Patch 1.02 English file - Battle for Middle-earth

The Lord of the Rings: the Battle for Middle-Earth by EA Pacific - English
retail v1.02 patch

Version 1.02 - April, 2005

IMPORTANT NOTE:

- The NVIDIA ForceWare 71.84 and 71.89 drivers are known to cause BfME to
occasionally crash with a \'DX8 Error\' message for certain users. We\'re working
closely with the NVIDIA team to solve these issues. If and only if you
experience a greater frequency of crashes under the 71.84 or 71.89 drivers, we
recommend you try using the 66.93 drivers until a better solution becomes
available. This issue affects all existing versions of BfME, patched or
unpatched.

Issues addressed:

1. DISCONNECT CODE & NETWORK CHANGES

- Players who disconnect in the 1v1 ladder now get a disconnect and a loss
stat. The remaining opponent in that match gets a win. The 1v1 ladder is
updated accordingly.

o The new disconnect code does not apply yet for the 2v2 ladder. We are
working with Gamespy to implement the new disconnect code on the 2v2 ladder as
quickly as possible. We will update you as soon as it has been implemented. We
will still enforce our current Disconnect Policy as a second measure to ensure
fair play.

- Added an early detection feature that will kick players who disconnect and
reconnect their network cable after a certain number of attempts.
- Fixed a bug that gave everyone in a 2v2 Quickmatch a \"victorious\" message if
two players on the same team disconnected.
- Fixed a bug that caused some high-ranking players to Quickmatch against
first-time users.
- 2v2 Quickmatch stats are updated a little quicker on the Ladder site and
Profile menu.
- Nurn (3v3 map) has been removed from the 2v2 Quickmatch map queue.
- Cair Andros and Eaves of Fangorn (3-player maps) have been removed from the
1v1 Quickmatch map queue.
- Fixed a desync caused by upgrading numerous Trebuchets that are bombarding an
area with Fire Stones.

2. GARRISON FEATURE

- Ruined Towers can now be garrisoned and transformed into a defensive
structure by nearly every infantry unit.
- Garissoned units can be removed from Ruined Towers at any time.

