• Modding Interview with Ritter-Floh

    Ritter-Floh



    Maybe modding decided for me. I've always enjoyed tinkering on files and games, but it was never in a big way. Let's be honest: Rome 2 screamed for modding from the first day one...


    Interview by ♔Old Dragoon♔ Hello Ritter! On behalf of the Eagle Standard, I want to personally thank you for your willingness to participate in the Modding Legends Interview! We are most honored. So, let’s get to the questions without further delay. Typically, I start off all my interviews with these three questions:


    Who is your favorite General and why?

    Before I move to the first question: Is this a mistake? I am far from being a legend in the modding community! I’m not quite legendary enough. I’m semi-legendary. I’m quasi-legendary. I’m the margarine of legendary. I’m the Diet Coke of legendary, just one calorie, not legendary enough. But OK, as you want…

    Who is my favorite general? That is a good question. I think Julius Caesar was just a butcher, he's out. Hannibal is like a eunuch, he knew how to do it, but never made a happy ending even, so he is out. I think Alexander the Great was the most outstanding general of all time, both as a leader and strategically.



    What is your favorite era of warfare? (By the way you are worthy…I have ‘great sources that tell me things’…)

    If I have to commit myself: my favorite era of warfare would be the ancient world before Rome grew up.


    What is your favorite movie of all time? (Yes you can have more than one)

    I enjoy these: The Big Lebowski, Life of Brian, Last of the Mohicans, and The Thin Red Line.


    When did you decide to venture out into modding?

    Maybe modding decided for me. I've always enjoyed tinkering on files and games, but it was never in a big way. Let's be honest: Rome 2 screamed for modding from the first day one.

    Let us travel far into the past: Once upon a time, in a kingdom far, far away, the king and queen were blessed with a beautiful - oh sorry, wrong book! Seriously, it’s freaking amazing how far we have to go back in the past to find my first finger print for DeI - it was on December 10, 2013! We had no assembly kit, many mod file formats did not work properly. We could not include esf files (startpos) into the main mod file, and the world was black and white. Over time, there was color television, we flew to the moon and our team has changed and evolved a lot.



    Illyrians Out for Blood! ~ From the re-worked units of theArdiaei and available next release!
    Textures by Ritter-Floh, new models by assurbinapal

    What was this '2013 fingerprint' for DEI?
    My first work on DeI in 2013 - they hired me as the barbarian guy. At this time, Meneros did all hellenic factions and i took the barbaric ones. My first rework was the iberian factions for version 0.6. It was ugly compared to now


    How long have you been modding Total War games, or has it been primarily DEI?

    I did not seriously mod before DeI. There were only a few submods for Medieval 2. That means I mod Total war games for 5 years and 95 days and now I’m feeling very old, thank you for that!


    What is your favorite mod that you cannot live without whilst playing a Total War game?

    I could never imagine Rome without EB1, and it has been my hope that some fellow gamers think the same about DeI and Rome 2.


    How many mods are you working on as currently as we write?

    Only DeI do not have much spare time and the little bit must be split into family, making money, sleeping and modding - oh i forgot about eating and drinking...


    Ethopian tribal unit on the Hunt! ~ Coming next release! Textures by Ritter-Floh new models by assurbinapal


    I enjoy your level of attention that you all deliver with DeI. Do you feel that helps to keep Rome 2 and DeI relevant? I can generally count on, while reading comments on forums for other Rome 2 mods, “Is this compatible with DeI?”

    I think it has a lot to do with our activity.The guys are all incredibly active and there is always something new. Of course, we also share this news with our loyal fans, for which we also use Discord in addition to Facebook, Instagram and the TW Center. But most of all it is certainly due to Dresden's instincts for campaign mechanics and Kam’s balancing genius.

    This picture comes in my mind with every single release:

    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 



    The way we really work in our DeI village:

    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 



    Do you mod other TW games?

    I do not currently, and I have not planned to do so in the near future.


    Are you happy that TW is going back to its historical roots or do you think fantasy is the future for TW games?

    I have never played the fantasy games offered by TW. I simply do not care about that genre. I’m fine if they follow both paths. However, what is more important is the overall quality of the game as in case of game-play, bugs, features, etc.


    Where does Ritter modding march next?

    I have been working on my “project 2019” for some time now. It is of course for DeI and it will and is keeping me very busy. Our patrons already know a little bit more.



    The Ferocious Charge of the Cimbri Nobles! ~ The third major overhaul for upcoming release! Textures by Ritter-Floh new models by assurbinapal.
    Project 2019...Are you allowed to elaborate on this or is it a "I could tell you, but then I would have to kill you..." type of a thing?
    I could tell you, but i would need to kill you. Besides the 3 released previews for reworked/new factions I would love to overhaul the visuals of many other units/factions. The following list is not cast in stone:

    1. Belgae (visual appearance, maybe new patterns)
    2. Boii (visual appearance, maybe new patterns)
    3. Veneti (visual appearance, maybe new patterns)
    4. Saba and Nabataea (visual appearance, maybe new patterns)
    4. a lot of our AOR units (visual appearance)


    Do you plan on at least playing Three Kingdoms?

    I have no intentions of playing Three Kingdoms. That is just not my edge of the world I am interested in.

    What future TW game are you hoping for more than any (or two)?

    I would really like to see Medieval 3, but a completely different time-frame would be also very nice. A WW1 for example could be a great game - if properly done of course.

    Also, a nicely done Empire 2 with a way better map would be also great, as it was a interesting time-frame for sure.


    Do you have any shouts out for those that helped with recent mods and who made life easier whilst making the mod magic happen?

    Thank you to all who work on this project,especially Dresden, who saved the whole mod some time ago. Special thanks to the guys who caught me: Epaminondas, Selea and Meneros - it was a pleasure to work with all of you!

    Also, thank you to all Members of the Age of BronzeTeam and Koultouras from the TWH modding team - always helpful and friendly!



    The Warriors of Kimbroz Jeering at their Foe!


    Thank you so much, Ritter, for your willingness to be interviewed and sharing your insight and expertise!



    If you found this article interesting, you might like to read some of the Eagle Standard's previous articles. A full list of these can be found here.
    Comments 3 Comments
    1. makanyane's Avatar
      makanyane -
      Great interview, thank you! I especially love those cartoons
    1. ♔Old Dragoon♔'s Avatar
      ♔Old Dragoon♔ -
      Thank you for your comment. It was a very fun interview to do!
    1. Darth Salat's Avatar
      Darth Salat -
      Yes, DeI for Rome II perfectly emulates EB for Rome I. In some cases it even surpases...so brilliant job for sure...