Comments - userxxi

If I were you, I would have continued the development. Sod WB! Release underground. Go dark and keep the dream alive.

I think that's right. WB is using the scare tactic and it worked. They stopped the mod. They might not have a legal case at all. I say let's continue and wait for the RED letter. What are they going to do, bring Bethesda to Court too?

I don't know if this helps. I know of at least 2 films proffessionally (The Hunt for Gollum and Born of Hope) made by fans based on the LOTR books. They were uploaded on youtube for everyone to enjoy and no profit was made. ME enterprises was fine with that. Based on that, recreating a game is no different. Made by fans for fun and fans.

OK, so how do we counter-attack Warner Brothers. It cannot be that fans cannot create non-profit art or be inspired anymore by their favourite authors. They don't OWN our creativity and inspiration. How can we help change copyrights law?

Do you guys have any pros in your lineup? Or is everyone in the MERP team a modding enthusiast or student?

That is a monumental impossible task. Why change the books and the story already written. You might as well stop calling it Lord of the Rings. What can be done is take the story after the war or before the war. To lands far far away.

WiP. still work to do. Like polishing textures and better lighting I guess.

Check the latest Assasin's creed. It uses canoes! Perhaps it's a game mechanic you might want to have a look at. Wiiugo.com

Couple of questions: I just saw a mod of Ponies and other horse breeds for Skyrim. Looks amazing. To me, equestrian LOTR is essential, something that LOTRO (online MMO) didn't take seriously. How are you dealing with horses and mounts in general?
And talking about transport... are we having boats ot canoes that we could actually sail or row? Is the engine good for that? I don't understand why Bethesda hasn't done anything like that yet.

I need to ask: How realistic are your goals on this project?. It just looks too massive even for a seasoned games company

Talking about Cities, are you going to feature all, even small towns? Or settlements? Rohan had their people living in more places than just Edoras.

Every Fan of Lord of The Rings should have this mod. Even if they're not gamers or ever heard of Skyrim.

What are your plans regarding the upcoming Skyrim Expansions? will you try to integrate them or make vanilla release first and then think of integrating them?

....and why do the 2 maps have so many differences in elevations and terrain?

As soon as you have the map done please start releasing it. Would be awesome to start walking around even with no buildings or creatures.

I can't wait to see Edoras. Is my favourite place. And skyrim does a superb job with the old norwegian timber buildings that fits perfectly into it.

Have you thought of adding a perspective enhancement, which makes things far away, look even father in the distance? I think Age Of Conan uses it. Not sure, but it will make the world look even more massive and stunning.

Yeah, I meant scalewise. Is nice to know that it's been developed with such care.

I am guessing it would take about 3-4 hours to walk from one side of the map to the other? Perhaps double if you take on account the mountains?

Can you make it Bigger still? :) Ok now seriously. I guess the more you find out about Skyrim's engine, the more you might want to expand it. Will that be something plausible if the project is half or eve 90% done? To expand the map even more without taking a major hit on the development schedule?

Fantastic image. I like the texture work on the rock.

Is it autum yet? I am so looking forward to see what you have done so far. Although the port to skyrim will add more years to this project, I am sure it will be a great and worthy representation of the books.

The only way to assure the longevity of this mod is to port it to Skyrim. I guess.

Once the Mod is released, I wish there could be a website, a portal for all players to meet and share their middle earth experiences. Like an RPG hub for all of us who love the Lore.

Another source of inspiration: Cubicle7.co.uk
The One Ring. A new table RPG. Might give you a new perspective.

Now that you are going to "experiment", if the engine allows you to make an even bigger landmass, would you make the world to closely resemble the distances in the books? Although I read the Skyrim world is not bigger than Oblivion, but if you stretch the engine to its limits like you did with Oblivion...

So you're off to Skyrim. That means another 5 years wait until this mod is ready. Dunno guys. Would be awesome to be able to finish it in Skyrim, but changing engine every few years will make it impossible to finish this mod. And we don't even know what SDK Skyrim comes with. or do you...for sure?

Online support..that would be awesome. Even If we can play qith one more person, it would be fantastic.

Inspiring shot. But do Nazgul need Torches to see in the dark? do they?

@Sirithre If you are desperate to kill some dragons...I recommend you try Skyrim :) I didn't think Middle-Earth had any dragons left.