476 replies to this topic

[Jeth Calark]

For all of you new readers of this thread (and old! ) my original post below is WAAAYYY outdated. Feel free to read and watch the development of this mod, though! We have also relocated to our own forum, the Wardrobe, so you'll definitely want to go there for the latest

additionally, if you just want to go straight to the first screenies, jump to page 11! A map list is on page 15, but you're better off going here.

NOTE: I am not connected in any way to the Battle for Narnia mod at ModdDB.

well, i was watching Prince Caspian in theaters on Fri. and i thought to myself, "This would make an awesome mod." that's right, a Narnia mod for Battle for Middle-Earth! (1; my comp cant play 2).

this is what i have so far. The mod will add three factions to reflect both Narnia movies: the Narnians, the White Witch's, and the Telmarines. Note that i said add, not replace. The player will still have the option of playing one of the normal factions in addition to the new ones. This should make for some interesting gameplay as you can pit Narnian factions against LOTR ones. here are the tech trees. I lack ideas for buildings at the moment.
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NARNIANS (good)
the Narnian faction is largely based on the Narnians from Lion, Witch and Wardrobe. would really appreciate ideas on how to encompass the Narnians from Caspian movie...especially Reepicheep and the mice....

HEROES

Peter: He will probably be one of the stronger heroes, with excellent leadership and amazing powers. Blademaster will probably be one of his powers.

Susan: Since she was given a bow, I imagine her as more of an archer hero, like Legolas and Faramir. Wounding Arrow, Train Archers, maybe Hawk Strike or Arrow Wind (i give names so you know what im talking about. i will rename the powers!)

Edmund: Hard to say. He was with the archers in Lion, Witch, Wardrobe, but i don't imagine him as an archer. Maybe he'll be a lighter version of Peter.

Lucy: She is definetely going to be a early game hero, but with a incredible Athelas-type ability (remember her gift from Father Christmas?)

Oreius (the centaur captain from the movie): don't know, but maybe a bonus for cavalry

SPELLS

don't have any ideas other than a Summon Aslan, who would be comparable to the Balrog and the Army of the Dead. But i also like the idea of Aslan as a purchaseable hero. ARRGHH!!

UNITS

Big Cats: basic cavalry unit. It would randomize between leopards, cheetahs, and panthers.

Centaurs: the elite cavalry unit. can switch between bow and sword, or i can make a separate unit of archer centaurs

Fauns and/or Satyrs: infantry. cant decide which is considered the elite, if any.

Giants: siege units, similar in usage to Rohan's Ents

I lack ideas for basic archer and pike units.







THE WHITE WITCH'S (evil)

HEROES

Jadis, the White Witch: this one is a duh, really. leadership and amazing powers.

General Otmin: the black Minotaur leader from the movies. Will be a leader type of hero

Ginarrbrik: early game hero.

Maugrim: the head wolf dude

SPELLS

ok, today is not my day for thinking of spells. One does come to mind though, a weather type. Call it Witch's Winter, it would basically have the same effect as Darkness or Freezing Rain.

UNITS

Wolves: basic cavalry

Tigers: elite cavalry

Dwarves: infantry and archers. Upon buying them you would decide which one they become, but they can't toggle between.

Minotaurs: elite infantry

Ankle slicers: pikemen. yes i know they don't wield pikes or spears, but their fighting had the same effect in the movie as a bunch of pikes would.

Ogres: siege. they would look totally different from Narnian giants, so you can easily distinguish them. they also have only one eye.]

Hags: an interesting unit, with the ability to give perks and weaken the enemy. will operate much like the sorcerers from ROTWK







TELMARINES
don't know whether they should be considered good or evil. personally, i think they should be cast as good, just to simplify things.
HEROES

Prince Caspian the Tenth:

Miraz:

maybe Miraz's captain dude, Lord Glozelle:

SPELLS
now im really out of ideas

UNITS

Telmarine soldiers: basic infantry

Telmarine crossbowmen: archers, naturally

Telmarine pikemen:

Telmarine knights: cavaly

Telmarine trebuchets: siege

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need some help obviously in some ideas, especially in incorporating both movies in the Narnian faction.

also, im a complete newbie at modding. i will need to assemble a team to help on certains areas (and fix whatever crap i try to use). Mostly, this team will help me learn how to do things, as i do want to learn. all credit will be given to those who help.

