The Fourth Age: Total War - The New Shadow (Middle-earth Mod)

Dúnadan

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The Fourth Age: Total War Development Team are proud to present:

The Fourth Age: Total War – The New Shadow (2.0)



‘Strategists and Lord of the Rings fans should immediately download this mod.’ – PC Games, on ‘Forth Eorlingas’

‘The Fourth Age: Total War – The New Shadow’ is a modification for ‘Rome: Total War – Barbarian Invasion’ (v1.6). TNS is the third instalment in our successful series of releases, begun with ‘Corsair Invasion’, and followed by ‘Forth Eorlingas’, which have been downloaded by over 60,000 people. CI was given coverage in the PCGamer and PC Action magazines, as well as being 'Mod of the Week' on krawall.de. It was also voted 'Best BI/Alexander Mod' by the users of Total War fansite totalwar.org. FE has been mentioned by PC Games, GameStar.de, 4players.de, and was voted 'Best RTW/BI Fantasy Mod' & 'Best RTW Battle Map Experience' by the users of the TW fansite twcenter.net.



‘Class mod for Rome: Total War … Very Good’ – PC Action, on ‘Corsair Invasion’

One of the main goals of FATW has been to faithfully portray the lands and inhabitants of Middle-earth in the Fourth Age, and immerse the player in the world that Tolkien created. We hope and believe that we have achieved that goal. ‘The New Shadow’ is a provincial campaign taking place on a map that is roughly half that of the full map of Middle-earth. Players can choose between six factions: The Reunited Kingdom, The Kingdom of Rohan, The Empire of Harad, The Chiefdom of Rhûn, The Kingdom of Adûnabâr, and The Chiefdom of Dunland. In addition there are three new factions playable in custom battles: The Kingdom of the Elves, The Kingdom of the Dwarves, and The Kingdom of Dale. You will be treated to a whole host of new features including a new alignment, over 50 new units (more Dwarves, Elves, Orcs, & Trolls), a complete overhaul of the unit & faction balance systems, new animations, new traits and ancillaries, new music, and more.



‘Impressive…’ – PCGamer, on ‘Corsair Invasion’

It is the 238th Year of the Fourth Age of the Sun, and over 200 years have passed since the Return of the King, and the downfall of the Dark Lord. The Reunited Kingdom is beset on all sides by foes, and now even her own people are rebelling. The new Kingdom of Adûnabâr has seized Mordor and all its lands to the East of the Anduin. Their alliance with Rohan is faltering, as the Rohirrim are in open war with the Dunlendings. To the East the hordes of the Easterlings are once again moving, and the Haradrim are mustering their forces for yet another invasion. And as if that was not enough, rumours of a dark cult have been spreading through the lands of Gondor…



‘Countless descriptions, graphics, and even quotes from the books escort you through the whole game to get you in the right Lord of the Rings mood.’ – www.krawall.de

For a sample of FATW gameplay, check out 'The New Shadow Action Trailer' by Crian. For more information on The Fourth Age: Total War please visit our homepage and accompanying forums at: http://www.thefourthage.org

The New Shadow includes:

