Announcing: Europa Barbarorum

[Sarcasm]

What in Heaven´s name is THAT?!

Never seen that kind of siege engine before...

[Wishazu]

will the diversity of mercenary troops be improved? Vanillas rather paltry amount of mercenary units allways bothered me. i hated only being able to hire rubbish barbarian mercenaries when i know that ancient generals like hannibal etc. was able to recruit some of the hardiest warriors from iberia and gaul into his armies.

[khelvan]

Mercenaries - you better believe it. In general, troops that were widely used in various armies (Cretan archers, Balearic & Rhodian slingers, as an example) will be available as regional recruitment in very small areas to reflect subjugation (by those factions that would raise native units, given the appropriate government type chosen for that province) and in a wider area as mercenaries to reflect their mercenary activity.

The siege engine - I know there are a ton of guys asking for diversity in siege weaponry. I'm surprised no one has told you what that one is. Well, I'll let you guys guess.

[Malorix]

this is great! thanks for opening some stuff up finally!

[Sarcasm]

The siege engine - I know there are a ton of guys asking for diversity in siege weaponry. I'm surprised no one has told you what that one is. Well, I'll let you guys guess.

I hate it when you do that. *goes and starts yahoo*




I can see how it works....



1- Rope applies tension to the beam
2- Mechanism is released, the beam returns to its original position
3- The beam hits the missiles, and they are fired horizontaly

But what´s it called?

[Ignoramus]

Excuse me for being an ignoramus, but what is a beta?

[khelvan]

But what´s it called?

I'll give you a hint, its name sounds kind of like a vegetable. (in English, at least)

Excuse me for being an ignoramus, but what is a beta?

A "beta test" is jargon for a version of software being tested by non-developers. In other words, a test done by people outside the group that made the software. This generally follows an "alpha test," a phase during which testing is done internally. You can expect to see a non-complete version of EB, though we will do our best to keep to our usual standard of quality - as few bugs as possible, for instance.

Essentially, open beta tests are done so that people get the enjoyment of at least parts of the finished product, though understanding that it is in fact not finished, so bugs will be expected. Testers have nothing to complain about when running into a bug (as opposed to a version termed "production," if we were to not call it a test version) as they are agreeing implicitly to help us test for bugs, among other things.

"Alpha" and "Beta" have different meanings for different people. In short, you can play it, but you do it with the knowledge that it isn't as good as the finished product will be, and you may run into bugs (though you likely will not given our standard of quality).

[Sarcasm]

BETA is kind of an unfinished testing version of software, but bordering the final stages. ALPHAS on the other hand are much more unfinished, a working version of the initial stages of development.

[Malorix]

lets guess.... how about a labbage or a bocoli or maybe a lurnip?

[Sarcasm]

A vegetable......right.








It´s gonna be a long night.

[Teleklos Archelaou]

A vegetable......right.
It´s gonna be a long night.

There's been an excellent guess already though!

[Es Arkajae]

This mod sounds interesting, I know a guy at the forum where I usually post who has been pimping the EB mod for months

But two questions, the first just curiosity the second more important

1) Will barbarian factions get decent walls?, that is walls on which troops can be stationed during a siege?

2)I'm assuming this mod will be a monster in size, how large (guestimate if you will) is it going to be?, I'm assuming it will be hundreds of megabytes at least

And if it is in fact huge would it be possible for you guys to break it up into a few sections for those of us without access to broadband?

Will it also be self executable? (I suppose thats three questions)

I'm speaking of the finished product here not the beta.

[Sheep]

2)I'm assuming this mod will be a monster in size, how large (guestimate if you will) is it going to be?, I'm assuming it will be hundreds of megabytes at least

And if it is in fact huge would it be possible for you guys to break it up into a few sections for those of us without access to broadband?

Maybe we could make the VoiceMod and MusicMod in a separate sound package? Cause those mp3s are gonna add a huge amount to the download and some people might want to do without them so they don't wait days to d/l the game (although I don't have that problem ). You are already going to do a patch for the naked barbarian fetishists in the audience so you can just do the music as another patch, right?

[Ranika]

Where appropriate, the barbarian factions will get better walls. Each faction will have differences, so I'd be wary of saying ALL will. But, Gauls for example, had dirt-and-wood oppida, as well as large braced stone walls that would look similar to Roman or Greek walls, and they'll likely be able to get them.

[thrashaholic]

That siege engine...I'm very sceptical about it...

I can not see how it would work effectively at all I'm afraid to say. Sarcasm's diagram, although the most logical approach, simply could not fire those bolts any meaningful distance. If they are 'fired' by that beam hitting them then because the force applied to each bolt is only istantaneous (the beam only hits the bolts at one place - it doesn't even follow through), not continuous like a bow, an because the bolts are stationary at the point of impact, they will surely just drop to the ground? If you try it with a pencil and a ruler (pretty crude, and not quite the same I know) it does exactly this. One'd need a gigantic force to lauch those bolts and physics tells me that they still wouldn't fly very far or very straight...

