A Europa Barbarorum Barebones.
The first step in creating EB on M2TW was to create a base platform from which to build. A solid foundation would ensure that EB II would sail far smoother than EB I had. I began with the Kingdoms Barebones mod and started by tearing out all code that wasn't necessary for the game to run. All units were ripped out from the export_descr_units.txt as were the code for the buildings (though I had to keep the building complexes in as the settlement files still fed off them). descr_strat and campaign_script were likewise butchered. From this far more limited position I felt I could begin the great task of the day, the creation of our own internal names for elements such as factions, cultures, religions, regions and settlements. One of the problems in coding in EB I was that either the internal names did not match up to their external counter-parts (as in the case of factions) or they did, but these elements were in a constant state of flux and so their internal names were also constantly changing (such as provinces and settlements). It was decided that for those internal elements whose position had been decided, most notably factions, we would give suitable and memorable internal names (so now factions have the internal name of f_rome, f_carthage and the like - "f_" being a constant prefix so as to make the names easily findable in the code), whilst for elements such as regions and settlements we would use a consistent internal naming system that could be kept unchanged no matter the changes that would occur on the external side (so now regions have the name region_001 to region_199 and settlements have the name sett_001 to sett_199).
The largest area that has been worked upon so far has been the inclusion of the EB I map into the EBII Barebones campaign. This has not been scaled up as of yet, nor have the province changes so far finalised been added, but it is a huge step forward for the mod as we can begin to place campaign elements onto the map, slowly reaching our goal. That is my next step, the addition of campaign elements such as new strat map characters (based on EB I models) and new strat map settlements and ports (based on EBI models also).
As, of course, many of you will know, M2TW allows for 10 new factions, and EB II intends to take full advantage of this situation. Already some new factions have been implemented into the internal build, and menu and strat map image elements are being worked upon as we speak. No doubt we will release previews of these factions when work enough has been done, but until then be paitent - we promise it will be worth it.
Some screenshots from game:
https://img512.imageshack.us/img512/...le31ym0.th.jpg https://img208.imageshack.us/img208/...le32ou2.th.jpg
https://img403.imageshack.us/img403/...le33mz5.th.jpg https://img137.imageshack.us/img137/...le34cp1.th.jpg
I shall return with further news soon.
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