The Current State of Things

[Kalah]

So ... the game's release date is approaching. The Ubi PR guys are probably ramping up their superlatives as we speak, the marketing goblins are crunching numbers ... and the programmers are calling their wives to tell them the won't be home for dinner the next month.



You have seen the <a href="/http://www.facebook.com/MightandMagic?s ... rtworks</a>. You have <a href="/viewforum.php?f=18">talked about the game</a> and heard about its <a href="/viewtopic.php?p=318117#318117">lack of online DRM</a> and the improvements from the previous game. You have seen the <a href="/http://www.youtube.com/user/Kalahificat ... >videos</a> and read about the <a href="/http://might-and-magic.ubi.com/heroes-6 ... ">story</a>. Some of you have even played the <a href="/http://might-and-magic.ubi.com/heroes-6 ... 2">beta</a>. Surely, if you're interested, you must have formed an opinion by now.



What do we think of what we've seen so far, then? The graphics, the gameplay, the story, the everything?

If you would like to take a look at the original page visit this link:
https://www.celestialheavens.com/1312040238

[Rife]

The most outstanding improvement by far for me, is the story and characters. I actually like Duke Slava and his children and want to see what happens to them, whilst I could care less about anything that happened in Heroes V.

The graphics seemed beautiful on highest settings, but I had to turn them down to play smoothly. Even so, the color scheme in general is not as bright as I'm used to from Heroes games. That is a small gripe however.

I'm not sure it's fair to judge gameplay based on beta builds but my experience found healing to be too overpowered (an issue they've already said they'll address). Blood and Tears abilities seemed hard to attain (especially Blood), though perhaps they're meant to be that way. Skills I fear may grow boring because they don't seem to provide significant enough difference at low levels (aside of things like direct attack spells) and Tier 3 skills weren't terribly impressive. I didn't even know how to increase or gain Reputation skills. Faction skills tend to lean towards meh (causing indifference for those unskilled at Simpsons lore), with the exception of Stronghold. Leveling takes a long time at Normal, but you can increase that. There was some lack of variety in adventure structures, but we only got beginning campaign maps and one multi so perhaps they kept the more interesting stuff out for the sake of balance.

Overall, it shows considerable promise. The only thing I dislike is that there has been to my knowledge no mention of a map or campaign editor! This was a grievous mistake they made in Heroes V, I don't know why they would repeat it.

[Rife]

Waitaminnit, did they actually make an editor for Heroes V? There are maps posted for it, yet I was unaware... wasted opportunities...

[Variol]

Well Kalah, for me it's a question of, "is it worth buying a new processor" for this game. Sadly, the answer to that is, no. It's obvious to me, that these people do not have the kind of love for this game, that we die-hard heroes fans do. Because if they did, they would make a game which runs great on older PC's and still looks good as well. I don't think the "prettiness" will ever give a game longevity.

[CloudRiderX]

Even though Ubi has taken Heroes to a different universe and given this universe its own unique feel, everything I've seen so far makes this game feel like a spiritual successor to the old games - a role Heroes V couldn't come close to filling.

The graphics are great. The music is great. I hear the story is great. It looks like its going to be a fun game.

[Coldy]

After playing the beta these are the conclusions I came to:



- Graphically the game looks pretty good, however at higher settings it sometimes started to lag. My PC exceeds the recommended system requirements however I think the problem might be with the beta build. The game engine needs considerable more polishing to run smoothly.

The other problem is that the game tends to crash a lot. However that is probably due to the fact that this is a beta build. I do hope the release build will be better.



- Sound wise the game is very good, there are some great soundtracks but there doesn't seem to be many. I hope that in the final release there will be more. However voice acting seems to be generally average, nothing in particular, nothing noteworthy.



- Just like Rife mentioned, the story seems to be very good with some pretty interesting characters about. I'm very curious to see how the story unfolds



- As for game play...so far there are some issues: overpowered healing, castle/fort/barracks conversion, empire wide creature pool, blood and tears system needs some refinement because it is far easier to get tears than blood and the skills system needs more balancing because they they do not offer much. The hero skill display is a bit poor, creature stats would need some refinement, adding the dmg per creature would be nice. I could go on, there are quite a few things in this beta that I do not like, however there is a lot of potential here.



