EDAIN INTERVIEW
Greetings, joyous Edain companions! Today I would like to gift the international community with my personal (belated) Christmas present: a wide-ranging interview with some members of our beloved Edain Team
As you may by now have read and learnt from official articles, the next grand-style patch is just a few days away. I wanted to sit with who has been the great artisan and architect of all of this, getting to delve a bit deeper into plans, initial intentions, fixed principles of action, and much more. It is no secret that the road leading from the current (public) version to Edain 4.5, has often been beset by troubles of varying nature and, certainly, that it is the first update to be published since Ealendril's own reign has ultimately ended. Yet, as the adage goes, the flower which blooms in spite of adversity and amid grief, is, indeed, the fairest of all.
It was also precious time and chance to know team members under a more personal perspective: what has been their career so far, which is their all-time best Edain moment, their stance on source materials, and so forth.
I wish you all an amazing read, and I speed you well. I hope that the oncoming version, which creators, testers, and moderators have worked on so long and strenuously, shall, in the end, reward such trying wait and renew interest in Edain across every space of our modding cosmos
WALKÜRE: First off, I need to thank every team member who agreed to join this little conversation of ours. My first question refers to everyone of you: could you tell us, briefly, how your adventurous journey as part of the Edain Team has initially begun, and how it has progressed to present time? In other words: the elder days of your own career...
FG: Edain was the first BFME mod I played and, when I first heard of it back in 2010, I immediately wanted to contribute. I had made concepts for heroes and factions before, and I was very fascinated by everything Edain had done, but it took over 3 years until I joined the project.
When I became an Edain member, I started as a mapper for mission maps and my main job was to create a Hobbit campaign. Moreover, I was made fully responsible for the English version pretty soon as well.
RADAGAST: I came across Edain by chance in mid-2008, and was thrilled that a non-commercial team was able to change and improve the game so much. In 2010 I finally joined Modding Union to exchange ideas with other fans of the game and the mod. Over time, I have acquired some modding knowledge by using the tutorials on the website. From 2011 to 2014, I was part of another modding team, which I became the leader of at some point. But, in the end, we gave up due to lack of time.
Afterwards, I started as a tester for Edain, because I wanted to contribute in some way to my favourite mod. During this time, I adapted the models for Imladris units and sent them to the team, whereupon Ealendril approached me and offered me to support the team as a recruit in early 2015. Shortly after, I became a full member of the team. Unfortunately, I had to leave the team at the beginning of 2017, but now I've been back since the fourth quarter of last year.
ELENDIL: My first direct contact with the Edain Team was when I became a tester in 2014, about a year prior to the release of 4.0. I had played the game for a few years and had been somewhat active on MU, but that's when I really got into Edain as something that I didn't just play on my own, but with others as well. As time passed, I became more and more interested in balance and game-design, and I focused on that when playing the newest Betas. Eventually, I got into coding because I was interested in doing some balance changes of my own, and, not too long after that, Lord of Mordor came to me with an offer to join the team.
GNOMI: That is a long time ago. Back when the Caras Galadhon team joined Elvenstar (which led to the founding of Edain), I was in another German modding team, called Auenland Mod ("Shire Mod"). I left this team because there were too many problems within it, and joined Edain a few months after its founding. If I remember correctly, I joined shortly after Edain Mod 2 (version 1.0) was released.
Talking about the whole progress would take too long, as a lot happened in those 10 years. Mainly, I have always been an active team member, beside half a year in 2010, when I wrote my Abitur (German equivalent of A-Levels). While being primarily a mapper, I gave a ton of support in the English section, before we even had an English version (I was mostly the only one active on MODDB), managed the Hamachi servers for Edain (in the first few versions we all played on Hamachi), was involved in most concepts (mainly about balance, playability, and the amusement factor of those concepts: basically, Lord of Mordor and Ealendril had the crazy ideas, and then Lord of Mordor and I made them not only special, but also fun to play with), and I did all the little stuff no-one wanted to do. Because of that, Lord of Mordor would sometimes call me "Edain slave".
Nowadays, I have a lot less time than before, and, currently, I am basically only mapping.
WALKÜRE: Is each of you overall satisfied with his current role/position within the team? Have you ever striven to carve out a more defined or prominent place for yourselves, or have most changes regarding one's status come about by chance?
FG: The biggest change in my role happened when I became the main coder after Ealendril had left the team. I had done some minor coding for Edain before, but I would mainly code for the maps I created and all the new abilities for the campaign heroes. And, honestly, I'd rather go back to being a mission mapper, because that is what I enjoy the most.
