EB 2 Progress And The Community!

[lionhard]

Hey guys, i understand one of the reasons their has been a slight set back with EB2 is due to long term team members quitting due to whatever issues they have IRL, work, family, boredom whatever. My question is how many EB 2 team members actually quit and how much work was lost? I also understand you guys may be working hard and i know your doing it off your own backs and it must be stressful with other things going on in life. Im sure you all acknowledge that this project is starting to drag on and much publicity may be lost if it goes on for a couple more years.... so i wonder cant you guys recruit more people? cant you spread the word to other mods such as RS2 and RTR for help? Iv been waiting for this game since first announced and im so sad to see it struggling and im even sadder to know that when it is finally released their will be so few people who will actually be around to appreciate it. Many will be playing rome 2 and others will have grown out of it or even forgot about this mod all together.

I know its easy for me to sit here and just say all this but i really wish i could help out, sadly i dont have any mod skills, but i have ideas that can possibly help the team. You should advertise for donations towards your work and the project and hire in mercenaries to help you guys out with the money. A news update on the main page and more official previews would help a lot. In general activity will help. People are starting to give up on this project. I will donate money myself and so would many other people but it needs a kind of reassurance to show that you guys are still working on this and its going to be completed in the next century. I have always been a die hard fan of EB and have played it from just after its release the prospects of EB 2 are just amazing, you guys need to open up and ask for help dont struggle alone. I play many other games and the amount of people making money from playing crap like wow, minecraft and LoL from just streaming and nobbing around through people donating is absolutely crazy, you guys are making a work of art, and its worth donating towards for a lot of people, you need to advertise for donations so the common person can help.

You guys need to advertise for the things you need as i said everyone can help even if its only donating but we all need some reassurance that this project is moving along.... i know theirs sneak peaks ect but im sorry a few screen shots just isnt enough evidence of good progression. The community needs more information, If you get us involved maybe things will pick up again. It hurts to see this whole thing dieing. This will be the best game ever and iv never looked forward to anything gaming wise so much in my life and im sure many people feel the same way who will be willing to do anything they can to help. Please get more people involved. Open skype/team speak meetings advertise for donations and recruit more staff to help or simply ask the community for ideas. We all want this game badly.

Make it happen!

[V.T. Marvin]

Thank you for your kind words.

However, we cannot accept money for our work in developing the mod, which will be provided free of charge for anyone who wishes to download and play it. This was the intention from its inception of EB1 and will remain so in perpetuity. In the past the EB Team was accepting donations for covering the cost of running the server that hosts the modification, but that was it. Money is not the problem for us and will not solve our problems with lack of time and other real-life issues.

Anyway the assurance that it will be completed in this century is already there, albeit only a verbal one. In fact, there are just few more hurdles, although particularly difficult ones sadly, that prevent us from first release. The first release of course will surely be quite far from being "completed" and a lot of improvements and tweaks will be added further on. Therefore there is still an opportunity for any EB fan to support us by reading one or two modding tutorials and thereby learning just one or two modding skills (how to make a new trait, a new event, a garrison script, how to make a unit recruit-able under a given condition, how family trees work, etc.) and applying with that knowledge in the recruitment thread. This is actually the most effective and perhaps even the only way to get EBII to completion sooner, IMHO.

[Evocata]

I for one, am simply glad that EB2 exists at all. How many great mods have died quiet, ignominious deaths due to a lack of team commitment and interest? I'll wait any amount of time for EB2 goodness... That said, I think you touch on some good points and ideas, especially with the whole 'mercenary team members' thing. As to your concern for community's interest (or lack thereof) in the mod, I'll remind you that many people simply don't post on the forums and simply play EB1. Once (IF?) EB2 is released, it'll bring people back in, and undoubtedly stir interest in those who enjoyed the original. So, all in all, thank's for the ideas and your concern for the mod!

[lionhard]

Ill try and be as much help as i can be, as i said im pretty much useless modding wise but if i can help out around here even with just spurring the team on in their efforts i will try. Although iv not exactly been a big user of these forums in the past its obvious people have gone quiet. Which makes me sad as i used to like to read a lot of the chit chat :/. Ah well see what happens ay :)

[Brennus]

Know anyone who is familiar with the history and archaeology of Numidia?

