EB-Twitter updates Discussion

[Roma_Victrix]

You mean this one?


Or this one:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Hah! Good one. Obviously I mean the second one, from EBII, the version we are playing right now, 2.35.

[Lusitanio]

While I certainly like the look of the new Iltiŕtkesken (Ilergete Infantry) you have on the Twitter feed, I'm going to be honest, I like the originals, especially the shield patterns/colors, a whole lot more. Is there some way to retain the originals after an EBII version update to 2.4? Can we just have two different Ilergetan infantry units, one spearman, another a swordsman unit to have both styles? Can we at least retain the look of the original Ilergetes with Ilergetan cavalry?

Roma they are a late variant, which means they are a reformed unit. You can keep than at will, just recruit early units and don't upgrade them in the cities. I actually like this model but understand your reasons because the other is also pretty nice.

Nazgool your work is amazing! A true work of art!

[Rad]

So, this is an armor upgrade?

[Haithabas]

Great work R.!

[Roma_Victrix]

Roma they are a late variant, which means they are a reformed unit. You can keep than at will, just recruit early units and don't upgrade them in the cities. I actually like this model but understand your reasons because the other is also pretty nice.

Nazgool your work is amazing! A true work of art!

Oh! Cool! It's an armor upgrade. So basically I can have both types at the same time in the same battle. Well this is clearly the best of both worlds. Thanks for clarifying.

[Lusitanio]

So, this is an armor upgrade?

Yes, in fact, I had already done what Roma said and had a battle some weeks ago with the early and late unit, it was a good time...

[Roma_Victrix]

OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD!
You glorious, magnificent sons of , you actually did it, not just the town, but the Punic city model too!
Bravo!



If you skip to the 16:30 minute marker, that's when the Roman troops proceed past the first wall and send the ram towards the inner keep and fortified citadel/acropolis. I'm not sure how well the AI will handle offensive sieges when the player controls a settlement with two sets of defensive walls, though. The AI usually sucks at that in M2TW and its mods, generally speaking, even in some of the intricate custom battle map settlements of the vaunted TATW mod depicting Tolkien's LOTR universe. Regardless, this is one of the most beautiful recreations I've ever seen for a M2TW mod and it just looks and feels like an ancient Carthaginian city.

Please consider revisiting all the other cultures too, especially Western Greeks!

[Lusitanio]

It was totally worth the waiting, the model is amazing! So detailed, I bet it will be used by many paid "historians" to talk about Carthage history. It is indeed a work of art!

Roma I think the team already said that they will revisit the other cultures, but as you can see, it takes a lot of time and work, so we wll have to wait.

[AriovistusSuebus]

I'm not sure how well the AI will handle offensive sieges when the player controls a settlement with two sets of defensive walls, though. The AI usually sucks

No, the AI doesn't suck, it attack the second defensive ring very well. I am just making another video with AI as a attacker and will upload it soon.

Regardless, this is one of the most beautiful recreations I've ever seen for a M2TW mod and it just looks and feels like an ancient Carthaginian city.

Thank you very much

Please consider revisiting all the other cultures too, especially Western Greeks!

I will revisit all cultures

[Roma_Victrix]

I'm a simple man. I see a AriovistusSuebus post and I +1 rep.

No, the AI doesn't suck, it attack the second defensive ring very well. I am just making another video with AI as a attacker and will upload it soon.

That's very good to know! I can't wait to see that too. I am a bit skeptical because I've seen the AI do silly things before, but I am open and willing to accept that I am wrong.

Thank you very much

You've very welcome.

I will revisit all cultures

Excellent! That's what I like to hear. I can't imagine how you'll redo Roman settlements, but I would imagine it would look amazing (please keep aqueducts for huge cities, though). A shame we don't have Qin & Han dynasty China in the game, since I'd like to see what you could do with Chinese settlements.

It was totally worth the waiting, the model is amazing! So detailed, I bet it will be used by many paid "historians" to talk about Carthage history. It is indeed a work of art!

Roma I think the team already said that they will revisit the other cultures, but as you can see, it takes a lot of time and work, so we wll have to wait.

Yep, very good news indeed and I am willing to wait for the final product. Clearly a lot of love is being poured into creating these settlements.

[Lusitanio]

That's very good to know! I can't wait to see that too. I am a bit skeptical because I've seen the AI do silly things before, but I am open and willing to accept that I am wrong.

From my experience with the vanilla game, the AI wasn't that bad at attacking settlements with more than one wall, I remember having great defensive battles.

Even more, the AI for EBII is better than the vanilla game so we can expect it to at least be better in attacking. If you want to experience how it is, you can do it with De Bello Mundi, go for custom battles and select a citadel, choose the culture you want, and you will basically have an ancient battle with medieval citadels I did it some months ago and had a lot of fun and the AI was competent enough.

[Roma_Victrix]

^ I'll have to try that then, with citadels!

From Twitter:

Some claim, that the AI can not attack the second wall ring. I have made another video to prove the opposite.

Hmm...I wonder who this is aimed at from the forum?

