Best Heroes III Maps to download (from here)

[Corbon]

Any size and version.

There are SO MANY files and most of them don't have a rating so I want to narrow it down somewhat. In general, which maps are fun to play and have a good reputation?

Ok, trying to be more specific.

-I STRONGLY prefer free choice of Faction and Hero, maybe some limitations. This also includes at least 3 different factions, I am not a big fan of duels.
-Starting with a complete town is a big no-no. It takes away the fun (and trouble) of building it up, which is part of the start phase, along with exploring and tagging mines.
-I never play Impossible maps. I usually can't win them, unless I play on Easy and that difficulty level is pointless.
-I hate time limits.
-I don't care about a big story-line.

This automatically rules out maps like The Lord Of War for example.

[Pol]

Try to sort it by authors. Then it should be Vlaad, Yurian, Humakti, Artas1984, difool, Charles Watkins (Caradoc), maygwan (1), Horns (1 - played, loved).
(Forget some I know, bad memory.. add yourself then please )

Guide to Allied Maps

Akul's Best Maps Pick

Try the Wren maps, or Your Brother's Letter (not sure of the name...). Or Hail to the King (what was that other Scrowe map?)

External CH sources, we don't have wren here...

Or Tobin's Middle-Earth, I bet you will google it with no problem.

This discussion maybe also of some help to you.

[Corbon]

Nice, will try Akul's Greatest Hits now :=)

[darknessfood]

Pol, shame on you, you forgot the mapmaking god ByteBandit!!!
I would recommend te whole "the Rise and Fall of Sandro" series. Really nice maps and a great storyline!

[Pol]

Did I? I know Steve did a lot of maps but all which I know were for WoG (here must been some for H3C however, yeat I'm not aware of them). The Rise and Fall of Sandro, shortly TRAFOS is outstanding campaign which is driving Sandro's life among whole series of HoMM universe, beginning in H1 to Equi. But that wasn't in the question, in the other worlds, here's hidden only one map for H3C I think.

Still I know that I forgot many, many mapmakers...

[Artas1984]

I would not bet on ratings first like from Akul's pick..

A map at least must look good, but that does not grant a good gameplay - for example i think good maps should be nice looking and detailed, but no way "overloaded" with things like monsters and artifacts, i hate that.

[Corbon]

Well I tried the map Age of Legends for a start and it was a disaster. Without spells like Fly, Dimension Door or Town Portal it's impossible to defend your towns with a strong hero. I was eventually defeated by a hero with 30 in ALL stats, my main hero had like 8, 8, 20, 20 almost solely from leveling. I don't know what ****ing crazy artifacts he was wearing, but it certainly made the difference. I think he was wearing the Titan's Thunder combo.

Edit: BTW what's up with Lord Haart being a Deathknight in "Heroes of Might, not Magic" (SoD map)? What's his backstory?

[AngelEyes]

I've played a lot of maps in my time, but I always liked The Lord of War the best. Truly a beautiful map with many epic battles.

NOTE: I recommend against playing with it in SoD, as the combo artifacts could seriously unbalance the map.

PS: Timothy Duncan has made some excellent story-driven maps. Goldheart comes to mind here.

[Yurian Stonebow]

I can recommend works by Artas1984. His maps are what could be described as "true" multiplayer maps, opposed to maps that are multiplayer in name only. Good stuff with nice challenge. Thumbs up.



Yurian

[Artas1984]

Thank's Yuri..

Maps like: Kordine Isles, Xeron Lives, Tolkien's M.E., Sir Markus, Malagorn The Saviour, Fall And Rise Of The Sharai, Illusion World, Lord Of Fend, Vanadia's Ruler, Gates Of Wonder, Reavers Of The North, Unleashing The Bloodthursty, The Lord Of War, Old World, Dragon Fire, Dragon King look great; also noticed should be ones done by Gregory L. Reeves and Cattleman. Also check out my own maps, the latest and most acomplished is Return The Dragon Father Power.

[ByteBandit]

Pol, shame on you, you forgot the mapmaking god ByteBandit!!!
I would recommend te whole "the Rise and Fall of Sandro" series. Really nice maps and a great storyline!

Pol is right, here Darkness. Even though Pol and I founded the H3 Map Archives, I have never once released an H3 map! Ironic, I think. But true. The only H3 map I have released is the one in TRaFoS.
I know maps more than mapmakers when it comes to recommending a good map. Some of my favorite H3 maps include: Ad Hominen, Eight Player Cutthroat, Falling Star and A Bridge to War. These maps have tons of stuff and allow you to build up.

[Corbon]

Thanks for all your comments

Just want to repost my preferences since I edited my initial post.

-Free choice of Faction and Hero, maybe some limitations.
-Not starting with a complete town. I hate maps like Good to Go.
-Maximum difficulty level Expert. My standard setting is Hard on Normal maps and Normal on Hard maps.
-No time limits.

Gonna check out some more maps you mentioned.

[RedViper]

Try my map, "A New Enemy".

I created this map many years ago, but I've added some details ever since.

This is an XL-map with much detailes, free faction-chosing, no complete towns, no time-limit etc. Theres some story but the map is not story driven.


This spring (I believe) I made my latest complete map, it's a medium sized map with four playable factions. No story, nothing advanced, just a good map to play. The Great Seal



Both maps are SoD.

[Tobius]

Hey Corbon!

If you're looking for a single-player map only, I would like to recommend you a map of my own that I've created last winter.

Its name is "The War of the Ring" (Der Ringkrieg) and the original language is German, but you stated to not be focussing on a great story-line why this shouldn't be a real problem.

Here's the download-link:

http://www.kartenarchiv.de/mapcomm.php?map=430

The map is XL and you can choose to play the humans or the elves.

Furthermore there are 4 different versions of the map included. I would recommend you the "Deluxe Edition EX" for playing!

Have fun!

P.S.
If you really try to play my map and should have any questions just send me a mail or message.


@ Pol

Or Tobin's Middle-Earth, I bet you will google it with no problem.

Did you mean me, Tobius, with the "Tobin" in your post? If yes, I've linked my Tolkien-map for downloading.

[Yurian Stonebow]

I think that Maygwan can forgive us for using this thread for praising maps that are for Heroes III, are known to be of good quality, are in the CH's own map database and are not, if I may say this, rated to form the top 10.

(I promote this thread simply because it has drawn more attention to it, and also, has some great maps already named)



Yurian

[Pol]

@Tobius
Yes, I meant you.

[bot]

let's see... an easy map, no time limits, no storyline.... so all you have to do is to use the random map editor, or, better, play solitaire

[Yurian Stonebow]

Why not use the RMG then?

[bot]

I meant random map generator, of course. I like impossible maps, like Unleashing the Bloodthisty or Vengeance is Mine, even I've never finished them, but every time I replay them I'm closer. Brain exercise....