/vr/ - Retro Games

Anyway, the "real" reason I made this thread:

Does anyone know how to get the CD music working in a playable version of HOMM2 on a netbook (no cd drive, just a virtual drive with an iso) running xp?

Vanilla HOMM2 runs just fine, except I can only get midi music. GOG version in DOSBOX runs terrible, and FHeroes2 has the cd music, and works like a dream, except any creature moving in battle takes minutes to complete its turn, even with battle speed set to 10 in the config (and yeah I removed # to make sure that config option wasn't commented out.)

>>1787920
Heroes of Might and Magic II 2 CD MUSIC + PATCH:

thepiratebay.se/torrent/5564840/Heroes_of_Might_and_Magic_II_2_CD_MUSIC___PATCH

>>1789139
you fucker, are you trying to make me mad?

also, dumping my tiny collection of mildly amusing homm pictures, PLZ TO ENJOY

>>1789158

>>1789159

>>1789161

>>1788917
You're a saint anon. I had been trying on and off to find a way to play the cd music for a year.

>>1789159
>HOMM3
but that sandro is the sandro from HOMM2

>>1789846
seriously, guy? who could possibly give a shit?

I was wrong about the bump limit for the last thread.I am truly sorry, guys.

>>1792252
It okay. Also, in other news, I just finished the Yog campaign in SoD - worst campaign ever? It's put a really bad taste in my mouth, think I'm gonna play something else for a bit...

>>1787908
sweet I'll have to check out the II mod
Thanks

Interesting thoughts about HoMM3's sound:

The music in Heroes III really highlights the importance of good sound design in games. Ambient effects such as the chirp of a bird or the buzzing of insects can help immerse a player in their environment. In fact, good audio can even make people addicted to a game. (...)

One of the 'stickiest' aspects of Heroes III is in fact its sound design. I'm not saying that the audio of Heroes III is the only element that makes the game fun and addictive. But if you play the game with the sound turned off, it doesn't feel quite as interesting.

Not surprisingly, the chimes in Heroes III are similar to chimes in CityVille. When you pick up a new artifact or resource, you're rewarded with a little musical cue. Blooong! When you capture a mine, the game triggers the sound of a harp. Bliiiiiing! The game constantly uses these cues to appeal to your innate desire to be reward. Every reward reminds you that another reward is right around the corner. As a result, you never want to end the game.

In my opinion, it was foolish for Heroes V's developers to downplay in-game sounds. In Heroes V, when you take over a mine, there is no chime, only a muted thud. When you pick up a stack of resources, there is only silence. Not surprisingly, clearing a map of resources in Heroes V feels like you're cleaning up trash rather than obtaining awesome goodies that will make your kingdom the greatest kingdom in the history of the world.

The next time you play Heroes III, try closing your eyes and fully immersing yourself in the audio. Listen to the sharp, elongated schwinnng sound of a new building appearing in town and the deep whoooooosh sound of an enemy hero vanishing from the map. Then, think about how much you took these sounds for granted. Whatever NWC paid their sound engineer, it wasn't enough.

>>1796015
not when you play the game regularly since 1999.
I mean, yes I turn the music and sounds on very often, But I dont mind the game silent... But then again, all those sounds play constantly in my head. including the bird chirring from grass theme.

I will add to your points: when your hero walks on different surface it sounds differently and is awesome.

And we are still just talking about audio and sounds, If you include the music.... mind blown.

Shit I am gonna play me some 200% game today after work and that means in 20 minutes, yay!

>>1796015
bullshit

>>1796015

>not muting the game
>not constantly playing Anvil of Crom while constantly playing Crag Hack.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHfE682mm3c

what are the best towns for small and medium maps for homm 3 200%, Im getting fucking tired of constantly getting my ass kicked by ai, these random map can really screw you

>>1796456

I am now seriously considering replacing the vanilla music entirely with the Conan OST.

>>1796739
Necropolis and Conflux

>>1796739
Stronghold - start either Gurnisson (proper Ballista micro wins many battles and Gurnisson has a lot of ballista power due to having 4 ATK) or Gretchin (lots of goblins for early game), get Rocs as early as possible and win battles with Rocs and Goblins until you get to Behemoths.
Fortress - start with Tazar to have less losses per battle or Drakon for more Gnolls. You only need wood and gold to do stuff. Get Wyverns ASAP and win as many battles as possible. Cheap towns are best on small and medium.
Rampart - start with Ivor, try to get Grand Elves a soon as possible, but you'll have trouble doing anything except Elf spam since Rampart needs quite some resources to get rolling, but if you somehow manage to get Unicorns you're set.
Conflux - get Luna or Ciele and win battles with just a handful of Pixies and proper Firewall placement or just Magic Arrows.
Dungeon - okay, this one kinda sucks donkey dick because of the Evil Eye building resource requirement but Shakti with his Tactics and a horde of starting Troglodytes is your man.

>>1796456
TEMPLARIUUUUUUUUUUUSZZZZZZZZ

>>1797376
I also had considerable success with Pyre as starting/main hero for inferno. on 200%, that ballista is really useful because imps are so squishy.

Also what is your first money spent? town hall or second her? I pick second hero

Are the defense towers bugged or something? I was playing Tazar and had like 30 Def and those fucking towers wiped their asses with my Lizardmen. I mean they easily took down 2-4 with every hit.

>>1799392
need more data. what stats did the oposing hero had? what faction was it? did he have artillery?

>>1799392
Their effectiveness is based on the garrisoned hero's attack stat, so if you were up against a level 40 Crag Hack, that'd be why

>>1787908

Check out HotA, son.

>>1799384
Pyre is gud, yes, and Inferno isn't bad on 200% because it isn't that hard to get to Efreeti.

It depends on map and starting town, but most of the time on randoms I start in closed areas with scarce gold so it's Town Hall for me.

>>1799392
Armorer, while amazing overall, is also bugged and it causes you to take more damage from castle turrets.

Random Number Generators - can't live with them, can't live without them.

>>1799661
How disgusting. At least you're playing fortress and can get by on wood + ore for a while

>>1799661
what are you biching about, I see sulphur and mercury, so, you have acces to flies and basilisks and then those marksmen are no problem for....

wait that aint no 200% what are you crying about, go and obliterate everything

>>1799661

>Someone finally made something that lets me play Heroes of Might and Magic 2 in higher resolutions

>>1787908
I don't know if this happens to everyone, but the HOMM3 HD mod causes an exception fault every single time I try to access the magic university. I'm not sure why that's broken, but there it is. Neat mod, but it does sort of cripple that town.

>>1801164

Contact the dude that makes the HD mod. If he doesn't have a fix, help him fix it by providing crash reports and stuff.

he updates the mod fairly regularly

>generate a random map
>check obelisk by town
>clears the entire puzzle
>grail is right in front of town
This game is crazy.

>>1802267
whaaaaaaaaaat

>>1799661

>>1802938
Zydar's expression always makes it for me

>>1796015
It is true that homm tends to have great sounds/music, or maybe it's just nostalgia due to spending so much time in the game.

What is interesting, you can sometimes randomly hear them in other media (looking at you, South Park).

>>1802267

Enjoy your unending rampage.

>>1803094
Isn't lots of HoMM3 music a homage to classical pieces? Or straight up rip-offs? In one thread some anon pointed this out but my knowledge of classical music isn't too great and I can't give any examples.

As for sounds for picking up stuffs, level ups and so on, they were taken from free sound library, that's why we can hear in other media.

>>1787908
I always loved these games. I'm just god awful at them.

>>1804273
Most of the music for games in "Might & Magic" and "Heroes of Might & Magic" series was written by Paul Anthony Romero.
At least read a Wikipedia article about him so you'll know why you should never describe his music using epithets like that one.

>>1804370
You sound elitist as fuck but thanks for the info on the composer.

The point still stands though - he was inspired by classical music while composing for HoMM and sometimes one can think music from HoMM3 is a rip-off.

>>1804370
He still used open source stuff. HoMM4 - Sea, for example.

>>1804394
>You sound elitist as fuck
If only a little. See for yourself whether my defensiveness is unjustified:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOKzr3F7JsU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJAfIpAzaPE

>The point still stands though - he was inspired by classical music
If you ever do any research on who of the greatest composers was inspired by what you might be in for a little surprise.

>and sometimes one can think music from HoMM3 is a rip-off.
One can think a lot of different things. The real question is whether there are any internally consistent arguments in favour of such statements. I am convinced there are none in this case, but we might have to agree to disagree.

>>1804437
>He still used open source stuff. HoMM4 - Sea, for example.
>He

>Composer(s) Paul Romero
>Rob King
>Steve Baca
>Paul James

Also, usage of free assets in commercial software is not a crime as long as the assets in question are eligible for such usage per their licensing.

Also, the following two statements are not even closely equal in scope:
>As for sounds for picking up stuffs, level ups and so on, they were taken from free sound library, that's why we can hear in other media.
>He still used open source stuff. HoMM4 - Sea, for example.
The former implies "lots", the latter just "some".

I've recently started playing HOMM 3 again and I've been running some single scenario against computers at impossible difficulty. I've been doing pretty well but I constantly get my ass kicked by Conflux. By the time i fight their hero they have like 40 phoenixs. Got any suggestions?

