EB I or EB II?

[Pherion]

Hello, like so many others I bought Rome 2 last week, and after been playing it for this entire week, I concluded that I wasted my money on it. I don't like boarding Hate trains or hating things in general. I always kinda try to see the good in things but Rome 2 has very little of it. What truly annoyed me was the restrictions, the limit of Armies, the limit of management in cities and the lack of detail in them just kinda did me in. It's such a shame, because it had so much potential. But oh well, I know most of you know what I'm talking about.

Anyway, before I came here I tried Di Bello Mundi and I greatly enjoyed it but I can't live with those sound files in them. It still uses for the most part Medieval 2 Sound files, which are not bad. I mean Medieval 2 as good voice acting and pretty awesome speeches. But it doesn't make any sense when I talk to a Gaulish Diplomat and he replies: "England will be thrilled to hear of this!!" in he's pure british accent. I can't stop imagining some Monty Python in those moments and just fall down laughing. xD
Until someone brings in some Rome 1 Voice files in it, I can't live with it.

But what about EB? Is EB II on a solid condition yet, and most importantly, does it have correct sound files? I'm mostly a Roman player, and after the disappointment of Rome 2, I need to play as Rome soo badly!

Otherwise, I'll just get Rome 1 again and get EB I and will wait until this one is finished or something.
Although it's going to take me a while to get used to those clone armies again...probably the biggest issue in that game, the damn clones man!

[Mantaprey]

Dear, Pherion


EB II is built solidly with little CTDs. I had 400+ turns in my campaign, that is around 3 weeks of playing and i had maybe 1 random CTD. Which is no big deal because of the autosave everyturn feature. So no more end of battle CDTs that you used to get in EB(oh those days!). I have a above average computer though so i don't know how the others went.

The mod content is maybe 30% complete?
As for voices there is the Latin, Celtic, Hellenic, and the small Semitic voice mod from EB1 and the new Sanskrit voice mod for Taksashila and Indian units. The only thing med II i can think of is Lugian diplomat that speaks English and the Indian cities (there are 5 at start) that have Aztec buildings. And also the sound effects, which can be changed with this damn good sound effect sub-mod http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...-Barbarorum-II have a look at the video.

The immersion is good, especially if you play as Roman, Carthage or Hellenic factions as i think you probably like those ones. I always forget that this is actually med II. All the units are definitely ace, but the polybian models are current being made now so you are going to feel Romani-sad like the other Romans here they have camillian placeholders instead. Look through the twitter to see them being made.

Each faction feels different to play.
The Roman faction has elections, offices, 'Imperium' and i think roman colonies too. Carthage has a more mercenary focus than the others, and much more powerful ships. Each faction has their own government system based on history. So the Romans have say Italian allies and roman citizenship or subjugation that helps convert to their culture. Carthage has the royal council in Qart-hadast. Trade posts that can be upgraded into either coastal trading towns(extra money) or Carthaginian colonies(extra conversion), that grow into cities. You can go so far as to establish royal council control at another pure Carthaginian city, like a second capitol. The Celtic factions are much simpler, initiate the tribe into your confederation, making it more difficult for the leader control, but gaining elite units. Or keep them as a protectorate extracting regular tribute from them having less recruitment and more stable leadership. Alternatively each faction has the local alliance government as in EB I that has basic a recruitment based on the culture in the province.

You can go back to EB I if you want its still a solid mod, but to me it feels like a shadow compared to the current EB II.

I hope that answers all of your queries, have a delightful afternoon.


From a biased fan, Mantaprey

[Thuycidides]

My shorter opinion is this:

EB II is coming along nicely and rarely suffers a ctd.

EB I is still the better game, but no matter what I do (and I have tried everything) it is a ctd nightmare.

[Roma_Victrix]

Hello, like so many others I bought Rome 2 last week, and after been playing it for this entire week, I concluded that I wasted my money on it. I don't like boarding Hate trains or hating things in general. I always kinda try to see the good in things but Rome 2 has very little of it. What truly annoyed me was the restrictions, the limit of Armies, the limit of management in cities and the lack of detail in them just kinda did me in. It's such a shame, because it had so much potential. But oh well, I know most of you know what I'm talking about.

Anyway, before I came here I tried Di Bello Mundi and I greatly enjoyed it but I can't live with those sound files in them. It still uses for the most part Medieval 2 Sound files, which are not bad. I mean Medieval 2 as good voice acting and pretty awesome speeches. But it doesn't make any sense when I talk to a Gaulish Diplomat and he replies: "England will be thrilled to hear of this!!" in he's pure british accent. I can't stop imagining some Monty Python in those moments and just fall down laughing. xD
Until someone brings in some Rome 1 Voice files in it, I can't live with it.

But what about EB? Is EB II on a solid condition yet, and most importantly, does it have correct sound files? I'm mostly a Roman player, and after the disappointment of Rome 2, I need to play as Rome soo badly!

Otherwise, I'll just get Rome 1 again and get EB I and will wait until this one is finished or something.
Although it's going to take me a while to get used to those clone armies again...probably the biggest issue in that game, the damn clones man!

Mantaprey did a good job addressing your points, but I'll add a couple of my own.

If you're a Romani fan, just wait for the summer when EB II has the next release, because the Roman roster is going to improve significantly with that update. Currently it is extremely limited, mostly archaic Camillan era units with very few actual Polybian-style units. I'm not quite sure if they're going to have the standard Marian legions in the next release, but at the very least they'll have chain-mail wearing Polybian principes and triarii.

