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Heroes Community > Heroes 7+ Altar of Wishes > Thread: What I wish Heroes V to be.
Thread: What I wish Heroes V to be. This thread is 2 pages long: 1 2 · NEXT»
Grythandril
Grythandril


Famous Hero
who is a Chaotic Wizard
posted December 08, 2002 12:15 AM bonus applied.

What I wish Heroes V to be.

What I wish Heroes V to be.

Heroes IV is still a good game but lacks some bit and pieces that were good in Heroes III.  This is my wish of what I want Heroes V to end up looking like.  This is very lengthy but I wanted to express my opinion on what
Heroes V would be like on a whole.

AI
Heroes IV AI is not as sharp as the AI from Heroes III.  Here the computer really made you work hard and gave you interesting battles.  Heroes IV wasn't that much of a opponent.  I wish for this to be improved a lot.

Graphics
I like the 3Dish style graphics using the 2D version.  It give the game a whole new dimension and much detail as well.  I hope they stick with this.  Even in combat or on the adventure map, the layout and details are superb.  I admit some of the creature graphics and animations needed some work ie Nomads, Harpies, wolves etc.  But on the whole the graphics and animations were excellent. Especially from the Heros themselves.

Sound & Music
As will all Heroes Games the sound and music will be excellent as usual.

Multplayer.
Apart from Hotseat I would also like to multiplayer to accompany with the game on the first release.

Map Editor
I must admit Heroes III map editor was just superb to use in relation to using and trying to work out the complexity of Heroes IV Editor.
I would like to see a help file for the editor giving names of all objects when right clicking them.  
What each script means in relation to using them for events whether place, timed or triggered.
Cut, Copy, Paste for all objects, text etc.
A quicker way to paint terrain across large areas of the map
Random monsters to be issued with a colour flag according to the player.  Normal monsters had this option in Heroes IV but the random did not.  I would wish to see this in the new one
Validate map.  This was an extremely helpful tool as it tells the user of any errors that crops up in the map, whether an object was unreachable or no quest  was given etc.

Random Map Editor
I would like this to be in the editor because if would eliminate a lot of work if the user wishes to play randomly.  not just for me but of the other heroes players out there who love this type of tool.

Maps
I would wish to see old maps from the past series in the Heroes.  
Maps like Dragon Pass from Heroes I, Pirate Utopoia from Heroes II. etc.  These maps were a joy to play and it would be nice to see some old favourites reappearing.

Cut Scenes.
I would definitely wish  to see the old graphical cut scenes reapparing in Heroes V.  The Cut scenes in Heroes III were really superb.  Shadow of Death Scenes were just amazing to say the least. Sadly Heroes IV was in my opinion terrible and it kinda of put me off playing them because i could not feel myself getting involved in the stories.

The Game Itself.

Magic and Might System
The magic system would be the same as Heroes V, but with an additional magic to counter balance their opposites.  the story for the adidtional magic could be, that it was accidently unleashed into the world and altered the balance bringing turmoil and causing creatures to scatter to seek refuge which is why some creatures will end up in different towns.  With the new event it  brings new creatures and new magic upon this world.

             Life
Nature Order
             Might
Chaos Shadow
             Death

Castles
There are now 7 castles. Each castle has a different look from each other especially when choosing the buildings for construction.  The way the terrain changes the outlook of the castle stays exactly the same like in Heroes IV.  Also for the castles on the Adventure map i wish to see the little buildings associated with castle as well just to make the look more in line with user when choosing their building structures

Creatures
Each castle will now have five level creatures but like Heroes IV  the user can only choose one per level except for level one creatures.  Bringing the total of creatures in any army to six.  This combines the creatures from Heroes II, III Armageddon's Blade and IV together plus a couple of new ones.  Here is my wish for the new castle creatures

Death

Level One
Skeleton
Undead. Immune to ranged attacks.  Can only be destroyed by spells or Combat.
&
Zombie
Undead. Slighty Tougher. Automatically infflicts disease when they attack.  
Each inflicted creatures looses a few health points per round.  Can be cured by a heal spell.

Level Two
Ghost
Flying spectre.  Causes aging when they attack.
or
Wraith
Flying spectre. Drains a certain amount of mana from spellcaster.

Level Three
Lich
Undead Ranged. Death Cloud
or
Vampire
Flying undead. No retalitaion. Drains life points to nourish itself.

Level Four
Dark Champion
Undead. Can animate fallen creatures during battle.
or
Death Knight
Undead. 30% chance of inflicting Double Damage when attacking

Level Five
Bone Dragon
Tough Flying Undead. Inflicts Terror when attacking.  Immune to Ranged attacks.  
Only spells and Combat can damage it.
or
Ghost Dragon
Tough Flying Dragon spectre. A Random 30% chanceof inflicting Fear to one of its oponents.
This make them lose their turn. Immune to Ranged attacks.  Only spells and Combat can damage it.

Nature

Level One
Sprite
Flying creature. Very fast. No retalitation.
&
Centaur
Ranged Creature with normal melee.

Level Two
Elf
Ranged Creature.  shoots Twice. Ranged first strike.
or
Silver Pegasus
Flying creature.  Magic Damperner

Level Three
Sharpshooter
Ranged creature Very accurate shoots once
or
Unicorn
Cause blindness when attacking.

Level Four
Druid
Spell Caster.  Spells include, Giant Strength, Fortune, Mass Speed and Antimagic.
or
Green Dragon
Flying Creature.  Breath Poisonous fumes.  Taking 1 -10 health points every round

Level Five
Faerie Dragon
Flying creature, Spellcaster. Magic mirror as Defence
or
Golden Dragon
Flying creature.  Extremely Tough.  immune to spells 1 - 4

Chaos

Level One
Bandits
Stealth. not visible to 1st level creatures.  gains additional information on opponents.
&
Imps
Manna leech. Teleportation (Like Devil) as movement.

Level Two
Magogs
Ranged creatures.  Fire twice with balls of fire.
or
Cerberus
Multiple attack No retalitation

Level Three
Pit Lord
Tough, Summons Flying Demons
or
Fire Elemental
Fire immune. Ranged attack.  Double damage from Cold spells

Level Four
Efreet
Fire shield, Fire resistant, Fire attack, Flying
or
Nightmare
Cast Terror

Level Five
Devil
Life Ward. Teleportation.
or
Pheonix
Flying. Rebirth, Fire Breath Attack.

Shadow

Level One
Troglodyte
Immune to visual attacks.
&
Gargoyle
Flying. Stone skin.

Level Two
Harpy
Flying. Strike and return. No retalation
or
Serpent Flies
Flying Dispels magic from opponents when attacking

Level Three
Beholder
Flying. Ranged random harmful spells.
or
Minotaur
Bl.ock Attacks

Level Four
Medusa
Ranged, Unlimited shoots, normal melee, stone gaze.
or
Maticore
30% chance of causing opponents to become paralysed for 2 rounds.  Unfrozen when attacked.

Level Five
Rust Dragon
Flying creature. Tough. Breath Acid.  Damage inflicted twice
or
Red Dragon
Flying creature.  Fire Breath Extremely Tough.  Immune to spells 1 - 3

Order

Level One
Halfing
Giant Slayer.
&
Dwarf
50% magic resistance..

Level Two
Gold Golem
Mechanical 80% magic resistance.
or
Magi
Spellcaster.

Level Three
Air Elemental
Flying. Ranged attacks. Immune to cold spells. Double damage from fire spells
or
Enchanter
Automatically Casts random mass spells. Ranged attack.

Level Four
Genie
Flying. Spellcaster
or
Naga Queen
Tough. No retalitation.

Level Five
White Dragon
Flying creature. Tough. Breath Ice. 20% of opponents being frozen.
or
Titan
Tough.  Ranged attack no melee penalty, Chaos ward.

Life

Level One
Squire
Stun
&
Crossbowmen
No ranged penalty

Level Two
Pikemen
Long weapon negate first strike.
or
Cleric
Spellcaster

Level Three
Royal Griffon
Flying. Unlimited retalitation.
or
Monk
Ranged. Death Ward.

Level Four
Champion
Charge. First Strike .
or
Crusader
Two attacks. Death Ward

Level Five
Guardian Angel
Flying. Cast Protection from attacks for 2 rounds
or
Arch Angel
Flying. Ressurection

Might

Level One
Wolf
Fast. no retalitation
&
Besrker
Two attacks Beserk .

Level Two
Orc
Ranged Normal Melee
or
Nomad
First Strike.

