Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period.
So� what is �Team Alchemy�? It�s a kind of magic you can�t anticipate or plan for when you�re working on a game. Managing a team of 70+ people to create a game requires a delicate balance between establishing and driving a central vision for the product and simultaneously unleashing the tremendous creativity of a group of very talented people. When we do this right, we get the game development equivalent of alchemy; an organic, mysterious, and wonderful process that yields results that can far exceed expectations.
As the name says it�s a Shire map. I focused on a small city with farming fields around it. There�s many scripts (most are walking citizens) and its 400 Command Points each.
Interested in seeing what this map is all about? Well just download it here to find out!
New Work of Art Print News | Mail News Today on MEV there is a new Work of Art available for you to check out created by Strawberry. The Work of Art is actually of a Nazgul, a small preview:
All you have to do if you wish to see a larger version of that image is to zip on over to this page.
New Helms Deep Multiplayer Map Print News | Mail News There is a new Helm's Deep multiplayer map now available for download here at MEV. The map was created by Chaoserver and here's a little info on it:
A version of the Helms deep battle that gives the bad guy (Isengard) players a vast advantage in numbers and the good guys a vast defensive advantage. Isengard begins with hordes of Uruk hai, some Beserkers, Pikemen hordes...
If you'd like to give this rendition of the Helm's Deep map a try, just download it from this page!
1.03 Patch Changes Print News | Mail News I just received an e-mail from Apoc containing changes that are being made to B4ME1 in patch 1.03. The changes involve Rohan, and here's a short list:
Ent Allies Power Point cost reduced to 6 (from 8)
Elven Woods cost reduced (2 points from 3 points)
Some Rohan hero abilities (blademaster,shieldmaiden and glorious charge) are no longer cancelled by Freezing Rain
Glorious Charge reload increased (1m45s from 1m), damage decreased (130% from 200%)
Eowyn starts with horse
To see all the changes that are being done, click on the Read More link below:
High Resolution Water Tech Demo Print News | Mail News A little while back IGN released a video called Water Tech Demo, today EA has released a 350MB version of that video; it's the highest quality version of it you'll ever be able to find.
To download the video RIGHT CLICK AND GO SAVE AS here.
B4ME2 Release Date? Print News | Mail News A few days ago MEV posted a link to a website called GAME and on the website we saw that the European release date for B4ME2 was March 3, 2006. Well today on a website called GameFAQ's they have a section for release dates on B4ME2, there is no date listed for the US (North America) release, but there is a date listed for the EU (Europe) and guess what day they have listed for the EU release date? Well March 3, 2006 which confirms what we saw on GAME.
Now previously whenever MEV posted a link to a website with a release date, the release date would magically change. The release date on GAME never changed, so does this mean that currently EA is aiming for a European release date of March 3, 2006? Well sadly only time will tell for sure.
Singleplayer Map: The Great Battle - Good Print News | Mail News One thing we were promised with the first Battle for Middle Earth, was a tutorial mission that was actually The Last Alliance battle. You know the first battle we all saw in the the first LOTR movie, the battle where Isildur cut off Sauron's finger. Well today a map artist called Andy C. has released a map called The Great Battle, and the map is actually a recreation of The Last Alliance battle. Got your attention now I bet, here's a little more info:
I thought it'd be cool to have a map so that you could recreate this battle. So I made one:
Lord Elrond and Isildur must survive to the end... they will have to fight off many orcs, goblins, trolls, and of course Sauron.
I bet this is a map that you are highly interested in downloading and checking out, well there is nothing stopping you from checking out this page as that is where you'll find the download link. Enjoy!
This day in B4ME/MEV History Print News | Mail News Well a year ago today things were pretty slow on the news front, much like the last few weeks have been pretty slow. The largest question I get asked is when EA will release more information; and the only answer EA continues to give out is "soon".
In effect things are a lot different this year with how EA is developing the game, at first back in August it was apparent that EA was going in the same direction as the first game; but of late it's nice to see things changing around a little. I say pat yourself on the back for that, as we defeated the old EA and now the new EA is for sure having more of a focus on the fan than anything else (war is over, in other words). Sure because of this change we are kept in the dark more about things but that's in a way good as I don't know too many things I've personally highly looked forward to turning out very well. Now enough with my unscheduled rant, here�s what happened last year:
IGN released 11 new screenshots (the ones marked 10/26/2004, they are on the next page as well).
