GROUP EVENT [Aug 3, 2023] Strategy Night (Discord)

Discussion in 'Announcements & Events' started by MagnusEffect, Nov 1, 2018.

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Strategy Night
Discord
Confirmed Attendees: 0
Posted By: MagnusEffect
Start Date: Aug 3, 2023 18:00
End Date: Aug 3, 2023 20:00
Time Zone: America/New_York -04:00 EDT
XenAtendo © Jason Axelrod from 8WAYRUN.COM
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  1. MagnusEffect

    MagnusEffect Administrator Staff Member Jarl SC Huscarl

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    Anyone remember Battle for Middle-Earth?



    I found a community that is still supporting it with updates. They just released a new patch over the summer with more goodies, better textures, etc.

    The game is outright abandonware (EA lost the license and won't make a deal to get it recirculated) and so this community has a working cracked version available. It's about as legit as it gets.

    BFME II
    https://www.gamereplays.org/battleformiddleearth2/

    BFME II: Rise of the Witch King
    https://www.gamereplays.org/riseofthewitchking/

    Install guides:
    https://www.gamereplays.org/community/index.php?showtopic=1006906

    There is also a brand new mod overhaul update (Age of the Ring) that adds new factions, units, maps, a co-op campaign and more:
    https://www.moddb.com/mods/the-horse-lords-a-total-modification-for-bfme

    I downloaded everything above without issue.

    Maybe something of interest to us? Hearing all the music and voice acting pulled straight from the movies really took me back. Can't believe how well it has held up after all these years. The game looks great, plays great, and it's FREE!
     
    MagnusEffect, Sep 14, 2019
    #21
  2. MagnusEffect

    MagnusEffect Administrator Staff Member Jarl SC Huscarl

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    MagnusEffect, Oct 24, 2019
    #22
    Orcinus and Benjamin the Rogue like this.
  3. Orcinus

    Orcinus Veteran DovaOrca Berserker

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    Thinking of trying this out for this week's Strategy Night (October 31st). If anyone is interesting in joining and trying it out, feel free to follow the instructions provided above.

    Any other suggestions and/or feedback is always welcome!
     
    Orcinus, Oct 29, 2019
    #23
    MagnusEffect likes this.
  4. Orcinus

    Orcinus Veteran DovaOrca Berserker

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    Initial testing shows promise: we were able to connect and get a multiplayer game going.

    A few notes for anyone looking to try this, too:
    • Out of the links from the original post, technically only the third one (i.e. the Install guide) is needed for the base game.
    • We have not yet tested The Age of the Ring mod as of the writing of this post.
    • The Install Guide mentions not needing Daemon Tools on Windows 10. I am inclined to disagree, but clarify that any iso-mounting software should work fine.
    • The link for the Serial Key generator did not work for me, but Keys were easy enough to find with some google searching. Also, two separate CD keys will be needed (one for the base game and one for the expansion).
    • The link for EA patch (1.06) did not work for me; I just used the Bfme2 1.09 - Switcher and it works fine.
    • When installing Patch 2.02, make sure to also install version 8.0.1 (it's an .exe that installs over 8.0.0)
     
    Orcinus, Nov 1, 2019
    #24
  5. MagnusEffect

    MagnusEffect Administrator Staff Member Jarl SC Huscarl

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    Good to know. Thanks Orc. When I have time, I will make a separate thread with all the relevant information to make it easier for people to download. A few additional observations of my own:
    • The Rise of the Witch King expansion adds more maps and additional hero classes and so that will always be the version we play in multiplayer. The base game is still fun to play for the solo campaign, but otherwise there is no other reason to play it; only that you need it installed to get RotWK to work (I think).
    • I ignored the EA patch as well. I believe whatever it supposedly fixes is already included with the community-made patches.
    • There is a way to setup Daemon Tools Lite so that it will auto-load the cd image when you activate the game; that means you only need to setup Daemon Tools once and then you never have to fiddle with it again. I highly recommend it and can show you how. Here is the english download: https://www.daemon-tools.cc/products/dtLite It is safe to use, but be aware of ads and make sure you click the box to opt-out of any third party software they may have been included (I forget if any is included).
    Here's a list of cd keys I found on another website. I used the first one and it worked without issue:
    • HNB3-GRYM-GLUS-HKTU-Y9V8
    • XLWW-55XX-5MB8-Q6QJ-5JAP
    • 42FP-FQES-GW72-MT37-MCGQ
    • QJXX-3TVM-EE2V-NUYU-SWDW
    • 3QWW-QZQ7-USET-Z8NQ-WUYB
    • HZKB-QJTS-W5E3-83PJ-K9AA
    • ATK3-5TTF-9HJH-3TRW-2F8F
    • M9NN-6NWW-5VRB-5KLN-EVV3
    Regarding the Age of the Ring mod...
    While I know many of us are wary of using half-broke mods, I cannot recommend this single standalone mod enough. It was released back in 2017 and the modders have been carefully improving and balancing it ever since. It is also easy to install and very stable in my experience. It adds new maps, new units, new factions, drastically improves textures, and even has online campaign coop! It even adjusts units to be more "lore-friendly" and faction specific. It is extremely well polished for a mod and improves upon many aspects of the vanilla experience.

    Regarding Online Multiplayer...
    The fan community has even figured out how to re-enable the in-game online server functionality (which means no need to mess with Himachi or GameRanger): https://t3aonline.net/ Best of all, the AotR mod works seamlessly with it.
    What works:
    • Chat (in the chatroom, hosting lobby and in-game)
    • Hosting and joining games
    • Adding buddies and chatting with them (Ctrl+Enter)
    What doesn't work yet:
    • Quick Match
    • Stats
    • Ladders
     
    Last edited: Nov 1, 2019
    MagnusEffect, Nov 1, 2019
    #25
  6. MagnusEffect

    MagnusEffect Administrator Staff Member Jarl SC Huscarl

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    updated OP
     
    MagnusEffect, Nov 3, 2019
    #26
  7. MagnusEffect

    MagnusEffect Administrator Staff Member Jarl SC Huscarl

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    Are you guys still interested in doing this? What about AoE2, Sins of a Solar Empire, or BFME2 (which is free)?
     
    MagnusEffect, Jul 25, 2020
    #27
  8. Raya016

    Raya016 New Guy Viking

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    Yes, all of the above. Also Command & Conquer and Starcraft.
    I've had a deadline for a semester project yesterday, which is why I was fairly absent lately, but strategy night certainly still is an interest of mine.
     
    Raya016, Jul 25, 2020
    #28
    MagnusEffect likes this.
  9. MagnusEffect

    MagnusEffect Administrator Staff Member Jarl SC Huscarl

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    bump. need more input here guys.

    I would like to keep playing CoH2, because I feel we have a good thing going there, but don't mind expanding Strat Night to other things too. Raya suggests C&C or Starcraft. Anyone else? We've talked a lot about AoE2, Sins of A Solar Empire, Supreme Commander: FA, others too. Anyone care to weigh in on this? Or are we kind of checked out on strat games right now?
     
    MagnusEffect, Aug 5, 2020
    #29
  10. Orcinus

    Orcinus Veteran DovaOrca Berserker

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    Between taking a small break from CoH2, little apparent interest in games that I play/have (notably AoE2, total war), and growing interest in games that I don't have, I've been feeling burnt out over the last few weeks

    I'll try to see if I can stop by, but any promises I make won't be worth baloney.
     
    Orcinus, Aug 5, 2020
    #30
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