- INVASIO BARBARORVM III -

[Visarion]

How is progress so far?

[Charerg]

How is progress so far?

It's still in the "asset building" phase. Most of the progress done so far can be seen on the thread, but in short the necessary helmets have been largely created, they just need to be finished, and some of my earlier creations need to be revisited (and maybe a few more helmet designs added to the mix, although most have been covered). Once I'll get back to modelling (probably next month or so), I'll finish off the helmets, and then move on to other assets (though I think the helmets will probably take a month or two of work, I don't have as much free time nowadays as I had back in November/December).

[Nelduin]

How many of you are working on this? Are you planning to build a team and are you related to IBI and IBII?

[Charerg]

How many of you are working on this? Are you planning to build a team and are you related to IBI and IBII?

Mostly it's just myself so far, ofc there's also the people active on this thread who have contributed valuable input and research. The IB3 project as a whole is related to the old IB mods, though so far MMFA has been the only member of the old team who has been active here. Well, I was also in contact with Joar way back when I started posting stuff on this thread, and he did promise to invite me in once the actual forum is opened up (which I suppose would be the "official start" of the mod). As you've no doubt noted that hasn't happened so far, so the situation is a bit weird. I think it's fair to say that the work in this thread is done under the blessing of the Old Team, but the actual IB3 team hasn't really been founded yet (at least, not in any official manner).

I did consider contacting Joar about establishing the IB3 team, but since I've myself been too busy recently to do much modding, that has been somewhat postponed. But if you're willing to help out and interested in the period, I'm fairly confident that you're more than welcome to contribute to the project. I know I'd welcome anyone willing to help, and I think the rest of the IB team would agree with that sentiment. Modding in general is something people do in their free time out of personal interest, and as such it tends to be fairly loosely organized.

[Magister Militum Flavius Aetius]

I have contacted Joar and JH about this mod but they're too busy with real life and they've got 2 mods for Barbarian Invasion to finish still.

[Majorien]

Mostly it's just myself so far, ofc there's also the people active on this thread who have contributed valuable input and research. The IB3 project as a whole is related to the old IB mods, though so far MMFA has been the only member of the old team who has been active here. Well, I was also in contact with Joar way back when I started posting stuff on this thread, and he did promise to invite me in once the actual forum is opened up (which I suppose would be the "official start" of the mod). As you've no doubt noted that hasn't happened so far, so the situation is a bit weird. I think it's fair to say that the work in this thread is done under the blessing of the Old Team, but the actual IB3 team hasn't really been founded yet (at least, not in any official manner).

I did consider contacting Joar about establishing the IB3 team, but since I've myself been too busy recently to do much modding, that has been somewhat postponed. But if you're willing to help out and interested in the period, I'm fairly confident that you're more than welcome to contribute to the project. I know I'd welcome anyone willing to help, and I think the rest of the IB team would agree with that sentiment. Modding in general is something people do in their free time out of personal interest, and as such it tends to be fairly loosely organized.

This is a pretty honest statement. I never seen this thread as a real IBIII start, maybe because the old trio never posted something except the first one post of the thread. In my knowledge IBI team is composed only by Joar, Julianus Heraclianus and Gaiten, still pretty busy on IBI (we are waiting for Ruina Romae and Restitutor orbis for a decade now) with real life issues slowering their main task. To be honest, i don't expect any IBIII, we are talking about unicorns ;-)
Anyway, even if some already posted here and elsewhere that attila has great modding potentiality, i'm still waiting for the first big and holitistic mod on it... Maybe Judex Rex ?

[Charerg]

This is a pretty honest statement. I never seen this thread as a real IBIII start, maybe because the old trio never posted something except the first one post of the thread. In my knowledge IBI team is composed only by Joar, Julianus Heraclianus and Gaiten, still pretty busy on IBI (we are waiting for Ruina Romae and Restitutor orbis for a decade now) with real life issues slowering their main task. To be honest, i don't expect any IBIII, we are talking about unicorns ;-)
Anyway, even if some already posted here and elsewhere that attila has great modding potentiality, i'm still waiting for the first big and holitistic mod on it... Maybe Judex Rex ?