>No one ever talks about might and magic

>tfw HoMM3 modding scene is slowly becoming kill

>>1804474
>>1804465

Are we discussing semantics now or facts?
When I mentioned that composer took inpiration from classical piecies, I didn't mean to say that it was bad and everyone should feel bad about it. And you seemed personally buttblasted by the statement that some people might consider HoMM series music a rip-off of another musical pieces. What I meant, that people with a knowledge of music will know the connections between HoMM3 music and classical pieces and it will be fine to them.

That's why I said you sound elitist - because you were defensive about the music and the HoMM composer.


as for >>1804437
>>1804474
open source stuff - every sound cue is taken from open source library. And still no one says it's bad. As it was stated several times, those sounds are so integral to the HoMM series, that some of us still hear it in our heads.

>>1805705
You could use WoG. Disable everything expect the modifier that reduces phoenix growth by 2.

>>1805705
Git gud. As someone like stronghold, rush them, as necro, out skellythem and dungeon can just wreck them either way.

>>1796015
I've been playing the game for some years now and the sounds still don't fail to amaze me. Nice read, anon.

I've just beaten my first 200% map. Feels good man.

I did pussy out a little by playing Conflux on a rich XL template. But still.

Yeah!

Well, this is a first.

>>1806992
What, exactly?

>>1807380

There are literally four ore pits within a days walk of the town.

>>1807398
Sure, but from the way your map is shaping and how you've got a desert guarded by tier 7s I'm gonna assume you're playing on a map created with a Jebus Cross template, and those are very very rich.

Well shit.

>>1808326

Which map is that? Looks delicous

hahahaha holy shit

>>1808468
Myth and Legend.

>>1808843
The minimap looks like Pandora's Box.

>>1789167
What's the story behid this screenshot?
Is it forged/rigged so that people can laugh at it? If so, why does it have the item descriptions pasted over it even though it's an in-joke?

>>1809418
Its basicly the worse hero you could possibly imagine. Her skills are assigned to give her luck and moral bonusses but her artifacts makes those skills useless, and she has eagle eye as expertise which is really really shitty.

>>1789167
>>1809486
The image would work better if they didn't rub the joke in your face so much. Just checking over the image realising just how crappy the hero is is so much more satisfying.

>>1789167
Why didn't the player simply remove the artifacts?

>>1809515
It's a joke, m8. Deliberately making the worst hero possible

>>1799392
>>1799473
the spell Air Shield is also bugged, and causes you to take 50% more damage from ranged troops.

Depending on what expansion youre playing on it might have been patched, not sure if they ever put out a patch in the official games.

You can get it fixed though, just google armourer bug fix homm3 or something

>>1806391
How do you use different templates? doesnt it just completely random it every time

How di i prove i didn't cheat while completing a map?
I could record every map played, but it would be hours and hours of recording and i doubt anyone wold watch it, unless i make commentary.
However, i'm doing a challenge that says that i have to complete every HOMM3 Complete map at Impossible, and yeah, a commentary for each of those?
For now here's what i'm doing:

-)For each map i select random opponents (i can't prove this either unless recording, whyyyyy), while i select whatever faction i feel like playing (mainly dungeoN) EXCEPT conflux. I also choose whatever color, but mainly my favourite ones (orange, green, purple).
-)I find the grail (if there's a grail at all) in each map to try to get the best score. I usually do my search either with secondary heroes while doing my business or when i have almost won for those extra points and 100% clearing.
-)I save JUST BEFORE the final battle, so the player has just to fight that battle (winnable without a doubt or by just following a startegy, maybe i could just describe how to win in a text file) or in front of the item/object to capture to win. if none of the above apply, just passing the turn should brig vistory or the final battles.
-)Finally, one winning by the requirements above would just see the scoreboard not saying "CHEATER", and this should be enough proof for me not cheating, right? Also, if someone suspects of modified maps, he'd have to just try to load the savefile with the original map only, right?

>Inb4 why do you care you autistic fag
I'm just an achievement whore (which is far worse), so i'd like to have undeniable proof of my achievements/completing all the maps.

TL;DR: to prove that i'm not cheating after i finished a map, is the scoreboard that doesn't say "CHEATER" fine as proof? Or am i doomed to record every single map playthrough? Also, read the not-tldr for more details.

>>1809694
Oh god the typos, sorry for them.

>>1809694
just fucking screen shot the victory screen/map with all your castles and coverage clearly shown.

Why are you even doing the challenge, who told you to

>>1809709
How do i do such a thing? I mean, i have to take a screenshot as soon as it says "Your enemies are dead, you win!"? If i do so, everyone could just say "nice chat codes you used to get there.

If you refer to the Scoreboard, it would prove i didn't cheat, but it alone wouldn't prove jackshit, i could have just got the screenshot elsewhere.

I was thinking about using the method above (save just before final thing to do + eventual text file if needed + share the save file. So that everyone can check if everything is alright + they can see the no-cheater scoreboard + they can confirm if the map was modified or not).

Would this be enough? Or is recording the only true way of proof?

Also, achievement whoreness and fun are the main reasons.

>>1809720
>Or is recording the only true way of proof

Nice try cheater, as if I would believe you did not follow a walkthrough displayed on another pc.

>>1809809
I get your point i also giggled. But you'll also agree that there's no such a walkthrough at all for all these maps, and even if they were, i could easily prove the contrary (by highlithing al the differences).

If i instead just provide a screenshot, everything is possible, from the simplest "you used codes" to "you modified the map".

So i thought sharing the save file with the info i listed above would be the best way aside from recording.

I know it'll sound crazy or simply autistic, but hey, i'd love to complete such a challenge and prove it to others (not like beating impossible AI is a world-renowed feat, but try to beat Jared haret at Impossible, it's no cake-walk)

>>1809593
There's an option for it when generating a random map. You might need one of the expansions or the HD mod for it, I don't really know. Should be at the top of the map generating option screen.

>>1809880
Following the key ideas, of course.

The fact you even contemplating these things is fishy. You don't need to be an elite haxx0r to edit some save files.

>>1810027
I believe it's the HD+

I've never played any of these before, but they look really interesting. Is it more of a strategy game or an RPG? Any tips for a first-timer?

>>1810363
It's a strategy RPG game. You need a hero to control and move armies of units around, but in actual battles they only support the troops with stats/spells.

It's not that hard to begin playing, especially since the series have easier difficulty modes. Just remember that it's a really addicting game.

>>1810051
>>1809809

And this, gentlemen, is why you should never do a challenge run for anything other than your own satisfaction. It is pointless to try and convince others of your achievements and in the end, the only one who needs to know of your skills is you.

How come there are no maps to play when I click on random map? I'm using HoMm3 complete from GOG

>>1811551
Because you haven't generated any random maps yet is my guess.
You pick Show Available Scenarios for fixed maps. You use random map to, well, take a guess.

>>1811554
can u tell a step by step how? this generator doesn't produce any maps

ZOMG IZ DAT SUM BOXXY CATHERINE WAYNE???

>>1811645
Don't press Show Random Maps. Just hit Begin.

>>1811663
I always saw Luna as Nicholas Cage, but whatever floats your boat

There's something I've been working on for some time, but it'll have to wait because I'll be going away on a vacation.Take this in the meantime and make sure the thread lives on while I'm away.
See you guys in two weeks.

>>1813267
>tfw I'm a blind nigger

Never played this series before, downloading 2 now. Is that a good choice?

>>1813305
No. 3 or 5 are the only answers.

>>1813314
Too late it's finished downloading. I'll give those a blast if I don't like this

heh

>>1813305
Yes it is. II is a good game. 3 is an improvement in every way but that doesnt mean you should avoid it.

Tips on getting this running on Windows 8? I've managed to install it but I'm getting DirectDraw errors

>>1813267
Good job, mate. Have fun!

>>1813362

>>1813373
Did you try compabatibility modes?

>>1813406
Yeah WIndows 95 mode

>>1813267
Loving it. Is the "Kyrre is a" pointing out that she's a girl?

>>1813925
No way.

>>1813970
>ertahia

>>1813373
Upgrade to Gentoo and play it with Wine.

>>1813970
I'll admit that that does make it somewhat more shocking. She looks like Katie from Awkward Zombie

>>1814301
/g/ come on
But yeah I've heard it works with WINE but I'm not installing a new OS. I think I'll just try and pirate the GoG version

>>1813970
Is that a fucking Celestial Heavens screenshot.

I suppose this is a fitting punishment for not using one of the templates.

>>1814741

>>1814741
>punishment
The Angelic Wings artefact guarded by Snot Dragons within 2-3 days of travel from your capital?

>>1814748
Ok, disregard >>1814810 then.
Are you, by chance, completely cut off from the rest of the map as well?

>>1814810
>The Angelic Wings artefact guarded by Snot Dragons within 2-3 days of travel from your capital?

I don't see the angelic wings anywhere, but I think he meant the complete lack of iron ore anywhere in the area, combined with the 200% Impossible difficulty that makes you start with 0 resources.

The only way to win the map is to creep with heroes, and that is assuming his city has a Tavern (which it should given that it has a fort, but who knows...).

>>1814825
>Are you, by chance, completely cut off from the rest of the map as well?

No, there's the subterranean gate there >>1814748
and the two paths merge into one that end in a one way gate.

Up at the top it doesn't lead anywhere though, it just ends in a windmill.

>>1814845
I have a tavern.

Should I even bother playing this?
I actually started another map after taking the picture, but I'll try playing this one if it would give people some amusement.

