45 replies to this topic

[PM Steel]

Thank you so much to all of you. I finally ... FINALLY ... have figured out how to put a texture on a model. That is right folks ... I am thick.

Now I can finally use this and perhaps finally see my dreams of expanding Battle for Middle Earth 2 to how I want it to be. I already figured out all the basics for .INI programming ... that was no problem. As soon as I get the animation concept out of the way ... you will be looking at one happy guy.

If anyone is wondering what I am planning to do ... it is pretty simple ... I pretty much just want to expand on the Fellowship side of the game. Know there is already a Fellowship mod out there ... and it is great by the way (And thanks to the ones who made it) ... but now I want to give it a shot ... and alter the 9 members of the Fellowship to how I think they should be.

But as I take these steps ... never hurts to thank the ones that taught you to walk right? Thanks all of you out here on this site ... and if I run into more problems ... good to know that there is a knowledge base I can turn to to get my problems solved!

[Solinx]

Welcome to the boards PM Steel,

I hope you don't mind me quoting you from the Fellowship board...

Hey all,

Would first like to say to the men in charge and the creators of the Fellowship mod ... well done! Good to see that there were others out there who wished that there was a faction for the Fellowship in Battle for Middle Earth ... and in a lot of ways you made that dream come true.

Now I want you to know that I am not that good at modelling or modding ... and any ideas I throw out here might not be possible ... but I just thought I'd give you an idea of what I would add to the Fellowship if I was as skilled as you all seem to be at this.

I guess the best way to do this is just to go through the characters individually ... so that is what I shall do ...

Aragorn/Strider
I love the idea of making him a ranger, but at the same time I still liked the original EA version ... and then I got to wondering what if either Aragorn was giving the option to Toggle from Strider to Aragorn ... or ... he was giving the same sort of attribute as Gandalph where at level 5 he transforms. If this is possible ... and there is a way that when he changes from one to the other ... my suggested abilities for each would be ... Strider (1. Toggle Weapon (Sword/Bow) ... 2. Throw Knife ... 3. Elven Heal ... 4. Ride Horse) ... and then as Aragorn (1. Elven Heal ... 2. Ride Horse ... 3. Anduil (Blademaster) ... 4. Elendil ... 5. Summon Dead)

To me I think that if Aragorn was set-up in this manner it would be more true to the character in the movie who started out as kind of a secret unknown character in Fellowship/Two Towers ... before finding his stride in Return of the King and being a true leader of men.

Boromir
Boromir is by far my favourite character in the whole of the Fellowship and for the most part your mod was good for what he should be. But to me here is the way I would have his abilities. (1. Throw Dirk (Dagger) ... 2. Horn of Gondor ... 3. Blademaster ... 4. Train Allies ... 5. Shield Protection (Some sort of extra defense ability) )

Boromir is a warrior who comes equipped with a dirk, sword, shield and horn and as such his abilities should reflect that. Also I think that the Last Stand ability should not be a upgrade but rather an ability he has (Kinda like the trolls have) so that he will always last a little longer after his death ... much like he did in the movie. Also Boromir will be one of the only Fellowship members not to ride a horse cause although he did use one in the book, Boromir seems more of a foot soilder then a knight.

Gandalf
Not much I can say with this character. I think there is not much more you can really add to him except for the ability to carry hobbits on his horse (Pippin in particular)

Legolis
Once again another well done character and once again not much changes. Love the whole Legolis and Gimli leadership bonus for when they are near each other ... good idea. Though would be nice if you could get Legolis on a horse and allow Gimli to ride on it with him like they do in the movies. That would be the only thing I would add at the moment.

Gimli
Gimli's abilites are already great also. Might be nice to have him be able to ride a horse with Legolis as mentioned above ... as well as if somehow the Aragorn/Gimli toss could would ... that would also be a nice addition.

Merry/Pippin
Ability to ride a horse ... and maybe an ability where they get leadership when they are near each other like Gimli and Legolis did. Also if they could have a toggle button or maybe even the same sort of ability as Aragorn and Gandalf to change from their hobbit attire to their Rohan/Gondor attire increasing their armour and strength value.

