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| Thread: Why do you LOVE Heroes of Might and Magic 3? My reasons inside. |  This thread is pages long: 1 2 3 · «PREV / NEXT» |
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Sarcyan
Adventuring Hero
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posted March 03, 2014 08:07 PM |
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Edited by Sarcyan at 20:11, 03 Mar 2014.
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blob2 said:
I envy you Sarcyan.
You've only just discovered what is the best TBS game in history, and you can enjoy it to the fullest. I suppose your a younger player than me, and thus some older games might be an abstraction for you until you actually discover them yourself. But only just discovering Heroes III: I truly envy you 
Of course I play Heroes III from time to time, but when it comes to new games I am, what you can call, "tainted". Every new TBS I discover is okay, but usually I always end up thinking: "It's nice, but Heroes III is better". Because it is. The only other games that could rival with it imo is the Disciples series (frankly speaking Disciples II because III is crab). Heroes III is fun, easy to get into, yet deep, and has clear rules. Like you said, it's like playing chess, without thinking too much about a myriad of invisible stats which complicate your experience. It's raw economy: get resources, buy troops and buildings, minimize your losses and conquer your enemy in a strategic way, in your own pace. And it has the most memorable visual style and music I've ever experienced in a fantasy themed game (though not the most original one of course). You can say the game also has a powerful nostalgia effect for me, the same which tells many players that every other sequel of their favorite game is horse cr@p, but that's how I see Heroes III (well, Heroes IV was quite a good sequel and I also enjoyed it).
And about Etherlords. Definitely try it. It's a unique game, probably the only fully 3D animated card game with actual battle animations that was successful (MtG guys never made such a game, though they've tried a few times). And it has incredible climate, a unique traditional fantasy setting (with it's own unique races and creatures), but with a twist: the cybernetic Synthets. And the music and sounds are also great. I suggest trying the first game in the series, because II is practically the same game (same engine and units), but with additional, let's call it, new race, with its "phantom" units, which are quite irritating if you ask me. The game was made by Nival. And truth be told, after Etherlords, they've disappointed me with Heroes V...
PS: If you "finish" the original game and it's expansions, try Horn of the Abyss. It's a fan made mod that feels like a true expansion pack (it really feels that way, it's very professional) with a new faction and other things. It made me play Heroes III a lot again.
Curiously enough, I envy you ‘cos you are nostalgic. You probably enjoyed lots of hot seat games and probably for you it was a shared experience that you and your friends bonded over. That’s a luxury I don’t have or maybe it’s not the same as living it back in the time when this game was launched.
Still, I couldn’t be more grateful to whom discovered this game to me.
Many thanks, from the bottom of my barbarian heart, many thanks.
When I play the game, I play it in awe. Heroes of Might and Magic 3 seems so beautiful to me, with its original, magical creatures, some of them disproportionate, size wise. With its rich, comprehensive, yet understandable gameplay, its many campaigns, maps –some of which have been listed here-, single player, multiplayer, the map editor, etc, there's an endless wealth of new fun to be had.
Aside from that, thanks for telling me about Disciples. I purchased it on GoG, just to have and play as much as Heroes of Might and Magic-like games as possible. I purchased both Disciples and Disciples II. I read that it has winged creatures. But especially a werewolf faction!! –now That’s pretty cool. What’s not to like? If there isn’t another great HoMM-like game to try, I am definitely done with spending money on games for a while though.
Once I complete the campaigns of Heroes of Might and Magic 3 and its expansions plus Heroes Chronicles I shall begin with Heroes of Might and Magic 4.
As for Horn of the Abyss I downloaded and installed it already –just like Heroes 3 HD-, along with the Era thingy, but I won’t get into them anytime soon, I think.
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blob2
Undefeatable Hero
Blob-Ohmos the Second
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posted March 03, 2014 11:49 PM |
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Edited by blob2 at 23:57, 03 Mar 2014.
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Oh yes, those Hot Seat parties. If you ask me, that WAS real multiplayer, playing the whole night with my pack of buddies... Times that won't come back...
Also, we disputed a lot about the game in school etc. It's a bit embarrassing now, but we even LARP-ed Heroes III a bit when we played outside (though we were quite young then...).
Even when as we got older we still went back to play the game from time to time.
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Maurice
Hero of Order
Part of the furniture
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posted March 04, 2014 10:27 AM |
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Edited by Maurice at 10:29, 04 Mar 2014.
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Sarcyan said:
Does every episode of each campaign feature 3 scenarios?
In the vanilla game, yes. In the expansion Armageddon's Blade as well as Shadow of Death, the campaigns will be longer by a map or two extra. But in the vanilla game, not every campaign will carry over Heroes; some campaigns will carry over an artifact instead.
One word of advice with regards to the Trees of Knowledge: since they give you a full level when you visit them, it's best to visit them as late as possible. The longer you wait, the higher level your Heroes will be, the bigger the absolute experience yield from the Tree.
The thing I always do on any given map is to figure out the level cap for that map (if it's not stated in the mission briefing, then I try to find it on the internet or something) and the amount of Trees of Knowledge that can be found. Then I will boost my Heroes through normal experience gain up until the level from where they can reach the level cap by visiting the Knowledge Trees. After my main Hero is maxed out, I let secondary Hero(es) take front line duty to collect experience, until they too are maxed out.