  • One new faction playable in the campaign: The Kingdom of Adûnabâr, in addition to the The Kingdom of Rohan, The Chiefdom of Dunland, The Reunited Kingdom, The Empire of Harad, and The Chiefdom of Rhûn.
  • A map incorporating roughly half of western Middle-earth, including Minhiriath, Enedhwaith, Dunland, Drúwaith Iaur (Old Púkel-land), Rohan, the Brown Lands, Emyn Muil, Dagorlad, Gondor, Mordor, Near & Far Harad, Khand, southern Wilderland, and the areas just south of the Sea of Rhûn.
  • Over 50 entirely new units, for a total of 150. Orcs & Wargs are recruitable by Dunland and Adûnabâr (who also get Trolls), the Reunited Kingdom starts with one Elven archer unit, and Rohan starts with one Dwarven unit. This does not include levies and assimilation units.
  • A complete revamp of the unit balance system, and many improvements to campaign balance.
  • Three historical battles: The Battle of the Crossings of Poros, The First Battle of the Fords of Isen, and the Battle of the Cloven Way (Faramir’s ambush of the Haradrim).
  • Around 50 entirely new traits (for a total of 200), and 50 (total 350) new ancillaries (including many new images); plus many tweaks to the triggers and effects of current traits and ancs requested by the community.
  • A new alignment has been implemented, and loyalty activated for the two Dúnedanic factions.
  • New formations that will make the battles even more challenging than before.
  • New armour/weapon upgrade system that now utilizes recent coding discoveries that allow units to be blocked from being recruited if technologies are not available.
  • A custom-designed 'area of recruitment' system called MEZoRS, or Middle-earth Zone of Recruitment System. Goes far beyond the standard faction-specific recruitment buildings by creating a system of levies (local troops levied from conquered regions) and three region types: homelands, fiefdoms and outlands which affect such things as public loyalty, happiness and how long it takes to build your tech. trees. Also includes access to 'assimilation units' when you conquer designated 'chief cities' of major sub-cultural areas.
  • Five Wonders: The Stone of Erech, The Ruins of Osgiliath, Edhellond, The Treegarth of Orthanc, and The Argonath; three Unique Cities: Minas Tirith, Helm’s Deep, and Edoras; three Marvels (wonder-like structures): The Sea-ward Tower (Tirith Aear), The White Tree of Gondor, and The Gardens of Ithilien.
  • Three Landmarks: The Beacons of Gondor, Barrows, and Fortresses; six new trade resources: gemstones, sheep, fish, ivory, horses, and cattle.
  • Completely revamped technology trees for all 6 factions including many new building complexes such as Memorials, Wonder Capture buildings, Courts & Gardens, and Places of Mirth as well as faction-specific recruitment complexes.
  • City Development: Engage the City development process and gain access to a choice of over 25 Diversification Buildings across the 6 campaign factions. These buildings will powerfully develop your city by way of trade, military strength, naval power, and so forth.
  • Regional Buildings: Each sub-cultural area has its own unique Regional Lore building which gives you access to information about the area, its fertility, the native inhabitants and their stance toward your faction and other useful information to help you know whether to settle, move on or simply dominate the region.
  • A custom-designed menu interface, featuring original artwork by Anke Eissmann and Peter Xavier Price.
  • New music by David Arkenstone, complementing the artists such as: Justin R. Durban , Jonas Fancony, Matti Paalanen, Tapani Siirtola, and Matias ‘Amppi’ Puumala.
  • New interfaces for all campaign cultures.
  • 19 loading screens, and 228 loading-screen quotations.


Download links:

The New Shadow | Mirror 2 (239 MB)

(Make sure that you also download the two fix patches at the bottom of this post).

Musicpack:

The New Shadow Musicpack | Mirror 2 | Mirror 3 (192 MB)

Installation Instructions for The New Shadow (FATW 2.0)

The New Shadow functions from a mod folder ("ci") that sits under your "bi" folder. The mod in no way overwrites or spills into your RTW or BI folders. It will thus not affect your original games. It is compatible with any other mod that works from within its own modfolder. It can be uninstalled completely simply by deleting the "ci" folder should you wish to grab back space from your hard drive. If you have a previous installation of FATW then please delete the "ci" folder (in the "bi" folder) to avoid complications. The New Shadow assumes you do not have any previous versions of FATW installed.


Brief Instructions (for advanced users):

1. You will need a clean (i.e. unmodded) installation of Rome Total War - Barbarian Invasion version 1.6

2. After downloading the 2.0 executable, click on it to run it and follow the installation process; you must make sure the installation path is correct

3. When the files are extracted you will exit the installer and a dos window will run for approx 6 minutes. Leave this to run and it will disappear when its work is done.

You should now be ready to play The New Shadow - just click The New Shadow shortcut that should now be on on your desktop! (Do not click this before the dos window closes!)

Elaborations (for those new to installing mods):

1. In-game in Barbarian Invasion click on the Options menu item and you will see the version number in the top right of the screen. If this is not 1.6 you will need to patch it up by using the official SEGA 1.6 patch. This can be found the following link: http://www.sega.com/support/support.php?item=support_patches

2. In most cases the default path of "C:\Program Files\Activision\Rome - Total War" will be fine, but in cases where the Gold Edition of RTW are used (or where you have changed your directory names) the path must reflect that. The installation path will always be the directory that holds the RTW-BI.exe

3. Some users have problems with the dos window, this may be because of an unusual or varied setup on your PC. Please visit out support forums at thefourthage.org if you have problems.