>>1814857
>a one way gate.

er, two way gate.

That would have been impossibly shitty luck.

>>1814845
>I don't see the angelic wings anywhere
First screenshot, bottom-right corner of visible part of the adventure map, to the left of witch hut.

>complete lack of iron ore anywhere in the area
Yet there is a free sulphur mine and decent amount of precious resources lying around. The lack of gems will smart really fucking hard though.


>>1814857
>No, there's the subterranean gate
Noticed it, but there could've been a dead end below. I've seen it once or twice in random maps.


>>1814862
>Should I even bother playing this?

>No, there's the subterranean gate
Underground tends to be rich in everything.

>the two paths merge into one that end in a >two way gate.
From what you've shown us you'll only have to take out medusas to get to both the subterranean gate and the two-way monolith and you'll get Loins of the Legion in process. Not easy, but worth it.

>Up at the top it doesn't lead anywhere though, it just ends in a windmill.
This will certainly help. Those things tend to give ore quite often.

Worth a try. I say if you can't get past medusas by the start of fifth week there is no point anymore. Also if enemies can get quickly to you through either the subterranean gate or the monolith after you've killed medusas.

>>1814943
Aight, imma go for it then.
I'll keep you guys posted.

>>1814993
Welp, right off the bat we've run into an issue.

Didn't realize it initially but the lumber mill is actually blocked off where it seems like the most direct route would be. Luckily there are copious amounts of wood scattered about.

My army and I press on, shivering and collecting faggots.

>>1815001
A stroke of luck! We were able to sneak a vast treasure trove of one gold pile, a chest containing 1000 gold and some knick knack right out from under the noses of the archers.

Still can't get by them without a fight, however, and I don't feel confident enough in my gremlins to take them on just yet.

>>1815029
Hooray!

>>1815045
And the lean-to is full of...

Faggots. Of course.

>>1815053
My troops can barely contain their excitement when I read the scouting report from the northern contingent, which informs them that soon they will no longer be subject to the ravages of the dreaded Destroy Undead spell.

>>1815061
I always get that shit and the +necromancy items when I'm not playing necromancer.

>>1815061
Just as our combined forces, armed to the teeth with the three spell scrolls serving as a makeshift mages guild in the absence of a proper one, headed south to face the medusas I found another wizard (perhaps one more suited to the task) for hire.

I'm not inviting heros to the tavern I swear

>>1815064
If I live long enough to get the artifact merchants I'll sell it to them. At this rate though I may end up buying it before even the parapet just because I don't have the ore for anything else.

>>1815086
Our hopes go with you, Solymr.

Godspeed.

>>1815086
>I'm not inviting heros to the tavern I swear
If you were he would have 1 gremlin rather than a full army

>>1815096
Success!

>>1815097
Yeah, that's true. Didn't think about that.

>>1815096
>Solymr
Did they actually retcon that typo into being canon?

Anyway, you're doing good so far. They were Queens even, apparently my sight is getting worse.

>>1815149
>They were Queens even
Lol, I'm retarded, those were just a part that got upgraded. Didn't look at enemy losses at first.

Had to go roll up a rug, back now.

>>1815119
And, after a minor fight with some pixies, we're in!

>>1815149
>Did they actually retcon that typo into being canon?
Nope, I mistyped, heh.

>>1815149

nah - the adventure map sprite is the regular medusas but sometimes the game throws a stack of the upgraded creature into the mix as well

for the most part, unupgraded creatures stand facing the right and upgraded face left, which is a marginally useful fact to remember

>>1815172
>for the most part, unupgraded creatures stand facing the right and upgraded face left, which is a marginally useful fact to remember
Well, this is rather embarrassing. I've been playing this game on and off for about fifteen years now and never paid attention to this.
Just started the map editor to see whether there are any exceptions - only water and earth elementals are facing the "wrong" side. Also gold golems aren't facing left for some reason.

>>1815172
>unupgraded creatures stand facing the right and upgraded face left
this changes everything

>>1815168
Whoops, got sidetracked doing non HOMM things for a while.

Anyway, back now to where we left off.

After fighting some troglodytes and scaring off some master gremlins (I've been letting them flee instead of taking the unavoidable losses fighting them would mean) this appears to be the extent of the underground we can access.

>>1815560
The tunnel lets out a little past where I entered it, allowing us to sidestep a harrowing encounter with gremlins.

>>1815565
Meanwhile, BIG THINGS have been happening back at home base.

We have finally accumulated the 55+ wood needed to build a Mage Guild.

Expect to see a City Hall soon!

>>1815574
One of our forward scouts has gone through the dimension door in the tunnel and found, lo and behold, an ore pit!

>>1815593
Uh oh

>>1815603
And so ends Sanya, having managed to further the cause by exactly two ore.

I can't help but think this might not have happened if I had remembered to give her a gargoyle.

>>1815560
>Utopia within 2 days from capitol
>handicapped at the beginning of the game by unlucky rolls of the dice
Ow. Good thing you have Torosar already. Being able to control arrow towers can be a life saver.

>>1815593
>>1815603
Considering that green Demoniac didn't wipe everything in their path, I say it's a scout.
Are the AI players allied?

>>1815620
Since we're in no position to be cautious, Daremyth is the next to step through the gate and attempt to run and find some ore or other resources before being killed.

>>1815627
They're not allied, and I dunno what the AI is doing exactly. Green appears to be losing--they just lost their castle to purple.

>>1815627
>Ow. Good thing you have Torosar already. Being able to control arrow towers can be a life saver.

Yeah, right now I have him sitting on a Mill but he's close enough and I have a long enough run up to the castle that I can see days in advance if the AI is approaching.

Not sure how much good controlling the towers will do though.

>>1815643
Another sneaky maneuver has netted us a boon to the war effort. Surely this relic will turn the tides.

>>1815645
>Not sure how much good controlling the towers will do though.
In your case? Depends. Could be to shoot down at least some of enemy flyers before they get their claws into your squishy gremlins and mages, could be for something else.
For a well experienced artillery specialist with a few artefacts enhancing Attack it usually solves the problem of enemy catapult breaking down your wall, gate and towers.

>>1815654
Well the good news is that the enemy hero has decided not to pursue Daremyth. The bad news is pic related.

>>1815657
Wait, is that Torosar's special or Ballistics? The tipbox for his special says he gives the ballista stat bonuses and doesn't have Ballistics.

>>1815668
If his special is ballista, he should start with ballistics as standard

>>1815669
He doesn't have it. I'm just playing with the HD mod though, does he get it with WoG or HoTA?

>>1815668
The enemy hero, rather than make a beeline for my castle, seems content to move about aimlessly in the subterranean before visiting the well. I know not for what reason. Perhaps the same reason they leave my lumber mill unmolested while capturing my ore pit--to mock me.

>>1815668
>Wait, is that Torosar's special or Ballistics? The tipbox for his special says he gives the ballista stat bonuses and doesn't have Ballistics.
You are right, it's only specialization for him. For some reason NWC decided he should be the only possibly useless ballistics specialist. I'm playing WoG for so long I actually forgot he doesn't have the skill. It's fixed in WoG by one of the scripts.


>>1815669
He's the unfortunate exception.

>>1815675
>The enemy hero, rather than make a beeline for my castle, seems content to move about aimlessly in the subterranean before visiting the well. I know not for what reason. Perhaps the same reason they leave my lumber mill unmolested while capturing my ore pit--to mock me.
AIs at this difficulty are dirty cheaters, that is why. They know how much of each resources you have, coordinates of your castles and heroes, numbers of troops for those as well. What buildings you have in your cities. Stats of your heroes. They don't know have that level of info on stuff still inside unexplored areas, but they do know something even about veiled shit. It's disgusting, really, but the only way the AI can be of any challenge to experienced players.
He is probably trying to position himself so that he can threaten you (stay within 1-2 days from some of your scouts, for example), as far enough from your main as he can, close enough to your city in case it gets stripped of troops and so on.

>>1815675
In a desperate bid to delay the enemy hero I have sent a decoy, originally going to be another fast scout due to his ability.

Meanwhile my main hero presses south to see what lies behind the second gate.

>>1815678
>For some reason NWC decided he should be the only possibly useless ballistics specialist.
>He's the unfortunate exception.

That I got him doesn't surprise me, as it fits with the rest of the map wonderfully.

>>1815682
If he is avoiding the castle because he's not sure he can win it must be that I split the gremlin stack to occupy each slot, a trick I remember from 2, but I'm not sure if it works in 3 too.

The reason I sent a scout past him is because he (the scout) was close to the gate when he decided to stop messing around and go through the gate to where my castle was. I'm hoping he was after that guy rather than my castle proper.

>>1815689
Woops, didn't mean to post that image. Anyway, that's the status of the main hero right now.

>>1815689
>>1815684
The south gate leads elsewhere underground. Hopefully this area is more prosperous and less filled with enemies.

>>1815697
Hate to disappoint you, but the area looks picked clean already. I'm afraid you've just opened a second front.

>>1815697
The enemy hero did indeed go after poor Piquedram, after bafflingly going through the gate, taking 4 steps towards my castle, then turning around and going straight for the unfortunate decoy.

>>1815559
>>1815218
However, note how wights and wraiths have swapped pictures. I mean those small icons on the hero tab (and after the fight also)

so when you upgrade them, they get the unupgraded picture

>>1815702
Yeah, though I'm not sure how long I would have lasted otherwise, since the only thing in the way was an imp stack.

