The Battle for Middle-earth

Platform(s): PC
Genre: Strategy
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: Electronic Arts
Release Date: Dec. 6, 2004

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'LotR: The Battle for Middle-earth' - v1.02 Update Patch Available NOW

by Rainier on April 21, 2005 @ 1:01 a.m. PDT

The Battle for Middle Earth utilizes the Generals game engine, and in the game, players can select from the different "good" or "evil" campaigns, where they will be given the freedom to command a variety of major armies from the films, each with their own distinct strengths and weaknesses.

Get the LotR: Battle For Middle Earth v1.02 Patch off WP (31mb)

IMPORTANT NOTE:

The NVIDIA ForceWare 71.84 and 71.89 drivers are known to cause BfME to occasionally crash with a 'DX8 Error' message for certain users. We're working closely with the NVIDIA team to solve these issues. If and only if you experience a greater frequency of crashes under the 71.84 or 71.89 drivers, we recommend you try using the 66.93 drivers until a better solution becomes available. This issue affects all existing versions of BfME, patched or unpatched.

Issues addressed:

1. DISCONNECT CODE & NETWORK CHANGES

  • Players who disconnect in the 1v1 ladder now get a disconnect and a loss stat. The remaining opponent in that match gets a win. The 1v1 ladder is updated accordingly.
  • The new disconnect code does not apply yet for the 2v2 ladder. We are working with Gamespy to implement the new disconnect code on the 2v2 ladder as quickly as possible. We will update you as soon as it has been implemented. We will still enforce our current Disconnect Policy as a second measure to ensure fair play.
  • Added an early detection feature that will kick players who disconnect and reconnect their network cable after a certain number of attempts.
  • Fixed a bug that gave everyone in a 2v2 Quickmatch a “victorious” message if two players on the same team disconnected.
  • Fixed a bug that caused some high-ranking players to Quickmatch against first-time users.
  • 2v2 Quickmatch stats are updated a little quicker on the Ladder site and Profile menu.
  • Nurn (3v3 map) has been removed from the 2v2 Quickmatch map queue.
  • Cair Andros and Eaves of Fangorn (3-player maps) have been removed from the 1v1 Quickmatch map queue.
  • Fixed a desync caused by upgrading numerous Trebuchets that are bombarding an area with Fire Stones.

2. GARRISON FEATURE

  • Ruined Towers can now be garrisoned and transformed into a defensive structure by nearly every infantry unit.
  • Garissoned units can be removed from Ruined Towers at any time.

3. BALANCE CHANGES

  • Gandalf's Istari Light, as either Gandalf the Grey or Gandalf the White, no longer kills the Mordor Witchking with one attack.
  • Pikemen Heavy Armor upgrade gives less protection against attacks by soldier-class units. This should make infantry units a viable counter to them.
  • Nazgul are slightly more resistant to archers and fire.
  • Saruman's Fireball does more damage to hero units.
  • Saruman now gains Leadership as a default ability.
  • Nazgul normal speed increased slightly.
  • Nazgul swoop speed increased significantly.
  • Eomer’s Spear Throw now hits correctly and does proper damage.
  • Rohirrim and Archer Rohirrim had their hitpoints reversed. Fixed.
  • The Catapult’s “Release the Prisoners” toggle no longer damages friendly structures.
  • Theoden and Eomer now properly receive the Elven Gifts upgrade.
  • Flying units can no longer be immobilized by Lurtz’s Cripple Strike.
  • Fixed an exploit that allowed players to move their worker units (Townsman, Orc Laborer, etc) anywhere on the map by “pushing” them with another friendly unit.
  • Fixed an exploit that allowed Merry, Frodo, Sam, and Pippin to throw two rocks at once.
  • Mumakils now properly damage castle walls and Ent Moots.
  • Saruman no longer retains control of a horde of units if he had cast Domination on them after their banner carrier had died.
  • Heroes no longer gain experience if they’re standing next to an Uruk-hai horde that’s using the Bloodthirsty ability.
  • Mountain Trolls gain an extra armor bonus at level 2.
  • Warg Heavy Armor is now less resistant to normal damage and flame damage, but is more resistant to damage from heroes.
  • The amount of fire damage that the Mumakil requires before it rampages has been increased significantly.
  • Heal reset timer increased from 2 minutes to 3 minutes.
  • Gandalf can only get Shadowfax when upgraded to Gandalf the White.
  • Build time for Gondor and Rohan castle wall upgrades now doubled.
  • Freezing Rain reset timer increased from 3 minutes to 4 minutes.
  • Darkness reset timer reduced from 10 minutes to 4 minutes.
  • Cloud Break reset timer reduced from 6 minutes to 5 minutes.
  • The Gondor Ranger's had a bug that caused their arrows to get weaker when when upgraded with fire arrows. This has been fixed.
  • Theoden's mounted speed increased to match that of the Rohirrim.
  • Gondor’s summoned Rohirrim now come already upgraded with Shields and Heavy Armor.
  • Boromir and Faramir have slightly more hitpoints.
  • Faramir's armor is now stronger.
  • Faramir now receives the proper armor type when mounted.
  • Fixed a bug that limited the armor bonus that Gondor Knights received when fully upgraded. They are now tougher when fully upgraded.
  • Orc Fighters armor is less resistant to damage from soldier-class units.
  • Ent armor is slightly more resistant to archers.
  • Elven Warriors and Tower Guards no longer receive a bonus for retaliation from nearby Leadership. Hero Leadership bonuses still apply to all other aspects of these units.
  • Heavy Armor upgrade for Elven Warriors now provides less resistance to archers, soldiers, and cavalry.
  • Gondor Blacksmith now upgrades to level 2 after earning 750 credits instead of 1200.
  • Gondor Reinforced Gate upgrade cost raised to 1200 credits from 750.
  • Gondor Numenorean Stonework upgrade cost raised to 2500 from 2000.
  • Gondor Battle Tower and Keep Archers upgrade cost raised to 3000 from 2000.
  • Gondor Banner upgrade cost raised to 600 from 300.
  • Gondor Fire Arrows upgrade cost raised to 800 from 500.
  • Gondor Forged Blades and Heavy Armor upgrade cost raised to 800 from 400.
  • Gondor Ranger's are now more resistant to damage from soldiers and cavalry.
  • Elven Warriors with bows are now crushed as normal infantry.
  • Elven Warriors with swords move more slowly and act similarly to Pikeman against cavalry.