[lionhard]

Give me some time and ill get some info on the subject, also I spoke to the team when EB 2 was in its 2nd year about the year in history function and wether their were plans to make it more thorough than EB 1 and to also have it to continue into a later age rather than stop at whatever date it was, I forget now. At the time I asked I was told by a team member that it was been covered and no help or ideas were needed. Is that still the case? As I would like to help out if needed.

[Brennus]

The date of the game remains 272 BC to AD 14.

EBII aims to be A LOT more thorough than EB. For example in my work on the Celtic factions all the temple and building descriptions are different and faction specific; Pritanoi mining descriptions discuss the archaeology of tin production in Cornwall, Boii mining descriptions discuss salt and gold production in Iron Age Bohemia, Aedui temple descriptions are specific to central Gaul, Arevaci temple descriptions are specific to Iberia. I recently checked the province descriptions we have for the British Isles, they are about half way complete and total about 16,000 words so far.

At present our historians are missing or lacking historical expertise on the following factions:

Lusotannan
Numidia
Sauromatae

We could also do with someone who is more familiar with the Celtiberans, I am currently managing the Arevaci, but, I won't lie, it has taken second place to my attempts to work on the Boii, Pritanoi, Aedui and Arverni. Also, I can only just read Spanish although (partly for the sake of EB) I am trying to teach myself.

3D and 2D artists are always welcome (if you can model buildings I really really want to talk to you) and, as V.T. said, anyone who can code events, traits or buildings is very welcome.

[lionhard]

Il get back to you with information on the missing factions soon, that is the least i can do, i wont be much use in any other field currently, but i will read up on how to code events and traits and hopefully i can offer something after some self teaching. But as i said i will get as much info on the missing factions in the form of their homeland, provinces, agriculture and so forth from specialized sites, libraries ect, i have a few Spanish friends, maybe they could direct me to some good information for the Lusotannan.

I cant believe your actually learning Spanish to endure into more information, that has completely blown me away so much respect for that kind of commitment.

Please any one reading who can help the team in any way, give your efforts in this cause and to these people and help in this work of art progress. It will be far more rewarding to play than any total war game even rome 2 imho.

[Hotseat_User]

hej - good points you made their linonhead.

Is their a chance to teach myself making building models with no former knowledge and only freeware? be that, i'd definitly try it for a few ours a week. coud we have a few comments on this topic by the artists? what do i need for modelling? - as i only own a laptop and a mouse :bow:

and where to find the teaching-threads?

[V.T. Marvin]

The most comprehensive list of tutorials I know of and extremely helpful modding community is to be found here (http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?580314-M2TW-Index-of-Modding-Tutorials-Resources-amp-Tools).

[Red_Devil]

hej - good points you made their linonhead.

Is their a chance to teach myself making building models with no former knowledge and only freeware? be that, i'd definitly try it for a few ours a week. coud we have a few comments on this topic by the artists? what do i need for modelling? - as i only own a laptop and a mouse :bow:

and where to find the teaching-threads?

MS3D is the software used in most cases, and not epensive at all.

Here (http://learngamedesign.com/gdt_B3.html) is a tutorial on how to make a simple building and here (http://learngamedesign.com/gdt_B4.html) how to texture it.

Honestly, it's pretty simple once you get the basic functions of MS3D. The problem being to have the inspiration...

[Brennus]

That's what the historians and archaeologists are for.

[lionhard]

Im ridiculously busy at work but i can guarantee i can spend a few hours a night on something, easy mode!, iv got some experience in building as i play mine craft and run a huge iron age town although its nowhere near as hard as milkshape, Maybe i can help in the building field also, anyways Milkshape 3D 1.7.10 is downloading, although i am not greatly computer literate i have learnt how to use some advanced programs such as song vegas and editing programs for my youtube channel www.youtube.com/user/SabelGaming I would love to make some videos for EB 2 :D iv took a break from hardcore gaming so havnt done a lot lately, iv been back on EB 1, Ill read up on milkshape and how to code events and traits, see if i can be of any of use atall, hopefully i can be anyway :S

[Hotseat_User]

thank you guys. I'll have a look in the next days. :bow:

[V.T. Marvin]

I would love to make some videos for EB 2
That would be helpful too! :yes:

[lionhard]

Yeh looks like im not gonna be much use iv tried milkshape and watched tonns of videos online and read tutorials and its quite sophisticated and will need a lot of man hours to even become competent to the point of contributing anything in which time the project will probaly be complete, ill try my best to gather information on ancient Lusotannan, Numidia and Sauromatae. I also will make some videos for EB 2 advertisement ect i was gonna start making some AAR videos from some of my previous EB campaigns.