Level Three
Troll
Ranged Area Attack
or
Ogre Mage
Summons Bloodlust

Level Four
Roc
Flying.  Lightning Attack
or
Cyclops
Paralyses. Affect 2 spaces.

Level Five
Azure Dragon
Flying creature.  Very Tough. Breathes lightning.
or
Behemoth
Strength. Magic resistance

Neutrals

Water elemental
Spellcaster (replaces Sea Monster)

Leprechaun
Cast Fortune. Also gives 250 - 750 gold a day

Black Dragons
Flying creature. Tough. Immune to all spells

Mermaid
Cast hypnotise

Giant Spider
Ranged Web attack 20% of opponents being trapped for 2 rounds.

Mantis
Flying, Binding

Gorgon
Death stare

Wveryn
Poison Attack

Basilisk
Stone gaze attack

I would also like to see the following object to be purchased for battle

Catapult and Ballista

Necromancy & Ressurection

For Necromancy and resurrection there are several levels, Basic, Advanced, Expert and Grandmaster (like Heroes IV) with one exception.  The User get the chance to decide which creature them wish to raise or ressurrect after battle. Eg

Basic Necromancy - Raise Skeletons or Zombies.?
Advanced Necromancy - Raise Wraiths or Ghosts?
Expert Necromancy - Raise Liches or Vampires?
Grandmaster Necromancy -Raise Dark Champions or Death Knights?

Resurection would be same but it would depend on the creatures they have in their castle.  If the user has two castles say Life and Order, then it would be four choices for levels, but only one creature can be chosen for resurrection from each level.

Heroes with Specialities.
I must admit i do miss the heroes Speciality option.  I would wish for Each hero to have an ability to be unique but just as important as any other hero.

Magic Heros
Each Hero would have a spell that is again unique which can never be gained from a mage guild.

Maywede would have a special ability of a Fork Lighting spell.  
Desription
This spell brings forth a bolt of lightning which hits its target and then strikes another target as well.  the power of the two strikes are equal damage but the damage inflicted would be eg 5 - 10 points.

However Death Mages can have a necromancy ability, while Life mages can have a Ressurection abilitiy.  

Sandro's speciality is Necromancy in which after each battle is able to raise undead creatures by a further 10%.
Or
Rion's speciality is Ressurection in which after each battle is able to ressurect creatures of life by a further 10%.

Might Heros
Might Heroes would have special abilties based on their skills.

Mephala speciality it Archery.  Mephala does double damage when using her archery skill to attack opponents.
or
Rissa Speciality is Estates  Rissa does double her estates when this skill increases every time this level is pick

Combat
Heros themselves should take part in the combat because it is a new twist in the evolution of Heroes.  However they would be behind the creatures but still particpate in the battle.
My vision of what it would look like would be this example

Opponent A

Hero 1 Hero 2

Catapult and /or Balista

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5



Opponent B

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5

Catapult and /or Balista

Hero 1 Hero 2

This means the it would take two or more moves before engaging the Heros (unless DD spells were used against the Heros).  But still they would be joining in the battle..

Combat Terrain
Also different terrain for the combat.  In Heroes IV  there were terrains like Magic Garden or Enchanted Stone or even Cursed Ground, but were never shown on the combat screen.  I would like to see this on Heroes V as well (wishing anyway).

Castle Siege
Each castle moat does inflict damage ie chaos has fire moat, Death has acid moat, etc.  
Also Catapult does damage walls during attack and can be destroyed as well.

Eveything else done in Heroes IV for combat should remain the same apart from the above mentioned.

Well that it for now.
This is my wish for Heroes V although I may have missed out some pieces  and I apologise to the players if I have missed something important that they feel I should have put in.


____________
Might is Power
Magic is Power
Honor is Power

Power Rules Above All

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ThE_HyDrA
ThE_HyDrA


Admirable
Famous Hero
The Leader of all Hydras
posted December 15, 2002 10:17 AM

A laudable post, Grythandril

Very spirited, I must say. This is a good thing. What we need at the moment is people coming up with good ideas for Heroes V, since this is when it matters. (I also see you put it up at the 3D0 boards) I agree with your post to a very far extent. I can see that you have put a lot of work in it, and I would be pretty frustrated if no one replied. So I'll state my comments on this very good post.

I think Heroes IV is a very worthy addition to the series, and in my opinion, it lacks more aspects of Heroes II than III. I know my view on this point will conflict with others, but, I believe Heroes III was the low point of the series. (Sorry Heroes III lovers) While there are aspects from Heroes III which can be included, I think the apsects from Heroes II will make the game more enjoyable and complete for me.

Artificial Intelligence:
I agree that the AI isn't as knowledgeable of Heroes IV circumstances as it could be. The main faults are in the adventure map, I believe. I have noticed that the computer rarely explores very far outside his area, and always keeps 2 heroes at the castle, further hindering their exploration. It is my observation that the computer does not use the scouting feature of creatures to the best of its abilities, instead, it sends a small stack of them from town to town through the caravan. Also, I have noticed that the computer focuses more on the less important pasts of the town, eg. specific buildings, level 5 mage guilds, (most things on the right hand side of the screen). I don't believe they use their abundance of gold very well.
As their performance on the combat map is concerned, from what I've seen, it is quite good. Maybe this was a coincidence, but my white tiger was attacking creatures blocking the way through the castles gates, consequently blocking my own creatures, and enabling more spells and ranged attacks, and the genies just kept casting 'song of peace' on them. Is this a coincidence?

Graphics
I agree here, too. The 2D-isometric perspective works very well, and it doesn't look outdated in terms of comparing it with 3D, since it hasn't been refined. A 3D game would not suit Heroes V, because it is not needed, and the element of Heroes is conveyed better with 2D.
Graphics are very well rendered in Heroes IV, and should keep this aspect for Heroes V for sure.
My only complaint is not with graphics, but the Heroes portraits corresponding with their battle screen characterisation. For instance, even the fair skinned rangers are dark skinned. Doesn't look to realistic.

Map Editor
Hmmmmm. I actually found the Heroes IV map editor easy to use, but in turn, this made map making more time consuming. Having to place every tree, etc. Heroes III map editor was better, but it didn't have to deal with the comlexity of 'scripting' which Heroes IV has to. But I must admit the tools such as 'validate map' and others made map making easier. Although, Heroes IV had its share of good features, such as the grid, elevation tool, precision of placing, but this again all lead to more time consuming map making.
The feature of so many editable objects is excellent. I remember the amount of objects you were able to edit in Heroes I and II-maybe about 5-10% of them. In Heroes IV, it is around 60-70%. I would like to see this figure rise another 20% or so for Heroes V.

Christian has already announced a random terrain generator for Heroes V, since the whole random map generator is too complex, and understandbly so. The amount of scripting and editing will be too much to ask for from a random map generator in my eyes. The random terrain editor is the next best thing.

Yes. I agree here. Classic maps should be included in Heroes V, since we spent time on many of these maps in 'old school' days, and would like to see them recreated, and how well they play on a newer system such as Heroes V.

THE GAME

Well, your idea here is commendable Grythandril. I'll try my luck at forumalting a castle system. I very much doubt it can surpass your work, but anyway.
There would be 8 castles, 4 good, 4 evil. The core of this is again with magic and each town from the good and evil sides will have their magical opposite. As for the storyline:
A *random god* had finally succeeded in bringing the continents together. But after eons of living in peace, *random god* was overthrown by a new overlord, which separated the continents for his own sake. The continents had been parted, and one half was under the rule of *random god* and the other half by the overlord.
Yes, it was a weak story, but I'm not too good at making them up on the spot.

Good:
Nature
Life
Order
Sprit

Evil:
Alchemy
Death
Chaos
Might

The opposites are listed in corresponding order. Each castle is different, like in Heroes III where all of the building were in different places. From the adventure map, the castle is part of a city, which includes all of the inside structures.
Like Heroes IV, you will have to choose the creatures in the castle from 6 levels, apart from level 1, which brings the number to 7 in a castle, the same as Heroes III. The Hero's army will have 10 slots to compensate for all creatures, extra hero, and extra summonable creature, making a total of 10.

My wishes for the creatures in each castle: (My emphasis is on real, mythological creatures, not ones such as the 'frenzied gnasher' or 'evil sorceress'

Nature:
Level 1
Sprite: Flying, no retaliation, quite fast.
Tree Goblin: Fast, stealth ability.

