- by Pol
Kickstarter trailer is out, albeit kickstarter is not. Take a look at Official Trailer if it meets your requirements. Erathia must surv...[ahem, be conquered]?
The official trailer is online!
Get a glimpse of how the game looks and plays with our Kickstarter video! Don't forget to thumb it up 👍 and leave a comment on how you like it!
- by Pol
Official release date is December 13th 2022, wait for it!
Working towards the Gold Q&A excerpt:
Q: Is there a plan to make finding good settler locations easier, like a map filter/lens that shows all nearby hex values instead of needing to hover over each one?
A: Yes, we do have some ideas and plans for this, but we will see if it can be done before release, or future updates.
Q: Will unrest modifiers per race be included as I feel this is hidden info currently?
A: We don’t currently have plans to display those, but race tension is implemented in the game and can even be modded.
Q: Loss of fame when a town is taken seems to be missing, will you implement it?
A: You do lose Fame when a city is lost, however, this information is not currently displayed. It is on a list for possible future updates.
Q: With the final release almost upon us, could you share what have been the biggest challenges and the most difficult decisions you had to take?
A: Faithfully recreating the spells, because they are so custom made, it has been a real challenge attempting this. And this leads directly to the other one, the AI, because all of the game’s mechanics are so irregular (in that they often have exceptions and special rules, rather than unified systems) teaching the AI to act with intelligence has been all the more complex.
And of course, just juggling expectation vs reality. So now coming up to the release it was hard to say stop to adding/modding features and just focusing on making what we have great.
Q:The game seems mostly very faithful to the original, and you took only minor (tasteful) decisions, like the hex maps or the refined events. Would you share what drove you to this path, are you happy with it?
A: I think it is safe to say that you, that is, the passionate fan base of the original game, have really steered us in this direction. When we were first approached to do this project, we weren’t convinced if we were going to stay as faithful. But, upon research, playing the game again, and just interacting with the fans, we decided to go all in. Are we happy we did it that way? Ask me again on December 13th!
Although, on a more personal note, I [Yuuki] actually am very happy we did it this way, as I dislike remakes and adaptations that don’t try it.
Q: Will there eventually be more than two ways to win?
A: We do not have plans to expand the game in this direction at the moment. Although back in the day of initial design talks, we did indeed ponder about the possibilities. So perhaps in the future we may revisit those ideas.
Q: Performance: is the beta slower than the final release is going to be? Even on relatively fast modern hardware, I sometimes notice stuttering or slow response times. Nothing dramatic, but I imagine that lower-end machines might struggle more.
A: The development build does tend to be more resource demanding than release builds, so we hope the answer is yes, and we are working towards that goal. Additionally, we plan to invest additional time in memory management which may also positively impact the final performance.
Q: On a completely more facetious note, what are the dev team favourite wizards or heroes?
A: I [Yuuki] play a custom Wizard almost every time now, I use Kali’s portrait the most, and I like Alchemy, Warlord, Channelling and mostly Life magic (I know, probable a terrible way to play, but I like it... them boosted paladins, love’em!) To further display my inaptitudes as a strategy player, I actually like getting B’Shan, cause he’s free :P
SirPi tells me Merlin is his favourite Wizard, although it is a love/hate relationship. Merlin is the first Wizard on the list, thus for quick tests, we tend to click on him most often... and then Brax is Szymon’s favourite hero as he loves dwarves.
A’vee singled out Jafar as her favourite Wizard, because of the mana - gold flexibility. And she likes MysticX but her reasons are Unknown… (must be the menacingly glowing eyes).
Shell, like me, likes to play custom Wizard. His BadBoy uses the Raven portrait and has Warlock +Myrran+Channeler+Alchemy and two Life books. His favourite hero is Mortu the Black Knight.
Khash did not poke his head from under the code to answer and Obi, being Khash’s padawan probably felt he should do as his master does...
Q: Will Master of Magic have the same compile at execute style modding as Thea 2 did? Because that was fantastic.
A: Both MoM and Thea2 share the scripting system, where a fair share of the gameplay is already exposed to scripts you can modify and which are loaded when you start the game and no tools except notepad are needed.
Both games have large databases in XML format, relatively easy to read (we hope ;) ) and both games have the event editor, with possibilities which can be extended in many aspects by scripts and database.
More modding features will likely join those above following implementations similar to what Thea 2 offers so yes, we hope you will be satisfied.
Q: How many things/what can be modded?
A: At the moment, the moddable areas are:
- Adding/Modding Skills (but not the art atm)
- Adding/Modding Traits (not the art atm)
- Units (although not not 3D models, and not 2D art atm)
- Resource distribution
- Lair rewards
- Building bonuses
- New buildings (but they will not show on the map, as you can’t add the 2d art to the map, and no new icons atm)
- Change/add spells (including sound effects but not art atm and not special effects)
- Adding music (by adding an Ogg file to the assets)
- Adding sound effects
- Race tension stats can also be modded in the database
- World events via the event editor
- Some AI behaviours will be moddable
- Treaties in Diplomacy can be adjusted in terms of values
Things we plan to add when possible:
- Adding custom 2D art and icons
Things that are less likely to become available (we’re not saying they are impossible, but those would require a lot, so we can’t make any promises here):
- 3D models
- Visual effects
- by Pol
Heroes in Space?
