Idea: 3010 Campaign

[Lord Golog]

Hello. Something I've been wishing for is an advanced start - a campaign where factions are more built up with standing armies and experienced characters ready to go. Having another campaign beginning in TA 3010, as opposed to TA 2980, would be good because all the major factions are coming to blows at this time (Mordor and Harad push into Ithilien and Osgiliath), the up-and-coming powers are maturing (Rhun enters the conflict fully, Dunedain nearly ready to reveal themselves in Eriador), and all the major characters from the trilogy are already in action (no waiting for Eomer to grow up).

[FrightfulBridge]

Yeah I'd like this as well

[Mhaedros]

It'd be kind of nice yes I've been thinking of making pack of custom campaigns, this one might be nice to add

[Tatoru]

I agree with that, but at the same time i have to say it will be huge load of work if you want to make it correctly.

[fireblade]

But there are numerous possible problems as far as I can see. The closer you get to the timeframe of the books, the more powerfull mordor has to be. Your only chance of prevailing should be sneaking the ring into mordor and cast it in the fires of mount doom.

Also the ring has to be in the hands of Eriador at this point.

[StealthFox]

I think this would be a great addition and something I would like to see. However, like Tatoru said and from what I understand, it is a lot of work.

[Aipe]

YES thats what ive been thinking of for a very long time, but i dont have almost any modding expierence, so i imagine this would be a lot of work but...

But there are numerous possible problems as far as I can see. The closer you get to the timeframe of the books, the more powerfull mordor has to be. Your only chance of prevailing should be sneaking the ring into mordor and cast it in the fires of mount doom.

Also the ring has to be in the hands of Eriador at this point.

well that seems like a good thing to me (exept if you are an evil facction because that would be too unbalanced) because ive been thinking of it that would be like the fellowship campaign but from a diferent point of vew

[total war lover]

why is this a lot of work? I think it's a great idea! Just keep the custom settlements, keep most of the units, add a few new ones. upgrade the factions economy and give them a decent army from the start.

[StealthFox]

Just found the thread I was looking for.

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=483221

14. One feature that was very popular in Medieval Total War was the choice between different periods of the era to start ones campaigns. This was especially popular with people who didn't have time to finish a whole campaign but wanted to play with high end units. Was there any particular rational for not including it in Rome and subsequent titles? Is there any chance of this feature popping up in the future?


Craig: I’ll have to defer to Jack on this one, as I’m not sure what the rationale was behind leaving it out. However, I wouldn’t rule out its return. It featured on the recent community suggestion threads, so we are aware that there are people out there who liked it and would like to see it return.


Jack: Multiple start dates is one of those great features that becomes a huge time sink in development. Having 3 different start dates for Shogun 2 for example would have required 3x the amount of testing the campaign right through, and 3x the balancing work. It takes a huge amount of time to fully test a campaign, and we are constantly tweaking the balance of the campaign in development. We prefer to focus on doing one campaign start date and spending as much testing and balancing time on it instead of dividing it between 3 different start dates.

Maybe it wouldn't be so bad for a mod with a limited number of factions like TATW, but it would still be a lot of work I think.

[Mhaedros]

I was thinking to make the evil factions unplayable and really, really OP. The goal for the player would be to survive long enough for the one ring to be destoyed (by script)

[Artorius798]

I was thinking to make the evil factions unplayable and really, really OP. The goal for the player would be to survive long enough for the one ring to be destoyed (by script)

That could be an interesting game mode. But personally, I'm not for starting later, I mean, what would you upgrade if you already have all elite units? It would be boring.

[Hallow]

What about a TA 1356 campaign? Map could consist of Eriador and Lindon and the factions would be

Angmar (Uses a mix of Mordor and OOG units): Would be situated in Angmar and start of at war with Athedain/Cardolan and in an alliance with Rhudaur.

Rhudaur (Uses a mix of orc units and hillmen units from Isengard etc.): Starts of at war with Arthedain/Cardolan and an alliance with Angmar.

Arthedain/Cardolan (Uses Arnor units): Could be one faction or two with an unbreakable alliance. The campaign starts just after the failed invasion of Arthedain by Rhudaur and the defensive line along the weather hills and Amon Sul is created.

Gondor (Uses Gondor units): Tharbad would be their only city and they would be a minor force to begin with. Possible to have some sort of script that spawns Earnur with an army.

