Gonna give Rome 2 a go after a break of years what can I expect + which mods are recommended?

[Conan's Might]

Hi all,

Long time player of Rome 1 and the mods Rome Total Realism + Europa Barbarium.

I played roughly 2 hours of Rome 2 on day of release but left it at that. Now roughly 6 years later I have Rome 2 Emperor Edition in my STEAM library and I'm gonna give it a go! So I just have a couple of main questions -

1. What are the main differences I can expect from the fresh release?

2. Is it worth giving vanilla a go or shall I go straight to so very good an recommended mods?

Thanks for any feedback

[~Seleukos.I.Nikator~]

ad. 2 I wouldn't even bother playing the vanilla game. I know there are a few people around here who actually enjoy playing the vanilla game, but most go straight for the mods. Personally, I haven't played a single minute on vanilla and if I were you I would go directly for Divide et Impera.

[Jurand of Cracow]

I've never played neither vanilla Medieval II nor vanilla Rome 2. Only mods, the first one was RTRVII. Go for the DEI - start with Romanoi as later you'll find it too easy.

[Benjin]

1. What are the main differences I can expect from the fresh release?

Main differences with Rome II now compared to how it was on release:

• Family Trees / Political System - Your political party now has a family system tied to it (husbands / wives, children, heirs etc). You can enact more political / character intrigues (24 compared to release's 4). Government types, better party management. Civil wars are no longer inevitable and can happen multiple times to varying degrees - "Secession" if just one party breaks away, fullscale traditional "Civil War" if more than one party breaks away. They only occur if you don't manage politics very well.
• Seasons - Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter. They basically act like the seasons from Shogun II, but can provide some positive / negative effects.
• Wonders - Give factionwide bonuses and are visually represented on the campaign map + battle maps (if you fight close to them).
• Balanced Agents - No more endless poisoning of wells with the "Spy" agents.
• DLC - There's a crap load of DLC options available. They're mostly more campaign and faction options (you don't need to buy the faction packs if you don't want to play as them - the AI have access to all the new stuff for free).
• Graphics - MSAA, water reflections, god rays, cloud shadows, ability to turn proximity fading on / off, better lighting (especially in night battles), particle effects are affected by wind direction + strength etc. There's more visual diversity between some units now, such as African elephants, transport ships etc.
• Performance - The game is more optimised compared to release. Everything seems to run faster / smoother. The only exception is the campaign map loading times - they're quite long (especially with certain mods enabled which affect the Grand Campaign - it can make them take up to 4 or 5 minutes to load).
• UI - Faction's colours and icons aren't as saturated as they were on release - their colours are now more naturalistic. The UI's aesthetics have been changed a bit to look slightly more marble-like (especially in the Empire Divided DLC campaign). Skill trees now look more like Shogun II's, where - at a glance - you can see all the skills and their requirements as a tree diagram making them much easier to read.
• Fewer Bugs - I'm not saying the game is bugless, but compared to release, it is way better than it used to be. I haven't seen the notorious land-ship or LOD face bugs ever since early-2014 in my battles.
• Lots of Minor Fixes / Tweaks - Example: Ships can now disembark off of beaches after landing their units, which allows all ships to land their units. Now you won't ever have a situation where ships get stuck at sea, unable to land once all beach slots are taken.

2. Is it worth giving vanilla a go or shall I go straight to so very good an recommended mods?

Totally up to you. Personally, I would always try out the vanilla experience of any game first so that I can understand the basics and also appreciate the changes made by mods when I have them enabled later. If you find yourself getting bored / not liking certain aspects of the vanilla experience (be it visual, gameplay or whatever category), that's the time when I start looking for / making mods.

[The Wandering Storyteller]

Wars of the Gods
Gerula graphics
Aztec graphics
DEI
Roma Victor
Roman Legions
DEI

[ezreal15]

Hi all,

Long time player of Rome 1 and the mods Rome Total Realism + Europa Barbarium.

I played roughly 2 hours of Rome 2 on day of release but left it at that. Now roughly 6 years later I have Rome 2 Emperor Edition in my STEAM library and I'm gonna give it a go! So I just have a couple of main questions -

1. What are the main differences I can expect from the fresh release?

2. Is it worth giving vanilla a go or shall I go straight to so very good an recommended mods?

Thanks for any feedback

I'd recommend the Radious overhaul mod, plus the Better Water mod, a custom music mod, and the Rise of Sparta.

Check out Top1Apk.com for some cool app games on mobile if you're looking for a time killer when your computer isn't at hand Cheers.

[Conan's Might]

Thanks for all the feedback guys!

[Welsh Dragon]

ad. 2 I wouldn't even bother playing the vanilla game. I know there are a few people around here who actually enjoy playing the vanilla game, but most go straight for the mods. Personally, I haven't played a single minute on vanilla and if I were you I would go directly for Divide et Impera.

As one of those people that does enjoy vanilla, I'd definitely recommend playing vanilla first. Even if you then decide to use mods, by playing vanilla first you'll have a better understanding how the game itself plays, and what (if anything) you wish to change with mods. You can then make an informed decision about what you want. Plus if you go straight into playing with mods, especially the big overhalls, you'll be having to learn a whole load of new systems from the patches + more systems from the mods, and if you find you don't like them you won't know if it's the game or the mods.

Whatever you do, good luck and hope you have fun!

All the Best,

Welsh Dragon.

[♔Greek Strategos♔]

Thanks for all the feedback guys!

Well, DEI obviously
Plus the excellent sub mods from Benjin, Celticus, Gerula, Aztec, and many other great modders. Just check our submod threads here on TWC and on STEAM if you're more attached to its Workshop.

PS
I agree with Welsh Dragon though, you should probably play the Vanilla game first to learn its curve

[Bran Mac Born]

WARS OF THE GODS-ANCIENT WARS version 8.1 yummy good bloody fun stuff!
Plus there is over special 20 submods that can be used with Wars of the Gods. This is the largest overhaul mod of Rome 2 ever made.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfil.../?id=193736354

[Avarice1987]

Wars of the Gods
Gerula graphics

DEI

Is this Mod Compatible with DeI?

or better than D.E.I. GE?

I Use D.E.I - Graphics Enhancement for the Graphics

[~Seleukos.I.Nikator~]

That's exactly the same mod that The Wandering Storyteller was referring to. Gerula is the author.

[Bran Mac Born]

AvariceNO NO and NO. It is the most massive overhaul of Rome 2 and has Nothing to do with DEI at all. Try it and ENJOY