Special Thanks:

To the Creative Assembly for making quite possibly the best strategy game out there, and for allowing us to mod it. (www.totalwar.com)

To the entire modding community for making wonderful tools, and generally being great chaps.

To Vercingetorix for making xpak, xidx, and the cas exporter.

To Europa Barbarorum (and Bouchious specifically) for allowing us the use of 50 de-tattooed Barbarian portraits (we are told the barbarian leaders did not complain too much despite this painful process, though one member of EB was rumoured to have received a rather nasty axe wound to his shoulder and was unable to mod for 8 weeks) - (www.europabarbarorum.com).

To Alin and EB for use of their mounted standard, 2-handed foot spearman, 2-handed mounted spearman and gladius skeletons and animations.

To Teleklos and Shifty (both of Europa Barbarorum) for their work on and permission to use the palm-forest mod.

To Burns of ME:TW for creating Osgiliath for us at late notice.

To Middle-earth:Total War for use of their Argonath and Edoras strat-map models. (http://www.chamber-of-records.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=95)

To Myrddraal (Wheel of Time: Total War) for his gemstones model. (http://forums.totalwar.org/vb/forumdisplay.php?f=99)

To The Lordz for granting the use of their realistic skies clouds. (http://lordz.thelordz.co.uk)

To Sinuhet for his AI Formations. (http://www.twcenter.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=130)

To Uranos for doing many unit cards at short notice.

To Justin R. Durban, musical artist, for the use of a large number of his great songs. (www.edgen.com)

To Simon Daum, musical artist, for letting us use his song, 'The Return of the King', as the signature music for the mod. (www.simondaum.com)

To Tapani Siirtola, musical artist, for permission to use some of his wonderful music in the mod. (www.mikseri.net/artists/?id=37335)

To Matti Paalanen, musical artist, from 'The Celestial Aeon Project' for permission to use some of his songs in the mod. (http://www.mikseri.net/artists/celestialaeonproject.48147.php)

To David Arkenstone for the kind use of his music - (www.davidarkenstone.com)

To Xerex & Aradan for their unrelenting commitment to engage in months of research and testing to create the most rigorous and accurate unit balance system of any mod out there!

To Crian for his beautiful mod-enhancing videos.

To Christopher Tolkien for revealing more of the wonderful world of Middle-earth in his 'History of Middle-earth' books.

And last, but certainly not least, to John Ronald Reuel Tolkien for creating the greatest fantasy epic of all time.

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The New Shadow 2.1 Fix Patch:

TNS 2.1 Patch | Mirror 2

Fixes:

  • Roman rebels BM banner
  • Adds Shieldbreaker description
  • Steel weapons for Elven melee
  • Corrects Rohan building image installation error

Installation Instructions:

Click on the downloaded .exe and choose the correct installation path (the one you installed TNS 2.0 to). After you exit the installer a dos window will open - it should close by itself after approximately 3 minutes. You are now ready to play.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

The New Shadow 2.2 Fix Patch

TNS 2.2 Patch | Mirror 2

  • Fixes the warhound crash problem.
  • Fixes a minor climate problem
  • Adds missing naval unit card

Installation Instructions:

This patch is not cumulative so you must have the 2.1 patch installed first. Click on the downloaded .exe and choose the correct installation path (the one you installed TNS 2.0 to).
 
>_<

Darn you.

I only just got into playing Forth Eorlings >.>

Can't wait (except for the looong install time). Too bad I can't get this for a week.

"3. When the files are extracted you will exit the installer and a dos window will run for approx 6 minutes. Leave this to run and it will disappear when its work is done."

So it's shortened now? It said 12 minutes for Forth Eorlings, and it certainly took about that long.

===

Anyways, great mod!
 
Oh no. No. I have too much games running already. Must... resist....
 
The Fourth Age: Total War Development Team presents:

The Fourth Age: Total War &#8211; The New Shadow 2.4



Requires: TNS 2.0b (or TNS 2.0+2.1+2.2 - see end of post)​

The v2.4 Patch for 'The Fourth Age: Total War - The New Shadow' has now been released! There are many tweaks and improvements incorporated in this release, including a new interface for the Elves, a rebalancing of the Poros and Isen historical battles, and a new trait which simulates the challenge of supplying a host in the field.

If you do not have 'The New Shadow' yet, you can get hold of it here. Please continue to give us feedback and constructive criticism. Visit us at www.thefourthage.org, or at our forums.

