The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth
From PCGamingWiki, the wiki about fixing PC games
Developers | |
---|---|
EA Los Angeles | |
Publishers | |
Electronic Arts | |
Engines | |
SAGE | |
Release dates | |
Windows | December 6, 2004 |
Reception | |
Metacritic | 82 |
IGDB | 84 |
Taxonomy | |
Monetization | One-time game purchase |
Modes | Singleplayer, Multiplayer |
Pacing | Real-time |
Perspectives | Bird's-eye view |
Controls | Multiple select, Point and select |
Genres | RTS |
Themes | Fantasy |
Series | The Battle for Middle-earth |
The Battle for Middle-earth | |
---|---|
Subseries of Middle-earth | |
The Battle for Middle-earth | 2004 |
The Battle for Middle-earth II | 2006 |
Warnings
- SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows Vista and later (see Availability for affected versions).
General information
- T3A:Online - fan-hosted multiplayer server replacement
- Battle for Middle-earth section on GameReplays.org
Availability
- SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows Vista and later (see above for affected versions).
- All versions include custom DRM code which can sabotage the game by destroying all units and structures owned by the player after 3 minutes and 30 seconds, triggering an automatic defeat. It can occur on legitimate copies under certain circumstances - see Auto-defeat after 3 minutes and 30 seconds for instructions to fix this.
- This game is not available digitally.
Essential improvements
Official patches
- Patch 1.03 is the latest official patch.
Unofficial patches
- Patch 1.05 fixes a lot of bugs and removes the disc requirement. Requires patch 1.03.
- Patch 1.06 fixes more bugs and adds some new maps. Requires patch 1.05. Widescreen interface available here.
- Patch 1.09 fixes bugs and imbalances, adds new visuals and comes with a patch switcher. Designed for multiplayer.
- Patch 2.22 fixes bugs and imbalances, adds new visuals, tools, features which were never seen before and comes with a professional launcher that includes the full game. Designed and optimized for single & multiplayer.
Skip intro videos
Skip intro videos[3] |
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|
Game data
Configuration file(s) location
System | Location |
---|---|
Windows | %APPDATA%\My Battle for Middle-earth Files\ |
Save game data location
System | Location |
---|---|
Windows | %APPDATA%\My Battle for Middle-earth Files\ |
Video
Graphics feature | State | WSGF | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Widescreen resolution | See Widescreen resolution. | ||
Multi-monitor | |||
Ultra-widescreen | |||
4K Ultra HD | |||
Field of view (FOV) | |||
Windowed | Use -win parameter. |
||
Borderless fullscreen windowed | See the glossary page for potential workarounds. | ||
Anisotropic filtering (AF) | See the glossary page for potential workarounds. | ||
Anti-aliasing (AA) | See the glossary page for potential workarounds. | ||
High-fidelity upscaling | See the glossary page for potential workarounds. | ||
Vertical sync (Vsync) | Can be forced using Nvidia Control Panel (Manage 3D Settings) | ||
60 FPS and 120+ FPS | Frame rate is capped at 30 FPS, with game speed tied to frame rate. | ||
High dynamic range display (HDR) | See the glossary page for potential alternatives. |
Widescreen resolution
Instructions[4] |
---|
Resolution = YourWidth YourHeight |
Alternatively[5] |
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|
Input
Keyboard and mouse | State | Notes |
---|---|---|
Remapping | ||
Mouse acceleration | ||
Mouse sensitivity | ||
Mouse input in menus | ||
Mouse Y-axis inversion | ||
Controller | ||
Controller support |
Controller types |
---|
Audio
Audio feature | State | Notes |
---|---|---|
Separate volume controls | ||
Surround sound | ||
Subtitles | ||
Closed captions | ||
Mute on focus lost | ||
EAX support | EAX3 | |
Royalty free audio |
Localizations
Language | UI | Audio | Sub | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
English | ||||
Simplified Chinese | ||||
Traditional Chinese | ||||
Dutch | ||||
French | ||||
German | ||||
Italian | ||||
Japanese | ||||
Korean | ||||
Norwegian | ||||
Polish | ||||
Russian | ||||
Spanish | ||||
Swedish | ||||
Thai |
Network
Multiplayer types
Type | Native | Players | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Local play | ||||
LAN play | 8 | Versus |
||
Online play | 8 | Versus The official GameSpy service has been shut down on December 31, 2010 due to Electronic Arts losing the Lord of the Rings license.[6]. Replaced by T3A:Online. |
Connection types
Type | Native | Notes |
---|---|---|
Matchmaking | ||
Peer-to-peer | ||
Dedicated | ||
Self-hosting | ||
Direct IP |
Ports
Protocol | Port(s) and/or port range(s) |
---|---|
UDP | 16000 |
- Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) support status is unknown.
