Ask Your Questions Here!

[Jagmodo]

I’m quite certain that the possibility for this equals zero. Although some people were speculating Dorwinion were Avari lands, the developers had chosen the northmannish option; IMO more plausible as well. What you described could eventually led to Elves fighting Elves, situation developers would like to avoid. That’s why they get rid of the Elves of Ithillien and Dwarves of Aglarond units for DOM.

[ExtremeBG]

I see . Well, i am gonna try Dorwinion out when the mod comes out eventually , as they seem like an interesting faction with an interesting starting position . I never really liked the idea of the Avari elves in Dorwinion , but i just wanted to see where the mod stands on this matter .

[The Sloth]

Some questions:

1) If there are permanent alliances between RK and Rohan, wouldn't it make sense to include hobbits and elves in there as well? Ordinary alliances will always be broken sooner or later, and it would be a bit painful to see house Telcontar annexing the Shire. (As I take it, elves will be protected by terrible pathfinding, unless they're controlled by the player and have started to expand, in which case war is only a matter of time.)

2) My favorite faction in TNS was Rhun, but I'm starting to get a bit worried about their unit lineup in DOM. Their variags have run off to found their own faction, as have their great axes, and they will have to pass on building options to get their berserkers. What does that leave them with?

3) There is an Orc-men unit in the current historical battles. Will that unit be recruitable in DOM?

4) From the WIP thread, it looks like Adunabar's shadowriders have received an overhaul look-wise. Will there be any use for the old unit-look? I kinda liked them, they were really sinsister fellows.

5) Will there be a "Rangers of the North" unit?

6) Have you considered changing Adunabar's character names to Adunaic names?

[The Angry Greek]

Is there any insight on the possible roster of Tharbad?

[Jagmodo]

Some questions:
1) If there are permanent alliances between RK and Rohan, wouldn't it make sense to include hobbits and elves in there as well? Ordinary alliances will always be broken sooner or later, and it would be a bit painful to see house Telcontar annexing the Shire. (As I take it, elves will be protected by terrible pathfinding, unless they're controlled by the player and have started to expand, in which case war is only a matter of time.)

Maybe it would have sense, but as far as I know you can have only two permanent alliances in game. Second one is much more important – that of Bardings and Dwarves. Otherwise, because of sheer proximity of Erebor and Dale, they would be at each other’s throats after the first turn. That said, Aradan mentioned that he tested quite a long campaign and the lands of the Shire remained unchanged. They managed to make that mannish factions very rarely attack non-mannish factions.

2) My favorite faction in TNS was Rhun, but I'm starting to get a bit worried about their unit lineup in DOM. Their variags have run off to found their own faction, as have their great axes, and they will have to pass on building options to get their berserkers. What does that leave them with?

But, what does it change recruitment-wise? They could still recruit those units if/when they conquer them via MEZoRS and/or Diversification Buildings. Same situation north with Chiefdom of North Rhûn regarding heavy axemen (former Great Axes of Rhûn). However, I’m quite sure they will balance factions really well.

3) There is an Orc-men unit in the current historical battles. Will that unit be recruitable in DOM?

I don’t know but doubt it… They were Isengardian units i.e. Saruman’s experiment. And Isengard was removed from HB to make place for Chiefdom of North Rhûn. Whether Cultists repeated such experiments in the Fourth Age… I doubt anyone would volunteer – willingly.

4) From the WIP thread, it looks like Adunabar's shadowriders have received an overhaul look-wise. Will there be any use for the old unit-look? I kinda liked them, they were really sinsister fellows.

Well, I’m only guessing… but again doubt it. If they are in – old are quite possibly out as seen with Dragonslayers cavalry. What I do remember is that non-cultic Adûnabâr might have greater variety of units to work with then in TNS.

5) Will there be a "Rangers of the North" unit?

Around two years ago (or more…) Aradan said they would like to avoid Ranger-fest. But! There certainly might be one Dúnedainic unit around, possibly Grey Company.

6) Have you considered changing Adunabar's character names to Adunaic names?

Eh, about that I can’t even speculate… I like the idea about adding them, though.

Is there any insight on the possible roster of Tharbad?

Well, I guess their core military will be heavily influenced by RK’s while they will have some units influenced by Rohirric and Dunlandish military traditions…

Yes, this post has (too) much guessing, even more that is probably appropriate, so don’t take it for granted. If someone knows better, please correct me. I’m answering only because Aradan seems quite busy.

[Aradan]

I just came up with a quick question for Dorwinion : are you planning on adding any elven influense in their culture or units ? I ask this mainly because some submods for TATW seem to include elfs as top tier units for them,coming from the assuption that those are elfs who stayed in Middle Earth . I am not really familiar exactly with Dorwinion , but i think if that is lore-true , it could be an interesting addition .

