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DELAYING THE MOUNT/DISMOUNT TOGGLE

Here's an alternative, quick and easy way to delay the Nazgul from running around on foot during scrimmage games. It basically turns the given "Mount/Dismount" clickable button into a deactivated toggle switch that only becomes available once the Nazgul reaches a certain level which you will pre-determine. Until then, he will start and remain mounted and cruise around  to wreck havoc on enemy foot soldiers!

Disclaimer: This variant was created to enhance play of "scrimmage" games; I'm not sure if these same altered files are accessed by "campaign" games, which if so, could dramatically change the way campaign-mode was intended to play. Also, this variant affects both AI and players i.e., if playing as Mordor during scrimmage and raising a hero Nazgul, you will also have the mount/dismount toggle disabled until the appropriate level is reached.

Files edited are:

blackrider.ini
upgrade.ini
experiencelevels.ini
commandset.ini
lotr.str


STEP 1: Adjust the "blackrider.ini" file

Open "blackrider.ini" and scroll down to find the code block (or just do CTRL+F and find, "TOGGLE MOUNTED ABILITY")

              

Code

    ;--------- TOGGLE MOUNTED ABILITY -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------      Behavior = SpecialPowerModule ModuleTag_HorseToggleStarter                               SpecialPowerTemplate        = SpecialAbilityToggleMounted          UpdateModuleStartsAttack    = Yes          StartsPaused                = No      End     Behavior = ToggleMountedSpecialAbilityUpdate ModuleTag_HorseToggle          SpecialPowerTemplate        = SpecialAbilityToggleMounted          TriggerInstantlyOnCreate    = Yes  ;Instantly puts Black Rider on a horse.          UnpackTime                    = 750 ; ;2000          PreparationTime                = 1           PersistentPrepTime            = 250          PackTime                    = 750 ; ;2000          OpacityTarget                = .3        ; How see-thru to be at peak of change            AwardXPForTriggering        = 0     End

Add the following behavior, which is the switch that will put mount/dismount on "hold" basically; also note that "StartsPaused" has been changed to "yes"

              

Code

;--------- TOGGLE MOUNTED ABILITY -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------      Behavior = UnpauseSpecialPowerUpgrade ModuleTag_UnpauseHorseToggle         SpecialPowerTemplate        = SpecialAbilityToggleMounted         TriggeredBy                    = Upgrade_NazgulDreadRiderToggle     End     Behavior = SpecialPowerModule ModuleTag_HorseToggleStarter                               SpecialPowerTemplate        = SpecialAbilityToggleMounted          UpdateModuleStartsAttack    = Yes          StartsPaused                = yes      End     Behavior = ToggleMountedSpecialAbilityUpdate ModuleTag_HorseToggle          SpecialPowerTemplate        = SpecialAbilityToggleMounted          TriggerInstantlyOnCreate    = Yes  ;Instantly puts Black Rider on a horse.          UnpackTime                    = 750 ; ;2000          PreparationTime                = 1           PersistentPrepTime            = 250          PackTime                    = 750 ; ;2000          OpacityTarget                = .3        ; How see-thru to be at peak of change            AwardXPForTriggering        = 0     End

Save the file, close it.
   
STEP 2: Adjust the "upgrade.ini" file

Open "upgrade.ini" and add this upgrade which is the new trigger for toggle mount/dismount:
              

Code

Upgrade Upgrade_NazgulDreadRiderToggle   Type              = OBJECT End

Save and close the file.

STEP 3: Adjust the "experience.ini" file

Open the "experience.ini" file and CTRL+F looking for "EvilMenBlackRider". You'll see blocks of code that look like this:

              

Code

ExperienceLevel    BlackRiderLevel8     TargetNames                = EvilMenBlackRider EvilMenBlackRiderMounted     RequiredExperience        = 1220 ; ;600     ExperienceAward            = 120        AttributeModifiers        = HeroLevelUpDamage7     Rank                    = 8     LevelUpFx                =    FX:GandalfLevelUp1FX     SelectionDecal         Texture                = decal_hero_evil         Style                =    SHADOW_ALPHA_DECAL         OpacityMin            =    50%            OpacityMax            =    100%         MinRadius            = 40         MaxRadius            = 200         MaxSelectedUnits    = 40     End    END  Â