This game is in development for quite some time, they claim more than a year, albeit for Early Access or Release Date you will need to wait.
The developer is Czech Oxymoron Studio, which already worked on games like Total War: Three Kingdoms or Quantum Brake or Mafia II/III and the list would be longer. With the top, completely developed on their own, Project Hospital.
Let see the official annoucement:
New War in Ancient Universe
The Siren star system, birthplace of a galactic alliance, and the homeworld of a lost Primals civilization, has been cut from the rest of the galaxy. As a result, the carefully built alliance split into bickering factions and secluded colonies. These days, hardly anyone pays attention to the ruins scattered all over the few habitable planets of a freshly isolated system. The deeper you venture into the uncharted regions, the stronger the feeling of endangerment grows. There is something else. An entity, a shade, an echo of whispers from below.
Key elements
- Explore a rich sci-fi world and discover secrets of a lost civilization
- Collect powerful artifacts, secure important resources, upgrade your bases and hire the strongest units
- Level-up your commanders and crush your opponents in exciting turn-based battles
- Take control over several different species and factions
- Old-school strategy game with modern controls and intuitive UI
You can read more and subscribe at silenceofthesiren.com or at Steam. Project Hospital was success, so there's a reason why to keep expectations high this time.
What is unclear is, if they will plan to support longevity with map / campaign editor, modding support or it will have several time replay value. So smaller in scope and ambitions but faster to complete. This or that, everlasting question. 
See more images below and enjoy!
You can browse more, including some music snippets.
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- by Pol
Hello,
if you would like to watch live unboxing, then mark 27th Sept 2022 21:00 CET in you calendar.
Live unboxing will be available on this YT thread:
- by Pol
On September 24 Heroes Orchestra will celebrate 5th birthday, on this occasion they will stream live TWO ANNIVERSARY CONCERTS! First beginning at 17:00, second at 20:00, Central Europian Time.
The creator of music for the Might and Magic games Maestro Paul Anthony Romero will also be present at the event.
And we join in congratulations to his birthday week ago. Thanks for all your music master! Live long and prosper 
Check Heroes Orchestra page, if you wish, you can help them with donation. Concerts are already sold out.
src: Klejnot Nilu, HotA Discord Channel.
| Comments (1) |
- by Pol
New VCMI 1.0.0 was released!
As a base for modding support, portability and even with two types of AI. Read the original news and download at vcmi.eu.
WE’RE HAPPY TO ANNOUNCE A NEW RELEASE!
Several years have passed since VCMI 0.99 and it’s about time for a new release. Tons of changes, improvements, and fixes have been introduced during that time, so it’s hard to recall all of them. However, we’d like to highlight several major changes.
GAME ENGINE
Lodestar grail finally can reveal all the map! We were working hard to track down and fix crashes that severely affected VCMI gameplay. Now they are rare beasts but if you manage to find one do not hesitate to report it!
ADVENTURE MAP
Hero exchange window has got a few additional buttons and keyboard shortcuts to ease army and artefact exchange. If you do not see them after installing the release make sure you have the latest VCMI extras mod installed.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
You are welcome to try an alternative AI algorithm called Nullkiller which shows itself well on small and medium sized maps. For larger maps you should better go with classic VCAI computer player which was also significantly improved. From the launcher settings you can always choose the AI you like and enjoy the most.
MODDING AND NEW TERRAINS
VCMI was built for modding, but with this release we significantly enhanced the mod system. Among various gameplay tools we introduced support for adding new terrains. It is a natural evolution of new town support as they need to have unique terrains, battlefields, mines and map objects. This feature required deep refactoring of the game engine so unfortunately saves you made before release 1.00 will not be compatible. It’s a good reason to make new ones!
RANDOM MAPS GENERATOR
RMG also has undergone huge changes. First of all, normal and island water options are supported now. Secondly, as mods can introduce new terrains and objects, RMG has got powerful algorithms to generate new terrain patches and to place new objects provided by mods. And finally, we improved the generator in terms of aesthetics, obstacles placement and stability as well.
LAUNCHER
Good news! We reconsidered our release policy to make releases more frequently and introduced an update notification system into launcher in order to make everybody aware about new features and fixes. In addition to that, launcher works now with our new mod repository on GitHub that will be used to follow for updates in your favorite mods too!
JOIN US!
The project is now actively maintained once again. There are several active contributors working on new amazing features. Not everything made it into this release so stay tuned for next announcements!
On top of a shorter release cycle we also want to announce that we slowly started using GitHub built-in tools for bug tracking and project management. Now development activities and release milestones will be more transparent. As always we are open to all contributors who wish to help us move VCMI forward. You can help with both programming or contributing new mods to the repository. Let’s make VCMI better together!
| Comments (1) |
- by Pol
Dragoness: Command of the Flame
Dragoness: Command of the Flame was released at 1st Sept, present reviews are positive, albeit scarce. It's indeed having part of hommlike mechanic, most similar are battlefields but rest is closer to King's Bounty. Game stays on its own, there's 10% sale ongoing till 8th Sept, so you can go yourself and check.