RADAGAST: To be honest, I never claimed to have a special position within the team. The most important thing for me was to have fun. The role of modeller/skinner was actually more of a result of the fact that this was the aspect where support was most likely to be needed. As I had already gained some experience in coding and mapping, I could have supported in this regard as well. Even though I enjoy modelling and skinning, I wouldn't be averse to doing a little more coding and mapping from time to time. Due to the instability of the programmes available to me, working with models can be quite frustrating. When you have to re-link Haldir's model for the fifth time, because the programme crashes again at the last step, it may be that you start thinking "Well, I give up. He won't get a new model".
ELENDIL: If there is something unique about my role in the team, I guess, is that I'm the "multiplayer guy"
I'm quite involved in creating concepts for new content as well, but most of us do that to varying degrees, while I usually do the final balancing on my own. It is both what interests me the most and where my strengths lie, so that's pretty cool.
GNOMI: In my opinion, being satisfied with anything is never a good spot to be in. You should always lust for something better, but also accept if it is better for you or the team that you don't get it. So, I am never satisfied, but I think that my current role is the best for me and the team in general.
WALKÜRE: Knowledge-wise, how long did it take for your skills to get to their current level? What has motivated you more, curiosity or necessity?
FG: I taught myself most of what I know of mapping and map.ini coding in the two years preceding my joining Edain. During that time, I joined a different mod and, since I became its main coder, I learnt a lot about coding. When I joined Edain, I already knew as much about coding that I would consider myself as the second-best coder after Ealendril, across the entire BFME modding community. And, during my time in Edain, I learnt even more, but I doubt that I have reached Ealendril, as of yet.
My main motivation was clearly curiosity, but I learnt some things out of necessity, too.
RADAGAST: I believe that you never stop learning when it comes to modding. That means that your skills are constantly improving. Because I've been out for a few years now, it took me a few months to be back into it, but I would say that I'm now back to the same level of knowledge as before I left.
In fact, I'm rarely completely satisfied with what I'm doing and I'd like to do everything better and learn more. I believe that curiosity was my main motivation. Doing something out of necessity does not lead to the same results for me as doing things out of curiosity and conviction. So, I have probably improved my modelling skills the most in the past years, while I have hardly made any progress in the field of animation, although it might have been more important.
ELENDIL: It took me a while to get to my current level, but I don't think I'm a particularly skilled modder, to begin with, and I'm still learning. I can do some coding, but nowhere close to FG's abilities. This might in parts be due to my motivation: in nearly all cases, I think about changing something rather than adding something. I play Edain, I see something that could be improved, and I start thinking about possible ways to do that. "I wonder what kind of cool and crazy stuff I could do with this" is not really my approach; it's probably more along the lines of "This is pretty cool already, but this little change could make it even cooler" 
GNOMI: I can refer to question 2. I don't think that, in any case, one should stop learning. There are always new things to learn. I would say that it took me until today. I would say that I am currently better at coding/scripting than I ever was, but, as I mapped (textures and so forth) not so much in the past few months, I got worse. I think that, about 2-3 years ago, my texturing skills were far superior to my current ones. Motivation was (as mentioned in question 2) my lust to understand how things work, and learn how you can get good at them. Hence, I would say curiosity has always been a driving factor. But, sometimes, it was also necessity; I wanted to do something, as I always wanted to do, but, therefore, I needed to learn something new, and so I just learnt it.
WALKÜRE: What has been the all-time best moment in your whole Edain-experience? What has been the worst?
FG: My best moment was definitely when I was accepted into the Edain Team. The worst moment was probably when Ealendril announced his departure.
RADAGAST: As a long-time fan, it was, of course, a special moment for me to be accepted into the team, but I personally appreciated more to get to know the people behind the avatars at our team event. The worst moment for me was probably the moment when I had to decide that I had to leave the team.
ELENDIL: Joining the team after being a tester for four years was pretty cool, and the two live streams I was part of as well. But, my favourite moment was probably winning the tournament in 2018 in an epic and exhausting best-of-five over Goodfella. The second match on Westfold was my favourite Edain match I have ever played.
GNOMI: There are many different best moments, but the one which always stood out for me was the release of 2.0 or 2.1 (it was too long ago), which was, basically, our first 'big' release. We released it on a Sunday evening at 8:00, and our whole server crashed; browsing a topic in the forum would take more than 30 minutes. Of course, it was horrible for everyone, as download time skyrocketed, but we got more downloads in a single hour than the last version had had in total. Back then, we used to message each other via ICQ and were all like, "HOLY S***! WHAT IS HAPPENING?"