At least I found some ore by going up the subterranean gate.

Meanwhile the enemy hero has gone back to hanging out in the subterranean room with the utopia.

>>1815714
The ore has opened up new opportunites.

I figured building the golem factory would better than the citadel once I get some more ore, so I went with that.

>>1815729
A loaded-to-the-teeth enemy Moandor just walked past Daremyth like she wasn't there.

A glance from the lookout tower has revealed that Subterranean Gates appear to be quite popular in this area.

>>1815729
Well you only need 20 ore for nagas. Keepit up.

>>1815737
>9 subterranean gates

>>1815737
>A loaded-to-the-teeth enemy Moandor
Post his stats and army. Even if you don't have Visions.

>just walked past Daremyth like she wasn't there.
Probably the AI does not think free 516 XP is good enough to lose even this little movement points.

>>1815748
Hes got a town to reach by day 7. Even 2 movement points could make all his efforts vail.

>>1815737
>>1815742
Well I traded 10 wood and 30 sulfur and am now able to afford my very own Parapet.

>>1815748
>Post his stats and army. Even if you don't have Visions.

Here. Also note he's blue, not purple (since you can't see him in this pic.)

>>1815752
Uh oh

We'll see if Chain Lightning can save us this time.

>>1815756
Looks unpleasant given the circumstances. Does he show up as best hero in thieves guild?

>>1815763
gg wp

>>1815768
>>1815763
Welp I tried. Managed to run after casting both my CL, before he killed me.

At least now I can give Solmyr some shiny new gargoyles.

>>1815765
Thieves guild doesn't give much.

Buut....

>>1815756

>>1815784
It looks like >>1815750 is right, he's headed for a town.

Still doesn't explain the behavior since he was coming in the opposite direction (away from that town) when I first saw him. And it's only day 5.

I suppose this is why the AI is given such huge bonuses on higher difficulties.

>>1815784
Yeah, that's what I was talking about. Also note how much towns and heroes blue has.

>>1815793
Apparently there was something juicier somewhere in that direction. Or a threat he needed to scare off.

>>1815793
Heading south doesn't reveal any more mines or resources, but it does reveal two additional subterranean gates in case you missed the other 9.

>>1815787
But he offsets the morale penalty with his natural charm.

>>1815809
And Daremyth meets her end.

>>1815815
>>1815809
Moandor the mysterious is nowhere to be found, having taken off in an exact southwest path without ever attacking the inferno castle.

>>1815827
More trading has netted us a mage tower.

Meanwhile, my lumber still sits unmolested in enemy territory.

The AI is taunting my overabundance of wood and dearth of ore, I am certain of it now.

>>1815809
Was that supposed to be a no water map? Normally that 1 square of water is in bottom-right corner of adventure map.

>>1815839
They just need the ore as much as you, probably.

>>1815848
Yeah, it was supposed to be a no water map.

But why would they leave the lumber mill when it's just a few more steps away?

>>1815857
They're screwing with you on purpose.

>>1815857
For heroes which get high pathfinding penalties on lava type (all do-gooders, I think) it would be at least 1/3 of their movement. And any main wouldn't want to waste even 1/10 of his MPs for 2/day of a non-precious resource.

>>1815879
>>1815865
Ah.

I'm gonna level with you guys--I don't think I'm gonna win this game.

Plus I'm kinda tired, so I'm calling it for tonight. Maybe I'll continue later.

Other players should learn from my mistake and use a template when making a random map.

>>1815897
>Other players should learn from my mistake and use a template when making a random map.
That RNG gave you extremely bad starting conditions.
I only play against 7 allied AIs and in vanilla SoD it got boring really fast. Even with bad deals from RNG it was at least 0.7 win ratio. In WoG it's another matter entirely...

>>1815879
>For heroes which get high pathfinding penalties on lava type (all do-gooders, I think)

?? I thought the penalty was uniform unless you had all inferno units

>>1815787

haha. who doesn't love dismissing their skeletons over and over and over :|

>>1815984
>?? I thought the penalty was uniform unless you had all inferno units
Nah, confused it with attack, defence and speed bonuses. Only swamp, snow, sand and rough have penalties for non-natives. And yes, hero type is irrelevant. Too much time awake without coffee, tea etc.

>>1813373
Do NOT do >>1814301, I highly recommend the HD mod, it runs perfectly fine on any operating system ive tried it on.

Plus it fixes a lot of annoying wee things about the game.

>>1816089
Works fine on both wine and a VM running XP.

>>1787908
>>HD mod
>sites.google.com/site/heroes3hd/
woah
this is amazing
is the gog torrent on tpb clean? I can't afford this right now

>>1816624
Works perfectly.

>>1816640
awesome
I recall playing vanilla homm online using gameranger, will that work with this mod?

>>1816651
Yeah it will.

>>1816671
double awesome.
Will I find people playing for fun? Or is everyone online a minmaxing sandrofag?

>>1816676
Don't play Russians. They are fucking masters at the game.

>>1816706
they created wog what else do you expect?

>>1816869
and hota
and HD
and vcmi

>>1796015
Maybe you're particularly sensitive to sounds. I kind of agree with you though. The sounds are good. It stands out even more than the music.

>>1816089
i downloaded the gog version and it works fine. Seems like a fun game, I keep dying on the tutorial however

>>1817204
>I keep dying on the tutorial however

lol how

>>1817570
All my guys keep getting killed ;_; I figured out how to buy new troops though and I'm doing a lot better. Maybe i should read the manual

how many artifacts are there in the game? hundreds?

>>1817681
Did you get the angels?

>>1805873
I'm downloading 1-6

>>1817798

about 200

also did you know that morale and luck bonuses are capped at +3 in vanilla, there's no point in having the cards/clover/glyph equipped with your medal/leadership

recanters cloak + expert wisdom is pretty dozy as well

>>1817854
Does having +4 do anything if there's a ghost dragon in the enemy forces or you end up at +2 regardless?

>>1817798

someone should drawfag some of these artifact setups.

>>1817863

Yes, you'll end up at +2.
+4 is quite sensible, but +7 like is a ridiculous

>playing against AI
>leave my castle to go left
>enemy emerges from the fow on the right
>go towards him
>he runs away
>enemy then approaches from the left
>chase him
>he runs away
>enemy from before approaches from the right again

It's like they play specifically to upset you as much as possible.

>>1818101
Learn to SunTzu, do you even read it?

>>1817863
Just tested with a map I made, if you have +3 morale exactly and attack a bone dragon you end up with +2, but if you have exactly +4 and attack one you end up with +3

Based Jebus map template, so close to that perfect 500 score though.

200% gets a hell of a lot easier on resource rich random maps like this.

I've seen some screens of this game before

Showing some shit, like super overwhelming hordes of monsters

Is it bad as it seems?

>>1818484
incredibly fun and addictive turn-based strategy game that has aged very well; the random map generator can sometimes put ridiculously strong units guarding essential resources which makes the game nigh unplayable, but these scenarios are usually reserved for randomised maps played on the highest difficulty, with monsters set to "strong"; these guys know what theyre getting themselves into.

Sometimes it sucks when you have to cross the battlefield with your slow ass shit troops while archers fuck you up from the other side, but you usually dont HAVE to fight them if you dont want to; often they are just guarding fun artifacts as opposed to gold or resource mines that you HAVE to cap.

would highly recommend playing, its a great game.

>>1818484
You can adjust the difficulty. Every HOMM game can be beaten by casuals. The same can't be said for other turn-based strategy games.

>>1816676
No idea, only ever played offline/hotseat with mates

>>1818484
On the biggest maps things can get really silly at the end.

>>1818484
You get super overwhelming hordes of monsters of your own, too

>>1817948
You end up at +2?
Then why is +4 sensible? Shouldn't you get +3 and leave it at that?

>>1819009
Nvm, >>1818454 answered it.

>>1816869
>>1816903
IIRC, Poles made WoG and VCMI.

>>1819636
>Poles made WoG
Pic related.
But a lot of artist, script writers and testers are obviously from USA, Europe and other places.

>>1818101

on the other hand:
>playing against AI
>he has no towns but one decently strong hero left
>AI hero heads towards relatively unguarded town
>when until he gets close, then town portal my hero over there
>AI hero turns back and goes toward another relatively unguarded town
>when until he gets close, then town portal my hero over there
>AI hero turns around and goes for the first town again
>town portal
>AI switches target
>town portal
>etc.
>AI is abandoned by his heroes and banished from this land

he might have even been able to beat my hero, if he just attacked

>thorgrim
>it's not even week 3 yet, ffs

>>1821597
Damn, you playing on a hard difficulty? on 200% the AI can do dragon utopias in a couple of weeks, or find the grail with 1/3 of the obelisks.

>>1819691

Those are Russians.

Poles' names typically end with -ski or -cki though not always.

>>1821597

he got that angelic shield most likely - lowered his attack too

I havent played this game for a really long time

Is there any mods worth using? I downloaded the HD mod and custom maps but im interested if there are mods that change the gameplay

>>1822257
There is WoG, but it changes a lot and the games gets very wonky.

>>1822242
Yes, I should have made it more clear. At least two of the programmers have undoubtedly russian surnames.

