War of the Ring - beta

[techumseh]

Catfish has released a beta version of the long-awaited War of the Ring scenario. It's available on his site, here: http://users.tpg.com.au/jpwbeest/index.htm

Post comments and questions (hopefully the author will answer) here. It looks very impressive indeed.

I found that he used a new compression program, 7z for some of the files. Contrary to the suggestion on the site, I couldn't unzip them with WinRAR. You can download the 7z program from a link on Catfish's site.

There are also some event-related sounds in an unknown (to me) format. Can you enlighten, Catfish?

[techumseh]

I lost Sam on the 2nd turn, Frodo and the rest on the 3rd. The Black Gate opened, and the rest was downhill from there.

The first few turn's moves must be very precise. No surprise there. Note to self: I must reread the appendix portion dealing with the movement of the Black Riders in the Shire.

This is a very visually appealing scenario, and looks carefully crafted. More later....

[techumseh]

My first replay: I got the hobbits into Bree, and picked up Aragorn. They got half way to Weathertop and were ambushed by a Nazgul. All died. The Black Gate opened, and it was all downhill from there.

[Catfish]

Re: War of the Ring - beta

Originally posted by techumseh
I found that he used a new compression program, 7z for some of the files. Contrary to the suggestion on the site, I couldn't unzip them with WinRAR. You can download the 7z program from a link on Catfish's site.

7-Zip has been around for years. Recent versions of WinRAR can extract 7z archives.

Originally posted by techumseh
There are also some event-related sounds in an unknown (to me) format. Can you enlighten, Catfish?

They're just WAV files minus the extension. Civ2 includes the file extension in the event strings for the PlayWaveFile action. I want these strings as small as possible; in this case, just 2 characters plus the null terminator (3 bytes). Simply removing the file extensions frees up 248 bytes of events space in WotR. That's the best part of another event.

Originally posted by techumseh
The first few turn's moves must be very precise. No surprise there. Note to self: I must reread the appendix portion dealing with the movement of the Black Riders in the Shire.

That's true, but the source material on the Hunt for the Ring won't be of much help. The Nazgul's positions have been randomised to some degree both temporally and spatially, otherwise the scenario becomes too predictable. I have played the opening to this scenario more times than I can remember. It's still a challenge for me - which is what I want, but I'm not averse to lowering the Nazgul's stats a little if enough people find it too challenging at the default level of difficulty (I'll do that and see how it pans out).

[fairline]

Re: War of the Ring - beta

Originally posted by techumseh
Catfish has released a beta version of the long-awaited War of the Ring scenario. It's available on his site, here: http://users.tpg.com.au/jpwbeest/index.htm

Post comments and questions (hopefully the author will answer) here. It looks very impressive indeed.

I found that he used a new compression program, 7z for some of the files. Contrary to the suggestion on the site, I couldn't unzip them with WinRAR. You can download the 7z program from a link on Catfish's site.

It's a classic in the making I kept losing hobbits in the opening turns as well, until I stopped using the road to Bree and took the forest / Barrow-downs route. You need to enter the map transport at th Barrow-downs anyway to upgrade your halflings.

(BTW, right click on the 7z file and extract files with winrar. 7z is a nice program to have though, and it's freeware)

[curtsibling]

Wow!

At last - I am going to take a look ASAP.

[curtsibling]

Top kudos to Catfish...This is the work of a master!

The whole scenario package looks amazingly polished...

Looking forward to trying this tonight, after a warm-up game of Caesar III!

My gaming life just got better...

[Arthedain]

This scenario is just awesome. All my hobbits died on the first turn. On the second try I lost Boromir, Legolas and Gimli in Moria (d**n, Moria is hard!) but I managed to go as far as the dead marches with Frodo/Sam/Gollum and Rohan with the rest. Although in the marshes I couldn't dodge the Nazguls Game over!

Edit: I will try some new tactics next time around, like with the rangers. No idea how to keep Ithilien otherwise. And I still need to find a way to dodge the Nazguls. Rohan was pretty lame letting Isengard overrun much of its territory before my arrival. My counterattack wasn't that good. I was just about to get the ents when Frodo got killed.

[techumseh]

My third attempt has been more successful. Going roundabout to approach Bree from the south, I got the hobbits into the town, and picked up Aragorn. Realizing I'd forgotten to pick up the elven-swords at the Barrow-downs, I sent Sam back for them.

A Nazgul attacked Bree from the west and killed a Ranger unit I had moved in a turn earlier. Then the Witch-King and another Nazgul moved up from the south. I had no choice but to break out to the west, so I attacked the damaged Nazgul with Aragorn and moved west on the road, led by a wounded Aragorn, leaving Sam behind, and the residents of Bree to their fate.

