Middle Earth: Battle For Arda - Official Thread

Frostion

@cernel @alkexr Yea, I uploaded a new version of Iron War that only works with pre-release. But I actually think I shouldn't have. I will soon upload a new version, still only for pre-release, but I will change map category back to experimental. I think that way we can avoid confusion and players are "warned" about the map not working (even if it actually does )
Thoughts?

alkexr

@frostion We should have a separate "development" map category for this. Maps in this category would automatically download a branch named development instead of the master, and they should be in a permanent state of being out of date (so you don't have to constantly update triplea-maps.yaml). This way you could have both a stable and an unstable version downloadable.

Hepps

@alkexr One of the things you can do is to a BIG BOLD WARNING at the top of your notes with a link to the pre-release of the minimum engine version your map needs to function. If you then bundle both XMLs (Stable compatible version and your new one) in the same down load... people can play either version.

alkexr

@hepps said in Large Middle Earth - official thread:

If you then bunble both XMLs in the same down load... people can play either version.

There are way too many changes to simply make an "old" xml.

alkexr

@hepps

There are way too many changes to simply make an "old" xml.

Well... maaaybe not. But that's a decision for the future, I think.

Hepps

@alkexr OH RIGHT WE CHANGED THE MAP!!! NVM

alkexr

@hepps Yeah, that was my first thought, but that doesn't actually matter because I could just track down everything not-stable-compatible in the xml and replace them with a stable-compatible thing to some similar effect.

redrum

So in this particular case, you could probably even argue due the map completely changing that this is really a LME 2.0 and could even be a new repo and download.

As Cernel mentioned, it would be better if additional version numbers were handled in the minimum version field. Generally, I'd like to get to a point where we have a stable engine release every 3 months so any map updates that need new engine features aren't waiting a long time and any testing of those new map versions could just be done through manual downloads until the stable is released. We've had challenges on getting enough pre-release testers to make that a reality so any help is appreciated.

alkexr

@redrum said in Large Middle Earth - official thread:

We've had challenges on getting enough pre-release testers to make that a reality so any help is appreciated.

At the moment I'm way too busy. I'll see how much time and energy I'll have for that.

Hepps

@alkexr here you go. I have included the revisions for the reliefs based on the PU values you sent me.

I included new base tiles with the river and sea colours blended a the estuary for each major river.

I included medium sized versions of all the flags. You are going to have to rename them depending on what you decide to use.

Happy releasing! And have fun on your trip.

alkexr

Large Middle Earth - The Battle For Arda (version 2.0.1)
Download latest prerelease -> Download map -> Unzip -> Put into downloadedMaps folder -> Play!

I'll be away for a week. I might or might not be able to check the forum, but I definitely won't be able to start TripleA or do anything other than using the forum.
I'm releasing because unit rework is mostly done, but I don't know how much the units are worth. The map is in playable state I think, so feel free to give it a try. I warmly welcome any savegames, whether PvP or single player. I'm also waiting for your suggestions for tweaking units stats/costs.

State of the map can be summarised as follows:

New units mostly completed
Some of the unit images were done hastily, some old unit images are still present... But worry not! Before: After:
There is no way that balance is anywhere in the reasonable spectrum
There are no game notes and no unit tooltips. I had no time left for that, unfortunately. May the light of Varda and @Hepps guide you through the darkness.
Sea Units option is not yet included. I'll have to rethink sea units when I have the time.

Some important points:

Now every unit has a "Terrain preference class" or whatever. This determines how it is affected by terrain. It is independent of unit categories.
Added shield ability, which is basically armor except against ranged, not melee.
Unseen attack renamed to duel, and now it happens in all combat rounds.
Now there are some units with 10/12 charge. This means that you need a very recent prerelease to play, and it can easily be that Low Luck AA will throw an error.
Fortifications had to be reworked after minimal testing revealed that the original idea wasn't really good. Walls now have a relatively significant defense value, and they are cheaper. Ancient fortifications now have defense values too. Everything gives less battlements support.
Hard AI exhibits... erm... well, sub-human level play.
Losing your capital now hurts you in no way (well, maybe you could consider keeping that juicy production), at least in theory - dragons and olpihaunts now repair two hits a turn.
@redrum there is an engine bug with the minimap I think when territories change ownership. Also there is a bug in 10535 in edit mode when trying to place units on the same territory twice.

Future plans:

Fix all them bugs.
Number versions like 2.0.x until it is polished
Replace the unit images that have an innate 12 terror against players.
Balance units by tweaking stats/costs.
Add game notes and tooltips.
Write a better placement picker and generate better placements for territories.
Add sea units.
Achieve balance by changing territory production values and starting armies.
Play games. And get beaten on my own map in front of the whole TripleA community. (This is actually likely... I've never played PvP games of PBF/PBEM length.)
Keep reminding the community that their savegames would really help with balancing. Even if it is a shameful defeat at the hands of the AI. (I don't think that's possible at the present state though...)

Here is another thing that will probably be helpful for you in deciphering the xml to learn unit abilities. Large Middle Earth TagX.xml - the game xml is generated from this.

Ask any questions, leave any suggestions, I will read them (eventually). Have fun!

redrum

@alkexr @Hepps Looks great already! Excellent work. I can easily see this becoming a top TripleA map!

@alkexr Any additional details on the engine bugs are appreciated.

@all - Make sure to rename the folder after unzipping so you should end up with this file path in downloadedMaps: \large_middle_earth\map

redrum

@alkexr @Hepps Found a few minor issues:

~~Hornburg shows 3 PUs on the map but actual value is 1 PU~~
~~If dragons lose 2 HP in battle then they can't move afterwards to land~~
~~Dragon 2 damage image has damage number overlap top blood drop, probably should move drops to both be in the bottom corner~~
Small white piece of line dividing between Lower Forest River and Elf Path

I can also confirm:

~~The minimap issue that conquered territories color in too dark (I'll look into fixing this)~~
~~I did get an error when trying to add units in edit mode and reported it here: https://github.com/triplea-game/triplea/issues/3536~~

alkexr

@redrum said in Large Middle Earth - official thread:

Hornburg shows 3 PUs on the map but actual value is 1 PU
If dragons lose 2 HP in battle then they can't move afterwards to land

Fixed - 2.0.1 is out. Dragons now don't change into dragon_hit2 after taking 2 damage - this must be causing the bug and it's purely visual. @redrum you might want to look into why air units can't land if changed mid-battle.

Last morning fix for a while.

Hepps

@alkexr Looks good so far. Going to be an adventure going through the XML to hunt everything down.

Hepps

@redrum said in Large Middle Earth - official thread:

Small white piece of line dividing between Lower Forest River and Elf Path

First comment and that makes the list! I had hoped for it to take longer before someone noticed that.

Hepps

@redrum There are two more of them on the map as well.

Cernel

@alkexr How did you upload this zip this way that you get it downloaded directly with the link. How does this work? I think we should document this practice somewhere, as it is better than posting a SendSpace link or something.

Cernel

@redrum Aaand make sure to have sounds on.

@alkexr I also like that you changed the title. I didn't like "All Stars". I would also remove the "Large" at start, if that is meant to be comparative to the other LotR we already have, as this is definitely a map in its own right, not an enlarged variant of something else.
My suggestion would be:
"Lord of the Rings - The Battle for Arda"

Cernel

How about having combat move before purchase?