Map: Tic-Tac-Toe Print News | Mail News Boy does MEV have a most interesting map for you to try out today, the map is called Tic-Tac-Toe, created by Talllaxguy1. The map is exactly like what the name is, as you play Tic-Tac-Toe in order to win! Here's some map info:
Did you ever think that you could play Tic-Tac-Toe in BFME? Well now you can. Stay in your corner for a minute then come out and try to get 3 buildings in a row. You may be rewarded with tons of money and power points if you succeed. A super fun game with a quick race for the best powers.
This is one map you for sure will want to check out, and if you'd like to download just head here to do so! Enjoy, I know I had fun playing on the map.
'King Kong' Blurs Line Between Films and Games Print News | Mail News The well known New York Times recently released a story entitled 'King Kong' Blurs Line Between Films and Games. In the story they discuss why Peter Jackson went to Ubisoft to develop the videogame King Kong and not EA. Here's what Peter Jackson's party had to say:
"Electronic Arts was not interested in input from the filmmaker," Jackson's manager told the newspaper. He went on to say that despite this, the games were later marketed as if he were closely involved.
Now this contrasts what Apoc, who works for EA said on the issue:
Peter Jacksons gripes are money business related issues which our development team had no connection with, they did not impact our desire and hard efforts to make a game true to his amazing films.
I dunno, from the looks of it there are two different stories going around and now you know both sides. So where does this leave us, and what does this mean? Well it doesn't really mean too much at this point; it's just sort of a what if to wonder about. As what if Peter Jackson had a say on how the Battle for Middle Earth franchise was developed? Would it be better or worst?
The main New York Times story can be read here, but you may require a (free) subscription; so you can read a summary here. You can read everything that Apoc had to say here (Post #16). Finally a thanks goes out to Ralph for reminding me about the story, I bookmarked it yesterday but it slipped my mind until I was reminded about it.
This day in History Print News | Mail News One year ago today there was a whole bunch of activity going on today. For those of you who don't know, this is the new feature here at MEV where we tell you what happened regarding B4ME/MEV a year ago. Anyways here's what happened:
The German Box Art image for the game was released.
A Pre-order video was released, a video made to entice people to preorder B4ME1.
A map for 8 players separated by mountains and rivers. There are 14 economy plots, and some outposts. That�s not all, it has something special (otherwise I wouldn't upload it :P) there will spawn goblins and cave trolls, who will...
Just check out this page if you'd like to download the map above!
Need Your Help Print News | Mail News I'm doing a little research and I really hope that you will be able to help out; sadly I can't tell you what for right now. What I'd like your help with is I'd like to know what videocard you use to play B4ME1 with, and what settings you are able to play with (Ultra High, High, Medium, Low, Very Low). If you are willing to help out, please simply send me an e-mail, it'll only take you a couple minutes and in the end you'll be helping many people out; I can tell you that much :).
New Works of Art Print News | Mail News The great Evanel has sent in two new Works of Art, okay really one piece but he did two different versions of the same piece. Anyways, here are a couple small examples:
I just know that you want to view those images in a larger resolution, actually why wouldn't you want to? Therefore to view the above images check out this page. I hope you enjoy.
Elven Alliance Updated Print News | Mail News For those of you looking forward to the Elven Alliance modification, you had better be sure to check out their official site. As recently they released a new image containing their version of Arwen and a re-worked model of Eowyn. In addition they are also looking for people who wish to beta test their mod, yes beta test their mod.
Like I said above you better check out their official site as you won't want to miss out on beta testing this mod, plus the larger version of the image above looks a lot better.
Today in History Print News | Mail News Wow I didn't expect such an outpouring of people wanting the History feature to be daily, but I received quite a few e-mails from people wanting the History feature to be daily; and thus your wish is my command :p.
Today a year ago on October 24th, 2004; the following was in the news of MEV:
An old forum member called Ugluk77 visited an event called Micromania. At the event B4ME1 was on display; and Ugluk77 was nice enough to write up a preview from what he saw. The preview can still be read here.
Over at GameSpot B4ME1 became the #1 most wanted PC Game on their top 10 list.
So there you have it, any idea what happened tomorrow?
B4ME2 UK Release Date? Print News | Mail News A member in the MEV forums called Remember Left Eye, has made a post containing information on a possible UK release date for B4ME2. The date is March 3rd, 2006; this information comes from a website called GAME a highly popular UK destination for purchasing videogames.
If you'd like to see the page where the information is currently displayed, that would be here. If you'd like to discuss this information you can do that in this thread on the MEV forums.
