MERP (MiddleEarth Roleplaying Project) Thread XXI : IV

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 6:35 am

MiddleEarth Role Playing (MERP)

A Total Conversion for Oblivion

http://www.moddb.com/mods/merp-middle-earth-roleplaying-mod

Welcome to the Middle-Earth Roleplaying - There and Back Again (MERP). This is a Total Conversion for The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion, based on the magnificent world of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord Of The Rings. We are planning to add all of Middle-Earth in it's entirety, obviously including such places as the Shire, Rohan, Rhovanion, Gondor, Mordor, Harad and many other locations!

For recent progress reports, news updates, screenshots, videos and everything else check out our Homepage: http://www.moddb.com/mods/merp-middle-earth-roleplaying-mod

Jobs

With a heightmap over 7 times the size of Cyrodiil we always have lots of things to do. Here are just a few examples:

- Landscaping and Region Generation: Mordor, Dunland, Belfalas, Misty Mountains, ...
- Interiors and NPCs: lets populate Bree and the Shire (we already have a beautiful tileset for Hobbit holes) and build Moria
- Modelling: custom armor (long list), architecture and tilesets (Angmar, Lothlorien, Rivendell, Grey Havens, ...)

If you would like to help please post an application http://merp.straygenius.com/forum/!

Our Goal

Our goal as a team is to realize the world of J.R.R. Tolkien as closely as we can to his vision. We hold the lore to a very high standard and will generally not compromise the lore as often as we can. We do use the visual appearance of the films, but if there is a conflict then we usually take the books over the movies. We work very hard to bring a quality product that matches the same level, if not surpassing, the original Oblivion game. We want to make our work look as though professional game developers have created this, an open-world Middle Earth RPG like no other!

Currently, we have a completed heightmap of Middle Earth (over 7 times the size of Cyrodiil!) and mainly working on landscaping. We have also started work on interiors, new playable races, new weapons and armor, and have started the epic script for our main questline, where you will be able to play the role of the Ringbearer!

Download the MERP BETA

MERP Beta version 0.2.4 is our most recent release! You can download it from http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=29214 or http://www.invision.tesalliance.org/forums/index.php?/files/file/294-middle-earth-roleplaying-merp/!

MERP & Blade

MERP will also include a completely new combat overhaul called MERP & Blade, which is greatly inspired by Mount & Blade combat and will also be available as a stand-alone mod for Oblivion. You can follow the progress of this submod over here: http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1136004-wip-merp-blade/

More Information

http://merp.straygenius.com/forum/ (mainly for developer talk, but also a section for public viewing and posting)
http://www.moddb.com/mods/merp-middle-earth-roleplaying-mod (contains lots of news updates, screenshots, videos, and other media)

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 12:58 pm

First post

I thought NAU was supposed to make the new threads but oh well :shrug:

Just found the post on our forums about this ^_^

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 1:22 am

First post

I thought NAU was supposed to make the new threads but oh well :shrug:

Yes me too, but he just hasn't been around in the last few weeks ... so instead of having no thread I decided to make one. But it is fine for me if names wants to run the thread when he comes back - that would mean more modding time for me

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 8:44 am

The team need to take a look at the Mesogea mod meshes and let me know if I can adjust, retexture them etc. There are plenty that could be used for Gondor and Harad. Who is working on a Gondor mesh set?

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 1:44 pm

Hey, good to see that we are on yet another forum :celebration:

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 3:20 am

I've added several links in the Screenshots and Media section of the opening post. One of it is the MERP title music. More links will follow as soon as I get the permission of other team members to post links to their WIP work

The team need to take a look at the Mesogea mod meshes and let me know if I can adjust, retexture them etc. There are plenty that could be used for Gondor and Harad. Who is working on a Gondor mesh set?

Thanks, thats a great idea. I can't download those files from at home, but I will come back on your offer soon.

At the moment we have nobody working on a Gondor tileset. Poco Loco / Oblivion44 recently started to work on ruined meshes for Osgiliath, but thats it. For Harondor we planned to use the desert architecture tileset from the Dune mod, but I don't think it fits well for gondorian cities like Pelargir or Linhir.

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 6:11 am

Great we're here! (Ya, it's BeaverGuy. Don't ask, I just like rodents.) Hope we can get some more people to MERP. It truly is a magnificent mod.

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 9:15 am

For a lot of other screenshots and videos visit our Ning Page over http://merpmod.ning.com/.

[

This looks simply fantastic! I can't wait for this to be released!

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 7:52 am

Have you ever seen pictures of of our Rohirrim Armor, our Cold Drakes or the plains of Minhiriath? No, then take a look at the updated screenshot section in our opening post.

Today we've also released the http://www.createforum.com/middleearthrole/viewtopic.php?t=892&mforum=middleearthrole for our latest BETA 0.2.4.

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 5:40 am

Wow, the screenshots look amazing! I was wondering, are the screenshots from MERP website photoshopped or such? Especially Riskbreakers, they seem really good!

