[BTS] Middle-earth Mod 0.4.1

[topsecret]

A couple of random ideas.... (these may or may not have been mentioned by others):

- Civilization based in Umbar (A high emphasis on naval raid/pirate/hit-and-run/pillage units maybe? Considering they frequently terrorized the coasts of Gondor).

- Possibly expand Easterlings to include the realms of:

Khand - Mongolian-esque nomadic Plateau-dwellers

Rhun (known for their chariots/gold plated armour, and their vast natural resources on the feet of the Red Mountains/Orocarni - Sauron did not equip and feed his armies with just Mordor's resources..... the region around Lake Nurnen isn't going to be terribly productive).

I'll be releasing "Civilization Packs" later that add new civilizations, such as the Shire, Rhun, and Umbar. The base game has to be finished first though.

- Maybe include dragons/wurms in some form (barbarian super-unit maybe?). Also Winged/Mounted Nazgul for Mordor (Mounted would replace knights maybe? Winged replaces Helicopters?). Also Balrog(s)

Dragons are definitely coming. Wereworms are possibly just a hobbit's fairy tale.
The Nazgul will definitely come, but there will be only one Balrog.

- Maybe a Palantir unit/building for long-range scouting?

I'll definitely included a Palantir eventually.

 

[keldath]

keep up the good work! DO NOT ABANDON THIS!

 

[topsecret]

Don't worry! I kind of had to take a short break though, seeing my mouse buttons died. I need to run down to the store and get a new one tomorrow. It's impossible to use Blender or do anything else with half a mouse.

 

[<Nexus>]

Are you planning to add more leader heads? Like: Aragorn, Boromir, Denethor, Theoden as alternate leader heads?

 

[topsecret]

Are you planning to add more leader heads? Like: Aragorn, Boromir, Denethor, Theoden as alternate leader heads?

There will be more leaderheads; however, they are a low priority at the moment, as there's a ton to do before I even get to that point.

---

My current project is fiddling around with balancing tech costs by playtesting.
As soon as I'm happy with the results, the next update will be out. Not a large one, but it should improve gameplay quite a bit.

 

[topsecret]

Update! You can download now!
Change Log:
v0.1.1 - 8/22/14
*Patched the Mod - Many thanks to Isenchine
*Edited the map. Hope fully more balanced, but probably not. I will continue to work further on it
*Added a new UnitClass for every civ: Heavy Axeman. The Dwarven UU is now named Battle Axeman, and replaces the Heavy Axeman.
*Weakened the Pikeman. It no longer receives a bonus versus Longswordsmen.
*Updated the Pikeman and Longswordsmen Tech requirements. They are now distinctly Third Age units.
*Hopefully fixed the AI obsession with Battering Rams - They no longer think they are as good as catapults!



Enjoy! I will be playtesting more, and perhaps release some patches. Please let me know of any more bugs.

 

[topsecret]

I'm interested in this. How is it going?

Well, I haven't got a chance to work on the mod since the update a few days ago because I came down with some sort of sickness, but I've almost recovered, so we should be up and running again soon.

 

[keldath]

very good!

keep working on this my friend, i follow this mod dev.

 

[topsecret]

My current projects for the mod are:
New flavor art for Harad.
A brand new map that will be attempt to be accurate and balanced at the same time. (Yeah, right! )
More balancing of techs/wonders/units/buildings/etc.

 

[Mousey_Commander]

Harad seems to do very poorly simply due to the sheer amount of Barbarians that spawn nearby. A possible solution would be the addition of the Umbar civ, and after some thought, why not kill two birds with one stone and rework the Numenorean explorers (since they are kind of out of place) to the Black Numenoreans and have them start in Umbar?

Keep up the great work though, the mod is great, and any LOTR mod is welcome after all these years.


Additionally the Dwarven trait's hill food bonus doesn't seem to work, I checked the XML myself and have no idea why it wouldn't be.

EDIT: In the civilopedia if you examine Durin's Dwarven trait and click the link to Hill you get this.

I don't think the game considers hills as a terrain for yields since they have no base yield of their own, they just modify existing terrain (grassland etc).


I would solve it by giving the Dwarves a unique mine variant or tech with +1 food, I can't seem to find a way to modify hill yields on a per civ basis.

