This is an unofficial CONTINUATION for Third Age Total War, the classical Lord of the Rings Medieval 2 mod discontinued many years ago. It adds lots of new features, changes some existing ones and add many bug fixes. This unofficial release has no link to the original TATW mod creator, its a independent project. Though it uses the original mod as basis, and all credits are given to its original creators.
--------THE THIRD AGE TOTAL WAR-------- 4.2 VERSION
READ CAREFULLY !!!!!!!!!!!!
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GENERAL INFO:
Not compatible with MAC
This is the main, latest standalone release. You don't need any previous version of TATW installed.
This mod includes a tool called M2TWEOP. It's a memory patch editing of the original game executable (NOT AN EDITED VERSION OF THE ORIGINAL GAME .EXE!). It enhances the game, expanding its original hardcoded limits, allowing the game to have more features.
This mod IS NOT COMPATIBLE with other mods like DAC.
You need MEDIEVAL 2 TOTAL WAR: KINGDOMS installed (it can be any of the expansion campaigns)
4.2 CHANGELOG
-REDUCED CONSTRUCTION TIME FOR MOST BUILDINGS
-SLIGHTLY REDUCED UPKEEP COST OF TROLLS, BEASTS AND MUMAKIL.
-ADDED LEAFLESS FEATURE Twcenter.net
-CHANGED MORDOR VICTORY CONDITIONS (OUTLIVING DISTANT FACTIONS WAS MOSTLY UNDOABLE)
-SOME MINOR TEXT IMPROVEMENTS AND BUG FIXES
-REDUCED COST FOR CHANGING CAPITAL TO 3500
-ADDED GARRISON SCRIPT FOR EAST MORIA
-FIXED REINFORCEMENTS ARMIES DYING AUTOMATICALLY IN DOL GULDUR SIEGES
-TWEAKED AND ADDED SOME RUINS IN MIRKWOOD
-A NEW CUSTOM FORT NEAR DOL GULDUR
-NEW 3D MODELS FOR DOL GULDUR CUSTOM SETTLEMENT (STRATMAP AND BATTLEMAP)
-REDUCED FREQUENCY OF REBEL ARMIES BLOCKING PORTS
-TWEAKED FREQUENCY OF ARMY SPAWNS FOR RUINS AND COOL PLACES FEATURES
-SOME ADJUSTMENTS IN CARN DUM SETTLEMENT
-NEW STRAT MAP MODELS FOR EDORAS AND DALE CITY
-CHANGES IN DALE FACTION STRATMAP SETTLEMENT TEXTURES
-TWEAKED PATHFINDING FOR ARMIES COMMING FROM INSIDE THE CITY OF DALE IN BATTLES IN THE IN DALE-EREBOR TILE.
-NEW SIEGE LADDERS 3D MODELS FOR ORC FACTIONS
-FIXED MEDIEVAL 2 VANILLA BUG THAT CREWS TOO MANY MEN TO PULL SMALL SIEGE TOWERS
-FIXED MEN DROWNING/DYING BESIDE BRIDGES IN TRADE POSTS (EDITED ALL VANILLA BRIDGE PATHFINDINGS)
-REMOVED PENALTY FROM ALL UNITS WHEN FIGHTING ELEPHANT UNITS. BONUS AGAINST ELEPHANT UNITS ARE KEPT.
-INCREASED SIZE OF SOME UNITS FOR OOMM, SLIGHTLY REDUCED THEIR DEFENSE AND INCREASED THEIR SPEED.
-MANY NEW STRATMAP AND BATTLEMAP MODELS FOR AGENTS AND CHARACTERS (FROM HOE MOD Moddb.com)
-ADDED SOME DETAILS TO DWARVEN SETTLEMENTS
-FIXED GONDOR CASTLE WRONG BATTLEMAP MODEL
-BETTER SKY (MADE BY Eduardo Carvalho#6821 (DISCORD))
-FIXED WRONG SIZE SIEGE TOWERS BEING BUILT FOR THE NEW SETTLEMENT BATTLE MODELS SYSTEM (THERE IS NO MORE LARGE WALLS IN ANY BATTLEMAPS)
-REMOVED SOME SIEGE WEAPONS FROM SOME FACTIONS (TO MAKE FACTIONS MORE UNIQUE AND AVOID REPETITIVE BATTLES). ALSO REMOVED BALLISTA RANGE BUILDING FROM THE GAME.