Personally I think the game would need another 4 months of polishing before being released but I doubt that's gonna' happen

[Pol]

New Beta version looks better, so still very quite promising.

Indeed the H6 looks good, so apart from obvious - two big questions still stay, map editor and will they open it, to being moddable?

@Variol
Who will wait will see.

[jeff]

My comments will be brief and restrained; the graphics I have seen are very good, though I don’t necessarily like the way some of the creatures are drawn, their detail is nice, buckethead excepted yuck. The music I don’t know or care as I normally play with the sound muted except during cut scenes. Gameplay sounds like system demands are not unreasonable, but Variol did make an important point about older systems. Strategy should be about gameplay not eye candy. I have not played it at all as I have as yet not decided to buy it. That in no way implies the game will not be great or a huge success. The point that Rife mentioned is one I have been harping on and has prevented me from buying it, no word on the usability of the editor and no assurance a campaign editor will even happen. Without a campaign editor I will have to wait for H-VII; therefore I remain on the outside looking in.

[Ya5MieL]

The game itself seems to be a nice sequel from all I saw. It is a somewhat different, and some parts of it are less important than in older games.



My biggest gripe however is one that is out of Black Hole's hands. Physical version of the game is available in small number of countries. This is the number 1 deal breaker in my opinion. As it stands it is a 50€ digital download. And I'm sure there is plenty of Heroes fans that either cannot or refuse to buy the game using the digital distribution. So I will pass on the game until i get a better deal.

[Spin]

I'm looking forward to this game a lot. The graphics are nice and add a layer of beauty to the game. The gameplay seems more refined, it's good that the game is trying to be different from the others, after i basically stopped playing Heroes V and went back to III.



At release this game will be fairly good, probably one of the better heroes releases, but I can imagine after an expansion or 2 that this game will be much better than Heroes V and getting towards Heroes III territory.



I'm almost certain we'll have a fairly big backlash on game release, similar to Civ 5 (due to a lack of balance/drastic gameplay changes), to be honest Heroes VI will still be "in development" until the last expansion is release, and that's what's keeping me excited about the game. The future of Heroes is looking good.

[GreatEmerald]

It's not in the original universe, hence I don't care about the game. The models have been somewhat improved over MMH5, admittedly, and the underground looks cool, but otherwise the graphics style is still not my cup of tea, either.

[Campaigner]

Graphics are great. Best so far.
Audio is really good. Maybe it can beat M&M:HV in that department.

Haven't played it yet but will get the demo.
Otherwise I'm not sure I'll get it until the 2nd expansion since I feel that M&M:H gameplay to be a bit outdated.


Variol,

....That has to be the most lying comment I've seen so far on this board. So Ubisoft don't like the game because they made great graphics for it that requires a good graphicscard to run??

Bull-****! It's good that they up the requirements (end especially the highend) so there's actually a REASON to buy the new graphicscards.
Mostly on gamesites about PC games I see reasoning about NOT needing new graphicscards since so many titles are made for consoles.

And now we get a PC exclusive and people complain that it will demand a too good graphicscard!! ....OMG!!



And btw, RTS are about gameplay, not graphics

[Shoaura]

--The story in and of itself seems thoroughly more polished than H5, which is a huge plus



--Game play seems to be a little laggy for my tastes. But, like Coldy said, this may be an aspect of the beta build as opposed to the individual computer.



--Graphics to me seem a little overdone. The character art and models have too much in the way of extra details (thousands of spiky growths on the inferno creatures comes to mind). Also, the sheer amount of terraforming reminds me of the EA game 'Spore' in terms of placement and variety of flora. This can have a negative impact with the lag issue mentioned previously.



--Finally, like many others, I prefer having a physical copy of game that I can install at will rather than relying upon memory to download. Also, having a physical, reasonably professional manual to read through. Probably like many, I did the pre-order before the announcement came out that no physical copies were going to be released in my area. If nothing is ever physically released, I will still play H6 for the enjoyment of the series, but it will also be the last time I order something without a physical copy.
Edited on Sun, Jul 31 2011, 05:26 by Shoaura

[Fuddelbaerentatze]

Story: Seems better and more interesting then what we got with Hereos 5. Only thing I remember from H5 is that the Inferno Guy was somehow a Darkelf Guy in disguise. Beyond that, I can't remember anything. So far I have high expectations for H6, and the concept that most of the heroes that drive the story come from the same family seems interesting to me. If I can look back in 5 or 6 years and remember more details of the H6 story then of the H5 story, I wouldn't mind it.



