hey everybody!

[KexMex]

i wanna get tips for a good LOTR map, anyone know any REALLY good one?

[Draxen]

To make an epic appeal, make large cities of fantasmal sizes. If you want to make a city that's up to snuff in the epic sphere, count each house as four people, and then aim for a set population (the numbers add up faster than you might think, but don't hold your breath either). Remember, real medieval cities rarely exceeded fifteen hundred people. The more people, the greater the chance of the plague. But a fantasmal city can have into the thousands of people. Also, keep the city in the appropriate districts (Noble, merchant/upperclass, middle class, lower class, and slums).
To build a castle, use the raise terrain editor, and create walls using the tile edged walls. Be sure to make them able to be patrolled. If you want parapets (the teeth on the edges of castle walls), just raise an extra block. It doesn't work well, because the AI won't use them, and they are kinda big, but people do appreciate the effort. Especially in a map based off a story.
Don't forget to size buildings up. This will make them look more real. For a comparison, place a unit next to the building, and keep on sizing it up until the unit could pass through the doorway.
One more note on cities: keep people randomly milling about the city. Once you have the pop per district, divide one fifth of the people up by night hours, and the rest by the day hours. That will be the number of people needed to be cycled in each hour.
Remember that in real programming, thirty seconds game time can take anywhere from thirty minutes to four hours.

Oh, and if you actually read that whole thing, let me know through this string, and I'll send you some free applause. If you don't have the patience, then you won't have it to follow through with the instructions anyway. The best tip I can offer is: if it is a really good LOTR map, then the cinematics should be the real heart-stopper of the map. Good cinematics, and you've got yourself covered.

[KexMex]

you know, i did read all that. only reason i posted not until now is because first i needed a new computer, then new internet.

but i did read it. seriously. ;)