Having worked on this game for several months now, I wondered if anyone else was interested in it, and I thought that this
forum would be the best place to post it as people here are obviously interested in both Middle Earth, computer RPGs and modding/programming.
This is a game I am writing in C++.

First a "disclaimer", this game is NOT in any way intended to be a rival/competitor to the ME-Mod (or any commercial LOTR
games). It's just a project I'm working on in my spare time, and though I'll hopefully release test alpha/beta versions for download
in the future, it will be a long time till the game is complete.

Secondly, it is not intended to infringe on any of the film copyrights (it is set centuries before the events of LOTR, or even The Hobbit)
and does not feature any of the film's events, or most of the characters (other than some, such as the Istari, Sauron, and some of the Elves, for
obvious reasons), and none of the game's artwork is even remotely based on the film.
As for the books, though it -is- possible to cause events to happen that never happened in the books, no disrespect is intended to Tolkien
in this - this is just a computer game, a virtual world based on the world of Middle-Earth, not a re-writing of the books.

The game will be an open-ended, first/third-person 3D single-player RPG, similar to Morrowind, but with significant
strategy elements (the ability to rule towns and land, and raise/command armies) similar to "Age of Wonders" or "Heroes of Might and
Magic".
The strategy elements will be optional, however, there are three ways you can play the game - as well as the "standard" mode, where you start
as an adventurer but can eventually gain the ability to own/control towns, guilds etc., and command armies and henchmen, there will be a pure
RPG mode, where the strategic options are disabled, and a pure strategy mode, where you start off with towns and troops under your control (though
the RPG elements are still present).

Firstly, development-wise - I've finished the basic 3D engine and game engine, and a lot of the code for the game "functionality" (such
as stats, inventory, combat and spells) is at least partly complete (much of the code is in but not actually working in the game yet, as I haven't
added the data for it yet). I've created a 3D relief map of Middle Earth (though it will need lot of retouching and detailing in the future), and have
created most of the textures for buildings and scenery, as well as some basic randomly-generated trees and grass.
Next stage is to create buildings - towns, ruins etc., improve the scenery, and add some NPCs. Currently I'm drawing sketches of the various buildings and
will then create the 3D models to put in the game.

About the way the game will work:

The game is set around the middle of the Third Age, before any of the events of the books, or even before the Ring was found, but about
the time that Sauron and the Ringwraiths started to reappear, and Saruman started to become evil and fortify Isengard.

Playable races will be the obvious - Men (with various different starting nations/towns such as Gondor, Rohan, Esgaroth, Harad, Umbar etc.) ,
Elves (High Elves and Silvan Elves, with again a number of starting locations such as the Havens, Rivendell, Mirkwood and Lorien), Dwarves (again
with a number of locations such as the Iron Hills, Blue Mountains and Misty Mountains) and Hobbits (who can only start the game in the Shire, obviously)

Also playable will be Orcs (subdivided into Goblins, Uruks and Uruk-hai, and who can either be in the forces of Sauron, Saruman (since the game is set
at the time when Saruman started to turn to evil and form an army of Orcs and Uruk-hai) or an independent tribe. Trolls (and Olog-hai) are also a possibility,
but I'm not sure they'd really make sense as playable characters as they don't really have any society or settlements of their own as far as I can tell.
Ents are also not really suitable, as their very reclusive nature would not really make them suited to an adventurer character.

Players can basically be good, evil, or neutral (with either good or evil tendencies). Orcs (and Trolls) can only be evil (there is no indication in any of Tolkien's
writings that I've read that Orcs can be anything other than evil and savage) and will be attacked on sight by all good or neutral races.
Men can, if they want, join the forces of evil via various quests or actions - nations such as the Haradrim and Easterlings who often fought on the side
of Sauron/Morgoth will find this easier. Elves can never join the forces of the Enemy (though it may be possible for them to become "renegades" such as Feanor) and
Dwarves and Hobbits will also probably not either (though I'm not totally certain about this; I don't recall any really evil dwarves or hobbits in any of the books I've read, though)

I'll post more information in the future if anyone has any questions!

I've been writing my own engine as well, using C++ and Scheme48 (for the AI).

