| Olden Era Demo – Feedback Thread |  This thread is pages long: 1 2 · NEXT» |
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Galaad
Hero of Order
Li mort as morz, li vif as vis
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posted October 10, 2025 04:19 PM |
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Edited by Galaad at 16:30, 10 Oct 2025.
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Olden Era Demo – Feedback Thread
The Olden Era demo is now available!
Please play the demo yourself and share your thoughts and impressions in this thread.
First-hand feedback is especially valuable and helps the team refine the game before Early Access release.
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gnollking
Supreme Hero
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posted October 10, 2025 06:31 PM |
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Schism has been super fun. Hotseat (basically the only mode I play alongside making maps) not being available is disappointing, but understandable for a free demo that will probably stay (in an updated fashion) even when the EA/full game is released. The changes from the closed playtest have all been for the better, which is promising for the upcoming early access period. The developers have mentioned that the UI is being reworked, as well as the Hive units, which were confusingly similar for some players.
I already loved the game during the playtest, but the devs keep showing again and again how seriously they take the development and feedback of the players, it's so great to see.
NOW GIVE US THE MAP EDITOR.
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Ernsmk
Tavern Dweller
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posted October 10, 2025 08:27 PM |
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Gotta say, now that we have all factions' creatures represented on the adventure map, and more terrains than the playtest, it does have a really cool unique vibe that reminds me of Heroes 1 and 2.
Later games leaned into the "knights, demons, elves, undead" tropes that got more homogenized (boring) as the series went on.
I really dig the weirdness of Schism, Sylvan, Hive, and even the creatures in the classic factions. It's scratching an itch for me that was there since Heroes 1-2 but I couldn't put my finger on.
We want the classic factions later on (barbarians, pirates, wizards, swamp), but I hope they keep experimenting and mixing in interesting and weird new creatures and faction concepts. The variety of old/new in the game right now is a lot of fun.
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LordCameron
Famous Hero
Veteran of the Succession Wars
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posted October 10, 2025 09:21 PM |
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Most of what I wrote from watching Noro still stands, but one thing the devs need to do is change the minimum requirements they put on steam. They are not giving themselves credit. The game runs on max settings flawlessly on my 1030 so far. It is refreshing to have a game actually well optimized these days so massive props there.
Having to click and drag units is really annoying. There is a little compass that pops up on that radial menu you can use to click, click, and click to move units, but that is one click too many.
I'm not sure the radial menu ads anything to the game and it certainly detracts.
On that note, everything having hover text is a little annoying. I'd rather it was on right click, or an option in the menu, but it is better than AoW3 which has delayed hover text, which is super annoying.
Everything is also super small on my screen and I was surprised how hard it was to make out everything, from creatures to icons to different buildings. I hope what gnollking said about the UI/UX rework happens, and if they do, they need to roll it into their demo to give people the right impression.
I also couldn't tell which objects were visit-able and from which side. Not standing on objects you are visiting is weird.
The music has been disappointing so far. Not bad, but forgettable. Like LOTR background music rather than Homm. Not a fan of the main menu theme either. Feels too choppy and rushed.
I'd also like to know what am I fighting. There is so many creature banks, and all I get is "You are going to fight this teeny tiny portrait" without even knowing its name. Knowing its stats on right click would be nice, but even just a name to eyeball what I am up against. Also larger portraits so I could actually see what the icon is supposed to represent would be nice.
Outside of the warcraft artstyle, I think the devs did the same thing Songs of Conquest did where they made some pretty nice stand alone models but didn't consider how they'd all blend together on the adventure map into an unreadable blur. I don't know if that is fixable at this point sadly, besides the players getting a bit more used to it.
The models are also super detailed which makes it hard to make out individual characteristics, and yet you can't zoom in close enough to actually appreciate those details.
Necromancy having a Lord of the Dead subskill was cute.
The production on hover for resources is a great idea.
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MurlocAggroB
Known Hero
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posted October 10, 2025 11:55 PM |
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Quote:
The music has been disappointing so far. Not bad, but forgettable. Like LOTR background music rather than Homm. Not a fan of the main menu theme either. Feels too choppy and rushed.