List of changes introduced with 2.4:
  • Description of the other DB's effects added to Base Diversification Buildings
  • More unique images for Diversification Buildings added
  • Dragonshield Officer scaled down
  • Shield removed from Warg-rider unit cards
  • Wrong KoDA officer animation corrected
  • One KoDA officer removed
  • Poros and Isen HB rebalanced
  • Wrong category classification of Fighting Uruk-hai corrected
  • Missing Barbarian UI images added
  • Various sound, names, and trait typos corrected
  • Various pathing codes edited
  • New strategy map lighting implemented
  • Strat. map slightly edited
  • AI Military Skill trait edited
  • AI Military Naval Skill trait added
  • Haradrian settlers recruitable in some Haradrian homelands
  • Start exp. notice added on short unit descriptions
  • Mariner traits fixed
  • Minor EDB changes made
  • Mount masses slightly decreased
  • Supply trait added - Many thanks go to Anallein of RTR for his great help on this joint development
  • "House of/Tribe of" captains made more fertile
  • New Elven interface implemented
  • New skin added for Adûnabâr Longbowmen
  • Critical CTD error fixed
  • Scarlet Shields and Harondor Swords darker textures implemented
Download links (installer version): - if you experience problems installing this version, try the .rar one, just below.

The New Shadow v2.4 Patch | Filefront Mirror (7.53 MB)

Download links (.rar version): - for those who may have problems with our installer software.

The New Shadow v2.4 Patch | Filefront Mirror (9.76 MB)

Installation Instructions (installer version):

Double-click on the FATW_TNS_patch_2.4.exe that you just downloaded, and make sure that you have it pointed to your Rome directory where you installed TNS (this is normally C:\Program Files\Activision\Rome - Total War, or - if you have Gold Edition - C:\Program Files\The Creative Assembly\Rome - Total War). The installation should take a few seconds. You can now click on the TNS shortcut on your desktop, and continue to play!

Installation Instructions (.rar version):

Extract the contents of FATW_TNS_patch_2.4.rar you just downloaded to your Rome directory where you installed TNS (this is normally C:\Program Files\Activision\Rome - Total War, or - if you have Gold Edition - C:\Program Files\The Creative Assembly\Rome - Total War). Accept when it asks you to overwrite. You can now click on the TNS shortcut on your desktop, and continue to play!

TNS patch 2.4 is NOT save-game compatible.

*Note that if you have 2.0 installed you MUST first apply fix patch 2.1 and 2.2 before applying this patch. Users with 2.0b should not apply 2.1 or 2.2 as they are already incorporated into 2.0b, instead just apply this new 2.4 patch. The hotfix is already included in 2.4 and so it does not matter if you already have it installed or not.

-------------------------------------

just wondering... is there anything like this for medieval 2?

FATW will be porting to M2, and there is also a Third Age mod in development (check my sig).
 
The Fourth Age: Total War Development Team presents:

The Fourth Age: Total War &#8211; The New Shadow 2.5



Requires: TNS 2.0b (or TNS 2.0+2.1+2.2 - see end of post)​

The Fourth Age: Total War &#8211; The New Shadow v2.5 patch is now ready for download. This new patch contains many new fixes, features, and improvements, including seven units, Gondorian city models (for the Reunited Kingdom and Adûnabâr), and two historical battles (The Battle of the Plains of Gorgoroth, and The Flight to Erindôl).

If you do not have 'The New Shadow' yet, you can get hold of it here. Constructive criticism and feedback are always welcome &#8211; without it this patch would be much smaller. If you like FATW, please consider voting for us in the ModDB Mod of the Year awards. You can visit us at www.thefourthage.org, or at our forums.


