Buildings and Units

[ziegenpeter]

In view of the historical correctness, wouldn't it be better to enable the recruitment of high developed units from the beginning - at least in all capitals? And capitals should have all buildings built (well, exept those which weren't built 272 BC of course)*
For example, Sparta already had Spartan Hoplites as Soldiers 272 BC, didnt they?

*I think I've read that public Thermae came up in Rome after the defeat of Varus, so way later then EBs era. Wrong or right?

[lobf]

The problem is that some cities would start out really big and developed from the beginning and it would screw with faction progression. Plus then you wouldn't really be building anything is some cities the entire game.

[ziegenpeter]

I agree, but it somehoe feels strange, playing a superpower with supercrappy spearmen as starting units ;-)

[brymht]

I think thats kind of what the reforms are about, at least on the romani side.

[lobf]

It is a bummer to be putting simple drainage in Rome in 272BC. It's also a bummer that it takes at least a half a year to travel the Italian Peninsula early on in the game. However, there's a lot of concessions that need to be made to gameplay to the detriment of historical perfection.

[Hax]

Ambrakia, Epeiros.

Antiocheia, Arche Seleukeia

Alexandreia, Ptolemaioi

====

Most of the more 'developed' factions already have these kind of buildings up and running ;)

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

This is a gameplay vs. realism issue. Unfortunately, since this is a game not everything can be 100% realistic. In order to work within the confines of the engine, some realism has to be sacrificed.

The AI Seleukids and Ptolemaioi are super crazy strong right now. How strong do you think they'd be with fully developed MICs?

[Hax]

Massive Levant wars, heh.

[Foot]

It depends on how you concieve the buildings that you build. Do you represent a building in the province's settlement, or do they represent the overall infrastructure of a province. Rome may well have been very developed as a city, but was the land surrounding it also suitably developed. Its something we hope to explore a bit more when it comes to designing building trees and writing descriptions in EB2, and is something that has not really been explored in EB1.

EDIT: Concerning units, it must also be remembered that we cannot control the availability of elite units once they are recruitable, so I believe it was decided that it would be more suitable to have them available in starting armies but not have them recruitable so that the early game could be dominated by lesser troops. In EBII of course we have more control over the recruitment system and this is likely to change.

Foot

[Augustus Ceasar]

There is the best reconstitution of Rome, is architecture... You can have ideas on the buildings...

Rome reborn 1.0:

http://www.romereborn.virginia.edu/

Digital Roman Forum:

"Some amazing view of the Forum Romanum"
http://dlib.etc.ucla.edu/projects/Forum/timemap

for example :
http://dlib.etc.ucla.edu/projects/Fo...188%2C267%2C18

And Lutecia (Paris) for the barbaric gaulois:
http://www.paris.culture.fr/

Babylone:

http://www.maquettes-historiques.net/page100.html

Athènes:

http://www.maquettes-historiques.net/P151.html

Rome:

http://www.maquettes-historiques.net/P5.html

[Augustus Ceasar]

The real Thermopyles in antiquity: