Preview: Settlements of Middle-earth

[Incontinenta Buttox]

Those are amazing screenshots.

Have you done testing with regards to pathfinding KK? I am also curious as to whether there are any issues with lag when fighting in these fortresses?

[Jean=A=Luc]

Have you done testing with regards to pathfinding KK? I am also curious as to whether there are any issues with lag when fighting in these fortresses?

pathfinding has not less nor more problems than vanilla settlements. Minas Tirith is obviously a bit harder for the AI, but doable.

Don't know about lag but I'd be surprised if these towns didn't up the system reqs. even further beyond vanilla.

[Anibal at portas]

excellent work mate.
barad dur,cirith ungol,minas morgul,the black door,osgiliat,dol guldur,pelargir,dol amroth,lorien and other important and famous cities and regions are in proyect?,thanks.

[Spitfire -WONDERBOLT!]

The hornberg looks, kinda green... other wise epic,

[Hero of the West]

this is truely amazing i love minas tirith, and i think Moria has been done great aswell

very curious to the suprise settlement so many great place that could be recreated.. i'm hoping Osgiliath, since that is one of the keypoints for gondor and mordor with lot's of fighting

Great work KK this is taking Third Age to another level of greatness

EDIT: read it isn't osgiliath.. so my guess is the shire

[Justin]

this is truely amazing i love minas tirith, and i think Moria has been done great aswell

very curious to the suprise settlement so many great place that could be recreated.. i'm hoping Osgiliath, since that is one of the keypoints for gondor and mordor with lot's of fighting

Great work KK this is taking Third Age to another level of greatness

What he says.

[T&D]

I'm waiting for Bara-dur.+rep..

[Beregond]

wow, I missed it

my compliments, KK !

one more thing...may be it was already mentioned in Customs settlements thread, but I'm not visiting forums so often now...
so these settlements will be available in campaign as well as in custom battles, right?

P.S. Congrats again, I'm stunned

[MasterBigAb]

wow, I missed it

my compliments, KK !

one more thing...may be it was already mentioned in Customs settlements thread, but I'm not visiting forums so often now...
so these settlements will be available in campaign as well as in custom battles, right?

P.S. Congrats again, I'm stunned

Seems most likly to be like that

[leo.civil.uefs]

Just seeing these images is more funny than playing M2TW for the first time.

[leo.civil.uefs]

Elven cities: Custom generic ones from vanilla but now with new textures and alven archteture. I think its a easy way to do it. Well, after seeing what KK did with Minas Tirith, everything is easy for they.

Harad and Rhun: Simply editing EASTERN VANILLA CITIES should be enough, since these factions are more to arabic looking. Just use what we already have in the original game, maybe some texture changing.

Eriador: Well, the Shire would be nice, anyway its not that impportant since there was no battles in the books on that places.

Dale: There was great battle in that place in The Hobbit book. I think their culture is more to western european medieval so keeping the custom vanilla cities would be ok. Except for Esgaroth that obviously need to be edited.

Orcish places: !!!!!!!!! Custom Vanilla cities for orcs is the more clumsy thing you can see in TATW. Orcs dont have cities. Stone walls? Stone Towers? NO PLEASE! Just make their cities to be like forts or wooden palisades. Then just edit it to make textures look more dark and put some weird buildings in like tribal tents etc, I mean, a brutal place with rudimentary buildings.. Maybe some heads spiky on stakes and some tribal banners.

Dwarfs: They also need generic settlements. Wich would be changing with the upgrades. Made to look like Moria.

That sould be one of the weak points of the orcs, weak settlements, just wooden forts. It should be balanced with some advantage like fast recruitment rate.

Mordor: Same orcish cities I described before. Of course Barad dur and the other "special" places sould be edited.

Ok, now about the important cities specifically. I will enlist all cities the really should be completly edited.

Erebor: Moria is done so...
Minas Tirith: DONE
Helms deep: DONE
Edoras
Lothlorien: Lots of trees, like the city inside the forest. Maybe giant trees like in the movie, with buildings above, well you did Minas Tirith, now nothing is impossible.
Rivendell: Lots of relief variations, some bridges and rivers inside the city would be nice (if possible, of course). Also lots of trees.
Shire
Moria: DONE
Osgiliath: Like in the movie. River, ruins etc...
Barad dur: Barad dur is more like Minas Tirith than just a tower and a wall. I mean, there is various walls arround the tower. Its not like an alone tower in the midle of a wall circle like Isengard. Its a entire complex.
Esgaroth: Like in The Hobbit book. Its a city above the water, so lots of wood platforms and maybe building related with port.
Isengard: DONE
The Black Gate: There is no buildings, just the huge gate. I think you could try to just edit a huge gate and then make the script to work like a normal gate (MAYBE JUST CHANGING THE SCALE?). If not possible, the gate could be a wall, adited to look like a gate (see the movie).The only way to get control of it is destroyng the gate that should be almost unbreakable. Only with lots of trebuchets you could destroy it (wich forces you to have less army). Also, think about making it in the same height of the city walls so we can assault it with siege towers like a normal wall. Powerfull towers will make it a hard place to take. Bah... KK knows what to do.
Minas Morgul: Green Fluorescent textures? Hehe...