I'm interested, and might wish to further discuss this with you.

As such, i'll leave your post here in the General MEMod Discussion board, however it's a bit misplaced. This board is generally only allowed threads/posts relative to MEMod discussion. Since i'm interested and we might be able to collaborate a bit on an engine, it will remain here.

I'd like some statistical detail on your engine including benchmarks, footprint, etc. I plan on writing modules in C++ for my engine, and making the executable itself in Binary for better resource usage and management, as well as smaller footprint.

-- D

Wow cool!

Is it possible to use your engine for MP games(mmorpg)?
Can we see some screenshots please?!

Sounds awesome! Tell us when you release the Beta!

The 3D engine is a very basic software one I wrote myself, it is texture-mapped, but is fairly ugly and not
very fast or efficient. No idea of the memory footprint.
The game world is a heightmap-generated terrain with polygonal buildings and scenery placed on top (fairly similar
to how Morrowind works, I think). I've no idea how I'll create underground environments, but I'll have to find some way,
at least if I'm going to include Dwarves in the game!

I am more interested in the game design, logic, AI, artwork, world creation, etc. aspect
of creating games, rather than the technical/low-level aspect, so once I've got a 3D engine
that at least works I tend to leave it at that and concentrate on the more creative aspects
of the game!

As far as releasing the game, it'll be months at least before it's worthy of the name "beta" but hopefully I'll release
a pre-alpha "tech demo" in the fairly near future. First I want to create a few building/city models, add the code for NPCs
and items, add region-specific scenery (i.e no green trees in Mordor etc.) and clean up the interface/UI a bit.

BTW, I posted in the ME-Mod forum because I thought it would be far more likely to be noticed by other Tolkien/LOTR enthusiasts
there, and would be less likely to get lost amongst all the other off-topic posts. Sorry - I didn't realise that this board was
intended only for ME-Mod posts - I thought it would be OK to post something that was still Middle Earth-related.
Maybe the "Tolkien lore" forum could also become a general LOTR/Middle Earth discussion forum?

I though if you just ain't SELLING any of ur games but giving it away u won't be overriding copywright, isn't it? Of course as not knowing peasant in this world I have a big chance of being wrong so don't bother correcting me. :bleh:

Ëlwe

This sounds really great. :!:
Dont stop your work, this happens too often (with such great projects)

Maybe Daerk and Drawde can combine their talent :whistling:

It depends on what is copyrighted and what is licensed. For instance, shareware is basically freeware with limits in gameplay. Even though you can make copies and hand it out legally, you do not have access to the source code or engine because that is owned by the producer and is under a different copyright.

THis is awesome......Do you have/plan to have a site/section of a site with updates and the like? I know this is not in any way supposed to rival the MEMod, but an example would be memod.co.uk......

wow this sounds really great! keep us updated here and if you can post some screenshots when the time is right

I'm intending to get a site up for the game (along with the other games I'm developing) some time in the future but
unfortunately the ISP I am currently using is closing down in a week or so, so I'll have to wait till I've switched to a new
one and got a new e-mail address and web space.

Sounds great!!!

As a strategy-gamer turned computer RP gamer, WOW! Let me know if there is anything you need, and keep me posted on the updates!

I am always looking for new RP/strategy games to play/work on/test/drool over.

Please! Please! Please! Please! Please!

While it is the middle of the third age, there are stil a number of the characters in the books running around. Are you thinking of having the Ring as an item that can be found by one of the sides?

What kind of team do you have for playtesting?

I'll post more info on the game soon - about the game's features, etc.

Over the last few days I've added quite a lot to the game, a few days ago I added support for NPCs and items on the ground,
and currently I'm working on the first building models - Amon Sul (Weathertop) ruins are done but untextured, and I'm working on
modelling Minas Tirith at this minute - and adding the code for nations, allegiances, races etc.
Most of the code for the game's RPG system with stats, inventory, spells etc. is already in, most of it was taken from another RPG project
I created a while ago but never finished.
Be warned, the game is very ugly by modern standards (particularly compared to Morrowind!) - think "Ultima Underworld" though outdoors
and without sprites. However, it will be very moddable - not as user-friendly as Morrowind (i.e no toolset or "plugin" system) but all the game
data is in easily-editable text files, the graphics and sounds are in .BMP and .WAV format, the terrain is a greyscale .BMP and the 3D models are
in ASCII format. So it will be easy to tweak the game to your liking.

