Preview: The Gaza Campaign

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PHALANGITAI VIDEO

Low Quality / High Quality / Youtube

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THE GAZA CAMPAIGN
E B I I T u t o r i a l C a m p a i g n

The year is 313BC and the wars among the Diadochoi are taking their toll on the people of the Eastern Mediterranean. Ambitious generals vie with each other for lordship over the domains of Megas Alexandros and peace is fleeting. Ptolemaios Lagou, an esteemed Strategos and friend to Alexandros, attempts to keep the balance of power spread equally among the Diadochoi, without favouring one man over another. It was he who spirited the body of Megas Alexandros to Alexandreia to be interred so that Perdikkas, the Imperial Regent, could not lay claim to the throne at the expense of the child kings Philippos and Alexandros. In defence of this careful balance he fought Perdikkas on the banks of the Neilos and defeated him in battle, but Ptolemaios refused to accept the title of Regent afterward.

But now a new tyrant has arisen, one Antigonos I Monophthalmos, who threatens to upset the balance of power and throw all of Asia and Greece into turmoil and endless war. This Antigonos had many years earlier incurred the wrath of Perdikkas and had resettled to Makedonia with his son, Demetrios, after losing his seat in Phrygia. There he found favour with Antipatros, Regent of Makedonia, and won influence at the Royal Court. After the death of Perdikkas, Antigonos once again returned to the politics of Asia, having united with the other Strategoi of Alexandros in support of Kassandros against the new Regent of Makedonia, Polyperchon. But his ambitions quickly turned to Asia, and after occupying Babylon, he made attacks on Kypros and Syria, both territories that Ptolemaios considers within his area of influence.

But Ptolemaios Lagou is not alone, for a man with ambitions has many enemies. The other Strategoi, even Kassandros, have joined in an alliance against Antigonos, but it is Ptolemaios who must act. On Kypros the Basileus of Salamis, Nikokles, has been overthrown by rebels backed by Antigonos. Ptolemaios, who has an alliance with Nikokles, has sent his brother, Menelaos, to Kypros where he has also been joined by the fugitive Strategos of Babylon, Seleukos. Together they must win back Salamis and destroy the influence of Antigonos on this island. But Ptolemaios must also be wary of his border with Phoinike and Syria, and so he has sent out his general, Kelles, to the fortress of Pelusion in case of attack from Antigonos or his son, Demetrios.

In this tutorial you will be introduced to some of the new game mechanics that will form part of EBII. You will be introduced to how the authority buildings work, and how they affect public order. You will find out what happens to infrastructure buildings when you conquer new settlements, and how to proceed once control has passed to you. You will also be introduced to the first of the four socio-political types, the city-state type, and how city-state factions spread their influence and culture into a province through the use of military or trade colonies.

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CREDITS:
2D Art: Blank

Historians: abou, keravnos, O'ETAIPOS, paullus, Urnamma

Models: JMRC, Megalos, Prof, Salinoc

Textures: Leif_Eriksson, Martelus Flavius, Megalos, Salinoc

Video Capture: JMRC

Video Edit: Foot

Image Hosting: ImageShack

Video Hosting: Youtube, Rapidshare



Regards,
The EB Team

*faints*

*wakes up*

*faints*





Stunning! Brilliant! Amazing! Beautiful! Awesome! Great! Nice! Neat! Good! Fascinating! Exciting! Cool! Unexpected! Overwhelming!

This Rocks! GO EB TEAM!

Note, the image that is supposed be under the diplomat one doesn´t show for me, just a red X.

Still ******* brilliant!

There isn't meant to be a picture there. Artifact from an earlier copy of the code.

Foot

Note, the description seems to be very biased in Ptolemaios favour.
Since the EB team would never be unbiased I take it that you will play as Ptolemaios in this tutorial? With Kassandros as an ally of course.

Though seeing as it´s called the The Gaza Campaign perhaps we will simply control Kelles and the provinces near Gaza, not the entire Lagonid empire. In which case it seems unlikely Kassandros will make an actual appearance.

