Preview: Arabia

[Phalanx300]

Yes its a great job. The position of the new Nabatean faction is also interesting right next to two mayor succesor states. I believe in the text it said they sided with the Ptolemies a lot? And it will also be nice to have more struggle within Arabia itself.

[Murfmurf]

Oooh la la!

[THE IBERIAN]

+rep from me

[Samariten]

Very nice preview as always.

[Silesian_Noble]

What a quality! Perfect job!

[Scroogie]

Congratulations for releasing one preview after one year.

Next step: release another one before 2014

[Casual Tactician]

Congratulations for releasing one preview after one year.

Next step: release another one before 2014

Hi Scrooge! I've realisted that you posted here (exceptionless) a few times and are probably actually a big fan of EBII. I guess?!

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Why so sour ... Lighten up, dude.

[Bethencourt]

Congratulations! keep on with this magnificent work.

[Diglytron]

What can i say, this is such as EVERY preview should be. Stunning great! read most of it and must say, its verry intresting!

[tomySVK]

Excellent preview! The concept art part of the preview is really beautiful and interesting to see. Thanks EB II team

[Lugh Lamhfada]

Beautiful, amazing. Im revising my first 3 to play list, one of these is definitely in the running for second or third. Congratulations on the hard work

[Protector]

Yes,

Beautiful and amazing preview...but
I still hope that does not pass even more years to release ...

sad that so much time has already elapsed since the beginning of this mod in 2008 ...

[Casual Tactician]

True, but things are well on the move - and ... we have patience, eh! Also there's still EB1 (and other mods to pass the time).

It'll be worth the wait tenfold - and much better than any possible Rome2 could ever be!

[Dago Red]

Another startlingly impressive, brilliantly done glimpse at the unparalleled work of scholars and gentlemen!

All of which is eventually lost, buried under new engine after new engine, as the years go by, and there is nothing but glimpses of something no one can touch for themselves.

[Moros]

All of which is eventually lost, buried under new engine after new engine, as the years go by, and there is nothing but glimpses of something no one can touch for themselves.

If you like those engines better then it is no loss for you. I for one do not and thus for me it will not be buried under new engines. We don't make a game so that we make money out of it and thus try to reach an audience as large as we can. We want to make a game that has great historical depth and a complex gameplay first, because that is what we like to make and would like to play someday. Those who are like minded and have patience, will appreciate our work in the future, I'm sure. But perhaps it might not be your cup of tea. Everybody is entitled on his or her opinion of course.

Mine is this: I've been around since EB 1's first year and joined the team first as a beta tester and later as a member, that is like seven years or so ago, I can be around for a couple more really. Sure we want it released and as much work done as fast as possible without sacrificing depth or quality. But the latter comes first.

[Dago Red]

If you like those engines better then it is no loss for you. I for one do not and thus for me it will not be buried under new engines.....

It's not a matter of liking one better than the other anymore. Seven years later, the newest ones are quite simply, superior. ETW did not usher in a time frame that I was particularly fond of, nor were the buggy battles anything to write home about. But we see now just how superior that engine is in the modding community -- mods such as A Proper Empire: Terra Incognita, which offer absurdly detailed economic-oriented gameplay making the most out of a game series (Total War) that keeps baby stepping towards the complexity of Paradox games.

You can have vassals and protectorates! There are trade lanes, and high seas naval warfare. In the latest game engine, we see a total war map come alive in 3 dimensions -- one you can pan the camera around in any-which-way just as in battle mode of old.

And there are now schemes within schemes possible in the campaign play, the intrigues possible are far greater than before. All the silly unreal things can be taken away, and what's left is an game engine that has come a long way, seven years is a geological age in computer gaming years. This engine is a fossil.

But like I said, it's more than personal preference or opinion now. This game engine wasn't even designed for our modern equipment, and performs poorly on it, esp for a modern widescreen monitor.

See the following: Technology is leaving this game behind. Do you know new computers don't even come with VGA ports? I have only a new fangled "display port," 2 DVI ports, and an HDMI port on my newish gaming rig. My newish (2 year old) monitor cannot display the game properly, being that an HD 1080p screen, though fantastic and extremely high resolution, simply stretches the campaign overlay all out of proportion becasuse the UI jut wasn't designed for it. In fact, I had to return the first monitor I bought (to replace a fossilized 17in) because the text on my total war games was stretched to the point of illegibility and settled on this one.

I still play Broken Crescent and love it. And Third Age. I can read the text, but what about in 2 more years? What new thing will we all eventually upgrade to, to replace dead components that does not integrate with a game whose age is reaching a decade?

...that is like seven years or so ago, I can be around for a couple more really. Sure we want it released and as much work done as fast as possible without sacrificing depth or quality. But the latter comes first.

As a friend of mine said when we discussed the absurdly long and ongoing saga that is EBII, "this is scholasticism: scholarship without real-world application."

The real world application being, the release, any release, in any form, of this mod.

I bought M2TW for EB II nearly half a decade after it was released by CA. I had no desire to play vanilla and finally saw the aforementioned mods come into their own in a version which appealed to me... but it was, and always has been EB II that I bought this small plastic disc for. Do you know people don't even buy these small plastic discs anymore -- they just download games straight outta the intertubes!

I have been waiting now, less time than you, and have put very little effort into the community and nothing into the mod team. But I know there are people who have contributed greatly to this community and have nothing for their time and effort. Shouldn't you consider releasing some kind of little playable beta (as was promised long ago in the Gaza campaign) just for them? Do you know that some people have died in the past 7 years?

I have been in equal awe of the work done by this team as I have by it's unwillingness to release anything and apparent lack of care for those who bought this game engine to play this mod. There's a term my friend mentioned: avoidance behavior. Oh, another thing to fix! Something to add, to polish and calibrate, to make it perfect!

You toil over chiseling a perfect work, while those endearing supporters waiting for it, crumble to dust.

[Lü Bu]

aweasome preview...really, one of the best units...

[Lugh Lamhfada]

the begrudgers!! All things great are worth waiting for, in youre own time gentlemen. Best to get quality instead of impatience driven second rate stuff. This preview made my day!

[jimbob512]

Brilliant.

Can't wait for more previews (and the eventual release!)

[Marcus Agrippa Vipsanius]

wow epic !!!