A word of advice with regards to secondary Heroes: it's common to have your main Hero see most of the important battles, with secondary Heroes mainly collecting resources, ferrying troops around and picking off stragglers and the odd neutral stack they can handle. As such, their skill specialty is usually not as important when it comes down to combat. That makes it very useful to hire the Resource producing Heroes as secondary Heroes; each turn, they generate resources for you, which is very useful especially early game or when a certain type of resource is either lacking on a map, or in high demand. For instance, both Stronghold and Rampart make excessive use of Crystals; having a secondary Hero who produces +1 Crystal each turn may then be very useful.
The game has four rare resource producing Heroes:
- Sephinroth (Dungeon, +1 Crystal per turn)
- Rissa (Tower, +1 Mercury per turn)
- Calid (Inferno, +1 Sulfur per turn)
- Saurug (Stronghold, +1 Gems per turn)
Besides that, the game has a number of Heroes who produce +350 Gold per turn. There's one Hero in particular who can bring in a lot of gold, namely Lord Haart. He is the only Hero who has a specialty in Estates, which gives +5% to his Estates skill, per level. Normally, Expert Estates yields +500 Gold per turn, but at level 20, Lord Haart produces +1000 Gold per turn, effectively a Gold Mine  . Of course, a +350 Gold producer with Expert Estates yields +850 Gold per turn total, so at lower levels, those Heroes are better.
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Sarcyan
Adventuring Hero
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posted March 05, 2014 02:48 AM |
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Edited by Sarcyan at 02:49, 05 Mar 2014.
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Maurice said:
Sarcyan said:
Does every episode of each campaign feature 3 scenarios?
In the vanilla game, yes. In the expansion Armageddon's Blade as well as Shadow of Death, the campaigns will be longer by a map or two extra. But in the vanilla game, not every campaign will carry over Heroes; some campaigns will carry over an artifact instead.
One word of advice with regards to the Trees of Knowledge: since they give you a full level when you visit them, it's best to visit them as late as possible. The longer you wait, the higher level your Heroes will be, the bigger the absolute experience yield from the Tree.
The thing I always do on any given map is to figure out the level cap for that map (if it's not stated in the mission briefing, then I try to find it on the internet or something) and the amount of Trees of Knowledge that can be found. Then I will boost my Heroes through normal experience gain up until the level from where they can reach the level cap by visiting the Knowledge Trees. After my main Hero is maxed out, I let secondary Hero(es) take front line duty to collect experience, until they too are maxed out.
A word of advice with regards to secondary Heroes: it's common to have your main Hero see most of the important battles, with secondary Heroes mainly collecting resources, ferrying troops around and picking off stragglers and the odd neutral stack they can handle. As such, their skill specialty is usually not as important when it comes down to combat. That makes it very useful to hire the Resource producing Heroes as secondary Heroes; each turn, they generate resources for you, which is very useful especially early game or when a certain type of resource is either lacking on a map, or in high demand. For instance, both Stronghold and Rampart make excessive use of Crystals; having a secondary Hero who produces +1 Crystal each turn may then be very useful.
The game has four rare resource producing Heroes:
- Sephinroth (Dungeon, +1 Crystal per turn)
- Rissa (Tower, +1 Mercury per turn)
- Calid (Inferno, +1 Sulfur per turn)
- Saurug (Stronghold, +1 Gems per turn)
Besides that, the game has a number of Heroes who produce +350 Gold per turn. There's one Hero in particular who can bring in a lot of gold, namely Lord Haart. He is the only Hero who has a specialty in Estates, which gives +5% to his Estates skill, per level. Normally, Expert Estates yields +500 Gold per turn, but at level 20, Lord Haart produces +1000 Gold per turn, effectively a Gold Mine . Of course, a +350 Gold producer with Expert Estates yields +850 Gold per turn total, so at lower levels, those Heroes are better.
Woah! You are an awesome advice giver Maurice. That's certainly great stuff, a nice read, actually. I had never thought about how to use the Trees of Knowledge more effectively, but I can see why it's advisable to do that. When you are playing this game it's hard to stop listening to this voice telling you "I should do this or that next", that you can easily get lost in those many thoughts, and not realise something as useful as what you pointed out. That's good advise for beginners and veterans alike.
As for those heroes, I shall that into account. Another fine piece of advise.. something you don't realise at first, despite how useful it may be.
I use Heroes 3 HD+ and I can invite those heroes to the tavern, but by doing so I feel like cheating 'cos this wasn't in the original game. I have this overbearing sense of honour above all and almost everything before dishonour, also that I'm nothing without my honour crap that keeps my moral in borderline examination.
As for managing my heroes, I usually have 1 or 2 close to the place where you start (the weakest ones, which is a handicap, but that's how it is), or the castle, etc, just in case a surprise attack happen and my main hero is too far away in the world for him/her to return home in time.
I also try not to take the loot from treasure chests and save them for my main heroes, then I take the experience instead of the gold like 90% of the time. It depends, sometimes the gold can be nice, but they give experience too, and that's good.
In regards to the factions; Stronghold and Rampart and the like and what you mention of how they use a lot of crystals, I can't wait to try the different factions! I have been limited to what the campaigns allow me to play by far -I am in the first scenario of the devilish part of the Erathia's campaign, after completing Long Live the Queen-, but I can't complain, I am having lots of fun just the same.
On a different note, I have Heroes of Might and Magic 3 Complete Edition with the expansion and all that jazz, but I wonder... if I install Gameranger..., and in order to play online, does the game play by the rules of vanilla Heroes of Might and Magic 3 or does it play like the last expansion/version of the game, which is what I would prefer? Just curious... 'cos I don't know if there is a limitation like that in place when you play online.
Just to make it clear, I haven't tried Armageddon's Blade and the like and to me the vanilla game can be as good as the expansions, but I know there are important improvements and I would like to experience them not only in the campaigns of those expansions.