Just how long will this tutorial be? Like 1 year, or like 10? Maybe you´ve eve changed the turns so it takes 10 turns in 1 year or something like that, if it´s possible!
And I´m guessing there will be quite a bit of scripted stuff, such as Antigonid attacks and stuff.

OH man, oh man, oh man, I´m so exited I can´t hold my selF!

Oh okay Foot, that is quite alright. I´m just so excited!!!!!!! WOOOHOOOO!!!

YEAYAEYAYAEYAYEYEA!!! GO EB"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Originally Posted by Foot

In this tutorial you will be introduced to some of the new game mechanics that will form part of EBII. You will be introduced to how the authority buildings work, and how they affect public order. You will find out what happens to infrastructure buildings when you conquer new settlements, and how to proceed once control has passed to you. You will also be introduced to the first of the four socio-political types, the city-state type, and how city-state factions spread their influence and culture into a province through the use of military or trade colonies.

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OMG OMGOGMOGMGMGMOGM GOMGOMGG OGMG GOMGG OGMOG GOMG GMG GOGMGM OGMG OGMG OGMG OGMGO OG GOMG GOG G MOGOGMGO GMGO GOGMGMOGMG OGMG GOMGGM OMG OGMG OGGOOG GOMGOGGOMG GOGG GOMGGGO GOGGOG GMG MOG GMOG MO G GOGGMOGOGO OG GO GMOGOGGOGGOGMGMOGG GOMGOMGOMGMOGO OO OMMO GMOGMO GMOGMO GO GMOGMOGMOGMOGMOGMOG MOG OM GOGOG OMG MOG MOG OGMOGOMGOGM OMG GMO GO MGO OG OG OMG GMO GMO GMOGMO GMO GMO GMOMO MOG OGM GMO GO GMO GO MG MOGO MOGG MOGO G OG OGO GMO GO MGMO GO MG OMG OGOM MOG GMOG OMG MOGO MGMO OGM OGMOGMGO MGO MOG OGM MOOMGOM OMG GMO GO MGO GMO OGMMOG MOGGMO GMO GMOGMO GMO GMO GMO






TO EXCITED TO PUT IN WORDS!!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Also, who is Leif Eriksson? Sounds Swedish. If he his, I might just... send him some flowers though Eniro. Won´t stalk him down or anything. I swear.

Okay, Eniro (yellow pages) has 2016 Leif Erikssons. Maybe I should just send some flowers to each one, just to make sure.
Actually, it seems to can send a lot more than just flowers through Eniro. Candy, chocolate, teddybears, etc.
Oh oh oh, there´s an Love and Romance section!

Magnificent! Just as I started reading volume one of 'The House of Ptolemy' the team announces this! Many thanks and congratulations to EB team for this as well as all their hard work on EBII :2thumbsup:

Yes you will play as Ptolemaios Lagou (though not all his possessions will be included on the map). The tutorial will start in 313 and last a few days. It will be heavily scripted up until the battle of Gaza, after which the player will get a chance to consolidate power in the Levant. More details will be released for a preview of the tutorial.

Foot

HOLY JESUS!!!! THIS IS UNBELIABAEL GREAT!!IAEGOGNIONAINIOFNNAO



Also:

I´ve just watched the video 4 times, and god dammit it is amazing. Obviously there is still some work left to be done (palm tree up close looked paperthin, general still using MTW2 skin) but it was still the greatest thing I have ever seen! EVER!!!

Simply stunning! Amazing! BRilliant! I love you guys!

Q: Will these few days up until the Battle of Gaza be split into several turns? Would be really nice, but really, everything you guys though is freaking nice!

Who like me is a tad disappointed ? We lack elephantry, more cavalrymen etc etc...

Hope it will change soon :shame:

PS : I did not see the argyrapisdai are they scrapped too ? :skull:

Have a good day!

How the hell can you be dissapointed!??!? This is the the pinnacle of mankinds evolution!!!!

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Originally Posted by General Appo

How the hell can you be dissapointed!??!? This is the the pinnacle of mankinds evolution!!!!

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Calm down a bit. You are a tad ridiculous with your OMG everywhere.

The palm tree was because the computer used to capture the footage had the vegetation detail set to low.