You guys should deffo open a server so people can play multiplayer, i was playing medieval 2 online for a bit and its absolutely crap, the units are even worse than RTW so few to select and so many countries share the same roosters what a complete joke. As i said before i play minecraft on a small server with only 400-500 people and people donate to get titles, the donations span from $10 -$250 and u will not believe the amount of people who have donated $250 to play :daisy: minecraft, its the worst game ever! I know i keep bringing up donations but if you get an online server running for people to multiplay you will need some donations to keep it going. I would love to be part of a close community of good people competing for fun and competition.

Anyway speak to you guys soon.

[Velho]

You guys should deffo open a server so people can play multiplayer, i was playing medieval 2 online for a bit and its absolutely crap, the units are even worse than RTW so few to select and so many countries share the same roosters what a complete joke. As i said before i play minecraft on a small server with only 400-500 people and people donate to get titles, the donations span from $10 -$250 and u will not believe the amount of people who have donated $250 to play :daisy: minecraft, its the worst game ever! I know i keep bringing up donations but if you get an online server running for people to multiplay you will need some donations to keep it going. I would love to be part of a close community of good people competing for fun and competition.



Actually We have one Multiplayer community for EB http://www.ebmultiplayer.com/ you should check it :)

[V.T. Marvin]

Here is an idea how any interested member of the community may make him/herself useful and speed-up the first release a little bit. :idea:

As you may know from one of the earliest previews, each province in EBII will have a special building used to provide some background information on the geography, history and society of the region. Also you know already how our campaign map look like and how the provinces are distributed, as hes been previewed recently here (https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?142126-EB2-Sneak-Peeks&p=2053518521&viewfull=1#post2053518521).

https://img29.imageshack.us/img29/3821/eb22mapbig9lowres.jpg

Now, unfortunately a lot of these province descriptions are not ready yet, because we currently lack the historians to write them and/or the historians we have lack the time to do so. And that is the opportunity for any of you to step in, pick a region that you live in or know something about or want to learn something about, find some reliable sources, write a structured essay in the model provided bellow and post it here. The reward for it will your the personal satisfaction that you have learned something about history (just as all of you promised while accepting EB 1.x license agreement), developed your writing skills and contributed towards your favourite mod. Would it not be nice to find a piece of your writing when playing EBII?

Here are the provinces we need desciptions for:
North Africa - basically all of them
Persia - today's Iran, Pakistan
Asia Minor and Caucasus - today's Turkey, Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan
Balkans - Thraikia Hypertera, Scorcouw, Dalmatia, Illyria Hellenike, Epeiros, Aitolia, Dardanoia, Makedonia, Thessalia, Attike, Lakonike, Krete

And here is how such province description should look like, structurally and stylistically. Please try not to exceed the length of this descriptions in yours. This one is probably more on the lengthy side. And please try to provide historical background in the period preceding the EB timeframe and within it. Post-1 AD history should remain outside the scope of these texts.

Example of a province description - SPOILER ALERT - it is a sneek-peek in its own right, written by our brilliant Brennus and a measure of the quality standart and level of nerdiness you can expect from EBII.

