The Future Of EB

**Team Sleep** · February 14, 2010, 01:34 PM

Hello friends,

Throughout playing EB v1.2 (3 weeks), and reading posts about a much anticipated EB II being released as a mod for M2TW. My mind was wandering.

There is no doubt that the M2TW engine will allow for more extensive, accurate game play. And the extra faction slots will add new factions to the mix. These 2 things amongst many others will be a vast improvement for EB v1.2 (not that it needed much improvement to begin with) EB II is set to be EPIC!

However one concept continues to tickle my brain about other future possibilities of the EB project. What about setting the game's time period ahead a couple centuries after 14AD? Now EB is famed for having very decently accurate portrayal of the world according to the views of the factions that existed of that particular time period. I just figure, hey, we all played the time period already, and now we have a chance to play it again with some new improvements. Don't get me wrong, I love the idea of playing a new & improved campaign during the "Golden Age" of Rome...but, all great things must come to an end. Therefore I am putting an idea out there

probably not the first time)let's do another time frame in which will be depicted the "Fall of Rome"...much like the time period that BI was set in. It would be great to cap off the Roman era of EB...and yes I know I know...EB isn't just about Romans....well...why not extend the new spin off beyond the fall of Rome? Lets show some of those barbs flexing their staying power, portraying them as significant movers & shakers during the time period as well.

I suppose basically what I'm proposing is a BI style of game for the EB team. Now please don't crucify me...this is only an idea in the infant stage but...is it a bad idea? I'm not going to get technical because that isn't my place. Besides the EB team knows well enough how to do what they do...and...they're good at it.

So anyways...that's my idea...what do you think?

Also just on a side note...

As I've said I've only been playing EB v1.2 for about 3 weeks...but I've picked up that there is obviously an unofficial version of EB on a BI engine?

How does this compare with EB on the RTW engine? Is it better or worse? If anybody has any insight on this please reply with a hefty list of details. One remark I kept reading about was that of hoplite shield walls and shieltrom formations, also unit radius. How do these stack up? Does it make for a more factual portryal of history? And what about the hording feature...what do you think of it...how does it work out?

Thank you, friends

**bobbin** · February 14, 2010, 01:44 PM

I think they already have enough work on their hands making EB2, any such mod would have to be made by others.

**Ludens** · February 14, 2010, 02:04 PM

I'd like to see such a mod too, but I think you are asking too much here. There has already been two years of work on the units of EB2: most of them will have to be redone if the time-frame is moved by a couple of centuries. Heck, the amount of work that went into researching the starting positions of EB1 alone is huge: even changing the starting date by a few decades is going force them to redo most of it. So I don't see this happening, at least not by the EB team. They had trouble enough getting a submod that changed the starting date to 120 BC or thereabouts of the ground (an alpha version was released for EB 0.7, but it never progressed beyond that).

As for EB for BI: it's an unofficial submod that allows for the additional abilities of the BI engine. That is: shieldwalls, schiltroms, charging hoplite phalanxes and swimming for combat units, and a strategic A.I. that is far more willing to do naval invasions (though I am not sure that is an improvement as these invasions can often be pointless). I suppose you could also use religions and hordes, but IIRC no-one has enabled these so-far (probably because they were badly implemented in R:TW). There is also a version of EB for the Alexander expansion. It is supposed to improve A.I. but I haven't tested it yet.

**-iceblade^** · February 14, 2010, 02:47 PM

wok on EB 2 has already started. another mod team would have to pick up the slack, if at all.

**Team Sleep** · February 14, 2010, 06:20 PM

Hey friends let me make myself completely clear. I'm not asking for a conversion of the current mod being worked on. I'm not asking for EB II to stop what they're doing and work on something completely new and start over. I'm not asking EB to split their resources and start something new. I DID ask...not to be crucified. I DID ask what people thought about the IDEA as being a part of EB team's possible future. I'm not trying to be nasty, I'm just trying to keep that part of the thread on topic. So again...with the technical stuff aside...what do you think of the idea as a brand new project after EB II?

Also: Judging from your input Ludens...I'm guessing that sub moding to fit EB v1.2 to play for barb invasion isn't worth the trouble being that no real historical significance is added to the game. Other than the fact of swimming units and...more practical application of phalanx and shield formations? Is it even REALLY better use of pike units in phalanx formation and shield formation? Does it work well?

**Ludens** · February 15, 2010, 06:03 AM

Whether you prefer EB for BI to ordinary EB is a matter of taste. Many hoplite fanatics prefer the shieldwall hoplites, and some people argue that naval invasions make the campaign A.I. more competent. I am not convinced of either, so I am happy to play standard EB.

As for your suggestion for EB3, that's up to the team. However, I expect that finishing EB2 will take considerable time even after their first release. I doubt they will begin work at a new project within the next 18 months.

Edit: BTW, have you seen the IBFD mod? I hear it's very good, if not quite the equal of EB.

**bobbin** · February 15, 2010, 06:22 AM

Originally Posted by Team Sleep

Hey friends let me make myself completely clear. I'm not asking for a conversion of the current mod being worked on. I'm not asking for EB II to stop what they're doing and work on something completely new and start over. I'm not asking EB to split their resources and start something new. I DID ask...not to be crucified. I DID ask what people thought about the IDEA as being a part of EB team's possible future. I'm not trying to be nasty, I'm just trying to keep that part of the thread on topic. So again...with the technical stuff aside...what do you think of the idea as a brand new project after EB II?

Also: Judging from your input Ludens...I'm guessing that sub moding to fit EB v1.2 to play for barb invasion isn't worth the trouble being that no real historical significance is added to the game. Other than the fact of swimming units and...more practical application of phalanx and shield formations? Is it even REALLY better use of pike units in phalanx formation and shield formation? Does it work well?

Sorry if I came across as a bit hostile earlier it was a good idea but I think it's way too early to be talking about what the EB team will do after EB2, if they do anything at all. The original EB took nearly 5 years to reach it's final state and EB2 has been in development for just over 2 years so you see can why I think it perhaps a bit premature to talk about such things.

As for late roman era mods there is already INVASIO BARBARORVM and INVASIO BARBARORVM II for RTW and M2TW:K respectively which you might want to check out.

As for running EB on BI I would recommend it as it improves campaign AI behavior and gives you the opportunity to add features like hordes (if you know how). I personally don't bother with the new sheild formations as I find they are not very useful (the shiltron formation is competely broken as well).