BTW, about the One Ring, I haven't decided finally yet, but I'm thinking about leaving it out, or at least making it unusable. The thing is,
in a game of this scale, I'd really have to implement ALL of the features of the Ring - the ability to create and command things (with enough
knowledge of its powers) or undo things previously made by it; revealing you to Sauron and the Nazgul when worn; its ability to "betray" you or turn what you do/say to evil without your knowledge, and much more. This would be feasible, but would require a LOT of programming work for something that many players might not
even find or get the opportunity to use. It wouldn't be enough simply making it a ring of invisibility that gradually turns you evil.
Depending on which date I eventually choose for the game, the Ring would either be still in the upper Anduin, or in the hands of Gollum.

This sounds very interesting and good, you seem to be very talented to work so fast and I hope it will resamble the Gothic engine but not story line when finished ( I wish it came with an editor )

A quick update: recently I've started adding some equipment/weapon models (I use an interesting "materials" system for
creating item visuals, which I'll describe later) and creating the interface/UI.
I've also added a calendar/clock which has an interesting feature; the names of the days and months are based on which race
you play (and therefore which language your character speaks). Tolkien created unique calendars for a number of his Middle Earth
languages. I've added Westron (Shire and Bree variants), Sindarin and Quenya calendars.

I've also modelled Esgaroth (Laketown), and am very pleased with its appearance. It's based on the illustration from "The Hobbit", though
smaller and simplified (due to the maximum poly count of 255) but still keeps the same look as the original drawing. I'll post some pics later
when I get my ISP/webpage sorted out.
It is in the game now but I haven't textured it yet, so it appears to made of bright green plastic
(due to the placeholder texture!) For texturing models, I use a system where each polygon has its own texture (chosen from a library) rather than using
a "skin" covering the entire model.
I design the 3D models in a CAD program, then convert them to my own ASCII format (.3d) and apply the textures to the polygons using a utility I made.

This sounds awesome! Please post some pics!.

Here's some more information, about the world, items, and magic.
I'll post more info later, about the class/skill system etc. , and some pics when I eventually work out how to access my new webspace.
Progress-wise I'm working on modelling Hobbiton, and have added various new features such as map labels (showing the names of lands, geographical features etc.). I've also added Cirth and Tengwar fonts.
Next I will be working on the inventory system, NPC dialogue, and merchants.
Just to repeat, though - so nobody is disappointed when they see the screenshots - this is NOT a game of the graphical standards of Morrowind or Gothic. It is 3D, but more comparable to "Ultima Underworld" in looks (though it runs at a high resolution in true-colour mode), as it uses a software 3D engine I wrote myself (I haven't figured out 3D card programming yet.. )


THE WORLD

The game world includes all of Middle Earth from the coast to the Sea of Rhun, and from the Bay of Forochel to northern Harad. Basically, the area shown
on the "Map of Middle Earth" in the books. The world is scaled down significantly from "real life" size, but is still huge, several times the size of Morrowind's Vvardenfell
I think (I'm not sure, I haven't measured it!) and it will certainly take plenty of time to travel across it.
Valinor and Tol Eressea may possibly included. If so, only Elves, or those of other races who have obtained the blessing of the Valar through
great deeds, can travel there. Evil characters who attempt to go there, or attack it, will be instantly struck down by the power of the Valar!
(Even Morgoth could only attack Valinor when at the height of his powers, so there is no chance of a mere servant of Sauron being able to get anywhere
near)
If Valinor is implemented, it will be a place to study lore, obtain/craft items, and simply see the beautiful landscape and buildings. There certainly won't
be any combat!