Dwarves (Uses already created Dwarven Units): Situated in Khazad Dum and extremely passive.

High Elves (Units already created): Lindon and Imladris, relatively passive unless attacked. Some sort of script to spawn Glorfindels army could be made.

Think it could be an extremely interesting and fun change of pace and most of the content is already built into the game.

[D'yer Maker]

^ Is great idea. What was the situation with Lothlorien and Thandrulis Halls back then?

[Oznerol]

What about a TA 1356 campaign? Map could consist of Eriador and Lindon and the factions would be

Angmar (Uses a mix of Mordor and OOG units): Would be situated in Angmar and start of at war with Athedain/Cardolan and in an alliance with Rhudaur.

Rhudaur (Uses a mix of orc units and hillmen units from Isengard etc.): Starts of at war with Arthedain/Cardolan and an alliance with Angmar.

Arthedain/Cardolan (Uses Arnor units): Could be one faction or two with an unbreakable alliance. The campaign starts just after the failed invasion of Arthedain by Rhudaur and the defensive line along the weather hills and Amon Sul is created.

Gondor (Uses Gondor units): Tharbad would be their only city and they would be a minor force to begin with. Possible to have some sort of script that spawns Earnur with an army.

Dwarves (Uses already created Dwarven Units): Situated in Khazad Dum and extremely passive.

High Elves (Units already created): Lindon and Imladris, relatively passive unless attacked. Some sort of script to spawn Glorfindels army could be made.

Think it could be an extremely interesting and fun change of pace and most of the content is already built into the game.

I had this idea too and was thinking to make a version for myself. I think its one the most interesting ideas Ive heard so far, it is not a very dificult work but needs patience and time, I wouldn't mind doing the descr_strat, ancillaries and general coding but editing the battle_models file is the most boring work Ive seen so far. When I finish the exams I could make a try but I won't edit the battle models. I don't have such time, for that I would need help and few other things.

[Jaldithas]

I would like a custom campaing where all factions would start just with 2-3 regions as well

[Barsoom]

The TA 3010 start would definitely be easier to mod than other proposed dates. TA 1356 sounds interesting but it requires new factions and a new map to boot. For TA 3010 you need only upgrades to existing settlements, a few cities to change hands (mostly from rebels to a faction), and a few armies already in existence. TA 3010 would also serve a clear function, allowing players to skip the slow building and start with high-end units. It should be a lot harder for good factions to win but I'm not fond of the idea that it should end by scripted event. I prefer a tough challenge (really, really tough) where you can still win by your own wits.

[Hallow]

The TA 3010 start would definitely be easier to mod than other proposed dates. TA 1356 sounds interesting but it requires new factions and a new map to boot. For TA 3010 you need only upgrades to existing settlements, a few cities to change hands (mostly from rebels to a faction), and a few armies already in existence. TA 3010 would also serve a clear function, allowing players to skip the slow building and start with high-end units. It should be a lot harder for good factions to win but I'm not fond of the idea that it should end by scripted event. I prefer a tough challenge (really, really tough) where you can still win by your own wits.

The point I was trying to make was that a TA 1356 campaign could use almost entirely units and factions (albeit with changed names for the factions and their generals) that already exist in the game as it is.

Of course there would still be a lot of work to do. But a lot of the Unit design etc. could be bypassed almost entirely.

[Mhaedros]

There is already a 'Ruins of Arnor' submod here somewhere, but it's a WIP.

@Barsoom: It's not the only things that needs changing, and anyway what you said isnt anything you do just like that either It's easy yes, but it takes soooo much time

[Oznerol]

There is already a 'Ruins of Arnor' submod here somewhere, but it's a WIP.

@Barsoom: It's not the only things that needs changing, and anyway what you said isnt anything you do just like that either It's easy yes, but it takes soooo much time

Well they say they need 2d artists and I offered myself by pm (To the ruins of arnior mod) but maybe they haven´t noticed or they aren't working on the mod already.

[Barsoom]

@Barsoom: It's not the only things that needs changing, and anyway what you said isnt anything you do just like that either It's easy yes, but it takes soooo much time

I bow to your superior knowledge. My point was that the 3010 campaign would be much easier to mod than the other one. I'm sure you're right that it's also a lot of work but that only reinforces my point, doesn't it?