The fine details of the Gaza Campaign haven't be decided so it would be premature to make any comments about it beyond what has already been said.

Foot

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Originally Posted by Rastapopoulos

Calm down a bit. You are a tad ridiculous with your OMG everywhere.

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I´ll have you know, that I - as I am sure many respectable gentlemen will testify - I use my OMG´s very sparingly, and only for occasion which I deem deservant of such level of excitement. This just so happens to be one of those occasions.

So, I repeat: OMG

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Originally Posted by Rastapopoulos

Who like me is a tad disappointed ? We lack elephantry, more cavalrymen etc etc...

Hope it will change soon :shame:

PS : I did not see the argyrapisdai are they scrapped too ? :skull:

Have a good day!

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We literally have to remake every single unit from scratch. We cannot use any element from EBI because the process in doing so is roughly as long as making a unit from scratch. So give us a break and be happy with what we have done. We are no where near the stage where even a 1/10 of the units are done, so elephantry and other rather rare units won't be being made anytime soon.

I'm suprised that your disappointed. Do you know how much work is still to be done?

If you want the first preview you see to be closer to the finished article I would wait a year before coming back to these forums. We might be nearer completion then. :clown:

Foot

Yeah, go FOOT, screw Tintin´s Nemesis!

I´m sorry if I come off as rather blunt and offensive, but these news have simply excited me so much that I bubble and burst and explode! GO EB!

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Originally Posted by General Appo

Yeah, go FOOT, screw Tintin´s Nemesis!

I´m sorry if I come off as rather blunt and offensive, but these news have simply excited me so much that I bubble and burst and explode! GO EB!

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I can´t blame you g. Appo, I too am way more excited about this than....well just about anything that has happened this summer...or year...:laugh4:

@ EB Team
ZOMG!!!:beam:
Thanks for that! did not want to ruin the trailer with youtube graphics so im still waiting for the download to be finished but from the sneakpeek I took: :dizzy2: amazing!

ZOMFGZ!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!! OMG OMG OMG!!!!! WOW!!!!!
YES YES YES!!!

WOOT WOOT WOOT!!! FOOT, EB TEAM, YOUR WORK IS GLORIOUS, AND COMPARES IN MAGNIFICENCE TO THAT OF THE SUN ITSELF!!! OMFG!!!!!!

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Originally Posted by Appo

Leif Eriksson

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The Norse Leif Eriksson was the son of Erik the Red, and was supposedly one of the first Europeans to set foot in North America, circa 1000 A.D. Attempting to sail to Greenland from Iceland(I think), a storm blew his ship(s) off course, and he eventually reached land somewhere in Northern Canada. After exploring for some time, it is believed he reached modern-day eastern Canada(the exact site is debatable) and named it Vinland after its wild grapes. I can't remember who exactly established the small settlement at L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland and Labrador, nor do I remember the exact details. Anyways, they eventually dispersed due to civil strife and vicious skirmishes with the native First Nations, the "Skraelings", of the area.

This is from my memory. I believe this is now generally accepted as being factual. Here's the wikki link: L'Anse aux Meadows

If you want my reaction to the video in short, here's the recipe.

Take General Appo's reaction, mix it with some religious zealousness, love for the MTWII graphic engine, and some special ingredients and you get an excitement bomb, that even Appo's "OMG"s can't fulfil.

Splendid job, EB team, just magnificent. (add all the superlatives you know).

I can't wait for the end product, yet I can see that it will be mind-blowing! :yes:

uhh...

:dizzy2:

uhh...

I'm quite speechless, actually!

This is the best news for months, all categories.
For months!?! Who am I kidding?
It's the best news ever!!!

Thanks a lot, Foot!
Go EB!!!:2thumbsup:

Guys, you are awesome.
Beautiful video. :2thumbsup:
The few sentences about game mechanics are very interesting too. It seems that EBII will be far more than just complex.