All towns, villages etc. present in the game's timeframe will be included - though probably due to the scaled-down map size, not every village in the Shire
can be included (the Shire is the most densely-populated area of Middle Earth in terms of settlements per square mile). Some very large and complicated cities
such as Minas Tirith will also be scaled down, partly also due to the limitations of . Where possible I'm using Tolkien's drawings as references, where no drawings
exist I'm going by the book descriptions and if no description exists at all, designing them myself based on the known descriptions of architectural style, etc. for other
buildings and cities of the same culture.
Ruins and ancient cities in places such as Arnor, Eregion and Ithilien will also be present - Annuminas, Amon Sul, Carn Dum, etc. - and will certainly make good places
for adventuring.
Towns/locations will each consist of a single large 3D model, including building interiors (they won't be anything like as complicated as Morrowind)

Underground locations such as Moria/Khazad-dum, Dwarven cities, Orc/Goblin lairs will be included once I find a way of altering my 3D engine to implement them.
Ideally I want them to be a seamless part of the world, not a seperate "level".

I'll have to find a way to create "holes" in the terrain mesh (which is generated from a greyscale bitmap) and a way to determine whether or not an object is in an
underground location, and if so, bypass the "object must be on top of the terrain mesh" logic. I'll also have to implement proper collision detection with the walls (brings
back memories of occasionally "falling into the void" in Daggerfall when walking through dungeons..) - I need to do this soon anyway for buildings and towns.

ITEMS

In a game of this scope and size, there are obviously going to be plenty of items of all types, from mundane to magical,
and many "everyday" items as well as weapons, armour and jewellery.
Crafting skills - smithing, fletching, alchemy, etc - will also be possible (I've already created the basic code for this feature)

Regarding weapons and armour - arguably the most important items in a computer RPG - there will be essentially three
"tiers" of these items.

Firstly, there are generic, mundane items, available. They are fairly nondescript and functional in design, and are available in most
nations/cultures (partly depending on type and quality). These items exist in a variety of different materials, such as bronze and steel (rather similar to Daggerfall).
These items vary widely in quality and power depending on the material and type of item, but are never magical - they can potentially , however, be enchanted.

Secondly, there are "cultural" items, such as Elven, Dwarven, Gondorian etc., only available in cities of these cultures/nations. These all have a unique
style, and are significantly more powerful than generic items (what exactly their powers are depends on the item and culture). Some (such as most Elven and some
Dwarven weapons) are magical.

Thirdly, there are unique/magical items (which includes "cultural" items from ancient lost lands such as Numenor and Gondolin). These vary widely in power
from a simple enchanted Numenorean dagger, to legendary items from the books (other than ones already in the possession of NPCs, such as the Three Rings, or which
have been destroyed by the Third Age)
These items are usually found as treasure, though some cities will have artifact traders who will sell rare items like this to you, for a price. Some items may also be
given to you when you attain a certain rank in the forces of a particular nation/city.
Most, or all, of the really powerful artifacts will be taken directly from the books, not "invented". (As for the One Ring, see my previous post!)

Weapon and armour types will be of ancient and early/mid mediaeval European types - no Japanese/oriental weapons or firearms. However, the southern nations of Harad,
Umbar and Khand will have some Middle Eastern/Arabian weapons such as scimitars.

Enchanting items will be somewhat different to Morrowind, and will generally involve either carving runes on the weapon, setting a magical gem into the hilt,
or simply imbuing them with a magical "aura", and can give properties such as increased damage or speed, effectiveness against a particular type of foe, or the ability
to emit light.
Enchanting will require a considerable amount of crafting skill and knowledge of lore, though it will not necessarily be restricted to "spellcaster" characters.
Really powerful enchantments will be restricted to artifacts - you'll never be able to create anything as powerful as items from the First or Second Ages.


