Arda Mod

NamesAreUseless

Warlord
Joined
Jan 4, 2006
Messages
113
Location
Maryland, USA
The Arda Mod is basically a mod that will be Middle Earth/Lord of the Rings/Tolkien/etc. themed and will cover from the First Age to the Third Age. Here is the progression of Civilizations from the First to Third Age:

First Age.................Second Age..........Third Age

Edain......................Numenor..............Gondor
Angband.................Dol Guldur............Mordor
Utumno...................Gundabad.............Moria
Gondolin.................Rivendell..............Mithlond
Cuivienen.................Doriath...............Lothlorien
Khand.......................Umbar...............Harad
Blue Mountains........Khazad-Dûm.........Erebor
Hildórien...................Balchoth...............Rhûn
Lothlann...................Dunland...............Isengard
???????....................Éothéod...................Rohan

I have no idea if its possible that Civilization's names can changed once that Civilization reaches a new Era, but if it did, then that would be awesome! Also, explianations of why each of these civs were chosen in their respective, and why it leads to such and such, etc. will come if this mod gets some more interest.

This Middle Earth mod will be much different than other ME mods in the past that have tried to go through this same progression as well, since this mod will try to stay true to the actual progression of civilizations in a way that in some Ages they have more powerful units than in even the next age for some civilizations, while other might get more powerful units over the years, and yet while others might just get a wierd mix of the two...

At this point your probably thinking "Oh my gosh, you're absolutely mad, you can't make units get weaker over the ages!" but on the contrar, you can if you make it worthwhile. Here is a quick example I've made for Hildórien -> Numenor ->Gondor

First Age: Hildórien Warrior
Strength: 1 Number of Turns to Build: 2

Second Age: Numenorian Knight
Strength: 6 Number of Turns to Build: 11

Third Age: Gondor Soldier
Strength: 4 Number of Turns to Build: 6

Although the Numenorian Knight might be the most powerful unit of the three, its hard to deny that the Gondor Soldier is the best deal of the three!

Thats what its all about as you advance through the tech tree: Getting more for your money (or in this case, turns). How do you figure this out mathmatically? Divide Turns over Strength for this example. The less the result it, the better the deal is. Here is what we get:

First Age: Hildórien Warrior 2/1 = 2

Second Age: Numenorian Knight 11/6 = 1.8333...

Third Age: Gondor Soldier 6/4 = 1.5

To make all the factions equal in power militarily in this quick example, then all First Age Civ basic units must equal 2 when the unit's Turns/Strength is divided, all Second Age Civilization basic units must equal 1.8333... when the unit's Turns/Strength is divided, etc.

This is something I have never seen done in a mod, and probably for good reason. Whether this simple mathmatical formulla will make all the sides equal in military might I'm not sure, but if it does, then this will be one awesome mod! :goodjob:

The real strategy comes in the form of as follows: Should I stick with my Numenorian Knights that are more powerful, or go for Gondor Soldiers, though weaker will be more for my money. Some factions, like East Tribes -> Balchoth -> Rhun, won't really have this problem as this faction simply improves its gear over the years.

If anyone is interested in modding this, please say so. I have no modding skills period, nor do I intend to do so. This was merely an idea's thread for a mod and nothing more, but it would be awesome if there was someone out there that was willing to try to make a mod like this :)
 
As for now the leaders are:
Hildórien.................Numenor..............Gondor:Elendil/Elessar
Angband.................Dol Guldur............Mordor:Sauron/Ancalagon
Utumno..................Forodwaith............Moria:Morgoth/Gothmog(the Balrog)
Gondolin.................Rivendell..............Mithlond:Elrond/Gil-Galad/Turgon
Cuivienen................Lothlorien............Mirkwood:Thingol/Galadriel/Thranduil
Black Numenorians.....Umbar...............Harad:Still thinking one
Blue Mountains........Khazad-Dûm.........Erebor: Dain/Durin
East Tribe................Balchoth...............Rhûn:Khamûl/Ulfang
Angmar...................Dunland...............Isengard:Saruman/Witchk-King
Esgaroth....................Dale.................. .Rohan:Theode/Bard
 
Well we'll need the SDK in order to...

1. Add new models
2. To have the civilization's names change according to Era (dunno if thats possible or not right now)

Models are the big thing for this mod, and the fact of how units progress through the techtree. If we can learn how to edit the tech tree, we can at least get the rough idea of how this thing will work.

Yes, it will be hard to implement, but after all the years I've been playing Civilizations, I believe that a system like this would work really well!
 
Morboth said:
As for now the leaders are:
Hildórien.................Numenor..............Gondor:Elendil/Elessar
Angband.................Dol Guldur............Mordor:Sauron/Ancalagon
Utumno..................Forodwaith............Moria:Morgoth/Gothmog(the Balrog)
Gondolin.................Rivendell..............Mithlond:Elrond/Gil-Galad/Turgon
Cuivienen................Lothlorien............Mirkwood:Thingol/Galadriel/Thranduil
Black Numenorians.....Umbar...............Harad:Still thinking one
Blue Mountains........Khazad-Dûm.........Erebor: Dain/Durin
East Tribe................Balchoth...............Rhûn:Khamûl/Ulfang
Angmar...................Dunland...............Isengard:Saruman/Witchk-King
Esgaroth....................Dale.................. .Rohan:Theode/Bard
Is that you Sauran- Dark Lord of the Sith?
 
