Twitter discussion

[Kull]

You can't just throw that out there and then not post illustrative images.

How about this....."they look completely awesome!" The graphics were done by Tux, so you can be certain of that!

[Rex Somnorum]

How about this....."they look completely awesome!" The graphics were done by Tux, so you can be certain of that!

I don't doubt it. But pictures are more eloquent than words.

[Rex Somnorum]

At the risk of universal opprobrium, I'll pose an old question: when's this damn thing gonna be released? I'm not asking for an exact date, I'm asking for a rough estimate. If the EB Twitter is any indication, most of the major bugs have been ironed out and the game is almost finished. Assuming that the current rate of development continues, when can we expect a release? In a month? Sometime in summer?

Don't take this as ingratitude. For the modders that have devoted months and years of their life to making EBII happen, I thank you from the depths of my admittedly shallow heart. I appreciate your sacrifice and dedication, and I'm not trying to be impatient. I just want to know if I should get excited yet. I understand if you can't give a straight answer to the question. But given the vague parameters, I believe you should be able to.

Also for the Twitter junkies:

Thanks to Tsar for producing lovely new 2D icons for the Roman temples, including a novel idea about representing the gods - The EBII Team

Finished the new numidian chariot model, last chariot model needed for the 1st release. ~Tux pic.twitter.com/urGzO1GWKG

Adding texture to the Numidian chariot model - Haithabas

Reading up on the excavations at Corent to aid with the Arverni descriptions - Brennus

A big thank you to sirtim for his help in researching the Cantabrian cavalry unit - Brennus

[Kull]

At the risk of universal opprobrium, I'll pose an old question: when's this damn thing gonna be released? I'm not asking for an exact date, I'm asking for a rough estimate. If the EB Twitter is any indication, most of the major bugs have been ironed out and the game is almost finished. Assuming that the current rate of development continues, when can we expect a release? In a month? Sometime in summer?

Your question is addressed here.

[Ailfertes]

Some tweets and some interesting impressions:

Just got back from a veterinary convention in Vegas. Time to get back to breaking descr_strat. - abou

Impressions from a Roman campaign during the ongoing beta testing: A view across Northern Italy - gigantus pic.twitter.com/Hq7IJ2tGfN

Impressions from a Roman campaign The siege of Athens - gigantus pic.twitter.com/2LmkWNLSj4

Spy strat map characters added for Baktria and Hayasdan - nazgool

Working on unique shield designs for the Ptolemaic strategoi - Haithabas

[kdrakak]

Some tweets and some interesting impressions:

Those pics need twitter accounts. Can we have them posted here?

[Ailfertes]

Sure:




And more news:

A huge thank you to all our fans for your legendary patience and continued support. We won't let you down! - The EB team

71.6% of factions now have all their strat map characters - Tux

[Alcibiade]

Sure:




And more news:

Awesome campaign map pic !

[moonburn]

missing the eye candy so can we perhaps have few family trees particulary how the new barbarian family treess will work? can we recruit a few generals and make them family members?

[Grimmy]

missing the eye candy so can we perhaps have few family trees particulary how the new barbarian family treess will work? can we recruit a few generals and make them family members?

+1

PS. every time I read your forum name, I flash to Glory Mooncall from the Garrett PI novels by Glen Cook.

[Ailfertes]

Much much more new twitter news in this long hiatus.

A huge thank you to all our fans for your legendary patience and continued support. We won't let you down! - The EB team

71.6% of factions now have all their strat map characters - Tux

Working on the naval dynamics of EBII with Kull - V.T. Marvin

Taleudoi province description finished. 4,300 words this time - Brennus

Sauromatae diplomat and assassin completed along with Numidian diplomat and spy - nazgool

Researching for more province descriptions. This time Iron Age Switzerland - Brennus

Romani and Semitic culture PSFs fixed so that they are the same size as those of other cultures - Tux

Working on new spy strat map characters for Pontos, Arche Seleukia and the Ptolemaio - nazgool

Models for the Sweboz standard bearers nearly finished, just need to skin them - Tux

