Mod Review

[EpicJon]

Overview

Well, i don't know where else to post this, so if im in the wrong forum please move to the correct one.

So here it goes:

I've been playing this mod for about 2 days now, and its become quite addictive. But there are some aspects of the mod that either need to be fixed, or just not in there in my opinion. I hope that by reading my review, you can improve the mod you have developed. Also congratulations on the release of this mod! I've waited a long time for this!

Loading Screens

Overall good job on the design, but some of them look way too stretched and blurred, is that going to be fixed in future releases? And i noticed on some of the quotes on the bottom, that you have "Aragorn, Chieftain of the Dunedian". Well he wasn't a chieftain of the dunedian. So you might want to change it to something like "Heir to the throne of Gondor" or whatever you choose. And the sword for the progress bar is a bit boring. Maybe add a ring, or something else, but the sword isn't even a LoTR typed sword. Other than that, good job on those screens. Overall i give the loading screens a 7/10

Battles

The units look pretty good, but not what they could be. I played with both low and high graphic settings and they never changed from the same blurry state it was in. The Mumakil and Troll units are way too overpowered. I eventually managed to get the trolls killed with about 6-8 of my golden ranked troops. I've also found a bug where you can get inside the Mumakil and look around. Don't know if thats supposed to be like that or not. I don't know if its the units, or the map that makes the AI go crazy, but every time i play a battle, they start to walk away, or walk around in circles. I hope this gets fixe because im tired of having to chase them around the map at the beggining of a battle. Overall i give battles a 4/10.

Music

The music selection was not all from LoTR. I was suprised by that. The music gives the whole feel of a LoTR mod. You should include more of the intense battle music played throughout the movie. There was one map that i played, Morrannor i believe, that had music from LoTR and that was it. So it'd be great to kill some orcs or elves with LoTR music in the background. Overall i give music a 8/10.


That just about sums it up for now i guess. Hope you guys will take into consideration what i have brought to your attention here. Again, good job on creating this mod. Hope to see more from you guys in the future.

Best Regards,



-EJon

[Danny_K_1]

1. It's only V1.0 they will fix the problems with balance etc..

2. The LotR music is copyrighted and thus illegal to use.

[EpicJon]

1. Im simply addressing the issues in gameplay. This feedback will help them to understand what users are experiencing so they can enhance the gameplay aspects.

2. Evidently not if they have 2 songs from the soundtrack on there.

-EJon

[Seleukos_I.]

i would give battles 8/10. the units look amazing and the trolls are very challenging. though now i start to like them.
and aragorn was chieftain of the dunedain (rangers of the north)

[Danny_K_1]

Well you could always post in the suggestions thread

I don't know why two tracks are in there but the full OST is not there due to copyright issues.

[fett2288]

Maybe you should offer to help them fix the loading screens if you don't like them; or change them yourself. As for the music, like Danny said, they were afraid of copyright infringement and thus chose not to use LOTR music. You can add it in yourself if you want, though.

Also, it's important to note that they released this mod before being 100% completed forever so that we could play it sooner. Maybe giving them a report card on their hard work isn't the best response.

[EpicJon]

Maybe you should offer to help them fix the loading screens if you don't like them; or change them yourself. As for the music, like Danny said, they were afraid of copyright infringement and thus chose not to use LOTR music. You can add it in yourself if you want, though.

Also, it's important to note that they released this mod before being 100% completed forever so that we could play it sooner. Maybe giving them a report card on their hard work isn't the best response.

Boy, i've run several mods in the past 5 years, and am still running one on a very complex engine called the Unreal 3.0 engine. (Look it up) I have much experience in game development and mod development, which include the areas of beta testing. Feedback is an essential part of enhancing a mods capablilities and function. You should think before you speak. But if you aren't open to constructive criticism, then theres no place for you in the gaming industry, because you have to be prepared to completely throw out an idea and start up again if it doesn't come up to certain standards of quality. Im trying to supply this team with good feedback so they can make their mod better. So keep your comments about me making my own loading screens and adding my own music to yourself.


-EJon

[Danny_K_1]

No need to come off hostile to the guy, he was just suggesting if it bothers you that much you can change it yourself.

[Jean=A=Luc]

I really wish people would stop thinking of movie music as the eternal-be-all-and-end-all "LoTR music". One would think Tolkien himself composed it.

Evidently not if they have 2 songs from the soundtrack on there.

It's legal to use a short audio clip, not sure what's the limit, around 20 sec iirc but they can't use whole tracks.

[Gampie]

This review only focuses on the battle map aspects of the mod. Will you post your review on the grand campaign?

About the mumakil running around aimlessly, I get that idea as well. But in vanilla M2TW and in Fourth Age Total War the elephants display similar erratic movements. Might has something to do with the elephant class unit.

[EpicJon]

Im writing up my review on the campaign still, but im not done yet. I'll post it soon.

-EJon

[aurther]

ive seen no blur with the units and they all look really impressive.

[Leesin]

Who is EpicFail and does his opinion matter ?

I guess it must be because he runs a mod on the Unreal 3.0 engine, everyone knows if you run a mod on the Unreal engine it means you know everything about modding in any game made.


On a serious note EpicJon, what you have said in your main post has hardly provided any detailed and helpful Feedback, yet you claim to be some kind of modding king, which makes you a vital asset to the gaming industry, even though you can't provide a decent constructive piece of feedback like you said you are doing.

Some of what you said are bugs and issues that the team are already aware of, zooming into the mumakill is hardly a bug or a problem either, they are just huge, neither do they share the same properties of terrain and structures to make the camera go over them rather than through them.