IamSid said:
Is that you Sauran- Dark Lord of the Sith?
Yeah, that was me ;)

Well, some kind of an update:
Religions
Valar Worship
Melkor Worship
Sauron Worship
Animalism (worship of animals)
Secularism (some civs don't really worship anything)

Well, it is not a great thing but we are getting close to finish the "thinking" part, all that remains are the Civics i believe :crazyeye: :goodjob:
 
Maybe you should get rid of Sauron worship and put in Paganism? Because aren't Sauran worship and Melkor worship technically the same thing.
 
Maybe you should get rid of Sauron worship and put in Paganism? Because aren't Sauran worship and Melkor worship technically the same thing.
 
IamSid said:
Maybe you should get rid of Sauron worship and put in Paganism? Because aren't Sauran worship and Melkor worship technically the same thing.

well, only if they can change the name of Melkor Worship to Sauron Worship when the 1st age ends and the 2nd age begins

I dont know many things about programming in Civ4, but if the religions and Civs names are stored in variables why don't make the mod change the values of the variables when another age begins.

I have some ideas for the mod:

You can change the great persons classes to Great Wizard, Great Hero, etc. and change their names to LotR and The Silmarillion names, like Fëanor, Galadriel, Bilbo, Frodo...

And are we going to have a new hud in this mod?
 
That would indeed be great, once we get some people in the staff we could try to see if that's possible :) :goodjob:
 
Alright the Leaders, their traits, and their favorite gov'ts list has been finished!


Leader.............Trait........................Favorite Gov't

Elendil: Seafaring/Prolific....................Monarchy
Aragorn: Charismatic/Creative.............Monarchy

Sauron: Militaristic/Ambitious.............Supreme Rule
Witch King: Organized/Ambitious........Supreme Rule

Melkor: Militaristic/Organized..............Supreme Rule
Ancalagon: Aggressive/Destructive......Shamanism
Gothmog: Aggressive/Militaristic.........Shamanism

Saruman: Industrious/Scientific..........Supreme Rule
Ulfang: Destructive/Prolific..................Confederacy

Elrond: Philosophical/Creative.............Councilship
Gil-Galad: Financial/Militaristic............Monarchy
Turgon: Defensive/Financial................Monarchy

Herumor: Philosophical/Organized........Confederacy
Fuinur: Seafaring/Expansive................Confederacy

Dain: Defensive/Aggressive................Monarchy
Durin: Industrious/Merchantial...........Monarchy

Khamûl: Expansive/Industrious..........Supreme Rule

Theoden: Charismatic/Organized.........Monarchy

Thingol: Scientific/Spiritual.................Monarchy
Galadriel: Spiritual/Enlightened...........Councilship


New Traits:

The New Traits Mod by Impaler[WrG]: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=150211

Destructive: +25% Attack bonus for all Infantry Units and +100% Pillage bonus
Militaristic: +25% Quicker Build Rate and all Infantry Start with Combat I Promotion
 
PS - I can also modify the tech tree ... Easily ;)
 
And for religions ask King Tux the creator of the Fast Food Religion Mod... And C. Roland makes awesome leaderheads and units..
 
We'll be using static leaderheads, and if King Tux is available I'm sure he'll help out with whatever we might need help with :)

As for units, perhaps a good skinner will come along...
 
Well already I've been trying to get a hold of Impaler[WrG] through PM, but no luck whatsoever. Whether the Arda Mod, still in its most infantile stage, can look towards such great modders as King Tux or skinning artists like C. Roland is questionable. We will indeed have to wait and see.

In the meantime, I would like to mention that the Leaders and the civilizations are in the works. Stuff such as leader traits, portraits, etc. are being worked on. Hopefully we can get this done and show off some screenies to show that this isn't some "Idea's Mod" that should be thrown aside and ignored ;)
 
I would be glad to see my Traits Mod used, I am currently working on the next version which aims to incorporate the latest Promotion mod by Zuul and add a Python Script which will give each player a otherwise unatainable Tech assosiated with their Trait. Additional characteristics and advantages can them be attached to the Tech or on Buildings which require the Tech. This will remove almost all limits on what Traits will be able to do for a player.

The best way to incorporate will probably be doing it after most of the rest of your content is made. Just use original Traits for your leaders at first. Once you have all the documentation and assets for the new leader working drop in the files from my Mod and switch the leader to reference the new Traits. I see the Destructive and Militaristic Traits look rather interesting, I might do something along these lines in my next version, the Pillage bonus is something I had breamed up but been unable to implement for a long time.
 
Can I join the mod as a beta-tester. As I have almost no modding ability other than making maps and Civilizations I want to help the mod in anyway I can.
 
Sounds like a good idea Impaler[WrG]. Stuff like the Creative trait deals with certain improvements that I know won't be in the game anyways, but the Arda Mod will probably have improvements similar to the ones in your mod, just with different names :p

Well if you want Impaler[WrG], feel free to use the Destructive and Militaristic traits, just as long as you give credit to Morboth (he was the one who came up with them). Well, I'm not sure if he wants them in another mod or not, but I'm pretty sure he wouldn't mind knowing him and everything. I can't say if they'll be balanced or not either, they haven't been tested yet at all.

And yeah IAmSid, of course you can be a beta tester. So you say you're a mapper eh... Well, the only real map we need is one that includes Beleriand, Middle Earth, and the Far East (which includes Cuivienen, Hildorien, Sea of Helcar, etc.) all into one large map. If you want a small concept of what the Far East looked like, I made one for an RPG once and I'd be glad to send it to you through PM if you ever want to map for this mod ;)
 
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