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AlexSpl
Responsible
Supreme Hero
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posted August 08, 2026 09:40 PM |
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I don't think that Vori towns look like a fairy-tale made by fourth-grader before going to sleep.
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TrueMefista
Adventuring Hero
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posted August 09, 2026 12:20 AM |
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And HotA Vori ended as "We chickened out on doing Kremlin because umm, so town with ZERO slavic influence gets completely unrelated building style". Nobody's perfect.
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Olegmods
Adventuring Hero
Wrath of the Creators lead dev
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posted August 09, 2026 09:06 AM |
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AlexSpl said:
I don't think that Vori towns look like a fairy-tale made by fourth-grader before going to sleep.
And I don't see why you are making that remark here then.
If you don't like DoR, play whatever you like more (probably HotA's Bulwark, judging by your remark, which kinda feels HotA-lover-y to me) and ignore the DoR project, nobody forces you to comment here.
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In DoR we trust.
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Corribus
Hero of Order
The Abyss Staring Back at You
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posted August 15, 2026 09:01 PM |
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Edited by Corribus at 21:06, 15 Aug 2026.
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Everyone: there has obviously been a lot of off topic posting in this thread lately, which has ranged from spam to abusive trolling. Both are against the rules. I have deleted offending posts and silenced the accounts responsible. I have also cleaned up some of the discussion about the spam.
If you see spam, please send me a HCM with a direct link to the offending post and I will take care of it as soon as I see it.
I apologize for the long delay to delete the off topic material lately. I've been out of town for a few weeks but am back now.
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I'm sick of following my dreams. I'm just going to ask them where they're goin', and hook up with them later. -Mitch Hedberg
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Xfing
Adventuring Hero
I like Forge
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posted August 23, 2026 11:42 PM |
bonus applied by Corribus on 26 Aug 2026. |
Edited by Xfing at 01:09, 24 Aug 2026.
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Greetings, heroes!
As we celebrate our project's feature in the the 2nd issue of CD-Action dedicated to Heroes of Might and Magic, we would like to share with you some of the graphics that went to print in that article. We hope it will help our non-Polish-speaking friends catch up with the latest developments in our work, and that maybe you'll even see here some exciting things you haven't seen before. Without further ado, let's get to it.
This chart showcases some alternate units for several factions. Alternate creatures are one of the most pivotal new gameplay features that DoR will introduce, with each of our new towns getting two alternates and each of the original NWC towns getting one upon release. Alternate units are intentionally designed to provide different unit archetypes and enable different strategies, but to be of about equivalent value and usefulness compared to their regular counterparts in the greater scheme of things.
Going from top to bottom, first up is the Berserker – an alternate to the Orc Chieftain, an offensively tuned melee option that gives some Human presence to the Stronghold lineup and gives you the choice of trading off ranged capacity for some ferocious offense from up close. Next up we've got the Paladin – a throwback to H2 taken over from the Tides of War mod by MDT (though not without changes) – while individually weaker than Archangels, their low cost, high growth and powerful abilities still make them an option worth considering. Then we have the already-revealed T1 cast from Palace, the nimble Tomte and the sturdy Einherjar. Next, there's the Fungoid Symbiote and the Coeurl Prowler – you can probably infer from their appearance how differently they're going to play. Lastly, there's the Foot Soldier and the Saboteur – the choices for Forge's T1. One is the same ranged goblin you've known and loved (loathed?) ever since the E3 screens from 1999 – while the gremlin, weaker in stats, has a useful ability for disrupting enemy constructs of all kinds.
This is the concept art for the Astral Simurgh, drawn by our concept artist Ehlesgens. The upgraded T7 alternative to the Titan, it allows Tower to sacrifice its third shooter for a third flier in return. Simurghs are gigantic, benevolent birds from Persian mythology, capable of carrying even an elephant on their backs in flight. Folklore often bestows them with abilities such as lifespans ranging in thousands of years, and unparallelled wisdom and knowledge obtained in the course of living such long lives. While traditional Iranian simurghs were usually modeled after birds of prey, our rendition combines these archetype – specifically the harpy eagle – with the striking beauty of the peacock, to better fit into the eclectic lineup of the Tower faction, and broaden the visual identities found in the game and throughout various folklore.
This is the new town screen for the Forge in the form that it appeared in the article. It is still WIP and its final form may change considerably compared to what you see here. Something worth mentioning is that the entire backdrop for this town was taken from one of the promotional images for early drafts of Armageddon's Blade straight from New World Computing – the one with the blacksmith. The sky was darkened considerably compared to that image to avoid an overly optimistic vibe, and to introduce ambiguity as to the time of day. We did not want to go for an unanimously nighttime look, but given how the lights on the buildings are all on, the current look leaves to your interpretation whether it's dusk already, or is it just the pollution that's creating such a bleak atmosphere. The overall theme of the town is post-apocalyptic, hostile and industrial, and borrows heavily from dieselpunk and rustpunk aesthetics, in contrast to the original draft presented by New World Computing in 1999, which appeared to lean more towards a combination of art deco and brutalism.