MAGIC
Spellcasting, alchemy, item crafting and similar magic will be in the game, and there will be specific "spellcaster" classes.
The Middle Earth world is often interpreted as being a world with little or no magic other than that in magic items or that performed by superhuman beings such
as the Istari, Maia and Valar, but careful reading of the LOTR books as well as the histories and appendix, the Hobbit, Silmarillion and other books reveals plenty of magic,
of all kinds, though nothing like the over-the-top and omnipresent magic found in most fantasy RPGs, with mages hurling technicolour fireballs around and summoning undead or demons left, right and centre.
Therefore, magic will be much more subtle and limited than in most other RPGs; spellcaster/loremaster NPCs will be rare (even among Elves, the most magically adept race) and most spells will concentrate on affecting objects or people,
rather than creating effects out of thin air. For example, a spell might cause a character to have an intimidating aura or presence to daunt their enemies, or cause arrows or weapons to burst into flame (those would be
quite powerful spells; those available to starting characters will be much more limited in power)
Spellcasting will usually require a reagent or item of some kind - e.g a fire-related spell would require flammable material - and even powerful characters will be quite limited in the number of spells they can cast per day ("mana" reserves will be very small), and "offensive" spells will also be quite
physically draining, reducing the character's stamina temporarily. Spellcasting characters will have to rely on many different non-magical skills both in combat and otherwise.
Other magic-related skills are the creation of magic items, or the enchanting of non-magical items (such as engraving runes of power on a weapon) and alchemy/healing, which basically has two types; conventional alchemy that simply uses the natural properties of herbs and reagents, and magical
alchemy that uses magic to enhance the powers of these ingredients (creating things like the miruvor or lembas of the Elves)

This being the Third Age, most magic is much more limited in power compared to earlier ages, and really powerful (by Middle Earth standards) magic will be restricted to
artifacts and items from earlier ages, and to NPCs of great power (such as the Istari)

You will not be able to play as an Istari - although, since this is a single-player game, and therefore balancing/realism issues are less important,
since there is only ever one player - there are only 5 Istari, and their identities are well-known (Gandalf, Saruman, Radagast, Alatar and Pallando).
It may be possible to obtain the aid of the Istari, if your cause is worthy enough, however.

and you making this alone?

This looks Great..
i have self been working on a Private Middle Earth mod for some months now, with the Real Scale (it's insane i know and maybe not can be done) its never really gonna be realsed couse its looks quiet ugly, and i have taken some Nifs from some people i dont know who are.. so i cant ask for premission, and my english is really bad.
(i made mine couse i did not get answer on my Job applicant on MEmod)

I really want to see more for you thought.

It's impossible to do somethink like that alone, and finish it not being crazy and in a reasonable period of time...

You, being a teamster, should know it...

A small update on the project's progress:

- Esgaroth and Hobbiton are complete (apart from building interiors, signs, "clutter", etc.)
- Started work on the merchant, NPC dialogue/quest, and inventory/item systems - merchants and inventory
are about 75% complete, and NPC dialogue about 50% complete now.
The world map screen is also improved.
- Added support for bridges (which work) and signposts.
- Added money and coin objects (there are three coin types - 12 copper coins to 1 silver, 20 silver to 1 gold)
- Started work on creating weapon/equipment models (currently complete are some of the swords, spears and staves
for the "generic" weapon set)
- Created new fonts (large, medium and small), and also Cirth (runic) and Tengwar fonts.

I hope to get a website up with some screenshots etc. within a month or so, and I'll release a test demo
once the interface, menu screens etc. are complete.

i ask it directly:D
how many people working on that game?

I see you are making excellent progress, Drawde!

Good luck and keep up the great work!

Sorry, I am afraid I am the only person working on this game at the minute.
It is just a personal project and I have no deadlines or anything to work to.
I wanted to create my own RPG, and after initially designing a game based in my
own created world, I then decided to change it to a Middle Earth setting as I felt
there was a real need for a decent Middle Earth RPG (at the time, I hadn't even got Morrowind,
let alone heard of MEMod or AME). Much of the basic graphics engine and game code from
the old game is reused, though not the graphics, 3D models etc.

Though I don't really want any help with coding/graphics at the minute, I would definitely appreciate
some help with general design and research. One thing in particular is the styles and properties
of the weapons, armour etc. I'd like the basic equipment in the game to be as realistic as possible in
relation to their real-life mediaeval equivalents (for higher-quality and/or magical items, such as Elven
weapons, I'll be more creative).
A couple of questions, for example:
- What were the average weights (in pounds or kg) of each main weapon type?
- Is a longsword "better" or more effective/advanced than a broadsword? I always had the impression that the
broadsword was a simpler, more primitive design, with a shorter blade, but I'm not certain.


