War of the Ring: Play the World Version

The map here and city placement are borrowed from the Sarevok's LOTR scenario and the Hagburt Map. Full credit to them for this. Everything else is was done from scratch, including units, heros, wonders, city configuration & allocation, etc.

The terrain of Mordor has been enhanced to make developing a civilization there somewhat more viable. Wonders have been placed according to their location (i.e. Pillars of Argonath, Mirror of Galadriel, Palantir of Orthanc, etc.) Locations with cities on the original map where there are no cities in LOTR (i.e. North Downs, South Downs) have been deleted, while many new cities have been added (i.e. the cities of the Corsairs, Arnost, Numenorians, Easterlings, etc.) Previously unaffiliated or independent cities have been placed with their appropriate race.

Play one of the races of Gondor (Hobbits, Elves, Dwarves, Rohan, Gondor, Mordor, Easterlings, Corsairs, Isengard). The scenario allows the player wide flexibility. Conquest and domination victories are possible, as is building a ship to the West (spaceship).

The invaders from Mordor and Isengard are very dangerous and are represented by hidden nationality units. While diplomacy cannot be set, this largely solves the problem because Orcs, Uruk-Hai, etc. will raid the free peoples from the beginning regardless of your diplomatic stance. This makes destruction of Isengard and the land of Mordor vital to the survival of the free peoples.

In order to allow wide flexibility to the player, while each side starts out with some basic offensive and defensive units, building and developing your civilization is an important part of the scenario. Tech advances are normal (with modified names) and allow advances through the modern era. Rules are normal, except for re-naming of units, techs, wonders, improvements, etc. and the use of original unique units with altered statistics.

Choose from one of twelve civilizations:

Easy: Mordor
Average difficulty: Gondor, Isengard, Elves, The Shire, Easterlings, Corsairs
Above-average difficulty: Rohan, Dwarves
High difficulty: Arnost, Ents
Very challenging game: Men of Dale, Numenorians

Good-aligned: Gondor, Elves, Shire, Rohan, Men of Dale
Neutral: Arnost, Numenorians, Ents, Dwarves
Evil-aligned: Mordor, Isengard, Easterlings, Corsairs

Capitals start out at size three, while all other cities start out at size one. Isengard is size six and has a factory to reflect high production.
Ent cities can build Ents and improvements, but are unable to build non-mechanized human military units.

Of course, each race starts with the appropriate hero units. Use them wisely! There is also at least one unique unit for each race.

Tech Changes:
Writing does not allow communication trading. As in the real LOTR, you have to make contact with the other races yourself.

No special mods, file/directory renaming, or other tweaking is required.

Feedback and constructive criticisms would be appreciated.


V1.1 posted 25 March 2003:
Some minor changes and fixes to enhance gameplay.

V1.2 posted 27 March 2003:
Fixed a bug that one of the 13 races was randomly be omitted, now all 13 races are included in every game.
Weakened Nazgul attack slightly (to 7) and prohibited Mordor from building Nazgul units beyond the starting 9.
Added a "build hero" ability to all civs other than Mordor and Isengard to build heros (very expensive) once Military Tradition is discovered.
Strengthened the guard unit available to all good-aligned men races to 2.3.1 up from 1.3.1 for balancing purposes.

v1.3 posted 11 April 2003:
Added an additional defensive unit to the border cities of Rohan & Easterlings to prevent early takeover by Nazgul. Elite guards and heroes no longer trigger a golden age, allowing players some additional flexibility in planning when their golden age will occur. Race-specific specialty units still trigger a golden age.

Enjoy,

WoundedKnight


[Edit 4/11/03: New version uploaded

Screenshots please?

I've taken some screenshots, but the files appear to be too large to post here. I've tried compressing them, but the resolution is crummy with smaller images...

Click on the link to see the screenshot:

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads4/isengard.jpg
Isengard production options in the early game

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads4/theshire.jpg
Nazgul descend upon the party of hobbits

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads4/dwarf.jpg
Dwarven Axemen from Iron Mountain pass by the man-cities of Esgaroth (Laketown) and Dale on their way to fight the Easterlings

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads4/helmsdeep.jpg
Olog-Hai, Uruk-Hai, and mounted Orcs from Isengard prepare to attack Helm's Deep and the Riders of Rohan, accompanied by Saruman the White himself. Entwood and Entwade are visible to the East, while Erech (a city of Gondor) can be seen across the mountain pass to the south. To the West, discontent in the city of South Dunland, traditional human foes of the Rohirrim.

Your screenshot is messed up. :)

Try cropping the images.

You should use the easy uploads to attach screesnhots, then they can be tree times bigger.