I can wait for the game (the unsage of the term "mod" was unfair for EBI, for this project it would be blasphemy :yes: ). I will wait patiently. And I expect EBII to be the most challenging strategy game ever.
I'm just afraid that I will have to play it with access to a good dictionary. :laugh4:
But thats okay because it will not only teach me a lot of things I didn't know about classic age (I'm mainly interested in far earlier periods of human history like sumerian or the early indian or mesoamerican culture) but also english terms that are uncommon. Nice. :2thumbsup:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rastapopoulos

Who like me is a tad disappointed ? We lack elephantry, more cavalrymen etc etc...

Hope it will change soon :shame:

PS : I did not see the argyrapisdai are they scrapped too ? :skull:

Have a good day!

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What a nice guy. Hell, you can come home and and screw my sister.

I SERIOUSLY CAN'T WAIT UNTIL THIS COMES OUT!!! (in a yr or two) However, I'm still trying to buy this uber laptop and it turns out there isn't any left!!!! I'm awaiting a call from my fav comp place to see if they have this other uber laptop for me. Whatever the case may be, WOOT WOOT WOOT for EB and the EB TEAM!!! WOOOOOOT!!!! :2thumbsup:

What I really find awesome is the contrast in the Hellenistic units. OMG, the various armour and shield emblems is just a killer!! WOOT!!!

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Originally Posted by Sarcasm

What a nice guy.

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No kidding. I was disgusted when I read that ungrateful comment, too. :shame:

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Originally Posted by Sarcasm

Hell, you can come home and and screw my sister.

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*perks up* Damn! Is she hot?! :clown:

This looks to be one of the most fun tutorials I have ever seen made for a game (ironic that its a free game and the workers volunteers and not paid).

However, unfinished 1.1 campaigns, school and the fact EB II won't be out until at least fall 09', pressures me to wait until the next summer to learn up on all the new things EBII will have to offer and enjoy EB on the M2TW:K engine.

As soon as I get my first job, you can bet I will be contributing my first paycheck (minimum wage is better then nothing right?) to the EB team. Very nice work.

Nice preview.

Those guys charging at the phalanx were rather ankward. They stopped in a wierd way when they reached the pikes.

Other than that, nicely done. :)
EDIT: Also nice idea, making a tutorial. It is crucial making the learning curve about EB's "more realistic" mechanics less steep, making sure you win over some of those people who don't play overly complicated games.

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Originally Posted by Methuselah

*perks up* Damn! Is she hot?! :clown:

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Depends. Where do you stand on the "once you've had fat, you never go back" debate?














:clown:

Professional work as usual EB team, congratulations with those beautiful units and the excellent ideas of the tutorial and those reflected herein :

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In this tutorial you will be introduced to some of the new game mechanics that will form part of EBII. You will be introduced to how the authority buildings work, and how they affect public order. You will find out what happens to infrastructure buildings when you conquer new settlements, and how to proceed once control has passed to you. You will also be introduced to the first of the four socio-political types, the city-state type, and how city-state factions spread their influence and culture into a province through the use of military or trade colonies.

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This looks amazing!

It's good to know that, at some point, M2TW will finally be worth playing.

Funny how EB took what I saw as a giant waste of money (RTW), and turned it into one of my favorite games of all time ;)

This made my day.
Great as usual!

Great work, indeed! It is nice to see there is something moving.

Someone(s) been busy, looks great!!!!!!!!!!

What worries me about MTWII and pike battles is how poor the pike battles are in MTWII, can EB improve them(ie; always going for their secondary weapons)?

Well, one idea (which I believed was used with for example some Hoplites in later versions of EBI) is to simply not give them a secondary weapon. Obviously though this isn´t the perfect solution, and I sincerely hope and believe that the great EB team will satisfactory solve this problem.
If not, well, that´s quite alright.

In the video the units seem to be a little bit slow...

Colour me impressed.

I am going to see this video, I am sure I am not going to be disapointed.

I guess EB II is going to be a :tnt:
Cheers.

http://www.romanarmy.com/rat/images/smiles/icon_eek.gif

Great work guys, but just to check, this is just the public announcement of the tutorial campaign's development, right? I.e. it hasn't been released yet?

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Originally Posted by Eastern Foot-Rocker

In the video the units seem to be a little bit slow...

