RTW II and Modding: good news?

[Moros]

In an interview with Eurogamer, CA studio director Mike Simpson talks about the modding possibilities of Rome Total War II.

There's a whole group of them who want more modding tools and for the game to be more open from that point of view," said Simpson, "and we're certainly working on that, to try and get as close as we want to what they want.

"As we develop our own tools it becomes easier for us to support modders, so we're intending to do that."

This looks promising, no?

Furthermore it seems that editing maps will very much be possible this time around!

Whether those map editing tools will be included in the Rome 2 box - "we haven't specifically said that yet", Simpson said. "But I'd be surprised if that wasn't the case."

Also it seems the mod summit that CA will hold will not only be for the 'recent' releases of ETW and STWII, but will also include information on RTWII. And it appears it will also be hold so that CA can get feedback from the modders for RTWII!

"We haven't really fleshed out what we can and can't do from a modding point of view," Simpson went on. "We're going to spend some more time actually talking to the modder groups and try to come up with a plan that actually delivers them what they need rather than what we think they need, which isn't necessarily the same thing."

The full article with much more on information, such as how they will balance history and gameplay/cinematics, on multiplayer and an RTW I-RTW II comparison,... see here: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...-2-information

[Vuk]

Excellent news! If they keep their word, I will buy this as soon as I can afford it (as opposed to waiting till it is 50%+ off and buying it, like I have with the last few)!
Sounds like they may finally be doing things right! I don't care if their game is mediocre, as long as they give me the tools to make it awesome!

[Moros]

Excellent news! If they keep their word, I will buy this as soon as I can afford it (as opposed to waiting till it is 50%+ off and buying it, like I have with the last few)!
Sounds like they may finally be doing things right! I don't care if their game is mediocre, as long as they give me the tools to make it awesome!

Yes I'm actually thinking this might indeed end up being a sure to get for me.

[fightermedic]

if only i could believe it..
sorry guys, very sceptical yet on this, but i'll be all the more enthusiastic if it should prove true!

[Monk]

They say the same thing with every game, and with every game, modding gets harder and proves to be an even bigger pain for those interested in it. Statements are put out that promise much more modding capability which are almost always changed before release. I see no reason this will be any different.

By all means i'd love for CA to prove me wrong but I'll believe it when i see it.

[cunctator]

At least this time they are organizing this modding summit, something I believe they never did before. It seems CA is unhappy with the current state of modding. Until Empire the community could always hack their way into the game and produce the desired total conversion mods, even without the ever promised tools, so there was no need for CA to really release them.
And although I remember an article from 2003 that, the never released, mod tolls will ship with R:TW, the game itself turned out to be as modable as they said so I don't consider their past record as that bad.