NEW UPDATE: (version 70) I added two Gondorian guard towers behind Morgul vale aqueduct to defend it from early heroes rush.

NEW UPDATE: (version 69) solved a technical problem in previous update

NEW UPDATE: (version 68) now Isengard (player 7) can get the hero Ugluk by simply making his first unique unit (uruk hai raider) as older and leader of uruk hai raiders (the first uruk hai raider created will get a boost of +300 hps and +30 attack) for better balance and acuracy to Tolkien book.

NEW UPDATE: (version 67) now Gandalf cannot go elsewhere when he is back in Bag End to chat to Frodo about the One Ring and he is more locked to his task after to go in Isengard and can't do anything else.

NEW UPDATE: (version 66): now the trebuchets mounted at start in Minas Tirith are special trebuchets which you can't move, renamed "wall trebuchets" to prevent rush with them and more realistic and with range bonus that way: +1 at first level (figuring an elevated position on the wall), +2 on second step wall and +3 on the third, the elevation giving slight more long trajectory but being mainly vertical in end of the stone run, not much. You see in film one on top hiting almost orc chieftain on first line of his army next to onagers shooting above the wall. Now the third level treb can reach a target 4 tiles above the first wall. You see also in film how they got no wheel to move: they are mounted on wall or tower probably thanks to a crane. They are only defensive.

NEW UPDATE: (version 65): now Minas Morgul (player 6, purple) starts at dark age because with the help of allies sending ressources through market, he could still reach too fast the Nazgul technology to gain almost unbeatable Witch King before Gandalf could release Frodo in the Shire, which makes the evil side win too easily (almost automaticaly) and ruins whole plot and scenario.

NEW UPDATE: (version 64) no more snow trolls allowed for Mordor (player 2). Is not north civ (is normaly only from Gundabad eternal snow north of Middle Earth unit) and some players were abusing by doing only that strong unit with few room while you don't even see one in whole LOTR Peter Jackson trilogy and I am quite sure even for Tolkien's books.

NEW UPDATE (version 63):
Now the Elves factions (Rivendell and Lorien) got no longer siege workshop and Lorien doesn't have access anymore to catapult galeon because it makes them too strong in defense and it is totally inacurate in term of their spirit bound to nature and the respect of it.

NEW UPDATE (version 62):
Now Minas Morgul (P6) starts in first age (Aoe2 feudal age) to prevent black riders to become mighty nazguls too soon like when pursuing Frodo locked in Shire.
Nazgul powerful tech can be considered as gaining fellbeasts.

NEW UPDATE (version 61):
7 tents (7x5pop=35) have been added in Helm's deep cave to figure the shelter of Edoras people when Isengard attacked and 1 more house on top of Minas Tirith next to stable, to figure more the last standing resistance of this huge city.

bricklechris: all is hard because what is the joy to win easily? The main problem is balance: manage to make triggers gives everytime lot of advantages so is normal you don't have them easily and the more triggers are hard to do, the more they are strong. Voilà!

This is so good although after about an hour in rivendell it gets crowded and cant get out. Also i think im just waiting for lord elron to spawn and the other guy in rivendell to go to the meet point? i cant control him so not sure how to progress Arogon sword is upgraded but only just that blacksmith was hard to get to lol

NEW UPDATE (version 60):
Now, Minas Morgul when gaining shadows armor gains only for military units not buildings and so don't block other university buildings upgrades.

NEW UPDATE (version 59):
Now Edoras gain 5 towers and lose 2 houses to gain more acurate strength especially vs early nazguls attack (for a total of 12 guard towers instead 7).
Helm's deep gain 1 TC and 3 tents for more resilience if other TCs fall, like in the books.

NEW UPDATE (version 58):
Now the Witch King power will be gained when Nazgul tech is developped in castle (to give a bit more time for Gandalf to come back to Bag end and release Frodo from the Shire before an unbeatable witch king arrives to it). This system is even more clear because the Witch King is a Nazgul himself after all.

