Hi all, we haven’t had any proper communication regarding the future of Empire War (namely, what the next updates will be) in quite a while. In fact, there hasn’t been any since September. Allow me to fix that
To reassure all of you, we have been working on new things all this time. In fact, I’d even go as far as saying that some of the things we’ve been working on are truly groundbreaking, with even more ambitious features planned to follow shortly after.
Our communication regarding what’s coming has always been mysterious. I think it’s time to reveal the mystery.
The way ahead
The current Empire War version is 3.3.2. As a reminder, 3.3 is the Mordor Update, and 3.3.2 introduced critical bug fixes, animation optimizations (Grond, Black Gate, …), and updated the server to Minecraft 1.21.11, among other things.
The upcoming update is going to be 3.3.3.
What should you expect in 3.3.3? You can expect the return of Osgiliath West, the original Empire War v3 conquest map, slightly revamped in certain areas.
Is that it?
No. You can also expect a revamped Minas Tirith! That’s right! @the_pharaohs_cat has been working very hard on updating the entire city with better architecture and renewed terrain. The 5th level flag also received a revamp. But beyond the architectural update, we will also be adding more features to improve the immersion and atmosphere of the map. I cannot reveal those yet, I can’t help but maintain my ever-mysterious tone
Well that’s nice, fox, that must be it then right?
No, we still have more planned for 3.3.3. Tactical formations are coming to our server! I won’t share any details now, you will learn about them when we’re ready to roll out the update, but this feature has been coded and tested already. Additionally the development team has implemented numerous smaller enhancements and quality-of-life improvements for user experience (visual, commands, passive experience, …)
Alright LimeeFox, that’s really nice but not as groundbreaking as you promised. Is there more?
Yes, more will be coming with the update 3.4 – The Rohan Update.
Even though update 3.3.3 isn’t out yet, we are already working on update 3.4. Two new maps will be coming; Siege of Aldburg and a revamped Helm’s Deep!
Aldburg is a medieval city, former capital of Rohan, built by EpicQuestz in 2021. We’re adapting it to our server to accommodate… CAVALRY! That’s right, we will be adding mounted classes to the server. We are aiming to have them play a bigger part in combat than they used to on Empire War v2, which closed in 2023. As with the other major features announced earlier in this thread, we will share more details about this when more progress has been made on it.
As for Helm’s Deep, Enoshade and I have redone the terrain from scratch and the fortress received an update by @the_pharaohs_cat. It’s more modern and matches the movies a lot more closely than before. This isn’t all, though, because an update as simple as this would be a bit boring, wouldn’t it?
Since cavalry will be coming, we will also be adding the ride-out! Again, we will share how it works later, but know that Gandalf’s arrival will also be playable. The last time we had this feature was in 2015.
Nice, LimeeFox! It’s almost groundbreaking!
“Almost” is not good enough for us. Let’s take it further.
Coming soon to Empire War: CLANS!
Empire War Clans will truly bring this community to a whole new level. We have already coded an alpha version of the feature and are continuously testing & improving it.
A certain donor tier will be able to create their own clan on Empire War, and any player on the server will be able to join it. We will reveal all clan details closer to its release, but you can already start thinking about which clan you’ll join or create, and start writing some lore for your clan!
There will be dozens of perks and features available for clan members, but one of the biggest features is going to be able to wage war against other clans. We will explain how clans and clan wars will work later, in a dedicated post…
Let’s wrap up the surprises.
We’ve been continuously working on these features throughout the year, but our team is quite small. This is why it’s taking us such a long time to deliver new updates. We would like to expand it.
We are looking for Builders, Terraformers, Developers, Resource Pack Artists and Media Assistants. If you are interested in helping us out, please reach out to @Cotander (Head Developer), @Grissum1 (Head Artist) or me, @LimeeFox.
We have already made plans for the update theme, maps and features for after the Rohan Update (3.4). Notably, some of the features that we’re working on might come between major updates. Those include but are not limited to: Constructor Rework Phase II, Silver shop and a new main lobby.
We know it has been a long wait between major updates, and we appreciate everyone who has continued supporting and playing Empire War throughout that time. The future of the server is very bright, especially if our staff team expands and a new main lobby is built. We are excited to finally begin sharing what we've been working on behind the scenes. Speaking of which, our media team has been working a lot on new videos to share on TikTok and YouTube, which will help attract new players. About two dozens of videos are ready with more on the way. We will publish them shortly before Update 3.4, to build momentum.
More previews and development updates will follow as these features get closer to release. Stay tuned.