Strongly disagree with you there. I adore all of the town themes, and the snow, grass, and sand terrain themes are all standout so far.
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draco
Promising
Famous Hero
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posted October 11, 2025 05:08 PM |
bonus applied by Galaad on 11 Oct 2025. |
Edited by draco at 19:47, 11 Oct 2025.
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10-Hour Review
Backstory
Having grown up in the late '80s, Might and Magic III and IV: Clouds of Xeen, followed by my first expansion World of Xeen, left a lasting mark on me.
I first played Heroes of Might and Magic II during my formative years, and the series has been my go-to ever since.
My favorite aspect of the Heroes II campaign was the sense of progression between maps. There weren't many meaningful choices, but the idea of maintaining an alliance with the dwarves across scenarios was mind-blowing at the time.
Between Heroes II, III, and V I've logged close to 10,000 hours, with perhaps another thousand across IV, VI, and VII.
Each entry had its own mix of innovations and setbacks, but I always find myself returning to Heroes III (Tournament Edition or VCMI) for the quality-of-life improvements.
Context
I've now passed the 10-hour mark (two Duel games, two Jebus Cross maps, and parts of a few single-hero runs).
After watching one of Lexiav's YouTube videos, I wanted to share some observations, fully aware the game is still in development and that I may not be using every feature as intended.
I'm having an absolute blast and truly believe this will become a thousands-of-hours title in my Steam library.
User Interface
(System: 1920x1080 @ 240 Hz, 17" laptop screen)
My go-to Heroes III template is Jebus Cross (actually a variant I built), so I was thrilled to see JC in the demo.
Suggestion: Make it clearer in the description that Jebus Cross is a very resource-rich template with large armies and is not representative of a standard campaign experience.
Floating Text Popups
These give nice feedback but should be logged somewhere for review.
Current issues:
Necromancy growth is hard to visualize (especially when it occurs behind other windows).
Resource pickups are difficult to gauge when several happen at once.
Proposal:
Add a Map Log button (like the Battle Log) that records all map events for the current day: resource pickups, army gains/losses, special events, etc.
Static Reward Dialogs
Reward screens (Dragon Utopia, Pandora's Box, etc.) are static and non-interactive.
Proposal:
Allow right-click (or long-press) on each item to open a tooltip or detail pane.
Example: "What does this helmet do?" or "What is this spell?"
Reuse the same tooltip logic as inventory or spellbook screens.
Mini-Map Behavior
When casting spells, clicking the minimap doesn't reposition the camera — it instead acts on terrain behind it.
Example: trying to cast "Reveal Fog" on an unexplored area instead reveals an already visible one.
Proposal:
Make the minimap always active for repositioning and prevent clicks from passing through it.
Mini-Map Filters
Proposal:
Add toggles (as in Heroes VII) to choose which elements appear: towns, heroes, resources, dwellings, monsters, etc.
ALT-Key Highlights
Holding ALT highlights many interactable objects.
Proposal:
Color-code highlights:
Green = usable now
Yellow = will reset next week
Red = already used by this hero (Star Axis, cleared Utopia, etc.)
Battle / Auto-Combat Screen
It's not always obvious which creatures are ranged, leading to poor initial positioning — especially important if modding and new towns appear later.
Proposals:
Right-click any creature to view full stats.
Add a small sword/bow icon to show melee vs. ranged.
[updated 2025-10-11]During the Tactics phase (available with skill tree skill), preview enemy formation (for multiplayer the Tactics player would position last).
Spell Scroll Pickups
When picking up a scroll, the game doesn't tell you which spell it contains.
Proposal:
Display a small floating popup with the spell name and include it in the map log.
Conversion to Dust
Proposal:
Allow multiple items to be converted to dust at once for faster inventory management.
Balance - Dust Economy
Dust currently feels both too easy and too hard to obtain depending on map richness. Recognizing that balance is still in progress, here are several independent and/or complementary proposals to refine the system:
Proposal A: Remove the Alchemist building. Trading should not depend on a random map spawn. (Keep the Warehouse.)
Proposal B: Add Dust to the Marketplace at roughly +300% markup.
