[BTS] Middle-earth Mod 0.4.1

No, at the current moment I'm focusing on the Second/Third Ages. That means no Balrogs save one: Durin's Bane.

Similar things for Shelob, except there were some spiders in Mirkwood, so we can have giant spiders running up and down the forests.

 

Gottcha. So, the Fall of Gondollin in the First Age when besieged by Dragons & Balrogs aplenty will just have to wait. :]

Bit of a game-balance issue that would be though, wouldn't it.

 

Yes, it's much easier to concentrate on the Second and Third Ages. The First Age has so many different, more wonderful things that I'm afraid I would mess it up. And I'm much more well-verse in SA/TA history, despite having the Silmarillion.

 

Ok, I had another idea, which you may or may not have thought of already.

For the "Great Darkness" that Sauron uses to protect his forces from sunlight and deprive Men of hope, that could be Sauron's "golden age" event. He could build the Great Darkness at Mt. Doom, and when it is complete, he has his Golden Age, which gives him bonuses that support an onslought upon the West.

 

Announcement​

The first version of the mod, version .001 Alpha lol, will be released sometime between May 22-27. It will certainly not be balanced, finished, polished, or even halfway as good as I want it to be, but it will have to do for now. I will be gone for 2 months, June and July, with no updates to the mod or work on it during that time. So get ready to play the first version, and tell me what you think needs to be changed.

In the mean time, I need help on a couple of things.

1: Civic Names
Here's a list of my current civics names. The economy, legal, and labor ones definitely need some help. If anyone has any alternate name suggestions, please let me know.

If I have some good names, the effects will be easy to think up. That's the way I do things:

Concept in Middle-earth -> Name -> Game Effect

Spoiler :

• Government:
• Chiefdom
• Monarchy
• Dictatorship
• Lordship
• Stewardship
  
• Legal:
• Local Law
• Tradition
• Council
• Absolute Power
• Civil Law
  
• Labor:
• Tribalism
• Voluntary Labor
• Paid Labor
• Slavery
• Machinery
  
• Economy:
• Plunder Economy
• Gathering Economy
• Mining Economy
• Trade Economy
• Agricultural Economy
  
• Military:
• Militia
• Slave Army
• Mercenaries
• Marshal
• Professional Army
  

2: Unique Unit Names
Here's my unique units for now. If anyone has any suggestions on these, I would appreciate it also.

• Lindon: Elven Spearman (Spearman)
• Eregion: Craftsman (Worker)
• Rivendell: Elven Bowmen (Longbowman)
• Lorien: Wardens of Lorien (Marksman)
• Mirkwood: Forest Guardian (Marksman)
• Arnor: Ranger of the North (Hunter)
• Gondor: Guards of the Citadel (Longswordsman)
• Numenor: King's Archers (Longbowman)
• Rohan: Riders of Rohan (Lancer)
• Dale: Master Bowman (Marksman)
• Dunland: Raider (Axeman)
• Isengard: Foul Horde (Light Cavalry)
• Easterlings: Wainriders (Light Cavalry)
• Haradrim: Mûmakil (Knight)
• Angmar: Hill Troll (Longswordsman)
• Mordor: Orc Warband (Swordsman)
• Dwarves: Heavy Axeman (Longswordsman)

 

Good idea! I would probably make it a unique project for Mordor.

 

Mhm, so each civilisation only has one unique unit? That seems a bit weird to me. I mean, Isengard could have Uruk-Hai and Warg Riders, for example, while Mordor has Balrogs and Olog-Hai. And, of course, some units can be shared by multiple civilisation. You can probably think of dozens of unique units (Mountain Trolls, Goblins, Ungoliants... I doubt the Hobbits would have those units) for each civilisation (and if not, look at that Civilization III mod ).

 

Oh, I will have more than one unique unit eventually, but not if I want to get the first version done before I leave.

In any case, each civ, even without unique units, will have unit artstyles, which means they will look different, sort of like my Elf + Gondor packs; each civ gets a full set of units.

 

Ah, that is sensible.

I'm eagerly awaiting your release... And releases... And my own modding of these releases...

 

That's the wonderful thing about Civilization. You can mod other mods!

 

For Labor, I would suggest this-

Voluntary Labor = Community Good
Paid Labor = Community Prosperity

For Legal,

Local Law = Town Law
Tradition = Patriarchal, or Elder's Law
Council = Clan Council
Absolute Power = Tyrany
Civil Law = Community Law

And for Economy, I actually wouldn't have a problem with any of them. There's something in the back of my mind that says there's a better term than "Plunder", but really plunder is perfectly tolerable.

Mind, these are all simply one person's hopefully helpful opinion. :]

 

My comments in bold. Thank you for the suggestions.

 

"Civil Law = Community Law Hmm, in my opinion this sounds too much like town law, if you know what I mean; towns and communities are almost the same... any other ideas?"

Perhaps 'High Court', or 'High Judicial' ?

 

Judicial Law, or something similar. That's a good idea. The general idea was to contrast purely local laws (Think Orc tribes) with laws enforced throughout the kingdom or empire. (Say Gondor/Rohan or Numenor.)

 

The mod should be out this Tuesday (27th).

Just a note to everybody: Since I am publishing the mod on a deadline, there are numerous things that won't be finished, including:

*Art*
I've got lots of art that I'm going to make, but it will be stalled until I can get back to the mod sometime in August. If you don't like the art I've got until then, I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can do. I must release the mod or leave it to collect dust for 2 months.

*Text*
Lots of text entries, such as the "Strategy" and "Civilopedia" are not done. If you feel like writing some up, go right ahead and do it! It will likely be included in later versions!

*Balance*
The mod is definitely not balanced. I have not had almost any time to playtest it, so please be understanding when you are either overpowered or getting crushed into the dust.
This is the main area I would like comments on. I have no idea how to balance the costs of things, so I would appreciate your input.

Please have fun with the mod, and don't worry: I'll be back to work on it in August.

 

Yay! The mod has been released. You can download it here.

Enjoy and please remember, I released the mod way before I wanted to. Enjoy the mod for the next two months, and I'll be back to work on it!

 

downloading...

 

Ah, I've been waiting for this!

Wow, I'm even in the credits. What an unexpected honour.

EDIT: A lot of text is missing (but you know that, I presume), the World Builder doesn't work, and after a second or two of viewing the Judaism Civilopedia page, the game crashed. Now I have to go to dinner.

 

^Yes, I know the text is missing. I'll try to see what's going on there with the crash.

 

Also, the World Builder console stayed visible after closing the World Builder.

Besides that, this is fun! Although I question the value of some wonders and buildings (but mind you, I am absolutely terrible at balancing!). For example, a Barracks (or whatever is replaced by a Breeding Pit) giving more bonuses than an Archery Range, costs less. And there's a wonder that only increases one's happiness by two with access to stone. That seems a bit underwhelming for a wonder?

Also, upgrade paths. Could be intentional, of course, but Axemen upgrade to nothing, for example. And what's the rationale behind the Archer (which upgrades to Longbowmen and Crossbowmen) and the Marksman (which is a dead-end unit)? What are their roles? I think the difference is similar between the Light Cavalry (oh beautiful Foul Horde) and the Horse Archer - one is a ranged siege unit, the other a more normal attack / defend unit?

None the less, it's great fun destroying Rohan as Isengard.