[PRE-ALPHA] Tales of Middle-Earth - Development Thread

[Tenzhiro]

This will be the thread we post our updates on development from time to time as the older one gets archived.
If you want to keep up to date in real-time, it's better to join our Discord.​

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>>STATUS: PRE-ALPHA PHASE<<
(Development started 23 Dec, 2023)​

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A Tale Begins​

At the end of the Third Age, when shadows grow darker and the fate of Middle-Earth hangs in the balance, a new tale unfolds.
Tales of Middle-Earth invites you to step into a world where your choices shapes the destiny of all, where the simple folk of the Shire and the noble lords of Gondor alike must face the growing darkness.

"In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit..." begins the greatest of tales, and so too will you. Scenarios taken from books and the movies are formed into quests and discoveries for you to follow and find out. During the early phases, we are primarily focused on The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.

The world unfolds across seven ACTS, each revealing new lands, new perils, and new opportunities. Your journey begins in Eriador, the vast realm where Hobbits tend their gardens, Rangers of the Dunedain guard forgotten borders, and ancient evils stir, slowly surfacing.
Here, in the heart of Middle-earth, your tale shall begin.

As the darkness grows, so too shall your options. In time, the servants of Mordor shall become playable, the cruel clans of Uruks from Angmar and Mordor, the mighty Uruk-Hai of Isengard, and even the fell Goblins of the Misty Mountains. Yet beware, for those who walk the path of shadow may find themselves bound to the will of the Dark Lord(s) themselves.

There are no predetermined paths here. Every adventurer begins as a commoner within their chosen folk, but through deeds and determination, any may rise to greatness. A simple hobbit may become the greatest of warriors, while a proud elf might discover the deepest mysteries of lore. The choice is yours. You do not only gain experience through the killing of creatures.

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A hungry start in Overhill..​

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The Craft of Living​

In Middle-Earth, survival itself is key. Learn the crafts of Metalworking, Cooking, Farming, Foraging, Mining, Woodcutting and Thieving.

"All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost." Curiosity is highly rewarded. What happens when you strike flint against steel on dry tinder? What happens with those mudpiles after it has rained? Every discovery opens new doors to adventure.

Every tool, meal, and piece of equipment must be crafted by skilled hands. The economy flows through real adventurers, making every contribution meaningful. While merchants offer basic wares, the finest goods come only from those who have mastered their craft.

Multi-ingredient Cooking (sorry for quality)​

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Hobbiton, the centre of Farming, most holes offer small plots and also many community farms are available. ​

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The Perils of Middle-earth​

"It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door."
Middle-earth is a realm of wonder and danger, where even small creatures can be dangerous.

Realistic Creatures: Even humble rats may carry disease, while spiders' venom can fell the unwary.
Size matters little when cunningness and poisons are involved.
Hunger System: The body requires nourishment. Well-fed adventurers move with vigor, while the hungry stumble and weaken.
Different foods offer a variety of blessings, quick energy, lasting strength, or even instant healing.
Equipment Weight: Heavy armor protects but slows movement.
The wise warrior balances protection with mobility, choosing equipment as carefully as battles.

These trials forge true heroes, with enough experience these trials are easy to overcome.
As you grow in skill, challenges become easy stepping stones rather than stumbling blocks.

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Hunger Skull (changed to regen timer when fed) and Hunger warnings in Event Logs together with an Emote.​

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The Great Divide​

As the One Ring stirs, Middle-Earth divides.
Two great forces rise:

The Last Alliance: a fragile union of Elves, Men, Dwarves, and Hobbits, standing together against the growing shadow.

The Forces of Mordor: a host of darkness comprised of fell creatures, corrupted men, and all who serve Sauron's will.

Open warfare rages between opposing forces.
No skulls mark those who draw blood against a player of another faction, while the regular skull system brands the most treacherous betrayers attacking and killing players within their own faction.

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...​

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The Bonds of Fellowship
​

In the darkest of times, no hero stands alone. The greatest tales are of companions bound by loyalty, courage, and shared purpose.

Ancient fortresses stand across Middle-Earth, each a place of strategic importance awaiting new masters.
To claim one is to accept responsibility for all who dwell within its shadow, controlling the stronghold, surrounding lands, and the flow of trade through the region.

Special privileges await the worthy: secret passages, merchant discounts, and regional respect. Yet power is never secure.
Rival guilds may infiltrate your ranks, and when executed correctly, regional war can be declared, a true siege (or sneaky infiltration) determining the fortress's fate.

Only those with true strategic mind, unwavering loyalty, and courage can hope to hold such a place... and keep it.

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placeholder castle..​

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A Living World
​

In Middle-Earth, every action should echo throughout the years. This is a world that remembers, responds, and grows with each passing day.

Step into a tavern and hear bards sing of your deeds. Villagers speak of the stranger who saved their crops, while merchants offer special prices to those whose names are spoken with respect. Even your failures are remembered, every new character you create should be the beginning of a possible new journey, especially regarding honor, once you go "full evil" it is hard to redeem yourself, although still possible, the same vice versa.