3. BALANCE CHANGES

- Gandalf\'s Istari Light, as either Gandalf the Grey or Gandalf the White, no
longer kills the Mordor Witchking with one attack.
- Pikemen Heavy Armor upgrade gives less protection against attacks by
soldier-class units. This should make infantry units a viable counter to them.
- Nazgul are slightly more resistant to archers and fire.
- Saruman\'s Fireball does more damage to hero units.
- Saruman now gains Leadership as a default ability.
- Nazgul normal speed increased slightly.
- Nazgul swoop speed increased significantly.
- Eomer\'s Spear Throw now hits correctly and does proper damage.
- Rohirrim and Archer Rohirrim had their hitpoints reversed. Fixed.
- The Catapult\'s \"Release the Prisoners\" toggle no longer damages friendly
structures.
- Theoden and Eomer now properly receive the Elven Gifts upgrade.
- Flying units can no longer be immobilized by Lurtz\'s Cripple Strike.
- Fixed an exploit that allowed players to move their worker units (Townsman,
Orc Laborer, etc) anywhere on the map by \"pushing\" them with another friendly
unit.
- Fixed an exploit that allowed Merry, Frodo, Sam, and Pippin to throw two
rocks at once.
- Mumakils now properly damage castle walls and Ent Moots.
- Saruman no longer retains control of a horde of units if he had cast
Domination on them after their banner carrier had died.
- Heroes no longer gain experience if they\'re standing next to an Uruk-hai
horde that\'s using the Bloodthirsty ability.
- Mountain Trolls gain an extra armor bonus at level 2.
- Warg Heavy Armor is now less resistant to normal damage and flame damage, but
is more resistant to damage from heroes.
- The amount of fire damage that the Mumakil requires before it rampages has
been increased significantly.
- Heal reset timer increased from 2 minutes to 3 minutes.
- Gandalf can only get Shadowfax when upgraded to Gandalf the White.
- Build time for Gondor and Rohan castle wall upgrades now doubled.
- Freezing Rain reset timer increased from 3 minutes to 4 minutes.
- Darkness reset timer reduced from 10 minutes to 4 minutes.
- Cloud Break reset timer reduced from 6 minutes to 5 minutes.
- The Gondor Ranger\'s had a bug that caused their arrows to get weaker when
when upgraded with fire arrows. This has been fixed.
- Theoden\'s mounted speed increased to match that of the Rohirrim.
- Gondor\'s summoned Rohirrim now come already upgraded with Shields and Heavy
Armor.
- Boromir and Faramir have slightly more hitpoints.
- Faramir\'s armor is now stronger.
- Faramir now receives the proper armor type when mounted.
- Fixed a bug that limited the armor bonus that Gondor Knights received when
fully upgraded. They are now tougher when fully upgraded.
- Orc Fighters armor is less resistant to damage from soldier-class units.
- Ent armor is slightly more resistant to archers.
- Elven Warriors and Tower Guards no longer receive a bonus for retaliation
from nearby Leadership. Hero Leadership bonuses still apply to all other
aspects of these units.
- Heavy Armor upgrade for Elven Warriors now provides less resistance to
archers, soldiers, and cavalry.
- Gondor Blacksmith now upgrades to level 2 after earning 750 credits instead
of 1200.
- Gondor Reinforced Gate upgrade cost raised to 1200 credits from 750.
- Gondor Numenorean Stonework upgrade cost raised to 2500 from 2000.
- Gondor Battle Tower and Keep Archers upgrade cost raised to 3000 from 2000.
- Gondor Banner upgrade cost raised to 600 from 300.
- Gondor Fire Arrows upgrade cost raised to 800 from 500.
- Gondor Forged Blades and Heavy Armor upgrade cost raised to 800 from 400.
- Gondor Ranger\'s are now more resistant to damage from soldiers and cavalry.
- Elven Warriors with bows are now crushed as normal infantry.
- Elven Warriors with swords move more slowly and act similarly to Pikeman
against cavalry.

4. WORLD BUILDER FIXES

- Removed two non-functioning buttons from the Edit Skybox window in World
Builder.
- Fixed a crash caused by loading a user-created multiplayer map in Custom
Match with a long map description.
- World Builder no longer brings up an error message if the user attempts to
save under Bases, Libraries, or System Maps. (The message still appears for
those running Windows on a limited user account).

5. OTHER BUG FIXES

- Gondor and Rohan Wells that are attacked while under construction no longer
cease being built.
- Ruined Towers are now visible on the mini-map when the user has troops next
to the tower or occupying it. The towers are only visible on the mini-map when
in view.
- Pressing Shift and left-clicking the mouse on terrain no longer deselects
your units. This should apply to both normal and alternate mouse setups.
- Treebeard now correctly displays his ranged attack damage on his Help Text.
- Castle flags can no longer collide with projectile objects. This caused some
carefully placed units within castle walls to become invincible against
catapults.
- Save games now correctly update the profile from which that game was created.
- Fixed a bug that caused the Cripple Strike animation to stop playing if any
hero affected by it is healed right away.
- Guard button now properly appears for Uruk-hai and Uruk-hai Pikemen.
- Fixed a bug that caused the spell buttons to disappear if a player loads a
campaign skirmish map of a faction that\'s opposed to the last faction skirmish
game that the user has played (i.e., playing a good campaign skirmish and then
loading an evil one, or vice versa).
- Fixed a bug in Eastern Rohan that caused Postern Gates to become
non-functional if the player builds a Stables adjacent to it.
- Added tooltips for the new Communicator that was added in patch 1.01.
- Units that encounter a newly broken wall section will attempt to pathfind
around it, rather than stop at the edge of that wall.
- Fixed a bug that caused a player to occasionally lose control over units that
were recently sent through a Postern Gate.
- Units are now able to cross the section of bridge directly above the
innermost keep in Helm\'s Deep.
- Lurtz\'s Cripple Strike animation now ends as soon as the effect does.
- Credits will no longer automatically play if a user who had recently finished
the single-player campaign exits the Network multiplayer lobby.
- Users will no longer get a friend request from players that they\'ve chosen to
ignore via the Communicator.
- Corrected the map descriptions for Old Brown Lands and Mirkwood.
- Building and quickly canceling Rohan and/or Gondor wall upgrades no longer
prevents melee siege units from attacking those walls.
- Wall upgrade plots no longer remain suspended in air after the upgrades are
destroyed.
- Fixed an exploit that allowed Gondor and Rohan players to use their Postern
Gates before they had completed construction.
- The tooltip and help text for the Mordor Furnace are now consistent.
- Fixed a bug that occasionally prevented the attack cursor from appearing over
enemy units.