Well, the main limit with Attila modding compared to Med2 is the inability to change the campaign map, and other in-built limits like limited building slots. There's not really anything that can be done about those. There are a few total overhauls (Ancient Empires and Medieval Kingdoms come to mind) that are very promising, though as yet unfinished. It's important to realize that ambitious mods like these take literally thousands of hours of work to complete.

While IB3 in its present incarnation (the planned Aetius campaign) is less ambitious in scope, the plan is nevertheless to create a new asset library in order to depict the relevant factions in a more realistic fashion. So, it's going to take years, plain and simple. With any project of this scope, there's a high risk that it will never be completed. That said, personally I'd prefer to work on something ambitious that will actually be worth playing, rather than something mediocre (that can be finished swiftly, but ultimately will offer only a minor change in gaming experience over the vanilla), even if this means that there's a good chance the project will end up unfinished.

I wouldn't be overly pessimistic about IB3, though. While there's a massive amount of work left to be done before the mod is anywhere near finished, it's not an impossible task by any means (just don't expect a release any time soon ).

[Magister Militum Flavius Aetius]

If I eventually get a decent, modern computer and finally figure out how to start coding Attila, I'd definitely start changing the campaign for a true "Aetius campaign."

[Majorien]

If I eventually get a decent, modern computer and finally figure out how to start coding Attila, I'd definitely start changing the campaign for a true "Aetius campaign."

Too much "if" (and remember IBUr...)

More seriously, the RTW community is slowly decreasing, and if there is still people able to do serious historic work for mod (charerg is one of those, as well of some members that we all know), we definetely need developpers, and i don't see any new, except from Russia. It seems that an eastern wind could help, as far i can see with some last exemples : Crisis imperi for RTW, Judex Rex for ATW, or the last guy who imported all RTWII in ATW (I he can do that stuff, imagine what can he do !!!).

But today, i don't even find a mod wich has bee able to modificate...the campaign map !

[Magister Militum Flavius Aetius]

IBUR is something I keep around but I kind of quit it due to the appeal of Attila. RTW is an old platform and not one many are interested in, while the theme of Attila perfectly coincides with the theme of IBUR. I basically decided that if I go back to doing IBUR, it would be fore Attila, not RTW.

[Majorien]

IBUR is something I keep around but I kind of quit it due to the appeal of Attila. RTW is an old platform and not one many are interested in, while the theme of Attila perfectly coincides with the theme of IBUR. I basically decided that if I go back to doing IBUR, it would be fore Attila, not RTW.

it wasn't the reasons you gave for "quitting" IBUR....
Anyway, Attila is still unmoded for me. In my opinion, for two main reasons : CA made it hard to mod. And nobody can mod a game on his own : no team has been builded up since the launch of the game. Some (talented) guys tried to make improvements i won't call mod, and at the end all "mods" have been abandonned. Unfortunately the community of RTW/ATW is now quite dead, and even if someone one day deeply mod this game, i'm afraid nobody won't notice it.
Just look at the figures of readers and posters on this forum : i think we are now less than a couple of hundreds.
We just have now to wait for an another company to build the next late roman strategy/combat game...

[legio_XX]

it wasn't the reasons you gave for "quitting" IBUR....
Anyway, Attila is still unmoded for me. In my opinion, for two main reasons : CA made it hard to mod. And nobody can mod a game on his own : no team has been builded up since the launch of the game. Some (talented) guys tried to make improvements i won't call mod, and at the end all "mods" have been abandonned. Unfortunately the community of RTW/ATW is now quite dead, and even if someone one day deeply mod this game, i'm afraid nobody won't notice it.
Just look at the figures of readers and posters on this forum : i think we are now less than a couple of hundreds.
We just have now to wait for an another company to build the next late roman strategy/combat game...

For the most part I am going to have to agree with Majorien here. FOTE had a chance but they didn't finish it, Jud Rex could be good ( I have hope they seem to love what they do.) and While I hold out for IB3 none of the Invasios on the original are finished save for my personal favorite SOMNIVM APOSTATAE IVLIANI. for me it reached A point where I do not even check in on them any more.

