description , srsly you guys , please keep it as is :) .

Non-serious post doesn't ask for a serious reply? ~;)

If I had any criticism of EB I it would be the Phalanx type soldiers. Whenever the AI uses them they deploy them in a really streched out way around 6-8 deep. For the simple reason of imersion would it be possible to make the phalanx standard deployment on the battlefield be more "Box" like? As far as I know each phalanx "Regiment" was deployed with equal depth and witdh. Everytime I fight an AI phalanx it makes me cringe at how wrong it looks.

Other than that I find EB to be simply amazing, my absolute favourite thing about it would be the correct representatipn of Egypt.

You are right that reportedly a unit of phalangitai (a syntagma of 256 soldiers) used to be deployed in square 16 by 16 wide and deep.

However, a unit in RTW/EB is not supposed to represent a unit in RL, soldier per soldier. Consider that you can have just 20 x 240 or 4800 soldiers on any battlefield at the high maximum, while in history battles easily involved tens of thousand soldiers. Therefore it is IMO quite right to represent this with thinner ranks and more rectangular deployment. Deploying phalanxes in 16 deep ranks would make the line too short and the game-play unbalanced given the limitations of RTW engine. :2cents:

well yes but most other infantry that are non-phalanx types have 160 soldiers while the phalanxes has 240. Thus it should be quite possible to atlest have the AI deploy their phalanx at 10-12 deep. That I think would do a lot for imersion aswell as the AI handling the more "Box" like formation better than the streched line wich always seems to just flail about doing very little in the way of actual fighting.

Except that it would actually decrease the AI's performance. Deploying units in stretched lines is more logical than forming "boxes" in RTW, because only the first few lines of soldiers fight and the rest doesn't really affect the unit's mass or anything. In fact, in a "boxed" formation you usually get higher casualties, because it's easier to flank your soldiers during combat (I'm talking about "standard" combat, not about flank attacks with other units). Note that manoeuvres are much much easier in RTW than in RL and it is ridiculously easy to turn your units around, too. Now combine all this with the AI's inflexibility, the way it handles formations (it's damn hard to get the AI to actually form a coherent line - usually it's just one big mess) and general dumbness and you will quickly understand why things work the way they do.

Years later, I am still thankful for EB :-)

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Thank you EB and all team members, retired and active ~:)
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