Experienced in 3D modelling/2D artwork? Want to speed up the release of EBII? Contact us via: https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showt...uitment-thread …

Skinned the Sweboz standards. ~Tux pic.twitter.com/jdtvJMavaW

Strat map assassin and diplomat models for the Getai finished - nazgool

A big thank you to Tsar for another lovely bunch of Romani user interface icons - The EBII Team

Spy strat map character finished for the Getae - nazgool

A warm welcome to sirtim and Ibrahim who join the EBII team as Iberian researcher and programmer, respectively - The EBII Team

Time to build the unique Pritanoi government system with Brennus - V.T. Marvin

Discussing what helmet to give the Sweboz standard bearers, with TheTank and Brennus - Arjos

Deep in thought over what a Lusotannan diplomat, spy and assassin might look like - Sirtim

Romani UI interface now more immersive than ever. Goodbye MTW2 textures. Thank you Tsar! - The EBII Team

First unique Pritanoi government description written - Brennus

The Hellenistic version of Orson Welles? EBII would be happy to hear from anyone with experience of making (high quality) intro videos!

Pritanoi "Allied State" government description finished - Brennus

FM/General strat map character finished for Sweboz - Tux

New Naval Recruitment system (V.T. Marvin) & Unit Cards (Tux) now in-game

So much work being done. Don't miss the calls for help in there!

[LusitanianWolf]

I've not been much around the forums latelly but lots of interesting stuff happening on twitter that should be shared here:

Strat map spy character finished for Saba and Nabateans - nazgool

Storm at Sea - Kull pic.twitter.com/2FxJlWHmh4

Strat map assassin characters finished for the Saba and Nabateans - nazgool

Writing the final Celtic ethnicities - Brennus

Once again, apologies to our fans for the delay... but we had to finish off some things to make it truly special. - The EBII team.

Naval system fully implemented in-game. The oceans are no longer a place for the faint of heart! - Kull

Sneak peek (thanks abou) - the EB2 Intro audio:
https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...2&d=1395423777 …
- EBII Team

How about a link that works?

ftp://ftp.europabarbarorum.com/rec0321-124045.mp3

- EBII Team

Can Brennus write a province description, Pritanoi government descriptions and faction ethnicities and still be in work for 6 tonight? Hmmm.

All Pritanoi government descriptions written - Brennus

A big hello to our Swiss fans and those who like the music of Eluveitie, its time to write the Raition province description - Brennus

\m/

Finishing up the Sweboz officers. ~Tux pic.twitter.com/FT5ek0rvpg

3,200 words later and we have a finished province description for Raiton - Brennus

SkynOs returns and delivers new Battlemap UIs for all cultures. EB2 looking more awesome, every day! - EBII Team

SO MUCH AWESOME AWESOMENESS!!
Or should I say: EuropaBarbarorumness! =D

[moonburn]

been a while since the last update

[BroskiDerpman]

Yeah baby yeah!

[joshmahurin]

Since there haven't been updates here in a while but there have been plenty on twitter, I'll update this. Forums been dying down lately without news.

A big thank you to Tsar for his work on the new Western Greek battle user interface - EBII Team (@EBTeam) March 25, 2014

Specialized Sweboz, Lugian, and Sabaean governments added to the build - V.T. Marvin (@EBTeam) March 26, 2014

Raurici, Vindelici and Ligurian ethnicities written for the Celtic factions - Brennus (@EBTeam) March 26, 2014

Specialized Hayasdan & Getai governments added to the build - V.T. Marvin (@EBTeam) March 28, 2014

Small sneak-peek of new Roman unit - nazgool pic.twitter.com/ACuwk85jDl (@EBTeam) March 29, 2014

Last head for the Sweboz officers is done. ~Tux pic.twitter.com/44eG32DQxh (@EBTeam) March 30, 2014

Starting work on the Eturomina province description, a big hello to all fans from Picardy, Normandy and those who like the Belgae - Brennus (@EBTeam) March 31, 2014

And the Sweboz officers are completed. ~Tux pic.twitter.com/YOfqg37hz0 (@EBTeam) March 31, 2014