Progress-wise, I have almost finished the inventory screen, and have done some more work on equipment
models. I am trying to create a system where all the player's items, even rings, amulets, belts etc.
are visible on their avatar. Character models have "attachment point" polygons on their hands, head, etc.
that equipment models are "attached" to when worn.
Armour (other than helmets) works by changing the texture of the player's model, rather than (as in the MW engine)
being a seperate model which goes over their model. Not the best solution in terms of looks, but my game engine isn't
particularly pretty anyway, and I didn't want to have to create different armour models for every race.
(Though armour will be available in different sizes - a hobbit or dwarf would have difficulty fitting into a suit made
for a man or elf!). Helmets
Another interesting thing to do with equipment is the "materials" system. Basically each object has placeholder
textures applied to each surface, depending on which material the surface is made from - metal, wood, etc. - and
in the configuration file for the item, you can specify which texture to use for each material. So you could create
a bronze, iron and steel sword from the same model just by changing the texture reference.
Though I haven't coded this yet, this system might also be usable for things like rusting/corroding weapons, or engraving
runes on their surface (i.e the texture for an item would be changed in-game by the engine).

sounds like you are planning a lot especially for a solo attempt at creating this mod.

Nice......waiting for the screens......Even if it's not particularly pretty, it will still be awesome [from the snippets of info.]

Good luck!

Sorry if you alredy mentioned this perhaps I missed it but what kind of view will we have? Diablo style, Gothic style, or if we can change the view by zooming in and out or pressing a button.Just curious and good luck on the game.

It's a first-person view (like Morrowind) with a third-person view (not 100% functional at the minute)
which can be toggled on and off.
I might also incorporate an overhead view to make it easier to control NPC allies during combat, but
probably not, as this would reduce the immersion and sense of playing an individual character (though the
game will have significant strategy elements, it is definitely going to be more RPG than anything else).

Progress-wise, I've increased the viewing distance (which greatly improves the appearance of the landscape), updated and re-enabled
the weather code (left over from my old RPG), continued work on the inventory screen, and started work on the scenery generation system (Scenery such as foliage, rocks, grass and trees
are auto-generated based on the "scenery type" specified for each point on the map. For example, the forest scenery type has a much higher scenery density, mostly composed of trees)

Will the requirements be high? Videocard and Processor wise?

i havent checked this for a while but you have seemed buzy

it sounds like you got a lot done on it.....even if the engine isnt nice, its really about gameplay anyway.....do u have a website up yet for it? and good luck

Nice.....only one question this time. What is the maximum resolution going to be? If you make the in-game resolution higher [making the actual polygons look smaller/far away, not making the playing screen have more viewing area and making the menus smaller], then the graphics will be much nicer-looking. If you've played the Ocarina of Time or Majora's MAsk on the Gamecube, you'll notice that they look significantly better than the n64 versions, even though they are just ports. This is because Nintendo raised the resolution........

Hopefully that's the way it works, because I have no idea. That's just how i think it works.

wow, this sounds great, and you seem to be making quite good progress. good luck with this, ill be watching it.

[FONT=Optima] im so excited have u created the website yet coz this game sounds AWESOME i cant believe ur doing it ur self its gunna be awesome u could actually make people pay for this you kno. would u be able to me:help: with scripting and everything. and wat country do u live in ? :

how can u do all this by ur self its amazing ur amazing wats the game gunna be called?

Sorry for the lack of updates.. hopefully in the next few weeks I'll do some more work on the game. (probably finish
the interface, add the Dwarf character model, and add some more scenery and town models)
I haven't thought of a name yet.

i am contradicting myself from my one post in the General MEMod Forum, but how much would you say needs to be done? And do you have an intended release date? thx

what progarms are you useing?

Mind some screenshots so we can critique it?

I'd also like to see some .max files if you're doing it in 3D Studio Max.

A LOT needs to be done:

- Models for dwarf, orc, troll, and female human, elf and hobbit characters
- Models for all animals, monsters, etc.
- All towns other than Hobbiton and Esgaroth (which are already modelled)
- All locations/buildings other than Amon Sul (ditto)
- Most scenery objects (such as trees)
- Most equipment/item models
- Most of the combat/magic code
- Code for underground locations
- Finishing the interface
- Fine-tuning the terrain map
- Finish the dialogue/quest system
- NPCs, quests, etc.
- Strategy system
- Advanced AI (for NPCs as well as monsters); only basic AI is in at the minute

- and probably a lot more that I've forgotten.