Example: trade four of each precious resource for 15 Dust.
Proposal C: Adjust exchange rates for balance.
Reduce Alchemist output from 5 to 2 Dust per special resource.
[If with Proposal B] Full Marketplace would then yield about 12 Dust for 3 resources.
Proposal D: Add a late-game town building that produces about 5 Dust per turn, scaling across multiple towns.
Proposal E: Reduce cost for duplicate upgrades.
Once a Tier-1 unit is upgraded in one town, the upgrade becomes free (or cheaper) in terms of dust for all towns of the same faction.
Reason: With Town Portal widely available, upgrading the same unit repeatedly adds tedium, not depth.
Closing Thoughts
Overall, the foundation is excellent. The pace, tone, and atmosphere feel true to the classics. With quality-of-life polish, particularly better feedback through logs, context-click details, and clearer map interactions, I can easily see myself sinking thousands of hours into this.
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Etharil
Shaper of Lore
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posted October 11, 2025 05:17 PM |
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Hey guys - just quickly chiming in to let you know I'm reading all of this, but can't respond to it too much right now (there's SO many places to be!). I'm taking notes though!
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LordCameron
Famous Hero
Veteran of the Succession Wars
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posted October 11, 2025 09:24 PM |
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I really like the limiting of heroes to the number of towns/taverns (not sure which it is). I'd already made a house rule to the same effect for Homm III.
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SirIronfist
Known Hero
King of the ogres
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posted October 11, 2025 11:14 PM |
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I'm having a blast with the game right now. So, far I only want to mention two things that bother me:
1. I think the little hero portraits on the left of the screen should be larger. I am constantly confused about which hero is where and I end up clicking through all of them like a madman to find one.
2. I'd very much welcome an option to disable auto combat. I find seeing the auto result of a combat before fighting it myself (which I almost always do) to be somewhat of a spoiler.
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MurlocAggroB
Known Hero
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posted October 12, 2025 12:32 AM |
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I think this has been said elsewhere, but the interactable area on towns should be larger. It's really easy to click to move to a town and instead open it up. I've learned where the spot is now, but it was pretty frustrating at first.
Also, this is more of a wishlist thing, but it would be nice if you could right click on terrain to see information on it. Like, see its name, see which faction is native to it, see your current penalty. It's something that Heroes IV does, and it's really nice to have that information on demand.
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niven
Hired Hero
Lord Niven(cz)
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posted October 12, 2025 03:27 PM |
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Video and feedback
Here is my first scenario.
https://youtu.be/_AqqmJwfq1I?si=88WaFd2AXaQEE4zg
I think Olden Era not best Heroes! Not becouse had bad graphics, but had bad playing for me for this first time! All parts before is better for me.
Very cheap development and heroes 5 are much better today! Maybe can Ubisoft doing remake or remaster for heroes 5!
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JollyJoker
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
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posted October 12, 2025 05:53 PM |
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The game is great! Eminently playable, as fast-paced as the first three, a plethora of map objects (which was one of the downsides of H6 - not enough map objects - and is also something I'm not really happy with HoMM 5 (7 is just bad)).
A pretty great method to give units interesting abilities without them dominating or taking too much time to decide what actually to use or to do.
Magic (spells) are well done also, with a lot of fresh spell ideas.
Skills and abilities are gratifying as well (you get to pick an ability for a skill when you pick one on advanced or expert level).
The battlefield is smaller than in H3 - on the other hand all units take just one hex and there are no war machines (yet?) except the Catapult. It works fine, but you know how it is - once somethiung has been introduced you want to keep and find a way to incorporate it better.
I have to say I admire the way Unfrozen tackled this. Has anyone EVER thought about creating a skill that allows heroes to add part of their power and knowledge points to attack or defense? That's a pretty good one, imo.
All in all I'm pretty sure that OE will be the best Heroes game released by the time we have 2 expansions/DLCs and eight factions.
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Galaad
Hero of Order
Li mort as morz, li vif as vis
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posted October 12, 2025 11:17 PM |
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JollyJoker said:
All in all I'm pretty sure that OE will be the best Heroes game released by the time we have 2 expansions/DLCs and eight factions.
