- by Pol
Welcome - Elven Centaur - Long Covid - Recollection: Cheatcodes - GoodGame.hr Interview Q1-4
Hey, All.
Welcome. Hope each of you is safe.
This month I have four topics, followed by a new interview conducted by Marko Vidučić of GoodGame.hr from Croatia.
As always, ‘thank you’ to everyone who wrote, especially those with positive sentiments. If you have any questions or comments, regarding Fanstratics (FST) or Heroes of Might and Magic 3 (HoMM3), feel free to send them along, and I’ll try to answer them in future newsletters (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.). Please keep in mind, it may take at least 1 month before I reply (it’s taking longer-and-longer as production continues).
Until next time.
Greg
Fanstratics Game Director & Designer
*****
Fanstratics Troop: Elven Centaur
While the Elven Centaur is the Thornwood’s only true ‘heavy’ Troop, it is relatively fast and agile when compared to other ‘heavies’ from other factions. Wielding a two-handed axe, this Troop has a Killer Instinct and a Slayer’s Instinct, and frequently chains together multiple Assaults before an Enemy can Retaliate. With high Luck and high Morale, the Elven Centaur’s ‘instincts’ can be surprisingly powerful.
I’ve said this before, but I really like seeing Justin tackle a common mythological stereotype. He could have delivered an Eleven Centaur looking like so many others... but he didn’t. This is why I’m so happy having him design these Troops. His interpretations are simply refreshing, and it’s getting harder-and-harder to pick a favorite.
For those of you who want to see Justin actually create the drawing, you can always watch a VOD of his Twitch stream.
Fanstratics News: Art Mock-up and COVID update.
Some of you may remember, in December of 2021, I wrote an item discussing the attempted creation of an Art Mock-up, and subsequently contracting COVID for the second time in two years. TLDR... the Art Mock-up is still on hold and my COVID has evolved into Long COVID (or Long Haul COVID).
Starting with the subject of Long COVID, I’ve taken different anti-biotics, different steroids, and used different inhalers. Nothing has worked. I’ve had blood tests, EKG’s, chest x-rays, and CT scans. All tests have come back ‘clean’. My doctors have only managed to rule out other causes, thus confirming the Long COVID hypothesis. At this time, there’s no ‘cure’ for Long COVID, there’s nothing my doctors can do for me, and I’ve grown tired of the office visits, dead ends, and lost funds. So, I’ve resigned myself to living with it.
April will mark the fifth month of symptoms, and I continue to have a persistent cough, shortness of breath, chest pains, heart palpitations, headaches, low grade fevers, and worst of all... fatigue and brain fog. On good days, I have about two... three... maybe four hours... before I am overcome, and I’ve read accounts from people still dealing with symptoms after 6... 9... 14... and 18 months. When will it end? I honestly don’t know.
Does this mean Fanstratics is on hold or canceled? Absolutely not. While development has slowed significantly, we continue to work. Will we crowd fund this year? Highly unlikely, but I’m crossing my fingers for next year.
As for the Adventure Map Mock-up, I have had difficulty finding a qualified replacement for the artists who stepped aside last year. I was talking to a strong candidate, from Russia, but he disappeared when the war in Ukraine broke out.
It wasn’t my intention to build a video game during a worldwide pandemic or potential world war... but this is the strange reality in which we find ourselves.
Fanstratics Question: What factions are planned in the event of the release of additions (or how they will look approximately)?
Assuming FST is successful, there are at two or three other factions I would like to add. As to the factions themselves, I have a concept for each, but I haven’t done any deep work on them (i.e. rosters, heroes, etc.).
HoMM3 Recollection: Cheat Codes
If I recall correctly, it was on first day of E3, 1998, in Atlanta, Georgia. I was sitting on a stool, at my kiosk, waiting for anyone seeking a demonstration of Heroes of Might and Magic 3 (HoMM3). Jon Van Caneghem (JVC) was there for all three days, and at some point, he escorted over to me, Elliot Chin. Elliot was the first real ‘game journalist’ I’d ever met.
Read on: Fanstratics - The Twenth Newsletter!