Edited by Jeth Calark, 16 December 2008 - 12:47 AM.

[Grizzlez]

This is said overand over on these forums. Starting a mod with no modding abilities and no work to show always ends up with no-one joining the team, to lead a new mod you need to be able to do most of the work yourself, so that if you only get one or two people to join, you can stil do the mod yourself. With nothing but ideas, no-one will be encouraged to join unfortunately. Go and learn some modding first, then when you know enough to put some things in game, then you can look to make a team.

[Folca the Hunter]

I like the idea, but i have a few suggestions. I would join your team, but im still a newb modder too. Anyway, here are my suggestions for each faction. First of all though, make the factions specialized. Gondor relies on its Infantry and Buildings. Rohan, of course, Relies on its Cavalry and heroes. Isengard relies on a Blitzkrieg style of warfare, striking hard and fast. Mordor relies early game on orc spam to put pressure on the enemy, then build up a large, powerful striking force of Trolls and Mumakil to pound thier enemies into submission. Maybe you should make Narnia's forces faster compared to some other factions to give them a bit of a tactical advantage. The Witches Army could have incredible early game strength, but no upgrades to thier armor or weaponry. The Telmarines...i cant honestly talk about them since i havent seen the movie yet. only read the book.

Narnia-Heroes

Peter- Abilities: Starts off in a coat and his british clothes with a rusty sword. At level 3, he gets his Sword and Shield.
Level 1-Eldest Child-Gives him and his siblings a slight bonus in damage and armor.
Level 3-Christmas Gifts-Doubles his damage and armor.
Level 4-Blademaster
Level 6-Mount-Peter mounts a Unicorn.
Level 6-Leadership-150% damage bonus to nearby soldiers.

Susan- Abilities: Starts off in a coat and a short bow and a knife. Switches to a dress and her christmas bow with a short sword at level 3. Knife is used same way ithilien rangers use thier swords. Only if the enemy gets close. Good midgame hero.
Level 1-Snipe-Does severe damage to 1 enemy. Double damage against heroes.
Level 3-Christmas Gifts-Double Damage
Level 3-Ivory Horn-Stuns nearby enemies and summons a party of fauns for a short time.
Level 5-Target Practice-Grants experience to selected archers.
Level 7-Rain of Arrows-Same as Arrow Wind.

Edmund- Abilities: Starts with a long knife and his coat. At level 4, he switches to a sword and shield. Good early game hero who becomes very powerful late game.
Level 1-Sneak-Edmund moves unseen for 20 seconds
Level 4-Leadership. 50% damage bonus to archers.
Level 4-Mount-Edmund mounts his horse.
Level 6-Wandcleaving Strike-Powerful anti-hero attack. Disables all thier spells(if any spells)
Level 8-Edmund the Just-Permanently capture all units in effect radius.

Lucy- Abilities: Starts out in her dress with a stick. At level 3, she becomes extremely valueable and gains her christmas dagger.
Level 1-Healer's Aura-grants a small health bonus to nearby allies.
Level 3-Christmas Gifts-Double Damage
Level 3-Fireflower Cordial-Lucy becomes a portable well, healing all nearby troops automatically.
Level 3-Juice of the Fireflower-Same effect as Athelas.

Oreius-Starts our Armored
Level 1-Centaur Captain-50% damage bonus to nearby Centaurs
Level 2-Swords/Sword- In Sword mode(with his 2hand sword) he has a stronger attack, but attacks slower. In Swords mode(with his dual swords) he attacks faster, but his attacks are weaker.
Level 4-Windrider-Oreius moves twice as fast and does double trample damage.
Level 6-Ultimate Sacrifice-Oreius does triple melee damage, but takes triple damage. He is very easy to kill at this stage.

Narnia- Units-are just suggestions you havent decided on.

Dwarven Pikemen-Since a population of Dwarves fought for Aslan's army in the first movie, I recommend adding some dwarven pikemen.

Dwarven Archers-According to the books, Dwarves were fell archers. According to the movie, dwarven archers were present on Aslan's side.

Fauns/Satyrs-Make them Narnian infantry, with both in one unit. Make the ratio like 3 fauns to 1 satyr.

