Development Diary

[protecyon]

If you would like to take a look at the original page visit this link:
https://www.celestialheavens.com/405

[grimogre]

If I used the griffins I would attack an archer or spell casting unit.If that shooter moves that's one turn its not shooting on my troops:)I like how the inferno town is coming along.They make the perfect enemy.Maybe in an expansion we can have super heavy armored elite troops.They could be used like heavy tanks:)Of course they will be expensive but in warfare there was always battles between rich and poor countries.

[Campaigner]

Nice interview. I like that they will redraw all the creatures. They're sure gonna look beatiful!

Otherwise there wasn't really any info to be gathered here....

[Zamolxis]

I'm pretty disappointed by what he said, about Heroes III being so much fairytale-like, and Heroes V which will be "darker". I din't find H3 so much fairytale-like, so if this one is meant to be darker (so dark that they even stress on it) - than that means it'll be too dark for me.

[Continuity]

You won't know if it's too dark for you until you've played it.

[HodgePodge]

I for one like the "fairy-tale" element of the Heroes series. I believe that is one of the reasons why it was/is so great and popular.



We'll have to wait and see; if they make it to "dark" and malevolent, it will be ruined! Let's hope this Alexander Mishulin guy doesn't force the issue too far.



I won't play a game where the "dark" side is unevenly glorified. Aren't there enough "dark" games out there already?

[madcat_lives]

I like the units in 3 more then units in 4. I hope they bring back some of the units from 3. it would be nice to see the new units they are going to make.

[JSE]

100% agreement to HodgePodge and Zamolxis!



The more lighthearted fantasy style is one of the core elements of the Heroes series and is as characteristic for the games as the turn-based gameplay. The introduction of a dark fantasy background is a clear misconception, breaks with the series' tradition and will certainly disappoint most long-time fans.

[CloudRiderX]

As in 'dark', I think he means( of course more mature, etc.), but think of the 3 harry potter movies. the first 2 were pretty much the same(same director), but the 3rd was done by a different director, and he wanted it to be more 'dark.' (and by dark he meant same thing this guy means). I dont know but the 3rd wasn't as good as the first two, and if you replace the first and second movies with the heroes I-IV, and V is dark, ya know? Phew, i have no idea. Somehow these interviews make me feel happy while im reading them, then down for some odd reason. But whatever, could just be me....

[gofer]

Well, if 'dark' means what I think it means, I'm all for it. I'm proverbially 'sick and tired' of the clear cut mind-numbing plots in games, movies and books. As much as I disliked the HoMM4 mechanics I just played the Gauldroth (sp?) Half-Dead campaign because it intrigued me. Saving sweet little princesses from callous evil dragons?! Screw it. I'd rather save sweet little dragons from callous evil princesses for a change.



Especially in the HoMM universe, where even though I always played either Necropolis or Inferno, I never considered my heroes as 'evil'... just battling it out with the other factions for a slice of the land.

[Vitirr]

Well you have already seen pics and videos. I don't think it is SO dark. The grass landscape in the adventure map video is beautiful, with the big trees and the sun rays leaking through them. And there are birds flying and an orchard... I don't think you should worry for that. Probably graphics will be more mature and dark, (no H2 cartoon style), but that doesn't mean they are going to spoil the HOMM atmosphere.

I'm sure they are doing a good work with this part of the game.

[fregglez]

I don't know if you noticed, but he said some stuff about HOMMV being influenced by LotR, and then about that there are elves and orcs in both. These orcs, maybe another faction????

[Blueman]

Speaking of darkness, I hope they will keep the Fog of War from H4...

[Sir Charles]

Over 200 skills!!! Everyone's going on and on about the "fairy tale" feel being lost, but ignoring the biggest revelation of that Q&A IMO. Even if they're referring to each of the 3 upgrades to skills, thats still over 60 unique skills. If this is accurate...WOW. I bet we won't be seeing too many heroes being similar. :O)

[CloudRiderX]

When they said 'over 100 cr., 200 skills, and 40 spells, were they talking about Etherlords or H5? Just wondering cause its worded strangely. If this game had over 100 cr., that would be great. They said they would have enough to make us happy, but not too many that the game would be too vast. So, I'll figure this out.

6 Factions-100+creatures - If each faction had:



7 creatures x 2 for Upgrades = 14 creatures per faction

14 cpf x 6 factions = 84 faction creatures

100+ - 84 = 16+

Result = 84 Faction creatures and 16+ Neutral creatures



or:



8 creatures x 2 for upgrades = 16 monsters per faction

16 mpf x 6 factions = 96 faction creatures

100+ - 94 = 4+

Result = 96 faction monsters and 4+ Neutral monsters



8 per faction might ruin it, cause it would leave no space for neutrals. And if they wanted to stick to III, 7 would be ideal.

[Angelspit]

I'm not sure I understand the second and third sentences of the last paragraph. What's that with the miss and the damage?

[Ryder]

Remember in the battle video where the Griffin disappears for their swoop attack and then after a while returns and kills the nightmares (I think it was). Well he's just saying that if you clicked on them to perform the Griffins swoop attack and in the meantime they have moved then the Griffins will be attacking an empty square where the enemy once was but if they havent moved then BANG, the damage will be big.

[JSE]

@ Sir Charles:



Well, the number of skills is certainly amazing — however, it's easy to understand why people stress Mishulin's mention of the style change: It's an obvious break with Heroes (and Might and Magic) tradition. In my opinion, this aspect is as important as any changes in gameplay (e.g. skills system).



Anyway, the Heroes games' "bright and polite" fantasy style has never prevented the games from having interesting, detailed and rich story lines — take the epic Heroes III campaigns for example (the "Shadow of Death" expansion campaigns in particular). Therefore, I see no need and no real meaning in "a more mature" background.



Judging from the Heroes V intro movie and the concept art, I suppose the new style will be a blend of the following fantasy styles: Warhammer, Warcraft, Diablo, LotR movies. While this blend might appeal to some people, it is over-stylized, uninspired and plain boring in my opinion. To me, the original Heroes style has never been childish or "too sweet", but rather idyllic and relaxing (which is actually very appropriate for a strategy game).

[fidanas]

My eye fell on the words about ...a game designer who was a pro gamer of Heroes...

I like that!

[Sgt_BFG]

I hope they keep the map editor as simple as previous versions, I dont want it like UnrealEd or something!