NPCs remember your kindness, cruelty, and courages. They speak of rumors you've started, quests you've completed, trinkets you may have found.. Your legend should grow with each deed or public action you do.

These moments become chapters in Middle-Earth's history, recorded in scrolls, sung by bards, and preserved in libraries.
Future adventurers may find your name in dusty tomes or hear tales from wandering minstrels.

This is a world where your story truly matters, where every choice has consequence, and where your legacy echoes through the ages.

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change screenshot​

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The Rings of Power
​

Twenty unique Rings of Power kept hidden across Middle-Earth, each imbued with great strength and terrible consequence.
These are no ordinary artifacts, their origins are evil, their magic too powerful.

Only one of each ring exists, and those who possess them may shape the fate of the entire realm:

• Nine Rings for Mortal Men - Powers of the Unseen World, concealment, and might, yet all who wear them feel the pull of His will
• Seven Rings for the Dwarf Lords - Enhance might, craftsmanship, and finding of wealth, but stoke unrelenting greed
• Three Rings for the Elves - Offer protection, preservation, and grace, least corrupting yet vulnerable to the One
• One Ring for the Dark Lord - The Ruling Ring, strengthens all gifts and grants true invisibility, but its call risks making you His servant

The balance of power shifts.
These rings are singular and permanent.
To find one is to claim glory, fear, and a place in legend.

But remember: power always comes with a cost.

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...​

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The Nazgûl
​

The Nine Rings offer great and terrible power, drawing their bearers into the realm of the Unseen.
But power, if misused, demands a price..

Should a player cling too long to the power of the Nine, they will be claimed.
All memories, your name, skills, achievements, stripped away.
Your mortal form dissolved.
You awaken as a Nazgûl, bound eternally to His will.

In exchange for your soul, you gain unholy strength, the ability to resist death, the gift of fear, and access to the Unseen World.
Your role is to spread the Shadow of Mordor. Find the One Ring, and kill it's bearer.

Among the Nine, the most feared and devoted may ascend to become the Witch-King of Angmar, wielding power second only to Sauron himself. Destined to rule over the lands of Angmar and the stronghold of Minas Morgul.

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Creatures of Middle-earth​

With the rise of a new world, so too rise new beasts.
Only creatures fitting Tolkien's lore find a place here, no walking cupcakes here! Or is there?.

The lands hold common creatures: rats, wolves, spiders, and natural wildlife.
But even familiar beasts have changed, a few examples:

• Rats may carry disease or venom
• Spiders and other creatures are faster than expected
• Wolves are very deadly when hunting in packs

Three iconic creatures have been added through community collaboration:

• The Balrog - A towering being of flame and shadow, ancient and wrathful, swords are of no more use against them.
• The Cave Troll - Brutal, lumbering, and devastating in close combat, only skilled warriors may attempt to actively hunt these.
• The Black Riders - Unknown riders in black who have crossed the borders of The Shire.
• The Nazgul - The Nine most terrifying servants of the Dark Lord Sauron, with powers of the Unseen World.
• The Nazgul Riders - For when you thought the Nazgul themselves were not enough, now they ride fell beasts, birdlike but yet it is no bird, more like a bat with leathery wings.

This is a world of danger. You may find yourself hunting wildlife rather than Uruks and Trolls at first.
It may be quite some time before you can manage to fight a group of Goblins.

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Creature showcase: The Cave Troll - Brutal and devastating in close combat

Creature showcase: The Balrog - A towering being of flame and shadow

Creature showcase: Nazgul Rider, Black Rider, Nazgul - When you see black robes you better run..​

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Fellowship Companions​

No tale in Middle-earth is ever truly walked in solitude. Along your path, you may earn the loyalty of iconic figures like Legolas, Boromir, or the ever-curious Pippin, not as mere followers, but as true members of your Fellowship.

These companions can be unlocked through story progression and specific quests. They travel with you, fight with you, and often have a variety of comments on your behavior or it's surroundings. They initiate unique quests, may unlock hidden dialogue, and provide insight into the world around you.

Each companion has different skills and abilities, and you will find that there is one suitable for any gameplay style.

Each companion has only one life.

Should they fall in battle, they will not return.
Their death is permanent, their voice forever silenced, their part in your tale cut short.
Done deal, gone, forever.

Protect them. Learn from them. Fight beside them.
For in a world of darkness, your Fellowship may be all that stands between you and the void.

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Safely exiting a forest with Pippin, that is a first..​

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Minimal Client​

As we go forward in shaping the world, there is also the User Interface.
There is one principle to follow: the client must remain as invisible as possible while giving as much information as possible.

To that end, we have forged a new, centralized Character Menu, your HUB for all things.