Centaurs-Make 2 units of centaurs, centaur archers and centaur warriors. DONT however make the archers fire while moving. its makes the game unbalanced.

Spells-
First Tier Spells-
Spring-Creates a small clearing of springtime weather. Bonus to friendly units.
Glade-Creates a small pond that acts as a well. Be aware that enemies can destroy it.

Second Tier Spells-
Knights of Narnia-Gives Peter and Edmund an armor bonus.
Panpipes-Summons 3 units of Narnian Infantry to help you.
Phoenix Strike-Creates a wall of fire that burns whoever tries to pass through it.

Third Tier Spells-
Sound of Thunder-Summons 3 Rhinos to Pile-Drive your enemies to smithereens.
Stone Garden-Summons a random assortment of Narnian Troops to help you.

Fourth Tier Spell-
The Real King of Narnia-Summons the Great Lion, Aslan, to the field.

I have to be somewhere now, but Ill give the rest of my suggestions later.

[Jeth Calark]

@folca the hunter: thanks man, can use all the help i can get. good ideas too, think i'll end up using some of them, but i don't recall dwarves on the Narnia side in Wardrobe. prolly need to watch the movie again. but you are right about the dwarves being good archers (in contrast to LOTR, where it's the elves )

and go see the Prince Caspian movie soon. it was awesome like the first one!!!

@ Grizzlez: yes, i know that sort of thing is said a lot. i never said i was doing anything much at the moment. And the reason i don't have any work to show is (1) i have only had this mod idea for a week and (2) please note where i posted. I posted it in the drawing board because all i am doing at the moment is theorizing the tech tree.

i also forgot to make clear that it will be some time before i will be looking for a team. if you want to go ahead and join, i will be happy to work with you!!!

[Jeth Calark]

also Folca, i did give thought the specialization of the factions. here is some rough estimates.

Narnia=Rohan

White Witch=Gondor

Telmarines=Isengard

[Folca the Hunter]

Time-Crunching circumstances force me to be brief.
Just to clarify, there were accually 2 different races of dwarves in Narnia. Black Dwarves, with coarse blackish-grey beards and hair, fought for the Witch. Red Dwarves, with Red-Orange beards and hair, fought for Aslan.
I'm working on getting involved with modding, so hopefully I'll be able to help you out. Ive wanted a Narnia mod since Wardrobe first came out.
Highest Regards,
Folca

[Grizzlez]

All i'm saying is ideas don't go anywhere without actually being able to mod. Their is countless number of mods that never leave the ideas because the person doesn't actually know how to mod.

From the ideas you will need a full team with skinners, coders, modellers, animators etc-which are very rare to find as most modders are already working on mods.

[Jeth Calark]

@ guest: um, do we look like the people who create games?! we cant create games, and EA hasn't told us about any Narnia RTS game in the works. All we know is how to mod an existing game.

and get registered, dude.

@grizzlez: seriously, man, you hit the nail on the head. seen lots of ideas in these forums that no one is doing anything about.

btw, i personally would appreciate it if you decided to help us.

@ folca: yeah, you're right. we can have red dwarven archers for Narnia and black dwarven units for the White Witch. Maybe have different armor details for each as well. but no Dwarven pikemen. dwarves wielding pikes or spears is found only in LOTR. i'll tell you my ideas for Narnian pikes later, but first let us solidify the hero portion of the Narnians first.

i love your idea about the kids starting out in the coats, but instead of gaining their armor and FC (Father Christmas) weapons at a certain rank, why don't they start out in coats with their FC weapons? then upon buying a certain spell, the kids gain their armor and get some sort of bonus, kinda like Gandalf and his Gandalf the White spell?

For Peter, your list of powers is perfect. could we rearrange them though? and how about him starting out at Level Five?

please dont think im being bossy and rejecting your ideas. im just continueing to brainstorm, and your ideas are invaluable!

Edited by Jeth Calark, 25 May 2008 - 12:20 AM.

[Folca the Hunter]

Well, i just got back from seeing the Second movie, and I have a few suggestions, especially about the Telmarine faction.

About the witches faction though, i would like to say that the ogres weren't the big, one-eyed guys. Those were CYCLOPES. The ogres were the big headed beardy guys.

