Heroes of Might and Magic III: Day of Reckoning

[MadMax]

Hey CelestialHeavens users and HoMM3 players

I would like to announce an all new community created expansion for Heroes of Might and Magic III named "Day of Reckoning".

We just released a small teaser that all of you can find on Youtube:


Do take your time to look carefully at the teaser, quite a lot of things are showcased in it, many which are not noticed at first glance.

On February 10th, 2021 there will be a trailer which will showcase more concerning the functionality, assets and possibilities that DoR will bring.

What I can say for now is the following:
We are not based off of WoG, ERA, HDMod, we are based upon HoMM3: Complete.
What is shown in the teaser is subject for change, assets are to be considered WIP
This is an effort of several long time members of the community, with experience creating mods, assets etc.
We are looking forward to tell you all more!

The DoR Team

[MadMax]

Hi again Heroes Community!

Thanks to you all for the very kind feedback towards the first short teaser for Heroes III: Day of Reckoning. It's been great to see all of the excitement and speculation around the web.

As you can probably tell, this was a particularly humble, work-in-progress item we put together with expert Haste during the holidays. If you're impressed or intrigued, be sure to stay tuned, as we have plenty of material cooking yet for this project - and further content will hopefully continue to entertain.
You ain't seen nothing yet.

We're working hard, and are still some time away from a more comprehensive reveal, but as thanks to you all for the warm reception to our efforts, I'd like to shed some early light on one of the new races you'll be sure to encounter when you revisit Antagarich in DoR.



Here's some additional lore for you all;


The Snow Elves of Vori

Many players will recall Gelu, the half-human, half-Snow Elf protagonist of Heroes III: Armageddon's Blade and subsequent campaigns. With the exception of Gelu himself, and a somewhat hampered and nebulous presence in Heroes Chronicles: The Sword of Frost (in which they are represented by the Rampart faction), the Snow Elves have been repeatedly heard of but not seen in the world of Enroth. DoR will finally shift the spotlight towards this mysterious, isolationistic race for the first time.

According to Heroes lore, the Snow Elves are the ancestors of the Wood Elves of AvLee (Rampart), dwelling in deliberate and zealously defended seclusion upon the magically frozen elven homeland of Vori, due northwest of the continent of Antagarich. Centuries of tension and philosophical divergence between these Elven societies attest for us that the Snow Elves are best represented as an individual faction, one you will discover for yourselves in the mod.

The Snow Elf of DoR derives inspiration from the most classical real-world concept of an Elf - the Norse "Ljósálfar" (Light Elves), semi-angelic beings who dwell in a realm likened to heaven. We feel that this mythological rooting and contextualisation is key to an authentic Heroes creature. In this way, the Snow Elves are both internally and mythologically positioned as the forefathers of all other Elves; effectively "one-upping" their Wood Elven descendants, who owe much to Tolkien's interpretation of the Norse myths.

Snow Elven society orients itself around worship of the long-silent Ancients, and grandiose manipulations of time, destiny, and mortality. Ostensibly the favoured chosen ones of the gods, they defend their homeland with all their worth at the direction of the higher powers' representatives on Enroth. In exchange, they are blessed with exceptional powers... and significant responsibilities. This paradigm will be explored in greater detail via future updates.

Gameplay-wise, the Snow Elves are tactically robust. Wielding an oracular crystal ball (New World Computing's writings state that the elven race originally invented these magical tools to rebuke invading armies), the basic Snow Elf can not only initiate their own ranged attacks, but retaliate against ranged enemy strikes. Its upgrade, the most noble and decorated High Elf, influences the speed of all adjacent creatures. "If a human watched the dance of the elves, he would discover that even though only a few hours seemed to have passed, many years had passed in the real world. Humans being invited or lured to the elf dance is a common motif transferred from older Scandinavian ballads."

Snow Elves are, appropriately as ever, born with characteristic blanched, snow white skin - a motif commonly encountered in snow- and ice-oriented myths and tales, the character of the White Witch from The Chronicles of Narnia serving as one prominent example.

Continuing some of the Heroes games' running parallels with Tolkien's Legendarium, the Snow Elf / Wood Elf / Dark Elf trinity might be likened to the dynamics of the Vanyar, Noldor, and Teleri respectively. Like the Vanyar, the Snow Elves harbour far stronger devotion - and benefit from a far closer connection - to the cosmic powers that be (the Ancients), compared both to their "renegade" Elven brethren and any of the other races in Antagarich.

[Blake]

Cool! Eager to see the castle screen and full unit lineup!

[MadMax]

I know you are all eager to have more information and details about the mod and we will be revealing more in a not to distant future (I don't want to make any promises as I think it's better to wait for a bit rather than stress things out).

I do not come here empty handed however and I have more to reveal in the upcoming days so please keep an eye out on here, or on our Facebook and our YouTube channel.