There's a blog where a guy beat the campaigns of Heroes 3 and its expansions, explaining tactics and trivia. You might find it interesting.
bloggingheroes3dotblogspotdotcom
It's also where I got>>1796015 from.

>>1822230
>on 200% the AI can do dragon utopias in a couple of weeks

that's absurd

h-here i go

>>1824354

getting a logistics specialist at the tavern was a great stroke of luck

also got a rampart town with no fight (?)
opponents are yet to be seen

>feel like i'm good at this game
>regularly visit these threads

i struggle on average difficulty levels, how the fuck do you guys smash multiple impossible difficulty A.I. players?

I know every unit from every city, and understand all the heroes skills etc. but it feels like i'm missing something major. Is there some kind of necessity that everyone undertakes on every map i might be missing?

>>1824384
>implying I will read this

pink has been spotted about 3 days out from my towns

>>1824393

oh fak it's gundula
i just got a behemoth house so I'm all good to smash him come next week

>>1824386

learn the ai's weaknesses

>>1824426

gundula decides that taking my unguarded town is not a priority and tries (and fails, lol) to take out theodorus for a quick 500xp instead.

dessa goes north. aiming to take out red this week

>>1824448

picked up an archangel(!) at a refugee camp

this gon b gud

>>1824461

just barely kept the aa alive, and the behemoths. rocs are all gone. I think I can do this

>>1824473

typical fuckin homm3 lol. guarded by a few gogs today and probably a heap of other shit tomorrow. oh well

gird just found a neutral conflux town to the southeast which should be an easy take

>>1824486

he had nothing... apart from some xyron, who is probably a dogshit scout-type hero, red is done and dusted

>>1824503

contrary to my previous post, the tavern rumour was that red has the most powerful forces. xyron either has a fuck-tonne of hell hounds or the tavern is full of shit

also, all this unguarded loot. and I just got an unguarded goldmine at another location. this map is bonkers rich

>>1824534

HERE COMES THE MOST POWERFUL FORCES IN THE GAME

lel
dessa is near enough to curbstomp this fool

I'd been playing random maps for so long that I forgot how nice the scenario maps look.

>>1824540

XYRON'S LAST DANCE: DEFEND LIKE A CHEAP SHIT EDITION

this right here is my speciality

>>1824573

so now red is ded, most of my heroes are busy picking up loot and I have no idea who the closest enemy is.

i'm slightly overwhelmed by how big and open this map is. I haven't gone into the underground yet

i'll continue playing a bit later, but only if somebody cares enough to make a snarky comment about the way i'm playing

would you guys be interested in some online games? 2v2s or such?
its best done if you're also doing something else, though, so if interested bring a book and coffee and check back on the game every 5 mins

also, for n00bs, theres a website called heroescommunity, I think its the largest homm website there is, good for learning all sorts of stuff.

Unrelated, anyone here playing/played the UtB map (Unleashing the Bloodthirsty)? currently about to fight teal's castle. hard as fuck so far

Useful monoliths.

Why do people play random maps in Heroes III? Has everyone already went through all the many large premade maps?

>>1824809
Because I want to.

>>1824610
Time to grind it up preparing for the next enemy. I like your plays anon dont stop.

>>1824386
I've been playing on XL + underground for a very long time so some of the following might be less useful on smaller maps.

1. Always think how you can get an edge and how you can hurt opponent(s). Preferrably at the same time. This seems trivial, but it's very important. It's a mindset.
2. Don't make mistakes. Yes, really.
3. Since we're talking about vanilla SoD - rush for town portal + dimension door and/or flight. Preferrably both DD and flight. Whoever controls the Sp... whoever gets those first wins the game. Keep in mind town portal is much less useful without expert earth. DD and flight are ok even without expert air, but there are no reasons not to get expert air.
4. Win battles with as little losses as possible. Most of the battles with neutrals can be won without losses. Pre-splitting helps almost always. Shooters + mass slow = massacre.
5. Highly debatable, but IMO magic specialists are much less useful than heroes with specialization in monsters. Guys like Elessar who can benefit from their spec on adventure map are an obvious exception.
6. Build all creature dwellings and Castle as soon as you can.
7. Your main hero is not there to pick up resources lying around. He should spend momement to get attribut bonuses, chase and kill enemy heroes, capture castles and so on. Most of the time even capturing mines with your main is a bad idea.
8. At the start of the game prioritize mines over stuff on the ground. Those piles won't get anywhere while wasted mining time costs you respective resources.
9. Non-magical skills are far more important than they may look.
10. Bonuses are your best friends.
11. Most combined artifacts are OP as fuck. The most broken are Cloak of the Undead King and Statue of Legion.
12. Start clearing griffin conservatories, dragon fly hives and utopias as soon as you are strong enough.

>>1825421
>5. Highly debatable, but IMO magic specialists are much less useful than heroes with specialization in monsters. Guys like Elessar who can benefit from their spec on adventure map are an obvious exception.
Mostly correct, but it depends on who you pick.
Most magic heroes are trash because they level up in bad skills, but Solmyr, Ciele, Luna, Deemer, Jeddite, Alamar all make for good secondary heroes at least. Even if you only use Alamar to teach Ressurection to your main. I'm not a fan of Elleshar or Druids in general because they get shit Spell Power and too much Knowledge, and you don't need Intelligence, ever, at all.
But yes, creature specialists give you the best start on 200%, except for the ones that give you a few tier 2 units in exchange for your tier 1 units - so avoid Lorelei (good scout though), Ufretin, Straker and Piquedram.
>9. Non-magical skills are far more important than they may look.
This. You only need Wisdom (for Town Portal/Dimension Door/Fly) and Earth/Air=Water/Fire Magic in that order of preferrability. Rest should be stuff like Offense, Armorer (very underrated skills by newer players), Tactics (tremendous help early game), Logistics (core skill by far), Pathfinding (situational), Archery (a wonderful skill for early game even in shooter-lite castles) Artillery (if you start with a ballista specialist like Gurnisson, this skill rocks early game)
>12. Start clearing griffin conservatories, dragon fly hives and utopias as soon as you are strong enough.
To get the hang of how early you can take on those things, try playing heroes that specialize in strong early game units. Shakti with his horde of Troglodytes and Ivor with his starting Elves are great for taking Crypts, Dwarven Treasuries, etc.

Solid post, anon.
I'd say the best way is to pick cheap towns with cheap heroes. Stronghold with Gurnisson, Tyraxor, Jabarkas or Gretchin, Fortress with Bron, Drakon or even Wystan, Rampart with Ivor should propel your early game.

Crypts, Dwarven Treasuries, etc. increase the number of guards as the game progresses, right? And I suppose the reward increases as well.
Is it always preferable to loot them as soon as possible, or can it be beneficial to let them build up?

>>1825726
they don't increase. the number of units is randomized, and its always best to get them asap

When two units have the same speed, what determines which one gets the go? Is it random? Maybe it's confirmation bias talking, but it always seems to fuck me

>>1825743
The one that belongs to the attacker.

>>1825746
That straight up ain't right, otherwise I'd be getting it 90% of the time. But I'll fite some guy, we'll have two creatures of the same speed and plenty of time his will go first

>>1825647
Regarding secondary skills:
I usually try to avoid getting Tactics because I don't want to go through the rearranging phase for every neutral monster stack. Am I missing out on much here?

How can Archery be an essential skill on shooter-lite castles? I can definitely see the merit on Tower heroes, I also get why it's pretty good on towns with two ranged units, but how helpful is it really on towns with only one ranged unit?

>>1825762
When the battle reaches a point where two units of the same speed have to move, the game will favour the unit of the party who has not moved last. Say I attack a group of Gremlins (base speed 4) with my group of Troglodytes (also base speed 4) on a grassy terrain so neither one of the units has the advantage of home terrain, the attacker (me and my Troglodytes) always makes the first move. If I choose to move my Trogs, the Gremlins will move afterwards, and my Trogs can start the next turn. If I however choose to wait, the Gremlins will move (assuming they don't wait as well, I don't know at the top of my head what happens then) and my Trogs can also move. The Gremlins get to move first in the second turn because otherwise my Trogs would be able to move twice in a row.

I hope I phrased that somewhat clearly and it helps you.

>>1825772
>Am I missing out on much here?
yes. Arranging your fast creatures for optimal turn 1 strikes, getting into ranged units faces before they can shoot you, being able to utilise terrain to your advantage, the benefits are endless. Plus, getting expert haste and slamming your entire army into them first turn is beautiful
>I don't want to go through the rearranging phase for every neutral monster stack
You don't have to, you can just skip it

>>1825782
Right, thanks mate. I was hoping there was a way to take advantage of it, but it sounds like not

>>1825772
>How can Archery be an essential skill on shooter-lite castles?
Because shooters are a great way to kill/soften up slower walkers without enduring any losses, no matter if they're Lizardmen or Grand Elves.

Say you play Jabarkas in Stronghold on 200%. You probably won't see Cyclopi for a long, long time and you are 200% so you need to get the most mileage out of your units, so with Jabba betting on Orcs and Rocs (for tanking and shooter-blocking). And with barb's natural high attack and Expert Archery, these Orcs hit enemy units way harder, so you kill more monsters before they get to you, so you lose less units when they clash. You're enhancing your early game, and early game is the one thing that is the hardest when playing 200%, so why not sweeten it up? Of course, it's a trade-off - Jabarkas won't be as strong in the late game as Crag Hack or even Tyraxor and Archery will be arguably a little useless, but if you leverage Jabarkas' strength early on, you're more likely to break all those topes, convs, crypts, treasuries etc. earlier. Archery and Exp. Earth Magic are best friends, too, and you should already prioritize Earth Magic because it's the best school.

