EB news - Friday, February 11

[khelvan]

Greetings, Europa Barbarorum fans!

We have some bad news to relate. As you may or may not be aware, CA responded directly to us this week, stating that no new factions can be implemented. We are limited to the 21 in the game, and the associated cultures are hard-coded. This, of course, is a disappointment, but it does enable us to concentrate on other things. It has a side benefit of releasing some pressure on our unit researchers, who now have more models to plan for.

We expect our latest internal alpha, 0.5, to go out in the next week or two. We are getting close to being ready for a closed beta test. In the meantime, I have some more goodies to share with you.

First, we have the Peltastai, a hellenic unit available to the Allied Hellenes, Macedonian, Ptolemaic Egypt, Seleucid, and Pontic factions. The peltast is a type of elite skirmisher that sacrifices heavy arms and armor for mobility and range. They are armored in linen and carry a medium sized ovular shield. Historically, the Peltast was often a hoplite or Pezhetairoi phalangite equipped to fight in the manner of a skirmisher.

Chemchok, who is trying his hand at modelling and skinning for the first time, created these. The model is his, the linothorax and shield are his, and he borrowed and modified Webbird's tunic/linen textures to complete the units.


Allied Hellenes Peltastai:


Allied Hellenes and Macedonian Peltastai:



Next we have the Gallic Leuce Epos. Leuce Epos (Light Horse) are named not for the equipment of the rider, but for the speed of the horses. They are medium cavalry; the basic cavalry of Gaul. They throw javelins and use spears in melee, and are of good quality, though not exceptional.

This unit was modelled by Vercingetorix and skinned by Psycho.




Finally, I thought I would do something a little bit different, and give you a glimpse of what our unit lists look like. Now, please understand that this is a work in progress, and that since the unit limits have been raised we'll be adding more to the list. However, it should give you something to mull over, especially you hellenic fanatics.

Macedonian unit list, a work in progress:

Taxeis Hoplitai
Taxeis Phalangitai
Thureophoroi
Pezhetairoi
Argyraspidai
Hypaspistai
Pheraspidai
Akontistes
Slingers (name subject to change)
Toxotai
Peltastai
Thrakioi Peltastai
Prodromoi
Hippakontistes
Thrakioi Prodromoi
Thessalian Cavalry
Hetairoi

I hope you enjoyed today's news. Please look here for dedicated areas to ask questions, and to find more information:

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/forumdisplay.php?f=70
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/index.php?showforum=60

You can find previous news items here, including a preview of our new map:

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=42840
https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=43195

Best regards,

-the EB team

[Big_John]

sucks about the hard-coded limits.. poor form CA.
but maybe this means EB will be released sooner than otherwise!
models are sick as always
the gallic leuce epos screenie is breath-taking

[-Morte-]

Well guys, congrats as usual. You're doing an amazing work.

[Gangstaman590]

That looks so cool!

[khelvan]

I need to offer an apology to Vercingetorix, who modelled the Leuce Epos.

[Pycckuu]

i love those leuce epos!

[Parokkikala]

Whoa, this mod is giving me the feeling I might complete a campaign of RTW after all.

Very, very, very promising work guys. You're my frigging idols and stuff.

[Sarcasm]

*spasm*...must...refrain...from...*spasm*...discussing...peltasts...*spasm*

That gallic cavalry is Excelent. The screenshot alone is a masterpiece

Let me just ask you something....is it possible to make the game ambience darker, grittier, dirtier so it feels more real? Recent films (however irrealistic) show that, by making a thing worn out or used, gives the impression of being more realistic whch in turn makes a better entertainment experience.

[khelvan]

Yeah, Urnamma mentioned something about the peltasts, about how there is a common perception (that his research disagrees with) and we would get comments about them. :)

A conscious choice was made to depict the soldiers as clean. We are trying to represent soldiers just before battle, when their weapons and armor would be well polished and clean, and so on. This is especially true of the Celts, who ritually bathed before battle.

It would certainly be nice to have the soldiers get dirty & gritty during battle, or while off in a foreign land while campaigning. We don't have that option. So the choice is - dirty, or not dirty, and we've gone with not dirty (with the knowledge that it isn't perfect).

[Sarcasm]

I´m talking general look of the world. The sky, the trees, the rocks, mountains....you get the picture...Films like Saving Private Ryan, LOTR, The Gladiator or the HBO series "Brothers in Arms" use colour filters, to make the world tangible (in their own particular ways).

I´m talking about giving a more cinematographic feel and a less "game" one. Isn´t it possible? If it is, do you agree with giving it this look?

[khelvan]

I have no idea if that is possible. I am the very last person to ask about things graphical.

[Aymar de Bois Mauri]

I´m talking general look of the world. The sky, the trees, the rocks, mountains....you get the picture...Films like Saving Private Ryan, LOTR, The Gladiator or the HBO series "Brothers in Arms" use colour filters, to make the world tangible (in their own particular ways).

I´m talking about giving a more cinematographic feel and a less "game" one. Isn´t it possible?

Not that I know off.

[Proper Gander]

hi folks, first time poster, long time follower of this forum. every time i'm here i wet myself out of sheer excitement.
you are turning the game into something i wanted from the start.

i think sarcasm is making a good point. though more realism, or a feeling of the game looking more realistic, can be merely achieved by lowering the contrast of the colours. the vanilla rtw is a bit to colorful, this gives it a 'cartoonish' feel.

but to be honest though i think your skins look just fine. looking at the screenshot of the gallic horsemen i would say that this is not a topic for you guys.
you are making a lot better skins than CA, in my opinion.
some of the original skins are just laughable.

i have a question at this point concerning something totally different.
apparently celtic societies were known for polygamy. i don't know if this applied for all tribes or only certain ones.
so, if you don't give me a total bashing, and agree that it isn't to far fetched. would you be able to include generals and daughters to have numerous wives and husbands? or is the family tree hard-coded.