That was the moment when I realised that Edain could not only be one mod in a pool of hundreds of other mods, but could really become something special. Another great moment was the winning of the tournament in Edain 2.1; it was an hour-long game with Gondor versus Mordor on Fords of Isen II.
There are also a few bad moments, which I will just name quickly: the whole Edain 2.2, some of the stuff happening shortly after the release of 4.0, the Dagor Dagorath Mod, the leak of 4.5 content, and several frustrating arguments with Ealendril. Luckily, all of it was a long time ago. I don't want to pick the worst, as all of them have been frustrating in their own way.
WALKÜRE: Speaking about Modding Union or Discord, has there ever been a user-made concept which surprised you a lot (positively)? In general, what is your standard approach to forum discussions, community proposals, and suggestions from 'outside' of the team? Do you cherish spending extra effort into finalising things internally, or do you rather focus on working on concepts with the community in your spare time?
FG: The community concept that has most surprised me so far, has been the Huorn concept. Until that time, implementing Huorns was on our list of impossible things, because we lacked a good representation of them. That concept offered an amazing solution.
RADAGAST: I must confess that I rarely deal with community concepts. I prefer to leave conceptual work to other people. If I have my own ideas, they are mainly of a graphical or design nature, and they are then, usually, discussed internally.
ELENDIL: There have been several concepts that I loved, many of them dating back to the time 4.0 was in development and the return to the build-plot system of BFME 1 had just been announced. Lots of fantastic ideas about the factions that weren't in BFME 1, and a lot of creativity and thinking-outside-the-box. I still remember a detailed concept that would have had Angmar start with the Witch-king and a ruined fortress, so you could experience his rise to power in each battle. Unfortunately, the coolest ideas are often impossible to actually implement ![[ugly]](https://modding-union.com/Smileys/mu/ugly.gif)
Nowadays, I try not to get too involved with community ideas, because, from my experience, the words of a team member can often be seen as a definitive answer that stops any interesting discussion.
GNOMI: There were a ton of different concepts which I liked very much, as I read nearly all of them. Sadly, it is not possible to include everything, even though they are great. I think that some Men of the East concepts are really great.
For me, community concepts are actually way more than just an idea on how to change something in the game. A concept is also a view of the community on our mod, which shows what they want. Talking about the use of community content in detail would take far too long for such a small question. The short version is: I read it, I save it, if I like parts of it, and, if we want to change this hero (or another similar hero), I remember it and try to include something of it. Actually, most concepts in Edain are based upon some kind of user-made proposal.
WALKÜRE: Which is the art of your making that you are proudest of? A map? A model? A game-changing balance revolution?
FG: For me, it is the map Mission: Path of the Edain, because it was so much work to do and required me to invent a couple of new systems and mechanics. The best thing is that it managed to create the illusion of a map with 3 dimensions.
RADAGAST: This is a difficult question to answer, especially considering that I am never satisfied with my work. But, I would say that I was very proud of Brand's model at the time. I also think I was able to have a good eye for details in the whole redesign of Lórien buildings.
ELENDIL: I'll go with the Turncoats of Arnor. They are very much a result of several people working together, so I won't claim that they are exclusively my idea. But, I came up with the core design that this unit should do well on its own, but bad (or, at least, worse) when combined with other units. I think it turned out to be a pretty cool unit
Second place would probably go to the economy rework and how it gives previously underused elements, like Gondor's Marketplace, more relevance.
GNOMI: In the beginning, Edain (as most mods) just added new things. Imagine Gondor barracks having all units from the fiefdoms. There were Gondor soldiers, Gondor pikemen, tower guards, guards of the citadel, Dol Amroth soldiers, Lossarnach axemen, Pelargir spearmen, and so on; most of them cost between 200 and 600. As a new player, you had those ten thousand units, which basically cost the same, and had no idea when to use them. Of course, they all looked great, but, gameplay-wise, it was horrible. As all units were recruitable, all summons were units you could just normally recruit, with the sole addition of a timer. Therefore, most summons were not so special.
One of the things I proposed was that not all units should be normally recruitable, and, also, that most units should not be accessed through multiple alternative ways (which often tended to overlap with each other). This made many summons more interesting ("NEW UNITS! COOL!") and even made it all clearer for new players in terms of what to do in the game. It also gave us the possibility to create a ton of new concepts on how to get some kind of units.
I think that I am proud that Edain was always playable in multiplayer games. The balance wasn't always perfect, but you could nonetheless play competitively and not just for fun.