Finally, so many thanks for your tips and the advice, I shall make sure to spread the word. Very useful, smart stuff. I am going to share a little beginner's guide I wrote based on my own experience, too.
See yah'
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Sarcyan
Adventuring Hero
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posted March 05, 2014 02:51 AM |
bonus applied by Corribus on 11 Mar 2014. |
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Basic Tips for Beginners in Heroes of Might and Magic 3
I've decided to create this short compilation of tips to help other who are new to this marvelous and wonderful game, It is also valid for other Heroes of Might and Magic games, for the most part, mayhaps.
We must start saying that this is not an overly complicated game to learn , but once you learn it is like chess, the possibilities are endless endless possibilities.
- The little details: In the beginning it is pretty normal to miss out on some details. For instance, the icon representing a horse in a trotting pose merely shows that you can move where the icon is, BUT if the horse is in a rearing pose, it shows that you can INTERACT with something placed where your icon is –by interaction I mean collecting resources, a fight, entering a building, etc.
- Use the secondary mouse button; This is actually important. The right mouse button provides you with very valuable information and help on items, buildings, units, your opponent’s heroes (how many units they do have and therefore it’s good to know whether it is counterproductive to confront an opponent’s hero or not, how powerful it is, etc….), and of course your own heroes and units, be it during battle or when you are on the main map.
- Luck; allows your character to do double damage when activated and perform a lucky strike.
- Morale; it gives one of your hero’s units the chance to achieve an extra turn. If the morale of your army is low, the opposite can happen, you lose a turn.
- Splitting your units: When you're a newbie there is a tendency to stack units of the same type and amass them. This is not necessarily bad, but splitting your units of the same type into several groupings can help immensely during tough, tight battles against the CPU.
This diverges the attention of the CPU and a human opponent to more stacks of units, and you can use small groups of units to "eat up” the counterstrike of the opponent, freeing up larger stacks of units you do not want to get hurt, and attack with those afterwards.
This tactic is very important for the Necropolis faction, for instance, because they are initially very weak at a distance ‘cos they have no ranged units til the top tiers –thanks to I don’t wanna be your friend for this tip .
- How to split your stacked units? Easy. In Heroes of Might and Magic 3 there is a button on the screen to that effect.
When it comes to Heroes of Might and Magic 2 there is no such button afaik, and you have to press SHIFT and click the left button of the mouse to unstack a given number of units and then you can choose EXACTLY how many units you want to split –be it by tens, or single units, or whatever.
This last method also works on HoMaM 3.
- Enable the Grid and shadows: The battle grid facilitates things quite a bit.For example, if a unit has a speed of 6 this means that it can move up to 6 hexes on the map.
This allows you to make complex calculations where the best hex would be to place an unit expecting while expecting where the next move of your opponent could be.
Spells like Haste increase speed, allowing you to travel more hexes, while spells like Slow do the opposite.
Enabling the Grid and shadows -as you can see in the image, link below- shows you where you can move the Angels in this case, which is the highlighted unit. This is very important to ponder and study tactics.
- Protect your ranged units, which, save some honorable exceptions, are the ones that typically receive most of the initial attacks of the enemy be it by using spells or by other means .
As a picture is worth a thousand words, this screengrab below shows a smart way to protect your ranged units - in this case archers, which are being surrounded and closely protected by pikemen-.
Ranged units can be protected by placing other units in a hex adjacent to them.
- Special/Unique perks and features: Heroes of Might and Magic 3 is a game so rich in possibilities that there is always an awesome wealth of fun to be had.
A good example of those special abilities is the Jousting Bonus, which is exclusive to the Cavaliers and Champions.
I'll explain in a screenshot I took with the Print Screen key.
Jousting Bonus means that for each hex you travel, your cavaliers or champions get an attack increase, so the further you move the more damage they do.
If you move the cursor around an enemy unit you can see the amount of damage it deals (as shown in the screengrab below), when traveling to different hexes adjacent to the enemy’s unit you decided to fight.
Jousting Bonus can improve even more with spells like Haste (you can travel further away because you faster), Bless –more damage- or Prayer (Bonus to defense, attack and damage). Those three spells can be combined in a single turn if your hero possesses the ability to have spells enabled for at least 2 or more turns.
Pikemen and halberdiers are immune to Jousting –nice detail which talks about historical accuracy..
- Other special bonuses: There are several examples of other bonuses and we are only scratching the surface of this wonderful game.
Harpy Hags for instance have an attack that can’t be counteracted after they hit an enemy, and they also return to the hex they began to travel from. This one is very cool
In addition, Zombies have a bonus which can cause disease -20% chance of causing disease in an enemy unit they attack-. If they cause disease to an enemy unit, those have their attack and defense ratings decreased by a factor of two during two turns.
The special ability of the Ghost Dragon, called Aging, halves the hit points of an unit, but does not stack nor it does more damage than normal.
- Where can I learn more about this beautiful game?
http://heroes.thelazy.net/wiki/Main_Page
The manual is quite useful too.
- Where to buy Heroes of Might and Magic 3 ?
If you can not get the retail version of Heroes of Might and Magic complete edition, which features several games of the series in a single disc, definitely the best option is GoG. Even Ubisoft’s official webpage sends you there in order to buy the game.
http://www.gog.com/game/heroes_of_might_and_magic_3_complete_edition
Besides all the advantages you get from buying in a site as good as GoG.com –no DRM, games are yours forever once you buy them and you are given the ACTUAL installation files (it’s not just that games are installed for you) you can copy the installation executables anywhere, from another PC to a pendrive, to a disc, external HD, etc, etc, as if you had the physical copy of the game and games don’t need GoG either to be enabled, played or installed, which is perfect), there you can buy almost the complete series of Heroes of Might and Magic at a discount when purchasing the entire pack.
