47 replies to this topic

[MrBlack103]

Now, I know this mod's production has slowed down recently, but I had an idea I just needed to put out there.

Now - yes lag is important to avoid, I get it quite a lot unless I use med. to low settings, so I really worry about it making stuff unplayable (such as this insanely and impossibly awesome mod). It would also be unrealistic and very limiting to have archers kill one unit at a time. On the other hand, one of my pet hates about BFME1 was not only that an entire horde of Uruks could climb a ladder at once (it was slightly more realistic with the Mordor siege towers), but that you could send multiple hordes up at once, effectively dumping your entire army onto the walls without even having to bring up any other siege equipment. IMO the uruks climbing ladders should be limited to a "really slow trickle" pace.

I believe I've thought of a compromise - How about you have hordes and individuals. The bulk of the army would be hordes. These would serve to be the uruks that recklessly throw themselves at the fortifications and get shot as a result. They would also form much of what attacks the gates. Then, of course, there are the individual uruks hanging around in the ranks, and are the only ones that climb the siege ladders (are also quite expendable when the Deeping Wall gets blown to kingdom come) and the giant ladders, if they end up being a feature.

On specifics, since you would want ladder-climbers present pretty much all of the time, there should be, say, 100 singular uruks on the map at any one time. When some of them are killed, more are spawned. Perhaps you could even spawn them at the base of the ladders so as to minimise travel time (and by extension get filled with arrow time). I do not think it would ruin the overall effect if they were spawning in an already crowded area.

Well, that was a longer post than I anticipated

Hope the mod turns out great, it's got huge potential.

[Rob38]

Well, currently, I do have a method where the hordes slow down when climbing the ladders. The only issue is that they can still clump up a lot when climbing. The solution may be to have all the units in the horde separate themselves further apart before climbing. Still needs to be tested and analyzed though.

[Masterbadeend]

Maybe give each unit a geometric value, so they can't stand into eachother (they seem to like that ).
And for this:

-Everything sucks in general

Lol... pretty much summarizes my feelings too.

EDIT: I have another idea: if you make an area impassable and invisible (so the map will be a lot smaller, and you can see less far) for the camera and the Rohan forces (controlled by human player), then you can simply keep the uruks coming, while they're not all on the map (might be difficult scripting, but we want to see what you can do )
(Maybe something like:

If player Isengard has less than 2000 units on the field
Then spawn unit pike (for example) (subroutine script or don't deactivate after succes, whatever)
To stop it, put in a counter which counts the amounts of uruks killed by the rohan player:
If counter "Rohan kills" is compared to a value 10000
Then disable script spawn
And enable scripts victory

If you don't understand it, don't be ashamed to tell me, and I'll repost it .

Edited by Masterbadeend, 17 January 2010 - 09:38 PM.

[Devon]

I'm pretty sure Rob's scripting is going to be a little more in depth than just a stream of enemies coming at you

[Masterbadeend]

Yep, I know .
That's why I like this project .

[Slavic]

If I recall, 10,000 were just the Orcs. Firstly, this is traditional Merry babbling (or Aragorn, in the movie it was?) and Gandalf overestimating. 10,000 is really difficult for a smaller version of the game, because the game indeed is scaled down. I think Rob would definitely agree with me that an impressively huge number is needed, but that 10,000 is not necessary if it is against the gameplay.

Additionally, this doesn't include the Dunlending (by the way, will they be a part of Isengard's armies?) for example.

[Rob38]

Additionally, this doesn't include the Dunlending (by the way, will they be a part of Isengard's armies?) for example.

Don't know, still thinking about it.

[Slavic]

Rob, I've noticed you're making this scenario for BFME II - which got lower ratings and more negative comments than the first installation - so does that mean that the good ol' build plots will be no more? I've always found the game a bit ruining with the Builder Hero unit.

Anyways, if you're thinking on it, I've got a proposal - have the Good side, being the one under siege, thus logically just having (also a bit more realistically) a limited amount of build plots with a limited choice of options - while the Evil could, as the side which conducts the siege, build freely - that is, if you had chosen to keep the 2 Isengard camps the EA original version of the map had put.

As for the Dunlending, I can only see the map more interesting and no bad side of it - apart from even more work on your part of course, by introducing those units and attaching them to the Isengard faction. They'd have to be considerably weaker than the Orcs, normally, and without a fearless morale - this means that while the Orcs stand until killed, the Wildmen surrender. You could e.g. create a post-battle short cinematic, in which King Theoden sets free the Dunlending in exchange for an oath of loyalty, setting them (in their wonder because of Saruman's propaganda) free and letting them bury their dead. Although I still have no idea how to in act implement the surrenders of their units - whether just something post-battle, or make a little interactive, thus spicing up the battle itself?

Edited by Slavic, 11 June 2010 - 08:47 AM.