 

[isenchine]

Strictly speaking, peaks and hills are plot types, not terrain types. I guess they have added them as terrains too so you can edit some of their properties or some of the promotions linked to them, as you can't edit plot types in the xml (the other plots being land and ocean - you see that in scenarios/maps for example).

In this case, it might be that the terrain below hills (grass, plain, desert or tundra) is prevalent over hills.

Hope this is clear because it is not really clear in game...

 

[topsecret]

Harad seems to do very poorly simply due to the sheer amount of Barbarians that spawn nearby. A possible solution would be the addition of the Umbar civ, and after some thought, why not kill two birds with one stone and rework the Numenorean explorers (since they are kind of out of place) to the Black Numenoreans and have them start in Umbar?

Hmm, interesting idea. I'll see what I can do about massive barb spawns.

Keep up the great work though, the mod is great, and any LOTR mod is welcome after all these years.

I've been really busy lately, school is taking more time than usual. However, I'm working as much as I can.

Additionally the Dwarven trait's hill food bonus doesn't seem to work, I checked the XML myself and have no idea why it wouldn't be.

EDIT: In the civilopedia if you examine Durin's Dwarven trait and click the link to Hill you get this.

I don't think the game considers hills as a terrain for yields since they have no base yield of their own, they just modify existing terrain (grassland etc).


I would solve it by giving the Dwarves a unique mine variant or tech with +1 food, I can't seem to find a way to modify hill yields on a per civ basis.

I realized this. I'll work on something that will allow the Dwarves to use Peaks, because no other civilization can do that, so I figure the Dwarves should.

 

[topsecret]

I have been extremely busy the past month, and so little to no progress has been made. Don't give up on me though! I'm still working at it.

 

[CaesarPrinceps]

Being a Tolkien fan, I am very interesting in this mod and I would like to contribute with some notes and advice, hoping they could be useful for your work.

However, the best thing would be if it were Mac-compatible.

 

[topsecret]

Being a Tolkien fan, I am very interesting in this mod and I would like to contribute with some notes and advice, hoping they could be useful for your work.

However, the best thing would be if it were Mac-compatible.

Seeing as I don't have a Mac, and have no idea how to make it Mac-compatible, I don't think I could do that... but I would be willing to give it a shot, if there was a tutorial.

You can give all the advice you want! I always welcome it. Right now the mod is on temporary hold, because I'm rushing between going to work and going to school, so I have a small amount of free time.

 

[lfgr]

I think mods are only incompatible with Mac if they have a custom dll.

 

[CaesarPrinceps]

In fact, if it does not use a custom .dll, it should remain compatible.

Since, 18 civilizations at a time are a sufficient number, there is no need to modify the .dll.

 

[clanky4]

I thought that python changes were also an issue for mac users.

 

[CaesarPrinceps]

I do not know, since History Rewritten does have python modifications and it still works.

 

[CaesarPrinceps]

I would suggest the following Civilizations for a Middle-Earth MOD:

• Elves could be bundled in three main Civs, according to different Elven cultures, rather than realms:
  
  Noldor - High Elves (including Lindon, Eregion, Rivendell)
  Sindar - Grey Elves (including Lothlorien)
  Nandor - Green Elves (including Greenwood)
  
  
• Dwarves
  
  
• Hobbit deserves to constitute a standalone Civ, mainly based on growth, trade and culture.
  
  
• As for Men, in Third Age, other than Arnor, Gondor and Rohan, Dale should be renamed Rhovanion, as to include all the Northmen (except the Eotheod).
  
  Gwathuirim (Men of Shadow) could represent not only Dunlendings, but also the Dark Men of the White Mountains and other akin peoples living in the West of the Middle-Earth. Easterlings and Southrons represents the other two main Mannish groups in the East and in the South, whereas Umbar should constitute a Civilization, with a focus on its (Black) Numenorean heritage and its seafaring and piracy activity.
  
  
• Evil Civilizations should incluse Mordor, Isengard, Angmar and the Goblins, that is the Orcs of the Misty Mountains, who have been long active in the Third Age as proxies and vassals of Mordor.
  
  
• If you want to include also the First and the Second Age, the missing civilizations are Numenor, Angband and the Edain (representing the three Houses of Men in Beleriand, as well as Edainic tribes in Eriador in the Second Age).