I mean, people playing Tower already have to live with the fact that the only good heroes in that town start with terrible skills like Scholar and Mysticism, so that's a skill wasted already. Archery will get you way more mileage in comparison. One non-perfect skill won't ruin your hero's late game, but in Archery's case it can significantly bolster his early game, which in strategy games tends to matter the most.

Refer to Frank's excellent post from HeroesCommunity on the philosophy behind Archery and related tactics:
http://heroescommunity.com/viewthread.php3?TID=7114&PID=131847#focus

>>1825838
Oh BTW just for clarification: Scholar is a very suboptimal skill for a main hero, but it has its uses on scouts. If at all financially feasible, buy Jeddite/Alamar if they show up in tavern, because with just a few levels they will be able to teach your main hero Ressurection.

And say you're Tower/Neela - arguably the best Tower hero. Neela starts with Scholar. Tragedy? Well, at the very least, any secondary heroes you buy can lend her any crucial spells your mage guild has missed. Getting a magic arrow, slow or haste is a boon in the early game, and Scholar can help with that.

>>1825647
>Most magic heroes are trash because they level up in bad skills
No, because Recanter's Cloak, Orb of Inhibition and Expert Earth + Antimagic. And I still get my +4/+4/+1 for those gnolls. Or troglodytes. And I had that +1 to speed from the beginning, helping me win battles with less casualties.
On average, if first major combat happens early game a spell specialist will provide a negligible bonus while monster spec. will have +1/+1/+1 at minimum. If you clash late game - see above.
It doesn't mean all magic specialists are inherently bad. But hoping your opponent doesn't have antimagic capabilities late game is one hell of a gamble.

>and you don't need Intelligence, ever, at all
Armageddon spam. But it's a very rare thing.
Also helps you depend much less on magic wells and mage guilds while DDing/Flying.


>>1825772
>I usually try to avoid getting Tactics because I don't want to go through the rearranging phase for every neutral monster stack. Am I missing out on much here?
Yes. More examples to go with what >>1825784 said: very useful for protecting shooters with meat shields and getting flyers where you need them when you need them. Positioning is very important in combat. Second only to numbers, really.

>How can Archery be an essential skill on shooter-lite castles?
It can't. It can be very good if you find yourself a new source of good shooters. Like easily accessible early on neutral towns, Homesteads, Monasteries, Archer Towers, Mage Towers, Cyclops Caves.
I definitely won't take it if I start in the glorious swamps of Tatalia. A good skill to take for any other "race" which has proper shooters, except Necropolis.

>>1825838
>>1826781
So regarding Archery, if I play 200% it's useful because early game you take what you can get, but on lower difficulties it's not quite as essential (depending on which factions you're playing)? Does that sound right?

>>1828231
Pretty reasonable, yeah. Getting those first few mines of horrible stacks on 200% is probably the most critical part of the game

Can you get random maps in 2?

>>1828262
No.

>>1828231
I'd reverse those.
On lower difficulties you can steamroll AIs with the worst possible speciality and skill selection relying solely on HUEG army.
On Impossible an eventual 50% damage bonus for shooters sounds great but there are a few cons to keep in mind:
1. If you only have one stack of shooters the skill is affecting 1/7 of your army. If you have more than two shooter stacks you'll have a lot of difficulty protecting them with meat shields so they will get blocked by enemy sooner.
2. Once your shooters are blocked the skill stops factoring in until you unblock that stack. If it's still alive.
3. The skill is good only at Advanced and Expert levels, +10% at Basic is pretty meh.
4. Once you shield your shooters with meat stacks they all become prime targets for AOE spells, liches and failgogs. Which is probably the only time failgogs can be useful.
So I'd recommend to get Archery on 200% only if you have at least two very good shooters readily available early in the game. You'll need numbers to make good use of the skill.

As was mentioned, Tower qualifies automatically. You'll have to shield fragile gremlins and mages with gargoyles, golems, nagas and genies and titans will still kick ass in melee (NB: no melee penalty + Offence). You'll want to get Tactics to handle all this positioning before combat starts.
Similar situation with Castle, but you can even protect zealots to make them benefit from that +50% longer.
For Rampart it's highly situational. Grand elves are very good, but they are just one stack out of seven in total. Archery will indeed speed up your early game but later on you'll want to build at least one more stack of archers. So definitely get it in smaller, faster games and carefully consider all pros and cons for long games. Also keep in mind Rampart heroes don't get Attack very often.
Other obvious candidates are Stronghold, Conflux and Dungeon. Liches are good but not that good to dedicate a whole skill just to them.

>>1826781
Magic heroes have high chances to get skills like Eagle Eye, Mysticism, Intelligence while having way lower chances to get Offense/Armorer/Logistics/etc. That is a problem, can't downplay that, especially when might heroes are guaranteed to choose Basic X Magic at level 4 at the latest, and every fourth level afterwards.
Without Recanters/Orb etc. a might hero still has 7 stacks of powerful creatures that all get Attack + Defense bonuses while the magic hero's troops are usually weaker and he can only fire his spells.
Magic heroes are good if you can get to the enemy remotely fast and if the map isn't very rich. That's where a souped-up Lightning Bolt makes a difference. Late game mage can implode one stack and get steamrolled by the rest of the enemy army. Mass Level 1 spells win battles.

I never get Intelligence precisely because magic wells and mage guilds are plenty, and so are knowledge boosting artifacts.

>>1826781
>>1828298
All I can say is: I like Wystan/Fortress on 200%, the damage spike from Archery is certainly noticable.
You say that
>if you have one stack of shooters the skill is only affecting 1/7 of your army
Well, yeah, and I pointed out that this is a problem later on, but early game it's not at all wrong to rely on shooters for your creeping needs, and you could have much more useless skills filling up that slot. Some great heroes have mediocre-to-junk skills - Mephala has Leadership and Neela has Scholar for instance. That doesn't ruin them, it doesn't even affect you much until you're maxed out, and that takes a while.

I'm the >>1825838 and I'm in the camp that says Archery is one of the best early game skills if your tactics will rely on any shooter, even if it's just one. For creeping, it certainly helps a lot with losses. I try to preserve every single one of my units, especially those hard-hitters that die like flies (Wolf Raiders are excellent units for endfights, but you need lots of them). Archery is just extremely helpful.

>>1828356
>All I can say is: I like Wystan/Fortress on 200%, the damage spike from Archery is certainly noticable.
Lizards are ok and the spike is definitely there but I'd just get Luck or Morale instead. Less reliable but you'll spend ages getting anywhere in the swamps. Which means you'll get Morale-boosting artifacts later.
It's all a matter of preference I guess.
To make it clear: I agree Archery gives a sizeable boost to early game expansion even for Fortress heroes. If it's useful even for the faction with lowest Attack ratings in game, it's worth taking.

>mediocre-to-junk skills - Mephala has Leadership
By the time you get enough Morale-boosting artifacts to outperform Expert Leadership you normally have more stuff than slots. Also 4+ Morale allows for some crazy creature mixing while still staying above negative numbers. Although further down that road lie the cursed lands of The Gamebreaking Secondary Skill which should not be named.

So, again, it seems to be a matter of personal preference.

>>1828386
>you'll spend ages getting anywhere in the swamps.
If your entire army is composed of nothing but Fortress units you will move as if you were moving on a normal terrain like grassland.
In fact, a hero equipped with only, say, Basilisks will be faster on swamp than the hero equipped only with Angels.
A hero equipped only with Golems walking on snow will probably be faster than a hero equipped with only Green Dragons on the same terrain, and so on.
And between Wyverns and Dragonflies, Fortress already has extremely fast units, so I don't see any issue here.
>By the time you get enough Morale-boosting artifacts to outperform Expert Leadership you normally have more stuff than slots
I find Morale trinkets to show up like mosquitos in summer. Leadership is a nice early game skill but I'd say it's mediocre because artifacts completely make up for it. Also, if your tactics employ Spirit of Oppression, Leadership is obviously not gonna do anything for you.

Luck however sucks because not only are there plenty luck trinkets, there are no negative effects from having negative luck whatsoever. Or at least I've never seen any.

They're not Eagle Eye tier skills, but I wouldn't want them on my "ideal" main either.

Any if you fellows could recommend any nice WoG maps for me and my buddy to play on hotseat?

anyone know how to make HOMM3 in windowed mode and/or disable the starting intro/cutscene? not being able to alt-tab easily and having to watch that 5minute cutscene every time really gives me the shits

>>1828434
http://www.gog.com/forum/heroes_of_might_and_magic_series/homm3_cant_skip_introduction/page1
try this thread

>>1828436
thanks!

>>1828414
I worded that poorly. Let's try again: you have a choice of slow but durable creatures or fast but flimsy creatures. Your only archers have 5 speed after upgrade. I wrote "in the swamps" as they are the only ones starting in the swamps on random maps.
For example, Tower has similar problems - before you get to Archmagi your main hitters are going to slow down main hero a lot.