BTW this scenario looks good:goodjob:

Yoda: with the Easy Upload, it can be 30 times bigger. :D

(100K vs 3Meg)

Originally posted by Padma
Yoda: with the Easy Upload, it can be 30 times bigger. :D

(100K vs 3Meg)

ops, well that just shows how good it is;)

I've edited the post to incorporate screenshots which have been added via the upload feature. You have to click on them, but I wanted to preserve the quality instead of posting cropped images which show little or distorted low-res images. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Would appreciate feedback -- So far I think the scenario plays rather well and should suit the needs of many players because it is highly customizable and the player is not "locked in" to reinacting a single battle, playing just one civilization, or playing in a single age. Much of Middle Earth history or your own "fanfiction" can easily be created by playing this scenario as the civ of your choice and seeking your own objectives. Hope the players find it enjoyable. Thanks to Yoda for the compliment. I'm open to suggestions and constructive criticisms to enhance the gameplay experience (which I think is pretty good -- at least I have a lot of fun with this playing as all different civs:)

WoundedKnight

Looks good... Plays well and the hidden nationalities really work nicely.

Why don't you use the many units already available in the units forum instead of the standard civilization ones? I think I'll edit it for my personal games...

I could...I was thinking that many people might not like to have to download and install a modpack, as the installation can be confusion for some people and some scenario discussions are filled with questions and problems related to the installation of such. But I'd be happy to do this if the concensus is that this is something that would enhance gameplay. Would appreciate input from others on whether this would be something that would be "worth the hassle" in enhancing the experience.

WoundedKnight

I think it would look wonderfully "realistic" with the proper units... When you play for yourself do you use proper units?

No, I use standard units.

There is a Lord of the Rings modpack someone is developing in beta phase. Maybe I could ask their permission to incorporate it. It's still in testing, so I might wait a little while longer in order for some of the bugs to be ironed out and the mod to stabilize. Once that mod is done, this might be a good application for it.

The problem with that mod I mentioned is that it overwrites the regular Civ3/PTW files and would be a big hassle for players, because you have to keep backups and uninstall the mod to play regular Civ3 again.

Maybe if there's something simpler with nice artwork, fine. But I want it to be low maintenance, because I think most people won't play a scenario if it requires a large amount of technical legwork to get it to run.

Nope at least with Ptw. Special rules, units,... of a mod are stored into one folder in the PtW scenario folder. So it doesn't write over anything.

That is the advantage of the PtW mod selector.

Ive been out of the forums and Civ 3 for a while. im glad I dont have to give some "freindly" persuasion to give me credit :D . Im currently just screwing around and I am wondering what my next scenario should be.

I think you forgot that the Hornburg is the Keep at helms deep, which is why in my scenario i placed them close to eachother.

It seems like now that Firaxis has given us the (near)PERFECT way to actually perform a similar-style victory to Lord of the Rings, we don't take advantage of it!

How about making this a "capture the 'princess' " mod, except it's capture the Ring?

Other than that, good work!

Sam

Boy, it would just be too easy! The journey of the Ring was much more than just "Get the ring and you win." Once the Fellowship had the ring, it had to be transported long distances over treacherous terrain -- enemy armies and patrols had to be defeated -- and so forth. In sum, acquiring the ring was just the beginning.

I've continued to playtest this scenario, and it seems to work fairly well with the "hidden units" of Mordor, Isengard, and their alliance (Corsairs, Easterlings). Mordor and Isengard inevitably expand, taking over territories of the free peoples and races. It seems to be fairly realistic in that regard and provides a genuine challenge as well, especially as Mordor terrorizes the free peoples with the nine Nazgul and countless armies of Uruk-Hai and Olog-Hai. Still winnable, but just like in the real story, you will likely need to form an alliance of the free peoples to defeat Mordor and Isengard. I'm pretty happy with the challenge level and the dynamics of the game, but am still open to constructive criticisms and suggestions.

Play Gondor, the Shire, or Elves for a moderate challenge -- Rohan or Dwarves for a difficult challenge -- Ents, Arnor, Numenor, or Dale for a very, very difficult challenge -- Easterlings or Corsairs to play the forces of evil with a moderate challenge -- or Mordor or Isengard if you just like to wipe everyone out.

I agree it's a lot more than just that, what I meant is what about adding the "capture the ring ('princess')" aspect to what you currently have? I love what you have put together, it illustrates everything except the ring perfectly; all I meant by it was a suggestion to model it even more. Capturing the ring would give a huge victory point boost, but not ensure victory in and of itself. I love the mod, keep it how it is, but any chance of adding the ring to it in this sense?

As a suggestion, each race could have its own ring...unless there is a way to make a capture the 'princess' with only one common princess on the board.

Sam

Thanks for the feedback, I'm glad that you are finding the scenario enjoyable :)

Wouldn't victory point locations do the same thing, without resulting in an "endgame" for a race once the ring is captured?

All of the rings were corrupted by the power of Sauron, except for the three elf rings. One was given to Gandalf, while the other two helped the Elf Lords to maintain their power. They are represented by a happiness wonder in the game.

Many of the cultures -- Arnor, the Shire, Corsairs, Easterlings, Ents, and so on -- were never given a ring. Since all but three of the rings were under the power of Sauron (and the rings were the power of the 9 Nazgul), I'm not sure how one could suitably incorporate what you are suggesting.

WoundedKnight

but there are still the three remaing dwarve's rings, the other four are destroyed or captured by sauroman

Interesting scenario. Certainly has been a challenge so far as the Ents on emperor. I do have one problem/concern, however. A number of civs are settling way to the north...so far north, in fact, that part of their cultural borders and sometimes even the city name itself is off the screen to the north. I think this is a BAD THING that can crash the game. I would recommend modifying the map significantly, so that the northernmost 2-3 rows can't be settled upon.

