An interview with....

[Brennus]

At long last (and once again I do apologies as it was an administrative fault on my part) here is Haithabas:

What is your role in the Europa Barbarorum II team?

I´m one of the 2D artist mostly working on the unit skins, but I can take care of other works if needed.

Why did you join the team?

I was a big fan of the Total War Series from the very start and a follower of the TW modding scene for a long time.
The first mod I played for a Total War game was the "MTW XL Mod" for Medieval and many others has follow.
As was the case formany others I couldn´t wait anymore for EB2 and one day I decide to support this project.
I asked my self what can I do? I´ve only some basic knowledge of history, i´m not a native English speaker and have no clue when it comes to scripting and modding.
The only option remaining was art. I've tried many in the past to learn more about drawing and painting in the traditional way for myself, but i always give up after a few sketches.
In October 2011 I had a long vacation and I start to work on a 2D picture of an Armenian Cataphract which I wanted to use for my EB2 application.
Things started getting strange...once I started I couldn´t stop. I worked more than a week, 8-12 hours every day! I was obsessed for the first time of my life, like a freak. My girlfriend start to get worried.
I watched tutorials, tried many different techniques, studied other artists works, read books ect. In the end it was a creepy picture, but i was very proud of it and since then I work nearly every day and train my skills. Im pretty sure I´ll continue after EB2.
So I sent my first picture to some of the EB team members and offered my support... nothing happened.
A months later I tried it again and this time I got the opportunity to skin a unit and a new age of painful learning began...

What sort of tools/software do you use in your work?

Photoshop, pen tablet Wacom Intuos4 L and a 3D software.

Considering the core goal of Europa Barbarorum II is to be as historically accurate as possible, does this leave any room for artistic licence?

It´s always a personal challenge to create something unique and if you are limited by historical accuracy, you work even more on realistic looking textures, which can by even a bigger challenge. So yes there is always room for artistic licence either way.

On average how long does it take to produce a new unit?

Starting with the UVW and ending with the normal maps it usually take ~ 20-30 hours, units with complex shield motifs take much longer.

Do you feel, as a result of working with the various historians, that you have learned anything about this time period?

Absolutely! It´s very interesting to learn more about different events and history you will probably never heard of concerning the political situations, the trade goods, different dyes, construction, cattle and wild animals...
And even dead languages became alive! It´s a huge source of knowledge.

Is there a chance of a sneak peak of some of your new work?

Yes...coming soon.

Considering how many artists have worked for Europa Barbarorum II, has this resulted in any discrepancies between the artwork which has been produced?

This could not be avoided considering EBII has 196 units. Most of the 2D artists (if not all) are volunteers with no professional background, this mean it´s very hard to keep one standard. The best example are the bronze textures, everyone has a different idea of what bronze has to look like in game. At the beginning of the unit creation it was darker (brownish), now at the end of the development it is much more brighter (yellowish) this was a continuing process over the years by different artists.

But don´t worry they all look good ;-)

Can you tell us about any of the new units which will be appearing in EBII?

For the Hellenic factions we have many different Peltastai units, Peltastai don´t mean skirmishers, they are more like a kind of light troops which can be used in many situations in skirmish, holding lines and some even in assault.

"The Cretan peltastai wasn't particularly common and important until near the start of the Hellenistic period. The Cretans who accompanied Alexander to the East were equipped with both bows and javelins, light shields and swords. In later years, units of crack Cretan peltastai were popular mercenaries throughout the Hellenistic world.
Wearing light body armor, helmets, and carrying peltai of varying shapes and sizes (mainly round and oval, though rectangular shapes were not unknown), they were capable light infantry employed in urban combat, rough terrain, and difficult tactical operations.
Those that wore armor likely wore the spolas, a light, leather tube-and-yoke corselet that provided a little extra protection in combat. Most shields were like small versions of the aspis, with a rim, and faced in bronze."

What is the most challenging aspect of your work?

To make every unit look interesting and unique. Especially the common units.

Are there any units which you are most proud of?