For the record, I DID NOT say that the AI cannot attack secondary walls. That's a complete mischaracterization of what I said. I said that the AI sucks at it. There's a big difference between sucking, and not being able to do something at all. I wonder if there was somehow a failure in communication here because AriovistusSuebus does not speak God's chosen language of English as a first language. We all know English is the best language, so he should consider going back in time to when he was about 1 years old and making it his first language against his mother's wishes, rejecting hers, much to her astonishment and horror.

That being said, the new video does demonstrate the AI handles things okay, so I am appeased by the evidence and the new settlement model as a whole.

[AriovistusSuebus]

Hmm...I wonder who this is aimed at from the forum?
For the record, I DID NOT say that the AI cannot attack secondary walls.

Believe me, you are not the only person, who claims this and this is not the only forum about EB2.

I wonder if there was somehow a failure in communication here because AriovistusSuebus does not speak God's chosen language of English as a first language. We all know English is the best language, so he should consider going back in time to when he was about 1 years old and making it his first language against his mother's wishes, rejecting hers, much to her astonishment and horror.

A good tip, but too late. Otherwise I already speak the God's chosen language as a first language. It was no coincidence, that my language was spoken as first in the space

[Jurand of Cracow]

I said that the AI sucks at it. There's a big difference between sucking, and not being able to do something at all

It's not so bad. Imo the M2TW AI is much better in sieges (both defensive and offensive) than in the Thrones of Britannia. The best experience I had was, however, with Attila.

[z3n]

Honestly I believe TW games follow the philosophy of game AI being "fun" rather than difficult.


I still see cavalry charging a pike phalanx head-on in Rome 2. So much fun.

[Roma_Victrix]

Believe me, you are not the only person, who claims this and this is not the only forum about EB2.

Ah! Well that explains it. To be honest, I generalized a bit too much, since out of all the M2TW mods, I have to admit EBII has the cleverest and most conniving AI on the battle map. They're really sneaky at times, but that's usually more the case when they're desperately trying to keep a settlement rather than taking one from me offensively. In either case your video demonstrates that the AI works just fine in using the rams for the second layer of defensive walls.

It's not so bad. Imo the M2TW AI is much better in sieges (both defensive and offensive) than in the Thrones of Britannia. The best experience I had was, however, with Attila.

Attila certainly looks cool, I'll give it that, but I'm still not sure what to say about its AI. I'm kind of on the fence about that.

Honestly I believe TW games follow the philosophy of game AI being "fun" rather than difficult.


I still see cavalry charging a pike phalanx head-on in Rome 2. So much fun.

Indeed. I'm glad that EBII punishes you for such stupid moves, though, and using cavalry for things other than flanking or screening. There are exceptions, of course, such as the heaviest cavalry bearing down on spear units, like the heavy Hellenistic Greek Kataphractoi, the Scythian nobles, the Galatian noble cavalry, the Parthian, Armenian, & Saka cataphracts, etc. All other cavalry, however, usually get decimated if they try to stay in a headlong melee fight for very long. That includes any cavalry unit with less than 6 or 7 armor points.

[Sarkiss]

Honestly I believe TW games follow the philosophy of game AI being "fun" rather than difficult.


I still see cavalry charging a pike phalanx head-on in Rome 2. So much fun.

on a more serious note, i dont think that the principle of 'fun first' is inherently wrong. i would bet my money on the fact that thats the guiding principle of any serious game developer. it is a game after all and the whole point of engaging with it is to have fun. and if it is engaging then other things, such as educational elements, can be added in. but 'fun' is definitely central to the definition of 'game' imho. that said, i think we could all agree that 'fun' should be embedded in a way that is relevant and enhances the gameplay experience, not reveals its flaws.

[Roma_Victrix]

on a more serious note, i dont think that the principle of 'fun first' is inherently wrong. i would bet my money on the fact that thats the guiding principle of any serious game developer. it is a game after all and the whole point of engaging with it is to have fun. and if it is engaging then other things, such as educational elements, can be added in. but 'fun' is definitely central to the definition of 'game' imho. that said, i think we could all agree that 'fun' should be embedded in a way that is relevant and enhances the gameplay experience, not reveals its flaws.

Psst. Hey, kid. Over here! If you're looking for that kind of unbridled fun in a TW game, then just check this out: [opens up trench-coat with a pervy laugh, revealing merchandise]. Eh? You like it? Take your pick from the list of horrible suggestions. I've got everything you'd ever need to have fun in an EBII campaign, from saving damsels in distress like Helen of Troy to commanding Ptolemaic monster trucks against Seleucid school buses retrofitted for war.

[Sarkiss]

Psst. Hey, kid. Over here! If you're looking for that kind of unbridled fun in a TW game, then just check this out: [opens up trench-coat with a pervy laugh, revealing merchandise]. Eh? You like it? Take your pick from the list of horrible suggestions. I've got everything you'd ever need to have fun in an EBII campaign, from saving damsels in distress like Helen of Troy to commanding Ptolemaic monster trucks against Seleucid school buses retrofitted for war.

'fun' should be embedded in a way that is relevant

[Rad]

I'm still waiting for some extraordinary news, people.