NEW UPDATE (version 57):
After some verifications in books, I added a third Maggot's hound as it should be with their name, little hp boost for one dog to be able to kill a regular wolf and I replaced the Maggot hobbit hole by a TC with stubble roof and bricks walls because it is said that and that this area had several big houses with several families and stone wall with wood gate and it seems now to me that it is more acurate to leave Shire at least make villagers like peasants, if not army. In book it is also said that the black riders fear the hobbits and their strong houses sometimes fortified and it can be now depicted in this scenario thanks to ring bell with lot of hobbit vils garisoned.

NEW UPDATE (version 56):
>Maggot's hounds are now blue units (based on elite wargs=orcs hussars who are heroes who can regenerate). They got restricted area on Maggot's farm to guard it and can help Frodo and other hobbits to be safe from black riders, like in books.
>Based on the same idea, Maggot's house can be a shelter now for Frodo, Sam or Merry or any infantry unit, thanks to a watch tower puted on it.
All of this can help Frodo to not be killed by early black riders attack without the Witch King or being 9 ringwraiths gathered, before Gandalf is back from Minas Tirith to release Frodo from the Shire thanks to the knowledge that Bilbo's ring is in fact Sauron's ring taken by Isildur and stolen by Gollum.

I advise to use this waterfalls graphic, way more natural: https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=750914009&searchtext=WATERFALL

NEW UPDATE (version 55):

You cannot cheat by creating a second Sauron after the creation by killing Frodo and taking back his ring, now.

NEW UPDATE (version 54):

Tiny details improved in Moria:
>added the Durin's stone on the south bank of Mirrormere lake on east gate with trigger for blue (P1) to read the runes (for better immersion, acuracy and Tolkien's world understanding).
>added one water fall step to show the stairs shape of the cliffs of mountain behind Mirrormere.
>better shape of Balin's tomb in Mazarbul's chamber (by stacking thin tombstones into a block)
>cracked road instead grass under west gate mountain (figuring the inside paved by dwarves)
>completed the chat on west gate describing the writing on it which is in fact a riddle (to be more comprehensible for non LOTR fans)

NEW UPDATE (version 53):

>now player 5 (Rivendell) got same chat than player 1 (Gondor) concerning Narsil sword reforging and the council of Elrond debate because they participate of it in their own town even with Elrond, their lord, as leader.

>I withdrowed lot of trees in the gap of Rohan, because it is not a forest actually in the book and in scenario it was always blocking the path with only one tile on a long way which I find not fair for Boromir or Gandalf passing. It still can be easily blocked by an army and a good position to embush from shire or Isengard.

>Now Legolas when created receives +10 attack, considering that he gained max experience from previous scenario "The Hobbit" and he also now can kill a bit more easily the Watcher or 1 elite mumakil in one on one fight ("and it still only counts as one" XD).

ENJOY!

silverronin: thx, I tried but AI sucks too much: cant even trigger a goal without it makes units get stuck on the way. Try with some friends.

Will it ever be possible for you to make this functional for single player? If you ever do, this is an instant download for me. This isn't a knock on your work by the way, I get how complicated this is, I just don't do multiplayer. Whatever you do, keep up with this, the pics are amazing!

(version 52, part 2)
>Following same balance idea, Mumakils (for Harad, player 4) are now limited to 20 (you see them in distance arriving in Pelenor's fields battle, in the film). They got higher limit because cost a lot more and spear line got about x4 damages vs them (being based on Persian elephants). The reason in story is that Harad few grass lands can't feed more. The damage at 21th mumakil on map, is 100 each 5 sec.

>I deleted the tech giving Mordor the possibility to make Mumakil and Dragon cavalry in Mordor ("army of mordor") because it makes literally no sense: they are allied here and Mordor got no grass at all because of mount doom ashes and fume!

>I added a gate in the middle of Barad Dûr bridge as Peter Jackson film design, linking the two towers, now protected like a second barbican. It justifies even more the risk to send the ring in mount doom, because Barad Dûr is even stronger.