As for a release date, I've no idea - certainly not this year - but as soon as the interface and
menu screens are finished and completely working, and I've got a few more towns and scenery, and some
NPCs and basic dialogue working, I'll release an alpha/tech demo version, which will probably be in anything
from one to three months. (Sorry for the vagueness, it's just that this is purely a hobby project, and deadlines
are one thing I really don't want!)

Now I've got my ISP/web space sorted out I can finally put some screenshots up for viewing - next time I do some
more work on the game, I'll take some shots and upload them.
As for 3D models - I'm afraid I don't use MAX, I've found that it (along with most 3D modelling programs) really isn't
suited to the very low-poly models I use with my 3D engine. No object in the game has more than 255 polygons, and most
items such as weapons have around 20-60 polys. As I said before, this certainly isn't Morrowind graphically, the closest
comparison I can think of is Ultima Underworld, i.e low polygon counts and pixellation (though unlike UU my game runs in
high resolution with 24-bit colour, and has outdoor landscapes and polygonal characters rather than sprites)

One final thing, to any MEMod developers who might be reading this, I am also a long-time fan of Tolkien's books and am
attempting to make the game world and characters as close to the books as possible. It is in no way a dumbed-down game intended
for LOTR movie fans who want to kill major characters (or whatever). Due to the strategy element of the game (which will be optional,
however, it will be possible to change the timeline, but only in a relatively "realistic" manner (i.e if you were playing as a captain
of the armies of Gondor, you might be able to recapture Osgiliath and Ithilien with enough luck and skill, and attempt rebuilding them)

good luck...

I know this looks like a double post...but Really its been awhile since the last time this has ben posted on... and I am just wondering...Is anything happening...at the momment towards this project...

/me pokes blackmage with prod of prodding

*whispers softly

edit funtion, use the edit function chap

Finally, here are some pictures (look away if you don't want to see some very ugly graphics )
They show the character generation screen, the 3 completed town/building models, and a couple of
outdoor locations.

http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~pinniger...rpg/chargen.jpg
http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~pinniger...g/hobbiton1.jpg
http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~pinniger...g/hobbiton2.jpg
http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~pinniger...g/hobbiton3.jpg
http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~pinniger...pg/amonsul1.jpg
http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~pinniger...pg/amonsul2.jpg
http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~pinniger...mordor_udun.jpg
http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~pinniger...rpg/marshes.jpg
http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~pinniger...g/esgaroth1.jpg
http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~pinniger...g/esgaroth2.jpg


Note that these are VERY early screenshots and many things such as the terrain/scenery generation, and the interface,
are both unfinished and using some placeholder graphics (e.g the "mouse" cursor). The terrain needs to be tweaked and
modified a lot (e.g, mountains aren't "rocky" enough, some rivers don't have water in, Esgaroth is raised up above the
lake surface, etc., etc.) and the scenery generation is very unfinished (there is only one tree type and one grass type, no forests,
and trees are often generated inside buildings). There are also a few graphical "glitches" such as lines in the terrain, and complex
models (e.g towns) not being Z-buffered properly.
The character generation screen is very unfinished, but shows how you can select your race, class and visual appearance (skin, hair and
clothing colours, somewhat similarly to the Infinity Engine games). There will also be an option to choose your starting location based on
race.
I freely admit that the game is very limited graphically (particularly at this early stage) but it is "all my own work", everything
from the 3D engine to the models and textures was created by me.

I apologise for the lack of progress, but I can only work on this in my spare time, and am also working on 3 other projects as well
as a couple of small mods for other games. I really should have waited until the game was at least nearly ready to release a "tech demo"
version before posting info on it!

Ei, you're working hard (all this alone), or you have a big amount of spare time .

They aren't as bad as my games/graphics and you are alone. Please contact me when you need some constructive critics for a beta/alfa testing ^^.

Still working that hard.