Level 2:
Elf: 2 shots, no retaliation.


Level 3:
Treant: +50% grass bonus, (10%)devouring.
Dendroid: Bind, can remove trees from battlefield.

Level 4:
Waspwort: Inflicts random spell (poison, misfortune, curse).
Elemental: +50% land bonus, immune to spells.

Level 5:
Unicorn: Blind, fast, can cast 'fortune'.
Dryad: 50% grass bonus, teleporter.

Level 6:
Gold Dragon: Breath Attack, Immune to negative spell effects.
Phoenix: Breath Attack, Blazing fast, Rebirth.

Hero Types: Druid(magic) Archer(might)

Life:

Level 1:
Peasant: taxpayer.
Squire: Stun.

Level 2:
Archer: Long Range, 2 shots.
Pikeman: long weapon, defensive boost.

Level 3:
Griffin: +1 morale, unlimited retaliation.
Swordsman: 20% defensive block.

Level 4:
Monk: No retaliation, Inflicts Holy Word when attacking death creatures.
Roc: Swoop(more damage when moving), 50% chance of 2 attacks.

Level 5:
Crusader: 2 attacks, +1 morale.
Champion: Charge, no retaliation when charging.

Level 6:
Paladin: +5 morale, 50% chance of casting random level 3 life spell.
Giant: Ranged, melee penalty, does 10% more damage to level 5,4,3,2,1 creatures.

Hero Types: Knight (might) Cleric (magic)

Order:

Level 1:
Halfling: Giant Slayer (level 5, 6)
Gremlin: First Strike(ranged), 10% chance of stun.

Level 2:
Eagle: swoop, two attacks.
Boar: 2 attacks, charge.

Level 3:
Apprentice: Casts random level 2 Order spell. Resistant to level 1, 2 negative spell effects.
Mage: Spellcaster, immune to its own negative spells.

Level 4:
Siren: Cast Song of Peace, +50% sea bonus.
Mermaid: Casts hypnotise, +50% sea bonus, ranged.

Level 5:
Genie: Spellcaster, immune to own negative spells.
Naga: Attacks up to 4 creatures, no retaliation.

Level 6:
Titan: Long Range, no melee penalty, 50% attack against Colossus.
Triclops: Attacks 3, regeneration.

Hero Types: Mage (magic), Giant (might)

Spirit:

Level 1:
Pixie: charm specialty.
Dwarf: 50% negative magic resistance, first strike.

Level 2:
Wight: Insubstantial, regeneration.
Djinn: Casts random level 2 Spirit spells, immune to own negative spell effects.

Level 3:
Air Spirit: Immune to Spirit negative spells, insubstantial, casts *any 2 random Spirit spells.)
Mystic: Spellcaster, insubstantial.

Level 4:
Telespirit: Teleporter, insubstantial, immune to all ‘evil alignment’ spells.
Psybird: Ranger, Flyer, low statistics, though.

Level 5:
ThunderBird: 25% lightning strike, swoop.
Firebird: Breath attack, immune to all fire based spells.

Level 6:
Angel: +50% against devils, resurrection (use twice, takes up 1 turn.)
Spirit God: Insubstantial, spellcaster, immune to negative spell effects.

Hero Types: Psychic (magic), Master (might)

Alchemy:

Level 1:
Steel Goblin: Immune to all spells, mechanical.
Golem Bird: +25% bonus at sea, takes extra damage from lightning, fire based spells, mechanical.

Level 2:
Ballista: Long Range, through walls, mechanical.
Gargoyle: 25% chance of stone gaze(unable to move, attack, etc.)

Level 3:
Golem: Magic resistance, mechanical, not affected by stoning.
Ranger: Fires poison arrows(75% chance inflict poison), 2 shots.

Level 4:
Idol: Magic resistance, resistant to all special effects, very, very slow.
Catapult: Effects large 4X4 area, can destroy walls, mechanical.

Level 5:
Derrigibal: Flyer, swoop, casts: icebolt, fireball.
Roth: Throws hammers, can destroy walls, no retaliation.

Level 6:
Colossus: magic resistance, +50% when attacking Titans.
Dragon Golem: First Strike, negate first strike, mechanical.

Hero types: Metallurgist (might), Alchemist (magic)

Death:

Level 1:
Skeleton: undead, skeletal.
Zombie: undead, inflict curse.

Level 2:
Wraith: undead, insubstantial, regeneration.
Anubite: undead, HP drain = to 1/3 damage dealt.

Level 3:
Mummy: undead, inflict curse, 50% chance inflict poison.
Venom Spawn: Inflict poison, takes ½ damage from ranged attack.

Level 4:
Vampire: HP drain = to ½ damage dealt, no retaliation, undead.
Lich: Ranged attack, area effect 3x3, 50% chance inflicts poison, undead.

Level 5:
Dread Knight: 50% chance of double damage, regenerates every 2 turns, undead.
Pharaoh: undead, +2 morale, 25% chance of double damage.

Level 6:
Bone Dragon: Skeletal, undead, inflict panic (not against ranged attackers)
Devil: undead, teleportation, summon demon.

Hero Types: Lich (might) Necromancer (magic)

Chaos:

Level 1:
Centaur: Ranged attack, short range.
Troglodyte: Immune to visual spells.

Level 2:
Beholder: inflict hypnotise 50% of time, ranged attacker.
Harpy: Fly-attack-return, first strike.

Level 3:
Medusa: stone gaze, ranged attacker, 99 shots.
Minotaur: 50% defensive block, powerful, no retaliation.

Level 4:
Nightmare: cast terror, immune to fire based spells.
Efreet: Fire Shield, Fire Resistance, Fire attack.

Level 5:
Scylla: Attacks maximum of 6 creatures, 50% sea bonus.
Magog: 2 attacks, fire attack, 3x3 area.

Level 6:
Hydra: attacks all adjacent enemies, no retaliation, regeneration (if attacked)
Black Dragon: Immune to all magic, breath attack.

Hero Types: Warlock (magic), Overlord (might)

Might

Level 1:
Orc: ranged attack, short range.
Goblin: stun.

Level 2:
Wolf Raider: 2 attacks, charge.
Berserker: uncontrollable, 2 attacks.

Level 3:
Nomad: 50% general rough terrain bonus, first strike.
Slinger: 2x2 area effect, ranger.

Level 4:
Ogre: cast bloodlust, no retaliation.
Troll: Ranger, regeneration.

Level 5:
Cyclops: ranger (with eye), paralyse, area effect.
Bouldroth: (large rock creature)+100% dirt, rough, cracked bonus, 10% chance of causing earthquake (can destroy town walls) if not in a siege, does damage to everyone on battlefield.

Level 6:
Behemoth: -50% defense off opponent, long range (with claws)
Gargantuan: *Same as Heroes IV TGS*

Hero Types: Troll Mage (magic), Barbarian (might)

Neutrals:

Level 1:
Leprechaun(Nat.): Cast fortune, heightens luck by +2 of all friendly armies (battle)
Pirate (Chaos): +50% sea bonus
Rogue(Chaos): Can steal objects held by creatures, also gain +10% more gold from pickups, 50% more against bandits.
Bandit (Chaos): Stealth Ability, +50% against Rogues.

Level 2:
Ghost(Death): insubstantial, can gain creatures by taking the HP away from other stacks. (Deals 50 damage to opponent (has 25 HP) gains 2 ghosts)
DragonFly (Nature): Dispels any beneficial spells to all they attack.
Crossbowman(Life): long range, no retaliation.

Level 3:
Enchanter (Order):Ranged attacks, casts random beneficial spell on a random target.
Sharpshooter (Nature): 3 shots, unlimited shots.
Mantis: Binding, no retaliation.

Level 4:
Basilisk (Chaos): stone gaze, no retaliation.
Diamond Golem(Order): Resistant to all spells.

Level 5:
Wyvern(Chaos): Inflicts poison every attack.
Gorgon(Chaos): Death stare.

Level 6:
Leviathan (might): +50% sea bonus, no retaliation.

The items I would like to see purchased for battle are the catapult and first aid tent. While the catapult is still a unit, it can be used as a siege weapon as well. If one is playing with the 'Alchemy' alignment, you will have control of 2 catapults(if one decides to choose it). There will also be a skill called 'Siege Tactics'. This can improve then accuracy and power of the catapult, and how much HP the First Aid Tent is capable of healing.