Didn't play the Beta, so I can't say anything about gameplay. I actually like the initiative system of H5 and I am sad that they seem to have simplified initiative in H6,

but I have to wait unitl I have played the game to see if I like the new initiative.



I am also very concerned that it seems STILL UNCLEAR IF and WHEN we get a map/campaign editor. Should H6 ship without map editor, I won't buy it because I still haven't played KB and that game in the meanwhile has a map editor. That is not that I see KB as good example, to ship the editor with the second expansion is an even more distressful wait than the many months we had to wait until the H5 Editor arrived with a patch. It would be very nice if someone could nail Ubisoft/Black Hole down to make a clear statement about the editor, because that will be the central point for my decision: I won't buy the game until an editor arrives.

[Kalah]

There will be an editor - we know that from statements and released pictures. You are, however, right about the not knowing when it comes. I'm hoping for an early patch a few months after release; we don't really need an editor from day one anyway ... but it shouldn't be held off for months and years, as the case was with Heroes V.

[Corlagon]

I'm 99% certain you'll get the editor with the game's release, if not earlier. That was announced countless months ago and most likely hasn't changed.

[jeff]

I'm 99% certain you'll get the editor with the game's release, if not earlier. That was announced countless months ago and most likely hasn't changed.

I agree an editor is coming and probably at or near the release date, but the question of usability is yet to be answered. Until some of us older non-geeks (not necessarily me) try it, it will remain unverified. Even if the editor is usable, they have stated the campaign function will be delayed and it may never happen. So for me the entire H-VI experience is a no go, until a user friendly (ie H-IV) campaign editor is released.

[Variol]

Graphics are great. Best so far.
Audio is really good. Maybe it can beat M&M:HV in that department.

Haven't played it yet but will get the demo.
Otherwise I'm not sure I'll get it until the 2nd expansion since I feel that M&M:H gameplay to be a bit outdated.


Variol,

....That has to be the most lying comment I've seen so far on this board. So Ubisoft don't like the game because they made great graphics for it that requires a good graphicscard to run??

Bull-****! It's good that they up the requirements (end especially the highend) so there's actually a REASON to buy the new graphicscards.
Mostly on gamesites about PC games I see reasoning about NOT needing new graphicscards since so many titles are made for consoles.

And now we get a PC exclusive and people complain that it will demand a too good graphicscard!! ....OMG!!



And btw, RTS are about gameplay, not graphics

I never said anything about the graphics card. I was referring to the processor. And you're arguing my same point in your last line!

[Corlagon]

I've played with an early version of the H6 map editor myself. Usability is certainly a concern. There is no guide yet (although I think one is in the works). It's not quick 'n' easy like H1-3, but it will not crash on you every three minutes as H5's did. You don't need any knowledge of scripting or modding to use it.

It is less powerful than H5's editor, in that it doesn't provide a modding interface, so I think it is infinitely more accessible than the H6... thing, but it does take a while to get accustomed to. I hope to find the time to try and make it more user-friendly whenever it gets officially released. We will see.

As for the campaign function I still agree that it's a must, but I doubt anybody on Earth will have created three or more good maps ready to be integrated into a campaign before October or November at the earliest. One could probably whip something together, but it would be no Dragon's Fate. I offer no promises, aside from my assurance that I will keep poking at them to add the campaign function in a patch as early as possible.

[lotusreaver]

Love the graphics, sound, music, and story. Definitely seems like an improvement from H5.



Played both betas. I dislike the areas of control. While it will undoubtedly make multiplayer games quicker, it also forces players into head-on battles by removing a lot of guerrilla tactics that could be used by weaker heroes (hit and run, capturing mines, resource war, etc.). It's probably just something I need to get used to. Area of control can (supposedly) be disabled on maps, so in the end it's probably not a big deal.