>I find Morale trinkets to show up like mosquitos in summer. Leadership is a nice early game skill but I'd say it's mediocre because artifacts completely make up for it. Also, if your tactics employ Spirit of Oppression, Leadership is obviously not gonna do anything for you.
RNG is a harsh mistress. When it rains, it pours, but when it's not... Speaking of the SoE, it shows up really seldom in my games for some reason. Used to get it about every second game by the end of second month at most.
Again, I like to fill those slots with other shiny things, you are fine with Morale-boosters occupying those - to each his own.

>there are no negative effects from having negative luck whatsoever
There are none indeed. NWC intended for it to work, like in HoMM2, but it got borked along the way somehow. Don't remember why they didn't patch it in later. Probably due to game already being balanced with lack of Bad Luck in mind.

>>1828438
I see your point.
While this might be slightly exploitish and potentially dangerous, if your main tags along with a secondary hero (for taking all the stuff the main is too busy to get), why not have the secondary hero take all the slow units and leave the main with just Flies?

One more reason I don't really care for Leadership is that it's heavily RNG based. I've had heroes with Expert Leadership pull off streaks of morale after morale, and I've had Exp Leadership on heroes and yet no morale bonus in sight.
It's a pretty unreliable skill, which puts it further down. Archery, Offense, Artillery will work for you always as long as you got the units.
With that in mind, my goal is usually to have morale higher than -1, not +3 ASAP. Morale streak is something very nice and can help you lose less or even straight-up turn a battle around; but bad morale can just throw a wrench into your carefully crafted plan.
By the time I'll go full on race-mixing, I'll be able to have enough trinkets to stay at 0 or +1 morale and that's perfectly fine.

>>1828446
>While this might be slightly exploitish and potentially dangerous, if your main tags along with a secondary hero (for taking all the stuff the main is too busy to get), why not have the secondary hero take all the slow units and leave the main with just Flies?
Possible, but it's a micromanagement hell. Without some insanely anal math main will end up wasting a full turn's worth of movement running from and back to that slowpoke caravan after every, say, ten turns.
Quite possibly my estimates are wrong, but even if this is possible I'm afraid this level of micro would be too annoying to remain fun for me.

>One more reason I don't really care for Leadership is that it's heavily RNG based. I've had heroes with Expert Leadership pull off streaks of morale after morale, and I've had Exp Leadership on heroes and yet no morale bonus in sight.
True. Maybe I just need that extra bit of unpredictability to keep the game from turning into highly sophisticated chess.

High Morale is also a buffer against debuffs from Warrior's Tombs. Few things are worse than being suddenly forced to fight another main with -2 Morale.

>>1828457
To be fair all this takes is for the two heroes to be together and have the secondary hero trade units.

HoMM3 HD makes it way easier because you can swap armies between two heroes with a click of one button.

I try to do that whenever possible. Also, chaining.
>True. Maybe I just need that extra bit of unpredictability to keep the game from turning into highly sophisticated chess.
Eh, there's enough of RNG in that game, leadership or not.

>>1828474
On average your main will have about one fight per turn once you start farming your neighbourhood in earnest. Your main with fast creatures and your slowpoke carrier will have at lest 140 movement points difference at the start of the turn until your main gets Logistics. Even after your main spends time to fight some neutrals or to visit an odd attribute bonus thingy, there'll be one "step" the second guy won't be able to make. Every turn this distance will grow.
And then there is need to visit bonus-giving things and fight some minor neutrals with the secondary so that he won't be completely useless if enemy catches him with 1/2 to 2/3 of your army.
Also your third hero will be instagibbed whenever you get close enough to a two-way monolith or within range of an enemy castle with a bit of troops waiting to be hired.
I'm not saying it's impossible, just that it's rather taxing to make it efficient.

Anyone else much prefer homm2 over homm3? The artstyle is beautiful.

Am I alone in the habit of placing an overpowered hero at the enemy's last castle so they can't escape, then having another hero take everything from the map and destroy all enemies unchallenged?

>>1828564
>tfw you see Amplifier and remember you played HoMM2 before PoL came out
Good times.

>Anyone else much prefer homm2 over homm3?
No, I like them both about the same.

>Am I alone in the habit of placing an overpowered hero at the enemy's last castle so they can't escape, then having another hero take everything from the map and destroy all enemies unchallenged?
Only did that in H2 or H3 about dozen times, but in Age of Wonders II and Disciples II still do that quite often.

>>1828474
>HoMM3 HD makes it way easier because you can swap armies between two heroes with a click of one button.
Where is this buttom / what short command is it?

>>1828669
NM, fucking WOG.

>>1828564

I still perfer Homm 2 to 3, the only real thing 3 has for me is the easy random map button instead of having to open the editor every time.

>just randomly decide to look on /vr/ one day not even really into vidya
>see a homm thread
>download and play homm3
>amazed by how nice it is and how easy it is to get into
This is like the only strategy game I've ever gotten into and I love it. It's so much fun. It's so simple too and interactive enough to not bore me to tears like other strategy games. I'm a casual scrub for liking this and not other strategy games?

>>1830410
*am I

>>1828262
>>1828281
sure you can, but you have to use the map editor (separate exe) to do it.

>>1830410
well I don't see how other strategy games are any less 'interactive'

>>1830498
most confrontations don't have you control groups of units in turn based combat in a similar fashion to the way this game does.

>>1828564
>Am I alone in the habit of placing an overpowered hero at the enemy's last castle so they can't escape, then having another hero take everything from the map and destroy all enemies unchallenged?

this is on the level of kicking a kitten imo

also the homm2 art has this beautiful vibrancy which homm3 lacks. it's not a very good game compared to 3

>>1830410
There's no scrubbery here, anon. This is /vr/, not /v/. But homm is great like that, it's incredibly hard to master, but pretty easy to get into and play reasonably well at.

>>1825245

I've got plenty of loot to pick up and stuff to flag now that I'm basically controlling half the overworld. this isn't the most entertaining stuff, so I decided to give one of my bitch heroes a present - 1 ghost dragon from the refugee camp. let's see how far he gets

>>1830726

orange sends a pretty lame hero through a monolith, luckily dessa was heading that way

looks like that's where I'm headed - going to try and mobilise some more stronghold troops in support behind dessa, not much going on anywhere else

theo is getting on really well with his solo ghost dragon. it reminds me of the homm2 scenario "dragon rider". he's going underground

>>1830742

theo's big adventure is over :(
a lot more exploration is needed because i don't know dick about what's going on underground

>>1830745

dessa vs. halon @ silverwing. should be easy

meanwhile, I've developed my rampart town and I've got a decent cadre of troops from there. gird is going to take those into the underworld and avenge theodorus

>>1830525
>this is on the level of kicking a kitten imo
feels good man. the way i see it, it's the reward for winning the game.

>>1830748

forgot picture. I actually lost this battle, and my best hero due to shackles of war. whoops

going to try and combine the output of my two strongholds to make a new monster hero. I'll probably hire somebody new

>>1830525
>this is on the level of kicking a kitten imo
Nah, it's like a singleplayer game at that point. Adventure!

>>1830869
Holy shit, this. Sometimes I just wish the AI would fuck off and let me stroll around beating monsters and leveling up. The occasional mission you get in homm games where you don't even get a town, and just have a bunch of troops to get you through, always got me rock hard

can someone try and play resource war map on 200% with fortress holy shit this is impossible I dont know what to do!

>>1830505
i don't see how it's more interactive

>>1830752
>Centaurs go to Rampart
>Gargoyles go to Tower
>Griffins go to Castle
>Hydras go to Fortress
They're like a band that broke up, and if you try to get them all back together they'll all just spend their time being pissed off at each other. The minotaurs wouldn't care though.

>>1831443
Hydras at least went back to dungeon in heroes 5

>>1830904

but that's the boring part

>>1831460
sez u

So I just started playing HOMM3 using the HD mod.

Anyone know why i'm getting really shitty/crackly sound? I don't think I get it when I play it vanilla.

>>1831460
It's just different. It's terra incognita, man, you uncover ancient secrets and stuff.
To each their own.

>>1831595
I get that if I alt-tab out. Can fix it by playing in windowed mode or rebooting the game.

>>1831261
Ill give it a shot

>>1832314
>>1831261
Go wyverns at w2d7 with only a town hall, seems pretty late.

Got a speculum out of the chest, the only possible source of gold in the starting area, so that was a bit of a kick in the dick.

Killed the griffins guarding me and lost to a guy with a bunch of castle and dungeon level 1-4 troops, this is hard as fuck

>>1831261
Started with Bron and got lucky with 7 basilisks, built town hall and wyverns by the end of the week, cleared the way on week 2, captured neutral Rampart castle and sulfur mine, built +wood\+ore building, things start to look good. I suck at combat and I went in defence mode because I'm afraid of CPU darting for castles.

>>1832459
>russian
Must be good at this. I am monitoring your play

>>1832459

aren't you supposed to get about 4 basilisks with bron? haha

not much of anything going on in my game.. here's the tactical overview. gird is about to take a lightly defended castle town. yog is now the proud owner of a pretty scary stronghold army - i've flagged two external behemoth crags so I'm getting 8/week between my two towns.

>>1832935

gird goes in to take my first underground town
AI player lands his own griffin in the moat, lol

also I decided to sacrifice yog's titans cuirass to bump him from level 2 to level 5. worst idea ever, or not?