Issues fixed
Out of Memory
- This error has no proper workaround and is a symptom of the game engine's limitations (restricted RAM indexing)
- Lower graphical settings, and avoid memory-heavy mods.
- Any mod that uses high-resolution textures are highly susceptible to this crash.
- Some users report reinstallation fixes the issue.
Exception Access Violation on startup
- When first starting the game after the installation, the game instantly crashes with an error.
- Caused by the installer not creating a crucial
options.ini
file automatically.[7] - If the game is uninstalled and reinstalled on the same system, the file is always deleted and has to be created anew every time the game is installed.
Make missing options.ini[8] |
---|
AudioLOD = Low HasSeenLogoMovies = yes IdealStaticGameLOD = VeryLow Resolution = 800 600 StaticGameLOD = VeryLow TimesInGame = 1 |
Auto-defeat after 3 minutes and 30 seconds
- Is triggered by DRM, even on legitimate installations.
Use unofficial patches[9] |
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|
Check game's serial key registry entries[10] |
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Clean reinstall of the game as administrator[11] |
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|
Other information
API
Technical specs | Supported | Notes |
---|---|---|
Direct3D | 9.0b |
Executable | 32-bit | 64-bit | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Windows |
Middleware
Middleware | Notes | |
---|---|---|
Cutscenes | On2 VP6 | |
Multiplayer | GameSpy | Shut down in 2011. |
Command line arguments
Command | Description |
---|---|
-win | Runs the game in windowed mode |
-mod [path to .big file] | Runs the game with the selected mod |
-xres [number] | Sets resolution width |
-yres [number] | Sets resolution height |
-noaudio | Disables the game audio |
-noshellmap | Disables the main menu animation |
System requirements
Windows | ||
---|---|---|
Minimum | Recommended | |
Operating system (OS) | 2000 | XP |
Processor (CPU) | 1.3 GHz | |
System memory (RAM) | 256 MB | 512 MB |
Hard disk drive (HDD) | 3.5 GB | |
Video card (GPU) | Nvidia GeForce2 GTS ATI Radeon 7500 32 MB of VRAM DirectX 9.0b compatible | Nvidia GeForce 6800 ATI Radeon X800 |
Notes
References
- ↑ Not Loading in Windows 10; this will break thousands of - Microsoft Community - last accessed on 2017-01-16
- ↑ Microsoft - MS15-097: Description of the security update for the graphics component in Windows: September 8, 2015 - last accessed on 2018-02-16
- ↑ Verified by User:Plok on 2021-09-14
- ↑ Verified by User:Plok on 2021-09-14
- ↑ Verified by User:Plok on 2021-09-14
- ↑ Middle-earth Online Server Shutdown Announced - last accessed on May 2023
- ↑ Exception Access Violation - last accessed on May 2023
- ↑ Verified by User:Plok on 2021-09-14
- ↑ Verified by User:Plok on 2022-08-10
- ↑ Verified by User:Plok on 2022-08-10
- ↑ Verified by User:Plok on 2022-08-10