• View your Statistics like Skills/Resistances/Knowledges/Key Items
  Interesting Character info like Marriage, Hometown, Guilds, Factions, Honors
• Assign Points in your Virtues
• Delve into your personal Library to read back on recipes or mysteries
• Choose and track your Paths
• Adore your earned Achievements, see as the artworks unfold.

Some Quality of Life changes

• Updated Quest Tracker: more dynamic, and added visual creature/item sprites
• Skill Buttons for your unlocked abilities like:
  Eat Food - eats most valued food in backpack
  Taunt - trying to aggro a single target toward you by throwing some great insults
  Block - greatly reduce incoming damage for 2 seconds while holding a shield
  Sprint - move swiftly at the cost of stamina
• Quick Looting: Simply double-click an item within a corpse to loot it instantly, no dragging, no menus.
• NPC Interaction: Right-click any NPC and choose "Open Shop" to immediately access their wares, no dialogue required
• Stack Dragging: You can now drag item stacks freely without being interrupted by confirmation pop-ups.

These features, while subtle, add up to a smoother, a more user-friendly experience but should never feel like cheating or taking shortcuts.

Character Menu​

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Content in Pre-Alpha​

Explorable Locations

Overhill
Bindbole Woods
Hobbiton
Bywater
Woody End
Bamfurlong
Brandyhall
Newbury
Crickhollow
Standelf (unfinished but maybe)
Stock (unfinished but maybe)
The Old Forest
Tom Bombadil's House
Barrow Downs
Bree
Archet
Combe
Staddle (unfinished but maybe)
Midgewater Marshes
Weatherhills - South
Weathertop


Systems and Mechanics, surely forgetting a few.

• Reworked Magic System: now named Knowledges, coming in Quenya, Khuzdul, Adûnaic Khuzdul and Black Speech.
• Racial Benefits: Unique traits and bonuses depending on the player’s chosen race.
• Dual Wielding: Unlocked progressively as players use their weapons.
• Weapon Variety: Different weapon sizes come with different attack speeds.
• Staves as Shields: Staves can be wielded in the off-hand slot.
• Useful Tools: for example; torches are usable as light sources, weapons and to set things on fire!
• Trinket Slot: A dedicated slot for unique magical or utility items.
• Quivers: Specialized containers for archers to hold ammunition.
• Refillable Lanterns & Smoking Pipes: A refillable light source and a reusable form of regeneration.
• Key Items: Special items which cannot be lost.
• Hunger System: Penalties for ignoring sustenance.
• Fruits & Vegetables: Provide faster hp/mp regen on top of regular regen.
• Cooking: Players can cook intermediate dishes using multiple ingredients.
• Campfire Creation: Build campfires for warmth and regeneration.
• Cozy Campfires: Nearby players benefit from regeneration effects.
• Foraging, Fishing, Woodcutting, Mining, etc: All gatherable via sessions (Semi-AFK skilling).
• Skill Guilds: Train skills more efficiently if you can pass a skill check to enter the Guild, for example access to (destroyable) Training Dummies at a certain skill level.
• Indifferent Creatures: Same creature, stronger version, giving more exp/loot.
• Dynamic Monster Behavior: Animals may fight each other (e.g, bears vs. wolves).
• Ambushes: Ambushes can happen around the strangest of corners.
• Creature Capture Events: Orcs can abduct players instead of killing them.
• Full Set Bonuses: Wearing a complete equipment set provides extra bonuses.
• Tavern Respawn: Players respawn at the last tavern.
• Statues of Eru: Sacred respawn points across the land.
• Prison System: PKs may be captured and sent to jail by city guards.
• Bounty Hunting: Track and eliminate wanted players.
• Cullis Gates: Waypoint fast-travel system.
• Levitate with Rope: Use rope to ascend/descend levels.
• Clue Scrolls (4 Tiers): Treasure maps hint at hidden dig sites.
• NPC Owned Containers: Dressers, crates, and similar objects may contain loot to be stolen for the criminal of mind.
• Regional Weather System: Includes normal rain and poison rain events, leaving behind pools of water and poison gas.
• World Buffs: Server-wide bonuses triggered by world boss kills or major events.
• Player Shopkeepers: Leave a clone of your character to run a shop.
• Market Stalls: Sell items from designated houses, even when away/offline.
• Rentable Mounts: Buy, rent, or tame mounts.
• Ingame Guildmaster: Manage guilds entirely within the game world.
• Evolving Weapons: Items that grow stronger with you, forming a legendary weapon of its own.
• Skill-Based Experience: Earn EXP from skilling, exploring, and questing, not just combat.
• Achievements & Player Titles: Earnable distinctions for feats completed.
• Ironman Mode (alpha): Self-sufficient challenge mode.
• Rarity-Based Loot Drops: Items come in various rarities, drops based on a variety of factors like your chosen Virtues.
• Full Story Logging: Books with authors act as quest journals for main storylines.
• The Grey Company: Repeatable quests and bounty tasks.
• Party Expeditions (Quarry): Repeatable Party Quest involving the feral Dwarves in the Quarry.
• Raid Notice Boards: In-world bulletin boards showing active and past raids from within the region.
• The Shire Quickpost: Extended mailing system. Collect postcards with artworks from all around Middle-Earth to send to players. Also used for many events and quests.