I of course still wish all the luck and best to Invasio 3.

[grif]

I agree with you guys completely!
The reason is that the game is very difficult and it is difficult to make a good mod, and those teams that do - do not want to understand what needs to be integrated! Otherwise, no one will finish his mod!

[Theramines]

I loved FoTE and really enjoyed Judex Rex, but I really missed the units and battles of Invasio Barbarorum II. Unfortunately I just can't play med 2 any more because of its controls and ageing graphics. Besides, usually when I feel the need to revisit the good times, MS updates won't even let me play, and I just can't be bothered looking up fixes again and again.

To scratch that IB itch, I've been working on an overhaul for the WRE in the Grand Campaign for my own enjoyment. I have no plans for a complete overhaul, just a few campaign changes Mostly, however, it's about removing a few of the lame vanilla units and replacing them with the Conquestus Britannica III style units, especially at the limitanei and auxilia levels. Not really interested in op 'elite' units, vanilla has that covered. Here's a few:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Those are from the unit cards.

Done:

1. many units created (over 20 so far) and some vanilla units removed; unit sizes and spacings reformed.
2. Battles rebalanced to simulate the IB Conquestus Britannica III battles. Heavy and whistling shots removed, and firing arcs now controllable.
3. Garrison changes.
4. Artillery nerfed and guns reduced to single for barbarians and 2 for Romans.

WIP (i.e. stuff I'm still learning how to do)

1. AOR with unique mercenaries
2. Shields (more accurate designs)
3. Startpos armies (and date moved to 406 AD??).
4. Other?

The mod is alpha, as I'm still learning, but totally playable. I don't intend to publish it as the ideas and units are IB's, and FoTE and Judex Rex already kind of have that campaign timeframe covered. I've also drawn on a wide range of mods from the workshop, there would be a lot of work getting permission and crediting.

Basically, whatever I've created the IB team can use as resources (once I get permission if necessary). If you're interested PM me and I'll set up a private Steam group.

[Magister Militum Flavius Aetius]

This has been quiet for some time and I've come back to say that if Stealth4Health and Charerg want to move forward, I'd like to at least move forward with an Invasio Barbarorum 100% Historically Accurate Unit pack for Attila: Total War.

[Hermod]

This has been quiet for some time and I've come back to say that if Stealth4Health and Charerg want to move forward, I'd like to at least move forward with an Invasio Barbarorum 100% Historically Accurate Unit pack for Attila: Total War.

Glad to hear there is some desire to continue this project. I know that you are all still very early in the overall progress but do you have any sort of, even rough, outline of the work that you would like to accomplish. I've read through the thread and it seems like Charerg has done a bit of asset creation, mostly Roman equipment. Also seems like quite a bit of research has been done, proper settlement/province names and some unit rosters, regarding a potential Aetius campaign. I'd be interested to hear any thoughts on the possible continuation of that.

It'd be great to have a truly authentic Attila mod. Judex Rex is another one with great potential I believe, anyways, best of luck to everyone working on this!

[Magister Militum Flavius Aetius]

There's a lot of unit packs out there for Attila right now but in terms of historical accuracy they're all very sub-par. Even much of the research in this thread I'd already consider outdated now that I have access to a plethora of archaeological studies on the 5th century.

As for the Charlemagne, at this point I'd honestly at this point rather use the Grand Campaign map and go from there. Then do mods for each of the eras - one for Last of the Romans (Justinianic) and one for Age of Charlemagne (with the start date bumped back to probably 748ish to make the Romans more substantial, having the Exarchate of Italy).

