Return of Shadow 1.0 Announcement news

Return of Shadow 1.0

After much consideration I've decided to cancel Beta 0.3 instead I'll be working towards to taking Return of Shadow out of beta in the coming months.
The next release will be Version 1.0

Version 1.0

This is a pretty big deal and will mean a lot of work will be done in the coming months.
Significant updates and reviews of various features and mechanics will be made.
I'll be reviewing spell books, Faction Upgrades, Watchtowers everything.

New features will be added, new spell types and all kinds of new features.

The Initiative

This is the new name for what I've been called the Great Balancing with 1.0 I'll be concluding the implementation of these updates with the final 2 factions Lorien and Rivendell.
Other factions might be also receiving additional updates to work into my new model.
I'm structuring the factions around Specialisations and unlocks to better pace out battles so that they evolve and grow more naturally and have a better flow instead of potentially fielding 6+ heroes early on with elite units.
Instead these more powerful units will be unlocked over time as you continue to upgrade and improve your faction working with the Expanding CPL system to more naturally grow a larger and stronger army over time.
I hope that this will create a better gameplay experience.
The use of Specialisations also allows me to add customisation options to add a bit choice to the player while also allowing me to add more content to the faction without overwhelming the player with choices this also allows me to streamline the mod a bit more by merging factions and including units and heroes that might not have made it in otherwise.

Another part of this is the Campaign I'll be continuing to work on the campaign and hopefully get both campaigns functional for the big release.

Of course a big part of the initiative will be to address as many bugs as possible so that the mod will run smoothly.

Factions

Another big change in the plans is the next faction to be released.
The "next faction" has changed quite a few times over recent months while working towards Beta 0.3 since 4 or 5 of the factions were at similar points in development it was hard to choose one of the other.
Instead now I'm choosing with the release of 1.0 will come the Morgul, Strongholds, Rhun and Harad factions all at once the biggest update yet.
This leaves 3 factions to go.

After 1.0

Mirkwood and Dale will be released sometime after 1.0 so for now consider them like a free DCL or expansion of sorts.
This leaves of course Arnor.

Arnor will be merged into the Free Peoples faction just like Lindon will be for Rivendell.
Freeps players will be able to recruit heroes like Halbarad and Malvegil and call upon the Dunedain Rangers.

Conclusion

These changes are pretty big and will take a while, we are talking months not weeks so there'll not be any big releases for a while although there may be content patches to add new maps but we'll see.
I'm pretty excited for what's to come I have some great ideas I'm looking forward to showing as development continues.
So have patience and keep watching.
I'd also like to take a moment to ask, if you like this mod tell a friend.
You can help by reporting bugs, helping answer people's questions, donating to my Paypal (proceeds go towards coffee and possibly some server space coming soon), share videos, stream anything you can do to get the word out.
An active community is a great boon for a mod and I have long wanted a strong community for this mod and for lots of people to play online.
I'd love to start supporting a competitive scene if we can get the numbers up.
If you stream or record the mod let me know and I'll help promote it.

Also if there's anyone out there who can code in C++ or something who could help me make a new launcher, patcher and other related tools let me know.