Province: Combrogon

Traveller's Log:
North and west goes the traveller, towards the setting sun and into Combrogon. Combrogon is a land which differs in form as much as the flowers which burst from the soils in spring. In the south is a realm of mountains and forest, of terrain rugged as men who inhabit it, where winter snows land upon the hills like flocks of ice born birds, where magic haunts the hollows of trees and the gods smirk at men from within their watery realms. A land where one island, Mona, is known far and wide, where blood drips from the leaves and women, clad in shawls of night black cloth, scream up to the heavens in rage. This is the dark Combrogon, the Combrogon of the Ganganoi, the Dekeangloi and hammer wielding Ordouikes. To the north, in light Combrogen, among fields which roll like gentle waves, where ivy clad oaks stand guard against with the passing of the seasons, where ancient rivers roll into the ocean and their waters sail on to Iuverion, live others; the quiet Kornovoioi and, bowing their heads to their Brigantes overlords who rule this area, the recluse Karuetoioi and Setantoioi. In Combrogon the traveller will find no great towns, no great works to amaze the eyes. Dark Combrogon boasts no imperious state, although the Ordouikes are without doubt the dominant peoples, and even in light Combrogon, where the Brigantes dominate, it is hard to identify the trappings of power. Instead, Combrogon is home to one of the great sanctuaries of the gods. On Mona they assemble, the brooding, vapid, blessed, victory bringing, vengeful, benign gods, and gaze with pleasure at the sights they see before them.

Geography

Combrogon roughly equates to the modern regions of north Wales and Anglesey, Cheshire, Manchester, Merseyside, Lancashire and Cumbria. It is a land of varied geography. The core of Wales is composed of mountainous and upland terrain, which although rich in mineral deposits, is ill suited to arable farming. Along the coast and borders of Wales are lowland regions which can be used to grow crops. The regions of Combrogon which correspond to what is today Cheshire, Manchester, Merseyside and Lancashire are less dramatic; with fewer uplands and more spaces suitable for arable agriculture, especially around the Mersey valley. In the east the land rises to form the Pennine hills. In the north of Combrogon exists the mountainous Lake District, a region with very few low lying areas and almost totally unsuitable for arable farming. By virtue of being on the Atlantic coast, Combrogon enjoys warmer climates than its neighbouring region, Lagambrion, in the east; the warming Gulf Stream which flows in from the Atlantic providing a welcome source of heat. As with any region of northern Albion, Combrogon also enjoys a reliable rain supply, although there is increased rainfall in the mountainous regions. Within the low lying regions of Combrogon it is likely that much of the ancient forests had been cleared by the time of the Iron Age, however in the upland regions of Wales and Cumbria large forests no doubt existed, as they do today. The clearance of forests would also have affected the fauna of this region. In those regions with forests and less accessible terrain, populations of wolves, deer, boar and possibly even bear would have continued to exist. The lowland regions, with their open landscape, would have supported a greater population of smaller animals, in particular rodents and birds, and the small and medium sized carnivores which prey upon them. The coastline, lakes of Cumbria and River Mersey would also have provided the inhabitants of Combrogon with the opportunity to catch a variety of marine species.

The People, Society and Government

The people who inhabited Combrogon lived in societies which, based on the archaeological record, were not subject to the sort of radical change which occurred in the south east of the island. Within north Wales many of the settlements appear to have been first occupied in the middle Iron Age, although some were occupied in the early Iron Age, and continued to be occupied after the Roman conquest. Settlements in this region typically took on the form of a defended homestead. Some, such as examples from Castell Odo and Dinas Emrys, resembled the raths of southern Wales; a family sized settlement with enclosing earthwork and, occasionally, palisade. Others, such as an example from Bryn Eryr and many others from Anglesey, were enclosed by a rectilinear bank and ditch and have been interpreted as elite residences. Furthermore some, such as Bryn Y Castell, employed surrounding stone walls around a single hut, whilst another type of settlement tended to involve two houses which were associated with a nearby field system. In addition to this hilltop enclosures also existed in north Wales. Examples from Garn Boduan, Tre'r Ceiri and the Conwy Mountains have been found to contain sufficient numbers of stone walled huts to house 100 to 400 individuals. Typically these hill top enclosures were surrounded by stone walls although they occasionally made use of cliff faces instead.

The thin lowland strip which exists between the mountains and sea in north Wales was heavily settled during the Iron Age. Spindle whorls, excavations such as those at the site of Dinorben, and a lack of mulivallate enclosures (multivallation typically occurs in areas where cattle dominate the economy) in northern Wales indicate that sheep were the preferred livestock. Grain was also grown in the region, as evidenced by saddle querns from Dinorben and the Conwy Mountains. On the isle of Anglesey, known as Mona to the Romans, emmer and spelt were grown, and extensive pasture existed. Although the settlements described above fit well within this model of mixed agriculture, it is unclear (due to a lack of excavation) what role the hill top enclosures played; they may have served as permanent residences, as seasonal gathering points or, less likely, as refuges in times of strife. An additional mystery is at what point the druidic sanctuary on Mona developed. As with so many aspects of Iron Age religion it is hard to detect in the archaeological record. However the sanctuary appears to have been important across much of Britain and, from inferences by Caesar, on the continent as well.