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Medieval 2 battle animation always appears to be in slow-mo to me, or at least in any mod that tones down the "infantry on speed" out of the box battles of the vanilla game (and RTW).

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Originally Posted by I Am Herenow

Great work guys, but just to check, this is just the public announcement of the tutorial campaign's development, right? I.e. it hasn't been released yet?

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:laugh4:

Oh wait, you were serious?

You know what would be really fun, is to announce the release of, say, a tutorial campaign but without a link, leaving it up to the fans to find it for themselves.

Hmm...

Foot

Brilliant idea! If you let me in on it, I can set up a virtual labyrinth of hoax sites and false links filled with Rick-Rolls and You Got Owned´s, only to, in the end, after hours of desperate searching, you find your way through to the download.
You download it, open... and find 10 000 kbs worth of male genitalia! MOHAOHHHAHAHHA!!! MOAMMOHMAHOAHM!! OMHOAMHAOHM!!! MOOHMOHMAOHMAOHMAOHMAOM!! MOHAMHOAM!!!

*falls asleep with a smile on my face, as my mother tucks me in and kisses me on my forehead*

*calls the psychiatrical ward for Appo again*

Gah.

It looks like shit.

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It looks like shit.

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Say what?

Lynch him!

Also: So does yo mamma!

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Originally Posted by Methuselah

*perks up* Damn! Is she hot?! :clown:

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Looks like Sarcasm, so No.

And we all stand in awe, in awe of the mighty

SARCASM

Truly amazing, EB team! These things always make my day! :beam:

Keep up the good work!

AWESOME!

Considering it's one of the first previews - look what we get: movies and stuff!

And we can draw some conclusions: Military/trade colonies = cities and fortresses? 4 socio-political types = religions?

its food for thought...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Foot

You know what would be really fun, is to announce the release of, say, a tutorial campaign but without a link, leaving it up to the fans to find it for themselves.

Hmm...

Foot

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Hey we could have a whole set of EB challenges in the same vein as: http://www.deathball.net/notpron/
Or better yet: http://www.pythonchallenge.com/

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Originally Posted by Leviathan DarklyCute

It looks like shit.

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I don't think so. It is quite pretty. But when playing M2TW I always get the feeling that something is incomplete, the atmosphere of RTW is gone, and I am a bit troubled if that might go to EB2. However, on that stage it is perfectly normal for EB2 to look incomplete since it is just that.

Great graphics, and the excellent music from EB1. Maybe a professional movie maker would have made something a bit more polished, and on Large or Huge unit scale the final result would be even more "epic" but this is still great. Thanks EB team!

p.s. you certainly did better than CA once again, they had the green arrows on in their ETW trailer :S

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Originally Posted by General Appo

I´ll have you know, that I - as I am sure many respectable gentlemen will testify - I use my OMG´s very sparingly, and only for occasion which I deem deservant of such level of excitement. This just so happens to be one of those occasions.

So, I repeat: OMG

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I agree. And I NEVER say OMG over anything.

I loved the 'ragged' marching that just made it all seem much more like men marching.

I haven't been following EB2 for months, since I prefer to play EB1.1 than get excited years before we see the results (remember how long we were watching PI for? Although I like their open beta). Are the small unit sizes down to the settings when the film was captured, or is it part of the MTW2 engine?

Genius, foot, genius.

As Leviathan DarklyCute so bluntly and rudely put it, the video highlights not just the progress made and the possibilities but the amount of work that still needs to be put in as well. I make this comment after watching the video multiple times. This adds to my list of why I probably wont play this until summer 09. The game will definitely be one of the best I will ever have played and will be the greatest example of detail, education and fun which I will compare to every other game I buy for the next five years, but I will most likely wait until both Gaza and EBII are close to perfection before I devote my weekday nights and entire weekends to the game.

You guys don't mess around anymore.


I take it you looked at my list, and kidnapped the appropriate people?

I've tried to download the video, but Windows Media Player only gives sound and no images. I can view videos on WMP, so that is not the problem. Do I need to change some settings to display .avi videos or is it something else?

