89 replies to this topic

[Rob38]

Back in 2006, Celeglin released the second beta version of The Elven Alliance (TEA). While the mod was both popular and successful (e.g., made the top 100 mod of the year list in 2006), there was still a lot of unfinished work that needed to be completed. Unfortunately, Celeglin became busy with other things, and he never had the opportunity to continue work on his mod. As such, many fans were disappointed that the mod was never fully completed. After much discussion, the T3A staff and community decided that it was their responsibility to finish TEA and address any balance and bug issues contained in beta 0.9. Due to being unable to contact Celeglin and perhaps straying from his original intentions, the mod was given a new subtitle as to not confuse who the author was of the modified version. The new project became known as The Elven Alliance:Community Edition (TEA:CE).

TEA:CE has just released it's fourth version (version 1.3).  The project has evolved over the years, but the original purpose and design has remained the same.  Below is some information about what the mod project hopes to accomplish when finished.

The intentions and goals in this edition:

• Add the new Gondor skins made by Celeglin
• Fix all bugs and glitches in the mod
• Balance the factions (with particular attention to the Elves) to make multiplayer more fair and enjoyable
• Address the issues laid out it the TEA beta 2 readme file
• Add any missing 2-d art to the mod
• Develop the Elven AI and add it to all skirmish maps
• Increase the difficulty and challenge of the hard AI
• Create audio voices for the Elven units/heroes that have no voice files
• Include new skirmish maps for the mod
• Modify the campaign missions by making them more challenging and to incorporate the new features in TEA:CE

What we will not be doing:

• Adding new models and skins that severely stray away from the original Elven Alliance
• Deleting or severely modifying units, buildings, and/or heroes

Credits for the Original Elven Alliance:

• Celeglin: Original author and mod leader of The Elven Alliance
• Check the Thanks page here to learn who assisted with the original modification

Credits for The Elven Alliance: Community Edition go the the following:

• Rob38: Leader of mod project
• _Haldir_: Main Assistant
• m@tt: Major Contributor
• Valaquenta10: Voice files for Celeglin
• {AE}Manveru: Voice files for Sentinels from Woody End
• Nertea: NSIS coding scripts for the custom installer
• DIGI_Byte: T3A Hosted Video Designer
• Morgan Casey: Author of the music piece "Imladris Unleashed"
• The 3rd Age Modding Community: Hosting and support of mod

DISCLAIMER: If Celeglin does return and does not approve of the community edition project, the project will stop immediately and the download will be removed. Also, the original version of Celeglin's mod will still be available to download. It can be found here.

Edited by Rob38, 05 May 2014 - 01:44 AM.
Update

[Elvenlord]

Sweet. TEA:T3ACE
That's way to long.

Anyways, should we start compiling things that need to be fixed?

And no Elven AI? Damn.


Anyways, here we go, off the top of my head:
Elven settlements still says Gondor Farm
Elven buildings need to give experiance.
And....actually, that's all I can think of right now

Edited by Elvenlord, 05 February 2009 - 03:19 AM.

[Rob38]

Dang! You guys are fast! I barely had the time to edit and you guys are already posting!

[Elvenlord]

Damn right, this is TEA we're talking about. I'm always here.

Oh, and some balance things I thought of.
The elven cav needs to have either their cost or cp raised. I'm leaning towards cost, as they only have Glorf as leadership, and even that is only trample deceleration, so they need numbers to compete with other cav.

[Jeth Calark]

No AI? Sithspit.

Nice clear definition of what we're doing. Good job on that, Rob38; should save us from n00bs and incessant questioning.

I'll leave the list compiling to others who know the mod much better than I.

Edited by Jeth Calark, 05 February 2009 - 04:37 PM.

[CIL]

I still think we should keep the original Cel version out, too. We don't want to overwrite the last file he released, do we now?

Also, what about the Elladan and Elrohir skins he showed us all? Does anyone have them? If so, will they be released?