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A full list of Patch Notes and Updates can be found on our Discord.
Keep up to date with the Tales of Middle-Earth project!
Discord: Tales of Middle-Earth Discord​

Planned Pre-Alpha Public Testing: 2025
Planned Alpha Release: TBA
Planned Beta Release: TBA
Planned Release: TBA

 

[wronson]

You have my sword.

 

[Swizz]

You have my axe.

 

[Tenzhiro]

A short lore description of what sets in motion the events on your Tales of Middle-Earth

A Prophecy by Mandos

At the very end of Arda, far into the West, at the borders of the world, a threshold to the beyond, lies the Moritarnon, known by some as the Door of Night.
The Door was created by the Valar at the time of the making of the Sun and the Moon, forming the border between Arda and the Timeless-Void.

It is here the primal evil Morgoth Bauglir is imprisoned, guarded, and watched for eternity by Eärendil himself.
Whispers flutter through Elven realms, tales of a looming struggle in Valinor.

In the ancient prophecies of Valar Mandos, a foretelling unfolds;
"When the world is old and the powers grow weary, then Morgoth, seeing that the guard sleepeth,
He shall come back through the Door of Night out of the Timeless Void, and destroy the Sun and Moon."
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As time passes and Middle-Earth grows into the third age, the very balance of the world is conflicted.
It is when the Elves are returning to the lands in the West, that lights are dimming.

When the spirits of Men falter, when the wills of the free peoples of Middle-Earth are shallowed.
When the Maiars are divided, when the dark forces of Sauron are regaining powers, it is time.
------

Time itself stood still for a moment, a thunderous, crackling explosion followed by a short shockwave engulfed the continents.
The seas began to rise, the earth began to shift, and the mountains began to crumble down.
And Morgoth came.

The Sun and the Moon were destroyed.
Darkness spread upon the world like a blanket.

The world became sick.
The Dagor Dagorath is approaching.
With evil forming in the East and an approaching evil from the West.

Varda, Queen of the Valar, collected the last surrounding stars to form a new light around the world, temporarily, but strong.
Without it, the world would have no light to protect itself against what is to come.

With Angband reforming in the Iron Mountains, Angmar reawakened, and with Mordor at its full strength, the world is on the brink of total destruction.
----

 

[Kresh170]

One reason why i dont play some servers is because the crafting mechanic always seem way complicated compared to any 7.4 mechanic that tibia is built on. So my tip to you: dont forget that the simplicity of tibia is what made it so popular

 

[Tenzhiro]

World Map Update

​

 

[Tenzhiro]

Preview: Pre Alpha Client
Music by: Vindsvept

As we are getting closer to letting players take a stroll through Middle Earth it was time to update our client a little bit.
Long have we thought of using the movie score as a valued intro song but we wanted something that would fit more inside a game.
This will let us use the movie scores to be used for specific quests

Ergo, after reaching out to the artist Vindsvept we will be able to use some of his original works that will set the mood for your Tales of Middle-Earth.
We might eventually create an animated background for the client and at a later date we'll be updated the background to show some important Patch Notes and Changes.

For now, feast your ears on this calm but adventurous soundtrack.

Follow Vindsvept
Discord
Website​

 

[Sizaro]

This project looks cool but looks way out of league, what you should do is focus on and around Bree area. Release when you have a functioning and fun to play on base, and then build upon that. If you're gonna wait until you've created the entire world this project will never see the light of day.

 

[Tenzhiro]

A forest south of Bree, where bears and wolves drink from the tears of the mountain.​

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A part of the Chetwoods, it is here our master Hobbits are getting chased by riders in black.​

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Beginning of Maggot's Farm, also a crossway dividing the north and south of this region.​

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Entrance to the Old Forest towards its spawn and deeper into the ancient part.​

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A forest in the Shire along the Great East Road​

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Farmer Maggot Carriage ride​

@Apollos Still need to find a good sprite to cover the rails xD

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Keep up to date on the project!
DISCORD

 

[Sizaro]

Like I said, way out of your league you will never finish this project. And if you finish it, it will probably be in such a broken state that its unplayable. Good luck anyways.

My suggestion still stands, focus on this area. Bree as the main town, Old Forest, Buckland, Brandy Hills, Barrow-Downs, Midgewater Marsh, Chetwood etc.

 

[Wolfsoft]

Ambitious project, skills too simple.

 

[Tenzhiro]

Mapping is not with full details as some areas still need a decisive color scheme
Also all roads need to be rebordered yay

 

[Dercas]

Oh, so.
I see. me & the team are not the only ones who work on LOTR-based OTS, haha
The funny thing is that we're working on similar solutions even tho i didn't see your thread earlier. i.e.
crafting, new skills, walking npcs - basically everything that we could think of to make the game more RPG.