I would like to use your idea of Necromancy, Grythandril, since I think it is prasieworthy. I would have gone about it a similar way. With the ability of choosing what creature you can resurrect, it doesn't influence your creature decision so much, and you can have the freedom of both of the creatures for that level.
I also laud your idea of resurrection, only being able to resurrect one stack of a certain number of creatures from each level.

Heroes and Specialties
As I have said previously, Heroes really need to be unique and have their own specialty, portrait and biography. At present, it really doesn’t matter what hero you choose within the class, the only thing you have to decide on is their portrait. This must change in Heroes V for Heroes to be unique.
Magic Heroes:
Magic heroes will have their own specialties, whether it be a skill advancement, a spell bonus, or experience bonus. This will also be intertwined with their castle's specialty:
Nature: Summoning
Life: Resurrection
Order: Charm
Sprit: Morality(Spirit armies are able to gain morale in battle, and outside of it.

Alchemy: Metallurgy(They are able to add extra power to their mechanical creatures (+attack, defense, HP)
Death: Necromancy
Chaos: Inferno (Able to destroy enemy mines at times, makes army resistant to fire spells.)
Might: Magic Dampener(Able to learn spells from all other alignments)
Magic Heroes can have their skills reap benefits in combat. It allows them to use their ability to the fullest.

Might Heroes:
Might heroes have their specialties have an active part in battle. As their specialty can be a 'power up' of a creature, might skill, or already acheived extra defence, attack, HP, ranged ability, and possibly a low level might artifact.
The might heroes can harness their skills properly, and the creature is 25% stronger, skill is 1 level advanced, and the battle statistics of the hero are increased by 10%. The artifact bonus is 25% more effective.

Sieges

As previously mentioned, I believe that the castles should have their own specific moat. Life can have water, Chaos: fire, Death: bones, Alchemy: acid, etc. While this has no battle effect, it does make it feel as though you are fighting in that specific castle, and that atmosphere is there.

The upgrading to Citadel, Castle, etc. now have a more active role. If your town is a Fort, it takes more damage from catapults, and Ballistas go through the walls with only a 1/2 reduction. But if it is a castle, Catapults are 1/8 less effective, as are the ballistas when they penetrate the walls. Also, a castle provides 3 arrow tower, (positioned in the H3 section, but controlled by you), citadel has 1, and a fort has none. So, as you can see, there is now an incentive for upgrading.

Your post was a pleasure to read, Grythandril, I agree with many things in this post. I am sorry I wasn't able to post earlier, and I am also surprised that others have not stated their opinions! Maybe they will change their minds after.
____________
"Dragons may breathe fire, but Hydras have many heads." - The Creed of Hydras
"As the Dragon drew its breath, the Hydra pounced, swiftly but powerfully, and the Dragon was defeated.”

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Jenova
Jenova


Famous Hero
posted December 15, 2002 12:45 PM

All I can say is... Would you like fries with that?
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Djive
Djive


Honorable
Supreme Hero
Zapper of Toads
posted December 15, 2002 09:49 PM
Edited By: Djive on 15 Dec 2002

AI

Well there is not all that much worng with the AI when it comes to battles. If you find the heroes IV AI weak then I'd suggest to try to finish the game sooner.

The neutral stacks provides the biggest challenges in heroes IV, and you should try to take them sooner when they are still comparatively big and powerful rather than waiting till your towns have outgrown the neutral stacks.

What really needs to be improved is the Adventure Map AI. It needs to be a lot better than it is.


Then followed a lot of topics which has been discussed elsewhere (Map Editor, Sound and Graphics). I'll not reiterate them here. Not much to say about them anyway.

Heroes Might and magic system

Here I want a return to something similar to H3. In short ditch the alignments and the pentagram the they were intoduced in H4. Instead give each town a colour which represents the town's alignment, and then decide morale penalties by looking at which towns are mixed (this is done in H4 style). Associate a town mainly with the preferred terrain of that town and build the towns on that.

All towns have some might and some magic in them, but might related towns won't get to build the highest level mage guilds.

Castles
The town terrains are as follows:
Dirt (Necropolis): Home for the undead and spirits.
Haven (Fields): Home for humans.
Swamp ("Asylum"): Home for poisonous creatures and regfugees.
Forest (Rampart): Home for elfs and forest creatures.
Hills/Mountains: Home for dwarves and mountain creatures.
Volcanic (Inferno): Home to demons and fire-based creatures.
Rough (Stronghold): Home to barbarians and wild animals.
Snow (Tower): Home to mages and magically created creatures.
Plains (Mech Town): Home to dwarves and mechanical creatures.

Each of these have complex relations to all the others.


Creatures
Each town has 11 creature dwellings, and a total of 13 total possible creatures.

Creatures dwellings are not restricted the same way as in heroes 4, so player may eventually build all 11. Instead there would be limits like: you must have built city hall before dwelling 5 is built, or you must have a Citadel before you build dwelling 8 should be applied. The dwellings would have their usual pre-requisites also but the later it is built the more requirements must be fulfilled. The 11th building might require a grail building or similar.

The creature generators would no longer be tied to a creature's level. They instead generate a certain amount of XP. The first building you build generate the least XP and then this increases with each dwelling you build. (Some Hero skill could perhaps swap how much each building generates. Say if you want the dwelling which produces 100 XP elves/week to produce 200 XP elves/week and vice versa for the dwelling which produces 200 XP sprites/week.)

The range of XP the dwellings produce would be perhaps 100 XP/week for the first dwelling, to between 750-1000 XP/week for the 11th building.)

Creatures would still have a level because certain skills would look at the level of a creature but when it comes to the towns the concept creature level would have very little significance.


Towns line-ups (rough descriptions)


Necropolis line-up:

1. Skeleton (Skeletal)
2. Ghoul (Feeding, add 1 Ghoul for every five living creatures killed by the Ghouls, Stench: all living creatures attacks and retaliates with half strength in melee.)
3. Zombie (Melee attack: Plague.)
4. Wraith (Flyer, Insubstantial, Two variants: Spellcaster (Life Ward, Sorrow)  with Mana Drain, or Melee bonuses and Regeneration)
5. Mummy (Melee attack: Curse.)
6. Ghost (Flying, Insubstantial, aging attack.)
7. Vampire (Life Drain from living targets, Flying, No retaliation.)
8. Lich (Two variants: Spellcaster (Unholy Song, Aura of Fear, Poison, Weakness, Fatigue) or Ranged attack with Death Cloud.)
9. Dread Knight (Regeneration, First strike, Jousting.)
10. Bone Dragon (Skeletal, First strike, Melee attack: Fear)
11. Grim Reaper (Death Ripple, Reanimate undead.)

Human line-up:

1. Peasant (Tax-payer)
2. Squire (Stunning attack)
3. Crossbowman (Ranged attack, no range penalty)
4. Pikeman (Negate first strike, attack from a distance)
5. Cleric (Spellcaster: Exorcism, Healing and Bless)
6. Elephant (Two variants: Ranged attack or Multiple Attack, like Cerberi)
7. Crusader (Strikes twice.)
8. Monk (Death Word, Two variants: Ranged attack (melee penalty) or Spellcaster (Death Ward, Celestial Armour, Song of Peace), no melee penalty.
9. Pegasus (Flying, Magic damper)
10. Champion (First strike, jousting)
11 Angels (Flying. Spellcaster: resurrection)

Swamp-town line-up:

1. Pirate (Increases sea movement, bonuses at sea.)
2. Gnoll, stunning attack.
3. Cockatrice (Melee attack: 20% chance of Petrification)
4. Widower (Binding attack. Melee attack: Poison.)
5. Drow (Two variants: Spell caster (Summon Pirate, Bandit, Cockatrice, Precision, Giant Strength), or Ranged attack with no range and no melee penalty.)
6. Medusa. Melee attack: 20% chance of Petrification. Ranged attack with no ranged penalty.
7. Basilisk. Melee attack: 20% chance of Petrification.
8. Beholder. Flying, ranged attack,  Two variants. Spellcaster (with H4 spells), or improved combat values including no melee penalty.
9. Gorgon. Death stare.
10 Hydra. Multiple attack with no retaliation.
11. Black Dragon. Flying. Breath attack. Immune to magic.

* When Petrification stops, it can kill some creatures in the stack as a side-effect.


