Middle-Earth: Lord of the Mods (Private Beta I)

[WildWeazel]

OTOH, if someone does decide to make a LotR mod, we have some nice graphics they can use.

 

[odintheking]

Puts foot out, waiting for someone to trip....

 

[Olorin0222]

*Deftly leaps out of the way...*

 

[The Last Conformist]

* Steps on odintheking's foot *

 

[Mithadan]

Here, I tripped and found some really old and probably out of date material that I helped with. I don't help much, but once I tried to write some civpedia entries. So here's one for the Moriquenderin civ. The interface has apparently changed quite significantly since then (for the better, I'd say), and I may have shortened the entry a tad so that the text doesn't fall onto the borders. So there, instead of eye candy, ye all may read some text for fun:

 

[odintheking]

Yay! Something!

 

[grandhistorian]

Very cool, let's see some more.

 

[Mithadan]

Here's another one I wrote, though it's not as good. Plus, I don't know if the graphic is up-to-date anymore.

 

[Plotinus]

Very nice - although "unique from" gave me a nasty shudder!

Personally I always found the distinctions between Orcs, Uruk-Hai, Half-Orcs, Goblin Men and the rest to be very confused (I suspect that Tolkien just used whatever name sounded cool at the time), so anyone who can disentangle it deserves respect...

 

[Lord Malbeth]

Orcs - The original creations of Morgoth/Melkor
Uruk-Hai - Orcs combined with human blood through Dark Magic; created by Saruman
Half-Orcs - Orcs that bred with Dunlendings
Goblins - Orcs of the Misty Mountians

Hopes this helps.

(Sorry to butt in, but I really enjoy Tolkien's literature.)

 

[PCHighway]

I don't want to chase you off Malbeth, we certainly always want anyone interested in Tolkien's writings here, but I believe you're confusing Saruman's advent of Half-Orcs with that of the Uruk-hai.

In the journey through Moria, Gandalf remarks: "'There are Orcs, very many of them,'" he said. "'And some are large and evil: black Uruks of Mordor.'"
It is believed that "black Uruks" is synonymous with the Uruk-hai.

TEA cites "Appendix A (IV)" of LotR as saying: "'In the last years of Denethor I the race of uruks, black orcs of great strength, first appeared out of Mordor, and in 2475 they swept across Ithilien and took Osgiliath.'"
Don't forget that Sauron is much more powerful than Saruman, while they have the same roots, there is nothing in the text to suggest that any one of the Istari could challenge Sauron one on one.

As for the graphics, they've been changed. We now use these graphics for the generic Uruk-hai unit. The hand on the shield is important (Isengard's Civ color is white), but nonetheless we decided that these specific graphics are better for the generic Uruk-hai available to Mordor, Angmar, and Isengard; rather than only Isengard. Also, there isn't much point in using the Berserker graphic Kinboat made, as he has hands on his chest as well. Fortunately the hand is most notable in white, not Angmar or Mordor's civ color.

 

[Mithadan]

Does anyone know if I do a 'hard Return' after the end of each line of text (as it appears now in the preview) will the buggered up spacing get fixed?

Very nice - although "unique from" gave me a nasty shudder!

See? This is why I wish I would have had the time for you to proofread my thesis! Oh well, maybe when I turn it into a book I'll call you...

Does "distinct from" work better? Or some other construction? I mean, y'know what I mean, right? "But Saruman was clearly distinct from Sauron in that he crossbred men with orcs, which implies that..."

Lord Malbeth, PCH has gotcha on the half orcs & uruk-hai. But your mistake is common, especially since Peter Jackson's films perpetuated it. "Goblin," meanwhile, is simply an alternate English translation of orc which was used primarily in the Hobbit. Similarly, "hobgoblin" is thought to be equivalent to an uruk.

 

[Plotinus]

Well, Saruman and Sauron are obviously distinct from each other irrespective of what they did to Orcs, since they're different people. I'd rewrite the whole sentence ("vis-a-vis" is a bit horrible too) to something like "But Saruman's experiments to improve Orcs were independent of Sauron's programme to crossbreed them with Men, which implies that Uruk-Hai are not the product of such crossbreeding." Or something like that. Anyway, I did offer to proofread the whole LOTM text before the final version! And I'm sure I can give you a hand with polishing the book when the time comes...

 

[Mithadan]

I'd forgotten you were going to proofread the entire text file before release. Wow, a lot of work! In the meantime, I'll see if I can't fix up these two entries.

 

[[Ant]Wimp]

[/lurkmode]

Hi there! PCH, Mithaden, Mrtn, TLC et al. Its been like a year since i visited this place! Great to see your all still here, live n kickin. The screens from a few pages back look awesome, hope all goes well. Reading a few pages certainly rekindeled my interest, but tomorrow i'g going to Canada for a month... So perhaps till then

Namárië!

[lurkmode]

 

[Mithadan]

Dag, [Ant]Wimp! Going to Canada, eh? Funny, I just got back from the low countries. The external examiner on my doctoral examination committee was from Nijmegen, interestingly enough. Have fun, make sure you visit the wildnis!

 

[Lord Malbeth]

I don't want to chase you off Malbeth, we certainly always want anyone interested in Tolkien's writings here, but I believe you're confusing Saruman's advent of Half-Orcs with that of the Uruk-hai.

In the journey through Moria, Gandalf remarks: "'There are Orcs, very many of them,'" he said. "'And some are large and evil: black Uruks of Mordor.'"
It is believed that "black Uruks" is synonymous with the Uruk-hai.

TEA cites "Appendix A (IV)" of LotR as saying: "'In the last years of Denethor I the race of uruks, black orcs of great strength, first appeared out of Mordor, and in 2475 they swept across Ithilien and took Osgiliath.'"
Don't forget that Sauron is much more powerful than Saruman, while they have the same roots, there is nothing in the text to suggest that any one of the Istari could challenge Sauron one on one.

As for the graphics, they've been changed. We now use these graphics for the generic Uruk-hai unit. The hand on the shield is important (Isengard's Civ color is white), but nonetheless we decided that these specific graphics are better for the generic Uruk-hai available to Mordor, Angmar, and Isengard; rather than only Isengard. Also, there isn't much point in using the Berserker graphic Kinboat made, as he has hands on his chest as well. Fortunately the hand is most notable in white, not Angmar or Mordor's civ color.

Uruk is Elvish for "Orc" not "Black Orc". That's Uruk-hai.

I haven't been really following this page though, so I don't want to be a burden or anything.

 

[PCHighway]

Welcome back, [Ant]Wimp.

Uruk is Elvish for "Orc" not "Black Orc". That's Uruk-hai.

I haven't been really following this page though, so I don't want to be a burden or anything.

Actually, Uruk is "Black Speech," not Elven. I believe "mor" is black, not "hai" (Mordor; black land). In other words, Uruk-hai is not a translation for "black orcs" that we (or at least I) know of, if there was, it'd probably be "Moruruks," or something. I remember reading that "hai" just means "a people" or something.

 

[Mithadan]

Indeed, "-hai" means "host" in the Black Speech. The Elvish (Sindarin?) for Orc(s?) is "yrch."

 

[Lord Malbeth]

That's right! Sorry about that.