If you're currently seeing this article, it means LOME Version 1.2 is currently live, let's give a quick round of applause, because this patch is a pretty big one! I've already detailed many of the changes coming, but let's quick go over everything that's in V1.2!
(In no particular order)
- A dozen unit remodels
- Massive AI improvements
- Campaign updates
- 2 Civ overhauls
- Over 30 icons have been replaced
- Overall game balance updates
- Mod file cleanup keeping the mod sized condensed
In the previous article, the reworked to Elves, and Hobbits was talked about in some depth, and to recap, they have both been given brand new units, techs, and quality of life improvements, what I didn't discuss, however, was the improvements made to the AI!
AI testing, observe the AI duke it out in a massive scale map.
In particular, here's what the AI is now better at:
- Build logic, in most cases, the AI will construct buildings in a more logical manner
- Responsiveness, almost all civs can now be played by the AI with few hitches
- Better use of LOME unique buildings, the AI will have a better use of buildings such as the Bazaar, and the items that can be bought from it
- More frequent use of Heroes.
As a note, here are some of the things the AI struggles with still:
- Men will build Storehouses in absolutely nonsensical patterns
- Orcs will still not build dropsites
- Lossoth, Dwarves, and Ulmo are still unplayable
- Hobbits will hit Age 2, but only spam their Elven unit
- Rohan (Orome) will occasionally not build military structures after aging up
I'd like to thank the following people for giving me playtest feedback during this time:
Thanks to all 0 of you decided to help me out when I asked!
Campaigns have seen some much needed attention this patch! Starting with the Silmarillion, I have fixed a few bugs making the first level of the campaign outright crash on start up. This bug was caused by a terrain that was deleted from the game in a previous patch, it took quite a bit of trial and error to get back up and running, but it's good to go now!
The LOTR Legacy Campaign has also seen some hotfixes! I have patched roughly ~6-8 levels from the FOTR section of the campaign purely out of popular request.
I have not patched any further than FOTR, as I'm looking to see if the feedback is noticeable for it. I'm also looking to possibly make a few LOTR campaign some time in the future... But we'll see!
Finally, the "Hunt for a Traitor" Learn to Play Campaign has also been touched up! It was missing a few voice lines, and I added a bit more décor to the maps. If you haven't played it yet, please do! It's available as apart of the LOME Core file, and can be played straight from the campaign menu anytime! You'll see that it was crafted to help you understand the new mechanics LOME has to offer!
Finally, I'd like to talk shortly about the LOME PATREON! After much consideration, I've finally decided to open one up to keep LOME going strong! There's a lot of rewards for supporting the mod, including original art, music, and more to come! The first stretch goal for the Patreon is creating a brand new campaign for The Fellowship of the Ring! Only you can make it happen! You can find the Patreon linked right here!
Before I go, I will be uploading a mirror for this version of LOME here! Remember that it is for The Extended Edition, not The Titans!