Haven't played enough to give balance/correctness/teching comments in-depth.

Arathorn

I took a look on this scenario and found that this just what we needed...

So we decided to start a multiplayer PBEM game of War of the Ring. Only setback is that we can only use 8 civs from original 13. The game idea was to try out free nations HP against the Evil AI in Regent level.

We took Dwarves, Elves, Hobbits, Gondor and Rohan to the "good side" against the AI Mordor, Isengard and Easterlings. I would have liked to have Corsairs also in the game but there was 5 HP wanting so we decided to take Dwarves instead.

We have played several multiplayer games starting from zero and this is so nice change.

Now we have only played 6 turns and Rohan is facing great difficulties coping with neighbouring Mordor and Isengard. The Shire people squashed 3 Nazguls already... Nice work from the Hobbits :D Let's see how this turns out. It was a good idea to make the contact sharing impossible. You really have to use those Hero units to patrol the middle earth to find friends and foes

coke_cola sauron holds 3 of the dwarf rings, the other 4 were either lost or devoured by dragons.

Is there any way the graphics could be modified to incorporate already-made graphics, e.g. from the Warhammer modpack?

im new to this forum.....i like the idea of LOTR...where can i find this scenerio but with the changed artwork..?....

Originally posted by WoundedKnight

Would appreciate feedback

Where's the Mines of Moria? :)

Hmmm. I wonder if you could modify Iron into Mithril

Hello all,

I'm really itchin' to try out this scenario...I'd been trying to design one myself for quite some time, and it's good to know that someone has already done it.

My problem is simply that I can't get it to work on my computer...I downloaded it in some ZIP format that my computer cannot read (.bix). How do you get this up and running??

Also, I have only the original version of Civ3, and none of the expansions...Is this a problem?

Thanks,
Adam

>I have only the original version of Civ3, and none of the >expansions...Is this a problem?

See the title - PTW version (play the world version). It doesn't work with vanilla Civ3, which is why you can't read the BIX file.

What is the PTW version, and how do I get it so I can play the Lord of the Rings scenario?

>What is the PTW Version

The "Play the World" add-on. You would need to purchase and install the "Play the World" or "Conquests" add-on to play this mod.

BTW, Conquests has everything PTW has, and more, and is much better. If you are looking to upgrade your vanilla Civ3, don't bother with PTW, go straight to conquests.

If you need more help on what PTW and Conquests are, please see the links on the main page of civfanatics.com.

WoundedKnight

I agree with the person suggesting that this scenario could be expanded for Conquests.

Don't get me wrong. This is a VERY good expansion. Yet think of the possibilities that are now opened up with Conquests. Locked alliances, Group Victory conditions, reverse capture the flag... Couldn't that add up to a brilliant 'bring the ring into Mordor' mod? Or even mucking around with various ideas it could make into an exciting Middle Earth Conquest. :)

Just my two-pence.

Woundedknight,

I just bought "conquests" and am really interested in playing your Lotr scenario, but the damn thing just won't work.

I've tried putting the ".bix" file in scenario folders, program folders, everywhere...

The download seems to go smoothly, but once i've downloaded the .zip folder, which contains the .bix file, what do I do in order for the thing to run within PTW or Conquests??

-Boxman

Originally posted by boxmanku
Woundedknight,

I just bought "conquests" and am really interested in playing your Lotr scenario, but the damn thing just won't work.

I've tried putting the ".bix" file in scenario folders, program folders, everywhere...

The download seems to go smoothly, but once i've downloaded the .zip folder, which contains the .bix file, what do I do in order for the thing to run within PTW or Conquests??

-Boxman

Infogrammes Interactive > Civ III > Civ III PTW > Scenarios.

Thanks for the effort, but I put the War of the Ring scenario in the PTW scenarios folder, and when I get into the game, click on "Scenarios" on the PTW menu, there is no option for the WotR scenario. Am I still doing something wrong?

I suspect the scenario link from which I downloaded this scenario (the one from this site, under Wounded Knight's first posting) might contain the wrong file. All the other maps within the Scenario folder that work within the game are ".bic" files, and the War of the Ring file is a ".bix". Could this be the problem?

Every time I click on that file, a screen appears saying that it can't find the proper program to read a ".bix" file, and since the scenario doesn't appear as an option within the game either, I must assume that the game reads this file as foreign too.

Is there another link from which I could try downloading the WORKING scenario??

Eagerly,
Boxman

The hidden nationality idea to allow Orc raiding is a great idea, but what happens if Mordor encounters Isengard, do they fight? That seems realistic, but could be a little impractical as a player?

And about that reverse princess victory condition for the Ring. I've incorporated that into a scenario I've been working on and it works fine except that when you land the ring onto Mt. Doom, the game goes for one more round before it gets back to you and declares victory. It'd be nicer if returning the ring destroyed all of Mordor. But that's probably a hard-coded thing.

I'll try to get more feedback after I've played the scenario, but the screenshots look quite nice.

Quas