No, not proud of, but the unit I like the most is one of my first skins; the Machimoi Phalangitai. Some time ago I improved almost all of the textures because i didn´t like the older ones anymore and it was important to me to show "my" units in best possible way.
Unfortunately I learn constantly and this make my older work look worse day by day.

Just how difficult is it to skin an elephant?

Easy. Really easy. I mean I didn´t create any skin for elephants until now, but its not hard ... I believe. Making a 3D model of an elephant is really hard work, but not skinning. No.

Are there any units which are likely to differ a lot from their Europa Barbarorum versions?

Indeed there are, for example the Gaesatae wield spears now instead of swords. The Liby-Phoenician infantry are equipped with hoploi and tunics rather than theuros and linothorax. Late period Celtic boatroas wear a lot more chainmail, they also wear iron helmets etc. The Illyrians are no longer pirates and the Sabeans will have access to a completely reconfigured unit pool... and much much more.

What faction are you looking forward to playing most?

Like many others I´d usually played Rome, Carthage, Baktria ect in EB. This time I´ll start with an Hellenic faction, probably Epeiros or Ptolemaioi. Both factions have a huge pool of regional units and both have a more interesting starting positions in EBII. Epeiros for example will have Hellenic opponents in the east/southeast, the Getai in to the northeast, Romans in the west, Carthage in Sicily and Boii in northwest. So you will fight against 5 different cultures supported by many regional units (Hellenic, Illyrian, Celtic, Italic etc) and, if you doing well two other cultures, the Lugii and Saouromatae, await you!

Are there any positions/roles which the team are in need of people to fill?

Yes, of course! We are always looking for talented and motivated people.
Historians (they don´t need any modding skills!)
2D & 3D Artists!
As always, we really need scripters/coders However we can only accept veterans or extremely motivated people with a lot time free time (they will need it!) and a willingness to learn.
In addition we could use some people with knowledge of campaign and battle AI.

Approximately how many variations of soldiers' faces and armour we would see within a unit?

We usually have 4 faces, 3-5 torsos, 3-5 helmets, 4 shields, 2-3 swords and sheaths and 2-3 Legs and other parts per unit.
From what I know the Ethiopian Spearman will have 20736 different combinations (thanks JMRC!) the Scutari (with 6 torsos!) and some other decorative items will have even more.
Just imagen how many different EB I units we could create ...

How did you handle historical accuracy regarding unit variation?

Good question! I give you an example of what can happen: a few weeks ago I worked on the Peltastai Logades in 3 different versions (Bosporian, Pergamon, Pontus and mixed version for the rebels). Paullus our main historian and Hellenic factions expert created a concept thread with different shield motifs.
One of the motifs was a Hellenic gorgon, the problem was we had the same gorgon motif for two factions, my intention was to make them all look unique and Paullus was pretty busy in RL so I decided to start a research on my own initiative.
So I found a nice stone relief showning a wild gorgon, to this I added fangs and a tongue, because all gorgons have fangs. After several hours of work I was satisfied with the results and I show my work to the team.

Paullus then responded:

"Can I request some modifications to the gorgoneion? The hair, which should be strawberry blonde or sandy brown, should generally be curly hair close to the face, and there should be little snakes coming out at several places, two on each side, 1-2 on top.
In the Hellenistic era, and you can see this on the images I posted, the gorgoneion develops hollowed eyes with arched brows, and the tongue and teeth are replaced by lightly pursed lips."
The stone relief of the gorgon I found was a roman adaptation dated to after the EBII timeframe. So my work was mostly useless for us, but we found a way to make it accurate and unique at once :-)

Is there a chance of a sneak peak of some of your new work?

One of our new Illyrian peltasts (WIP)

Just one thing, it's important to understand that the unit you see on this picture it´s not only my work. Many people worked on it before and some will work on it after I´m done with the skins! All starting with the concept made by one of the historians, next the modellers begin to their work, we often use parts made by multiple 3D artists.
Skinning, again some textures are made by other 2D artists (for example many times Gustave has offered to share his work with me). Animations! And finally coding.


Next time we will be interviewing Brennus (me) the EBII Celtic historian.