No, we have gone with a different (and much more reasonable imo) concept for Dorwinion, which makes them dunedanic-influenced northmen. An interesting faction and an interesting roster for me (I like mixed-heritage factions).

Some questions:

1) If there are permanent alliances between RK and Rohan, wouldn't it make sense to include hobbits and elves in there as well? Ordinary alliances will always be broken sooner or later, and it would be a bit painful to see house Telcontar annexing the Shire. (As I take it, elves will be protected by terrible pathfinding, unless they're controlled by the player and have started to expand, in which case war is only a matter of time.)

If Elves and Shire were included, they would end up at war with RK and Rohan's enemies, which is slightly ridiculous (the Shire at war with hald of Middle-earth).
Non-mannish factions are coded in such a way that makes the AI very very reluctant to attack them, especially if they are not already at war. It's extremely rare to see Elves/Shire factions at war (Dwarves help Dale against any enemy they have).

2) My favorite faction in TNS was Rhun, but I'm starting to get a bit worried about their unit lineup in DOM. Their variags have run off to found their own faction, as have their great axes, and they will have to pass on building options to get their berserkers. What does that leave them with?

They can still train Variag horse-archers and great-axes (and slingers), if they conquer their respective homelands and build the appropriate SBs. They have the same roster, with a couple of special units less accessible. But they now have War-wains available as regular heavy cav units (no need for SBs), so this kind of balances things and gives Rhun a distinct feel (it's supposed to be their signature unit).

3) There is an Orc-men unit in the current historical battles. Will that unit be recruitable in DOM?

No, that unit has been removed, along with that HB, because we needed the Isengard faction slot for North Rhun.

4) From the WIP thread, it looks like Adunabar's shadowriders have received an overhaul look-wise. Will there be any use for the old unit-look? I kinda liked them, they were really sinsister fellows.

I'm afraid they have been scrapped. The old model was the Nazgul bodyguard unit from METW, if anyone's interested.

5) Will there be a "Rangers of the North" unit?

Yes.

6) Have you considered changing Adunabar's character names to Adunaic names?

They already have a number of Adunaic names. Sakalthor, Gimilzagar, Abbatarik, etc.

Is there any insight on the possible roster of Tharbad?

A trimmed-down RK roster moved one tier upwards (ie, what is militia for RK might be 'regular' for Tharbad), with eriadorian troops as militias, token units (riders/pikes) from Rohan/Dunland, and a complete dunedanic navy (no Venturers). Their longbows look particularly cool btw.

[Stark1]

All this talk of units makes me really excited for release. I love those minor factions, it's fun playing a campaign when you don't start with 20 provinces and 5 fronts to fight on (like RK).

[ooji]

This mod's been in development for a very long time. How many years will it take before its release? A decade? I have a feeling that by the time this mod is released, superior Rome 2 mods will be out.

[MasterOfNone]

Quality takes a long time - especially a total conversion from scratch with no historical references and no use of imagery and designs from the movies - and do also remember that the team have created other mods, or helped out with other mods, along the way (Viking Invasion II, Gods & Fighting Men, Norman Invasion, Multi-Mod Sampler, modfoldering of Europa Barbarorum, etc.)

From what I've read on the forums, people consider Rome II to be inferior to Rome and are turning back to playing Rome and modding it (or looking to its mods) instead. I doubt, by the way things are going, any other iteration of the TW series will exceed Rome for mods, though Med 2 is not far behind.

Believe me, a great deal of time, skill and effort have been put into this mod and it has always been progressing, albeit slowly at times.

And it's a decade in August 2014 - in terms of the modding group being formed and the initial concepts discussed

[Feanaro Curufinwe]

This mod's been in development for a very long time. How many years will it take before its release? A decade? I have a feeling that by the time this mod is released, superior Rome 2 mods will be out.

Superior to what exactly? There is only so much you can do with a mediocre game.

[Borluc]

Hi there. Thanks for all your hard work. I just recently bought Rome again on steam because I didn't want to have to manually install it and all the patches. To me, its still the best TW game to date.

Now in regards to your excellent and authentic Middle Earth mod, I am curious about two simple things. Is there a recommended unit size for balance or anything else? AND what is the recommended difficulty? Is there a challenge on settings lower than max? One last thing, does the difficulty setting in either battle or campaign actually affect the AI in any way, or is it just about unit stats and free money for computer factions?

Thanks again!

[Wambat]

I can speak to the campaign difficulty: Resources available to opponents will change, but also AI will become more combative and intransigent at greater difficulties to the point that diplomacy becomes almost useless as all factions that have the option will declare war as soon as they can attack and will not relent in the face of total destruction.

Battle Difficulty settings: Harder settings will increase AI morale and decrease player units' morale, making it harder break enemy units, and harder to keep your units from breaking.