So, let me introduce you to the (somewhat familiar for those of you following us) Snow Elf. It's the fourth level creature of the Palace town.



Watch the snow elf short here:
Snow Elf - YouTube Shorts

See you on here again very soon!

[Blake]

Image is broken.. but played the video.. cooooool

[MadMax]

Latest update from the team (all texts by FirePaladin)

Day of Reckoning – Project Update #1

The holidays are over, and many of us are back to our usual routines and hobbies. The same goes for the Day of Reckoning team, and this means that it is time for an update. The past several months saw substantial development in areas like visuals and music, and while the final product is still not there yet, we would like to share some of our recent progress with you. We also want to discuss some overdue matters which were not previously covered, such as the subtleties of Palace’s design, some of the mod’s other features, our design philosophy, as well as the Grotto and Forge. Of course, while still making sure to not spoil too much, and to keep surprises for future updates, too. Lastly, we will talk a bit about the prospects of joining the team.

Palace – The Winterland Town of Snow Elves

The Palace town was revealed back during New Year 2021-2022; well, “revealed” is a bit of a strong term, in this case. The old version of the town was merely teased and shown, and the only explanatory posts about it were bits and pieces of information in creature updates and forum replies, which the readers had to piece together with the material shown in order to form a picture. Heroes 3 towns are self-explanatory, as is Palace, but it makes sense for us to share the town’s vision in a concise post, and expand on related matters as well, for newcomers and old-timers alike.



A work-in-progress Palace town screen

In the MM series, Vori has always been a mysterious island to the North-West of the main Antagarich continent. Even if it was featured in Heroes Chronicles and mentioned several times in MM8, we hardly got to know anything about it: cheesemaking Frost Giants, Vikings, it being inhabited by Snow Elves, Gelu being half Snow Elf, and an ill-fitting Rampart stand-in in a Heroes Chronicles campaign that takes place on Vori is pretty much all that the fans have ever seen or gotten to know about Vori. But that is where Palace comes in.

The Palace embodies the harsh beauty of the north – vast, timeless expanses of iridescent snow, snow-topped forests, as well as clear, starry skies and shimmering lights. Yet, there is also a tinge of nostalgia, as well as the powerful and unforgiving frost and nature. This very idea carries the town’s whole concept, and it is reflected in all of its aspects, from the town screen to the now visually-revised creature lineup, and even its musical theme.


The Palace lineup at the moment; on the left, the more earthly, viking lineup, and on the right, the more divine, Norse lineup





Mythologically, the town follows the likeliest route which NWC would have pursued for the “winter town” representing the mysterious and timeless island of Vori: hardy Vikings, aided by creatures of the frozen winterlands, be they more savage in nature, such as the Sabertooths and Frost Giants, or be they pagano-divine, Asgardian, such as the Snow Elves and Valkyries. The distinctive Frost Giants and Valkyries are not only meant to serve as Norse creatures for the town, but also to expand the game’s roster of “giant” and “holy/unholy” creatures beyond just the Titans and Angels, as the “dragons” have already received such treatment with the addition of the neutral dragons in AB. We must not forget that the town also represents the Snow Elves’ civilizations, and we already have the Stronghold as a Barbarian town. Thus, the town must lean into a “divine Valhalla” aspect, as a town of the Norse gods and their Jarls and Oracles. Backing up this direction is a lesser known, but quite interesting fact: David Mullich, one of the game’s lead designers, was a big fan of Tolkien and his works, which expand beyond just The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings trilogy. In Tolkien’s world, the elves were highly inspired by Norse concepts, including their affinity with Light, as well as their life cycle; the Halls of Mandos and Valinor are equivalent to concepts such as Valhalla and the Paradise (of Enroth), respectively. Furthermore, the Vori island itself is, in ways, similar to Valinor. Both are remote, isolated lands “across the sea”, both are ruled or inhabited primarily by elves, and both are some kind of ancestral place for the elven civilizations.


As is customary in Heroes 3, the Palace town does not limit itself to Nordic culture: just like in Rampart, the primary elven town, hints of Asian cultures are also present, and in Palace’s case, they are mostly Chinese. This is also in part due to the Azure Dragons native to Vori being present in Chinese mythology, and the White Tiger being one of the Four Great Auspicious Beasts of Chinese mythos. The town seamlessly blends these aspects into an eclectic mix. Helping this is the fact that dragon heads and ornaments are a common theme in both cultures, as are matters relating to astrology and divination. The White Tiger, for example, can embody a “prehistoric” beast of the snow trained by the Vikings, or a magical guardian beast of the lands.
Most unique in this marriage are the Kirin and Sacred Kirin. While back-referencing the creature of the same name from Heroes 6, and having primarily Chinese roots, its design borrows from the Norse wyrm dragons such as Jörmungandr or Fafnir, too, solidifying its place in the lineup. Thus, their slightly serpentine body, their scales, their dragonoid features, and them being found in the context of a Nordic town. Beyond that, there is also an association with the stars and the Northern Lights, which can be seen at the shimmering, night sky-colored scales of the upgrade, as well as the wintery magic seeping out of its tail and chest. This respects the creature’s original depictions, while still aiming at making the design as grounded as can be.