These are real diamonds and gold in the history of videogames, as some of them are considered among the best games in the history of the PC.
The pack features the following titles if you want to buy the whole saga at GoG:
Heroes of Might and Magic 1
Heroes of Might and Magic 2
Heroes of Might and Magic 3
Heroes Chronicles: All Chapters ( a spin -off using Heroes of Might and Magic 3 engine, featuring 8 extra campaigns)
Heroes of Might and Magic 4
Heroes of Might and Magic 5
- If You 're Good in Heroes of Might and Magic 3, do you have the potential to be a good Chess player?
Yes.
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Heroes of Might and Magic; They aren't only games, they are passions. And feelings. Laura Jackson is the most beautiful woman who has ever existed!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSBTC1HHN-E
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Salamandre
Admirable
Omnipresent Hero
Wog refugee
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posted March 05, 2014 10:27 AM |
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This entire thread should be moved to Library, its content is in nothing related to wog or other mods content.
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Maurice
Hero of Order
Part of the furniture
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posted March 05, 2014 10:44 AM |
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Edited by Maurice at 10:46, 05 Mar 2014.
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Sarcyan said:
I use Heroes 3 HD+ and I can invite those heroes to the tavern, but by doing so I feel like cheating 'cos this wasn't in the original game. I have this overbearing sense of honour above all and almost everything before dishonour, also that I'm nothing without my honour crap that keeps my moral in borderline examination.
While I can understand that, I guess I am a bit jaded  . Before the HD mod, I used to "dig" through the Tavern Heroes, burning through piles and piles of excess money while I hired Heroes only to dismiss them right away again, just hoping to get the Heroes I want to have. The HD mod simply saves a lot of time to essentially do the same.
Quote:
In regards to the factions; Stronghold and Rampart and the like and what you mention of how they use a lot of crystals, I can't wait to try the different factions! I have been limited to what the campaigns allow me to play by far -I am in the first scenario of the devilish part of the Erathia's campaign, after completing Long Live the Queen-, but I can't complain, I am having lots of fun just the same.
What you could do, is play a single player map, standalone. There are a number of single player maps in the game, outside of the campaigns, where you can freely choose the race you wish to play as. That way, you can already test the waters a bit with each faction. Of course, that takes time away from the campaigns .
Quote:
On a different note, I have Heroes of Might and Magic 3 Complete Edition with the expansion and all that jazz, but I wonder... if I install Gameranger..., and in order to play online, does the game play by the rules of vanilla Heroes of Might and Magic 3 or does it play like the last expansion/version of the game, which is what I would prefer? Just curious... 'cos I don't know if there is a limitation like that in place when you play online.
I don't know, sorry. I never used or installed Gameranger, I have no experience with it.
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Sarcyan
Adventuring Hero
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posted March 07, 2014 01:51 AM |
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Salamandre said:
This entire thread should be moved to Library, its content is in nothing related to wog or other mods content.
I wouldn't mind to, I just chose this forum because it's the one that whose resemblance to the original Heroes of Might and Magic 3 shows in its name.
Maurice said:
While I can understand that, I guess I am a bit jaded . Before the HD mod, I used to "dig" through the Tavern Heroes, burning through piles and piles of excess money while I hired Heroes only to dismiss them right away again, just hoping to get the Heroes I want to have. The HD mod simply saves a lot of time to essentially do the same.
I did that a few times, but my choices for heroes have been always quite simple. My favourites for now are Sorsha, Sylvia and Mirlanda. I am doing fine for now and I don't invite heroes to the tavern often, but would the game need a more refined approach when the campaign gets harder, I might really consider it to have the best I can.
is awesome, especially if you have lots of swordmen, she has a penchant for fine secondary skills, at least fine in my book.
, on the other hand... I love her portrait. Still I thought her perk was related to logistics, but it is for navigation. But I like her anyways.
A new hero I got that I am liking a lot is Kyrre. He has a neat bonus to logistics and other good secondary skills from the get go.
(dunno if he is still in HoMM3) was a hero I liked very much in Heroes of Might and Magic 2. I only completed the original Roland's campaign in Heroes 2 amd it was my best first hero. I always chose him for the rest of the campaign whenever he was available for hiring afterwards.
So many of my units died in the first scenario, and I engaged into such uproarious battles in that first scenario -'cos I was a newbie and began to amass units then had to confront Zounds of neutral creatures- that I had more than a thousand skeletons at some point.
Fun times.
Quote:
What you could do, is play a single player map, standalone. There are a number of single player maps in the game, outside of the campaigns, where you can freely choose the race you wish to play as. That way, you can already test the waters a bit with each faction. Of course, that takes time away from the campaigns .
Yes, I realised as much. I shall probably wait before I am done with the campaigns --maybe not entirely though, I could revisit some of them.
Quote:
I don't know, sorry. I never used or installed Gameranger, I have no experience with it.
No worries then. It's just that I am not sure I experienced the boons of the expansions, so to say, sine I have the Heroes 3 complete edition and the game is seamless for me, I didn't live the process of change.
I also haven't read the expansions' manual yet, just the original, although I have them from GoG. I just looked at the files and the manuals are relatively large so I expect quite a few changes, and will immediately read them when I complete the campaigns of the original. I am in the 2nd scenario of the Devilish Plans episode of Erathia's campaign.