Unit sizes: Larger unit sizes make battle ground maneuvering more difficult and time consuming. They also allow you to use unit production to have a meaningful impact on city size and growth.

I enjoy playing with largest unit sizes and hardest difficulties. My greatest detraction is the lack of interesting diplomatic options that results from the hardest difficulty setting. I have suggested that resource bonuses for the AI based on campaign difficulty be pushed up a rung in future modifications so the player can experience the medium difficulty diplomacy with hardest difficulty AI economies.

[Jagmodo]

So… this might sound like a quite strange question… but, erm do you have plans about introducing some "Easter Eggs" or inside jokes in DOM? I might be weird but I like finding those (as long they make sense)… Were there any in TNS?

[Stath's]

Aradan, some months ago, we had this discussion here.

Reading what you aim for the traits system makes me feel very, very excited. It seems you are really going to do a magnificent work.

I think i have seen some weeks-months earlier that some of you believe that the Morale of some units is too low in the The New Shadow.

Could you advise me which units need an upgrade to their morale?

Or maybe would it be ok if i go into the EDU and add to every low morale I see, a plus 2 or 3? Do you think that could damage the gameplay?

As a very rough guide, I'd increase the morale of all orcish, barbarian and eastern units by 3 and northmen by 1.

I have made those changes back then, but now i have some questions.

1) I have installed "Wars of Men". Does it come with a new EDU, that is to say, all those changes i have made, are they erased?

2) By Barbarian, you mean Dunland and by Northmen, you mean Rohan, right? And i believe Harad and Rhun are eastern. Any changes regarding Adunabar or Gondor?

[Aradan]

So… this might sound like a quite strange question… but, erm do you have plans about introducing some "Easter Eggs" or inside jokes in DOM? I might be weird but I like finding those (as long they make sense)… Were there any in TNS?

There were a couple. There is the intention to include some in DoM, but they have not been planned in detail yet.

Aradan, some months ago, we had this discussion here.

I have made those changes back then, but now i have some questions.

1) I have installed "Wars of Men". Does it come with a new EDU, that is to say, all those changes i have made, are they erased?

2) By Barbarian, you mean Dunland and by Northmen, you mean Rohan, right? And i believe Harad and Rhun are eastern. Any changes regarding Adunabar or Gondor?

WoM changes the EDU, yes.

Rhun and Dunland are Barbarians. Rohan are Northmen. Harad are what I wrongly called eastern (they use the 'eastern' culture slot internally, their culture in-game is "haradrian"). No, Dunedanic factions wouldn't be changed, if the above instructions were followed.

[Stath's]

Thanks!!

[Wambat]

Just thinking about lore today. Being lazy I thought I might ask you all for answers.

Racial eating characteristics: Food was a significant subject in the writings of Tolkeen. I was pondering whether or not certain races could be described as vegetarian. Off the top of my head I can think of instances wherein both Dwarves and Hobbits are depicted as meat eaters; all the evil races seem definite meat eaters. I would like to know if the community can provide me with examples for Men, Elves, Wizards, Wild-men, and any others I may have missed. Thanks in advance.

[Jagmodo]

Off the top of my head only character in Tolkien’s work that was explicitly vegetarian was Beorn.

He does not eat [cattle]; neither does he hunt or eat wild animals. He... lives most on cream and honey.

I think Ents as a whole race would belong in the vegan category because they are described only drinking Ent-draughts.

The drink was like water, indeed very like the taste of the draughts they had drunk from the Entwash near the borders of the forest, and yet there was some scent or savour in it which they could not describe; it was faint, but it reminded them of the smell of a distant wood borne from afar by a cool breeze at night. The effect of the draught began at the toes, and rose steadily through every limb, bringing refreshment and vigour as it coursed upwards, right to the tips of the hair… He poured them out two full bowls from a stone jar; but from a different jar. The taste was not the same as it had been the night before: it was earthier and richer, more sustaining and food-like, so to speak.

Elves being collectively vegetarian is a P.J.'s invention for the sake of a few cheap laughs. They hunted animals, offered animal furs and skins to the Company to sleep on in Lothlórien and there was some meat in the Thranduil's feast.

The smell of roast meats was so enchanting that, without waiting to consult one another,every one of them got up and scrambled forwards into the ring with one idea of begging for food.

And there is Golum with his love for the raw meat.

[Wambat]

Can you think of any mention of Men eating meat, or the Wild Men? And thank you for your response.

[DeVrie]

@ Wambat:

I'm pretty sure men eat meat XD. I can't remember a definite example, but you could look through the denethor parts with pippin, I dunno if he eats a few times, and also when pippin goes with his new guard buddy I seem to remember them grabbing a bite.

EDIT: I mean in the books. Also, in the bree tavern part where Aragorn meets Frodo, you might find someone's food is described.