We're planning to do some more races than you -
basic ones: Elves, Dwarfs, Hobbits, Man
special ones(unlockable races through the gameplay / quests): ent/istari/beorning

and possibility to choose a 'specialisation' from each race, for example, if you pick a man, you can choose your origin from Dunedain, Eriador, Gondor, Rohan.

We don't plan to lunch this year tbh.. We all have lives, partners, work, so, the progress is going on slowly.
Also, we've got middle-earth map which is 20k x 20k tiles & weights... a lot! There will be 'empty' spaces without any content but this is due to the lore, not due to the mapping issues / lack of ideas / low skills (for example, pelennor fields. in the books/movie it was just empty field - we'll keep it this way. Empty field between Minas Tirith & Osgiliath)

and there's still lots to do. I guess we'll need server with lots of ram...

btw. I wish we could steal your sprites

 

[Tenzhiro]

Oh, so.
I see. me & the team are not the only ones who work on LOTR-based OTS, haha
The funny thing is that we're working on similar solutions even tho i didn't see your thread earlier. i.e.
crafting, new skills, walking npcs - basically everything that we could think of to make the game more RPG.

We're planning to do some more races than you -
basic ones: Elves, Dwarfs, Hobbits, Man
special ones(unlockable races through the gameplay / quests): ent/istari/beorning

and possibility to choose a 'specialisation' from each race, for example, if you pick a man, you can choose your origin from Dunedain, Eriador, Gondor, Rohan.

We don't plan to lunch this year tbh.. We all have lives, partners, work, so, the progress is going on slowly.
Also, we've got middle-earth map which is 20k x 20k tiles & weights... a lot! There will be 'empty' spaces without any content but this is due to the lore, not due to the mapping issues / lack of ideas / low skills (for example, pelennor fields. in the books/movie it was just empty field - we'll keep it this way. Empty field between Minas Tirith & Osgiliath)

and there's still lots to do. I guess we'll need server with lots of ram...

btw. I wish we could steal your sprites

Hah! Over the years many have tried but failed to create an actual server based on Middle-Earth.
Most often you see real maps with locations named after locations from ME but doesnt have any resemblance to any of it.
But that is not Middle-Earth. It is time for a real Middle-Earth server to launch!

I love to hear you are also going for the real RPG experience, something that Middle Earth deserves with all it's stories.

I have chosen to only include an additional Orc race, Istari are too powerful to be created by a player, I also found it very unimmersive to have a hundred Istari walking around.
Regarding Magic I was thinking about the abilities of Aragorn or the Elves, mostly very passive, although haven't worked this out a lot.

As I am replicating the stories of Arda I want to stay as canon as possible regarding lore but also gameplay. Beornings was something that I had in my mind aswell, but that comes at a later stage if at all, it was only after the destruction of the One Ring that the Beornings were getting their own lands back again. They did play a huge role in overtaking Dol Goldur at some point if my memory serves me right.

It is also a slow process, but I make it fun for myself by listening to the many audiobooks while mapping and creating.
Very interested in seeing your progress in the map!

I noticed at first there are regions that should be "barren" but the more I read, the more it becomes clear that EVERY area has its own story, even if it's just a passing through of a company, it can create locations for you. For example the Pelennor Fields are not as empty as you think, there is an additional wall between Minas Tirith and Osgiliath, it's not completely barren, these fields were fertile farmland, protected by the great wall of Rammas Echor, you could perhaps think of the outside area's of Whiterun from Skyrim, with farms, fields and mills. Peter Jackson did an awful job on portraying the region outside of Minas Tirith.


My map currently loads within 5 seconds so I am very happy, but every week new content gets added, the seconds are getting more and more
My current local machine has no trouble running it, but eventually I probably have to rent a high-end vps to run the server on, since we both probably need atleast 8 cores to our insane projects on, but that is a headache for later, currently just having fun creating the project.


I think we could have very promising discussions together on both our projects so if you need any help or information just give me a message!
I've read all 20 books and probably all letters by Tolkien so I can kind of call myself a Loremaster like Saruman did haha

-------------

To my knowledge, this was the ONLY server regarding Middle-Earth that was actually Middle-Earth

Middle Earth Adventures

Explore Middle Earth on a tibian way.

middleserver.blogspot.com

 

[Dercas]

Hah! Over the years many have tried but failed to create an actual server based on Middle-Earth.
Most often you see real maps with locations named after locations from ME but doesnt have any resemblance to any of it.
But that is not Middle-Earth. It is time for a real Middle-Earth server to launch!

I love to hear you are also going for the real RPG experience, something that Middle Earth deserves with all it's stories.

I have chosen to only include an additional Orc race, Istari are too powerful to be created by a player, I also found it very unimmersive to have a hundred Istari walking around.
Regarding Magic I was thinking about the abilities of Aragorn or the Elves, mostly very passive, although haven't worked this out a lot.