As for the Telmarine faction, the Telmarine Trebuchets may have to be worked on a bit for a few reasons. First of all, if they could fire as quickly as they do in the movie, it would make the game very unbalanced. In addition, they would need an entirely new model which would be a pain to get working right. If you still want them that way, i recommend making the rocks do less damage than their cousins in the other factions.

I accually would suggest making Caspian's people and Miraz's people two different factions. I would make a specialized faction. Here is my suggestion for thier tech tree.

Heroes

Caspian-Leader-Type hero with some combat value

Reepicheep-Sneaky hero with a strong attack, but weak defense.

Trumpkin-Early-Game Archer Type Hero

Glenstorm(i think thats his name)-The Centaur who was the first to side with Caspian

Units

Narnian Warriors-Collection of Fauns and Satyrs

Narnian Archers-Assortment of Fauns and Dwarves with bows

Minotaurs-Anti Cavalry Unit.

Beasts- Assortment of Big Cats. Basic Cavalry

Mice-Sneaky Troops good at ambushing. Only Revealed when attacking.

Centaurs-Elite Cavalry. Able to switch between bows and swords.

Bears-Siege Units. Able to throw rocks a moderate distance and ram gates.

Spells

First Tier
Mouse Ambush-Damages troops in a small area
Savage Bear-Summons an uncontrollable bear that attacks anything nearby, including allies.

Second Tier
Hidden Refuge-Creates a small refuge which for a short time heals troops like a well. When it expires, it creates one battalion of Narnian Warriors, Archers, or Beasts
Hide-Makes selected units invisible until they attack.
Subtle Movements-All enemies in selected area are teleported to a random location on the map.

Third Tier
Awaken the Dryads-All units in affected location are killed by wild roots.
Awaken the Niads-All units and buildings in affected location are destroyed by floods.

Fourth Tier
Ivory Horn-Summons Level 10 Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy to the field. All units and heroes do double damage until timer expires.


The faction's strength is its ability to effectively orchestrate an Ambush, and pull it off quickly. Its weakness is its lack of powerful siege equipment. As for the other factions, Rohan's Style fits Narnia fairly well. I would have thought the witches style more like Isengard's, and Telmar's more like Gondor.

Thanks for letting me drone on and on about ideas again.

[Folca the Hunter]

@ guest: um, do we look like the people who create games?! we cant create games, and EA hasn't told us about any Narnia RTS game in the works. All we know is how to mod an existing game.

and get registered, dude.

@grizzlez: seriously, man, you hit the nail on the head. seen lots of ideas in these forums that no one is doing anything about.

btw, i personally would appreciate it if you decided to help us.

@ folca: yeah, you're right. we can have red dwarven archers for Narnia and black dwarven units for the White Witch. Maybe have different armor details for each as well. but no Dwarven pikemen. dwarves wielding pikes or spears is found only in LOTR. i'll tell you my ideas for Narnian pikes later, but first let us solidify the hero portion of the Narnians first.

i love your idea about the kids starting out in the coats, but instead of gaining their armor and FC (Father Christmas) weapons at a certain rank, why don't they start out in coats with their FC weapons? then upon buying a certain spell, the kids gain their armor and get some sort of bonus, kinda like Gandalf and his Gandalf the White spell?

For Peter, your list of powers is perfect. could we rearrange them though? and how about him starting out at Level Five?

please dont think im being bossy and rejecting your ideas. im just continueing to brainstorm, and your ideas are invaluable!

Hey, its your mod! Do what you like with my ideas. Just give me a bit of the credit. As for your idea about the kids, i like it. The one problem to it though is Edmund, because he never had a FC gift. A spell for their armor would work, and it frees up a bit of space in the Palantir for a different ability or something.

Keep your counterideas coming! Thats how a great idea comes into play!

Edited by Folca the Hunter, 25 May 2008 - 06:25 AM.

[Grizzlez]

To create a mod such as this, you would need some seriously good modellers and animators, and there aren't too many of them-especially ones with time to help you. Finding coders and perhaps skinners isn't too hard, but you need the models to be able to do anything with and I've seen the first film and a trailer of the second and by the look of it you will need a very advanced modder to help. This is unlikely to happen.

[Folca the Hunter]

To create a mod such as this, you would need some seriously good modellers and animators, and there aren't too many of them-especially ones with time to help you. Finding coders and perhaps skinners isn't too hard, but you need the models to be able to do anything with and I've seen the first film and a trailer of the second and by the look of it you will need a very advanced modder to help. This is unlikely to happen.