Anyways, for bugs and balance:
Elven farm starts out at level 1 at settlements.
Glorfindel looks like a crazy when he's mounted and uses Revealed in Wrath.
There's also the issue of his horsey mount glitch with heavy armor.
Galadriel needs to have her price jacked up by about 1000 and given greater speed and attack speed.
Boromir just sits there and waits for the enemy he was attacking to get up before he starts attacking again. This makes his attacks even slower than BfME II Sauron.
Gondor is lacking a decent midgame hero. The roll should be filled by Aragorn. Seriously... Aragorn with his battle armor with Rohan? Canonical no-no.
Eomoer could use a boost of power in general to replace Aragorn as they fought in the same league, along with Imrahil (who is, unfortunately, not in the mod).
Gimli was of equal power to Legolas, and he should not cost 500 less than him. I say give him higher attack power and pull the price up by about 500.
Elrond is WAAAAAY more powerful than Glorfindel once he gets his lvl 8 power, as hard as it is to level him. He seriously 1-hit kills any hero in the game so long as all the horses hit the hero, whereas it takes Glorfindel's attack a MUCH longer time to do the attack. Elrond should have his price moved up to 4k. Besides, if I want a cheepo Elrond in early-game, I can always mod him to be worth 1 and respawn worth 1. That's what I have in my current TEA version. I also did that to all the other heroes . It's EPIC !!!!!!!!!!! In addition, I gave Galadriel MEGA OP AoE. She can attack half way across the map or something like that. Her attack also got a boost in my EPIC (phail) version of TEA and sits at around 5k with a health of roughly 200k.


You and Elven (and, to a lesser extent, myself) deserve credit. I pushed him into releasing the skin screenies... or something. You deserve the most credit for effectively rallying the community. Rob, however, acted as our ambassador to the Chamber and effectively convinced them to allow us to do this. He deserves a huge thanks.

Edited by Elrond of Imladris, 05 February 2009 - 07:39 AM.

[Jeth Calark]

Indeed, Elrond, several people deserve some thanks and credit. Sorry if I came off as greedy. I may have pushed the community, but Rob pushed the more important people, the ones in the Team Chamber.

Of course, I had no idea that you pushed Elven into releasing those screenies. Elven gets credit for being a very smart man and listening to you.

[Radspakr Wolfbane]

So who will be working on this version?
I can help out with any coding needs.
Is there a reason there's going to be no AI? I could always set one up.

[CIL]

I pushed him into something involving that. I think he told me he had them and that I told him to post them to prove it because I didn't believe him. I don't remember... but I did push him into something involving this. We also messed up Mike's brain .

Mmm... Only Jeth can write a short 5 sentence post with 3 smilies .

Edited by Elrond of Imladris, 05 February 2009 - 07:30 AM.

[adummy]

You, Elven and I deserve credit. I pushed him into releasing the skin screenies... or something. You deserve the most credit for effectively rallying the community. Rob, however, acted as our ambassador to the Chamber and effectively convinced them to allow us to do this. He deserves a huge thanks.

Quick history lesson.

Celeglin gave myself, Elvenlord, and HunterGXO (Hearach now) access to the beta versions of the mod, as noted on the Thanks page. The latest version that Elvenlord had, was the last version Celeglin gave to us. Celeglin did not upload it to Revora's database, but to a external download source (the file is now gone). After Celeglin left, Elvenlord lost the files due to his computer getting fried. Elvenlord begged me for the file ( ) and I agreed to give it to him. Elvenlord asked me, a few times, to release the mod publicly, but seeing how I don't have the right to release private work, I brought it to the chamber. Each time the chamber, together, decided to wait a little longer. This time, a few of you begged Rob and went public, so you got your wish.

So to inflate my ego, I am the reason you all saw the pictures

[Rob38]

I still think we should keep the original Cel version out, too. We don't want to overwrite the last file he released, do we now?

Ah yes, thanks for reminding me. I added that part in to the first post. The original version will still be available for download.

Also, what about the Elladan and Elrohir skins he showed us all? Does anyone have them? If so, will they be released?

Don't know anything about those skins. Have to ask adummy or elvenlord about that.

Anyways, for bugs and balance:

Ah, could you post these change in the appropriate balance topics. Will make things a lot easier for me to keep track of.

You and Elven (and, to a lesser extent, myself) deserve credit. I pushed him into releasing the skin screenies... or something. You deserve the most credit for effectively rallying the community. Rob, however, acted as our ambassador to the Chamber and effectively convinced them to allow us to do this. He deserves a huge thanks.

I personally could care less who got the ball rolling as long as it is moving

So who will be working on this version?
I can help out with any coding needs.
Is there a reason there's going to be no AI? I could always set one up.

I mostly will as it's mostly small changes. For the AI, I know it's a lot of work to get it to work for BFME1 and I was not sure anyone was up for the task. If you want to do it Rad, I think it will make many people (including me) very happy.

Touching story there adummy.

[Nertea]

It's unlikely any of his Twilight stuff, which includes Elladan and Elrohir, will ever see daylight.

[adummy]

Also, what about the Elladan and Elrohir skins he showed us all? Does anyone have them? If so, will they be released?

Don't know anything about those skins. Have to ask adummy or elvenlord about that.

I've seen as much as everyone else has on them. He never gave them to us.