Sam
Sam needs the ability to use his frying pan as well as perhaps a special ability that would do extra damage to spiders ... some sort of Spider Bane. He was the one who stood toe to toe with Shelob afterall ... should have an ability to credit him for that. Ooo ... and how about rope ... he was given rope from Gladriel ... wouldn't it be something if he could say use the rope to climb walls or what not. Just a thought. Maybe also a leadership that increases Frodo's strength and armour as well ... as Sam was always the one who forced Frodo on.

Frodo
Now for Frodo there are many abilities he could use. Besides the ones he already has ... how about a mithril ability which increases his armour value ... not to mention being the ring bearer ... could give him the ability to have and use the ring also. Not to mention the ability to give leadership to nearby Fellowship members ... because he is carrying the ring ... and it is their job to protect him.

Fellowship as a whole
Now on top of these abilites ... I think that Boromir ... Aragorn and Gandalf should have passive leadership for units around them ... instead of having it as an ability. Also all the Fellowship should have passive Elven Cloaks ... so when they stand still they can turn invisible.

Now I don't know how many of these ideas you want to use or if you will even bother using any of them ... and that is ok. Sadly I am not a modder or a skinner so I can't help in the slightest. I want to ... do I ever ... but I don't have the skills. There is just something about playing the whole Fellowship and having them run across the screen in Battle for Middle Earth that is just so cool ... and I wish these changes can be done (Even if it does make the heroes tough to kill and all) ... it would just be great to see.

Just let me know what you think all. Would appreciate it though if you all understand I am not asking any of this to be done ... just wanted to tell you all what my perfect Fellowship Mod would look like.

Besides that thanks for your time for whoever reads this ... thanks to all of you who made the original mod ... and hope you all have yourselves a great day.

Great ideas you got there. You can expect my help in making it.

Only thing that I see as 'impossible' is the throwing of Gimli by Aragorn. It would require custom animations. Animating is easy, but making it look good is hard as concrete.

The mounts can all be done I think, as well as all the coding things you name.
Wish I could go into every detail of your post, but I haven't got the time to do so.

Solinx

[PM Steel]

First off no I don't mind you quoting from the other boards ... I totally forgot I posted that on their otherwise I would of copied and pasted it myself ... hehehe.

As far as the help offer is concerned ... all the help you can give would be much appreciated. Glad you like my ideas ... and I do understand that the Gimli toss might not be do-able ... will still look at it ... but that one probably will not work. -tear tear-

Also have a crazy idea for War of the Ring mode that I am planning to look into to see if I can get it to work. Would reveal that one though unless asked ... because at the moment I am about 20% sure of whether it will work or not ... so no point in bringing up pointless ideas unless I am sure they will work.

But yeah Solinx if you want to get in touch PM me or reply to the thread or whatever ... see what we can work out (Although I am really really new at this) and anyone else who can perhaps give me some assistance or enlightenment it would be much appreciated.

Thanks all and have a great day.

Edited by PM Steel, 03 October 2006 - 11:48 AM.

[zimoo]

I didn't know people still visited the Fellowship boards

Anyway, I like most of your ideas you've got here. I may be able to help with a few models

[Solinx]

There are a lot of advanced modders here that will be able to answer your questions, so don't worry if you run into a problem.

It's cool that you're trying to do something with the WOTR game mode. That isn't done all to often.

I'll send you a pm now.

Solinx

[PM Steel]

Thank you Zimoo and Solinx for your comments and replies. I have decided the best way to do this is to just kinda give out a run down of what I am doing and how everything is progressing so that way at certain steps people can give out thoughts or comments about how I can alter or change what I am doing ... if someone deems there is a better way ... and just so you all can follow me through my journey of creating my first mod! lol

Step #1 - Wanted to create a Strider model. Sadly I can't show you it cause at the moment do not have a place to update pictures and all that ... but as I progress I will show some pictures of my work for discussion and what not. Let's just say it looks pretty good for a first attempt ... but it was just a first attempt so won't probably be the finished one by the time I am done. But none the less ... that is Step #1 done.

Step #2 - Being a computer programmer this will be the easier step ... and it will require me to go through all the character codes for the Fellowship and start to set-up thier abilities and what not just so I can start to make the frame work of what I want each character to have as well as get a greater understanding of what code I can keep and what code I can delete or comment out in the character files for my mod. The less clutter the easier this all will be ... not to mention if I achieve my goal and finish it ... I can hand out my mod and code and people can read it in the hope that perhaps newer modders as I am now ... will be able to get an understanding of what I did and how it is achieved by looking through the code.