WALKÜRE: Edain 4.5 is on its way, and we know fairly well that its very long development stage has spanned across more than two years, witnessing a myriad of obstacles, setbacks, unexpected events, and the growing apprehension among both fans and more involved users. In such a voluble spirit, what words would you use to describe the next patch? Why does Edain 'need' it, in your opinion?
FG: Edain 4.5 is going to be a huge version, probably topped only by 4.0. Players will have to relearn a lot of things, definitely not as much as for 4.0, but still a lot, because so much of the background and underlying mechanics have been changed.
Why did Edain need 4.5? That is a question that is easy to answer, because it brings Edain a lot closer to our goals and desires. Sieges are now a lot more fun and interesting, compared to the past. And, don't let me start talking about the spellbook. The spellbook itself is what sets BFME apart the most from other strategy games. It had so much unused potential, though. Not anymore, because we were able to fully explore the amazing potential of spellbooks and remade them into something completely new and beautiful. And, I have to admit, just looking at the old spellbook makes me feel incredibly sad, because of how much better the new one is.
I believe that Edain 4.5 changes some parts of the game as much as 4.0 did. It is a version that brings Edain closer to the gameplay and experience we desire.
RADAGAST: Edain 4.5 contains so many new features and improvements, that it is a must for every Edain fan. With the new economic system and new spellbooks, we have created something new and unique that has never been seen before, and it gives the player an utterly different gaming experience. With the lovingly and variedly designed Horde Maps, we offer the player a new kind of skirmish, and the demo of the Hobbit campaign is definitely worth a visit. Not to mention the numerous new hero concepts and the outstanding graphical redesign of Lothlórien
ELENDIL: If I had to describe Edain 4.5, I'd say that it pays a lot of attention to seemingly-boring fundamental things. Reintroducing inflation mechanics, reworking how you upgrade your economy, changing the spellbook layout, or just changing numbers (a lot of numbers) to improve siege gameplay can do more than you'd think. Also, I'm in love with Gnomi's new maps
GNOMI: I would describe Edain 4.5 as a fresh version, which is similar to the previous ones, but, at the same time, different and extended. Edain has been stagnant for a long time. Even though there were great balance patches, like Elendil's MEGA fix or Spartacus's fix, I think that an official new version will help the MP community. For the SP community, I think that the new AI will especially help beginners and players who just play occasionally, which is long overdue, as easier AI's were far too strong in 4.4.1. Additionally, we added some special maps, which make the mod more diverse for all sorts of players. Also, countless bugs are going to be fixed.
In short, it is 4.4.1, just much better, and with more fun and challenges for everyone.
WALKÜRE: Let us venture into the sacred realm of canons and official sources (LOTR and The Hobbit, essentially). Throughout the many challenges and travails of the modification, where has the team's own compass pointed, in terms of adaptation and lore accuracy? Have you had fixed guidelines from the start, or has your attitude moved to different perspectives? In doubt, what supersedes what, between books and films? Lastly, as we touch the quite sensible case of Hobbit-based content, where does each member's heart stand in respect with PJ's latest fatigues? Would you define yourself conservative or a tiny more permissive towards feeding off material from the Hobbit trilogy?
As you may reminisce from the past, rarely has the whole 'Hobbit debate' not been controversial (inside the international community, in particular)...
FG: I don't know much about the beginnings, because I joined Edain during preparations for 4.0, but it has always been movies<books<gameplay since I had been part of Edain.
Concerning the Hobbit trilogy, I'm a bit disappointed by it, because I can imagine how much more potential there is. But, when I watched the movies, my main impression was that it might make a fantastic mission map.
RADAGAST: I cannot really say whether there was a fixed procedure in this respect, but I would say that, in case of doubt, the books take first priority. What's always important for me to keep in mind, is that modding can be compared well with art and music. A purely objective view is almost impossible. One person prefers Heavy Metal, the other Classical Music, and, again, someone else Pop Music. Personal taste always plays a primary role when it comes to any kind of art. And, so, there will always be different expectations, visions, and preferences among the fans, but also within the team. The only important thing is that, at the end of the day, as a team, a compromise or democratic agreement is reached.
The relationship to the Hobbit movies is probably different for all of us. I for my part enjoyed the films and would watch them again. From a design point of view, WETA did a great job in my eyes. But, as far as cinematography is concerned, the films felt very different from the LOTR trilogy. For me, it was more like a series of fantasy action-movies and less like a fantasy epic.