- by Pol
Repost from ravignir (from 23/3/2022):
I am happy to announce the Custom Puzzle Contest!
Submit your puzzle to #puzzle-contest# channel!
The best puzzles will be added into the game!
- Your puzzle entry should have a form of an image - you can use test mode and then edit your screenshot accordingly.
- Your puzzle must be 100% legal, i.e. the situation must be achievable in a regular game.
- The solution can not be luck based, it has to work 100% of time.
- Your puzzle should have just one solution, but it is fine if there are multiple solution solve it, given they are not completely different.
- You can submit any number of puzzles.
- Any solution to submitted puzzle must be hidden behind the spoiler. Don't post the solution until someone solves the puzzle.
- You have one month to submit your puzzle entries (it may change depending on how many entries there will be)
Puzzles are card decks puzzles, let see some examples from YT:
- by Pol
We have it, it's fresh and anew. Another MoM2 Dev blog from MuHa games. Now, that looks pretty good. 
We’re looking for beta testers
Before we move on to the actual dev diary, we would like to make an announcement that might be very interesting for quite a few players: the start of the beta isn’t far now, and we’re looking for willing beta testers!
If you would like to give us a hand and give honest feedback on the current version of the game, look no further and click here.
Briefly:
- City borders are now visible, so you know the area of influence of a city.
- And markers for places of interest were changed.
- The new town image was changed to look more like a drawing, rather than mimicking reality in 2d.
- Secondly, inspired by feedback from our Discord channel, the icons got a revamp and are now more colourful.
- The city management window is also brighter, but it also received an additional functionality – when you double click on the city, it will now take you directly into the city view (before, you had to click on the button, and it placed you outside the city, so too many unnecessary clicks). Note, that the mini map in both is a placeholder!
Enjoy!
MuHa Discord | Slitherine Discord | DevBlog | Steam
- by Pol
There's a lot what happend in the World of Fanstratics and certainly more recollection stories from Greg. Please take a look on following links, listing each letter.
Don't forget to visit also gallery, to see new creatures. For each letter, there's one new. If you open it and then use shrink (click on left arrows) creature description will pop up.
I'm not sure why exactly but WIX pages are not friendly. Each "reformatting" of the letter cost me more time, than coloring the image. So it can be half and hour for newsletter and half hour for image. And now is time to admit, that I can't reformat 6 letters at once. Hat down, Greg can be very prolific.
- Letters #14-#15 are available at our site
- Letter #16
- Letter #17
- Letter #18
- Letter #19
Let us know, what you like here the most. :D As well I'm going to close question for Greg soon and dispatch them in this month. So grab your last chance, when it last. :D
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- by Pol
New ERA mod adding 13 towns, so in total there will 22 towns in the game. Supported languages Korea and English, announced to be released at April.
The mod is grouping together smaller town mods, with their author consent. Huge part will be about balancing.
Sources: Original Blog | HC | Heroes3Wog
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- by Pol
Polish game development group 1C Entertainment SA said today it has been acquired by Tencent.
(1C Entertainment publisher of King's Bounty, Men of War, IL-2 Sturmovik, Ancestors Legacy, Fell Seal: Arbiter's Mark, Deep Sky Derelicts & more)The two closed a deal reached in late November, in which Tencent agreed to take all shares previously owned by 1C Entertainment’s previous parent, 1C, giving it a majority stake in the Warsaw-headquartered company and all of its subsidiaries. The deal also stipulated that 1C Entertainment and all subsidiaries with “1C” in their names will be renamed within six months of the deal’s completion. Rebranding details will be communicated to the press and partners separately.
1C Entertainment said it looks forward to joining the Tencent family and expects to reap the benefits of numerous synergies between the two companies.
“We are truly excited by this deal. It is an amazing opportunity for 1CE to achieve our wildest dreams and aspirations in the video games business. Our vision and passion will be now backed by a leading global games company, and I am humbled by the unique chance of working together with Tencent and the other top creative minds that are part of its global ecosystem,” said Tomasz Nieszporski, 1C Entertainment management board member.
“We couldn’t be more pleased to work with the talented team at 1C Entertainment, supporting them as they embark on a new phase of growth,” said Tencent Games Global Chief Technology Officer Li Shen.