In northern Combrogon there has been only limited study of the archaeological record. One of the reasons for this is that the region was heavily industrialised in the 18th and 19th centuries, thus destroying much of the evidence. What little has been studied shows that hillforts were occupied from the early Iron Age until about the 4th century BC, after which time they fell out of use; a pattern mirrored in the lands to the east of the Pennines. Enclosures also existed across the lowlands, although our knowledge of these is still limited. Across the whole of Combrogon neither iron currency bars nor coinage were adopted and what limited pottery was produced is usually crude and of limited use in establishing chronologies.

History

At the point at which Combrogon entered history, in Tacitus' Agricola and Ptolemy's Geographica, the region was inhabited by a number of tribes. In what is today Wales there existed the Dekeangloi, Ganganoi and, most powerful among them, the Ordouikes. To the north, in modern day Cheshire and the Mersey valley, lived the Kornouoioi, whilst in Cumbria were the Setantoioi and Caruetoio, clients of the Brigantes. Having been little exposed to the urbanising or social changes which the south eastern tribes had experienced, as a result of their proximity to Roman Gaul, the tribes of Combrogon lacked the centralised society and desire for Mediterranean goods which would have made them easy to incorporate into the empire. Instead, the Romans initially intended to leave this region and its tribes outside of their new British province.

This all changed, however, when the leader of the British resistance to Roman rule, Karatakos, having fled from his own people, the Katuuellanoi, rallied first the Silures, in Belerion, and then the Ordouikes. Having waged a successful guerrilla campaign against the Roman governor, Publius Ostorius Scapula, Karatakos decided to gamble his success on a set piece battle at Caer Caradoc in AD 50, enlisting the assistance of the Ordouikes. Although the forces of Karatakos enjoyed an advantageous position, atop a hillfort which had recently been refortified, the Romans succeeded in routing the Britons after fierce fighting and moderate losses. Despite the defeat, and later capture of Karatakos, the Ordouikes remained openly opposed to Rome, no doubt encouraged by the successes enjoyed by the Silures against legions in the south of Wales.

The continued aggression of the Ordouikes and Silures caused the Romans to launch a new campaign in AD 58 under the command of Quintus Veranius. By AD 59 the Romans had fought their way into the lands of the Ordouikes, this time under the command of the brutal and determined Suetonius Paullinus. Having overcome the resistance of the Ordouikes, Paullinus attacked the sacred isle of Mona, arguably the most important druidic centre in all of Alba. Confronting the Romans as they prepared their assault on the island was a terrifying site as "The enemy lined the shore in a dense armed mass. Among them were black robed women with dishevelled hair like the Furies, brandishing torches. Nearby stood the Druids, raising their hands to heaven and screaming dreadful curses." as Tacitus described it. Despite this blood chilling sight, the Romans stormed the sanctuary and, as Tacitus puts it, destroyed "the groves devoted to Mona's barbarous superstitions". The campaign of Paullinus, however, did not destroy the ability of the Ordouikes to defy Roman rule and in c.AD 70 they rebelled against Roman occupation and destroyed a Roman cavalry squadron. Between AD 74 and 77 Julius Frontinus campaigned against both the Ordouikes and Silures and, despite many setbacks, enjoyed enough success that the following year Julius Agricola was able to decisively defeat the Ordouikes. Tacitus reports that Agricola exterminated the Ordouikes, although this seems unlikely considering the rugged terrain of northern Wales and the decentralised nature of Ordouikes settlement.

By contrast, throughout this period, there is no mention of the other tribes of Combrogon opposing Rome. The Dekeangloi and Ganganoi may have been clients of the Ordouikes, and thus served alongside them, or they may have been like the Demetae to the south and offered no resistance to the Romans. Likewise the Kornouoioi appear to have offered no resistance and the Romans adapted their tribal capital into the new settlement of Virconium whilst stationing a legion at Deva (modern day Chester). Further north the history of Setantoioi and Caruetoio is bound up with that of the Brigantes, and it is impossible to know if they were one of the pro-Roman or anti-Roman factions which existed in the great northern kingdom.