NEW UPDATE (version 52):
>The Mordor (player 2) is now limited to have 5 olog hais at the same time. It follows the film again (in the entrance of Minas Tirith) and above all the unbalance of the data mod because the ologs are way too cheap compared to their strength and the fact they are based on infantry with high hp and armor, making them to have literally no counter units (they crush cities with only 10 of them because arrows, or any human unit just have no effect on them). Plus, one olog match strongest human heroes which is quite unfair for a cheap regular unit. For the story the explenation is that Sauron must control them telepatically (you see just before the fall of Barad Dur how when the ring is melted, the Olog lifting hand to finish Aragorn which he even crushed on ground, just sudenly looks back to Sauron's tower, drop weapon and flee). Now, when you make 6 of them, they start to get 50 damage each 5 seconds.

NEW UPDATE (version 51):
>Now, king Elessar doesn't lose attack when Arwen dies but he gains a boost of +100 HP if they meet eachother on the Rivendell wooden bridge

>Treebeard get a boost of 500 HP at creation (to show more acurately that he is the leader, elder and taller ent, as described by Tolkien and justify his unique icon)

>Merry and Pippin are entirely healed and boosted by +100 HP maximal stats if they reach the home of Treebeard, and drink water on the Entwash river source on Misty mountains roots signaled by a water barrel (treebeard glass) and a waterfall in Fangorn forest (Fangorn=Elvish Treebeard name).

>better logical and natural design for Helm's deep river (as a shallow and waterfall on mountain source) and Carach Angren hills (explaining they are not flooded by lava).

NEW UPDATE (version 50): new secret trigger: when Frodo and Sam are back in the Shire after being rescued by the great eagles from mount Doom eruption after the fall of Barad Dur thanks to the destruction of the unique ring of Sauron, they get again magic weapons, armor and a max xp boost, Sam get a fited chain mail armor from King Elessar as reward (+10 armor) and they summon an army of militia in Shire (30 elites hobbits+30 elite archers) as explained in the end of the book (chapter: "The scouring of the Shire" where the Shire is controled by Saruman and Grima and some evil men and semi orcs after the fall of Isengard).

NEW UPDATE (version 49): now King Elessar is not recreated after meeting the king of the deads in Dwimorberg , he just loses his bonus of attack of 100 (he got -100 attack trigger) to take in consideration previous eventual gain of experience and attack bonus. Beware to not block the creation of the deads army with him so.

NEW UPDATE (version 48): now King Elessar get a boost of +10 attack and armor when created because he was almost like Aragorn (before improvement) and that felt unfair to me considering his repaired king of Gondor magical sword Narsil (he even a lot parry with it in the film and in the book, use it even broken when escorting Frodo to Rivendell so it was very weaker, being shorter) and the full plate armor shown on graphic mod which also seems acurate to me considering his rank (you see it in the film "The return Of The King" in the Black Gate final battle). He get now the strength of the best infantry and can kill one Olog hai in one on one combat.
Also, even without sumoning the army of the deads, he is a bit better and worth the improvement in Rivendell.

NEW UPDATE (version 47): no trebuchet now for player 2 (Mordor), player 4 (Harad or Rhûn) and player 6 (Minas Morgul). They were too strong and too high tech for orcs. Now Gondor defenses are more persistant as it should, Mordor orcs can't no more shoot from down to up of Minas Tirith but Gondor trebuchets can from top of the city to the valley on enemies primitive siege weapons like mangonels (the film has same idea).
Grond (huge hero siege ram) makes also more sense now, by being more useful.

NEW UPDATE (version 46): no more trade carts allowed for all: it blocks all paths and open allies gates, especially with AI. Tolkien's kind of defenses with tiny bridges doesn't allow that.

NEW UPDATE (version 45):

THE EVIL POWER OF SHADOWS (for Minas Morgul only):
*******************************************************
By killing innocents, Minas Morgul heroes fall even more in the world of evil shadows making them dissapear to material world and more difficult to hit (their body become etheral like with the evil rings from Sauron's evil dark soul). It means they gain +1 magic armor for 9 kills, +1 for 99 kills and +1 for 999. Again, if they "die" (or "redie"), they lose the previous bonus like if evilness was washed and same if they are just created for the first time because unafected by previous events.
Same if black riders are upgraded to nazguls in castle (they already gain armor by more evilness and sacrifices of ressources).

