► Why do artifacts in Heroes of Might and Magic III responsible for the increase of the primary skills manifest a regular pattern of association of the position in the progression of increasing power with a particular faction? The following table which lists the artifacts I am talking about should make clear what I mean here.
| Faction | Attack | Defense | Knowledge | Power | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Artifact | Bonus | Artifact | Bonus | Artifact | Bonus | Artifact | Bonus | |
| Rampart | Centaur's Axe | +2 | Shield of the Dwarven Lords | +2 | Helm of the Alabaster Unicorn | +1 | Breastplate of Petrified Wood | +1 |
| Necropolis | Blackshard of the Dead Knight | +3 | Shield of the Yawning Dead | +3 | Skull Helmet | +2 | Rib Cage | +2 |
| Fortress | Greater Gnoll's Flail | +4 | Buckler of the Gnoll King | +4 | Helm of Chaos | +3 | Scales of the Greater Basilisk | +3 |
| Stronghold | Ogre's Club of Havoc | +5 | Targ of the Rampaging Ogre | +5 | Crown of the Supreme Magi | +4 | Tunic of the Cyclops King | +4 |
| Inferno | Sword of Hellfire | +6 | Shield of the Damned | +6 | Hellstorm Helmet | +5 | Breastplate of Brimstone | +5 |
| Tower | Titan's Gladius | +12/-3 | Sentinel's Shield | +12/-3 | Thunder Helmet | +10/-2 | Titan's Cuirass | +10/-2 |
■ I honestly don’t recall the specifics as to why I created the artifacts in the fashion I did, so I am making an educated guess as to my thinking at the time. I suspect my thoughts were, “Some factions are generally better than others when it comes to crafting artifacts.” Tower is a very ‘magic’ heavy faction, so it makes sense they would be a top tier crafter of artifacts.
► Was there some planned game mechanic idea that was not realised?
■ From the beginning, I had a loose plan for combination artifacts, but didn’t want to ‘push it’, as I was already asking for a lengthy list of new features. Eventually, I was able to hash out specific details when designing Armageddon’s Blade. Actual implementation was only realized after I left New World Computing, with the Shadow of Death expansion.
► Was there a particular reason for the specific ordering of factions by the increase of the corresponding artifacts' power?
Generally, ‘yes’. Excluding the Castle and Dungeon, I clearly stacked the faction’s ‘technical prowess’ from weak to strong. Meaning, the Tower culture created the best artifacts, where the Rampart culture created the worst.
► Should the artifacts associated with the Castle faction:
| Armor of Wonder | +1 to all primary skills |
| Sandals of the Saint | +2 to all primary skills |
| Celestial Necklace of Bliss | +3 to all primary skills |
| Lion's Shield of Courage | +4 to all primary skills |
| Sword of Judgement | +5 to all primary skills |
Helm of Heavenly Enlightenment | +6 to all primary skills |
and artifacts which are seemingly associated with the Dungeon faction:
| Quiet Eye of the Dragon | +1 to Attack and Defense |
Red Dragon Flame Tongue | +2 to Attack and Defense |
| Dragon Scale Shield | +3 to Attack and Defense |
| Dragon Scale Armor | +4 to Attack and Defense |
| Dragonbone Greaves | +1 to Knowledge and Power |
| Dragon Wing Tabard | +2 to Knowledge and Power |
| Necklace of Dragonteeth | +3 to Knowledge and Power |
| Crown of Dragontooth | +4 to Knowledge and Power |
be considered as a continuation of the same pattern (which, by the way, in the game's files immediately follow the previous artifacts)?
■ I would say ‘yes’, they are a continuation of the same pattern.
► Was there a reason for why these two factions are treated apart from the other six?
■ Looking at the artifacts from HoMM2, there were different ‘mechanical’ foundations. In the end, I defined eight categories: Attack, Defense, Power, Knowledge, Two Primary Skills (TPS), and All Primary Skills (APS). For the primary skills, I was able to slot in a balance of three ‘good’ factions and three ‘evil’ factions. This left Dungeon and Castle for the last two categories: TPS and APS. I chose Castle for APS, as it ‘felt’ like a ‘blessing’, which fit in with the ‘holy knight’ theme of the Castle. This left Dungeon for TPS, which didn’t feel out of place.
► Could you please, by the way, say something about the creative process involved in the creation of artifacts? Where did the ideas for them come from?