Here's the first publicly revealed HD snippet of Grotto, the castle of the faction. Apart from the H3 first of having the moat consist of sharp crystals, you can notice a prevailing color scheme of pink, black and gold. We felt this would serve well as an universal aesthetic for Dark Elves, and a strong inspiration for it were the interiors of homes and shops in Alvar in M&M8. We felt the interiors’ aesthetic, being a striking, strong one, was a better base to start off of to define a unique look for the faction. Not only that, but it felt like a better fit for an underground civilization than the the wood-and-brick homes found in Alvar and Ravenshore’s overworld in MM8. It allowed to use a greater number of inspiration sources, the most important one being obviously Day of the Destroyer as well as Menzoberranzan from D&D’s Forgotten Realms, and made for a great visual identity that fit both Enroth’s own Dark Elves, as well as the more generic theme of dark elves in fantasy, allowing mapmakers as much freedom as possible in crafting their own stories and their own worlds.
Here you have the same thing, but positionally anchored to the whole screen. We're going to keep the rest of it unrevealed for just a while longer. What you can see is the town's icon to the bottom right, as well as the first three tiers of creatures in the visiting hero's army: Gnomes, Dark Elves and Feys. And the hero's name is...
Yame, the Sorcerer. This portrait was drawn by Trolldaeron in collaboration with Slavicboy. Dark Elves were portrayed in Might & Magic VIII as a race with a strong affinity for elemental magic, with even their warriors commonly wielding strong offensive spells to supplement their arsenal. With that in mind, it can be said with no exaggeration that Sorcerers, who focus exclusively on the pursuit of arcane knowledge, are amongst the most powerful spellcasting classes available.
Now let's move on to some screens from the battlefield. In this first one you can see the forces of the Palace engaging a stack of infernal Concubines – our new alternate unit for Inferno – as well as one stack of their upgraded version, the notorious Succubi. Possibly the best known feminine demonic creatures in Western esotericism, Succubi were thought to seduce men with their womanly charms and lure them to their deaths. Some say the legend of the succubus (as well as their masculine counterpart, the incubus) arose from the hallucinations people often had during sleep paralysis. Our Succubi are a ranged unit, finally providing an extra ranged option for Inferno in addition to the Magogs. As for Palace, you will notice the Snow Elf stack captured in the midst of its attacking animation – a shooting attack with the unique effect of preempting enemy ranged attacks (retaliation before taking damage). That will make the enemy think twice before attacking the elves at range. Lastly, you might notice the hero model for the female Jarl. We strive to provide both male and female models for all hero classes, including the original ones.
And you can observe that right away in this second screen – the female Wizard model is all-new. You can also see an unique tileset indicating that this battle is taking place on a new special terrain type that you might already be familiar with. As for new units – you may notice the base Simurgh in the company of the rest of the Tower lineup. The opposing army consists of Kobolds and Draconic Kobolds – our rendition of the diminutive creatures is affiliated with the Dungeon faction and emphasizes the creatures' mischievous, subterranean and hostile nature, popular in many classical portrayals. The design itself incorporates and combines both of the most popular approaches – the canine-like, mammalian ferocity known from the early D&D design, and the reptilian, draconic features popularized in later editions – while maintaining an overall malicious vibe.
In this screenshot you can see a Forge hero engaging a Stronghold-affiliated opponent in a full-scale battle. The terrain of the battle is also new – the Forge-native Barrens – a land of rampant air pollution and unrestricted radioactive waste dumping that has poisoned the soil beyond any fertility. While naturally barren wastelands are considered by some to have a quiet beauty about them, nothing of the kind can be said about this manmade travesty against nature. Here you also get the first look at the T7 creature, the Juggernaut. If you've not been avoiding the Might and Magic RPGs, you might recognize the design immediately – these deadly robots are modeled after the security droids found protecting the Lincoln, and that is no accident. They will be the strongest individual T7 units in the game – absolutely devastating, but with a price to match and produced in few numbers.