Also it is the hope that by doing this step ... I will find better ways of doing some things or see some different ways I can approach them. Point in fact ... I am now playing with the idea that instead of just saying all the Fellowship has the Elven cloak ability to start with ... making it an Palantir upgrade instead ... which when earned ... equips all the Fellowship with their Elven cloaks they recieved at Lothlorien.

But ok ... that is it so far ... going to spend a bit of time going through the code ... setting things up ... and then will go from there. Sorry if this thread becomes like a step by step guide of everything I do ... but I figure this might be the best approach to do it ... just so everyone can follow my progress. Hope you all agree

On a side note ... for the Aragorn/Gimli toss ... could you somehow incorporate Gimli's Leap Attack? Say when you click the toss ... then click Gimli ... Aragorn walks up to him ... and then Gimli does his leap attack kinda thing. Not sure if that makes sense ... or how good that will look ... but just an idea. Let me know what people think ... and any comments/concerns/ideas about anything said above ... do not be afraid to say them.

Thanks again ...

Padraigh (Being official now and leaving my name )

[Bart]

there is an old topic in the user submitted section where somebody got the gimli toss power to work. they used aragorns cheering animation

edit: http://forums.revora...showtopic=17816

Edited by 2playgames, 03 October 2006 - 01:17 PM.

[PM Steel]

Thank you. I will look into that when I get to it. Saves me from fooling around with it myself when I got to that point.

[PM Steel]

Ok everyone ... question time. Is there any way that you can have a faction in skirmish mode that does not start off with a fortress and does not automatically die because of it? If there is and someone knows of it ... please let me know where to go to adjust that. Bonus points to whoever solves the problem first.

[Bart]

yes, make a 'dummy fortress', which is invisible and has no functionality but is still a command center

that will answer your question, but it will cause another problem: how to determine when this player loses?

Edited by 2playgames, 06 October 2006 - 03:45 PM.

[Pixel]

Only thing that I see as 'impossible' is the throwing of Gimli by Aragorn. It would require custom animations. Animating is easy, but making it look good is hard as concrete.

It is indeed possible. Nick did this in one of his mods.

[thelemur]

its definitely possible,cause i kinda stumbled upon it by accident while coding for my mod.it didnt look like the sharpest animation,but it did work.

[PM Steel]

First off would like to thank "2playgames" for his fast reply to my question and as promised I award you with your bonus points ... redeemable in any store that is owned and operated by me. Currently that number is at 0 ... but I can let you play my mod if I ever get it done as collateral.

Nextly thank you to Flameguard and thelemur for their input on the Gimli Toss. As I have been constructing my mod I have decided not to include that move in the game ... just for the fact I have given enough moves to the Fellowship already ... and that move would not really serve a purpose in my scope. But thanks guys for the input

Now as far as my mod is concerned ... she goes slow and steady. Currently I have done all the programming for the commandsets and the commandbuttons of the Fellowship Members and will release all the moves and special abilities of my Fellowship for the mod in a short time. However as I go abouts finishing off the rest of the coding for the abilities and special powers ... I must now look forward to the next step ... modelling.

Now listen members ... I have been doing fine with the skinning of the Fellowship ... have a few good ones I think ... BUT ... I can't for the life of me find a tutorial for skinning that allows me to save them properly so that they can be added into the game. What I could really use is someone who can take a few minutes and tell me the process for saving skins and skeletons and exporting them in the right manner.

Bonus points are availiable for anyone who would be so kind and daring to help me out VIA either reply to the thread or PM ... and we can talk on MSN or what not. I am not asking you to help me to model or skin ... only just how to export them properly ... just in case you get the wrong idea. If anyone has some time and can assist me ... would be very happy.

By the way ... I am currently modelling in RenX if anyone is wondering.

Thank you all ... look for a post that will outline the abilities of the Fellowship in my Mod shortly ... and you all have a great day.

Cheers ...

Padraigh

[Fingulfin]

Add me to your MSN, I can walk ya through it if you haven't done it already.