Strategy
Although this province is not the most profitable it's rugged landscape makes it easy to defend (and hard conquer). The main virtue of this region, however, is the existence of the druidic sanctuary on Mona, possession of which provides a player will some powerful benefits...


* * * * * province description ends here * * * * *

Now come on, keep them coming! :book2::whip: :devilish:

[lionhard]

Im grateful that you have took the time to tell us specifically what you guys need help with and how the average person such as myself could try to help out. Im quite shocked that you guys have nothing for Epeiros, Makedonia, Thessalia, Attike, Lakonike and Krete and you mention north Africa meaning Carthage too i guess? i expected iran and the Caucasus, nevermind anyway it will be enjoyable to try to help you out and i look forward to writing and learning as you say. Cheers

[Tuuvi]

Do you have any tips for doing research and finding information? I have access to article databases like Jstor, etc. but anytime I try to use them all I get is irrelevant stuff like "Sexuality among lower income Muslim men aged 18-35 in Southern Dagestan"

[Ailfertes]

Articles are unlikely to be overviews of regions, as they are meant to communicate certain innovative but specified aspects of scientific research, at least in the humanities. I think you would be better of with books that give an overview of certain peoples or regions, discuss the economy and culture, and Strabo and Pliny of course. Also, wikipedia sometimes gets you started with basic literature.

[maskoolin]

almost every modern university or library has its catalogue online for research .. google for your local university or library and try to find it .. then search for keywords or lexica for the time period .. peace

[delablake]

I am a staunch supporter of the cause since I first downloaded the 0.8-thingy version of the game. EB 1.2 was the major joy for me- so, after nearly six and a half years, I say this: It can't take another 6 years, can it? So, I take my time, enjoy the mods for PanzerCorps in the meantime, look forward to Rome2, and will find EBII delivered at my doorstep in..say 2014- hell, why not? Around two years ago I was sure: this mod is dead!, but I kept checking every few months and lurked...the only problem I have is the Steam-version of MTW2. Those idiots from Sega and the Steam guys have intertwined two non-compatible launchers for "safety issues". It's been a year now that I keep mailing them complaints, but they don't give a hack and no-one seems to find a solution! (I bought the crappy MTW2 only for the future release of EBII!)
So, I'll buy an online version of MTW2 the day EBII comes out.
Thank you good guys for all the efforts and your blood, toil, tears and sweat!!!

[Brave Brave Sir Robin]

Articles are unlikely to be overviews of regions, as they are meant to communicate certain innovative but specified aspects of scientific research, at least in the humanities. I think you would be better of with books that give an overview of certain peoples or regions, discuss the economy and culture, and Strabo and Pliny of course. Also, wikipedia sometimes gets you started with basic literature.

You may also toss Herodotus in there as well. He may not be as descriptive but there are some gems in the Histories on regions, especially those in the east.

I'll take a little time to write one up, perhaps this weekend. Perhaps we should allocate some work around so we don't end up with 3 people writing a description of Attica? I could start a separate thread for this even and everyone can pick one province to start with and I could assign their name to it so we don't end up with duplicates. What do you guys think?

EDIT: Also a question directed to VT Marvin. When you say North Africa do you mean everything west of Cyrenaica (ie the traditional province of Africa) or are you including Egypt and the Nubian/Aethiopian lands to the south?

[Gaius Scribonius Curio]

Do you have any tips for doing research and finding information? I have access to article databases like Jstor, etc. but anytime I try to use them all I get is irrelevant stuff like "Sexuality among lower income Muslim men aged 18-35 in Southern Dagestan"

In general, as Ailfertes states, the ancient sources, particularly Strabo and Pliny, are an excellent starting point. In terms of the Geographical data, these can be supplemented with modern climatological data, for which I usually start with wikipedia: obviously, it should be noted if there were major climatic shifts. For the historical section we are really after an overview of socio-political development in that specific region - again ancient sources are useful, and should be at least examined, but using a entry-level, more general, history to begin is great.

If you have access to JSTOR, I would guess that you are either a secondary, tertiary or postgrad student. As such you may have access to such resources as Brill's New Pauly - which, usually, has accurate scholarly encyclopedia articles on a wide-range of subjects including regions.