>>1831787

I find it really tedious to run around gathering resources and encountering bajillion creatures of the week, especially after playing for so long.

>>1832935
Starting units are always randomized
Bron can start with 4 to 7 Basilisks

>>1833039

7 is quite a lot!

>>1832949

gird comes in for another capture... this one might be a bit tight

yog is chasing down halon, who is the fucker who war-shackled dessa earlier in the game. halon is running like a bitch though

>>1833103

gird got the job done, at the expense of 16 elves and 100 centaurs

halon is quite a lot faster than yog, so I'm going to capture one of his towns instead of trying to catch him

>>1833114

i've done the old garrison/hero army split trick here to goad this pink heroes into attacking gird. I think they'll take the bait

>>1833136

sure enough

also - I just lost my inferno to a pretty decent sized army. I've got to get my shit together to defend the nearby towns, which I value a lot more

>>1833151

so I just got my shit pushed in, again
gird is no more

RAWRRR! ill join!

>>1832459
is this really 200% difficulty?

>>1833820
I wish it wasn't. Crossed out CPUs that got rekt.

>>1833861
>cheeki breeki
>cheeki breeki
>cheeki breeki
>TOPOCAP
>cheeki breeki
>cheeki breeki

>>1833861
So, uh, green is down to his last castle and two heroes.

>>1833905
And this is what I'm fighting against.

>>1833907
I couldn't care less about loses.

>>1833912
Turns out he had one more castle, well, not a problem.
This is it! Last enemy defeated, swamp creatures victorious. Score is 480. May post last autosave.

>>1833912
>dat one dragon
rip in piece

>>1833923
Horoshaya robota, anon.
I was counting on you being able to do it pre-6 month (maybe with more than 2 heroes?), but as it stands, great effort either way.

>>1833861
how the fuck did you do that? I mean its already 2nd month here >>1832459 the AI should have a tremendous army by now, please explain everything in detail.

>>1833948
I did it with -one- hero, not a fan of splitting armies. Plus I have built very, very few buildings in the captured castles, so I couldn't really get any serious army#2 to fight enemies. I could've done it faster if I didn't waste my time waiting a week for blue to vanish, thus letting green rush into my half of the map which mixed up things for a month or something.

>>1833923

Jeez. Not doing your morale any favours there.

>>1833995
RNG's a bitch anyway, no matter how much morale I have I rarely get extra turn when I really want it.
>>1833962
http://pastebin.com/RgXGjKdA Sorta recap of that session.

>>1833962
Oh yeah, forgot to say: this >>1833861 screen was made ~1 in-game month later than this one >>1832459 .

Ok, learning here:


What should be my priorities in the first two weeks or so? What to build, in what order?

>>1835565
It depends on your town, hero, and how rich the map is. Fortress goes for Wyverns, Shakti upgrades Troglodytes early, and so on. Most of the time early army is better than early economy.

>>1835565
Usually try to get all creature dwellings and Castle as soon as possible. Prioritize resources you need, sell off resources you don't if necessary. You don't need to buy all the units every week, just the necessary ones - so, for instance, if you're Rampart and your strategy revolves around Grand Elves, you want to prioritize buying Grand Elves, then Unicorns or Pegasi for blocking enemy shooter stacks; no need to buy Dendroids or Dwarves in that case.

Try to learn how to wage battles and learn certain patterns you can use and abuse to make your wins more efficient.

On Day 1, if not on 200%, buy a 2nd hero, give his forces to the 1st hero, and make the second one scout around.

>>1835790
This

also in most cases, even if it weakens your main hero, give the secondary heroes faster units so they fly around the map getting resource (heroes speed is reliant upon the slowest monster in their army, among other things.)

If you absolutely need the extra couple monsters to win an important mine or resource don't do this, but otherwise it's usually well worth the slightly weakened hero.

>>1835565

as far as buildings:

day 1: either a mage guild or a good dwelling. buy both heroes with units, and give everything to one guy. boom, triple army. it's well worth the morale penalty - unless necro units are involved.

week 1: try and get the best dwellings you can so you will have good stuff to buy next week. don't buy any upgrades yet (gremlins are an exception). a citadel is nice, a castle is great, but probably unaffordable

I usually hold up on expensive buildings around w1d6 so I can afford to buy creatures on w2d1 - often I'll buy the marketplace because I want to get city hall early. This depends a lot on the map though - sometimes you really need the extra firepower to progress and sometimes you can just focus on growing your town

week 2, resource rich: go for a level 7 dwelling if you can afford it, otherwise get a castle and the more essential upgrade dwellings
week 2, resource poor: get a city hall

>>1835974

strategy: buy as many heroes as is practical to scout and pick up unguarded resources + mines

don't use your main army hero to get pickups - get another hero to follow them around as they clear away wandering monsters

always take gold from chests!

>>1835974
>don't buy any upgrades yet (gremlins are an exception)
in general early upgrades are only good if you're going to really rely on that unit early on. Grand Elves, Marksmen, Vampire Lords, Harpy Hags are some candidates. Usually though it's quantity over quality.

>>1836008

all those units are essential week 2 buys. but getting ~50 master gremlins to goon around with in the first week is incredibly useful - and regular gremlins are absolutely worthless - which is why I think it's the only upgrade you should get in week 1

>>1836008
The units you listed are relatively good upgrades. Grand Elves and Marksmen get double shots so they effectively become twice as strong, Vampire Lords get resurrection so they are practically invinsible in battle with weaker units, and Harpy Hags have that no retaliation/return thing going. I agree that these are upgrades worth considering first week, but generally speaking you don't want upgrades. No need for Gnoll Mauraders in week 1 if it means you don't get week 1 Hydras.

>>1836501
>No need for Gnoll Mauraders in week 1 if it means you don't get week 1 Hydras
Exactly. You can always upgrade units later, but if you miss a week, that's how ever many troops gone for good

>>1825421

a few days late here but thanks for the tips. I usually only use one hero per town and i'm thinking (while reading these threads) that it might be my downfall.

dang fort position. such bottleneck. such strategy. WOW. restart!

>>1836576
0what am i looking at here? you can obviously get into teh castle, whats the matter? Otherwise how did all your heroes get out?

>>1836647
sorry for typos its cold and i have gloves on

>>1836648
Go to bed, man from a land down under.

>>1832459
what would you do if that rampart towns would be guarded by a lots of mighty gorgons?

>>1836914
*town I mean

>>1836914
Restart the map hoping for some easier monster stack?

>>1830462
thanks

>>1836980
there is no chance?

>>1787908
>WoG /HD mod

btw if anyone is still using the CD version with annoying DRM AND you don't want to install WoG mod (HD mod may not work with some versions)...

you can remove the CD-check/DRM thingy by using "HEROES OF MIGHT & MAGIC III Complete CD-Check Crack (US/Canada) by SoftBeard" (google it) , and virtually mounting an ISO copy of the Play CD. the crack willl works without the ISO, but the game will be missing the videos & some sound effects.

What is your favorite random map script?

Personally, I am partial to MidnightMix. On Impossible difficulty, it usually gives the AI enough time to generate huge armies and provide an actual challenge.

Also, do you guys typically disable Flying / DD?

>>1801164
>>1801234
http://mightandmagic.wikia.com/wiki/VCMI

the VCMI engine supports higher-res too. but the AI seems to be fucked

THERE you are, HOM&M thread. I didn't know where you went.

>>1839286
Is that picture Homm4? It looks better than I'd been given to expect

>>1839286
It's just 3 in the scenario editor.

>>1838428
I love the Jebus Cross and the Clash of Dragons/Frozen Dragons templates

Jesus christ. I love this game and have always played it passionately.
While I consider myself a pretty smart guy, I have trouble even completing a 100% random map with 3 enemies, and that's when I choose my faction...

Is everyone in this thread autistically good at this game? Or am I maybe too impatient with my moves and don't think stuff through? I could never even hope to complete a 200% map.

>>1839831
watch videos of other players playing on 200% difficulty and you will become better at it
this is my favourite I completed my first 200% in my life after watching it, I havent played much though
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAXEJ2ZSta8&list=PLqyBKiHbM__H2rN5ibj3UMRPVhCFtS0ou

>>1787908

Is VCMI for Android any good? Been thinking of installing it on my phone since Battle for Wesnoth for Android worked great

>>1839831

I always just go Castle and get mass Archangels. They're fairly buff, give a morale boost, and also rez my other troops.

>>1840157
Give it a try and report back.

>>1839838
hmmm... decent so far, I like his way of combatting, I'd never think to do that - But he makes a slip up here and there where he could've lost less than he did.
I'm looking forward to when enemies show up.

>>1840164
How do you even get to Archangels when you start with nothing and your opponent is so massively powerful?! D:

>>1840219
Get as many heroes as possible to explore and collect what you can. Transfer the army to your best hero and start clearing the map. Depending on town you should reach level 7 creatures by 2-4 week if you don't fuck up too much or get massively unlucky.

Does the AI use the invite feature from the tavern or what? Is there a way to turn it off for everyone?

I'm trying the resources war map at 200% and I've killed this particular hero like 3 times now and he keeps coming back (he's not running away, I'm killing him in a town) and it's getting kind of annoying.

>>1839831
>Is everyone in this thread autistically good at this game?

Just like when driving everyone going faster than you is an asshole and everyone going slower is a moron, everyone that plays games better than you is autistic and everyone that plays worse is a casual.