■ Specifics are difficult to recall, but if you look at the names of the artifacts, it’s somewhat self-evident: Weapons for Attack, Shields for Defense, Helmets for Knowledge, and a Torso piece for Power. From there I tried to incorporate different ‘troops’ where it made sense: Centuar’s Axe, Tunic of the Cyclops King, etc. In other areas, I simply went for style: Necropolis, Inferno, etc. Where did these ideas come from? My imagination.
► Why were various factions in Heroes of Might and Magic III given particular ethnic portrayals, such as Rampart — Japan, Fortress — Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, Stronghold — Norse Germans of the Early Middle Ages, Tower — Near East, Nighon — perhaps India?
■ I assume you are referring to the visual presentation of the various town screens. This was strictly something Phelan Sykes, Scott White, and Louis Henderson did when crafting the different town screens. Like most artists, they did a fair amount of visual research before crafting the different artistic aesthetics of each faction. There was no direction from me to adhere to a specific theme. This was purely art direction. Why they chose the different cultures, for the different factions, I cannot say as I did not inquire.
► My question about particular ethnic portrayals of various Heroes of Might and Magic III factions indeed for a large part was based on the graphical presentation of their town screen, and I think that your answer explains the situation in essence [...]; however, there are some points that I still find confusing, as in my mind these associations were not limited to that. Thus, the relation of the Rampart faction to the culture of the Far East, beyond its architectural style, is evinced in its roster, having in it Green and Gold Dragons of good alignment which belong to the Chinese mythology.
■ This is coincidence. In HoMM2, the Warlock faction had Green, Red, and Black dragons. I wanted to spread the dragons about, and didn’t want more than two Troops for the top tier. In the end, I decided to keep Red and Black dragons with the Dungeon (~Warlock) faction, and moved the Green dragon to the Rampart (~Sorceress) faction. When contemplating the upgrade to the Green dragon, I went with Gold as Dungeons & Dragons considered them to be ‘good’ Dragons, and I felt they were a better fit than... Blue, Purple, etc.
► In the case of the Stronghold faction, I think the association is present actually not in the town screen, but in the presence among its buildings of the Hall of Valhalla and perhaps in the hero name Gurnisson with its vaguely Scandinavian character. In the case of Dungeon, the relation to Indian culture, aside from some features of its architecture, may be noted in the names of heroes Shakti and Ajit. And in the case of the Fortress faction, I think there can be found some suggestion of the association in the building Blood Obelisk and also in the hero name Tiva, which by your own words is of Native American origin. Thus, it seems that these connections are also present in those areas for which you directly were responsible.
■ Perhaps this is a subconscious manifestation. It was never my intent to craft the factions along loose ethnic lines. I simply didn’t have the time to build the world at this depth.
► Can you say something on the process of conceptualisation of the intro cinematic for Restoration of Erathia?
■ With the opening cinematic, my goal was to communicate as much information as possible, with an entertaining presentation, in a short span of time. This included a showcase of as many creatures as possible, while relaying the basic premise of Catherine’s story. While I hate using ‘flashbacks’ and ‘voice over’, I thought I could get away with it, if I used visual ‘touchstones’. Basically, Catherine would ‘read’ the landscape and piece together a story of what had occurred. I thought it was a novel approach, for 1998, and don’t remember seeing it done in quite this way, in any other media... but I could be wrong.
► Who actually wrote its script?
■ I conceptualized and wrote the script. David Mullich and Phelan Sykes read it and gave it a thumbs up.
► Were there some other ideas for it proposed?
■ Proposed? No. I thought of numerous other approaches, but stuck with my initial inspiration.
► The Heroes of Might and Magic III intro cinematic features a devastated Bracadian town Cloudfire. However, on the first map of the first campaign it is not present in any form, even though the ships, which are supposedly the same as the ones that are seen in the cinematic, are there, which suggests that the starting location of the map should be close to the landing site presented in the cinematic. Was it not presented on the map as having been devastated and, therefore, having no strategic role? Or maybe the town Caryatid was actually built on the site of the ruins of Cloudfire and renamed?
■ Unfortunately, this is really a question for Christian Vanover. I gave him a basic outline for the Long Live the Queen campaign, and cut him loose. I can’t explain why the first town is named Caryatid and not Cloudfire.
► Does the fact that the settlement depicted in the intro cinematic was a Bracadian one mean that the landing shown in it took place to the west from the starting point of the first scenario of the campaign, in the Bracadian territory, probably outside the territory shown on the map of this scenario?
■ See my previous answer.
► Did you have a particular notion of the size of the continent of Antagarich and its various territories/regions?
■ No. Not really. I am from the USA, so if pressed... I would default to North America.