Rampart line-up:

1. Sprite. Flying, No retaliation.
2. Leprechaun. Spellcaster: Fortune.
3. Centaur. Ranged attack with no melee penalty.
4. Satyr. Spellcaster: Mirth.
5. Elf. Ranged attack. Two variants. Spellcaster with Summon Sprite, Leprechaun, Centaur, Wasp Swarm, and Bless or Ranged attack is upgraded with first strike, two attacks and no penalties for melee.
6. Waspwort. Ranged attack. Casts Weakness when attacking other creatures.
7. Dendroids. Binding attack.
8. Unicorn. Two variants: Spellcaster with: Speed, Snake Strike, Summon Elf or improved melee values, including better speed and movement.
9. Mantis. Binding attack, Flying, First strike.
10. Faerie Dragon. Spellcaster.
11. Gargantuan. Area attack, attacks twice, no melee penalty.

Mountain-town.

1. Halfling. Ranged attack, giant-slayer.
2. Troglodyte. Blind.
3. Dwarf. 50% magic resistance.
4. Griffin. Flying, unlimited retaliation.
5. Gargoyle. Stone skin precast. Two variants: Spellcaster (Petrification) or improved combat values.
6. Earth Elemental
7. Minotaur. Blocking.
8. Roc. Two variants. No retaliation or improved combat values, including better speed and movement.
9. Sorceress. Spellcaster. Teleport, Implosion, Chain lightning.
10. Thunderbird: Flying. Attack casts Lightning.
11. Phoenix. Spellcaster: Rebirth. Breath attack, Fire resistance.

Inferno

1. Imp. Mana leech, flying.
2. Gog. Ranged attack.
3. Cerberi. Multiple attack.
4. Succubus. (Can Charm creatures as a pre-combat effect.)
5. Demon (Two variants: Spellcaster: Summon Imp, Bloodlust) or improved combat values.
6. Fire Elemental
7. Ice Demon. Freezing attack, cold resistance, cold attack.
8. Efreet. Flying, fire resistance. Two versions. Spellcaster: Fire Shield, Fireball, Haste, Cat Reflexes, or improved combat values.
9. Manticore. Flying.
10. Nightmare. Spellcaster: Terror.
11. Devil. Teleportation,  Spellcaster: Summon Ice Demon.

Stronghold.

1. Goblin. First strike
2. Bandit (Stealth)
3. Orc, ranged attack, no melee penalty.
4. Wolf. Attacks twice.
5. Harpy. Flying, No retaliation, strike and return.
6. Nomad. First strike.
7. Troll. Regeneration. Two variants: Melee bonuses or Ranged attack.
8. Ogre. Two variants: Spellcaster with Bloodlust, Cancellation and Exorcism or improved combat values, including speed and movement.
9. Wyvern. Cold attack, flying.
10. Cyclops. Ranged area attack.
11. Behemoth.

Mage Town

1. Gremlin (Ranged attack)
2. Iron Golem (Mechanical, Magic Resistance)
3. Gnome (Spellcaster. Haggling, discount when creatures a recruited and Gnomes are in the army and discount based on number of Gnomes.)
4. Gold Golem (Mechanical, Magic resistance)
5. Magi (Two versions
6. Air Elemental (Insubstatial, Flying)
7. Genie (Two versions of Spellcasters)
8. Enchanter (Spellcaster)
9. Valkyrie (Flying)
10. Naga (No retaliation)
11. Titan (Ranged attack)

Mech Town

1. Automation (Mechanical)
2. Energizer (While present on the battlefield improves the combat values of all mechanical creatures and gives them Regeneration.)
3. Catapult (Mechanical, ranged area attack)
4. Ballista (Mechanical, ranged attack)
5. Mech Wulf (Mechanical, First strike, Attacks twice)
6. Water Elemental (Spellcaster)
7. Undine (Two versions: Spellcaster or ranged attack)
8. Red Dwarf (Two versions)
9. Ornithopter (Mechanical, Flying)
10. Colossus (Mechanical)
11. Dragon Golem. (Mechanical, First strike)

Heroes I believe I've explained already in my "How to build a Hero in heroes V" thread so i won't comment on that here.

When it comes to Necromancy I believe the benefit with the skill will need to be severly limited. This can be done in several ways:

1. Limit Necromancy to level 1 and level 2 creatures. (giving additional Vampires and Liches regularly is a too powerful ability and tend to unbalance the game.)

2. Make Necromancy cost spellpoints to use. Perhaps 1 spellpoint to create 10 XP worth of creatures. (At Basic Necromancy and no bonuses). The player can then expend as many spellpoints as desired to create creatures at the end of a battle.

____________
"A brilliant light can either illuminate or blind. How will you know which until you open your eyes?"

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Grythandril
Grythandril


Famous Hero
who is a Chaotic Wizard
posted December 16, 2002 04:17 PM

Your right about the portraits, that they dont belong to the characters.

Anothee example is the lord and ladies of ORDER.  Some pics show the characters have dark skin but the character themselves are pale skinned.

The other character description from Djive and Hydra are far more descriptive than what i have oput in and this is far better and give a more professional look about it.

I just thought i would combine all the heroes creatures from I, II II and IV to create a familar creature feature for Heroes V.

I hope someone from NWC or 3DO is reading this and hopefully take note for the new game.





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ThE_HyDrA
ThE_HyDrA


Admirable
Famous Hero
The Leader of all Hydras
posted December 24, 2002 09:09 AM

Nice to see a long reply from Djive. :)

Although this thread doesn't have too many posts, it is full of thought for the upcoming Heroes V game. While it may be a bit too early to say what Heroes V is going to be like, it is the 'prime time' if you will to start up ideas. Even though we don't have much to work with, it is good to create our own ideas. Last year, Preserver and Incubus would have relished in these threads, but at the moment it is just myself, Djive and Grythandril. On that note, I encourage anyone who has ideas to post them here, since I know I have 6 weeks of holiday to eat up.
On topic:

I, predominantly, agree with what you have said, Djive. Your ideas seem logical, and can be implemented easily and most likely with effectiveness in gameplay. I do however diagree on some points. I would like to comment on them now.

AI

I agree that the Artificial Intelligence system is flawed. What I would have liked them see implement in Heroes IV is a modified Heroes III AI that actually suits the much more complex gameplay style of Heroes IV, rather than the exact Heroes III AI we have at the moment(as I have been informed).

The AI in battle are quite commendable, and know what they're doing most of the time. But there are instances where my setup (tight, original etc.) allows me to get the edge. I have been in a battle with considerable force behind me, but they are low in HP. So, the AI could have immobilised me with their elves, but they decided to walk to get a better range, and I was easily able to defeat them, quickly. There are a few quams such as this one I have experienced, but I believe it can be fixed rather easily if given time.

I agree that the adventure map AI really needs to be taken up a notch. I have observed that the computer seldom ventures far outside its area. This disables it from having access to mines in the centre or 'no man's land' of the map and giving it an advandtage. What it does is actually more tragic. It just sits at its castle gates, for fear of an attack, and when I am close, places them all in the castle. What is worse, it leaves them there for about a week after I've left. Quite disappointing in the scheme of things.

The AI's town build up is too effervescent if you will. I have found (I play on champion every time) that I build the left half of the castle much more than the left. I only build the prerequisites and that  is it. But I have seen that the computer focuses on the right and half, and in some instances, I am stronger, despite being behind by 20,000 gold at the start of the game. I think it should be extremely hard to win with that defecit, but I find it like an average game, most of the time. I think this is one aspect that really needs to be improved for Heroes V.

Heroes of Might and Magic System

Well, I agree on some parts, and on others I don't.
While I don't have a strong opinion on this point, I would have to say that the alignments as they were in Heroes IV gave the game more depth,as far as I'm concerned, and made it slightly more interesting, also it was logical. This isbecause a Necromancer shouldn't be able to learn life spells and vice-versa. So I believe the system should stay as it is. But I think the Might castle should have 3/5 mage guilds. Having no easy to get magic is too much of a downfall on might's behalf.

I don't like the idea of associating town creatures, types, etc. with the terrain. I think it plays a fair influence at the moment, and making it the basis for town development would be giving the terrain too much credibility in my opinion.

Creatures and Such

The idea for the creature growth chart is rather intruiging. I quite like the idea, and it appears to be growing on me each time I read it. I think that NWC must take this idea into consideration when developing Heroes V. If this Idea is not pondered upon, there had better be something very, very good in its place.

Hmmmm. I'm not too sure about your creature generator idea. It seems to general, and creature strengths can change. I think that creature generators should have the same growth per week as they do in their own town. And if the creature is not in a town, then it should be tested against other 'town dwelling creatures' to see their relative strengths, then a decision should be made.