Trolls being too powerful and any other unit being too powerful and weak is a balancing issue, this is first release, there are many balancing issues, for someone who claims to be such a modding god you don't seem to know much about modding.

Please go back and write some educated, intelligent constructive criticism, or do us all a favour and delete the thread yourself.

[Nole4694]

^Insulting remarks are more likely to get you banned than to get your opinion across Leesin. This is his opinion on things and he is trying to help the team, and don't lie he never said he 'know everything about modding' he was just saying that this, feedback, is one of the most important parts of a modding process. Now if you don't have anything to actually add to this tread why don't you go away.

Now, Epic, I think troll's and mumakil's aren't over powered, if they just increased the price a whole lot that would be fair, and lowered the defense some... I would give battles a 7/10 because of some balancing issues, and to me the units look great.

[Wolfcp11]

Aragorn was the Cheiftain of the Dunedain...

[Brightgalrs]

This review has been marked as FAIL:
-Aragorn was the Cheiftain of the Dunedain
-Post a screeny of these graphics bugs, my battles have been smooth and epic
-The Music isn't from LotR's because of copyright infringement

[MadTiest]

Overall good job on the design, but some of them look way too stretched and blurred, is that going to be fixed in future releases? And the sword for the progress bar is a bit boring. Maybe add a ring, or something else, but the sword isn't even a LoTR typed sword. Other than that, good job on those screens.

I thought most looked really good, the only one that comes to mind right now that I consider substandard quality is the Gollum, though there might be a few more. That said, I never mind stretching, people who turn the settings on my tv to 4:3, resulting in black bars on the left and right side, risk getting slapped (vid, at 18sec).

Battles

The units look pretty good, but not what they could be. I played with both low and high graphic settings and they never changed from the same blurry state it was in. The Mumakil and Troll units are way too overpowered. I eventually managed to get the trolls killed with about 6-8 of my golden ranked troops. I've also found a bug where you can get inside the Mumakil and look around. Don't know if thats supposed to be like that or not. I don't know if its the units, or the map that makes the AI go crazy, but every time i play a battle, they start to walk away, or walk around in circles. I hope this gets fixe because im tired of having to chase them around the map at the beggining of a battle. Overall i give battles a 4/10.

Did you play it on the absolute highest settings (1680 or at least 1440res, AA, filtering and all that good stuff?)? Because on my screen, it looks incredibly sharp. Especially mordor's orcs and the easterlings look so sweet.
I just did a few quick tests to see what all the troll fuss is about. I killed 2 units of trolls with 4 units of fountain guards (bit less than 1 unit was left standing after the onslaught). Both cost the same (3000). In a test before, where the trolls had some orc backup, I did considerably less well. The mofo's can take an enourmous beating, it feels a bit unrealistic, but not unbalanced (based on these tests at least).

As for the Oliphaunts, some artillery (catapult & ballista) took a few down causing the rest of the unit to run amok fairly easily. The AI did not properly use them to charge me though. The Mumaks do need an AI fix, but not necessarily nerfing (I'll do some more test tomorrow).

This doesn't really feel like a proper review, it's incomplete and part of it is nitpicking. Not that you shouldn't do that, but it could have been done in the suggestions thread.

[Theseus1234]

the zooming in on the mumakil "bug" is just a feature of how the game works
if you zoom in too close to, say, cavalry, then it will get to a point where it starts disappearing. usually people zoom around so fast that they dont notive but i've seen a few heads of horses missing because they were in the "invisible zone"
with mumakil, they're just so big that it's awkward to zoom in on them all the way because it appears as if you're "looking inside of it", although it's just that part of the mumakil is in the "invisibile zone"

[aduellist]

I'm somewhat surprised by the tenor of some reactions to EpicJon's review. He thanked the team up front for the mod, said it had become "addictive", then gave an honest assessment of what he thought could use improvement. What's wrong with that?

Should have this been done in the Suggestions or First Impressions threads? Possibly. If so, a moderator will move it there.

Did he scream from the rooftops "This mod sux!"? No, he's quite clearly impressed by the mod, cognizant of the effort put in to producing it, and enjoys playing it.

Do I agree with his assessments? I don't know yet. I'm only 30 turns in on my first campaign.

It seems that the reason some here are reacting badly is simply that he wasn't 110% positive or "fanboyish" in his review. That's hardly a good way to encourage the feedback and constructive critism (which I perceive his review to be) that modders need and desire in order to improve their "product". I know we've waited a long time for this release, but it appears some are more emotionally invested in it than is healthy.

Just my opinion.

[< Shved >]

Problems which you describe, with the core, are connected only with a graphic engine of game. The team tried to use vanila proportions units modeling.
About review:

Overall good job on the design, but some of them look way too stretched and blurred, is that going to be fixed in future releases?

I did in size 1024х786. If you used, probably, resolution 1600x1200 this a not mod problem.

And i noticed on some of the quotes on the bottom, that you have "Aragorn, Chieftain of the Dunedian". Well he wasn't a chieftain of the dunedian. So you might want to change it to something like "Heir to the throne of Gondor" or whatever you choose.

You did not read the lord of the rings...

I played with both low and high graphic settings and they never changed from the same blurry state it was in.

Yours screen resolutions? We followed vanila standarts. Many users have not new computers, we can't make a hi-poly models and 2048x2048 textures.

I've also found a bug where you can get inside the Mumakil and look around

It's engine bug.

Music

The LotR music is copyrighted and thus illegal to use. We have make new soundtrack, using ONLY free music, without copyright.
Ps sorry of my English, I'm from russian TATW team.