4. WORLD BUILDER FIXES

  • Removed two non-functioning buttons from the Edit Skybox window in World Builder.
  • Fixed a crash caused by loading a user-created multiplayer map in Custom Match with a long map description.
  • World Builder no longer brings up an error message if the user attempts to save under Bases, Libraries, or System Maps. (The message still appears for those running Windows on a limited user account).

5. OTHER BUG FIXES

  • Gondor and Rohan Wells that are attacked while under construction no longer cease being built.
  • Ruined Towers are now visible on the mini-map when the user has troops next to the tower or occupying it. The towers are only visible on the mini-map when in view.
  • Pressing Shift and left-clicking the mouse on terrain no longer deselects your units. This should apply to both normal and alternate mouse setups.
  • Treebeard now correctly displays his ranged attack damage on his Help Text.
  • Castle flags can no longer collide with projectile objects. This caused some carefully placed units within castle walls to become invincible against catapults.
  • Save games now correctly update the profile from which that game was created.
  • Fixed a bug that caused the Cripple Strike animation to stop playing if any hero affected by it is healed right away.
  • Guard button now properly appears for Uruk-hai and Uruk-hai Pikemen.
  • Fixed a bug that caused the spell buttons to disappear if a player loads a campaign skirmish map of a faction that’s opposed to the last faction skirmish game that the user has played (i.e., playing a good campaign skirmish and then loading an evil one, or vice versa).
  • Fixed a bug in Eastern Rohan that caused Postern Gates to become non-functional if the player builds a Stables adjacent to it.
  • Added tooltips for the new Communicator that was added in patch 1.01.
  • Units that encounter a newly broken wall section will attempt to pathfind around it, rather than stop at the edge of that wall.
  • Fixed a bug that caused a player to occasionally lose control over units that were recently sent through a Postern Gate.
  • Units are now able to cross the section of bridge directly above the innermost keep in Helm’s Deep.
  • Lurtz’s Cripple Strike animation now ends as soon as the effect does.
  • Credits will no longer automatically play if a user who had recently finished the single-player campaign exits the Network multiplayer lobby.
  • Users will no longer get a friend request from players that they’ve chosen to ignore via the Communicator.
  • Corrected the map descriptions for Old Brown Lands and Mirkwood.
  • Building and quickly canceling Rohan and/or Gondor wall upgrades no longer prevents melee siege units from attacking those walls.
  • Wall upgrade plots no longer remain suspended in air after the upgrades are destroyed.
  • Fixed an exploit that allowed Gondor and Rohan players to use their Postern Gates before they had completed construction.
  • The tooltip and help text for the Mordor Furnace are now consistent.
  • Fixed a bug that occasionally prevented the attack cursor from appearing over enemy units.

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