- You are getting your own base, from which your are fulfilling missions. You have one hero and army. (Campaign map is huge, there are seen more bases, in each region one.)
- Units can be merged to be stronger, in each battle all sides are getting "shield points", so if you are not damaged behind that, you have no actual losses.
- Both, hero an units can cast spells. Hero is otherwise not taking direct part in the combat.
- Objects are supported, like "Healing Tent", "Cursing Tent" etc..
- There are very nice loading screens, similar to KB.
- It's a story based but, apart from authors, nobody knows now, what it will be. It all started with two Dragons clash.. (So there likely will be 'many' recruitable dragons later, in the game)
- In your base there's very nice town management.
- If your only and one commanderes die, it can be ressurected in the town, in three differents forms. Each of them is best at something else.
- Not spotted yet anything like campaign/map/mission/modding editor. Most likely won't be presented.
- Controls are simple, not noticed keyboard shortcuts in the combat thoughs. Neither autocombat.
- You need to keep your units fed, otherwise your army is weakened. The army can survive without any food supply for 8 days.
- Very nice music, thumbs up!
- Movement on the map is quick for me.
- There's demo available and after buying the full game, you can continue from where you started.
- FAQ if you would need more answers
- Check our tag, if would like to know more, like minimal requirements.
Spellforce: Conquest of Eo
Another fantasy game in the development, in this case it will be similar to Master of Magic, so it could be bit akin to our audience. This is Spellforce: Conquest of Eo, worthy of check. Known is quite more atm. Thanks Blake & Vicwaberub for info!
1C Entertainment to Fulqrum Games
After aquisition by Tencent, polish videogames group 1C Entertainment changed its name to Fulqrum Games. Read a notice.
- by Pol
- Pick the bolded text, to jump to the whole blog entry. And see texts also in German or Polish languages.
Combat is what Heroes do the best
Now let's look at what knights or barbarians (wizards too!) like the most - combat! In Heroes of Might and Magic III: The Board Game, it is played on a special 5-row combat board. Each player, at any time during their turn may deploy their army within the two back rows. After the battle begins, the Hero can no longer rearrange their formation (unless they have a Tactic card).
Rush, rush, rush to build a capitol! ;-)
However, this reduction does not in any way detract from their value. Without skillful resource management, it is impossible to succeed in "Heroes of Might and Magic III: The Board Game."
It is impractical to expand towns without resources - otherwise you wouldn’t be able to build these structures:
- City Hall (do check if "rushing" a City Hall in the board game is more profitable than "rushing" a Capitol in the computer game), Citadel (without it, you cannot increase your army),
- Mage Guild (mandatory for wizards),
- Creature dwellings (a starting army is not enough),
- Unique building for each faction (check them out).
The wealth of the original
The cult-classic Heroes of Might and Magic III is a computer game full of diverse factions. Do you prefer the strength and solidity of the Castle or the wizarding tricks of the Dungeon? Or maybe you like the approach of Sandro and his Necropolis the most - Where others see peasants, I see an opportunity?
The factions, however, are only the beginning; after deciding on one of them, the player has to choose a hero. Here is another pleasant dilemma - to play the hero of Might or the hero of Magic? Which specialization should you choose? There are many other elements during the course of the game - leveling the hero, speccing your ability tree, choosing artifacts and obtaining the desired spells, and of course, maintaining high morale in the army…
- by Pol
The Dragoness: Command of the Flame is the new homm like game, with rogue twist, which is scheduled for 1st September. Created by polish developer Crazy Goat Games. The game already passed all testing phases and it's fully ready. Check the "dev blog" at Steam News page.
Interesting interview with Producer Maciej Struzyna and Designer Janina Wojciechowska is available at ScreenRant.com. It's also worthy to check the other one at rpggamer.com, which brings in some additional sparks of info.
The game should be about:
- Heroes and Tolkien inspirations
- Myriad of Monsters
- Perfection - like shield mechanism, to prevent unnecessary losses in the battle
- Chess like battlefields
- RPG driven story
- Quick save and leave "aka father's mod"
- Cute pangolin guide
- "We had time to polish it, and this is the baby we wanted to make."
(I never heard that from Ubisoft.. )
Give it a try and let us know!
You would like to win it? You can, if you visit heroes3wog.net, which run 10th Years Anniversary Contest with many prices, and this game, among them. Certainly recommended! 
Create 3 miniatures in Hero's Forge Editor, submit them and do that till 15th Sept. The contest is only valid if 10 or more Heroes 3 miniatures are created.
Fingers crossed Liso1, this the huge amount of work and time invested into the site. CH is joining the congratulation, lets do some party, gremlins rushed to your palace! 
The editor is relatively clumsy, when there was M&M Showndown, the drawing part was in some aspects more creative. What requires praise, even if I cannot add more hands, is grimace editor - that's funny enough. Eyes are somewhat unfinished or you need subscription to Pro. This is kickstarter project and indeed not bad.
Yes, this is Winged Naga. And it does feature a very small tail and some defensive thorns on the back, which are not visible from this angle.
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