I hope this is helpful - and not overwhelming.

[lionhard]

As Brave Sir Robin said we need to be careful we don't end up with people writing up on the same settlements, please let us know what settlements you are writing up on guys if you have already started so others dont waste their time duplicating your work....

[Brave Brave Sir Robin]

I'll create a separate thread if no one minds to tally these matters on the OP. Head over there and select a region/province to work on.

[V.T. Marvin]

EDIT: Also a question directed to VT Marvin. When you say North Africa do you mean everything west of Cyrenaica (ie the traditional province of Africa) or are you including Egypt and the Nubian/Aethiopian lands to the south?
Good point, sorry, I will specify it now:

We do have already: Kart-Hadast/Zeugei, Diospolis Megale/Thebais

All other province descriptions on the African continent, i.e. Mauretania, Rus Lixus, Numidia Massaelii, Numidia, Maquom Hadesh, Numidia, Gaetulia, Muxsi, Tiskat, Byzakion, Phasania, Syrthim, Kyrenaia, Libye, Delta Neilou, Heptanomis, Oasis Megale, Triakontaschoinos, Kush, Erythraia and Di'amat need to be written yet.

In any case, thank you all for your enthusiastic reception of our desperate attempt to outsource a part of our work! :bow:

Looking forward to your contributions! :2thumbsup:


I'll create a separate thread if no one minds to tally these matters on the OP. Head over there and select a region/province to work on.
Good idea! :yes:

[Rovert]

Sounds like there is a lot of detail that was not in EB1 & sadly probably not needed as most people would have been happy basicly with EB1 on the M2TW engine . And now you are looking at RTW2 coming out before this and sorry to say the battles look amazing. It would be like playing MTW after RTW came out , just didn't happen for most people.

[Brennus]

The aim of EB was to create an historically accurate depiction of nearer Eurasia and North Africa between 272BC and AD14. EBII was begun with the aim of improving on the historical accuracy and depth of EB. When we began working on EBII, RTW2 was no-where on the horizon. If people want the glamour, the graphics and the excitement of RTW2 then we encourage them to enjoy it, likewise we wish the best of luck to CA in developing the game. But for those of us working on EBII our aim was, and remains, to create an historically accurate modification.

Yes, such an approach may make us look like anoraks/a group of very sad men, but consider that EB (which is a puddle compared to EBII) still commands a greater following than RTW, MTWII and possibly ETW. EBII, I have no doubt, will punch well above its weight.

[Tuuvi]

Sounds like there is a lot of detail that was not in EB1 & sadly probably not needed as most people would have been happy basicly with EB1 on the M2TW engine . And now you are looking at RTW2 coming out before this and sorry to say the battles look amazing. It would be like playing MTW after RTW came out , just didn't happen for most people.

Even if the battles look amazing I'm sure EB II will blow R2TW out of the water when it comes immersion and game play. The M2TW graphics still don't look that bad in my opinion. I think when it comes to improvements in graphics over time the law of diminishing returns applies; the difference in graphics between R2 and M2 won't be as great as the difference between MTW and RTW, especially when you consider the work put in by the EB artists, whose work usually looks much better than the vanilla product.

[Ca Putt]

I can only agree with Tuuvi, also keep in mind that the weakpoint of M2TW(and ETW) graphics are the textures. Which at times are just awfully horrid. EB2 has all new textures and (as it seems) also adds a polygon here and there, resulting in a much better look. Just look at most major M2TW mods they all look much better than the original. EB2 will not look as flashy as R2TW but I think most EB fans consider graphics a secondary quality when it comes to games. And as I said before, free is much cheaper than 50 bucks plus maybe a new rig ;)

[Rovert]

I truly believe the campaign part of the game will be the best ever from any game (EB2) , I just think CA is really trying on this next RTW2.

[CanOmer]

If there were not so many good mods for Ancient era, Rome II would be far more worse game at historical accuracy. Good mods forced CA to go into historical detail. Also I think that Rome II would not has much bigger map than Rome I if there weren't big-map-mods in Rome I. As you see Rome II's map extended towards east and south but it is not natural. They distorted so much those areas; Arabia, Persia. Even Europe has not proper map projection but so many of the people don't care.