"Dark and Light Elven dealings have been peacable, if uneasy, for centuries. Before that, there was nothing but war." In this last battlefield screenshot we have for you the backdrop is a battle between the forces of Grotto and Rampart, raging on Grotto's native underground terrain, named Cavern. In addition to the all-new hero models, you can observe five tiers of Grotto creatures: Gnome Lampades, Dark and Dusk Elves, Fungoids, Raptors and Crimson Arachnes. Joining the Rampart cast is the Hamadryad, an alternate that replaces the Silver Pegasus and is known for having a special synergy with Dendroids. We could write a whole essay about each of these new units, but for now, we'll just let you evaluate them by sight alone.
And now let's take a look at some shots of the adventure map. Since there's plenty going on in these, we'll not take up any of your time describing all the additions in detail and we'll just let you browse them at your own pace. Keep an eye out especially for: new decorations, dwellings, units, mines and mountains. If something in particular piques your interest, feel free to ask about it in the comments!
As we're nearing the end of our showcase, we would like to show off one of our hero portraits in large resolution. This is Jinara – drawn by KobaltMaster and polished up by Ehlesgens. She will be a prominent hero in Gelu's campaign – a handmaiden and very close servant of Iduna's, she welcomes Gelu at the coasts of Vori and accompanies him to serve as a guide through his trials on the island, ordered by Iduna herself.
Last but not least, something you've admittedly seen a lot of already – the Palace town screen, though it continues to be incrementally improved. Your feedback has been highly valuable for us in iterating on the look of this town. We hope we've gotten close to the final look by now, but as with everything else, some things might still change before release.
That is all for today. We hope you enjoyed this showcase. Back to work for us, and you take care and stay tuned!
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gnollking
Promising
Supreme Hero
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posted August 24, 2026 01:07 AM |
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GIVE ME THIS MAP EDITOR!
Looking great, as usual!
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TrueMefista
Adventuring Hero
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posted August 24, 2026 04:55 AM |
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Is Fey's name a pun, due to the word's meaning, or is it "abstract faeries, I guess"?
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Xfing
Adventuring Hero
I like Forge
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posted August 24, 2026 09:24 AM |
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Edited by Xfing at 09:26, 24 Aug 2026.
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TrueMefista said:
Is Fey's name a pun, due to the word's meaning, or is it "abstract faeries, I guess"?
Some people have indeed noticed that "fey" is not the same thing as "fae", despite being homophonous with the latter. Still, D&D does have "fey" spelled as just that, and it's very much synonymous with "fae":
https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Fey
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Olegmods
Adventuring Hero
Wrath of the Creators lead dev
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posted August 24, 2026 09:37 AM |
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TrueMefista said:
Is Fey's name a pun, due to the word's meaning, or is it "abstract faeries, I guess"?
Apparently, they are just another type of feyfolk.
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In DoR we trust.
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LordCameron
Famous Hero
Veteran of the Succession Wars
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posted August 24, 2026 07:30 PM |
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Very exciting. I can't wait to see the full alternate line-ups in action. Will you be touching any of the base factions in addition to the new units?
I'm thinking of Inferno and Fortress specifically. I could imagine the alternate unit buffing the faction, but then why choose the original?
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What are Homm Songs based on?
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Xfing
Adventuring Hero
I like Forge
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posted August 24, 2026 08:30 PM |
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LordCameron said:
Very exciting. I can't wait to see the full alternate line-ups in action. Will you be touching any of the base factions in addition to the new units?
I'm thinking of Inferno and Fortress specifically. I could imagine the alternate unit buffing the faction, but then why choose the original?
We've already mentioned that all original factions will be getting an alternate, including Inferno. The idea is for both units for a tier to be of similar usefulness, though - except maybe enabling different kinds of strategies and playstyles
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LordCameron
Famous Hero
Veteran of the Succession Wars
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posted August 24, 2026 09:07 PM |
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Xfing said:
LordCameron said:
Very exciting. I can't wait to see the full alternate line-ups in action. Will you be touching any of the base factions in addition to the new units?
I'm thinking of Inferno and Fortress specifically. I could imagine the alternate unit buffing the faction, but then why choose the original?
We've already mentioned that all original factions will be getting an alternate, including Inferno. The idea is for both units for a tier to be of similar usefulness, though - except maybe enabling different kinds of strategies and playstyles
What I mean is will you be buffing/nerfing any existing units or growth rates?
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Xfing
Adventuring Hero
I like Forge
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posted August 24, 2026 09:15 PM |
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LordCameron said:
What I mean is will you be buffing/nerfing any existing units or growth rates?
The idea right now is not to make any adjustments to any parameters of the SoD units.
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Winston
Known Hero
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posted August 25, 2026 01:06 AM |
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Looks nice! I especially hope lots of Tides of War stuff will be part of DoR, since that team was such high quality.