ELENDIL: I think Edain's policy has always been that books have a higher priority than the movies, which became more relevant as the Hobbit trilogy was released. Most of us are no big fans of the Hobbit trilogy, but it did provide every modder with excellent visual material. Personally, I don't even need Tauriel in my game, so don't get me started on those gigantic worms or the ram trolls...
Apart from that, we try to be as lore-accurate as possible without harming the gameplay: sometimes, things like Angmar's sorcerers or Gandalf's Word of Power stay in the game, even though some abilities (e.g. Corpse Rain) don't fit the LOTR universe so well.
GNOMI: I am pretty conservative in that regard. In the beginning, our approach was: books are canon, whereas films serve for graphics, with the exception of Elves at Helm's Deep. I would still stand by this point. Of course, we can discuss some other exceptions, but, mostly, I would say that books are always number one in regards to canon.
I am no big fan of the Hobbit movies; I think they are inferior in every aspect to the LOTR trilogy. However, some of the concepts and, especially, some of John Howe's artworks are incredible, and it would be a waste not to use them. We have already adapted all the Dwarves (I think we were the first mod to make use of all Dwarven heroes from Thorin's company), utilised the design of other Dwarves, and (as shown in a previous article) included battle-wagons, too. I also own most of the artwork books of the Hobbit movies, and the concepts and ideas they had for all factions were phenomenal. Not everything is bad about the movies, but not everything is good, either.
WALKÜRE: What is it of your colleagues that you genuinely admire?
FG: I admire that they have so much patience when I mess things up (including some of their work in the next Beta), because I'm sometimes a bit chaotic.
RADAGAST: Their patience, their understanding, and the amicable way they treat each other. Although you don't know everyone personally and mainly talk to each other online, it always feels like working with friends.
ELENDIL: Their passion and attention to details. Even after more than a decade, they are still modding this old game that can be so frustrating, and they still manage to surprise and excite me with even the smallest ideas.
GNOMI: FG has some crazy ideas for coding, Elendil, somehow, has always time to play and discuss balance, and all of them are just really nice guys to work with.
WALKÜRE: I now wish to conclude our conversation in the prophetic manner, by asking everyone how the future of the project and that of BFME modifications will look like, if you were to indulge in loose predictions about things to be.
Concerning plans and ideas, is there anything Misty Mountains-centred you would be glad to share with the public? I guess that even crumbs and wee hints at our last to-be-released faction, might make the joy of some.
FG: I don't really know. Things are always changing. The next thing I'm looking forward to is what impact BFME: Reforged is going to have on the modding community.
Concerning the Misty Mountains, I can only say that I feel challenged. One of the reasons why we postponed them, was due to there being some major bugs, and now it is my job to find a solution, as we haven't worked on it since 4.0. But, I guess that is what is to be expected when there are so many unique features that a faction brings.
RADAGAST: I predict that modifications for BFME will be with us for quite some time to come. There are no comparable strategy games with a general LOTR theme, and, as long as that remains so (which I expect it will), there will always be demand for improvements and changes to the game. What I'm going to follow with interest is BFME: Reforged, and the possible impact it will have on the modding scene.
I am quite confident that we will find a decent way to implement the Misty Mountains faction, in a way that they fit well into the overall portrait of the mod. From a design-based point of view, some things are already finished or in an advanced stage, but, of course, there are still many, many things to do. Considering the fact that we are all adults now, and therefore spend a lot of our day working or studying, and the lack of modellers and skinners, it will be a tight programme, but, so far, we always managed to do it somehow.
ELENDIL: The (hopefully) near future of Edain will, of course, be completing 4.X by reintroducing the Misty Mountains. It's going to be a lot of work, but it's also going to be really exciting, because they have so much cool stuff that no other faction has. Time to get the Balrog back.
I can't really share anything about the Misty Mountains, but...
Who said they are the last to-be-released faction?
GNOMI: Talking about the future is always tricky, as you never know what is going to happen exactly. I think it is great that there are, now, more big projects beside Edain. I don't want to sound arrogant, but there were times, years ago, when I had the feeling that Edain was alone at the top, and then there were some smaller other mods which never managed to get to the same level. Now we have Reforged, which is a fascinating project, and, of course, Age of the Ring. Even though I have no time to test them, it is great to see that there are now multiple great projects, as the community have now more big mods to choose from. I hope to see a lot more great things from them.
For us, I think it is pretty straight forward: we still have a faction to finish, some other parts to tweak (such as Horde Maps, completing the Hobbit campaign, and much more), and, ultimately, we still have free spots for possible new factions
Thema: EDAIN INTERVIEW (Gelesen 1881 mal)