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Heroes of Might and Magic; They aren't only games, they are passions. And feelings. Laura Jackson is the most beautiful woman who has ever existed!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSBTC1HHN-E
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Sarcyan
Adventuring Hero
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posted March 07, 2014 02:04 AM |
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Edited by Sarcyan at 02:30, 07 Mar 2014.
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The other weekend I realised dawn was breaking on me. This game is so full of possibilities and so rich...
AND for those who loved the art style of Heroes of Might and Magic 2 (it's sheer love, precious), I decided to mention this news here. (I know there is a thread on this mod here, but this is meant as a compilation of info on the games and mod, etc, for newcomers)
There is this mod called The Sucession Wars , which tries to bring the Heroes of Might and Magic 2 artistic style into Heroes of Might and Magic 3, featuring both the classic castles and buildings from HoMM2 and the new ones, along with units and so on. Could it be your most anticipated mod? Who knows...
This mod can be downloaded here, and it features the enhancementsand capabilities of the In the Wake of Gods mod. Amazing!
URL]http://heroes3mod.webs.com/[/URL]
[COLOR=rgb(0, 128, 255)]The Witch[/COLOR] <3<3<3 and some of her creatures:
Additionally, I came to the conclusion that Heroes 3 HD looks better at True 32 Bit (Stretchable) GDI than the rest of the settings, because the other settings are either 16 bits or 16 bits converted to 32 bits.
But True 32 Bit (Stretchable) GDI shows better colour contrast between areas and looks simply sharper --I am quite obsessed with the calibration of TVs, PC displays and the such-
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Heroes of Might and Magic; They aren't only games, they are passions. And feelings. Laura Jackson is the most beautiful woman who has ever existed!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSBTC1HHN-E
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bloodsucker
Legendary Hero
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posted March 07, 2014 03:27 AM |
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Quote:
On a different note, I have Heroes of Might and Magic 3 Complete Edition with the expansion and all that jazz, but I wonder... if I install Gameranger..., and in order to play online, does the game play by the rules of vanilla Heroes of Might and Magic 3 or does it play like the last expansion/version of the game, which is what I would prefer? Just curious... 'cos I don't know if there is a limitation like that in place when you play online.
Generally people play H3 Complete version, sometimes Armagedeon's Blade.
Lost one right now.
Must say you are a quick learner, some of the tecnics u described took me a while to manage, like split troops.
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Sarcyan
Adventuring Hero
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posted March 09, 2014 04:46 AM |
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Edited by Sarcyan at 08:28, 09 Mar 2014.
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bloodsucker said:
Quote:
Generally people play H3 Complete version, sometimes Armagedeon's Blade.
Lost one right now.
Must say you are a quick learner, some of the tecnics u described took me a while to manage, like split troops.
That's the version I have, with Armageddon's Blade and Shadows of Death. That's all I needed to know.
As for learning quick... thanks, I must try, I think. It's been less than a month with this timeless, eternal game and series, and I gotta learn as fast as I can --long story.
This probably means leaving my Xbox One somewhat aside at times, but I can always play a Powerstar Golf match and stuff like that in a relaxed manner.
Anyway, after a month with the series, I've tried to play every game -save Heroes Chronicles- and build my newbie opinion on them.
Heroes of Might and Magic I: I barely played it, in fact it is the game I played the less. I like it because of the historical factor and it has an art style I kiiiiiinda like.
Heroes of Might and Magic 2: This one is truly special, like a first love. T'was the game that made me fall in love with the series when the person who discovered this game to me showed this game for the first time.
Wonderful, unforgettable art style. Incredible music.... Everything is good about this game.
Talking of music, the Warlock theme is one of the best ever in the history of videogame music. I mean... the metallic sounds were TRULY ahead of their time.
Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings had a similar music? It was that good!! I wonder if the music of the film was inspired by Heroes of Might and Magic 2.
Heroes of Might and Magic 3: This one is like Sophie Ellis Bextor to me. Sheer love!! This one is precious. What can I say that hasn't been said yet? A different art style, still amazing, with some units with a gorgeous, beautiful design, at least to me --Wights for instance.
Great music, not to break the tradition, and individual abilities for heroes, along with specific biographies/profiles, that was a most perfect addition.
For those missing the beautiful art style from Heroes 2 there is The Succession Wars mod. Yay!
Maybe the best of the series? Most probably... Very moddable, unforgettable, stable... For me it is neck and neck there with Heroes of Might and Magic V /it's so tough to declare a winner/.
I am in the 2nd scenario of the Devilish campaign.
Heroes of Might and Magic IV: My opinion on it is tainted by my noobiness. Hearsay tells you that it can be loved or hated, it can be seen as the spoilt child or the black sheep for some, a stroke of genius, the misunderstood child, or it is ugly duck instead of the swan it could be.
I didn't play it thoroughly yet, but it is the last Heroes from NWC and I respect them a lot. The music score is as gorgeous as ever! The design of the towns and creatures' portraits reminds me of the much beloved Heroes 2.
And it was meant to be an evolution on the series, which is good, because some ideas are fine. I didn't like the merging of Necropolis and Inferno, mostly because I am not a fan of Inferno in Heroes 3 --the devils are well designed but I don't like their shoddy teleport effect when they attack.
The pseudo-3D engine is also a good step towards the right direction, imho.
I downloaded Equilibrius but I shall try the vanilla game first then this mod.
