War of the Ring - beta

[Mercator]

Originally posted by Catfish
And you're right about the video image quality - it's not so hot in Civ2. Looks like an indexed palette.

Have you tried less compression? Not sure if I looked at any more than one in-game. The videos do look different inside Civ2 compared to in a normal media player. I wouldn't be surprised if it does limit it to a palette or so.

If you're going to moan, at least suggest an alternative. How about Palatino?

That's better. I like the font techumseh used.

When I was working on the scenario start, however long ago, I tried to get Nazgul to attack that tile (maybe I am a complete bastard), but with zero success. (...) In the 150 moves they made in total, attacks were made on only 2 locations: 27 against Sarn Ford and 11 against Hobbiton. My hobbit heroes were left unmolested.

Right, hmmm... I'm trying to think if maybe I did something other than just move the hobbits. I looked around the map a bit... Played at the default difficulty level...

I restarted the scenario a few times now (about 5 times rather than 50). Of course it didn't happen again... They did attack Buckland though, and Bree.

Ooh! I didn't even notice. Frodo's called Mr Underhill. Nice!

[techumseh]

Here's a little treasure-chest of fonts I've hoarded for years. Unfortunately, the Tolkien runes are not convertable to Roman characters, so you can't use them for messages. You might still be able to use them for decoration in the video messages or somewhere else.

http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Alley/1557/fonts1.htm

[Catfish]

Originally posted by Mercator
Have you tried less compression?

Yeah, Indeo 5.11@100% quality. With Civ2's reduced colour depth the difference is negligible.

Originally posted by Mercator
They did attack Buckland though, and Bree.

In the first turn? They shouldn't be able to reach Bree. One can spawn within range of Buckland, but in my play-tests it always targeted Hobbiton.

Originally posted by Mercator
Ooh! I didn't even notice. Frodo's called Mr Underhill. Nice!

People should get into the habit of reading Readme files. Nice idea, but not one of mine. I pinched it from what I'd call a prototype LotR scenario, started by me and later modified by Harlan Thompson and Techumseh.

I've uploaded a new version. Haven't had time to test it yet. Main changes include:

• Additional Dead Marshes area on one of the secondary maps to provide a safe path for Frodo, Sam and Gollum.
• Replaced many Text events with AVI files; this freed up a heap of events memory (thanks to Techumseh for the idea & Merc for refining the method).
• Made Moria harder with additional orcs spawned by events (haven't made any renovations yet).
• Restored some previously omitted events (due to memory constraints).
• Added text for when you fend off the 'grubby little wretch' in Mt Doom. Wanted it before, but didn't have room.

You need to download and install all of the packs dated 16/10/2008 if you're updating a previous installation. Anyone who used the batch file installer prior to this week to complete the city improvement graphics installation should extract the contents of WotR_Improvements.rar (again) and run the installer (again).

[Edit: In the process of play-testing this. Hobbits sang merrily and smoked weed as they danced their way through the halls of Moria. Moria outcomes are too variable: sometimes the Fellowship is up to its neck, other times you can hear a pin drop in those mines. Scripting + renovation is in order.

Had a Winged Nazgul attack the Woodmen in Mirkwood for the first time ever. It was downed by archers.

In the grand scheme of things I'm coasting. Maybe I've made the scenario too easy with all of these generous tweaks. Sam and Frodo are labouring through the refurbished Dead Marshes and Mordor is already mobilised, but Minas Tirith, Cair Andros and Pelargir are stacked.]

[MacGalleo]

This is not fair to have so little time to devote to civilization. I looked forward to this scenario. I need 48-hour days...

[Mercator]

Originally posted by Catfish
In the first turn? They shouldn't be able to reach Bree. One can spawn within range of Buckland, but in my play-tests it always targeted Hobbiton.

Yep... Well, next to Bree, not attacking it... and damnit! It happened again! (using the latest version)

I have a screenshot now... Sam died on the spot where the Nazgûl is now, Pippin and Frodo have just been killed as well, as you can still see (I took the screenshot when I got the research dialog at the end of turn 1).