► Was there a conception of how much area in the game world a single map tile represents?
■ No. Everything was relative/symbolic. There was no hard concept of a map tile size.
► In Might and Magic VI and VII there is a system of nine schools of magic; however, in Heroes of Might and Magic III there are only four of them. Does it mean that the magic system used by the heroes represented in the game differs in some way to the extent that warrants such a difference, or is there some other explanation?
■ As I am sure you are aware, MM is an RPG, HoMM is a strategy game with RPG elements. Each design team used a ‘magic system’ they thought was best for the specific game type. To my knowledge, there was no conversation or concern regarding the disparity between the two.
► As I interpret it, your answer indicates that there were no diegetic presumptions behind this difference, and any implications from it of a diegetic sort were not actually considered.
■ Correct.
► Thus, if I understand your statement right, characters from Might and Magic VII, should they be represented in a game of the Heroes of Might and Magic series, would use latter's system of magic, and characters of Heroes of Might and Magic III, should they be represented in a game of the Might and Magic series, would use that of Might and Magic. In other words, characters of Might and Magic VII and Heroes of Might and Magic III should be considered to use diegetically the same magic system, its mechanics in the game notwithstanding.
■ I would not disagree with your conclusion.
► From your answer it can also be probably inferred that the fact that while in Might and Magic spell points are fully restored after an eight hour sleep, it is not so for Heroes of Might and Magic, should also not be given a diegetic significance to. Is my understanding correct?
■ Correct.
► This, however, leaves one with a question, which of these magic systems should be considered as a closer representation of the reality of the universe? Should it perhaps be the Might and Magic VII's one as having a perspective on the universe closer to the characters using the magic, and which is to be considered as more detailed?
■ If I was asked which magic system is more ‘true’, MM7 or HoMM3, I would say MM7.
► Was there a particular reason why the animation for the start of a new week/month depicts the region of the Arabian Peninsula (or what looks quite similar to it)?
■ To my knowledge, there was no particular reason. I suspect it was strictly an aesthetic choice, attempting to balance the visual amounts of land and water.
► Was it supposed to show Jerusalem (thus probably echoing the tradition of medieval cartography)?
■ Not to my knowledge.
► It should also be noted that it is very clear that the moon depicted there is the Earth's moon. It seems odd in general that the animation depicts Earth (which in all probability does not even exist in the Might and Magic universe) rather than Enroth.
■ I strongly doubt anyone, like me, was thinking this deeply about this specific animation. We had plenty of other more pressing items to resolve. So, the basic mental approach was... ‘does it communicate the correct passing of time?’. If the answer was ‘yes’, we quickly moved forward, assuming the overwhelming majority of players wouldn’t worry about it.
► Is it true that the project of development of Heroes of Might and Magic III was considered secondary in importance to the games in the main series, i.e. Might and Magic VI and VII?
■ I honestly don’t know, and I can only give my perspective. In my mind, I thought MM was the primary franchise. MM was created first. MM had five published titles with excellent reviews for all. HOMM was basically a reconceptualized version of King’s Bounty with ‘childish’ art. While I don’t know the total sales of the individual games, I suspect MM was the better seller... until the release of HoMM3. Tim Lang has expressed the opposite view, but he joined NWC while HoMM3 was being made, after MM6 was published.
► When you joined NWC, would you have preferred to be a part of the development of a game in the Might and Magic series?
■ Honestly, the thought never crossed my mind. I suspect, if they had offered MM to me, I would have stayed with HoMM.
► Did you feel somewhat disappointed about becoming a part of a development team working on a Heroes of Might and Magic game, instead of Might and Magic one?
■ There was a hint of disappointment, as I thought the MM team was the premier team, and HoMM was junior team. Later, my view changed, as I thought what we did with HoMM3 was as good as anything ever published by NWC.
► Do you feel offended by the notion that a person belonging to the Heroes of Might and Magic III's following plays Heroes of Might and Magic IV? Would you recommend a fan of Heroes of Might and Magic III as well as its earlier installments playing Heroes of Might and Magic IV for some reason or purpose?
■ Offended? Certainly not. Different people prefer different incarnations of the series. Play the one you prefer.
Would I recommend H4 to a H3 fan? To anyone who would ask, I would relay what is considered public knowledge. Within the series, H3 is the most popular. When it comes to second place, it’s debatable which is more fun... H2 or H5. For the remaining titles, I’d suggested playing a demo or watching someone play via YouTube. If a particular title kindles your interest, give it a try.