If someone could enlighten me to the mechanisms and physics of this contraption I'd be most grateful.

Otherwise I'm pleased to see how well this mod is taking shape, it might just rekindle my interest in RTW.

[eadingas]

That thing existed for real, and it worked. Not very effective, as you say - short distance, low accuracy - but it worked.

[jerby]

ok, looks great. but what is the use if it is short ranged and not very effective and fires regular arrows ( looks like it) than you'll be better of with regular archers. The device will probably ahve a high upkeep since it can't last long: two wooden beams clashing in to each other.

EDIT: asking for featuring of: cheiroballistaor gastraphetes, greek repeating ballista ( i know romans didn't have em, but greeks did have something like a repeating scorpion, but only at some points)

guesss it is a barbaric siege engine ( gaul or germanic or briton or dacian) since greeks and romans already knew how to do it better. again, not saying barbarians were barbaric but greeks and romans just knew math.

[Divinus Arma]

Greetings once again EB crew. And thank you, once again, for your hard work and dedication to this challenging and noble effort. You should be recognized as you are: true and loyal fans to the franchise as well as leaders in modding.

That said and deserved Kudos aside, I have a few brief questions:

1) Do you have a written manual or guide in the works? If not, I would like to recommend that you pursue the effort, and offer it at a price. With print-on-demand, you can publish high quality manuals or books at minimal cost. Whether you decide to seek a small profit for your work is your own choice of course. An accompanying manual would certainly serve to support the educational aspect of your project. I would have no problem paying for such a thing, and I am sure that I am not alone. Hell, I would even work on it myself but for a 55 hour work week and 20+ hours of university study per week (I barely have time for this board, gaming, or my marriage).

2) How difficult will this be to install and uninstall?

3) How large will the download be?

Warmest Regards,

Divinus Arma

[Sarcasm]

There's been an excellent guess already though!

What do you mean? Cabbage? Brocoli? A turnip?

C´mon fess it up!

[Divinus Arma]

given the appropriate government type chosen for that province

Please elaborate. We get to choose a government TYPE? If so, then HOLY S.

[Steppe Merc]

Not really. I'll let Khelvan explain...

[Divinus Arma]

Whomever. I look forward to it. I won't even speculate.

Regards

[Sarcasm]

Merc, man...I´m acking here!

What´s that thing called?

[khelvan]

Governments - each faction will have choices to make when taking over provinces. These choices reflect how the faction interacts with the people they have conquered, and in some instances the land and resources. For instance, the steppe people will have to choose between a nomadic or agricultural infrastructure, and this will affect the type of troops they can raise and the bonuses and such from the economy and people. The Celts will probably have a choice of four types of government - Directly controlled by a king (subjugated - homelands only), controlled by an installed noble (subjugated, different bonuses/penalties), controlled by an indigenous leader (client), or controlled by a religious leader (assimilated).

As you can see there will be considerable variety between factions. Furthermore, if there is some suggestion you have along these lines for individual factions, we are happy to consider it.

Ok, ok, I won't torture you anymore. It is a bricoli, and while it may look like it isn't very powerful, such devices were more powerful than an arrow and often used for killing mounts. You don't get a sense of scale with these pictures.

The production release will be a fully-automated install. I am not sure about the open beta yet. The size of the open beta will likely be in the neighborhood of 500MB.

I cannot currently forsee anything "sold," as that brings very real legal issues. We may offer a written manual for download. Certainly the mod will require documentation.

[Sarcasm]

Khelvan, you are a beautiful human-being.




What will be the difference between the closed BETA and the open BETA?

[Divinus Arma]

You folks are freaking geniuses!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I cannot even believe this... Installed nobles? Client states? You are capable of making changes this drastic?

Wait... I think I may have grasped how you can pull this off. It's the religious buildings right? You guys must be converting those to manipulate each state!

YOU ARE FREAKING GENIUSES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Divinus Arma]

I still can't believe it...







FREAKING GENIUSES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Brilliant I tell you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Divinus Arma]

I have been reduced to a shell of a man. I am giddy. Giddy I tell you. Every fiber of my military bearing and personal dignity has fled from my body.

[Sarcasm]

Someone call the Paramedics......

[khelvan]

It is an abstract. I mean it is just a building that enables the building of other buildings, the recruitment of certain types of units, and certain bonuses or penalties. We can't change the UI or anything on a per-province basis. This really isn't a revolutionary concept. The nice thing about the building system is that it is one of the few things that we can really make adjustments to.

The beta test will be open. In the future we will have closed betas for new versions. But we figured that you guys would want to get your hands on what we've done so far. I guarantee that it will be better than vanilla RTW.