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 2:38 pm

Wow, the screenshots look amazing! I was wondering, are the screenshots from MERP website photoshopped or such? Especially Riskbreakers, they seem really good!

Thank you! As far as I know Guardian of Asgaard has uploaded photoshopped screenshots on our homepage, those from Riskbreaker are from a heavily modded game I think. But they both aren't members of our team, so I don't know for sure.

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 5:05 am

DO WANT! Any idea when NPC's, quests, and the likes will be implemented?

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 5:39 am

DO WANT! Any idea when NPC's, quests, and the likes will be implemented?

It'll take some time, the team is still working on building the world. Trust me, Moria will be huge... Then I think the Ringbearer questline will be the highest priority, but a lot of people are working on it so who knows? Maybe something will be done in just a few weeks. Then again, it's very possible this mod might not be completed for another year.

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 3:19 am

For all of you I've got a little update again: Justb has finished Eowyn's clothes and I've also added some screens from Large Jack's progress with Moria: the links are (as usual) in the opening post.

DO WANT! Any idea when NPC's, quests, and the likes will be implemented?

Actually some people are starting to add Interiors and NPCs now and Bree should be the first area that will come to life. Quests will follow afterwards, but considering that we still have a lot of landscaping to do it will take some time (years). If you would like to help it will be sooner

@ Squirrel: actually Sulteric Drums is the only one working on our mainquest (the Ringbearer one)

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 10:04 am

Glad to hear.

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 12:53 pm

@ Squirrel: actually Sulteric Drums is the only one working on our mainquest (the Ringbearer one)

Oh I see.

Isn't he the guy who created Viconia deVir? This is gonna be good.

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 7:04 am

I've just finished Southern and Central Ithilien. Most of the credit goes to roobsi though - he has worked on Ithilien for a long time, but had to leave the team a few weeks ago.

Central Ithilien
http://merpmod.ning.com/photo/central-ithilien
http://merpmod.ning.com/photo/central-ithilien-1
http://merpmod.ning.com/photo/central-ithilien-2

Southern Ithilien
http://merpmod.ning.com/photo/southern-ithilien
http://merpmod.ning.com/photo/southern-ithilien-1
http://merpmod.ning.com/photo/southern-ithilien-2

And here is another screen showing new custom armor: http://i42.tinypic.com/282lhy.jpg, created by Justb.

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 12:57 pm

i'm really sorry, i didn't mean to cause any kind of trouble!
i'm just too excited to this, i'm a big fan, so please, I beg pardon!

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 9:09 am

it's going to be the most epic mod ever, for sure! :drool:
and the best game in my opinion.
maybe in the future it can even become a stand-alone game.
I would pay a lot for it if it was official.
:bowdown: great job guys, and DON'T GIVE UP! :touched:

Please don't talk about such things, it can get topics locked and lead to bad things.

Mods cannot be sold/profit made, and will never be a standalone game. This is of course not mentioning copyright issues.

Thanks.

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 4:00 pm

I've got a few updates for you:

WIP Shots from the (Southern) Misty Mountains (noirdesir):
http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/yy10/noirdesirmerp/ScreenShot27-1.jpg
http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/yy10/noirdesirmerp/ScreenShot25-1.jpg (looking from where Fangorn will be)

Gandalf the Grey's robe (justb):
http://i39.tinypic.com/fvinas.jpg
http://i43.tinypic.com/23r8obo.jpg

New parts of Moria (largejack):
http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm75/largejack/ScreenShot0-2.jpg
http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm75/largejack/ScreenShot6-4.jpg
http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm75/largejack/ScreenShot7-5.jpg
http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm75/largejack/ScreenShot10-3.jpg

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 12:08 pm

Rauros Falls

A compilation of a sequence of progress.

http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk286/aoikani/fallswaterlevel.jpg

http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk286/aoikani/ScreenShot10-1.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOCFYKJe9pY

More screenies:
http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk286/aoikani/ScreenShot12.jpg

http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk286/aoikani/ScreenShot14.jpg

http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk286/aoikani/ScreenShot9-1.jpg

This area is still in WIPz, but I figured I better release a knockout debut. :celebration:

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 1:13 am

That looks amazing Aoikani! Really looking good :goodjob:

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 11:53 am

tHs is interesting, and ive explored your world, it is pretty amazing what you have accomplished thus far. I urge you to stay at it, as if completed, this will be the best Oblivion mod ever....

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 2:26 pm

Those waterfalls looked amazing! Truly a piece of art!

» Wed Mar 30, 2011 4:11 am

Amon Hen ~ Khugan/Aoikani

http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk286/aoikani/ScreenShot13-1.jpg
http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk286/aoikani/ScreenShot12-1.jpg
http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk286/aoikani/ScreenShot11-2.jpg .. still sculpting. I want to get it as near to the pic as possible.

Collisions will be redone individually after separating.