The Sacred Kirin’s “Northern Lights”, animated


The evolution of the Kirin and Sacred Kirin thus far; some of the design’s high-fantasy aspects were overhauled, thanks to feedback and the team’s increasing experience with the style of Heroes 3




Norse dragons, as depicted by northern civilizations

We could go into greater depth explaining the subtler aspects of the Palace and what themes it fulfills, such as its connection with Vori being a trope “mirage island” like St. Brendan’s Island, but this suffices for this update; after all, Day of Reckoning is not only about the Palace, and the community is looking forward to other aspects of the mod as well.


Design Philosophy and Progress

It is no shame to admit that in its early days, the project’s quality bar was not very high; still rather high given its status as a Heroes 3 fan-mod, but not yet matching the original game. A comparison of the same map between the original teaser trailer and a regular, present-day screenshot of DoR makes that clear:




The creature evolution sheets, such as those shown earlier, tell the same story. The community has partaken in most of the Palace’s development, and the gradual transition from overly magical and slightly off visuals to more cohesive and grounded concepts has marked its development. Of course, we must give a big thank to the Heroes 3 community for providing substantial feedback which determined the team to adjust the town, as well as gain more insight into Heroes 3’s visual design. This transition is also one of this update’s subjects, and it relates not only to Palace, but also to the other aspects of the mod, such as alternate creatures, Forge, and Grotto. They benefitted a lot from that, which resulted in quicker and higher quality development, and thus less need to reiterate on the same things. This can be seen at the Forge town screen shown at the h3gg DoR teaser. A fun fact is that its production began merely a few months before the reveal.

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Yes, the road in the middle of the Forge screen has already seen changes, as have some of the other visuals seen in the video above. The quality bar increases constantly, and as a result of that and community feedback, the content shown is improving. Internally, we now also have thorough guidelines concerning the creation of visuals and not only, things which have furthered the team’s appreciation for the game’s style. But such a subject deserves its own post – there are countless of interesting aspects to cover, and only full, proper explanations would do it justice. But for those who are curious nevertheless, you can check out one of my public posts concerning hero design in Heroes 3 (the post itself should be underneath the middle of the page).

Other Day of Reckoning Content

The Palace’s development seems to be doing well, but what about the other towns and areas of DoR? Well, that’s a good question. While much of the public focus is on the Palace, the team members are working equally as much on the other aspects as well. This means alternate creatures, spells, skills, map objects, as well as the two towns, Grotto and Forge. Yes, despite their lack of public presence, debatably more progress is being made in those areas than for Palace, and the team is enthusiastic about those concepts.

The evolution of the Arachne and Crimson Arachne from Grotto, at the moment; it was chosen to be shown in its WIP form as it is a rather self-explanatory creature, especially since MM8’s Dark Elves prominently feature spider motifs, and it does not spoil Grotto’s concept that much



The evolution of the Pyro and Pyromaniac; the creature is now as tall as other humans, per community feedback






Saboteurs casting “Disable Construct” on the Iron Golems; it is a spell which can affect golems and machinery alike.

A question which might arise from reviewing Palace’s lineup posted above is that of whether the town will feature two alternate creatures or not. That is indeed the case. The aim of alternate creatures is not to cause a lack of balance, but to add more flavor to the towns and expand upon their aspects, as well as buff weaker towns and cover gameplay niches. And that is certainly the case in Palace.
Regarding new spells and skills, we still wish to keep a certain secrecy around them. But I can say that there is one “campaign” skill which will be introduced in DoR 1.0, besides the faction skills of Palace and Grotto, Initiative and Vitality. For those who are not aware, Initiative is a counterpart of Tactics: while Tactics allows you to manipulate the creatures’ “movement”, Initiative allows you to boost the “initiative” (turn order) of one of your creatures, in the first turn. Vitality, on the other hand, is a Health-boosting skill. While not better than Armorer against creature attacks, it is also effective against spells, as opposed to Armorer, which is not.

Wrapping It Up

I hope that you enjoyed this DoR update, and look forward to more to come! We, the team, are always open to hearing your feedback and are quite chill, which contrasts well with the strictness of the project’s quality and design. And speaking of being chill, we are willing to invite new members – there is always something to do, and we enjoy chatting and discussing with like-minded people. If you like Day of Reckoning, are enthusiastic about Heroes 3 and/or HoMM as a whole, are a promising artist, programmer or have other useful skills and some free time, do not hesitate to contact us! Sending me an HCM on the forum, or writing to `firepaladin` on Discord should suffice.