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Gaius Baltar

The Lost Interviews - The Eagle Standard - Mod Focus, Numenor: Total War

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In October of 2006 I was a pen for the Eagle Standard and was prepping several interviews from the mod community. One in particular was Numenor: Total War. This was a creation by WImPyTjeH based on some material from JR Tolkiens books. I had submitted this copy to the Eagle Standard for review when the events now known as "Black Friday" occurred. This was one of the staff revolts that eventually ended when board ownership changed hands to Imb39.

However, during this troubled period in October of 2006 this interview was deleted from the boards by some unknown rogue admin. It was restored sometime later but never really got the exposure it deserved. And so, here I present to you, my interview of modder WImPyTjeH in early October, 2006

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The Eagle Standard - Mod Focus, Numenor: Total War
with Mod founder WImPyTjeH
by Gaius Baltar




I had the chance to discuss Númenor: Total War with Mod founder WImPyTjeH.


1. Can you give us some background on Númenor: Total War? Tell us about the Mod, your team and the idea that led you to develop Numenor.


Well, Númenor: Total War is a modification for Rome Total War - Barbarian Invasion, it's based on the descriptions in JRR Tolkien's books and it's been in development for about one and a half months now and i have to say that work is going well. Several team-members have joined since i first put up an advertising thread here. Most are loyal and talented people. Actually, i have to thank TWC for its large community because if I recall, more than the half of my team is from here.


When I first read the essays about Númenor that are included in The Lord of the Rings, I was facinated about it but when I began reading about the destruction of the Númenorians, I was quite disappointed about the end. When I got more in to detail with the Stories of Númenor, I became frustrated about it. I got the idea about starting a modification when it was about two o'clock in the evening and I began writing ideas down (untill 4 o'clock). The next day, I posted a request for a mini-mod at the Lord of the Rings: Total War forums. Wlesmana agreed and I began looking for team-members. I was lucky to recieve help from a few The Fourth Age: Total War members, Master Flip (who recently left the team) and many others who were intrested in the mod. Now the mod has developed to an 'independant' mod but credits still go to LOTR:TW and FA:TW.

2. What about the factions? Give us some background on them.


The mod will feature two factions. The Faithful and the King's Men. The Faithful will be a very small group who have limited recourses and the King's Men will be a very large, rich and organised faction. We realised that the campaign would be too hard for the Faithful and too easy for the King's Men so we're going to make two different campaigns for the Faithful and the King's men. Hokomoko (our scripter) has made an auto-launcher where the player can choose which campaign he wants to play. If the player has selcted a faction, the program will replace some .txt files.


1st Campaign: The King's Men
- King Ar-Pharazôn has just ordered the great armament to invade the undying lands but the Valar knew what he was planning to do and continuensly sent storms and omens out of the West. While the King's men were building their large fleet, they forgot the Faithful a bit and they have grown in numbers. The stroms and omens have made several of casualties on the King's Men side and suddenly, they find theirself outnumbered by the Faithful who haven't forgot the treachury and terror of the King's Men...


2th Campaign: The Faithful
- It came to pass that Ar-Pharazôn the Golden, the mightiest and proudest of all the kings of Númenor, took the Sceptre; great indeed was his anger when he learnt that Sauron had taken the title King of Men, for it seemed to him that no king was mightier than the Heir of Eärendil, and that that title should belong to none other than the King of Númenor. Therefore he began in that time to smithy great hoard of weapons, and many ships of war he built and stored them with his arms; and when all was made ready he himself set sail with his host into the East. And when Sauron saw the splendour and might of the Kings of the Sea, he knew that none of his servants, even the greatest, could stand against them. The Dark Lord humbled himself and vowed to become the vassal of Ar-Pharazôn; for Sauron knew how to get what he wanted with cunning, if he could not get it with force of arms. The King brought with him Sauron to Númenor, and at first he distrusted him; but soon he listened to his every word, and began to worship the Lord of the Darkness, Morgoth, and a great temple was built in the centre of the city of Armenelos where many foul and dreadful deeds were committed. So, under the influence of Sauron, Ar-Pharazôn starts the Great Armament in preparation for an invation of Valinor, the Blessed Realm, to wrest the immortality he so desire from the Valar with force of arms. And Amandil, learning of this, find that he can stand by peacefully no longer. Darkness descends upon the isle of Númenor, and civil war and strife ensues...

3. Describe the campaign map for us....


This is our campaignmap (made by Tittils),






and here is a WIP map_heights.tga file.






I can't tell you how many regions it will feature because it hasn't been fully decided yet, but I can assure you that it will be very realistic now that we have included the 12 turns per year script. It will be very hard to complete the campaign since we've only added two factions. If the AI has to concentrate on only one faction, It will play more tactical and it improves the gameplay. We're also trying to include 'real rivers' so that you can launch attacks behind enemy lines.


'Then the Edain set sail upon the deep waters, following the Star; and the Valar laid a peace upon the sea for many days, and sent sunlight and a sailing wind, so that the waters glittered before the eyes of the Edain like rippling glass, and the foam flew like snow before the stems of their ships. And setting their course towards the bright star Rothinzil the Edain came at last over leagues of sea and saw afar the land that was prepared for them, Andor, the Land of Gift, shimmering in a golden haze. Then they went up out of the sea and found a country fair and fruitful, and they were glad. And they called that land Elenna, which is Starwards; but also Anadûnë, which is Westernesse, Númenórë in the High Eldarin tongue.

4. That is a very interesting set-up. What about the technology? Will the cities have stone-walls? Barbarian or civilized?


The Númenorians were very civilised people, so they will certainly have stone walls. Epic stone walls may be a bit large so we may cut them out but it won't spoil the fun.

5. How do the two factions compare in terms of the military units?


The Faithful will have a small, elite army, is less expencive and it will take less time to recruit them. The King's Men will have a large, organised and diciplined army but they will be very expencive and it will take some time before they are recruited.


I'll quickly describe their uniforms,


First i should say that these are still WIP and we'll make some differences between both factions.




Our beloved Elendil unit...

As you can see, the Faithful are wearing a darkblue skirt with a silver star in the middle.




The King's Men are the guys on the right.



The King's Men wear a black skirt with a golden sun in the middle.

And what is the status of this build? Have you started beta-testing? Possible release date?


Beta-testing hasn't begon yet but we're pretty far. We'll post a new update when the entire map is coded and then coding is all that remains doing (and some additional 2d art). About the release date: I'm aiming on late October/ begin November so that i have enough time to research the M2:TW code before it hits the shops. We haven't decided yet if we're going to convert it to M2:TW.

Well, Im sure we will all be eagerly anticipating the release. Thanks


Numenor: Total War

Updated November 15, 2021 at 09:18 AM by Gaius Baltar

Categories
TW Mod Reviews , Creative Writing

Comments

  1. Dismounted Feudal Knight's Avatar
    Never too late to try a new batch, I think.