You need to download the xvid codec. I suggest getting the KLM codec pack. Fixes you up with practically everything you need.

http://www.codecguide.com/download_mega.htm

Foot

Yeah, it didn't work for me in WMP either - try downloading DivX, that worked for me.

I Am Herenow

Thanks for the advice, Foot and I Am Herenow.

Wow. Simply stunning. Amazing graphics and unit diversity.

However, why did the two pike phalanxes just sit there and do absolutely nothing? Some of the animations also look a bit wrong (such as the cavalry one; they look like medieval knights in a charge than what they really are). Is there any way to import the old RTW animations? Nevertheless, I have to admit the majority of the animations were much better than the RTW ones. Do the soldiers still deliver that deathblow, like in vanilla M2TW?

Not to mention, the soldier's faces look a bit funny. Rather childish than the fierce grimaces they should be. EB I has pretty good soldier faces, but the same cannot be said about other mods. Are the skins shown in the video final or are they still in development?

Relax, it's a work in progress... Add some suggestions to your post, that would be helpful.

You are the best guys !!!!!!!!!!!!:2thumbsup::2thumbsup::2thumbsup:

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Originally Posted by Aemilius Paulus

Wow. Simply stunning. Amazing graphics and unit diversity.

However, why did the two pike phalanxes just sit there and do absolutely nothing? Some of the animations also look a bit wrong (such as the cavalry one; they look like medieval knights in a charge than what they really are). Is there any way to import the old RTW animations? Nevertheless, I have to admit the majority of the animations were much better than the RTW ones. Do the soldiers still deliver that deathblow, like in vanilla M2TW?

Not to mention, the soldier's faces look a bit funny. Rather childish than the fierce grimaces they should be. EB I has pretty good soldier faces, but the same cannot be said about other mods. Are the skins shown in the video final or are they still in development?

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There were horsemen back then who did fight like medieval knights with the spear couched, aka the "Longchophoroi". Earlier Hippeis would fight with the spear overhand as you say. They would also carry a smaller "cavalry" aspis.

If you are interested, check some online pictures of your Namesakes' dedication to Delphi after he defeated Perseus (Thanks DeathEmperor). You will see that they carry the large shield that are portrayed using at the video.

They weren't the only ones of course,
https://i122.photobucket.com/albums/...cav-Taras2.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by keravnos

If you are interested, check some online pictures of your Namesakes' dedication to Delphi after he defeated Phillipos V. You will see that they carry the large shield that are portrayed using at the video.

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*gasp* Keravnos aren't you thinking of Titus Quinctius Flaminius or if not him Philip V's son Perseus?

Then again it might be I who's in the wrong. I specialize more in Seleukid and Ptolemaic history more than Antigonid Makedon.

just thought i would stick my head in here.....
wow! great job! makes me not regret wasting $30 on M2TW gold!
cant wait!

Nah... I don't like it.

:laugh4:

Deep inside I am a EB slave.

It's a great start. I have some questions and remarks, though.

1. What animations will you add or change? What about finishers and individual fighting style from MTW2? Will you change it to reflect more mass-based clashes for hoplites and legions, and make it a little more individual for Sweboz or Aedui?
2. Do you consider phalanx animations finished? They look rather stiff, especially the "lifting" animation (since phalangites are constantly changing between stances - it looks terrible...) Also, am I blind or only two rows are fighting, and the rest have their sarissas lifted?
3. Why do units move so slowly? It's very evident in case of charging units. They look like in slow-motion!
4. 1:32-1:36 - there is absolutely no sense of mass when the hoplites are fighting. They are standing still!

Skins look nice. MTW2 engine will certainly benefit EB.

2... JMRC may answer, but I think the problems (are mostly) with some XML settings which determine 'bounding... bubbles'. Values probably need to be tweaked somewhat. That '2' rows are fighting, and the rest have everything lifted is correct -- in the sense that indeed the guys are deployed 6 ranks deep.
3... I'd guess ... Because, actually, that is slow motion? Didn't make the movie, don't own the PC used for recording... so can't know for sure. But yeah I'd say that is slow motion.

