Initial Release Date: 05/08/02
Description: Tolkien's Middle-earth for Civilization III is a total conversion of Firaxis' Civilization III into a Tolkien-esque style. The modpack consists of new game units, updated animation sequences, revised graphics, all-new races, replacement governments, updated help document, and more. Despite only every being half completed it was still rated 5 out of 5 stars on Civfanatics, the premiere fansite for the Civilization franchise.
Duredhel's Notes: Wishing to leverage my in-depth knowledge of Tolkien’s lore I saw the heavily customizable engine of Civilization III a perfect medium for creating a total game conversion based on Middle-Earth. I spent countless hours through the Spring of 2002 compiling material from my library of resources, building the animations, reworking the graphics, and tying it all together into the mod. If the project taught me one thing it was that Microsoft Project is an absolute must-have, as without it I'd likely still be trying to finish that first release! This project was also the first time I was tasked with trying to manage a huge asset library that was in constant flux through development.
Current Status: There have been no patches or subsequent versions released since the initial release (0.2) in May of 2002 however the Civ3 fan community has latched on to this mod and have taken further than I'd ever thought possible. Being the first serious attempt at a Middle-earth based mod for Civ3 there have been several spin-offs and new mod projects started that have used portions of my mod as a basis. My modpack has been updated to operate with the Civ III: Play the World expansion pack and is available on the Civfanatics forum, link below. If you're interested in reading more on the project, would like to read others impressions, or require technical support, please visit the the modpack thread on Civfanatics, link below...
Tolkien's Middle-earth Modpack