End of official reprint from Warsaw, Feb. 25, 2022. See the full annoucement or the structure. As of possible outcome, we will see.
- by Pol
Matt Chat 481: Might and Magic World of Xeen
The always excellent Matt Barton plays Might and Magic World of Xeen. 
- by Pol
Week of.. , well. They opened site and discord. If you have any questions, you can just join them now and ask, see links at the end.
The game is originally scheduled to appear at Kickstart by November 2022, you can subscribe to watch it.
- The game is described as 1-3 players, 45-130 mins, recommended age 14+. So far they are not considering to release also version without miniatures (minis).
- Core Box Factions: Castle, Dungeon and Necropolis
- Gameplay is limited to one hero per player. You can also develop one town only (mechanical limitation), but you'll be able to conquer other players' towns. Furthermore, you can find settlements on the adventure map (as you may remember from "Heroes 3," they're some "minor towns") that will bring chosen benefit. :-)
- There will be 2 heroes per each faction (1 for Might and 1 for Magic class).
- Movement on the adventure map? Heroes will have movement points - they will have to spend 1 point to move 1 field on the tile, or to discover a new adjacent tile.
- The "Fog of war" system is already developed. Some tiles would be faceup from the beginning of the game; during the game, heroes will discover more tiles and "build" the map through their movement.
- To reduce downtime in the 3-player gameplay: At the same time - the first player is performing PVE, the second is controlling the neutral creatures in this PVE, and the third is building structures in their town and recruiting units. :-)
- One mini per each faction creature and two heroes' minis per faction. Neutral creatures could be depicted in another way.
- Oh, "Astrologers proclaim," events will be resolved at the beginning of every second round.
This text was gathered from BoardGG forum, replies by Jakub Olekszyk Archon’s Lead Game Designer.
You can take a deeper look in at their "Designer's note on HOMM3 Board Game gameplay" newsletter entry #1.
BoardGG | Discord | Images Gallery | Blog | Our Thread
- by Pol
Heroes IV Axeoth Restoration Team Proudly Presents: Masters of The Elements
The conversion works are moving nicely forward, you can watch it continuously in this thread.
So far Warlords of the Wasteland, Conquest of the Underworld, Masters of the Elements have been converted from Heroes III campaigns to Heroes IV. And you are all welcomed to play them. For details, like bugs reporting please resort to this README.
Thanks iLiVeInAbOx05, ByteBandit and other team members for your effort! 
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- by Pol
Senior Brand Manager [Might & Magic]
There's link. Position is located in Shanghai. In the text M&M franchise is described as AAA. And it might be a PC game as well. Nowhere is written that it would be Heroes game though. And that it will get assigned AAA budget.
MISSION:
Ubisoft Shanghai is looking for a Senior Brand Manager to champion the brand marketing and product marketability of a new Might & Magic AAA game. Under the management of the Brand director, join an ambitious team and help reinvent one the biggest Fantasy franchise in video game history.
WHAT YOU WILL DO:
- Define the product positioning strategy: target audiences, market mapping and audience sizing, consumer promise and key pillars.
- Ensure the product marketability from conception phase to release and live phase. Actively monitor market and entertainment trends, competition activity and provide relevant reports & analysis (competitor, risk etc.). Initiate relevant consumer research to confirm and adjust product marketability over time.
- Establish the product communication strategy (key phases, events, messages, main brand assets) and define & manage the associated brand marketing budget.
- Work with internal or external artist(s) and agencies to create the main brand assets – CGI movies, trailers, key artworks, etc. Create and share products style guides to ensure consistency in all deliveries (graphic & more)
- Instruct internal and external stakeholders on the game and the product strategy and relay back their insights and feedback to the product team.
- Represent the project and team and be key public speaker for the game towards external audiences- business partners, media, influencers, star players and communities.
- Help maximize the business potential of the product working closely with dev ops and business teams to design appealing & effective content updates, monetization offers, partnerships and merchandizing plans.
PS If they will again create M&M team, will they answer all these questions sent over time?
Thanks Marzhin and Angelspit!
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