What is the future of EB?

[Olaf The Great]

Porting to MTW2 won't be more than just a port. EB is so complex I imagine that the team will have to rethink the mod from scratch to see what they can do with the new engine.

And remember when they had to do that LAST time

[Olaf The Great]

Whats with those freaky looking Units(The Samnites and that, weird unit that looks like Hastati with Linthorax

[iberus_generalis]

they are some skins i added to my install, to improve the rebels of italy...they come from RTR PE AE...not releasing sorry

[mcsquared]

Let's face it BOTH EB and RTR are going to lose players to MTW2 because of the new engine and graphics. In an ideal world, CA would re-release RTW and BI with the new MTW2 engine and graphics and then EB and RTR could be ported to MTW2. Realistically, however, I feel chances of this happening are pretty remote.

NOTE: For those of you who have given up on the stock BI (me included), you might want to download Vlad's BI mod. It is outstanding and he continues to update it!

[GodEmperorLeto]

Honestly, EB is such a fantastic mod, I recommend it to everyone I know who plays the regular game. EB is to Rome: Total War what Counterstrike was to HalfLife. Now, if only we could get the corporations to realize that and hire the modders to make Rome: Total War 2, we'd be in business.

Just between you and me, I'd definitely pay $50 or $60+ for a game that was designed as well as EB is, and smile the entire time I'm handing that cash over. And I'm a poor grad student who will have to eat broth for three weeks in order to make such a purchase, but it is totally worth the money.

Now, if only Creative Assembly would realize that....

Anyway, Medieval 2 is not going to win me away from EB. Firstly, my PC can't handle it, and I can't afford to upgrade it or buy a new one. Secondly, after playing Medieval 1 and finding myself disappointed with all the avenues they didn't pursue, I have little faith that it's sequel is going to be all that it is cracked up to be.

Medieval 2 will have prettier graphics and a different feel to it. Maybe even a different style of warfare. But, honestly, it isn't going to hold a candle to the depth and immersiveness that EB does. Only the Europa Universalis series has that sort of appeal.

[fallen851]

EB is to Rome: Total War what Counterstrike was to HalfLife.

Wow. I can't believe you just compared the difference between EB and RTW to CS and HL. Halflife was an incredible game, the best single player experience I've had in any genre. In fact, the two add-on packs were also excellent (though the original was just stunning).

Counter-strike is an excellent mod to Halflife, but it does not try to reinvent Half-Life (not even cliffe and goose could do that), rather it just uses the engine for another incredible idea. CS has such a lasting appeal because MP is becoming ever so popular, and it could have been made on many different engines (such as the Unreal engine), it takes nothing away from HL.

My point is that EB is what RTW should have been. CS is certainly not what HL should have been.
Rant over.

On another note, I echo your feelings about M2TW, I think it will be little beyond eye candy.

[eadingas]

Making a game and making a mod are two different things, though... The main part of making a game is coding it. What we, the modders are doing is just pretty much touching things up on the external side. And look how long it's taken us, and we still haven't finished.
Although I suppose doing historical "research" needed for a vanilla CA game is something that would take me an evening in a library...

[fallen851]

This of course depends on whether or not the developers allow you to edit the code.

[eadingas]

And we very well know they won't.

[GodEmperorLeto]

Wow. I can't believe you just compared the difference between EB and RTW to CS and HL. Halflife was an incredible game, the best single player experience I've had in any genre....Counter-strike is an excellent mod to Halflife, but it does not try to reinvent Half-Life....My point is that EB is what RTW should have been. CS is certainly not what HL should have been.

You misunderstand me. I didn't mean to compare them on gameplay, interface, or any technical or programming levels. I was comparing them on business levels. In other words, if the guys who made Counterstrike were hired by Valve and ended up working in the gaming business, there's no reason that the EB designers shouldn't get the same treatment.

Sorry if I didn't make that totally clear.

On another note, I echo your feelings about M2TW, I think it will be little beyond eye candy.

I could be wrong. I hope I am.

[fallen851]

You misunderstand me. I didn't mean to compare them on gameplay, interface, or any technical or programming levels. I was comparing them on business levels. In other words, if the guys who made Counterstrike were hired by Valve and ended up working in the gaming business, there's no reason that the EB designers shouldn't get the same treatment.

Sorry if I didn't make that totally clear.



I could be wrong. I hope I am.

Yeah, I apologize for flipping out. HL is so such a great game, that I get emotional about it or something.

I've always wondered, why are the best modelers, skinners, ect, ect, not on the team that makes the game to begin with?

Maybe it is because they don't have a degree in computer science or whatever.

And we very well know they won't.

And this wouldn't be so bad if CA didn't claim to be so mod friendly...

[khelvan]

I've always wondered, why are the best modelers, skinners, ect, ect, not on the team that makes the game to begin with?

Maybe it is because they don't have a degree in computer science or whatever.

The gaming industry is incredibly myopic and incestuous. You literally have to have worked on a game before in the industry to get a job there. I know, I've tried, and I have friends in the business, such as with Gas Powered Games, Sony, and Blizzard. Degrees don't matter, previous experience doesn't matter (unless it is in the industry).

It is literally worth more on your resume to put a list of all the games you have played than it is to put that you've had profit and loss responsibility for $100 million in recurring revenue of products that have nothing to do with gaming.

How sick is that?

[MSB]

The gaming industry is incredibly myopic and incestuous. You literally have to have worked on a game before in the industry to get a job there. I know, I've tried, and I have friends in the business, such as with Gas Powered Games, Sony, and Blizzard. Degrees don't matter, previous experience doesn't matter (unless it is in the industry).

It is literally worth more on your resume to put a list of all the games you have played than it is to put that you've had profit and loss responsibility for $100 million in recurring revenue of products that have nothing to do with gaming.

How sick is that?

Very! The people who make the games don't know what they are missing out on, then again you could set up your own company (if you won the lottery) and then you could rule the gaming world!

EDIT: If the industry will not let you work on a game unless you have worked on a another one in the past how do you get employed to do that other one if they wont take anybody on who hasn't done a game before as well. This probably dosn't make sence, but I don't know how to say it any less complex!

[khelvan]

Well, working on them for free (i.e. modding) is the most common way to get "experience" working on a game.

[MSB]

Well, working on them for free (i.e. modding) is the most common way to get "experience" working on a game.

Ahhhh. So the EB team could sign us because the have modding experience. Go get jobs at the CA, kick off the people who work there and recreate TW perfectly. Go EB Team, the gaming world needs you!

[Musopticon?]

I don't know, I wouldnt exactly like modders replacing experienced devs, just because their vision seems to be more accurate. CA are very competent.

[CountArach]

I don't know, I wouldnt exactly like modders replacing experienced devs, just because their vision seems to be more accurate. CA are very competent.

I agree with Musopticon... experienced Developers ensure that a game is released earlier than new ones who haven't used the language before. Personally I would love to see a collaboration, with Realism modders providing research and Developers implementing the features as best they can.

Unfortunately, it is a moot point, as it will probably never happen.

[Trithemius]

Unfortunately, it is a moot point, as it will probably never happen.

How many people are on the EB team? Quite a few, it seems from their thanks list. It's pretty unlikely that a corporation would approve (or could afford!) the hiring of that many people!

[Foot]

How many people are on the EB team? Quite a few, it seems from their thanks list. It's pretty unlikely that a corporation would approve (or could afford!) the hiring of that many people!

People come and people go, we've thanked those who have worked with us in the past but who are no longer working now. The current team is much much smaller, I wouldn't want to give a number, but we will probably be listing a team list with 0.8.0

Foot