-SOME TROLL UNITS AND ENTS WILL NOW BE ABLE TO THROW ROCKS. NO ANIMATION AND AS BUGGED AS VANILLA ELEPHANT ARTILLERY DURING SIEGES IN THE ORIGINAL MED2 GAME.
-ADDED CUSTOM MODEL FOR ISENGARD BALLISTA (MADE BY Behelit#8583 (DISCORD))
-DWARVES BALLISTA NOW HAS A CUSTOM MODEL.
-SOME ARCHER ORCS OF OOMM FACTION NOW HAVE POISON IN THEIR ARROWS. NO ARCHER FROM THAT FACTION CAN SHOT FIRE ARROWS.
-FIXED GUNDABAD ARCHER MODEL BEING USED BY OOMM
-REMOVED SPIDERS FROM THE GAME
-REMOVED MEN CAVALRY MERCENARY UNIT FROM OOG FACTION
-TWEAKED HIGH ELVES CITY CUSTOM SETTLEMENT BATTLEMAP
-SILVAN ARCHES UNIT NOW FIRE 2 ARROWS ON EACH SHOT
-ELVEN BALLISTAS FLAMING SHOT HAS NOW A MORE FIERY EFFECT.
-ISENGARD BALLISTA FLAMING SHOT IS NOW A EXPLOSIVE PROJECTILE.
-FIXES AND TWEAKS IN CAIR ANDROS CUSTOM SETTLEMENT.
-SOME TWEAKS IN GORGOROTH BEAST MODEL. AND ITS RANGED ATTACK IS NOW MORE EFFECTIVE.
-TWEAKED THORIN'S HALLS BATTLEMAP SETTLEMENT.
-TWEAKED RGB GROUND COLOR FOR MOUTAIN SETTLEMENTS BATTLEMAPS (DESCR_GEOGRAPHY_NEW.DB)
-OVERALL RESTRUCTURING OF UNIT BONUSES. (AGAINST CAVALRY, MISSILES ETC). EVERYTHING FUNCTIONAL AND MATCHING UNIT DESCRIPTIONS.
-NEW MODELS FOR SOME TROLL UNITS AND TROLL OFFICERS
-SRATMAP SIEGE ICON CHANGE TO VANILLA MED2
-LARGELY REDUCED LOADING TIMES (BY REDUCING POLYCOUNT OF STRATMAP MODELS)
-NEW MENU BACKGROUND IMAGES.
-REMOVED ASSASSINATION, SABOTAGE AND INFITRATION MOVIES.
-REMOVED LOGO VIDEO AT GAME STARTUP.
-TWEAKED GUNDABAD CASTLES BATTLEMAP MODELS
-FIXED WRONG SETTLEMENT STRATMAP MODELS UNDER FOG BUG
-EDITED SOME VALUES ON THE BRIDGE OF EREBOR (A TEST FOR FIXING THE RANDOM ISSUE)
-FIXED "THE ONE RING SCRIPT" CAMERA BUG
-FIXED EAST RUINED OSGILIATH CRASH
-A NEW UNIT FOR THE DWARVES
-A NEW UNIT FOR THE SILVAN ELVES
-A NEW UNIT FOR THE ORCS OF MISTY MOUNTAINS
-TWEAKED DALE UNITS
-NEW USER INTERFACE ELEMENTS
-REMOVED MANY AOR REQUIREMENTS FOR DALE UNITS
-NEW BATTERING RAM MODEL FOR DWARVEN FACTIONS
-COMPLETLY REMOVED MERCENARIES FROM THE GAME
-NEW WARG MODELS
-REWORKED TROLL CATAPULT UNIT (MORDOR)
-TWEAKED DALE SETTLEMENT (CITY LEVEL)
-OVERALL REWORK OF TROLL UNITS AND ENTS:
NEW 3D MODELS.
ALL THESE CREATURES ARE NOW CAVALRY.
THEY CAN'T ANYMORE PERFORM INFANTRY ACTIONS LIKE PUSHING SIEGE TOWERS, CARRY LADDERS, CLIMB LADDERS, TOWERS, WALLS ETC.
THEY CAN'T ANYMORE BE DEPLOYED OVER WALLS AND PLATFORMS (THAT WAS REALLY BUGGED)
THE SPEAR BONUS OF UNITS WILL WORK AGAINST THEM.
