Greetings, Companions of the Edain!
As you could see over the course of the last week, there will be quite a few changes to the look of the Kingdom of Gondor in the upcoming version 4.7. In fact, in addition to the conceptual changes to Faramir or the Guardians of the Fountain Court, almost all units and buildings have received a visual overhaul by now, which is why we want to give you an overview.
Back in the beta for the original 4.0, when the transition was made from the free build system to fixed buildplots, Gondor was the first faction to finish its overhaul. Many of the designs dated back to the original Battle for Middle-earth I, which gave the Gondor stronghold an iconic and easily recognisable look, but also left something to desire after all these years. So, since version 4.6 also implemented the Misty Mountains in the fixed buildplot system, the last of the old races to do so, it seemed to us that the time had come to polish up the somewhat ageing gondor models.
Attentive observers will certainly have noticed the many decorations, ornaments or even secrets that are hidden in the new models - starting with the infantry's armour, which becomes visible as the level of the barracks increases, to the palantir used by Denethor in the top of the new citadel, to some archers on the upper floor of the new shooting range that are in suspiciously high spirits. And the model of the old BfME 2 fortress has also been replaced, so that the border fortress of Dol Amroth now truly looks like a bulwark of the knights and soldiers under the command of Imrahil.
Last but not least, many buttons and icons were replaced and improved. They can mostly be found in the spellbook:
That being said, we did not stop there: the sister kingdom of Gondor also benefits from the new models. Arnor, which replaces Gondor on many maps that are located in the north of Middle-earth, not only adopts many of the new building models such as for the quarry, the citadels or the marketplace, but also comes up with its own architectural qualities. They impress with rounder shapes, especially on their roofs - but at this point we'll just let the pictures do the talking:
Glorfindel and his Wind Riders on the hunt for the Witch-King
Soldiers of Rhudaur
Soldiers of Cardolan
We hope you liked this overview of the visual overhaul of Gondor and Arnor and are, as always, looking forward to your feedback!
Your Edain team
First of all, love this update and there is no compliment worthy of these new models. Just a few questions however:
1.) Will Glorfindel and the Windrider's New models also be applied to Imladris?
2.) Does the Rhudaur soldiers replace the Arthedain soldiers and the Cardolan soldiers replace the Palace Guards on certain maps only or will be permanent to Arnor, like sort of survivors that joined the remaining kingdom?
All these new models and surprises really just increases our excitement for 4.7. Long live Edain!
1.Yes
2.no they will be only visible in the campaign, but you will be able if you want to see them through a very little modding really basic.
Just changing the names of the files of each textures would enable you to play with one texture rather than the other
Cool, thank you! Forgot to ask did the Ithilien/Arnor Rangers also get new models? And with Glorfindel and the Windriders new looks, does this mean Imladris will now be using your models?
Media.moddb.com
For the rangers I think they won't be included in the 4.7 maybe a small update later. The imladris models we've not talked about them yet I think the current ones do the job quite well
Wow ! I will feel a lot better now when I am destroying those pretty buildings as Angmar. Thanks guys !
Arnor will prevail !
Incredible work! Although I always liked the old models, it's stunning to see their replacements. I also like the difference between Gondor and Arnor. Small thing that I would change: I'd go for a darker green gras near the walls and also different trees to "represent" Arnor's different climate a bit more. But this is just a minor point and probably not too important.
Anyway, what makes me happy the most, is to see that this mod is still running after all those years. I remember discovering Edain Mod/Modding Union around 2008/2009 - back then save function was broken and Arnor was only accessible as an unfinished factio that could only be accessed if you'd change one line a text file :D
Anyway, that doesn't change how long I've enjoyed that mod and will enjoy in the future. Thanks for all the work over the years guys.
Well, i may say i got a pretty poor speech seeing the renders, this is freaking amazing!!!! As @joelockard wrote, there is no compliment worthy of these new models.
Accept our obeisances, Great and dear Edain team!
For Gondor!
Amazing work! A true work of art! I'm very exited to see my favourite factions getting such a lovely rework, not just in textures but in other aspects as well.
Looking forward to 4.7 :D
Actually I do not like the changes to the buildings of Gondor, mostly the citadel, barracks..too complicated. I hope Arnor will remain the same as now. the visuals of the original game is extremely good and I do not think that it is necessary to abandon it everywhere. I also hope in the future will not be changed outpost of Mirkwood, in these buildings and style of graphics as well as the fortress of Dol Amroth, which used to be a fortress of people has some old-school charm that do not want to lose. You can make complex detailed models but lose in style and game conventions. By the way it is not a city-building simulator. Units are beautiful
I like it very much!