Final considerations: I think the prime wish is to make every settlement a different place to fight. I mean, when you play MTW2 and you will attack a city, you just say: "Ok another city to conquer, I will act like always because all cities are the same shape." And after conquering 20 places the game goes boring because you know no matter how far you go, the cities will be the same.

So what would be really funny is: "Hey! Im going to take Isengard! Its not a city like the other ones, its a different place and I need to think about a new strategy to fight on it!"

Well... why Im saying all this? After seeing KK's Minas Tirith... I think everything will be fantastic.

[Master Necromancer]

Elven cities: Custom generic ones from vanilla but now with new textures and alven archteture. I think its a easy way to do it. Well, after seeing what KK did with Minas Tirith, everything is easy for they.

Harad and Rhun: Simply editing EASTERN VANILLA CITIES should be enough, since these factions are more to arabic looking. Just use what we already have in the original game, maybe some texture changing.

Eriador: Well, the Shire would be nice, anyway its not that impportant since there was no battles in the books on that places.

Dale: There was great battle in that place in The Hobbit book. I think their culture is more to western european medieval so keeping the custom vanilla cities would be ok. Except for Esgaroth that obviously need to be edited.

Orcish places: !!!!!!!!! Custom Vanilla cities for orcs is the more clumsy thing you can see in TATW. Orcs dont have cities. Stone walls? Stone Towers? NO PLEASE! Just make their cities to be like forts or wooden palisades. Then just edit it to make textures look more dark and put some weird buildings in like tribal tents etc, I mean, a brutal place with rudimentary buildings.. Maybe some heads spiky on stakes and some tribal banners.

Dwarfs: They also need generic settlements. Wich would be changing with the upgrades. Made to look like Moria.

That sould be one of the weak points of the orcs, weak settlements, just wooden forts. It should be balanced with some advantage like fast recruitment rate.

Mordor: Same orcish cities I described before. Of course Barad dur and the other "special" places sould be edited.

Ok, now about the important cities specifically. I will enlist all cities the really should be completly edited.

Erebor: Moria is done so...
Minas Tirith: DONE
Helms deep: DONE
Edoras
Lothlorien: Lots of trees, like the city inside the forest. Maybe giant trees like in the movie, with buildings above, well you did Minas Tirith, now nothing is impossible.
Rivendell: Lots of relief variations, some bridges and rivers inside the city would be nice (if possible, of course). Also lots of trees.
Shire
Moria: DONE
Osgiliath: Like in the movie. River, ruins etc...
Barad dur: Barad dur is more like Minas Tirith than just a tower and a wall. I mean, there is various walls arround the tower. Its not like an alone tower in the midle of a wall circle like Isengard. Its a entire complex.
Esgaroth: Like in The Hobbit book. Its a city above the water, so lots of wood platforms and maybe building related with port.
Isengard: DONE
The Black Gate: There is no buildings, just the huge gate. I think you could try to just edit a huge gate and then make the script to work like a normal gate (MAYBE JUST CHANGING THE SCALE?). If not possible, the gate could be a wall, adited to look like a gate (see the movie).The only way to get control of it is destroyng the gate that should be almost unbreakable. Only with lots of trebuchets you could destroy it (wich forces you to have less army). Also, think about making it in the same height of the city walls so we can assault it with siege towers like a normal wall. Powerfull towers will make it a hard place to take. Bah... KK knows what to do.
Minas Morgul: Green Fluorescent textures? Hehe...

Final considerations: I think the prime wish is to make every settlement a different place to fight. I mean, when you play MTW2 and you will attack a city, you just say: "Ok another city to conquer, I will act like always because all cities are the same shape." And after conquering 20 places the game goes boring because you know no matter how far you go, the cities will be the same.

So what would be really funny is: "Hey! Im going to take Isengard! Its not a city like the other ones, its a different place and I need to think about a new strategy to fight on it!"

Well... why Im saying all this? After seeing KK's Minas Tirith... I think everything will be fantastic.

Totally agree would just add Dol Guldur and similar settlements to Moria in the Misty and the blue mountains.

[M4R10]

Elven cities: Custom generic ones from vanilla but now with new textures and alven archteture. I think its a easy way to do it. Well, after seeing what KK did with Minas Tirith, everything is easy for they.

I think there should be a difference between Sindar and Eldar Settlements! The Idea with the trees inside the Town are great, but only for the Sindar. The High Elves should have normal towns, but the buildings should be more aesthetically, more filigran and perhaps a few more plants like wine growing on housewalls or a few trees wouldnt be a problem.