As I am replicating the stories of Arda I want to stay as canon as possible regarding lore but also gameplay. Beornings was something that I had in my mind aswell, but that comes at a later stage if at all, it was only after the destruction of the One Ring that the Beornings were getting their own lands back again. They did play a huge role in overtaking Dol Goldur at some point if my memory serves me right.

It is also a slow process, but I make it fun for myself by listening to the many audiobooks while mapping and creating.
Very interested in seeing your progress in the map!

I noticed at first there are regions that should be "barren" but the more I read, the more it becomes clear that EVERY area has its own story, even if it's just a passing through of a company, it can create locations for you. For example the Pelennor Fields are not as empty as you think, there is an additional wall between Minas Tirith and Osgiliath, it's not completely barren, these fields were fertile farmland, protected by the great wall of Rammas Echor, you could perhaps think of the outside area's of Whiterun from Skyrim, with farms, fields and mills. Peter Jackson did an awful job on portraying the region outside of Minas Tirith.


My map currently loads within 5 seconds so I am very happy, but every week new content gets added, the seconds are getting more and more
My current local machine has no trouble running it, but eventually I probably have to rent a high-end vps to run the server on, since we both probably need atleast 8 cores to our insane projects on, but that is a headache for later, currently just having fun creating the project.


I think we could have very promising discussions together on both our projects so if you need any help or information just give me a message!
I've read all 20 books and probably all letters by Tolkien so I can kind of call myself a Loremaster like Saruman did haha

-------------

To my knowledge, this was the ONLY server regarding Middle-Earth that was actually Middle-Earth

Middle Earth Adventures

Explore Middle Earth on a tibian way.

middleserver.blogspot.com

Oh lord, that's quite a response! Where to start

Yeah, I know a lot of people actually failed - i can recall at least 3 or 4 projects that were hyped and then died. I was trying to create such a server years ago (possibly around 2009 or 2010) but we were quite limited with the technical options

We've been thinking about Orcs - we had an idea to create orcs race that would be ignored by monsters - Orcs/Goblins/trolls etc. (unless player attack a monster) and they'd be gaining experience from killing players while 'good' races wouldn't, but well.. It'd be a nightmare to balance the server & it would be nightmare for good faction players. There were lots of variations of this idea but non of them was perfect so we left it behind. We had one good idea but it wouldn't work unless we got 1k players or so.. and this number of players isn't real. Maybe one day we'll figure out something
When it comes to Istari, they'll be pretty much overpowered. We're planning to make a level cap (well, maybe not real level cap but at around 250-300 lv we plan to make it very hard to get lvls) & at around this level there'd be quite a tough and long quest that would reset the player's character with a possibility to get istari as a vocation. The quest must be long, tough, and must demotivate players from doing. The idea is to have istaris but just a few. We've been also thinking to grant Istari to, for example, Senior Tutors.

Well, not sure how you're going to resolve the magic thing but I'm planning to remove the magic almost completely. Istari will be the only magic vocation on the server.
There'll be a huge change in the equipment - the equipment will really matter. Instead of runes as we know, I'm planning to do runes for dwarves as upgrade system to the weapons or armors.
The healing will come from food (cooking is also predicted), perhaps potions crafting (which will be more valuable than we have in the classic tibia & much more rare) and.. artifacts. The artifacts will be as for example Aragorn's Elessar - healing item.

All 20 rings will be in the game and each one of them will be OP but just 1 copy of each ring. Haven't decided how to give them to the players. Perhaps first 20 players will receive a gift... or maybe I'll be giving 1 ring away to a random person within the first 20 days of the server's start. We'll see!

Oh dear, I just remember that Beornings (or just one) were helping Aragorn with Gollum (or smth like that) & i remember they received some piece of land from elves after the war I've read most of the things that Tolkien left related to the middle earth but it's been ages ago.
I've moved like 100 times in my life and sadly all the books that I had are gone and I have no idea where they are.

When it comes to the map, we've made so far just a template. We've got 20k/20k map of middle earth:



This picture was processed with the program that I re-posted here on the forum:
BitMapToMap v2.0 by DarkstaR (https://otland.net/threads/bitmaptomap-v2-0-by-darkstar.287924/)

Blue was replaced with water, pink with mountains, green with grass and yellow with sand. I had to remove lots of blue before i processed the picture but you get the point, haha
So the map is... pretty much 1:1 to middle earth. Just a bit smaller than real ME
We've been just checking out so far how big should be for example, Minas Tirith and other locations so we got kind of 'drafts' of each location that will be changed & detailed in the future.
At this stage, we're not really doing great job when it comes to the map. It's due to the fact that we'll add custom sprites.. We don't really want to put a lot of effort & lots of details right now and then do that again in the future once we got custom sprites. We just want to create it so that we have all cities, we've got all locations we want and once sprites are done then we can start working on detail.
Minas Tirith:



We can't show much (and don't really want) but here's a random forge(some details will be edited, not final look):



We're focusing right now on client with sprites 64x64. Once the client is ready, we'll start focusing on custom sprites. Later on we have in plans to work on map


I mean, a single wall on the pelennor fields doesn't make them really full of content haha
its still just a field with a single wall on it.. & i don't think we'll be adding any walls over there.
but i must admit that you got a point by saying that every location, every area has its own story and! lots of possibilities for us to create some content

Oh dear lord, i got 6x 3,9 ghz, 16gb ram, quite good SSD and my map loads in 50~ secs... wish me luck when its all finished. Bah! wish me luck to edit this map in the future...