Aulerkoi ethnicity description written - Brennus (@EBTeam) April 3, 2014

841 Faction relationships developed by the historians and loaded in-game - Kull (@EBTeam) April 5, 2014

Making good progress with the horses for the Parthian cataphracts - Tux (@EBTeam) April 7, 2014

Experienced in texturing 3D models? The EB team would love to hear from you: http://t.co/QKeCE29XAg (@EBTeam) April 9, 2014

Time to write Illyrian ethnicities. Hello to any Balkan fans out there! Cranking up the Croatian metal for this one - Brennus (@EBTeam) April 9, 2014

Slovenian folk metal is awesome... OK back to work now. - Brennus (@EBTeam) April 9, 2014

Illyrian ethnicities written - Brennus (@EBTeam) April 9, 2014

Over 1000 eventpics added, deleted, and changed - not a HINT of M2TW is left in this area - Kull (@EBTeam) April 15, 2014

A BIG thank you to Tsar for the 370 all new Western Greek user interface icons he has produced - The EBII Team (@EBTeam) April 16, 2014

Nothing major, just working on the Boii family members with Kull - Brennus (@EBTeam) April 19, 2014

Aiming to finally get the Eturomina (Belgic) province finished before work. 3,600 words done, 2 RATT albums listened to - Brennus (@EBTeam) April 20, 2014

OK 5,620 words later and Eturomina (the southern Belgic) province is finished. - Brennus (@EBTeam) April 20, 2014

Next province description to do: Landa Palagnoi. Greetings to any Flemish and Dutch fans out there! Time to crank up the Heidevolk- Brennus (@EBTeam) April 21, 2014

Updating Celtic family names to comply with new EBII writing system. "Conan" no longer a recruitable character. Sorry Arnie fans - Brennus (@EBTeam) April 22, 2014

Finalizing Seleukid, Ptolemaioi, and KH family members (with traits, ancillaries, and biographies) - abou, Arjos, & paullus (@EBTeam) April 23, 2014

Spotted major Cost & FM issues affecting Sweboz, Lusotannan, Boii, & Lugia factions (thanks joshmahurin!) Fix implemented for all - Kull (@EBTeam) April 23, 2014

All Celtic names now updated to comply with EBII naming system. Sorry Zelda fans, but 'Navi' was removed in the process - Brennus (@EBTeam) April 25, 2014

A warm welcome to Tsar who today joins the team as a new 2D artist. Welcome aboard. - The EBII Team (@EBTeam) April 27, 2014

Writing an extensive history of the Sweboz and the Jastorf culture - cmacq (@EBTeam) April 28, 2014

New FM portraits created for Sweboz - Tux (@EBTeam) April 28, 2014

4,000+ words later and we have a province description for Landa Pelignoi (Iron Age Belgium and the Netherlands) - Brennus (@EBTeam) April 28, 2014

Starting research for Armorikos province. Any good metal bands from Brittany? - Brennus (@EBTeam) April 28, 2014

Experimenting with xHolyCrusader to see if it is possible to produce Creative Assembly style cut scenes for the campaign game - Kull (@EBTeam) April 29, 2014

Experienced in 3D modelling, 2D artwork or programming? We would love to hear from you: http://t.co/unfztMBi4g -The EBII Team. (@EBTeam) April 29, 2014

A spare half hour so minor fixes to the Aedui province description. How could I have forgotten to talk about the Vergobret? - Brennus (@EBTeam) April 29, 2014

A massive thank you to all our fans for still supporting us after so many years and having such patience. We won't let you down! - EBII Team (@EBTeam) April 30, 2014

[clone]

"A massive thank you to all our fans for still supporting us after so many years and having such patience. We won't let you down! - EBII Team (@EBTeam) April 30, 2014"
just release it as quick as possible. the only thing that "your" fans have for quenching their eb thirst is jesus of nazareth like movies=)

[Brennus]

"A massive thank you to all our fans for still supporting us after so many years and having such patience. We won't let you down! - EBII Team (@EBTeam) April 30, 2014"
just release it as quick as possible. the only thing that "your" fans have for quenching their eb thirst is jesus of nazareth like movies=)

"Thank you" for such "kind" words of "appreciation".

