Comments - StormyG7

That might be an issue. I upgraded to Windows 11 a few months back and it is updated yet the issue persists. I cannot use the interface; only hotkeys. However, on the original WBC3, I can use the interface without issues, but of course, it's not as stable as this mod.

Since you say you have the same issue when there's a pending update, and I don't have any pending updates, yet I still have the same issue; I'd like to know, why is this an issue at all? Why does the original game's interface work? What technical reason is there, or is this just an anecdote? Maybe I can troubleshoot this on my own if there is some technical issue.

Also, is there a configuration file or some way IA can choose which changes/features from The Protectors I want enabled/disabled? Honestly, I'd rather not use the mod at all if I can't pick and choose which features are enabled, because some of them are so cumbersome that I'd rather the original game was stable enough to play.

EDIT: After some experimentation, I figured out the issue. The interface works with all resolutions lower than 3840x2160. My monitor is an OLED TV on which I've disabled most "smart" features so I can use it as a monitor.

Still 2k resolution is alright when expanded to fullscreen since at my native resolution a medium size map fits almost entirely within the screen making all the units appear so small that it can be difficult to manage them.

At the very least, is there a way to play the original WBC3 campaign without having to "unlock" the keep upgrades by researching them?

I was having trouble getting WBC3 to run without constant issues because of how difficult it is for the game to run on Windows 10 or 11, but now that I have this, I have no issues with constant crashing, and it supports more resolutions. I like most of the changes so far.

I have one question, why can't I use the interface? All that works are hotkeys. I can't pull up build menus or use abilities without using the hotkey. Even the menu buttons don't respond, they don't have their normal messages. I've tried both right-click and left-click interfaces. It still doesn't work.

Another thing came up. Apparently, I can't upgrade my keep. The icon for the upgrade isn't just greyed out, it's missing entirely. I'm playing as the dwarves. Is there some special way they upgrade the keep?

I got to quit until I figure out what's going on. The in-game interface seems so badly bugged I can't effectively play the game.

EDIT: Ok, I figured out why I can't upgrade my keep past level 1 in the campaign (and neither can the AI). YOU HAVE TO RESEARCH IT FOR CROWNS. Why screw with how the original campaign works? I just want to play WBC3 without it constantly CTDing or having to deal with "features" added by mods that lock the game until you get enough coin to get it piece by piece. I certainly wish there was a long list of every possible change to the original game that I could disable or enable. Some things I really like, other things are just cumbersome and add hours upon hours to the game, and I don't plan to grind to unlock normal gameplay features.

It doesn't even make sense. Depending on which of these factions you use, you might have access to high level units. I can hire random priests with the holy dwarven faction, but with the standard one, the best I can get is "brawlers" which replaced the original runners; and those were just early scouts. I had to use an army of eagles to get through the 2nd mission at the rift! This is ridiculous.

11 factions total is nothing to sneeze at. In that case, I might rather just use the current factions, so far they're all fairly impressive.

I still am tempted by the idea of making submod that when active swaps Gondor with Arnor and swaps Misty Mountains with Angmar, though RotWK's art for Angmar is somewhat dated and less authentic-looking compared to the factions featured in this mod. I don't know if it would fit.

Alright, fair enough. I'll continue tweaking things for my own amusement. I did find increasing health by 3x wasn't as extreme as it sounds. Armies were still highly killable, it just slowed the pacing of battles so I had time to reinforce or use hero abilities while still having time to stop and enjoy the visual treat of large battles. Arguably that's all my own personal preference, just as with any visual or artistic differences we might have, the changes I make are highly experimental but I was just curious to see what you think.

Sadly, I don't have much time to play these days, so I can't play the game much until summer, but I look forward to Haradwaith being the final new faction.

In the future when I have more time, I do want to restore Angmar to the game and add Arnor for Skirmish mode. When I'm doing skirmish, I don't mind if it's canonically inaccurate. Would I be able to do that without hitting some kind of limit? I've never seen more than 10 factions on the Skirmish menu, and there are currently 10. I assume it's possible because Haradwaith is being worked on.

Also, if I manage to successfully add Arnor and Angmar as playable factions to this mod for skirmish, (assuming I get permission from authors whose content I use for Arnor) do I have your permission to upload them as an add-on for this mod? I was also considering making an add-on for farm radius options (1/2 and 2x with farm resource production and cost scaled to match the higher or lower farm radius).

No other RTS can scratch that itch for cinematic fantasy battles like BFME, and this mod in my humble opinion, Age of the Ring is "The Mod" for the game. I have a few questions about what's possibly coming next, and some feedback.

- This mod is probably the best available.

- Will there be an update to 'Create a Hero' stuff? I find some options limiting (like only male Gondor, only female Rohan). The dwarf heroes look a bit cheap because of how they look and because their classes are from Warhammer fantasy.

- Will there be changes to the game economy and battle sizes? I found increasing income and decreasing troop build times to get the action and epic battles going better. I've increased farm radius to 600, cost to 1500, and resource from 25 to 100 so I don't have to place them everywhere constantly.

- Will there be changes to balance to curb archer meta and quick army deaths? I've made changes myself to increase everything's health by 3x, and it seemed to fix make things much more enjoyable.

- Will there be more artistic design, changes for more detail and practicality? Dwarves look a bit drab, reminiscent of dead Moria. Some structures (Lorein) are too tall or obstructive.

I've been fiddling with the mod. I noticed much like the Battles of Gondor mod with the Southern Fiefs faction there is also stuff for the same such faction in this mod. The Mirkwood faction is incomplete and the upgrades to enable their units at the factory doesn't work until I build a second fortress for some reason I've yet to find out. The elves are a bit overpowered with the loremaster wizard units if you get a big batch of them. I made them a lot more powerful but limited them to 1 of each. So far I like that, but then the only elven siege unit is like a hero so I'll probably nerf them just a little and limit them to 3 of each. The elven healer doesn't seem to do much.

I've also ini edited the forged swords glow and armor textures out of the game. I only kept armor upgrade textures which did not have a cheesy gold such as for the elves.

I've also edited farms to have a radius of 450 (default: 200) with double the gathering rate and more income (including keeps) so that the game is less focused on attacking/defending farmland in order to amass supply.

I've also made buildings about 10x the number of HP and 5x the cost (more or less) so that they are more permanent and the defenses can hold.

I've also made all units except for hero respawns build instantly so that if you've got the supplies and your army just got wiped out, you can keep em coming until you run dry.

I've also limited the number of siege catapult weapons to 15 for each team so that there's no siege weapon spamming with unlimited command points. I upped the command points per farm/statute/dormitory/fortress. When the AI has so many command points especially on Arnor they build about 60 trebuchet on brutal and it kills the fun because I'll I have to do is get fire arrows and a horde of cavalry to overwhelm them.

I noticed Arnor has no native spear or cavalry units aside from the elite knights. I'd recommend getting rid of the hobbits and giving them another factory or two to produce native units. The elven allies is nice but you end up relying on it and the AI most certainly does not. All you need to do is make the basic infantry have a spear weapon and for cavalry put them on a horse. For elite units then you could use the elven allies.

Just some suggestions. I'd really like the southern men to be playable and for the mirkwood units to be more distinct aside from simply having flaming arrows.