THEY WILL NO LONGER CARRY TORCHES DURING NIGHT BATTLES
SOME OF THEM CAN THROW ROCKS
############## HOW TO INSTALL AND PLAY: ##############
DISABLE YOUR ANTIVIRUS.
EXTRACT THE CONTENT OF THE .RAR FILE INSIDE ...\medieval II total war\mods
Add M2TWEOP GUI.exe AND the entire mod folder to the antivirus exceptions. OTHERWISE THE ANTIVIRUS WILL DELETE FILES IN THE MOD FOLDER.
NOW YOU CAN ENABLE YOUR ANTIVIRUS AGAIN.
RUN "M2TWEOP GUI.exe" ALWAYS AS ADMINISTRATOR
THATS ALL
############## BONUS ##############
IT IS HIGHLY RECOMENDED TO USE LAA (LARGE ADRESS AWARE)
IT ALLOWS THE GAME TO USE MORE THAN 2GB OF RAM. (MED 2 IS AN OLD ENGINE THAT USES ONLY 2 GB), IMPROVING PERFORMANCE AND AVOIDING CRASHES.
LAA ALREADY IS IN THE PACK OF THE MOD DOWNLOAD.
WARNING. IF YOU USE A CRACKED STEAM VERSION (1.52) OF MEDIEVAL 2 TOTAL WAR, APPLYING LAA WILL CAUSE THE GAME TO CRASH AT STARTUP. TOTALLY
PREVENTING YOU FROM RUNNING THE GAME.
YOU NEED EITHER A STEAM ORIGINAL GAME (1.52) OR A CRACKED NON STEAM VERSION (1.50)
HOW TO INSTALL LAA.
AFTER INSTALLING THE MOD, GO INTO ITS FOLDER AND FIND Large Address Aware.exe. DOUBLE CLICK IT. A WINDOW WILL OPEN.
CLICK THE "..." BUTTON AND NAVIGATE TO THE ORIGINAL MEDIEVAL 2 GAME FOLDER, SELECT MEDIEVAL2.EXE OR KINGDOMS.EXE (DEPENDING ON YOUR GAME VERSION).
CHECK THE BOX IN STEP 2 OF THE WINDOW.
CLICK "SAVE" IN STEP 3.
CLOSE THE WINDOW. ITS DONE. YOU ONLY NEED TO DO THIS ONCE, FROM NOW ON YOUR GAME IS PATCHED.
#################### TROUBLESHOOTING: ######################
THERE IS NO VIRUS IN THIS MOD. THE MEMORY PATCH THIS MOD USES (M2TWEOP) IS OFTEN RECOGNIZED AS A VIRUS BY ANTIVIRUSES, BUT THIS IS A FALSE ALARM. ITS JUST THAT ITS A "ROGUE" TOOL SO ANTIVIRUSES TEND TO SEE IT AS A MENACE. THERE IS THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE PLAYING THIS MOD NORMALLY.
ANY PROBLEM YOU GO THROUGH IS VERY LIKELY RELATED TO YOUR ANTIVIRUS DELETING THE MOD FILES. MAKE SURE YOU FOLLOWED THE INSTALL INSTRUCTIONS CORRECTLY.
If you're still having any problem in running this mod, try the following solutions in sequence.
1 - Double check if you unpacked the MOD inside the /mods folder and not anywhere else.
2-Check the game installation folder. If you installed MEDIEVAL 2 in an external HD, for example, that migh lead to problems. Install the game in the standart folder.
3- Install visual DirectX/Redist c++ from here: Drive.google.com
#################### KNOWN BUGS: ######################
THE MOD IS NOT BROKEN. IT'S BEEN TESTED FOR LONG, THOUGH YOU MAY CROSS THE FOLLOWING ISSUES...
- Random crashes can happen. Its a mod. If the crash happens everytime you try to fight a specific battle, try autoresolving the battle.
- Menu problems like crashes and returning to the previous menu after clicking a button is either a problem of corrupt installation or corrupt download. The same goes to sound problems. Playing in windowed mode can also cause crashes.
- Weird bugs like not being able to build or recruit units in settlements is due to corrupt download or installation. Simply download and install it again.
- The bridge of Erebor is bugged for some players, while it works absolutelly fine for others. I have no idea why. For now its a bug I can't fix.
-If you are still having problems, visit our server in Discord and ask for help. (Its a general MEDIEVAL 2 modding server, not exclusibvely dedicated to this mod).