Orcish places: !!!!!!!!! Custom Vanilla cities for orcs is the more clumsy thing you can see in TATW. Orcs dont have cities. Stone walls? Stone Towers? NO PLEASE! Just make their cities to be like forts or wooden palisades. Then just edit it to make textures look more dark and put some weird buildings in like tribal tents etc, I mean, a brutal place with rudimentary buildings.. Maybe some heads spiky on stakes and some tribal banners.

Its sad that we have no examples for orkish settlements in the films, because in the books they mostly lived in caves or former dwarven-cities. I think the most Towns or Castles in the Misty Mountains or in the Grey Mountains should be made like Moria. Maybe Erebor, Carn Dum or Gundabad could have a few walls or towers outside the mountain, but i cant imagine a settlement of orcs right in the country. when they conquer cities of men and upgrade, ruins, open fires or a grey dust above the houses would be enough, so that this would be the custom-town of orcs.

Dwarfs: They also need generic settlements. Wich would be changing with the upgrades. Made to look like Moria.

That sould be one of the weak points of the orcs, weak settlements, just wooden forts. It should be balanced with some advantage like fast recruitment rate.

same as the orcs: the typical dwarven-regions should be made like moria (just maybe a bit smaller), and in erebor or gundabad some walls or towers would be nice.
upgraded men-cities should be made just of stone and it would look good if there would be a few rocks or hills of that the houses are built on.

Mordor: Same orcish cities I described before. Of course Barad dur and the other "special" places sould be edited.

Mordor towns should look (like Isengard towns) a bit industrial. The walls should be black or dark-grey and the battlements pointed like on the black gate, barad dur or minas morgul. instead of houses there could be ruins in which tents could be pitched or where furnaces or smithies could be built up. like the orkish settlements there should be a dark dust above the buildings.

Ok, now about the important cities specifically. I will enlist all cities the really should be completly edited.

Erebor: Moria is done so...

It shouldnt be like Moria. In the lord of the rings is described that the dwarves built up towers, walls and houses on the hillside, so it would be convenient if there would be a city like minas tirith (just smaller and in another structure) and a few ways that goe into the mountain...

Shire

i dont know if its possible to create a all upgraded town or castle that has no walls, but in hobbiton it would make sense. i can only imagine palisades or hedges as walls... the "city" should look like in the films with the hills and the rest...

The Black Gate: There is no buildings, just the huge gate. I think you could try to just edit a huge gate and then make the script to work like a normal gate (MAYBE JUST CHANGING THE SCALE?). If not possible, the gate could be a wall, adited to look like a gate (see the movie).The only way to get control of it is destroyng the gate that should be almost unbreakable. Only with lots of trebuchets you could destroy it (wich forces you to have less army). Also, think about making it in the same height of the city walls so we can assault it with siege towers like a normal wall. Powerfull towers will make it a hard place to take. Bah... KK knows what to do.

If its not possible to create a gigantic door like in the films you should look into the books. there the black gate is described as a great wall with a few gates that are very huge. so there is no problem if there would be a great orkish-styled-wall with great gates in it...

At least i have a few more wishes:

Mithlond: A very big Elven-City around a bay.
Gundabad: Like Moria a great dwarven-city (Durin was born here, so it was a dwarven-place before)
Gram: Like Moria made up in a mountain but the tunnels should look more natural then in the dwarven-cities
Dol Guldur: Like Barad Dur or Minas Morgul a great Fortress with black walls and buildings. made up on a hill.
Umbar and Pelargir: Haven-Cities in the style of their culture...
Carn Dum: A Ork-Style-Castle including tunnels and ways inside the mountain that look like made up by dwarves (the name is the sign that its a former dwarven-castle)
Thranduils Halls: A Elven City build up on the hill-side of a small mountain including a few caves and a river

[chriskourou]

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IS THIS FOR REAL???

[Mathieu Of Belgium]

questions
will Minas Tirith and the Hornburg have different gates (e.g. Minas Tirith: the main gate, a gate seperating the ground level with the first city level...)
will these maps be included in the campaign cause for as far as I know that was also a problem giving a battlemap to a city on the campaignmap

[brymht]

Next Settlement : Dale or Bree or Goblin Town.

[Rero]

jizz in my pants jizz in my pants

EDIT: next settlement=gungbang or isengarg

[Malinwa]

there are no words for this...

I hop the next settlement is erebor or minas morgul

[nessj999]

oh oh..-....uh .... uh... OUH oh
i dont like lord of the rings but
uh
i have to ... play

[Erunion Telcontar]

Minas Tirith should have all seven gates, right? Minas Tirith should be a horrible city to be forced to assault, I remember from the books that there was a gate at each wall, and each gate was as far from the gate in front of it as possible, with the road leading to the gate open to archers on the walls above it, so that breaching each level was a nightmare.
When this is released, I am definitely going to do a defense of Minas Tirith versus as many orcs as I can....

This is altogether amazing, frankly.