If you're tired of playing both De Bello Mundi for Medieval II and EB I for RTW, there are other great Roman-era mods for Rome Total War. Have you tried Roma Surrectum II for RTW? Or the late Roman era mods called Invasio Barbarorum? SAI (Somnium Iuliani Apostatae) is the best one, takes place during the reign of Julian the Apostate. The units in that mod are a gorgeous work of art, taking it to the limits of the RTW engine. Of course the current units in EB II look far better because Medieval II has much better graphics and options for diversity within units, but SAI is worth playing at least once. Roma Surrectum II is within the same basic time frame as EB I and EB II, if that's the era you prefer, and the units in that RTW mod are also a magnificent work of art.

In summary, wait for EB II's next release over the summer and in the meantime, play Roma Surrectum II and Invasio Barbarorum. You could even play Invasio Barbarorum II for Medieval II, although there are only two campaigns available at the moment, sub-Roman Britain and Vandal-controlled North Africa. Flagellum Dei II, which will include the map of the entire Roman Empire (as its collapsing) is due to be released over the summer, just like EB II.

[Josh Mahurin]

If you're a Romani fan, just wait for the summer when EB II has the next release, because the Roman roster is going to improve significantly with that update. Currently it is extremely limited, mostly archaic Camillan era units with very few actual Polybian-style units. I'm not quite sure if they're going to have the standard Marian legions in the next release, but at the very least they'll have chain-mail wearing Polybian principes and triarii.

It has already been addressed several times that the new Roman units will likely not make it into the summer update. Since we managed to release another update before that planned one we have pushed our stop work date back slightly so it is perhaps possible but do not think that they are guaranteed.

[Pherion]

Thanks for the reply. I saw on their twitter that the New version with the new Polybian units(and others) is going to come out this August, so I think I'll hold on playing as the Romans, and use some other factions instead. I'm thinking of the Lusotannan, I became super interested in them from the first moment I saw them, since they were my ancestors.

Time to start downloading.

[Pherion]

Strange, I can't seem to edit my posts but anyway, I wanted to ask what you recommend downloading. Just the main mod, or do you recommend some patches, and what's the preferred difficulty to play this mod?

[alin]

Strange, I can't seem to edit my posts but anyway, I wanted to ask what you recommend downloading. Just the main mod, or do you recommend some patches, and what's the preferred difficulty to play this mod?

Yes, download the main mod, v2.01, and you should definitely download the patches.
But for that I suggest using b0Gia's great submod compilation(includes vegetation mod, includes BAI/CAI, EDU, traits fixes) so you don't waste time cherry picking them:
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...-2-01-by-b0Gia

Have fun!

[QuintusSertorius]

Yes, download the main mod, v2.01, and you should definitely download the patches.
But for that I suggest using b0Gia's great submod compilation(includes vegetation mod, includes BAI/CAI, EDU, traits fixes) so you don't waste time cherry picking them:
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...-2-01-by-b0Gia

Have fun!

Be aware, though, b0Gia's submod isn't compatible with the newer BAI/CAI/pathfinding changes z3n has created.

[b0Gia de Bodemloze]

Be aware, though, b0Gia's submod isn't compatible with the newer BAI/CAI/pathfinding changes z3n has created.

Well it's included now, he should search my thread for more details.
Also apart from that i recommend to you and all in general to try the original eb too if you didn't. I can't said EB 1.2 is better from EB 2 or vice versa. We can't compare them because the one it is for rtw and the other for medieval, they are different. For me it's the best rome total war of this era. I have tried them all and it is the only i liked so much. I liked too diadochi but it lacks the depth eb has. Also about the bugs you said you can download my version of my modpack that fixes many bugs of the 1.2 version.
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...b0Gia-Released!

[Trax]

EBII is much simpler to install. EBI was a nightmare to get running. Never again.

[Sint]

EBII is much simpler to install. EBI was a nightmare to get running. Never again.

Install main version,Install patch,copy and past hotfixes=Ready. Not really hard.

[b0Gia de Bodemloze]

Install main version,Install patch,copy and past hotfixes=Ready. Not really hard.

Indeed.

[alin]

Install main version,Install patch,copy and past hotfixes=Ready. Not really hard.

No, he's right. I've been here from the start I remember there were issues.
On some machines there were some issues and it just didn't run, required some registry tricks and stuff like that.

[Anubis88]

To me the MAIN difference is just how realistic EBII looks. Even unfinished, the lack of uniformity just makes it look very real.

Also, the mod is completly playable despite being a beta. It lacks a lot of features, but it already has more than a lot of "complete" mods

[Sint]

No, he's right. I've been here from the start I remember there were issues.
On some machines there were some issues and it just didn't run, required some registry tricks and stuff like that.

Never had that happening.

[Trax]

I think I had issues because I have the Gold Edition. Not really sure, haven't installed it for 4-5 years.
It certainly wasn't as straightforward as described above.

[arche hohenstaufen]

So compared to EB1, what is the status of EB2? I mean the quality of battles/reforms for each faction and so on...

[b0Gia de Bodemloze]

Better think the EB 2 is in development, and is improving every day. It is prety stable and enjoyable.

[Roma_Victrix]

Better think the EB 2 is in development, and is improving every day. It is prety stable and enjoyable.

Those new units that are coming are really going to transform the game though, into something that is almost unmatchable as far as all the other Medieval II mods are concerned. It's going to be glorious, I can feel it.