Heroes of Might and Magic V: OH MY...... OH GOD. OH GOD.  This one is my favourite along with Heroes of Might and Magic 3 --had I to choose I'd say 3 for me, but the reason is as shallow as the fact that my laptop's temps increase compared to Heroes 3, although both games run very smoothly, which is the point. But superficial reasons aside, I like both about the same, deep down, so I won't choose a winner.
It is 3D -this is very important for me-. Inferno creatures look much cooler now, especially the Succubus. Also the inferno Falcons are very original.
It takes Heroes 3 as its foundation -with some enhancements from Heroes 4- and it builds from there. This was a very smart decision.
The art style is okay -too garish and gaudy for my taste at times, but not bad-, not as good as HoMM2 or even 3 though, but as I said it is original. The game is very stable, it is highly moddable and it has an enriching community behind.
I downloaded Power of Dragons AI -to test later, now I am happy with Heroic AI- (for those who might love Heroes 5, PLEASE set the vanilla AI to Heroic, it makes the game all the more enjoyable!!) and the Legend of the Ancients campaign.
http://heroescommunity.com/viewthread.php3?TID=34594 (AI mod)
http://lota.celestialheavens.com/ (Legend of the Ancients)
I can't forgive Ubisoft for not hiring Nival Interactive again for Heroes 6. They did an amazing job with Heroes of Might and Magic V.
Heroes of Might and Magic VI: I was about to purchase it yesterday, but thanks goodness I will save my money. For 39€ for the Heroes 6 Complete Edition and then another 7€ of course I could get a modern good game.
BUT I decided to wait because this bug-ridden game might be too much for me to handle, especially when I want to play the whole series title by title and this one has been developed like crap. It can wait 'til it is stable, if Ubisoft can redeem themselves and work on fixing the mess.
The bugs are a big letdown and I don't know what Ubisoft wants to do with the series from now on.
If it weren't for the bugs I'd buy the game today. Although for me the true problem is that is has some kind of DRM going on, that'w why I don't like Ubisoft. The rest of the Heroes games can be bought at GoG --amazing people and policies.
I don't fully trust Ubisoft, they could transform this unique franchise into something else, maybe something Heroes' fans don't want it to be, nor the original creator of HoMM would like.
Who knows... We could expect for it to become a tactical sim (vade retro Satanas) or whatever they fancy, but they are hurting the series.
Still I am very hopeful for Heroes of Might and Magic VII, and expectant.
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Heroes of Might and Magic; They aren't only games, they are passions. And feelings. Laura Jackson is the most beautiful woman who has ever existed!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSBTC1HHN-E
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Sarcyan
Adventuring Hero
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posted March 10, 2014 11:37 PM |
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Some people hold a theory that says that gamers who play games like Civilization V, Europa Universalis and Heroes of Might and Magic are usually more intelligent than those who play games like Borderlands, Assassin's Creed or jRPGs, which generally have weak stories that can't barely compete with your typical B movie made for popcorn cinema, and also don't come up as a challenge, at all --there is no challenge, that's for sure.
Intelligent people tend to play games with an strategic touch and where resources management is present, and omit games like those I listed whose storyline can barely compete with the worst cinema ever out there, and whose gameplay isn't challenging in any way.
I have to fully agree with this theory.
Proof of that are some very smart threads like these two:
http://heroescommunity.com/viewthread.php3?TID=39873&pagenumber=1
http://heroescommunity.com/viewthread.php3?TID=34293&pagenumber=1
They are also great threads to learn about the evolution of Heroes of Might and Magic.
Additionally, I gave my opinion on what I would add to Heroes of Might and Magic VII. It's not much, but I think that it would be a very interesting addition.
http://heroescommunity.com/viewthread.php3?TID=39873&pagenumber=6
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Heroes of Might and Magic; They aren't only games, they are passions. And feelings. Laura Jackson is the most beautiful woman who has ever existed!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSBTC1HHN-E
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Corribus
Hero of Order
The Abyss Staring Back at You
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posted March 11, 2014 03:24 AM |
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Thread moved to Library, but not before a +QP was awarded to Sarcyan!
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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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JollyJoker
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
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posted March 11, 2014 08:40 AM |
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Sarcyan, if you really lik HoMM 5, you should try the RPE Mod (has its own thread in the modder forum).
That one makes a very good game quite outstanding!
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Sarcyan
Adventuring Hero
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posted March 11, 2014 09:09 PM |
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Corribus said:
Thread moved to Library, but not before a +QP was awarded to Sarcyan!
Thanks! I greatly appreciate your warm welcome to the forums, so to say. Much obliged.
JollyJoker, I downloaded the mod you told me about already. I am going to install it whenever I complete the main campaigns of Heroes of Might and Magic V.
Talking of which, I am alternating between Heroes 3 and Heroes 5, and I had this realisation that I could help other newbies like me to tell them about some of the basics I learnt.
Ungrouping units on Tactics screen: First of all, using individual stacks of units as meatshields can be an amazing strategy, especially to get attention from the opponent, cover a friendly unit or playing "lose".
It can also divert an enemy unit from their initial, more straightforward, path and that means it might need an extra turn (which is a luxury for you) to return to the initial path!
Well, so to unstack units.... You have to click on stacked units and press & hold the Caps key on your keyboard, then click again on an empty slot and select how many units you want to ungroup //normally 1, but it's up to you.
This is an example on how your units can look on the tactics mode screen when you are arranging their placement.
The image below was meant to how you can trick other units into attacking your individual units before anything else, placing them at the forefront of your army, trying to lure enemies away from the units you want to protect the most (archers in this case).
It didn't work though, as soon as I realised that the vampire lords could fly --didn't know at first.