That is all I have time for at the moment. It is Christmas Eve here in Australia, so it is a busy time. Merry Christmas anyway.
____________
"Dragons may breathe fire, but Hydras have many heads." - The Creed of Hydras
"As the Dragon drew its breath, the Hydra pounced, swiftly but powerfully, and the Dragon was defeated.”

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Djive
Djive


Honorable
Supreme Hero
Zapper of Toads
posted December 26, 2002 09:18 PM

Quote:
Although this thread doesn't have too many posts, it is full of thought for the upcoming Heroes V game. While it may be a bit too early to say what Heroes V is going to be like, it is the 'prime time' if you will to start up ideas. Even though we don't have much to work with, it is good to create our own ideas.


I'd agree with that. Now is a pretty good time to comment, if you want three - four moinths then it's getting to late to actually change anything for the designers.


AI

When it comes toi the adventure Map AI, it needs to be very much improved. I'd also like some AoW 2 features on "Global" level. Things like a wizard/warrior which represents a player. Diplomacy options, alignment relations and things like that. This could be implemented as a Hero but it might be better to keep this role separate from heroes as it is in AoW 2.


"I have observed that the computer seldom ventures far outside its area."

I believe the system the use to count out computer losses is seriously flawed. The compouter simply takes too heavy losses when fighting neutrals. I don't know excatly how it works but my guess is that XP values are compared and then the Computer player loses creatures based on the strength of the enemies and the relative strength of the groups. Unfortunately the computer seems to lose units from the top. That is if enough XP is lost the computer will lose a level 4 creatures, then remaining XP loss is made up of lower level creatures. If I was doing the same I would feel really handicapped.

The AI has many deficiencies and this is just in the line.

Heroes of Might and Magic System

"While I don't have a strong opinion on this point, I would have to say that the alignments as they were in Heroes IV gave the game more depth,as far as I'm concerned, and made it slightly more interesting, also it was logical."

It also worked as a straight jacket for expansion and further developement.

Terrain is not the only thing which should come with a town. Each town should also have a main race. Humans, Undead, Elves, Dwarves and so on. That way terrain becomes a reflection of where the main race fits best.

"This isbecause a Necromancer shouldn't be able to learn life spells and vice-versa. So I believe the system should stay as it is."

A Necromancer can learn Life spells in H4. Just need to get to a tuition centre and get Life Magic. For some classes (like Paladin) there is prevention of being offered Death Magic if you can be offered another skill which makes it difficult to get more of Deatrh Magic unless you get the Advanced class which combines the two.

"But I think the Might castle should have 3/5 mage guilds. Having no easy to get magic is too much of a downfall on might's behalf."

If the map is small Might can rush and outgun any other town. The only town with some chance would be those than can get Archers and choose to recruit them. Because Archers also have Combat as speciality.

On a larger map, Might will get another castle soon enough and can get mages that way.


Creatures and Such

"Hmmmm. I'm not too sure about your creature generator idea. It seems to general, and creature strengths can change. I think that creature generators should have the same growth per week as they do in their own town. And if the creature is not in a town, then it should be tested against other 'town dwelling creatures' to see their relative strengths, then a decision should be made."

I'm fairly sure the creature generator idea will be balanced  if the creatures are worth the XP assigned to them(and not more or less).

I don't see this as a great problem if the creatures are not balanced. The game could be easily patched if a creature is unbalancing the game.

On the down side is that they have not rectified some of the creature balance problems in H4 with patches yet, although the greatest imbalance IMO is that of the Necromancy secondary skill.

There was some patches to H3 to fix similar problems. One to solve the Gremlin rush problem and one later on to improve the combat values of Dragon Fly & Lizard Warrior.
____________
"A brilliant light can either illuminate or blind. How will you know which until you open your eyes?"

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Grythandril
Grythandril


Famous Hero
who is a Chaotic Wizard
posted December 31, 2002 11:14 AM

Another bit I forgot to mention was MP3 manipulation.

One of the factors i missed in Heroes III was the ability to use different MP3's for the music.

I know that there is a program to change the files in Heroes IV, but it is time consuming and does not really work.

Heroes III series had the easy ability to change the MP3 files in the folder.  I use to love mixing the music files of Heroes I, II & III to make the game even more interesting.

I hope Heroes V has the ability like Heroes III to change the MP3 files without the use of any additional programs.

I mean lets face it, with Heroes V being made the possibility of all the music files from the Heroes Series being combined should prove most interesting.

Might is Power
Magic is Power
Honor is Power

Power above All

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ThE_HyDrA
ThE_HyDrA


Admirable
Famous Hero
The Leader of all Hydras
posted January 01, 2003 02:48 AM

I think it is fair to say that we should work off the information we have been given so far. Although that information may not be set in stone as of yet, I think that it might be quite difficult to influence their opinion drastically enough to choose the opposite of what they plan to carry forward into Heroes V. It is lucky that these things have been very general, for example: Heroes V based on II and III, not IV, heroes (possibly) not in combat, and other small tidbits. I believe the main point that is made from the interview on October the 28th of last year is that the game will be primarily based on H2 and H3. While I believe that Heroes IV will still have an influence on Heroes IV, it will not be as strong, and therefore, it would be best to focus on mainly H2 and H3 aspects, and portions of Heroes IV. That is just how I see it.

AI

"When it comes toi the adventure Map AI, it needs to be very much improved."

I would have to agree very much with you on that comment. I have already explained my unpleasant experiences with the AI, and I think I have said enough on that particular aspect of it.
I have never played AoW2 and therefore cannot comment on the ideas you have for Heroes V there. I think the last point you made there was to keep AoW2 and Heroes separate. I believe it is best to keep the two separate, since Heroes has always been a rather unique experience until Heroes IV, where it showed signs of resembling some of the other strategy, turn based games. This is also a possibility why NWC staff have reverted to Heroes II and III versions of Heroes rather than IV: to maintain (or retain) their uniqueness throughout the Heroes series.

"That is if enough XP is lost the computer will lose a level 4 creatures, then remaining XP loss is made up of lower level creatures."

Yes, this is an interesting theory. If what you say is true, then yes, the computer losses againt neutral creatures are seriously in the wrong. So, instead of 1,000 experience points being split up among level 1,2,3's, it is directly taken off a level 4(around 600) since it can take up the experience losses more quickly. It then descends to level 3, (about 100+ if I recall correctly), and then it takes experience away from the weaker units lastly, which results in the computer losing its stronger units and maintaining its weaker ones.
If this is so, then one can see how the AI becomes weaker and less competetive. It would be interesting to make a test map with no neutral creatures, with just mines, and opposing creatures (flagged) in their garrisons (the wall version). The computer will need to be you to get out. It can be made even simpler with a castle, and unguarded resource mines. Even though noone would play this sort of game, it maybe could give us a few ideas as to what exactly has gone wrong with the AI.

Heroes of Might and Magic: The System

"It also worked as a straight jacket for expansion and further developement."

While that is true, I am not suggesting we utilise the same 5 star of the magic alignments idea. It can be expanded into 8 castles which all have magic, (just some not as much as others) and I think it could be possible to have 3 neighbours and 3 opposites, and one of the opposites you could not learn anything from (such as life and death) and it would be vice-versa for the evocative neighbouring alignment (maybe life and nature). While this system is similar in ways to Heroes IV, it also has a strong resemblence to the Heroes II Good vs. Evil aspect that was clearly portrayed in the map Good vs. Evil, as well has throughout the game.

"A Necromancer can learn Life spells in H4. Just need to get to a tuition centre and get Life Magic."

Yes, although it is quite difficult to attain on the whole. I havent tried to have a Necromancer to learn life spells, since it would be a step bak in development, and it would be very difficult to learn maybe more than a level 2 Life spell without stunting development severely. It would be much quicker to stick with Death Magic, Chaos magic and Order magic. In my idea for the alignments in Heroes V, only the direct opposites on the sides of Good and Evil cannot learn anything from each other, while the indirect opposites from the sides of good and evil are able to learn some, not all, aspects of the opposing castle.

Creatures and Such

"I don't see this as a great problem if the creatures are not balanced. The game could be easily patched if a creature is unbalancing the game."

Still I think it may be easier to have the creatures related to their castle growth rather than experience points, I believe it would be possiblty a simpler, but more efficient and direct method of recruiting creatures from locations on the adventure map.