That being said it will probably be easiest to start it off as a unit pack, I already kind of have a plan sketched out in my head:

Roman Unit Roster:

Generals' Guard Units:
Bucellarii (Generals)
Candidati (Emperor)

Cavalry:
Schola Palatina
Equites Clibanarii
Equites Catafractarii
Equites Promoti
Equites Scutarii
Equites Illyricani
Equites Mauri

Infantry:
Centuria Legionis Palatinae
Centuria Auxiliorum Palatinorum
Centuria Comitatensium
Centuria Limitaneorum

Professional Regiments of Foederati/Symmachi:
Cuneus Symmachorum Hunnorum
Manus Foederatorum Gothorum
Manus Foederatorum Francorum
Manus Foederatorum Burgundionum
Manus Foederatorum Saxonum

The idea for this is based on a more modern understanding of how federates work - the Goths, Franks, Burgundians, etc. weren't initially settled peoples but essentially paid armies stationed in Roman territory. Their wages coming from the Hospitalitas placed on Roman land owners who were required to shend 1/3 of their taxes to the leaders of these armies which was used as payment for soldiers, making the taxation more direct and more efficient. Later they were granted land in the 440's, or the 1/3 allotment of taxes also became a 1/3 allotment of Land after about 450 AD.

Another possibility is to make recruitment only possible in certain regions. Ideally the regiments will be different for each region (that can be scripted like in Rome: Total War). There will be several general regions for which units will differ: Britannia, Gallia, Hispania, Italia, Illyria (Noricum through West Moesia), Thracia, Anatolia, Armenia, Syria, Palaestina, Aegyptus, and Africa.

In game this will be difficult to make work - ideally, the best way would be to have the cost/payment of these units be unaffected by corruption and make them regionally recruitable only from lands controlled by the peoples inside the empire (Visigoths, Franks, etc.). Giving lands to these factions isn't an accurate way of representing the historical system but at the same time is the only way it can be done due to the limitations of the game engine.

Plan for start:



Factions:
1: Bacaudae
2: Visigoths (Roman Federates)
3: Suebes (At War with Rome)
4: Alans (Roman Federates)
5: Burgundians (Roman Federates)
6: Franci (Roman Federates)
7: Alamanni (Roman Federates)
8: Thuringi (Hun Vassals)
9: Rugi (Hun Vassals)
10: Saxones (At War with Britones/Litaui)
11: Anglii
12: Langobardi (Hun Vassals)
13: Britones (Roman Allies) - Should have several emergent factions
14: Litaui (Roman Allies)
15: Scotti (At War with Litaui/Britones)
16: Picti (At War with Britones/Litaui)
17: Caledoni
18: Sciri
19: Sclaveni
20: Antes
21: Akatir Huns (Bleda's Huns, Dominant Half)
22: Ultzinzur Huns (Attila's Huns - Allies/Vassals of the Akatir Huns, at war with Eastern Roman Empire)
23: Gepidae (Hun Vassals)
24: Ostrogoths (Hun Vassals)
25: Regnum Vandalorum et Alanorum (At War with West and Eastern Empires)
26: Tetraxitae (Goths)
27: Saragur Huns (At War with Akatir Huns)
28: Caucasian Alans
29: Lazike (Allied with Eastern Empire)
30: Iberia (Allied with Eastern Empire)
31: Kidarite Huns (At War with Sassanid Empire)

Scripted Emergent Hordes: Sabirs (Xianbei), Hepthaltites

Other factions not listed: (Mauri, Garamantes, Nobatia, Aksum, Kinda, Banu Lakhm, Banu Ghassan, Banuu Tanukh, Himyar etc.)

I think we had some discussion about Britain earlier so we may need to break that up.

Army Positions:
Three Eastern Roman Armies in Sicily (with a full fleet), two on the Sassanid Frontier (Romans and Sassanids are at war)
Sassanid Army on the Roman frontier, rest all on Kidarite Frontier
Western Roman Army in Spain, Western Roman Army in Italy
Attila with Hun army on middle Danube (invading East)

[Eldgrimr]

I'm really looking forward to this! Just having a look at those units will make me so happy!

[Charerg]

Yeah, it's probably a good idea to start off with just concentrating on the Roman units to begin with. I'm still a bit busy finishing my master's thesis, but I might be able to get something done in (late) December. Probably start off with finishing/adjusting some of my earlier work, since I'm bound to be a bit rusty, given that I haven't done any real modelling since summer. The good news is that I got a new computer, so I should be able to finally run Attila at max settings .

[Magister Militum Flavius Aetius]

Ha ha nice. Cool Charerg, yeah I'll have some free time in mid-December, and we can get some ideas together.