The immediate concern I have with some of the alternate units is choosing an alternate unit for a no-brainer pick of the faction. E.G., Archangels are simply so indispensable thanks to their speed and resurrection ability, that I can't imagine why anyone would give them up to choose the alternate unit. Same with Tower. Titans are one of the best level 7 units and I would be very hard pressed to give them up.
Some of the other picks are better in this regard. Inferno for example, I have no problem with giving up mediocre demons for a second shooter.
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Olegmods
Adventuring Hero
Wrath of the Creators lead dev
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posted August 25, 2026 08:04 AM |
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Winston said:
Looks nice! I especially hope lots of Tides of War stuff will be part of DoR, since that team was such high quality.
The immediate concern I have with some of the alternate units is choosing an alternate unit for a no-brainer pick of the faction. E.G., Archangels are simply so indispensable thanks to their speed and resurrection ability, that I can't imagine why anyone would give them up to choose the alternate unit. Same with Tower. Titans are one of the best level 7 units and I would be very hard pressed to give them up.
Some of the other picks are better in this regard. Inferno for example, I have no problem with giving up mediocre demons for a second shooter.
I kinda feel you underestimate Paladins a bit  .
At least, in ToW they have x2 growth, and Expert Prayer on start of a battle is quite good.
Personally, have been hearing about ToW Paladins being quite OP quite a fair bit.
As for Simurghs, assuming that both units (upg and base unit) fly, the base unit might be more viable than Giants. So if you don't feel like you can go Titans soon, going Simurgh might be a better way (due to probably higher speed and fly). And that's even without considering the new cool abilities...
____________
In DoR we trust.
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kesnarii
Hired Hero
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posted August 25, 2026 09:26 PM |
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Very very interesting! Of course I am looking forward for the release as is everyone else.
Though I have to say...it gives more WoG vibes than HotA for example...
I am going to restate my personal opinion, that this project would be much much more interesting if it was building off of HotA both in terms of compatibility but also in terms of scale...
HotA basically builds up on homm3...DoR seems to try and go more towards homm3.5 route...
Again, sorry for the comparison, but it is obvious that it will happen. Can't state enough how exciting it is to have news about DoR nonetheless!
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Drerhu
Tavern Dweller
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posted August 26, 2026 01:25 AM |
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I think it´s looking great! Can´t wait to play Forge!
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Olegmods
Adventuring Hero
Wrath of the Creators lead dev
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posted August 26, 2026 10:21 AM |
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kesnarii said:
Very very interesting! Of course I am looking forward for the release as is everyone else.
Though I have to say...it gives more WoG vibes than HotA for example...
I am going to restate my personal opinion, that this project would be much much more interesting if it was building off of HotA both in terms of compatibility but also in terms of scale...
HotA basically builds up on homm3...DoR seems to try and go more towards homm3.5 route...
Again, sorry for the comparison, but it is obvious that it will happen. Can't state enough how exciting it is to have news about DoR nonetheless!
Well, tbh, HotA is now compared to WoG quite sometimes acter Bulwark update...
"if it was building off of HotA both in terms of compatibility" - one of the things with HotA devs is that they prefer to keep their mod untouched from others, it's their vision. Which pretty much makes building off of HotA in terms of compatibility impossible. For reference, there's a mod for HotA called Pumpkin Patch, and as far as I know, the modder behind it does struggle with HotA/HD mod stuffs sometimes...
In terms of scale, I'd say it's already comparable to HotA, so not sure wdym about it.
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In DoR we trust.
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Xfing
Adventuring Hero
I like Forge
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posted August 26, 2026 04:57 PM |
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Olegmods said:
I kinda feel you underestimate Paladins a bit .
Exactly - while it's very justifiable to think nothing can be preferable over archangels, strength in numbers matters too, never mind the abilities. We will attempt to balance each alt to be "just as good, but different" as the original counterpart. The overall strength of the lineup is to stay roughly the same no matter which alt is chosen - with tradeoffs in one field and advantages in another. Of course that is easier said than done, but it can be done with some iteration 
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FfuzzyLogik
Known Hero
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posted August 26, 2026 09:44 PM |
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I don't even know if its good to make a 7 creature "stronger" than archangels...
Sure, you can have "big pilestack" of paladins who could do better damage and can eventually "tank" better...
But archangels are aslo extremely powerful for their insane resurrection ability. You can have 0 losses with some of them for "many" neutral battles in game + they're insanely fast (so hero moove fast if has "only them" at start of turn + hit hard and can immediately close ranged uits) + they improve morale + you have griffin conservatory who helps to have pilestacks...
So I agree with you, the intention interesting and graphically they're very very well done.
But to make paladins "of use" compared to archangels, you'll have a lot to change I think. And its risky I fear...
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FfuzzyLogik.
If I'm crazy ? Sure, because its madness to be normal...
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