[khelvan]

We can't truly depict polygamy, though it is something we would if we had the capability to do so. We are considering a hidden fertility bonus for every family member in the factions that practiced polygamy.

[Colovion]

Hardcoded limits to modablity should not be ANWHERE near this game which was supposed to be "the most modable Total War game yet"

ugh.

Well - keep up the outstanding work with the options you do have available to you. :cheers:

[Sarcasm]

Proper Gander got what I meant just about right. I remember in the old screenshot thread made by Promotheus, through community feedback (little bite there ), the Roman units he made had their colours toned down from a bright red, like the original game, to a a darker, seemingly more "primitive" color.

Bright colours are often seen in the vanilla RTW and some of the models of EB (no disrespect, they´re awesome so far, let´s hope you can maintain the extreme quality throughout the 255 or so units ) were IMO not possible using the techninques employed by ancient people. At least not all colours and surely not as widely spread as to havean entire army clothed in such fine clothes.

What I´m also asking is if, there was the possibility to modify the sky, the ground and general objects (water as well) and make them not so bright and cartoon-like, which is the general feel of the entire RTW (jokes included ..."what have the romans ever done for us?" is a classic...).

[Ranika]

The Celts (and presumably other cultures) could make bright dyes. They would mix them with whatever was locally available, white powders, egg yoke, etc., to lighten them, and things like copper to darken them to certain hues, mixing things until the look they wanted. The dark age and medieval Irish and Welsh still used a lot of bright colors in their clothing, because they had available dyes for it; Irish burial cloaks from earlier periods contained bright colors (particularly bright blue, yellow, and red). The Dal Riatans and earlier Caledonians though lacked such dyes. One example of a simple dye that's somewhat bright is woad. Woad is always depicted as blue, but if you soak fabric in it, it will have a bright purple-ish color (not really purple, but similar). That was a common dye, and very much more common during the dark and middle ages.

[Erreahpfazuom]

hey guys i have some sugestions fya! why not include more headhurler units fda barbarians man? them naked guys look awesome in batle and make their fatigue infinite. They will hurl wardogs and pigs too. and some burning rats will be fine them rats run faster yknow!

anyway, can we build pyramids? them aliens spank hard man! u make some flying ships for egyptians and no roman will kick'em no more!

and id like to see pirates riding sharks boarding roman ships also. very cool and historical.

yeah baby!

[Big_John]

anyway, can we build pyramids? them aliens spank hard man!

i told you guys that they aliens should be in there!@!!

QED, i should think.

[Times New Roman]

Hey I have a question regarding colors. How playable will EB be to people like me (colorblind) RTW made it easy to tell armies on the field apart with it's cartoonish bright colors. But I know EB has toned many colors down alot to give a more realistic look. But I'd also like to know if it even matters or not because are there going to be faction colors? Because if not then units belonging to the same faction are different colors anyway and it wont even matter.

[Teleklos Archelaou]

hey guys i have some sugestions fya! why not include more headhurler units fda barbarians man? them naked guys look awesome in batle and make their fatigue infinite. They will hurl wardogs and pigs too. and some burning rats will be fine them rats run faster yknow!

anyway, can we build pyramids? them aliens spank hard man! u make some flying ships for egyptians and no roman will kick'em no more!

and id like to see pirates riding sharks boarding roman ships also. very cool and historical.

yeah baby!

I love teh pirates too! If they would listen to me, this thing could be a mod all about pirates, riding sharks, which are on fire. I like bears too. Especially when pirates can shoot them out of guns. I think they are working on that part though.

[Sheep]

I love teh pirates too! If they would listen to me, this thing could be a mod all about pirates, riding sharks, which are on fire. I like bears too. Especially when pirates can shoot them out of guns. I think they are working on that part though.

Also:

ninjas
mealworms
hot air balloons


Think about it.

[khelvan]

We have made no changes to assist people who are color blind. Our factions will be recognizable through battle standards, not faction colors.

[Proper Gander]

@ Times New Roman,
i don't want to be ignorant but couldn't you change the colour contrast on your screen, or in the options (if possible) yourself.

[Ellesthyan]

CA responded directly to us this week, stating that no new factions can be implemented. We are limited to the 21 in the game, and the associated cultures are hard-coded.

Noooooooooooooo... Noooooooooooooo... Nooooooooooooo...



Well, that must be the worst news I have heard sofar. RTW is actually less moddable than MTW, what do ya think about that?

CA was first like , then it was all like , but when was done, it was all like ...

[Times New Roman]

We have made no changes to assist people who are color blind. Our factions will be recognizable through battle standards, not faction colors.

If i interpreted what u said correctly then that's good news for me then since the colors wont play a major role. Just battle standards and unit models.

[Ano2]

I have been playing rtr 5.1 recently and i just had a battle between gauls and my Romans. The colours were similar and confusing in some cases, but in my opinion made it more fun.

[maskoolin]

Ellesthyan .. whats up with your signature ?!?

[anonymous_joe]

Lads, the whole project seems very impressive, but, just saw your list of Macedonian units. Now I'm doing classical studies inmy final year of school, and have studied Alexander (kind of) but are you going to change the names to their more well known variations? That is, call them Silver Shields and Companions.

Btw, will Ireland get more detailed treatment? As the only surviving Celtic nation don't we deserve better treatment?

[Sarcasm]

Their names are the same. Most were just translated to Greek, others have specific names that you will find even in english texts.