I think this is looking like a pretty good start :yes:

Great to see the variety within units, looks real nice :beam:

Some animations seem a bit weird but hopefully can be tweaked to be better.
The slow-mo I think is a M2TW engine thing? I believe it was the CA response to popular complaints about the fast pace of RTW.
Is the Phalanx using the Halberd type formation rather than the Pike formation?

The issue of only the first two rows of the phalanx fighting is an issue with the M2TW pike formation itself. AFAIK, there's nothing we can do about it.

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Originally Posted by BozosLiveHere

The issue of only the first two rows of the phalanx fighting is an issue with the M2TW pike formation itself. AFAIK, there's nothing we can do about it.

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What about transplanting the old RTW data into M2TW? Is that possible? After all, those phalanxes look very awkward in that EB II video. Very awkward. More like the the late Middle Age/Renaissance pikeman formation rather than the proper Macedonian phalanx.

We don't have access to that data, so no we cannot.

Foot

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Foot

We don't have access to that data, so no we cannot.

Foot

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So essentially there will be no true Mace. phalanx in EBII?

Only if you lived under the delusion that RTW's phalanx was the be all and end all of the "true Mace. phalanx". We actually thing that the Phalanx in EBII is looking better than the one in EBI and RTW.

Foot

I think the phalanxes look splendid! Sure, they might be wawing a bit with their sarissas in some of those shots, but when it comes to cohesion, I actually think it looks better than in RTW. The phalanx-formations there were ridiculously thight and firm, especially considering that most phalangites were not superbly drilled proffesionals, but more of a levy (except argyspides and their likes, of course). They shouldn't collapse as easily as the pike-formations in vanilla M2TW, though, but the RTW-ones are a bit to firm, I think.

By the way, Foot: I think I might be stepping on thin ice here, but by the statement in the Gaza-campaign introduction, I gather that the player will actually play as a city-state faction, yet the player will obviously be assuming the role of Ptolemaios. And one's andversary will obviously be Antigonos, whose kingdom collapsed after his death at Ipsus. Does this mean that the factions in the tutorial campaign will be unique to it, and not factions from the "real thing"? Or have I gotten it completely wrong?

Anyway, once again, I must congratulate the EB-team on a splendid job!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Cybvep

It's a great start. I have some questions and remarks, though.

1. What animations will you add or change? What about finishers and individual fighting style from MTW2? Will you change it to reflect more mass-based clashes for hoplites and legions, and make it a little more individual for Sweboz or Aedui?

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There are many animations to add/change: overhand spear cavalry and infantry (WIP), two-hand spear cavalry, slingers, infantry and cavalry archers who draw from the chest (WIP), roman legion fight-style, macedonian phalanx (WIP), archers and javelinmen on elephants. Then, we will change many anims to make them faster or to remove some exagerated moves.

The hoplite and legion anims are being adapted to be more cohesive, but we will leave the sword and spear vanilla anims for the less cohesive units, since the soldiers tend to spread more in those anims.

We will keep the death anims whenever possible.

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Originally Posted by Cybvep

2. Do you consider phalanx animations finished? They look rather stiff, especially the "lifting" animation (since phalangites are constantly changing between stances - it looks terrible...) Also, am I blind or only two rows are fighting, and the rest have their sarissas lifted?

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No, they are still WIP, since there are many anims to change yet. Keep in mind that only the first 3 ranks would have their spears down, since the press of phalangites would not allow for more, so that part is realistic. If you look closely, you'll see that the 3rd rank starts with the spears down, but the M2TW engine forces them to lift the spears as soon as contact is made. Unfortunately, we cannot change that behavior, but the first 2 ranks do the job well.

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Originally Posted by Cybvep

3. Why do units move so slowly? It's very evident in case of charging units. They look like in slow-motion!

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This is vanilla behavior. Whenever possible, we will change the anims to add more speed. We already did that to the javelinmen and archers.

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Originally Posted by Cybvep

4. 1:32-1:36 - there is absolutely no sense of mass when the hoplites are fighting. They are standing still!

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That's also a vanilla behavior, which is augmented due to the units being in guard mode.

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Originally Posted by Cybvep

Skins look nice. MTW2 engine will certainly benefit EB.

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No doubt about that.