The idea was moving the individual units forward into the BF and try to divert the enemy from their *best* path.
Still, it was the toughest, tightest and fun battle I've ever had in a Heroes game!! It was a close call, but soooooo FUN.
- Obstacles and how they can play to your advantage. During Tactics mode you can place your units behind obstacles and the enemy can't go for a straight attack on you --this mostly applies to hand to hand units, but as you know if you are behind an obstacle ranged units will have a harder time hitting you.
For instance, the trees and rocks in this image, thus I placed my units to the left of the screen;
- Enabling Vsync: This is especially important for laptop computers because it will help the game to run smoothly as it can without going overboard.
There is no need to run the game at 120fps, wasting precious processing cycles, when your display is set at 60Hz. This helps your laptop in the long run, especially, because the inner temperatures of your laptop PC will be lower.
To enable Vsync edit your User.cfg file...
My Documents\My Games\Heroes of Might and Magic V\Profiles\(User Name)\user.cfg,
open the file with Notepad
find the line "setvar gfx_vsync = 0"
change it to "setvar gfx_vsync = 1"
- Playing in windowed mode; The method is very similar:
My Documents\My Games\Heroes of Might and Magic V\Profiles\(User Name)\user.cfg
open the file with Notepad,
find "setvar gfx_fullscreen = 1"
change it to "setvar gfx_fullscreen = 0"
Voila! Windowed mode for you.
In addition, you can use very special resolutions, the sky is the limit.
For instance, my laptop's display is 1366x768 native, but there is no point in using 1366x768 and play windowed mode if the window's size exceeds the size of your display. This causes overscan, and you will miss some pixels on screen --even if you are like me and enable the "Auto-hide the taskbar" option (I use small icons, Windows 8.1).
In my case I chose a true 16:9 resolution, 1312x738. Similar method, once again.
My Documents\My Games\Heroes of Might and Magic V\Profiles\(User Name)\user.cfg
open the file with Notepad,
find "setvar gfx_fullscreen = xxxxx x xxx"
change it to (personal example) "setvar gfx_resolution = 1312x738"
Here in this great article you can find the entire list of true 16:9 resolutions. Quite impressive list, imho...
http://pacoup.com/2011/06/12/list-of-true-169-resolutions/
- Using the Hardware cursor in windowed mode. This is more important than you might think.
To do that tick the box that says "Use HW cursor" in the options menu. This is important 'cos if this isn't enabled in windowed mode the cursor might be not precise enough.
It might be actually aiming higher or lower than you initially expected, because the software cursor doesn't see the game as being played in a window and it's kinda fixed in a position based on the absolute numbers of your display's resolution, rather the actual resolution of the window where the game is played.
- Save valuable processing cycles on slower PCs: My laptop is pretty capable of running the game at full speed, but I prefer it to run as smooth as it can without ever using the fan to decrease the inner temps --I use throttling software to keep it running as cool as possible, and found the sweet point between performance and cool temperatures.
I really enjoy playing games as silently as possible, be it on PC or on the Xbox One (a very silent console in itself).
I've set the options to Very High, but the game let us choose whether to tick or not the "No Eyecandies" option. Besides that you can also disable the use of particles (which aren't noticeable at all for the most part) using the user.cfg file (look for the line " setvar gfx_particles = 1 " and set it to 0 instead of 1.
The most dramatic improvement though, comes from disabling the shadows. You won't miss them at all and it can make a difference. To disable the shadows you have to use the user.cfg file, once again.
Look for the line " setvar gfx_noshadows = 0 " and change the 0 to 1.
It's important to first set the graphics' options in the game within "Audio and Video" section, and once you are happy with your choices you can modify the user.cfg freely.
I say this because every time you click on "Apply" when you are on the Audio and Video options, you will lose all the customisations you made to the user.cfg file.
- Camera and game's speed: It is advisable to set the Player Movement Speed to 3x (three notches from the default position) or so. The combat speed at 1,5x or 2x is also okay.
The camera I use is either the default one or the "Classic HoMM camera" (very advisable for those who can get lost in the design of a map, like me, as I like to rotate the camera and turn things around and stuff, which can get confusing)
I hope this helps.
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Heroes of Might and Magic; They aren't only games, they are passions. And feelings. Laura Jackson is the most beautiful woman who has ever existed!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSBTC1HHN-E
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markmasters
Famous Hero
Dragon of justice
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posted March 12, 2014 11:35 PM |
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I like HoMM mostly because it is such a chill game,games like warcrfat can like you mentioned be stressfull. Here you can sit back and point and click slowly .
Secondly It provides a lot of fun with more players while using only a single pc/laptop. I remember the good old time where my and my brother would spend hours on a rainy day playing the game.
Third, it does not get repetetive, with a large amount of skills and races to be offered there is no such thing as a standard buildup. A lot of things are random (which could be a bad thing for some people) but it gives a great replayability (still after 15 years xD).
and my respects, your information is an valuable treasure to newcomers in my eyes. Just like you i am a huge fan of heroes 5 as well, with 1 major downside. The AI turns are so slow..........
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Storm-Giant
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
On the Other Side!
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posted March 12, 2014 11:43 PM |
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markmasters said:
I like HoMM mostly because it is such a chill game,games like warcrfat can like you mentioned be stressfull. Here you can sit back and point and click slowly .
Secondly It provides a lot of fun with more players while using only a single pc/laptop. I remember the good old time where my and my brother would spend hours on a rainy day playing the game.
Third, it does not get repetetive, with a large amount of skills and races to be offered there is no such thing as a standard buildup. A lot of things are random (which could be a bad thing for some people) but it gives a great replayability (still after 15 years xD).
