Hi all,
Great news! The beta for the new version (2.0) is now live. It will be running until the update is actually released on the 14th.
This one is absolutely huge. The biggest things are the totally redone UI, the ability to play as a province and the fact that the game has been rebuilt from the ground up to allow for modding. An absolute ton of other stuff too (revamped battles with full player control, a bureaucracy system, so many more things I can't actually remember them all).
To enter the beta, right-click on the game in Steam and click Properties, then go to Game Versions and Betas and choose "beta".
Naturally, since this update has so many changes it will be bound to have a lot of bugs. Please let me know if you run into them, and I'll see what I can do before the update is formally released.
The modding tools have been released as part of the update too. In your game's files, under ModdingTools, you have access to the World Editor that allows you to create your own campaigns. I'm also working on setting up Steam Workshop (you'll get a free campaign to show off the modding features: the Aghlabid invasion of Sicily in 827) and some documentation on how UI and Angelscript modding works for FOAE, I'll let you all know when this is ready.
Take these screenshots below as an example of what the game looks like now.
Thank you!
Joe