List of changes introduced with 2.5:
  • One new unit for Harad (Corsair Archers), two for Adûnabâr (Shadowriders, Dark Company), three for the Elves (Galadhrim Meigor, Cui Lasgalen, Tirn Lasgalen), and one mercenary unit (Pinnath Gelin Warriors). All units except the Elven ones are borrowed from METW.
  • Two new historical battles: The Battle of the Plains of Gorgoroth & The Flight to Erindôl
  • New Gondorian city models for the strategy map (for The Reunited Kingdom and The Kingdom of Adûnabâr &#8211; thanks to METW)
  • Edited supply trait, added 'Wounded' trait, fixed Trait-based CTD, added important traits messages, fixed Adûnabâr king/heir trait problem, Implemented recruited generals discrimination trait, and other various trait edits.
  • New series of traits and ancs for Cult hierarchy, and characters in Umbar have a chance to be cultists.
  • New ancs added, changed anc images background
  • Visual changes to strat. map (thanks to Wimpy for the high fertility texture)
  • Replaced the Skull with the Dark Tree for Adûnabâr buildings
  • Tribal Pikes animation corrected
  • Fixed wrong RK general card, for those with 2.0
  • New skies for Harad and Gorgoroth
  • Faction internal map-borders changed
  • Adûnabâr leader portrait fixed
  • Coastlines fixed in strat. map
  • Sprites for all units added
  • New 'dark tree' 'religion' icons for Adûnabâr
  • Loading bar edited
  • Blank faction buttons for rebels
  • Starting armies for Rhûn rearranged
  • Implemented slower strat. map speeds and general Movement-Points boost trait
  • Disabled assassins for RK and Rohan
  • Settlements with Orkish troops now cannot train any more mannish ones
  • Lossarnach gets paved roads
  • Orcs now trainable in Barad-eden
  • New Formations for Rhûn, Dunland and Harad and all formations tweaked to improve AI behaviour
  • EDU corrections
  • Made text corrections in export_buildings and export_units, and mentions added for secondary weapons where they exist

Download links (installer version): - if you experience problems installing this version, try the .rar one, just below.

The New Shadow v2.5 Patch | Filefront Mirror (30 MB)

Download links (.rar version): - for those who may have problems with our installer software.

The New Shadow v2.5 Patch | Filefront Mirror (36 MB)

Installation Instructions (installer version):

Double-click on the FATW_TNS_patch_2.5.exe that you just downloaded, and make sure that you have it pointed to your Rome directory where you installed TNS (this is normally C:\Program Files\Activision\Rome - Total War, or - if you have Gold Edition - C:\Program Files\The Creative Assembly\Rome - Total War). The installation should take a few seconds. You can now click on the TNS shortcut on your desktop, and continue to play!

Installation Instructions (.rar version):

Extract the contents of FATW_TNS_patch_2.5.rar you just downloaded to your Rome directory where you installed TNS (this is normally C:\Program Files\Activision\Rome - Total War, or - if you have Gold Edition - C:\Program Files\The Creative Assembly\Rome - Total War). Accept when it asks you to overwrite. You can now click on the TNS shortcut on your desktop, and continue to play!

TNS patch 2.5 is NOT save-game compatible.

*Note that if you have 2.0 installed you MUST first apply fix patch 2.1 and 2.2 before applying this patch. Users with 2.0b should not apply 2.1 or 2.2 as they are already incorporated into 2.0b, instead just apply this new 2.5 patch. All hotfixes are already included in 2.5 and so it does not matter if you already have them installed or not.


ADDITIONAL NOTE: The following is *completely optional* and is recommended ONLY for those that know their way around the game files well. If you are not 100% sure you can do this correctly, avoid it; if you make a mistake you will most certainly destroy your game. No support will be offered in such a case.

The game's coastlines have been edited by Wimpitjeh to look even better, without some small, ugly triangles. In order to see this effect though you will have to manually a) delete the map.RWM file and b) rename the map_heights.HGT file, both of which reside in the "\BI\ci\data\world\maps\campaign\the_new_shadow\" folder. Be careful to delete/rename these files and not anything else, as that would destroy your game.

 
Thanks to your, the TW community's, amazing support FATW has now, as the only Total War mod, made it into the Top 100 list in the Mod of the Year awards on ModDB! As a top 100 mod we will be showcased and displayed on the AMD! Game website which has over 4 million visitors a month, as well as on the ModDB site. Out of 4000 mods, 100 are now competing for the top 5 places, so head on over to ModDB and cast your vote! You can check out our own page here.

To vote, click this link - you will then be taken to the ModDB voting area. Browse the games list to &#8216;Rome: Total War&#8217; and click on it to open it, and FATW will appear. Now all you have to do is click on the &#8216;Click to Vote&#8217; image to the left, and you will have voted. Remember that you do not have to be registered on ModDB to vote - guests can vote.



The FATW team would like to thank you all for your great support!​
 
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