As such, much of the resource collection now takes place in the walls of your base, be it through farms for the tree-loving humans or slaughterhouses for the savage orcs. In addition, gold is set to be dropped by the dead in RPG fashion. To compensate for this simplification, it's been made much more difficult to upgrade as you climb the tech tree. For example, if you gain access to fire arrows in the middle of a battle, you can't simpiy upgrade all your existing archers to fire archers; but nor do you need to build a whole new set of fire-wielding troops.
Instead, you have to send a cart laden with fire arrows out to meet your army on the battlefield, and only when it reaches them can they upgrade. Clearly, enemy supply carts are set to become a natural target in the same way enemy harvesters once were, though with far more satisfying tactical implications. There are other new features we could talk about - the radical new interface, the streamlined base building - but in every case the aims remain the same.
First, to make the game true to the Lord Of The Rings cinema: and second, to make it more fun. And this, after all, is what Westwood is best at. After the three epic masterpieces that were the Lord Of The Rings films, it's somewhat baffling that we've yet to see the release of a PC-only game based around Peter Jackson's trilogy. We caught up with Mark Skaggs, executive producer on The Battle For Middle-Earth, and grilled him for information about the game like a Hobbit would a pack of juicy sausages.
The first piece of good news is that you'll be able to command both the forces of good and evil, with each campaign's plot unfolding through video sequences that introduce each mission's background story. For the good side, you get to control the Gondor and Rohan armies as well as the heroes of the Fellowship. Your goal is to defeat the evil armies across Middle-earth. This includes fighting all the major battles you see in the three films plus a few more, says Skaggs.
For the evil side, you get to control the armies of Isengard and Mordor and you have to get the ring from Frodo and conquer Middle-earth. Gone are the cumbersome hours of harvesting materials in pre-defined resource fields, replaced by what could be a far more intuitive and less time-consuming system.
As Skaggs explains:When you play as one of the good armies, you get food from the farms you build and iron from blacksmiths. You also get treasure from some of the monsters you kill in battles. These resources go into a pool that you use up when you build troops and structures. Playing as Isengard or Mordor should see a similar system for resource gathering, only this time you amass raw materials via slaughterhouses food and furnaces iron.
However, as Skaggs explains, there will be one major difference between the two sides' resource collecting abilities. When playing as Isengard, you're able to get wood from cutting down trees. We put this in because it felt in line with what Isengard did in the movies. We're not allowing the good armies to do this though, because it just feels wrong having them destroying the forests of Middle-earth.
Quite right too. Base building is also receiving a major overhaul. We're moving to a Camps and Castles' type of base-building system, where each side will have a camp or castle area with pre-determined build plots where they can construct various buildings. By simplifying the process of building bases, we allow players to get to the fun part of producing units and fighting more quickly.
It also allows us to tailor the look of the bases to fit the rich fiction of Middle-earth. Early playtests have shown that players think this new way of building bases works really well, states Skaggs. We're also moving away from the traditional tech tree concept you've seen in previous RTS games.
Instead, we're adding the concept of Building Veterancy. Each level of Veterancy brings with it more units and more defensive strengths. The final level of Veterancy also brings some ability for the building to defend itself with archers and the like.
If you're a regular reader, you may remember our excitement back in issue when we found out about TBFMEs all-new visual emotion system, a feature that depicts the feelings of every unit on the battlefield and their reactions to different situations and opponents.
We pressed Skaggs to elaborate on this and give us some more examples of the types of behaviour we're set to see. One example would be soldiers quaking in fear when they come face to face with a troll, Balrog or Fell Beast," he explains. However, beyond fear reactions, you also see cheering in reaction to good events and morale boosts when heroes are near. So form example, it'll be very visible to players that when Aragom is near, soldiers don't quake in fear at trolls due to the morale bonus he gives them.
And you can expect to see more than your fair share of fully upgradeable heroes too who gain both experience and new abilities. Plus, all of the main characters from the films - both good and evil - pop up to say hello at some point and no doubt lop off some enemy heads while they're at it. Skaggs also told us about some of the other units there'll be a massive 60 unit types in all that you can expect to either command or come up against during the course of the two campaigns, including Warg Riders - the snarling wolf-like orccarrying beasts that we saw skirmishing with the Riders of Rohan in The Two Towers.
