The Elven Alliance: Community Edition 1.2

Introduction

If you follow the installation instructions correctly, The Elven Alliance: Community Edition 1.2 (TEA:CE 1.2) will not interfere with the vanilla version of Battle for Middle Earth (BFME1) nor will it interfere with any other mods on your computer.

NOTE: The following instructions were designed and tested for Windows XP and Vista.  Other operating systems such as Windows 7 and Macintosh have not been tested but should follow the same principles.  Please use the following link for any questions or issues about installation: 

http://forums.revora.net/index.php?showtopic=80731

Also, check the debug section at the end of this document to find solutions to common problems and bugs.

Uninstalling The Elven Alliance: Community Edition 1.1 (Optional)

Note:  If you never installed or played TEA:CE before, then ignore this part.  

For those that played the second version of this mod (1.1), the mod was a manual installation.  If you want to, you can uninstall the 1.1 version of TEA:CE.  The files will not be needed to play version 1.2.  To uninstall, simply find the folder you installed the files.  For most, this can be accessed through the Windows Explorer Address Bar (not Internet Explorer!) by typing in %appdata%\My Battle for Middle-earth Files\.  The following files are what came with version 1.1 and can be deleted:

•	ElvenAllianceCommunityEdition1.1.big

•	ReadMe.rtf

•	Installation and Debug Instructions.rtf

•	ChangeList.rtf

•	Teaicon1.ico

Uninstalling The Elven Alliance: Community Edition 1.0 (Optional)

Note:  If you never installed or played TEA:CE before, then ignore this part.  

For those that played the first version of this mod (1.0), you know that the installer was not the greatest.  This was my fault (Rob38).  I apologize for any inconvenience you experienced.  If you want to, you can uninstall the 1.0 version of TEA:CE.  The files will not be needed to play version 1.2.  To uninstall, simply find the folder you installed the files.  For most, this can be accessed through the Windows Explorer Address Bar (not Internet Explorer!) by typing in %appdata%\My Battle for Middle-earth Files\.  The following files are what came with the installer and can be deleted:

•	ElvenAllianceCommunityEdition.big

•	TEACommunityEditionREADME.doc

•	Teaicon1.ico

•	Teaicon2.bmp

•	Teaicon3.bmp

•	The Elven Alliance Community Edition shortcut

Pre-Installation

Before TEA:CE can be installed, several steps must be followed so that the mod can be played properly.  First, to play this mod, you will need the following:

1.	An official and working version of Battle for Middle-Earth

o	If you do not have an official copy of BFME1, then we cannot help you with any installation problems you might have.  Sorry, but please get an official copy.

2.	Patch 1.03

o	The BFME1 game must have the latest patch installed.  For BFME1, this is patch 1.03.  You can access this patch through three methods: 

1.	The easiest method is to open up your vanilla version of BFME1.  In the BFME1 main menu, click on the multiplayer button and then the online button.  When you try to enter, a message will pop up saying that you need the latest patches installed to play online.  Click yes to get the patches installed.

2.	Another method is to look through your program files on your computer’s start menu.  BFME1 will most likely be under EA Games.  Click on the Check for Update button to get the patches installed. 

3.	The last method is to install the patch manually.  You can download the 1.03 patch from the following link in different languages: http://www.the3rdage.net/item-364

3.	A clean BFME program file folder.

o	This will most likely not be an issue for many.  An unclean BFME folder is a result of self-tampering with the source BFME files or from poorly delivered mods.  Almost all well known mods and mods created in the last two years will not cause any problems.  In the chance though that something is wrong, you must:

1.	First uninstall BFME.

2.	Next, go to the root BFME folder (should be in Program Files/EA Games/) and delete any excess files still around.

3.	Finally, reinstall your game and patch to 1.03.

4.	BFME System Requirements

o	Performance may drop in comparison to the original game at points. If this occurs, it is recommended that you set the Graphics levels in the games Option menu down to a suitable level.

Installing The Elven Alliance: Community Edition 1.2 (Manual)

Note:  Version 1.2 comes with an installer application.  This should work for most users.  The below information is for those that wish to utilize their own installation method.

1.  Run the installer and direct all the file materials to your desktop.

2.  Place ElvenAllianceCommunityEdition1.2.big in the My Battle for Middle-Earth Files folder.  To access this location, type in %appdata%\My Battle for Middle-earth Files\ in the Windows Explorer Address Bar (not Internet Explorer!).

3.  Locate The Battle for Middle-earth (tm) shortcut on your computer’s desktop.  Copy the shortcut (ctrl + c) and paste it somewhere on your desktop (ctrl + v).

4.  Name your newly created shortcut anything you want.  It could be The Elven Alliance Community Edition 1.2

5.  Right-click on your new shortcut and click properties.  A new window should open up.  On the top part of the window, click on the Shortcut tab.  

5.  You should see an area called Target: with a textbox after it.  There should be text in the box and it should be contained in quotes.  At the end of the quoted text, you need to add one blank space and then –mod right after your one blank space.  Finally, you add another one blank space and then type in ElvenAllianceCommunityEdition1.2.big.  The final text will vary depending on where BFME1 is installed.  Let me give you some examples of what it could look like:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\EA GAMES\The Battle for Middle-earth (tm)\lotrbfme.exe" –mod ElvenAllianceCommunityEdition1.2.big

"E:\Program Files\EA GAMES\The Battle for Middle-earth (tm)\lotrbfme.exe" –mod ElvenAllianceCommunityEdition1.2.big

       6. After you finished typing, click the apply button and then the ok button.

Adding Unique Icon Image to Shortcut (Optional)

Right now, your new shortcut uses the BFME1 shortcut image.  If you wish to add a new image, follow these steps:

1. In the .zip file you received when downloading this mod, there should be a file named teaicon1.ico in the folder.  Take this file image and put it in the same folder where you placed ElvenAllianceCommunityEdition1.2.big

2. Right-click on your TEA:CE shortcut and click properties.  A new window should open up.  On the top part of the window, click on the Shortcut tab.

3.  In the shortcut window, you should see a button called Change Icon.  Click on this button.  A new window should open.  Locate your teaicon1.ico on your computer.  Again, make use of the %appdata%\My Battle for Middle-earth Files\ in the Windows Explorer Address Bar.  When you find the teaicon1.ico file, double-click it.  You shortcut image should now be the TEA shortcut image.

Debug Section – Question and Answer

       1. When I try to run the mod, my game gets an error and crashes.

•	First, make sure your BFME1 game has patch 1.03 properly installed.  Look at Part 2 in the Pre-Installation section of this document for more information.  If that does not work, your BFME1 program file folder must have something wrong in it.  To fix this, follow Part 3 in the Pre-Installation section.

       2. The mod runs ok but all the models are pink/purple!  

•	Follow the same solution from question one to resolve this problem.

3. Whenever I try to play this mod, another mod, and/or vanilla BFME1 in the Skirmish menu, the                 game crashes.

•	The easiest way to fix this problem is to first open up the last mod you played.  Next, go to the Skirmish set-up screen and make sure all the players (human and AI) are set to one of the four original factions (Rohan, Isengard, Mordor, and/or Gondor).  Once this is done, click play and let the map load up.  Once the map loads and the game starts, exit the game and then the mod.  You should now be able to play another mod.  

o	NOTE: Whenever you play with a new faction that was not in the original version of BFME1, the Skirmish bug will occur when you try to play another mod.  So, for example, let’s say that I played a skirmish game in TEA:CE with Elves as my faction choice.  When I want to play another mod, I must follow the above solution first before switching to another mod.