Fin's MSN: ulairemapping@yahoo.com

BTW, "Bonus Points" aren't necessary. Here at T3A we like to help each other out for free One of the reasons that although small, we are a strong community

[Lauri]

hehe, guess why I help these "new" guys much
j\k, I may not help the "new" guys much, since they ask either stupid questions, or stuff I don't know
I do help some though
But I do spam alot :(

EDITED BY FINGULFIN: Ok, I didn't edit it but... Please don't spam up this poor guys topic... I don't want to have to moderate the moderator

Edited by Fingulfin, 09 October 2006 - 08:11 PM.

[PM Steel]

Hello all.

First off want to say thank you Fingulfin for the help proposal, I have added you to my MSN and hope to talk to you soon. (Although even if you don't want them, I will still give you bonus marks if you are able to teach me to export my models properly ) And Lauri, even though you might spam, it is the thought that counts. So thank you for taking the time to add to my thread.

Now moving on ... it has been over a week now since I started my mod, so I guess it is only right that I at least give all of you some idea of how it is shaping out. I figured for starters I will show you what one of the members of the Fellowship will look like when I am done. My mod allows the characters to have a bigger commandset then normal, thanks to the turtorial on this site (Can't think who wrote it but will give proper credit when mod is done). Basically there is two parts of a characters commandset which can switched back and forth from. The default commandset shows the characters normal special attacks, while if you click the switch button, the commandset will list the characters passive abilities gained through the game.

Now although right now the abilities listed seem concrete, there is no guarantee that when I am done this will be what Merry's commandset will look like. But as of this moment this is what it looks like ...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fellowship Merry

Normal Attacks -
1. Toggle Weapon/Rocks - Same as original
2. Nazgul Bane - Sword attack that does extra damage to grounded Witchking and Nazguls as well as cripples their movement for a duration (Like Lurtz's Cripple Strike).
3. Lembas Bread - Restores some of Merry's health. (Requires Gifts of Lothlorien Update)
4. Treebeard Summon - Summons Treebeard to the battlefield to carry Merry and Pippin. (Merry only summon)
5. Mount/Dismount Treebeard.

Passive Attacks -
1. Merry Leadership - Grants Leadership to Pippin when both hobbits are near each other.
2. Elven Dagger - Increases the damage done by Merry's normal melee attacks. (Requires Gifts of Lothlorien Update)
3. Elven Cloak - Makes Merry invincible when standing still. (Requires Gifts of Lothlorien Update)
4. Esquire of Rohan - Increases Merry's defense power. (Requires Merry/Pippin Armour Upgrade)
5. Rohan Leadership - Grants minor leadership to ally Rohan units (ie Rohirrim, Theoden, Eomer, Eowyn) (Requires Merry/Pippin Armour Upgrade)

Costumes/Attires -
1. Costume he starts off movie with.
2. Costume after Lothlorien with new dagger and elven cloak. (Requires Gifts of Lothlorien Update)
3. His Rohan Esquire costume. (Requires Merry/Pippin Armour Upgrade)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It is my hope to make this mod flow like the movies making greater playing time lead to upgrades and abilities true to the movie. (Also should note that mod will be based on the movie version of Lord of the Rings instead of the book unless otherwise stated exceptions.)

Now it is all your turns. Let me know what you think of my first complete (maybe) character in my mod. Also should be noted that my Fellowship faction will not consist of any other units besides the Fellowship Heroes (Besides spellbook spells and summons) so that is why it will seem that perhaps the characters are overpowered.

Hope you like my idea and as always don't be afraid to leave your thoughts/concerns. Cheers ...

Padraigh

[zimoo]

If Treebeard is going to be a summon I don't think the mount/dismount should be on the palantir, or you might have two Treebeards running around. That should be in the passive ability section I believe, atleast if you're doing it the way I'd do it.

Also, I don't think his Rohan leadership should effect so many people. Rohirrim and Eowyn maybe, but not Theoden and Eomer.

[RangerAragorn]

Well it all sounds great what you're making and the idea of aragorns outfit is a perfect idea that is what i thought EA should have done from the start having him at ranger then level up to be king and this is a special request can you make an Isildur because he is my favorite character next to aragorn(i don't know if that was asked already)but also when do you think this mode will be released

[Solinx]

Isildur won't be in this mod. Or at least the chances are very small. This is a fellowshipmod, a mod based on the fellowship, not on the line of kings.

Solinx