These rabid, hugely powerful creatures will be both fast and vicious, and are set to cany a 50 per cent probability of surviving if their orc rider is killed, at which point they wreak havoc on the battlefield by indiscriminately attacking any units. The Elven Warrior should prove to be another of the game's more powerful and versatile units. Akin to the sour-faced saviours of Helm's Deep, they not only excel in archery, but also prove more than a little adept with blades when the enemy is too close for them to use their bows, though Skaggs didn't comment about their ability to use a plank of wood as a skateboard like Legolas.
These pointy-eared killers also receive stealth bonuses in woods, which will help no end when setting up ambushes and taking a much-needed piss after a night on the Elven Ale without worrying about getting nicked by the local rozzers.
What's more, if you combine two groups of Elven Warriors, one forms a sword-bearing frontline, while the other takes up positions directly behind and provides cover with their bows. This proves that while they may have the charisma of a corpse, they're a handy bunch to have around in a scrap.
But I know what you're thinking. You want to hear about the actual battles don't you? The bloodbaths, cauldrons of battle-scarred bodies where the ring of steel melds with anguished cries as swords meet flesh.
So without further delay, let's find out just what's in store in that department. We're going to have all the battles you see in the films - and more," claims Skaggs. For example, when Eomer runs into Legolas, Gimli and Aragom for the first time and he's just been out hunting orcs across Rohan.
You get the chance to go on those orc hunts with Eomer. While battles are set to be epic in scale, EA Pacific isn't aiming to compete with the likes of Creative Assembly's Rome: Total War, with even the largest skirmishes involving hundreds rather than thousands of troops. Battles will range in size from a handful of heroes fighting off a band of orcs - just like at the end of The Fellowship Of The Ring -to full-scale rucks such as Minas Tirith and the battle at the Black Gate of Mordor.
However, if you're worried about a lack of scale, check out the cavalry charge from the game's E3 demo from - last issue's discs , a sight that should ease even the most cynical sceptic's mind. Tactics are also important to a degree, but in order to keep the game as accessible as possible, The Battle For Middle-Earth won't include tactical subtleties such as flanking bonuses.
Height will give you an advantage and so will various formations, explains Skaggs. Some of the coolest things we're doing are the unit combinations. Some of these give you real-life tactical advantages such as having archers in the back while soldiers provide protection from the front. We've got those morale bonuses too, but we're not going to have fatigue because most people donlt see it as fun.
Skaggs also promises plenty of siege warfare, including the battle at Helm's Deep and Minas Tirith. Siege engines, such as siege towers, battering rams, ballistae, catapults and siege ladders are set to play a major role in these encounters, with gates and walls buckling and crumbling under their incessant onslaught.
You'll be able to fall back and move within them just like in the films, but we've had to modify them in some ways to make for better RTS gameplay. They're proving to be among the biggest challenges we have in terms of engineering and design. Rest assured though, early versions of them are very cool.
Let's hope he's right, because a well-designed siege warfare element could potentially give The Battle For Middle-Earth the edge over many of its competitors. However conversely, if EA Pacific gets the balance wrong, it could prove to be the game's downfall too. These two distinct types of battles - open warfare and siege - should hopefully provide you with two totally different gaming experiences.
With the fortresses, we're recreating an interactive version of the battles players have seen in the films and they'll be different than the Base On Base' type of battles you've seen in previous RTS games. Battles in the open will be more like traditional RTS games, but because of the innovations we've done with base building, resource gathering and how units work, you're going to get new experiences with those battles as well," concludes Skaggs.
Judging by his words, the recent E3 presentation and the appearance of these gorgeous screenshots, it looks like our wait for a top quality The Lord Of The Rings game could be about to come to an end. And if EA Pacific delivers on all its promises, this could prove to be one of the finest strategy games of The battle for 3D RTS supremacy is about to begin This is thanks to a visually lush 'Living World Map' screen that'll allow you to see where all of the game's armies and encampments are situated, as well as choosing which battles you want to fight and in what order.
Rendered in fully 3D detail, you'll be able to zoom into this map and watch humorous animations of individual characters going about their business. This is a feature that'll hopefully add some much-needed character and life to what's often a strategy game's dullest screen.
Fastest finger wins. That's what the majority of RTS games usually degenerate into online and sadly. The Battle For Middle-earth is no different. That's not to say it's not fun, but if we're honest, we've seen it all before. Build an army as fast as you can, spill out of your castle and strike fast at the enemy. He who does this quickest usually wins. He who tries to do anything different, usually loses. No two levels are the same and there are plenty of surprises along the way so expect the unexpected!
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