NEW UPDATE (version 44):
EXPERIENCE BONUS:
*********************
look details in new discussion section "scout"

alkalinity_ the spearman in front of Elrond's House. Look closer.

Cannot find Glorfindel at all... Not sure if I'm blind or what.

im sorry i thought is was a glitch

tobyy55441: by the way learn lotr story before to criticize my scenario: if Frodo knew that he got the ring of Sauron,why would have he stayed in the Shire? I add that the release of Frodo from Shire is linked with the starting of Isengard army.If not, blue could simply sacrify Gandalf to prevent it. Now, any enemy can find easily Frodo unprotected in Shire and make Sauron coming. That's the very start of the book,when black riders seek Frodo in Shire. Now you know why this trigger is so important for the plot and scenario of the game and why Minas Morgul starts with few res but black riders in castle age: to follow the story of the books, that was my goal from the very start. VOILA!

tobyy55441: silly persons always think that intelligent things are silly. That is exactly the definition of silliness: to not understand what requires intelligence. Be more humble in the future to not look silly and above all, dont call silly what you don't understand: it makes you stay silly, like a fool of a Took! To not even have trigered liberation of Frodo which occurs at second mission even explained in instructions of the game is really pathetic!

frodo keeps coming back of the river at the start it says no piont leaving shire now and he walks back
its your silly trigger

Flamin Koala: thank you and you are asbolutely right. It was a choice from the start: make a kind of coop scenario even in missions but also with strategical aspects (a balanced mix of RTS and RPG: that was my chalenge here). Note that the fellowhship is only played by player 1 to ease the cooperation anyway (or it would be quite heavy to control with strategical part the same time).
You can try to play good side with 4 human players vs AI evil side but note that then you can't get Sarumane nor Witch King in the game which are strong key characters and AI is also quite coward and clumsy and thus, easy to beat and will never hunt Frodo, block paths with trade carts, send vils to death on Morgul vale, etc. It is really designed for human adaptative intelligence understanding very special goals and very strangely programmed to represent the complexity of LOTR story.

Also i forget to say I absolutely loved playing what I could from this map

Is there anyway to play this solo with all the triggers working. I've tried to play it solo however rivendell never makes Elrond so the council trigger never occurs.

NEW PHOTOMONTAGE OF THE WHOLE LOTR MAP IN 1% REDUCTION! (at first image shown as description).
You must click on it to have full resolution of it.

PhantomOfForces: no problem, done!

Hey marcknop can you accept my request to join the lotr AOE group?

NEW UPDATE (version 43):
>corrected spelling of "melon" to "mellon"
>Balrog's area really restricted to not go upstairs of Moria and show the chat of area limitation before deleting Mazarbul's chamber wall (for no reason so).

NEW UPDATE (version 42):
>New layout of the dead marshes with little moving lights like candles on dead corpses as described by Tolkien.
>lot of chats added on Smeagol road for better immersion and description of the lands and events
>a new trigger making the dead marshes really dangereous now, from the ghosts a bit like the Morgul vale pestilence but with 20 dammages instead 5 and not on the way found by Gollum.
>better trigger to look the black gate in distance for Frodo thanx to Gollum.
>more natural and comprehensible layout of the falls of Rauros thanx to some rocks additions.
ENJOY!

NEW UPDATE (version 41):
>new Old Forest layout with some new graphic details (a defined path to Bombadil's house, a waterfall and a cliff on the source of Withywindel river behind Bombadil's house and two standing stones in entrance of the Barrow-downs, as described by Tolkien)
>fixed some bugs on the display of the chat between Gandalf and Bilbo when he comes back to Minas Tirith great archives
>more acurate restricted area for the Galgal spectre ("barrow wight"), only on hills and road in between now (no more down the hill on Bree road and in Old forest).

Sorry, but the chats trigered by selecting units can work only in single player game (because you can't choose the player who selects the unit in editor).

NEW UPDATE (version 40):
>better cliffs design in south downs
>a new stone gate and a hedge on east border of the Shire bording the old forest as described by Tolkien and which can prevent black riders to pass
>some nice chats when you click on blue heroes for the first time.
ENJOY!