Celeglin

Don't have much time, so I'll give all the information in points:

- internet at home went down last Saturday, probably won't be back up until Sunday
- moving out into my own apartment Sunday, won't have internet there for a while
- don't like logging onto Revora from school because of security issues
- check out my last post in the 'Expanding into two factions' thread for Eriador art I've been doing in my cruddy internet-less-ness.

I know it's a rather cliched, but I figure we may as well have one. Try to post some lengthy explanations, so we can all have a good read.

Galadriel
Hands down my favourite character in all of Tolkien's works. Her story spans a longer period of time than any other non-Maia/Vala-character (bar Cirdan, though his brief mentions don't make for much of a story). Even with the various versions of her pre-First Age tale, I can really admire what she did in Valinor no matter which version it is I'm reading. Her perseverence through the Second and Third Age in her decision to remain in Middle-Earth until the remaining great evils of Melkor (personified by Sauron) were wholly destroyed are truly admirable.

And yet, it's here where I really like her character, but not for the above reason. As much as she may have wished to believe otherwise, her real (possibly subconsious) reason for remaining in Middle-Earth was because she had not yet felt true power in ruling her own people. This was her reasoning for leaving for Middle-Earth in the first place (not in vengeful search for the Silmarilli), and she had not experienced it through the First Age. By the Second Age, she had ruled in Lorien and (depending on which version you follow) Evendim, Lindon, Edhellond, and Eregion. But now there is the Ruling Ring, with which she could rule all. "I do not deny that my heart has greatly desired to ask what you offer." (FotR, The Mirror of Galadriel). Yes, she did perform a sacrifice on the behalf of the Elves here in allowing the Ring to be destroyed, but I find her own denial for the thing she has most wanted (for over 6000 years now) in the name of a better good the true definer of her character. I find her refusal of the temptation of the Ring to be the strongest of any character in the novels.

Of course, the duality of her character and her vague omnipresense throughout the trilogy also add to my case. She also seems to find her way into so many stories, if rarely noticed/appreciated but with great importance (Sauron's Return, Ride of Eorl, Amroth and Nimrodel, etc.).

Other favourites of mine...

Celeborn
- long, ambiguous history open to varied interpretation
- his manners closely resembles the Celeglin character I've created
- has some great lines in FotR

Eowyn
- favourite non-Elf character
- source of my favourite scene out of anything Tolkien:

She was clad as a Rider and girt with a sword. In her hand she bore a cup, and she set it to her lips and drank a little, wishing them good speed; and then she gave the cup to Aragorn, and he drank, and he said: 'Farewll, Lady of Rohan! I drink to the fortunes of your House, and of you, and of all your people. Say to your brother: beyond the shadows we may meet again!'
But she said: 'Aragorn, wilt thou go?'
'I will,' he said.
'Then wilt thou not let me ride with this company, as I have asked?'
'I will not, lady,' he said . . . 'Farewell!'
Then she fell on her knees, saying: 'I beg thee!'
'Nay, lady,' he said, and taking her by the hand he raised her. Then he kissed her hand, and sprang into the saddle, and rode away, and did not look back . . .
But Eowyn stood still as a firgure carven in stone, her hands clenched at her sides, and she watched them until they passed into the shadows under the black Dwimorberg . . ." (RotK, The Passing of the Grey Company)

- nothing get's me in such a way as this dialogue. One of the few scenes I was disappointed in the films in relation to the book.
- of course, you also have her display of love and loyalty in her confrontation with the Witch King, which was just far too awesome

Odd little thing I've got here. Here's the situation:

I've added a number of heroes to the Good Campaign, but it has recently been brought to my attention that Haldir (who was added at level 4 in Helm's Deep and continues on with the Rohan army) does not increase his damage output as he levels up. The damage display text shows the proper stuff, but he just doesn't do said damage. In Skirmish mode, however, he works perfectly fine. He may also not be getting the proper hit point bonuses as well, but haven't been able to test this. A also haven't had a chance to check the other new heroes for this same problem. Faramir, who's coding Haldir's is largely based off, works fine in the campaign.

Does this ring a bell for anyone? It's completely beyond me why this is going on.

Alright, I've handed this tutorial out to quite a few people, but never thought to post it publicly. It's a quick and basic way of rigging horses. And while it isn't perfect, if you don't find anything noticable wrong with the horses in The Elven Alliance, then this method will work fine for you ingame.

First, make a wwskin that contains only the horse bones (usually identified with H). No need to get the Rider bones mixed up here. Next, autolink everything. Now onto the things that should be specifically rigged.


1) Select using the box in the image as a guide. Link these bones to HSPINE1.


2) Select using the box in the image as a guide. Link these to HCLAVL.


3) Deselect this vertex. Link the rest to HCLAVR.


4) Select using the box in the image as a guide. Link these bones to HBLHAUNCH.


5) Deselect this vertex. Link the rest to HBRHAUNCH.


6) Link this vertex to HHIPL.


7) Link these vertices to HTAIL3.

Those are the ucky parts (for the most part). You may experience some issues with the backs of the front legs, but they never turn up ingame. The base of the tail (where it attaches to the rump) may also get a little messed up in certain animations; but again, not noticable.

Various News Items - 25/01/07

It's been a while since the last news post, but I've been having connection problems from the end of December through the better half of January. But it's all fixed now.

The ModDB Awards were announced today. Though The Elven Alliance didn't win anything, Mental Omega another Revora mod for Command & Conquer: Yuri's Revenge got an honourable in the Strategy Genre Award. Half-Life 2 mods nearly swept the Awards (again), but there were still some great mods up there. Make sure to check out all the awards here. Thanks for all your support, getting into the Top 100 has to have been the biggest accomplishment of this mod ever. Can't thank you all enough.

Make sure to check out the higher-resolution version of the exclusive trailer I submitted to the Awards here.

In terms of the mod, a new release may be scheduled for the near future, featuring further balancing and a completely high-resolution Gondor faction. At the moment though, there isn't enough new/changed content to justify making you all download another huge file (as I can't quite get patches working).

Next, I have a little announcement for you all :

Anyone who frequents the forum will probably have seen plans for this project already in the making, but here's the official announcement. Once I feel that I've sufficiently completed work on The Elven Alliance, I'm going to be working on The Last Twilight. Call it a sequel, call it an expansion, whatever. In a nut shell, the Elven faction will be split up into two factions (Eriador and Rhovanion), allowing for lots more units and more heroes, including the Sons of Elrond who are featured in the above teaser poster. Work won't begin in The Last Twilight until the original mod is completed, so please don't ask for progress until I give it.

As a final note, I may have to take a short break from modding for a few weeks. I'm very busy with classes and shoots for the next while. I'm also finding that motivation is hard to come back lately. But don't worry, I won't "disappear" again.