[Bart]

To make this project work, I'd just like to give you some advise that I learn in school:

You have to make a list of things to do, in the beginning of the project. It has to be somewhat specific (that means, no unneccesary details, but make sure everyone interprets it the same way). When you finish this list, stick to it. You should not add new features (unless very very tiny). If you do, you'll constantly add new, cool, small but many more things (known as feature creep) and it never gets finished.

Of course, it's not impossible to add new things to the list. However, you have to split it up in versions. Finish the current list first and make a complete release out of it (with all the details like installers, documents, etc.). Then, you can make a new list and continue.

Btw, why no AI? It could at least be a feature for version 2.

[Elvenlord]

You and Elven (and, to a lesser extent, myself) deserve credit. I pushed him into releasing the skin screenies... or something. You deserve the most credit for effectively rallying the community. Rob, however, acted as our ambassador to the Chamber and effectively convinced them to allow us to do this. He deserves a huge thanks.

BS! I did it for Matias

Also, what about the Elladan and Elrohir skins he showed us all? Does anyone have them? If so, will they be released? No. We don't have them, and even if we did, it would be near impossible to balance.

Anyways, for bugs and balance:
Elven farm starts out at level 1 at settlements. It's supposed to be that way, but they're supposed to get a defense tower thingy at level 3, so that can be added.
Glorfindel looks like a crazy when he's mounted and uses Revealed in Wrath. Yep. Get to it Rob
There's also the issue of his horsey mount glitch with heavy armor. Yes, but that's low priority right now
Galadriel needs to have her price jacked up by about 1000 and given greater speed and attack speed. No. Cel intended her to be slow and have slow attack speed. She exists primarily for her abilities.
Boromir just sits there and waits for the enemy he was attacking to get up before he starts attacking again. This makes his attacks even slower than BfME II Sauron. We've discussed before removing the knock-back and restoring his former damage, with perhaps AoE.
Gondor is lacking a decent midgame hero. The roll should be filled by Aragorn. Seriously... Aragorn with his battle armor with Rohan? Canonical no-no. I think that might be too big of a change. And with the changes to Boro, he'll do the job.
Eomoer could use a boost of power in general to replace Aragorn as they fought in the same league, along with Imrahil (who is, unfortunately, not in the mod). Not needed anymore
Gimli was of equal power to Legolas, and he should not cost 500 less than him. I say give him higher attack power and pull the price up by about 500. It's mostly because of Lego's abilities. I think they're fine as is. Besides, Elven stuff is supposed to be expensive
Elrond is WAAAAAY more powerful than Glorfindel once he gets his lvl 8 power, as hard as it is to level him. He seriously 1-hit kills any hero in the game so long as all the horses hit the hero, whereas it takes Glorfindel's attack a MUCH longer time to do the attack. Elrond should have his price moved up to 4k. Glorf is the strongest melee hero in the game. He can rip through basicly anything, he has no need of abilities. Nuff said. And there is the factor of having to level Elrond up... Besides, if I want a cheepo Elrond in early-game, I can always mod him to be worth 1 and respawn worth 1. That's what I have in my current TEA version. I also did that to all the other heroes . It's EPIC !!!!!!!!!!! In addition, I gave Galadriel MEGA OP AoE. She can attack half way across the map or something like that. Her attack also got a boost in my EPIC (phail) version of TEA and sits at around 5k with a health of roughly 200k. Not touching this with a ten foot pole.

Oh, and I remember talk about taking away the gondor ranger's knock back and improving their attack speed. Alot. That would be awesome

That's all for now.

[Jeth Calark]

If we backtracked the "who deserves credit," then we'll all ultimately end up with Celeglin, who created the mod. Let's just leave it as "the T3A community," and rehash the debate when we actually get around to putting the credits in.

I can help with basic coding.

Mmm... Only Jeth can write a short 5 sentence post with 3 smilies .

Oh, no! I have a reputation for excessive smilies!! Does that mean I'm in the same category as Lauri?

[Mathijs]

Oh piss off with the credit bullshit you guys, Celeglin deserves all credit if you ask me... we do this to honour Celeglin and to have more balanced tournaments, not to get ''modding cred''. Now hush!

[Lauri]

Oh, no! I have a reputation for excessive smilies!! Does that mean I'm in the same category as Lauri?

Sorry, but that's never going to happen

Still, for everyone who's posted bugs and the likes, please repost them into their own topics, which you'll find in here.. Thank you

[Jeth Calark]

Exactly what Matias said, 'cept without certain words. Silly of me to bring it up in the first place.

Oh yeah, I forgot! I still have to catch up to your (looks briefly at his profile) 6,000 and something posts. Ah, well, forget that then. I'll just define my own category!

Edited by Jeth Calark, 05 February 2009 - 04:41 PM.

[Mathijs]

It wasn't directed at you.