I don't think I'll be taking the road to Buckland next time.



That did mean I got to see one of the new "videos", though. That was an excellent idea, techumseh.

People should get into the habit of reading Readme files.

[techumseh]

I can't unzip the first new file. Any chance of using a more standard compression program?

[AGRICOLA]

I gave up on trying to play the scen because I couldn't get 7-zit to work properly.

Any chance of using RAR (or WinZip) to compress ALL the files?

[Arthedain]

I only got winrar and it works fine with 7z..

[techumseh]

I downloaded the new files a 2nd time and was able to unzip them. Still, a single (and commonly used) zip program would make things a bit more user friendly.

[Mercator]

Are you having problems installing 7-zip, or is WinRAR not working? The latest version of WinZip also opens 7z files I see now...

[Catfish]

Originally posted by Mercator
Yep... Well, next to Bree, not attacking it... and damnit! It happened again! (using the latest version)

I hadn't made any changes to the Nazgul setup. The one that moves to Bree begins the game in Weathertop. I've replaced its co-ordinates with ones that'll have it attack Hobbiton on the first turn.

Originally posted by Mercator
I have a screenshot now... Sam died on the spot where the Nazgûl is now, Pippin and Frodo have just been killed as well, as you can still see (I took the screenshot when I got the research dialog at the end of turn 1).

I can't explain it. In all my starts (100+, including those tests I did the other day), Nazgul have never attacked that tile. On my system, that Nazgul always targets Hobbiton. I don't mind so much because it makes the player take a route that more closely matches the one in the book, but why is the AI behaving differently on different machines? What game settings, other than difficulty, could affect AI behaviour?

Originally posted by techumseh
I can't unzip the first new file. Any chance of using a more standard compression program?

Sorry for the inconvenience, but if I used ZIP, even with its best compression algorithm, I wouldn't be able to fit the files on my website. The combination of RAR and 7Z (whichever provides the best compression) gives me plenty of room to spare. Are you using the most recent version of WinRAR?

Originally posted by techumseh
Still, a single (and commonly used) zip program would make things a bit more user friendly.

According to the documentation, WinZip 12.0, PowerArchiver 11.01, WinRAR 3.80 and 7-Zip 4.57 can all open and extract RAR and 7Z files. That means, providing they do what they say they do, you only need a single archiving program. I don't have the first two, but I can verify that the other two work, at least on my rig.

[techumseh]

Thanks. I guess I need to upgrade.

[curtsibling]

Those videos are grand!

This is looking to be an all-time classic!

[techumseh]

After trying the scenario with the newest changes, I have to say this scenario is the realization of the vision for Test of Time scenarios that I've had from the beginning. Multi-maps, sophisticated events, special rules from impassible terrain to invisible units, lots of multi-media, all mixed in a well-done scenario full of atmosphere. At last ToT is nearing it's full potential. Well done, Catfish!

[Mercator]

I'll agree with that...

I think I'm giving up on playing it at the default difficulty level, though. I played through it a bit more this weekend. By turn 42 I was thoroughly thrashed. I'd lost all of Gondor, and in the Shire I could only hold Michel Delving from Mordor. Gimli was the last one of the Fellowship to die, in Moria no less (he'd gotten wounded on the way there and I'd left him behind, the others had long gone from there); Gandalf had died the turn before on the Emyn Muil. Aragorn died in Bree before I could do anything with him.

Most of those are due to my lack of skill rather than things wrong with the scenario, but you do need a good bit of luck with the events.

My main problems were probably the Nazgûl and the Mûmakil. How do you defend against those?

The Nazgul might not be able to capture cities, but they're usually followed by a few wolves and orcs later on and my production isn't high enough to keep up my defenses in the North. Should I build city walls? I probably should, but then I'd lose the hobbit production.

And how do I defend myself against the Mumakil? I suppose they're more of a problem to me than they need to be since I tend to stay defensive and keep to my cities, while Ithilien is mostly terrain with higher defense factors, and the squares across the Anduin from Osgiliath and Pelargir have rivers on them.