Haha, if you're a nerd as I am then I am happy for us to have lots of discussions!

 

[Tenzhiro]

Oh lord, that's quite a response! Where to start

Yeah, I know a lot of people actually failed - i can recall at least 3 or 4 projects that were hyped and then died. I was trying to create such a server years ago (possibly around 2009 or 2010) but we were quite limited with the technical options

We've been thinking about Orcs - we had an idea to create orcs race that would be ignored by monsters - Orcs/Goblins/trolls etc. (unless player attack a monster) and they'd be gaining experience from killing players while 'good' races wouldn't, but well.. It'd be a nightmare to balance the server & it would be nightmare for good faction players. There were lots of variations of this idea but non of them was perfect so we left it behind. We had one good idea but it wouldn't work unless we got 1k players or so.. and this number of players isn't real. Maybe one day we'll figure out something
When it comes to Istari, they'll be pretty much overpowered. We're planning to make a level cap (well, maybe not real level cap but at around 250-300 lv we plan to make it very hard to get lvls) & at around this level there'd be quite a tough and long quest that would reset the player's character with a possibility to get istari as a vocation. The quest must be long, tough, and must demotivate players from doing. The idea is to have istaris but just a few. We've been also thinking to grant Istari to, for example, Senior Tutors.

Well, not sure how you're going to resolve the magic thing but I'm planning to remove the magic almost completely. Istari will be the only magic vocation on the server.
There'll be a huge change in the equipment - the equipment will really matter. Instead of runes as we know, I'm planning to do runes for dwarves as upgrade system to the weapons or armors.
The healing will come from food (cooking is also predicted), perhaps potions crafting (which will be more valuable than we have in the classic tibia & much more rare) and.. artifacts. The artifacts will be as for example Aragorn's Elessar - healing item.

All 20 rings will be in the game and each one of them will be OP but just 1 copy of each ring. Haven't decided how to give them to the players. Perhaps first 20 players will receive a gift... or maybe I'll be giving 1 ring away to a random person within the first 20 days of the server's start. We'll see!

Oh dear, I just remember that Beornings (or just one) were helping Aragorn with Gollum (or smth like that) & i remember they received some piece of land from elves after the war I've read most of the things that Tolkien left related to the middle earth but it's been ages ago.
I've moved like 100 times in my life and sadly all the books that I had are gone and I have no idea where they are.

When it comes to the map, we've made so far just a template. We've got 20k/20k map of middle earth:

View attachment 82845

This picture was processed with the program that I re-posted here on the forum:
BitMapToMap v2.0 by DarkstaR (https://otland.net/threads/bitmaptomap-v2-0-by-darkstar.287924/)

Blue was replaced with water, pink with mountains, green with grass and yellow with sand. I had to remove lots of blue before i processed the picture but you get the point, haha
So the map is... pretty much 1:1 to middle earth. Just a bit smaller than real ME
We've been just checking out so far how big should be for example, Minas Tirith and other locations so we got kind of 'drafts' of each location that will be changed & detailed in the future.
At this stage, we're not really doing great job when it comes to the map. It's due to the fact that we'll add custom sprites.. We don't really want to put a lot of effort & lots of details right now and then do that again in the future once we got custom sprites. We just want to create it so that we have all cities, we've got all locations we want and once sprites are done then we can start working on detail.
Minas Tirith:

View attachment 82846

We can't show much (and don't really want) but here's a random forge(some details will be edited, not final look):
View attachment 82847


We're focusing right now on client with sprites 64x64. Once the client is ready, we'll start focusing on custom sprites. Later on we have in plans to work on map


I mean, a single wall on the pelennor fields doesn't make them really full of content haha
its still just a field with a single wall on it.. & i don't think we'll be adding any walls over there.
but i must admit that you got a point by saying that every location, every area has its own story and! lots of possibilities for us to create some content

Oh dear lord, i got 6x 3,9 ghz, 16gb ram, quite good SSD and my map loads in 50~ secs... wish me luck when its all finished. Bah! wish me luck to edit this map in the future...

Haha, if you're a nerd as I am then I am happy for us to have lots of discussions!