You'll note the different upgrades he receives and at what level he receives them  (i.e., Upgrade_BlackRiderDreadVisage at level 2, Upgrade_BlackRiderMorgulBlade at level 6 etc.)
Now we can add our mount/dismount toggle upgrade wherever we want our Nazgul to earn it. I've chosen level 8 which gives him a fair amount of time to cruise around on horseback, since the AI's tendency is to switch him on foot once he's earned/unlocked it.  My level 8 experience code block now looks like:

              

Code

ExperienceLevel    BlackRiderLevel8     TargetNames                = EvilMenBlackRider EvilMenBlackRiderMounted     RequiredExperience        = 1220 ; ;600     ExperienceAward            = 120        AttributeModifiers        = HeroLevelUpDamage7     Rank                    = 8     LevelUpFx                =    FX:GandalfLevelUp1FX     Upgrades                =    Upgrade_NazgulDreadRiderToggle     SelectionDecal         Texture                = decal_hero_evil         Style                =    SHADOW_ALPHA_DECAL         OpacityMin            =    50%            OpacityMax            =    100%         MinRadius            = 40         MaxRadius            = 200         MaxSelectedUnits    = 40     End  Â

Save and close the experience.ini file.

At this point things should be up and running, function-wise. Test it by running a scrimmage game controlling Mordor and having some Mordor AI opponents; your nazgul should only receive the Mount/Dismount toggle whenever he reaches the level you defined (level 8 in my example) and the same goes with any AI-controlled nazgul opponents.

If everything's working fine, you can proceed to fixing the minor stuff which I like to think of as "cosmetic."

STEP 4: Cosmetic Fixes

You probably noticed his power up icons are all whacky and out of order or the text doesn't match up to what level he earns a power so you'll need to adjust that.

Open up the "commandset.ini" file and find this block (or just CTRL + F and find, "blackrider"):

              

Code

CommandSet EvilMenBlackRiderCommandSet     1    = Command_ToggleStance     2    = Command_MountHorseBlackRider     3    = Command_BlackRiderDreadVisage     4    = Command_BlackRiderMorgulBlade     5    = Command_SpecialAbilityScreechBlackRider     12    = Command_CaptureBuilding     13    = Command_AttackMove     14    = Command_Stop End

Keeping 1,12,13 and 14 as they are, go ahead and rearrange the order in which the powers are received and renumber them accordingly (don't get confused; this has nothing to do with levels. It's simply the order of how the icons appear in the control panel and should be numbered sequentially 1, 2, 3, 4 etc.)

Test/run the game again to check if your Nazgul's icons appear in the correct order he's receiving them. If so you can proceed to make changes to any text that doesn't match up (for instance if you wanted to add a "Requires level 8" to your mount/dismount toggle description, or if you shifted 'Screech' from level 10 to level 7 but it still says level 10 required etc.)

I'm going to assume you know how to do this by making the necessary tweaks to the "lotr.str" file found in the data1.big (if not, it's fairly easy. Just open the file and modify the appropriate text. Here's a hint: use CTRL + F and search for "blackrider" to track down what you need to fix faster)

Lastly, before I forget...
re-open the "blackrider.ini" file and find the block:

              

Code

Behavior = SlowDeathBehavior ModuleTag_08         ; Die and don't spawn horse         DeathTypes = ALL         SinkDelay = 3000         SinkRate = 0.80     ; in Dist/Sec         DestructionDelay = 12000         ;ProbabilityModifier = 33         Sound = INITIAL GondorSoldierVoiceDie     End

Change "Sound = INITIAL GondorSoldierVoiceDie" to "Sound = INITIAL NazgulScreech" so now anytime your (or your enemy's) Nazgul gets killed, he'll let out a final scream which adds a nice touch.

Anyway, hope you enjoy this quick and easy tweak to a timelessly fun LoTR classic. I'm sure it'd be easy enough to adapt/implement to any character that might have a similar setup to the Nazgul (Eowyn and Theoden come to mind).