Not to be rude, but you have made this QUITE CLEAR, and it is beginning to become irritating. If you want to help, maybe you can. If not, could you let us continue to spill out ideas? Besides, I'm no expert modeller, but I do have a few ideas of how to pull it together with existing models. The only models i think would be difficult would be those for the Telmarine Trebuchet (because it is a lot different from a Gondorian one) I have a few names for good concept artists and ini coders in my network. IF i can convince them to devote a little time to this, it might just get further than the ideas stage. But like I said, IF. They might want to just enjoy thier summer too.

[Nertea]

The Telmarine armour was so damn awesome. I'm tempted to model it sometime.

[lycan]

Yummy i would also like to see you skin it. I haven't seen the movie (and i wont) but i know your good at skinning.

is this the armour u want to skin




That reminds me of the immortals. Looks really nice.



This might help you Jeth http://www.moddb.com...ttle-for-narnia

Edited by lycan, 25 May 2008 - 02:17 PM.

[Nertea]

I liked the troops better before they put on the masks frankly. They were marching across the bridge and it was looking pretty awesome, then all of a sudden weird masks appeared and I was confused.

[Folca the Hunter]

I liked the troops better before they put on the masks frankly. They were marching across the bridge and it was looking pretty awesome, then all of a sudden weird masks appeared and I was confused.

Agreed. The masks did kind of spoil the effect of the Telmarine Army, although it did kind of make them intimidating.

[Nertea]

I'll probably do it when some better refs turn up. I need a random thing to do these days.

[Jeth Calark]

@ Nertea: could you please do some skinning for us? we could use some expert help on this mod.

@ lycan: the soldiers in that pic are what will be used as Telmarine pikemen. and yes, they do remind me of the Persian Immortals somewhat.

as for the masks, i learned that Telmarine armor was based on paintings by El Greco. maybe that explains why they have them. other than that, i dunno.

@Folca: my ideas about Narnian heroes,

Peter: starts out in coat, but with his sword. Starts at Level Five
Level 1-Mount-Peter mounts a Unicorn
Level 3-Eldest Child-Gives him and his siblings a slight bonus in damage and armor. passive.
Level 4-Blademaster
Level 5-Christmas Gifts-Doubles his damage and armor.
Level 6-Leadership-150% damage bonus to nearby soldiers. passive.


Susan: starts out in coat, but with her bow. starts at Level One
Level 1-Snipe-Does severe damage to 1 enemy. Double damage against heroes.
Level 3-Ivory Horn-Stuns nearby enemies
Level 4-Target Practice-Grants experience to selected archers.
Level 5-Christmas Gifts-Double Damage
Level 7-Rain of Arrows-Same as Arrow Wind.

Edmund: starts out in coat, but with sword. starts at Level One
Level 1-Mount-Edmund mounts his horse.
Level 2-Sneak-same as elven cloak
Level 4-Leadership. 50% damage bonus to archers. passive.
Level 6-Wandcleaver (Wandcleaving Strike renamed)-Powerful anti-hero attack. Disables all thier spells(if any spells)
Level 8-Edmund the Just-Permanently capture all units in effect radius.

Lucy: starts out in coat, but with dagger. starts at level One
Level 1-Juice of the Fireflower-Same effect as Athelas.
Level 3-Christmas Gifts-Double Damage
Level 3-Fireflower Cordial-Lucy becomes a portable well, healing all nearby troops automatically.
Level 5-Healer's Aura-grants a small health bonus to nearby allies. passive.

Oreius (the centaur captain from the movie):starts out armored and at Level One
Level 1-Single/Dual- In Single mode(with his 2hand sword) he has a stronger attack, but slower speed. In dual mode(with his dual swords) he runs faster, but his attacks are weaker.
Level 2-Centaur Captain-50% damage bonus to nearby Centaurs. passive.
Level 4-Windrider-Oreius moves twice as fast and does double trample damage.
Level 6-Glorious Charge-same as Theoden's

[Nertea]

Sorry, no, I don't have the time. You can have the Telmarine if I end up doing it, but I'm not modeling it until I have a) time and b) better refs.

For the record this mod is already more work than most mods out there, and from my experience with doing a whole new side... plan one at a time.