Randomness was (and still is) a big problem on Heroes V - the outcome of a battle could even be mostly decided by the ATB, for example. Secondary Skills with 2% were also problematic.
Heroes VI shows the other side of the coin - the complete lack of randomness made hero builds too predictable. Couple that with only 5 factions on start and you get loooow replayability.
All in all, I'd define Heroes III randomness as 'reasonable'. Enough to give replayability, not too much so it doesn't become frustating at times...or in one single and simple word: fun
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Sarcyan
Adventuring Hero
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posted March 15, 2014 10:38 PM |
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markmasters said:
I like HoMM mostly because it is such a chill game,games like warcrfat can like you mentioned be stressfull. Here you can sit back and point and click slowly .
Secondly It provides a lot of fun with more players while using only a single pc/laptop. I remember the good old time where my and my brother would spend hours on a rainy day playing the game.
Third, it does not get repetetive, with a large amount of skills and races to be offered there is no such thing as a standard buildup. A lot of things are random (which could be a bad thing for some people) but it gives a great replayability (still after 15 years xD).
and my respects, your information is an valuable treasure to newcomers in my eyes. Just like you i am a huge fan of heroes 5 as well, with 1 major downside. The AI turns are so slow..........
That's the only downside of the game, at least for now. Sometimes I am not a conformist -just sometimes- and for now that's what I found most annoying about the game, and I throttle down the CPU so it could affect AI turns too. Other than that, the 6 extra years of developments and new acquired knowledge certainly have an influence on the evolution of the game, and HoMMM 5 is to me an improved version of HoMM3 in almost every way. I didn't experience the launch of HoMM5 and sure it evolved as time went on, but I can say it turned out fine.
I am torn between both at times -favouring Heroes 5-, although now I am focused on Heroes 3, learning as much as I can while playing through the original campaigns.
Additionally, I like to revisit HoMM2 sometimes, and continue the campaigns of the expansions. That game is beyond awesome, and beyond criticism. Now that the Succession Wars mod is out HoMM3 gets to a whole new different level too, but that's a different matter.
Finally, in regards to tips for newbies --many thanks for your comment. Heroes with the Scholar skill are very valuable to teach new spells to other heroes. Just before completing a level of the campaign I reunite all my heroes and send them to pay a visit to my hero with the Scholar skill. He/she learns stuff, spells that they can then teach to others. It's really nice.
The only thing that sucks when I do that is the fact that when I congregate the heroes -I always go up to have 7 or 8 heroes, dunno what is the most balanced amount of heroes- is that the place is so crowded that I have to look for open spaces.
Storm-Giant said:
markmasters said:
I like HoMM mostly because it is such a chill game,games like warcrfat can like you mentioned be stressfull. Here you can sit back and point and click slowly .
Secondly It provides a lot of fun with more players while using only a single pc/laptop. I remember the good old time where my and my brother would spend hours on a rainy day playing the game.
Third, it does not get repetetive, with a large amount of skills and races to be offered there is no such thing as a standard buildup. A lot of things are random (which could be a bad thing for some people) but it gives a great replayability (still after 15 years xD).
Randomness was (and still is) a big problem on Heroes V - the outcome of a battle could even be mostly decided by the ATB, for example. Secondary Skills with 2% were also problematic.
Heroes VI shows the other side of the coin - the complete lack of randomness made hero builds too predictable. Couple that with only 5 factions on start and you get loooow replayability.
All in all, I'd define Heroes III randomness as 'reasonable'. Enough to give replayability, not too much so it doesn't become frustating at times...or in one single and simple word: fun
What do you mean by ATB? I like randomness, as I relate it to chess, where you can have different openings and your opponent has to figure out what opening you chose, and it gives diversity to a given hero. Still I think the heroes of HoMM5 have fixed bonuses just like on HoMM3, which was one of my favourite features of some heroes, it helped to make them unique. Some bonuses were better than others, but they were always useful if you wanted to take advantage of them.
Anyway... I've definitely fallen in love with this series for dear life.
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Heroes of Might and Magic; They aren't only games, they are passions. And feelings. Laura Jackson is the most beautiful woman who has ever existed!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSBTC1HHN-E
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Storm-Giant
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
On the Other Side!
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posted March 15, 2014 10:51 PM |
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Sarcyan said:
What do you mean by ATB?
Active-Time Battle. I forgot to say the word 'bar', but basically in H5, when you start a game, all your trops and the heroes are randomly positioned in the initiative bar. The value I think it's like 0.25 and it can affect the outcome of a battle a lot.
If only had been 0.1 ....
Sarcyan said:
I like randomness, as I relate it to chess, where you can have different openings and your opponent has to figure out what opening you chose, and it gives diversity to a given hero.
I also like randomness, but on a reasonable amount.
Sarcyan said:
Anyway... I've definitely fallen in love with this series for dear life.
A life you should enjoy then
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demarest
Known Hero
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posted March 18, 2014 09:14 AM |
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I like the random map generator. It's nice to be able to pick all the details and just relax, strategizing, no real-time elements to interfere. I like the variety of skills, heroes, creature abilities, etc. There's enough options to make it engaging, but not so many that it's not fun. I really like also how combat is relatively straight forward, but for those who like to do the nuts and bolts number crunching, the game is incredibly deep. Lastly, I like that the game looks nice, but wasn't built to be just eye candy. Seems like SO MANY GAMES get some of these elements wrong. HOMM3 will always be on any computer I own, and will be used fairly regularly.
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