Sam moved south of the road towards Rivendell, and when Glorfindel arrived, I sent him out to bring in Sam. Once Aragorn had recovered in Rivendell, the Fellowship headed south, meeting Sam and Glorfindel along the way. They made their way south without too much more excitement, and are now "safe" inside Moria.

More to come.....

[Cyrion]

Originally posted by techumseh
...are now "safe" inside Moria.

I like it!

OK, now I have to try this scen...

[Arthedain]

Believe me, Moria is all but safe I'm gonna give it another try and make a more detailed report.

[Catfish]

Originally posted by Arthedain
This scenario is just awesome. All my hobbits died on the first turn.

Originally posted by Arthedain
Although in the marshes I couldn't dodge the Nazguls

The AI sometimes sends the Winged Nazgul in the direction of Lorien, especially if you stack your front lines with powerful defenders like Gandalf the White or Legolas. I'm sure the Elves are thrilled. If enough of them head that way, Lorien can end up falling to Mordor. It's very rare, though. Generally, it's Gondor who has to deal with the bulk of them. I guess you got unlucky, being intercepted by a Nazgul en route to Lorien. I've had Elven-boats attacked by Winged Nazgul on the Anduin; not completely out of place, after all, in the book Legolas shot one down in that region.

BTW, there are little hidey-holes in the Dead Marshes, but they're probably not much help against Winged Nazgul which can attack before you know they're there.

Originally posted by techumseh
I had no choice but to break out to the west, so I attacked the damaged Nazgul with Aragorn and moved west on the road, led by a wounded Aragorn, leaving Sam behind, and the residents of Bree to their fate.

Nazgul cannot capture cities, but wolves and barrow-wights (if you've elected not to research Tom Bombadil) can. Having cities captured by barrow-wights (Nature) isn't half as bad as allowing Mordor to take them, though.

Originally posted by Arthedain
Believe me, Moria is all but safe

Several times I've managed to waltz right through Moria without being attacked by the Balrog at all. The Balrog begins every game in the same position, but its whereabouts are impossible to predict. Anyway, it should be a little easier now; I upgraded Boromir, Legolas and Gimli to veteran status in the latest version.

[Catfish]

I play-tested the scenario last night. The siege of Minas Tirith and the assault by Harad and the Corsairs was very tough. Two weeks ago I fixed a couple of AI performance issues, so they (Harad and the Easterlings) now fight more effectively with the same number of troops; plus I discovered a Civ2 bug which switched off Mordor's mobilisation flag early (fixed a week ago). These fixes, in combination, make the scenario much tougher than the last time I played. I may soften Mordor's assault – a little.

I lost Boromir in Moria to the Balrog, Gandalf the Grey to orcs in Moria, after finishing off the Balrog, then Sam in the Dead Marshes (to Easterlings), Gandalf the White to the Winged Nazgul Lord in Minas Tirith (Gwaihir delivered some payback, though), Gimli and Legolas to Grond in Minas Tirith, Faramir to the Haradrim in Pelargir, and finally Frodo in the heart of Mordor (one turn out from Mt Doom - aargh) to uruks on turn 61. Lost Minas Tirith on the same turn. Went to bed after that. Managed to evade Shelob completely in Cirith Ungol. I captured Isengard on turn 53 using Ents + Eagles + Grey Company + Eomer and the horse boys. Moronic Rohan allies decided to fortify spearmen over the northern entrance to the Paths of the Dead (I've had this happen before, but it's very rare). Half-way through researching The Muster of Rohan.

[Mercator]

Excellent! I will definitely play this before I die.

Only had a quick look so far. I like your attention to detail.

I find that bug with the flags intriguing, though. Do you know why it's happening too? I may have to investigate further.

[techumseh]

While I like the sounds ripped from the films, Catfish, there are some relic sounds in them, eg. the Orc sounds include some (human) heavy breathing. I guess some people just go for short, dark and scaley.

While playing last night I fought an ongoing duel between my Gondor knights and the cavalry of Harad. During the course of the battle, I heard my cat meowing in the next room. I went to check on her, and there she lay, on the couch, doing nothing. I went back to the game, and before long I heard her again.

I went back to the other room, and she looked up at me as if to ask, what do you want?

Returning to the game, I was sure I heard her once more. But again, she was just dozing on the couch.

Once more I resumed my game, only to hear the cat again. Finally, a light went on and I methodically moved up some Gondor knights up to attack the Haradrim. At the end of each attack, sure enough, there was the sound of a cat's meow. I had solved the mystery, but wasted nearly half an hour, and two valuable knights.