[QuintusSertorius]

I don't want it released as quick as possible. I'd rather have a functioning beta than something full of bugs.

[easytarget]

While I agree with this sentiment, it does lend itself to a bit of the opposite problem where the beta release date forever is on the horizon one or two qtrs away and never happens.

[moonburn]

rather hve a proper game then being disapointed in the end

eb equals itself to all the relations i took it slow just to discover in the end when the time to do the deed came that i had hyped it so much that it couldn´t live up to the created expectations

i hope eb is the exception

[d'Arthez]

It can be a bit frustrating to have the release delayed time and again. But, what would happen if whatever build is released is too bare-boned? Or too unstable? What good would a 12-turn campaign, before permanent CTD, do? Not much. It could even kill of the interest for the mod. No one likes bad press, least of all the volunteers who spend their precious free time to create EB2. No one is getting paid for their efforts. Releasing it too early can be highly demotivating for everyone involved.

Seeing that a total conversion is quite a complicated affair, there needs to be a lot of centralized planning, a lot of testing to see that introduction of additional features and such do not lead to bugs or other unintended consequences. Sometimes coding can be very annoying - it is not a coincidence that bug-fixing for software usually requires a substantial amount of time. It is even worse when you are creating a mod, since your ability to check for errors and flaws is more limited. Never mind the tools you have at your disposal. It is no coincidence that it took such a long time to discover the "path-length"-issue in EB1 (and other mods).

That being said, it is quite possible that the team has "too high" standards for a first release. Very rarely it happens that a program or mod is perfect as it is, or does not have some highly unbalanced / annoying features. With something like the scope of EB2, it is virtually impossible to avoid, since there will be thousands of lines of code, tens of thousands of lines of descriptions (units, provinces, buildings, etc.), and undoubtedly hundreds of thousands of lines of communication in the internal forums of everyone involved, to ensure historical accuracy, quality, bugfixes, balancing issues, etc..

Bug-hunting and balancing (which will partly be based on the quirks of the combat engine, for example) can be notoriously difficult if you have only a limited number of people being engaged in the task. Especially when there are a few hundred units, and close to 30 factions to check. I am reminded of the AI expansion threads for EB1, in its various incarnations. I think such threads could help substantially with balancing overpowered and underpowered factions, ahistorical expansion tendencies etc. For instance the AI steppe factions were quite weak in the earlier EB builds, due to auto_calc issues.

These are just meant as general observations. EB set the benchmark very high, considering what was possible with the RTW engine. And I am sure that the team for EB2 wants to improve on EB1 in all its aspects, and that is by no means an easy task.

[Brennus]

While I agree with this sentiment, it does lend itself to a bit of the opposite problem where the beta release date forever is on the horizon one or two qtrs away and never happens.

We are equally frustrated. When we posted the "State of the Mod Address" in December we genuinely thought that we were a matter of weeks away from release; we had more active team members than at any time in the prior 8 months and we were clearing work faster than at any time in the preceding 3 years. However real life began to bite and our productivity slumped as more and more team members were forced to address problems regarding employment, family and finances etc.

But we are still ploughing on, regardless of what it takes

That being said, it is quite possible that the team has "too high" standards for a first release. Very rarely it happens that a program or mod is perfect as it is, or does not have some highly unbalanced / annoying features. With something like the scope of EB2, it is virtually impossible to avoid, since there will be thousands of lines of code, tens of thousands of lines of descriptions (units, provinces, buildings, etc.), and undoubtedly hundreds of thousands of lines of communication in the internal forums of everyone involved, to ensure historical accuracy, quality, bugfixes, balancing issues, etc...

Actually I think part of the problem was that the team's standards were too high at the beginning. A grand and impressive plan was created for EBII which involved all sorts of features. The problem is that no-one could have foreseen the problems which occurred as time went on. Now, we are by and large sticking to the original plan, as in some cases we have no choice (things are too far along in some places for us to simply drop them and go for something simpler), but certainly for the coders and the modellers it has been a real challenge.