Version 1.01 - January 17, 2005

Issues addressed:

1. ADDED NEW MULTIPLAYER MAPS
-Northern Ithilien
-Black Gate
-Eaves of Fangorn

2. ADDED COMMUNICATOR - By hitting Ctrl+Enter anywhere in the Online Menu, even
in an online match, you can bring up the new communicator. This utility will
let you add, remove, and chat with users that you choose to make your friends.

3. BALANCE CHANGES
- Drummer Troll now recharges health when it reaches level 2
- The damage radius for the Mordor Catapult\'s skull upgrade has been increased
- Ents now take more damage from slash and pierce attacks

4. QUICK MATCH TWEAKS - 1v1 matches are now limited to 1v1 maps, and 2v2
matches are nowlimited to 2v2 maps. 2v2 maps will no longer be able to be
played in 1v1 matches, and 3v3 maps will no longer be able to be played in 2v2
matches.

5. ONLINE CHEATS & EXPLOITS - Addressed all known online cheats and
money/special power hacks.

6. MISC. BUG FIXES - Addressed some network code issues, as well as other
multiplayer and single-player bugs.

Single Player Campaign Fixes

- Osgiliath - Eye of Sauron is not halted when attempting to cross the center
of level\'s three bridges from either side
- Minas Tirith - destroying the Citadel on the second level of Minas Tirith
will no longer destroy all your farms
- Good Amon Hen - you begin the map with all the heroes under your control and
the second half of the map will now load
- Evil Cair Andros - If you beat this mission and then load a Living World save
immediately after Osgiliath, unavailable maps will no longer be available
- Siege Towers can no longer path find to the top of the second level castle
walls at Minas Tirith
- Bonus objective \"Ensure Treebeard survives\" can now be completed if Treebeard
is revived
- In the single player campaign, neutral base sites are no longer visible
through fog of war

Skirmish / Multiplayer Fixes

- Eye of Sauron can now move through castle walls
- In a skirmish match a Cave Troll will now engage the player or AI
- Cavalry banner units no longer kill infantry instantly when trampling over
them
- Ballistas no longer get stuck in multiplayer map Emyn Arnen if an Isengard
Seigeworks is built in the center outpost on the top right plot
- Game no longer freezes when hitting escape key and pressing either the mouse
scroll wheel or right mouse button as camera begins to spin when the player
wins a map
- Units and Heroes will now gain rank points for destroying a Gondor
Marketplace
- Resources can now be gained from splash damage kills
- Horse mounted units no longer get caught on top of castle walls when a castle
is being built

Cheat Fixes

- Gondor player can no longer create two Gandalfs
- Player can no longer gain endless amounts of resources by exploiting the
\"Rebuild\" function of a destroyed citadel

World Builder Fixes

- Fixed runtime error when exiting World Builder
- Worldbuilder no longer crashes when setting the map size too high
- Worldbuilder no longer crashes when the Grove button is used