I went the same route regarding generating the same shape as you did! As the images I input were to big, I eventually had to just settle for the absolute edges of the map and have them like 5 pixels, hand-filling everything myself, you do have the exact river layout which I have not! I only have the big river outlines but not the very little brooks and small rivers. That was a headache already

The idea of having a vocation like the Orc and have it like a natural enemy for some vocations is something i've been dreaming of, and I do believe a lot of people who play OTS also, to play an Orc and be an actual "enemy". Now I must say a wise man (@Michael Orsino ) once said to me that anything is possible, and when building Middle-Earth I already had a few problems regarding quests that I had to solve in a out of the box way, eventually you must also go on your own strengths and perhaps eventually think of such systems to be done by someone else on a paid request, you will know it will be done right. (@Xikini could do this for you)

Development must always be as cheap as possible and most of us are beginner devs that are having lots of learning curves, and making mistakes in systems like these can be a gamebreaking in the long run. Also many things you find on OTLand or any other OT platform are very helpful, you can change systems very easily to suit your purposes!
I've turned a Cursed Chest into a Quest Wall that upon use spawns waves of monsters, I've turned the well known War of Emperium into a Guild Fortress System that allows for cities controlled by Guilds. If you see the systems in it's very basic essentials you can create a lot of things that would make your Middle-Earth immersive.

I still use the BitMap Generator to generate Key Layouts like these:

Lothlorien!
Lots of huge trees with the biggest one in the middle, I notice converting these maps and building upon this works really well in a Tibia game.

----------------------------

Regarding the Rings of Power I also decided to make all 20 rings unique, but there are other, lesser rings as well, but they may or may not have any effects.
Currently, our One Ring has True Invisibility meaning they are invisible to any player, but it does damage over time while wearing it to balance being invisible.
It's still unknown to what I want to do with the other rings, as they are very unique, I want to give thought on each of them individually, but not all 20 rings have survived all the ages and I will have to play around with the lesser rings to keep things a bit interesting.

--------------------------

Lots of things to think about really, it's a never ending process, even talking about it can be endless
If you add me on Discord, I can give you some PDFs containing detailed maps and also all the books
From Valinor, Beleriand, Numenor, Middle-Earth, even the Dark Lands.

 

[Antonow]

That's a cool projetct!
It's been a while since i've had adventures such as this one.

Looking forward for it, good luck!

 

[Me again]

Lol this looks neatly done

 

[Tenzhiro]

Playing around with the Council Meeting scene

Very fun to try to re-create a scene that involves both book and movie lore!
(I know I said Im not gonna use sound, but most often the music goes perfectly on point with transcripts lol)

Still much to do regarding NPC movements etc..​

 

[Tenzhiro]

All may change at any point.
---
"Three rings for the Elven-kings under the sky..."
These rings are the most powerful and have not yet been touched by evil.
These rings were made to heal and preserve and their effects will reflect those themes.
These rings hold little evil but do still succumb to the power of the One for the way they were made was taught by He.
(Regeneration for you and those around you)
Negative Sides: None really at the moment no, infinite Soft Boots!

"Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone..."
These rings allow the bearers to obtain great wealth but at a most terrible cost.
These rings were made to corrupt and the deeper your greed, the harder you will fall.
(Find coin in all creatures and more loot)
Negative Sides: None really at the moment no, infinite Loot!

"Nine for mortal men doomed to die..."
The bearers of these rings are already doomed, once worn, they will set in motion an event that will change the world.
The most evil of rings if not the One itself. One could obtain tremendous powers, but there will be irreversible consequences.
(Character Enhancements)
Negative Sides: After abusing it's powers for too long, the player will be changed into a Nazgul! Spawning in Mordor, doing the only thing they can, the bidding of Sauron.

"One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne..."
The One ring to rule them all.
It is this ring, all powers of the other rings are bound to
For simple races this ring makes the bearer Invisible to all eyes and extends it's users lifespan.
In His hand, it would hold control over all bearer of rings, and the doom of Middle-Earth will be decided.
(True Invisibility)
Negative Sides: Damage over-time while wearing the ring. Bearers of the ring, may attract Nazgul or other evil creatures.
--------------------
​

- All twenty rings of power are currently in the game as unique, one-of-a-kind items for players to obtain.
The powers they give are tremendously OP for the world, but beware, overusing the ring will lead to very dire consequences, some even permanently.

- The One Ring used in the Quest: The Lord Of The Rings is different.
It also hangs on a silver necklace, so in effect, there are two "One Rings" in existence but only one can be worn around your finger.

- When a player wearing or carrying the One Ring dies by certain creatures, the Ring will be "taken", it does drop when killed by a player.
--------------------

I don't like to spoil things, but since most actions from the movies are directly converted into quest lines, you are spoiled anyway, who hasn't watched the Lord of the Rings yet!

(Still fine-tuning it, needs to be a more fleshed out experience, still have to set comba for both the Nazguls and Aragorn. Aragorn, for testing purposes spawns very soon already, which on the live server will be a lot longer)

Spoiler: Testing Weathertop

---------------------

Any suggestions on what you'd like to see as a negative side of the Dwarven Rings of Power?​