My thoughts exactly. 
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JollyJoker
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
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posted October 12, 2025 11:49 PM |
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I REALLY like how unit power increase between tiers feels. I mean, those T4 Minos, T5 Medusas and T6 Hydras actually feel POWERFUL while the T1-T3 feel NUMEROUS.
Also LAWS are an awesome addition.
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artu
Promising
Undefeatable Hero
My BS sensor is tingling again
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posted October 12, 2025 11:50 PM |
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Best Heroes game as in better than H3?
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Are you pretty? This is my occasion. - Ghost
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Galaad
Hero of Order
Li mort as morz, li vif as vis
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posted October 13, 2025 01:42 AM |
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JollyJoker said:
I REALLY like how unit power increase between tiers feels. I mean, those T4 Minos, T5 Medusas and T6 Hydras actually feel POWERFUL while the T1-T3 feel NUMEROUS.
Absolutely.
Quote:
Also LAWS are an awesome addition.
Yes, though I think they need more work. A few of the laws are genuinely interesting, but most end up being simple passive buffs. They’re satisfying, sure, but the system as a whole feels like it only scratches the surface of its potential. I don’t have concrete suggestions, but I’m sure it could evolve into something deeper and more rewarding progression-wise.
artu said:
Best Heroes game as in better than H3?
I’d actually say yes, at least when it comes to gameplay. The only part I’d still rank below H3 is the art direction, though I don’t find it bad either. Overall, it already feels richer across the board : from hero progression (inspired by H5’s improvements over H3) to the spell system, neutral spells, map content, creature abilities, just off the top of my head. There’s simply more depth and variety everywhere, which is pretty impressive considering it’s still in beta.
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purerogue3
Famous Hero
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posted October 13, 2025 04:19 AM |
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So, simply put, if you like 5, vs if you stop at 3
I mean I don't hate it, I haven't even tried 5 why would I try this?
Perhaps the mistake was trying to appeal to the other crowd - no body is going to be changing their preferences
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Galaad
Hero of Order
Li mort as morz, li vif as vis
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posted October 13, 2025 10:06 AM |
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I think that’s a bit of a misconception, it’s not really "H5 fans vs H3 fans." Olden Era clearly builds on both. It keeps H3’s core identity but actually expands on H5’s gameplay design ; things like deeper hero progression, better pacing, and more layered mechanics. It’s evolution, not replacement.
Also, just a quick reminder — this thread is mainly for feedback from those playing the demo, rather than discussing why they’re not interested in trying it.
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bloodsucker
Legendary Hero
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posted October 13, 2025 10:26 AM |
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I'm not playing it but I've seen a few demos from various streamers. Anyone else gets the impression that this time going for money can be a winning strategy?
I say this cause it seems tons of low level creatures will carry the game for all available factions, there are few to none pre-requisites to resource buildings but there usually are a ton for the really strong creatures and they cost a ton of different resources.
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JollyJoker
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
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posted October 13, 2025 10:47 AM |
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artu said:
Best Heroes game as in better than H3?
In a word, yes. Although you should know that while I've played H3 to death THEN that had more to do with how slick the game is than with the details of actual gameplay and mechanics (of which I find quite a few unsatisfactory). H5 is better, mechanically, but lacks a lot in "slickness". And I also DO like H4 which in many respects is a better game than H3, but never really got finished.
I've read a couple complaints over OE that town-building was too straight-forward. H5 and H7 both have gone the way to a more complex and prerequiste-laden approach - which has its merits, of course - but the straightforward thing has its merits as well, since it leaves you more freedom. If you think of it, in HoMM 5 your approach to building the towns up is always the same or nearly the same, because you simply CANNOT do it in any other meaningful way. If you need town level 9 to build something, you have to get there with lower-level stuff, FORCING you to go for, say, a Marketplace, even if you have a Trading Post right next-door. There is SOME variation, but less prerequisites also means more options, and in OE the problem is (as is in HoMM 5) finding the means for the upgrades, upgrades not only of creature dwellings, but also of spells and artefacts.
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