Don't worry, when EBII is released it will be a much more complete and stable game than EB was, likewise from an historical perspective we by and large have what we need for a first release. We just don't want to release EBII in a condition where (like Creative Assembly and Rome 2) we will have to spend months responding to mssages from disapointed fans who either (1) Can't get it to work or (2) Accuse us of underdevelopment.

As it stands though we have 85% of the strat map characters finished, Tsar has been doing great work with the UI, as did Skyn0s before him, so that when you play as a faction you will be doing so using menus which are immersive. Tux, Gustave and nazgool, as you have seen from a few of the tweets, have made great progress with the units, in fact in some cases they would challenge Rome 2 for graphics. Likewise V.T. Marvin has done wonders with the various governments, for example if you play as the Pritanoi you get a unique government. And to this list I can add Kull and bovi's work in stabilising the game, paullus advice on all manner of Greek related issues, abou's improvements to the Seleukid governments and descriptions, sirtim who has made Iberia one of the most immersive regions in the game (contrast that to EB, and especially RTW), fightermedic's work on the maps, Haithabas who has pretty much done every job you could ask of a modder. Also the other historians not mentioned; cmacq (currently writing the equivallent of a novella on the Jastorf culture), TheTank, Gaius Scribonius Curio, Mithridates VI Eupator and Moros who have all added details and information which put EB to shame. And not forgetting of course the testers who have identified numerous problems which many of the above have ironed out.

[Yavana]

Thank you for information, Brennus. I do not care when the EB II is done, even thought I wait for it since the beginning of development checking this website almost everyday, I just hope EB II will be as great as EB I, and I belive wastly majority of EB fans have the same opinion, that's all.

Thank you for your effort!

[fallen851]

I don't want it released as quick as possible. I'd rather have a functioning beta than something full of bugs.

Well, I for one, am gonna be "that guy."

I am not going to play EB II like I did EB I on release. I'm going to wait until it is even more finished, so I can be blown away. And I'm sorry for this. RTW II made me this way and I have no shame.

So I know I have some waiting to do.

But take your time. EB I is amazing. It is still the best Total War experience there is. And I thank you for that.

[Maeran]

I take your point, fallen851. But I think you are being a little bit masochistic.

[alexkon3]

Identifying what MUST be fixed before a first release. Not that much left - The EBII Team.

Thanks to Haedar for his great work on the Akkadian (Babylonian) infantry - The EBII team

What is akkadian infantry? Something similar Babylonian heavy Spearmen?

Battlemap UI now 90% complete. Faction banners 75% - Kull

[Yavana]

What is akkadian infantry? Something similar Babylonian heavy Spearmen?

Yes, as far as I am concerned EB team stated that akkadian inf would replace shipril tukul pezoi

[Brennus]

Correct.

[Shadowwalker]

The Org is having a Medieval 2 Total War re-release party:https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showt...-release-Party … Europa Barbarorum II might have something special to bring!

Guys, could you please don't do such! (Causing a heart attack at my side, that is)

Since, let's be realistic here: it's only a few days since Kull, Brennus etc stated that there are still things to do. There is no website announced yet (which was said to be online and public before the release). There were no tweets about solving the installer problems (which I believe are top priority to be solved before an initial release). From what I understand there are still so many things to fix, resolve, improve, decide etc that - in my humble "outsider" opinion - a release around Christmas would be a (very pleasant) surprise.

I simply can't believe . . . no, that's wrong. I refuse to believe that EB II is released in one week. (I do so because I want to avoid the disastrous disappointment if it is not out on May 15th. ;) )

Very much curious about what the "special EBII brings" might be, nevertheless. :)

[Brennus]

That was my fault, I didn't realise until it was pointed out that that post could result in such hopes.

No, sorry, it is not the release. As noted we still have things to do before we can put out what we consider to be an acceptable release.

However we are hoping to bring something with a lot of eye candy to treat people to.

My apologies for getting peoples hopes up.