Even though problems can be fixed with patches, I would like to see the game completed with accuracy and professionalism, while taking a longer time, rathern than dowloading 5 patches to fix certain problems.

Grythandril:

"Another bit I forgot to mention was MP3 manipulation.
One of the factors i missed in Heroes III was the ability to use different MP3's for the music."

Well, myself I don't see it as a problem. I think we should honour the NWC music-makers since they put so much time and effort into thinking up different tunes and themes, and making them relate to the real terrain, giving you a feeling like you were really there. That is how I see it but If people want to replace it with their own-thats up to them.
The only reason I would like to have the music in an MP3 format, is that it is already exctracted and saved on your harddrive, giving you the capabilities to listen to it whenever you want to. This can be done with Heroes IV, but you need an exctractor.

This thread is filled with new ideas, so I would like to see others opinions on it.
____________
"Dragons may breathe fire, but Hydras have many heads." - The Creed of Hydras
"As the Dragon drew its breath, the Hydra pounced, swiftly but powerfully, and the Dragon was defeated.”

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Majin
Majin


Hired Hero
Lord of Brimstone
posted January 01, 2003 10:10 AM
Edited By: Majin on 1 Jan 2003

This is what I would like to see in Heroes V

GAMEPLAY
1. The complexity of Heroes III
2. Deep and involved campaigns
3. Maps, lots of maps!

AI
1. The combat AI of Heroes IV
2. MUCH improved adventure map AI
3. Randomized AI for different situations every time you play

GRAPHICS
1. Heroes IV quality or better
2. Multiplayer stability
3. Performance options to please everyone

MUSIC
1. Heroes II quality or better soudtracks
2. More than just one repeating soundtracks for each town
3. Able to import your own


____________
"Barbarians might be tough, but shadow knights are tough and use magic"

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Damacon_Ace
Damacon_Ace


Famous Hero
Also known as Nobris Agni
posted January 02, 2003 04:16 AM

My wish for Heroes V...

Well, after playing Heroes IV for a while I believe I can now make a more specific wish for Heroes V. Thanks Djive, Hydra and others for expressing your opinions, my wishes are similar but different.

Here are my wishes for Heroes V to be (I have a similar post in HOMM5, the Vision, but I've changed a few):

GaMEPLAY
Gameplay should stay the same as in the previous HOMM series. Heroes should still fight in battles, however, the Theives Guild and marketplace should return to the towns as structures.

As for the 'Fog Of War', Heroes V should have a disabling feature for the fog of war. It allows players to play the game with or without the grey shroud.

AI
Sure, the AI may need improvements, I agree, but please  let the AI improvements be limited to only the higher difficulty levels (Novice and intermediate are as fine as it is now). Not everyone is a master strategist, you know.

MAGIC
There will now be six magic alignments. They are:
- Life
- Order
- Dark (Death)
- Demonic
- Chaos
- Nature
and one Might Alignment.

New Spells will include Town Portal, Dimension Door, Water Walk, Flood (does damage to all non-flyers), Fear, Speed Of Light (double movement) and Angel Wings (fly).

TOWNS
There will be seven towns, each with 10 creatures split into 5 levels. You can bulid 7 creature generators in each town, while the Rampart (Nature) has 8. Each town will have:

- 5 levels of Mage Guild with annexes
- Three levels of Castle
- A statue (from Heroes 2) which gives an extra 500 gold/day.
- Town Hall now gives 1000 gold/day, City Hall now gives 1500 gold/day.
- Each side can have one Capitol, which gives 2500 gold/day.
- Marketplace and Thieves Guild return as structures.
- Might Town gets magic dampener and might enhancements instead of magic guilds.

CREATURES
There will be 7 groups of Creatures, plus neutrals:

CASTLE (life town):
Level 1: Squire and Crossbowman (same as H4)
Level 2: Ballista and Pikemen (same as H4)
Level 3: Lion or Monk
Lions have first strike and second strike, monks as for H4
Level 4: Crusader or Cardinal
Crusaders are as H4, Cardinals cast spells
Level 5: Champion or Angel
Champions as for H4, angels have Dark and Demonic Ward and resurrection.

ACADEMY (order town):
Level 1: Halfling and Dwarf
Level 2: Mage and Gold Golem
Both levels as per H4
Level 3: Griffin or Genie (same as H4)
Level 4: Naga or Roc
Nagas as for H4, Rocs have first strike
Level 5: Crystal Dragon or Titan
Crystal Dragons have 50% magic resistance and double attack, while titans are same as H4.

NECROPOLIS (dark town, undead only):
Level 1: Skeleton and Wisp
Wisps are light souls that drain mana, skeletons are as for H4
Level 2: Zombie and Ghost
Like H4, but Zombies can disease enemies (-25% damage and health)
Level 3: Mummy or Lich
Mummies cast spells while Liches shoot death clouds
Level 4: Vampire or Dark Champion (both as H4 although dark champions will be weaker)
Level 5: Grim Reaper or Bone Dragon
Grim Reapers have Death Stare and teleportation while Bone Dragons are as for H4

ASYLUM (demonic town, demons are here):
Level 1: Orc and Imp (as for H4)
Level 2: Gargoyle and Cerebus
As for H4, but Gargoyles now have 50% magic resistance and lose the elemental abillity
Level 3: Pit Lord or Ice Demon
Pit Lords can summon Cerebri and have first strike while Ice Demons are as for H4
Level 4: Efreet or Venom Spawn (as for H4)
Level 5: Devil or Frenzied Gnasher
Both are as for H4, the Frenzied Gnasher is from the Winds Of War

FORTRESS (the new name for the Chaos Town):
Level 1: Bandit and Gnoll
Gnolls have no terrain penalty on the combat map and have Stun
Level 2: Lizardman and Troll
Lizardmen have Poison Arrow which poisons the enemy on impact and also have Ranged First Strike while trolls are as for H4
Level 3: Medusa and Minotaur
Both are as for H4, but Minotaurs always have high morale
Level 4: Nightmare or Manticore
Nightmares are as for H4, Manticores have paralyze and negate first strike
Level 5: Hydra or Black Dragon (same as H4)

RAMPART (the nature town):
Level 1: Centaur and Sprite (same as H4)
Level 2: Elf and Boar
Elves as for H4 while Boars have First strike and negate first strike
Level 3: Pegasus and Waspwort
Pegasus have magic dampener and fly while Waspworts are as for H4
Level 4: Unicorn or Dendroid
Unicorns now cast spells while Dendroids have stun and 75% magic resistance
Level 5: Phoenix or Fairy Dragon (as for H4)
Portal Of Summoning provides air, fire, water, magic, earth, and magma elementals.

STRONGHOLD (might town)
Level 1: Wolf and Goblin
Wolf as for H4, Goblins have Strength and Giantslayer
Level 2: Harpy and Nomad (as for H4)
Level 3: Ogre Mage or Cyclops
Ogre Magi cast damage spells as well as Bloodlust, while Cyclops have ranged first strike and no melee penalty rather than area attack
Level 4: Gorgon or Wyvern
Gorgons have Death Stare while Wyverns have first strike, second strike and poisoning
Level 5: Gargantuan or Behemoth
Both are as for H4, Gargantuans are from the Gathering Storm

and there will be neutrals such as peasants, sea monsters, mermaids, evil eyes, troglodytes and more.

HEROES
Heroes will now learn six primary skills instead of five, while the hero lineup will look like this:

CASTLE: Knight and Priest
ACADEMY: Lord and Wizard
NECROPOLIS: Death Knight and Necromancer
ASYLUM: Demoniac and Heretic
FORTRESS: Thief and Warlock
RAMPART: Archer and Druid
STRONGHOLD: Barbarian

How is that?
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Medusa
Medusa


Famous Hero
Yeah, right
posted January 04, 2003 01:45 PM

Umm.. i think i will be offtopic if i write a short post but anyway.. I would change one thingy; the inside-town-graphics should be better and the buildings shouldn't be in the same places in every castle. For example; in h3 the life castle had blue sky and lots of grass and necro had darkness everywhere and graves around. I think 3do should work more with the town graphics...
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Majin
Majin


Hired Hero
Lord of Brimstone
posted January 05, 2003 01:35 AM

Good Idea!

And not only the town graphics, but others as well. Perhaps NWC should consider making custom battlefields for the different treasure places such as the dragon city, or the naga bank, bandit hideout, piramid, etc...

