Q6: For all those who do not know anything about EB II(or EB I), can you explain what the differences will be between them? We would very much like to hear everything you want to disclose about Factions, scripts, provinces, new structures etc.
Now that is a question and a half! Where to start?
Europa Barbarorum started as a project to change how history was represented in total war games. We wanted to show people that not only was a finer appreciation of history as fun as the watered down version in Rome TW, but that it could inspire new and exciting gameplay - and so we saw EBIs Governments and our extensive trait system.
In EBI, however, it was not our goal to change how Total War games were played, and though changes were made, these were piecemeal and not wholly complete. You may notice that alongside our Government buildings, we also had plain old vanilla-style temples (which, while having some quite excellent descriptions, offered bonuses that were wildly exaggerated); that alongside our advanced AOR system, our recruitment was still based around vanilla-style barracks (even if we did try to expand their remit to include all military industries into one building). These areas of the mod were never fully explored because they were never part of our plan - with EB2 they are.
One of my problems with the Total War franchise is its lack of a consistent viewpoint for the player, and my favourite example of this is the Farm building in the Total War games - what is it trying to represent. The scope and scale of the gameplay suggests that it might refer to control of land in general, but the building description and name all suggest that it refers to the construction of actual farms. That is ridiculous, not least because the plausibility of suitably arable land, populated by a sedentary people, not being turned over to farming already is preposterous - you don’t need a king to decide when and where new farms are going to be established. Another example is that of the Blacksmith: again the description and name of the building suggests that, contrary to all reason, the player-as-king is somehow getting involved with the nitty-gritty of establishing a new blacksmithing enterprise. However, contrary to this perception, the Blacksmith actually has an affect that could not be the result of a single building, as it can equip entire armies with new armour and weapons.
In Europa Barbarorum II we want to deal with this issue head on, and for that reason we are developing different types of buildings, that maintain a consistent scope in their description and affect. You will still be able to build single buildings, known as Civic Buildings, which will represent Palaces, Theatres, Royal Stables, Temples, and other such awesome buildings commissioned by the Governor of that settlement. These Civic buildings will affect the acquisition of traits and ancillaries (for example, if you build a Temple, you will be more example to get traits and ancillaries for generals in that settlement relating to religion). These buildings will be limited in number for each settlement, and will be prohibitively expensive, so that you will be able to create unique identities for your settlements.
Following from this, the main building type with be the Infrastructure Buildings. These will represent the control and manipulation of industries and means of production that impact the economic assets of the province. These Infrastructure Buildings will cover a number of concepts, not simply the presence of a particular building, but the control of land, the appropriation of trade networks and storage for the benefit of the controlling faction. The Farm Infrastructure building, for example, will represent the control of food production and trade, and even the ownership of land. The latter is of particular interest as this also becomes a political tool, and can be used by the player to introduce foreign nobility and colonists into a province, altering recruitment and administrative options for that faction, but at a cost.
This clearer distinction between building types, which will also include the Populace and Authority building types, will, we hope, produce a clearer and more accurate campaign than EBI. Each building type has its own demarcated zones of influence: Populace buildings affect recruitment options, while Authority buildings represent government options, affecting Public Order. There will be cross-over between all four building types, but these more complex interactions can be ignored by the player should they not wish to be bogged down in the minutiae of the campaign.
As you can see, even just one of our responses to the vanilla campaign in the Total War campaigns is quite a hefty answer in and of itself. We are truly creating a total modification, where each area of the campaign and battles are being looked at and revised to ensure that we produce a consistent, engaging, historically accurate and enjoyable experience.
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from the September 2011 Eagle Standard Interview with Foot
[UNOFFICIAL] Mod Overview (open source thread)
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Originally Posted by Casual Tactician