Piramid - Stone monoliths and broken pavement rise out of sand

Dragon City - rocky mountain area with magic rocks and broken columns

Medusa stores - A ruin of a temple

Likewise for quest huts, have different graphics representing the people you are dealing with.
And maybe a different graphic for each thief guild and market place.

These visuals would be spectacular and also make the game much more pleasant to play.


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ThE_HyDrA
ThE_HyDrA


Admirable
Famous Hero
The Leader of all Hydras
posted January 05, 2003 12:35 PM

Replies to Others (Some of my other wishes will come in a later post)

It is good to see that this thread has picked up on the number of replies. It's good to see more and more people stating their opinions and revealing their wishes to the rest of the community, since people like myself and most certainly other like to read what people have thought up about the upcoming Heroes V. My words to those who have wishes concerning Heroes V: Share them.

Majin

GAMEPLAY:
1.Complexity of Heroes III? In my opinion, Heroes IV is much more diverse and complex than Heroes III could ever be. Heroes IV has so many options and scripts and adventure map locations that it would be nearly impossible to visit everyone in the game. Also, the developing power you have over scripting gives the map more meaning and also more interactive with the storyline. This in turn makes the game diverse and quests and other events can be lead off scripting to make the game very complex, but also very enjoyable in my opinion.
2.While the Campaigns in Heroes IV may not be as involved as in Heroes III, they are challenged, and most are extremely difficult to pass on the impossible difficulty. But I agree that the overall Heroes IV storyline could have had a slightly bigger part to play in some of the campaigns.
3.Well Heroes IV, when it was first released, didn't have as many maps as Heroes III. But, as patches were released, and more importantly the Gathering Storm expansion pack, there were many more maps than Heroes III. I agree that Heroes V should also have a similar amount of maps as to when the Gathering Storm expansion pack was released. This is around 60 maps. Although, I would like to see more XL mapsin Heroes V. There is only one in Heroes IV (Zanfa's Challenge).

AI
1. Well I would have to disagree. The main mistake with the AI in Heroes IV is that (to my knowledge) the developers at NWC utilised the same AI as that of Heroes III. Of course the Adventure Map is much more diverse in Heroes IV that the H3 AI couldn't cope with the complexity and just didn't prove to be a challenge for the players trained in the Heroes IV style of play. It woudln't be smart to make the same mistake. Twice.
2. Yes. I believe everyone would like to see this feature changed. Myself....I would rather see a whole new AI developed, fitting the Criteria of Heroes V in the closest way possible. This guarantees us an admirable challenge, and we may even have hard times beating the computer on the intermediate or hard levels-who knows at this point?
3.I would have to agree here. If the AI was more suited to the situation, it would be able to perform better, and in turn gives us more of a challenge.

GRAPHICS
1.Probably better, I'd say. If you haven't noticed already, the quality of the graphics in the Heroes series has steadily risen from Heroes I to Heroes V. My wish is that they'll be better, but not 3D. In my opinion, the Isometric 2D format suits a strategy game quite aptly.
2.Can't comment since my computer's statistics disable me from playing online.
3.Well I'd like to see that. They did a respectable job on Heroes IV by being able to turn off music, adventure map animations, and other features, which made the game run more sluggishly. By turning off all of these options, I was able to run Heroes IV (and TGS) on my (state-of-the-art: I wish), 266 MhZ computer.

MUSIC:
1. Well I think that Heroes IV music is better than Heroes II quality. So I would be happy with the quality of Heroes IV music in Heroes V.
2. Hmmm. If the staff have enough time to accomplish this task, then yes, but if it slows progress to much I wouldn't worry about it. I think just one soundtrack per town is reasonable for how long one spends in a town at a time, and really doesn't require an extra track. If you are sick of the same music, just lengthen the track and change the tune slightly as it progress.
3. I don't really care about this, but I believe having the music in an Mp3 format would be the way to go, since you can listen to them without playing the game. It was much more difficult to accomplish this task in Heroes of might and Magic IV.

Damacon Ace

GAMEPLAY:
I would have to agree with you on the point that you make about the gameplay retaining its classic feel. I think Heroes IV gameplay is very strategic; more so than the previous Heroes series and it is also probably more enjoyable in many ways, too. I think though, the gameplay can be changed slightly to incorporate any new features that Heroes V may have to offer. I think it is extremely important that the gameplay not stray very far from the original Heroes formula, otherwise it would become more of a Disciples or andother turn based strategy game clone.
I also agree that the marketplace and Thieves Guild shoudl become town and adventure map structures instead of readily avaiable in the menu.

TOWNS
I agree with most of what you are saying here. Your town income numbers seem very close, if exactly what I would have chosen for them. The stature is a good idea derived from the Statue of Heroes 2, which didn't give 500, but in today's terms, that would be about right. What I'd like to see is the castle upgrades modify creature base growth like in Heroes III. In Heroes IV, there just wasn't enough motivation for one to buy the next level of castle until one had enough spare gold.

Your Ideas seem fairly good and thought out, Damacon Ace.I can't really comment on the Creature lineup-but as long as the Hydra is in the top level and is strong, that's fine with me.
Also the Heroes seem to be related pretty well in accordance with the town alignments. Also the most of the creatures are placed in castles related to them.

Medusa

Yes, I also stressed that point quite a while ago. Towns need to be unique, and the way to do that is to have unique town graphics, and structures, especially. I whole-heartedly agree that the structures in town need to be situated in different positions.

Majin 2

Your idea sounds intriguing. If this could be accomplished, I am all for unique battlefields for creature banks, and other places for that matter. They had begun that in Heroes IV with the bridges, and the terrain being similar to the adventure map(even with changes to terrain and water rivers, etc.) They would indeed make it feel as though you are actually fighting or listening to the places and people, and it should add much more atmosphere.

These posts have been enjoyable to read. My wish at the moment is that people continue to post theirs.
____________
"Dragons may breathe fire, but Hydras have many heads." - The Creed of Hydras
"As the Dragon drew its breath, the Hydra pounced, swiftly but powerfully, and the Dragon was defeated.”

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PsYkOtIc-Dra...
PsYkOtIc-Dragoon


Known Hero
Master Thief
posted January 09, 2003 07:48 PM

Umm

1 question...is this a book or a thread
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Ramparter
Ramparter


Hired Hero
posted January 09, 2003 10:09 PM


I think that every town should have its unique creatures(Elves for Nature for example) and some creatures different according to the different terrain.
In swamp terrain for examle a town could produce trolls, in underground minotaurs, in volcanic fire elementals etc.

How does this sounds?  
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Zutus_evil_p...
Zutus_evil_phoenix


Hired Hero
Flaming bird
posted January 11, 2003 03:44 PM

That sounds very cool, but demanding a very huge effort, one they probably can't do. There are so many different terrains and hopefully more than six towns, each town having at least four levels of creatures. lets assume that here are eight terrains then you would need at least 8x6x4=176 creatures, comparison: there are 66 in homm IV... then we aren't even talking about the choice-feature, which they hopefully won't delete. that would mean 352 creatures, quite impossible. If they could make this huge amount of creatures, it would be cool.
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Grythandril
Grythandril


Famous Hero
who is a Chaotic Wizard
posted January 12, 2003 12:08 AM

Where are you getting 352 creatures from?

If there is say 6 or 8 castles with 5 creature levels, 2 creatures per level = 10 creatures per castle = 60 to 80 creatures then add some neutrals say 20 then you have 100 creatures

dont where 352 come from.

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Lich_King
Lich_King


Honorable
Supreme Hero
posted January 12, 2003 12:23 AM

Quote:

I think that every town should have its unique creatures(Elves for Nature for example) and some creatures different according to the different terrain.
In swamp terrain for examle a town could produce trolls, in underground minotaurs, in volcanic fire elementals etc.

How does this sounds?  


Sounds logical, cuz It's funny to see Ice Demon on HOT HOTTY Volcanic Terrain !!! I wonder, how Ice Demon satys unmelted....
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Zutus_evil_p...
Zutus_evil_phoenix


Hired Hero
Flaming bird
posted January 12, 2003 01:23 AM

Quote:
Where are you getting 352 creatures from?

If there is say 6 or 8 castles with 5 creature levels, 2 creatures per level = 10 creatures per castle = 60 to 80 creatures then add some neutrals say 20 then you have 100 creatures

dont where 352 come from.



I get that from the fact that one has suggested to put creatures in a town according to the terrain type. With let's say 8 different terrains and your number you'd have 500 creatures. It's not my idea, I just counted out the numbers for when you would let the creatures be dependant of the terrain type.
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