CH Previews Heroes VII

[Kalah]

Need I say more?

After playing the beta for a while and digesting the impressions, I have written this of the game.

If you're curious about the state of it and what it looks like some three months away from its scheduled release in September, have a read and check out those videos I made as well.

If you would like to take a look at the original page visit this link:
https://www.celestialheavens.com/849

[Coldy]

Thank you for the preview Kalah. Interesting read.

[crees0921]

Agree with everything you captured in "The Good" and "The Bad" though I must say I do enjoy the better graphics and their ability to make it feel more real. I also agree with cleglaw's comment that it does have a h3 feel to it, particulary in the battles. I found it virtually impossible to walk away from a battle unscathed - which is something you have been able to do since h3.

[prokurors]

Thanks Kalah for the review! Do you have any comments about AI? It must be at least mediocre in order for the game to be (re)playable...

[Kalah]

Sadly, I don't have much to say about the AI, since I didn't really focus on playing the game properly. I just explored it a bit. One thing I did notice was that the auto combat system seemed to be working all right.

[King Imp]

Does the Area of Control thing still exist from H6?



I personally disliked that aspect and wished it was the simple "flag it and you own it" method.

[crees0921]

King Imp - I tried to capture an enemy mine for the first time last night. The don't seem connected to a building like they were in H6 but I was not able to take control of it either. My only option was to 'scuttle' it for what I believe was 2 or 3 days. Not sure if this is how it is designed to work or if it was a bug not allowing me to control it.

[Kalah]

Yes, that's the way it's supposed to work. It's not exactly the same as H6 but you do have an area of control given by towns and forts; mines in those areas can be plundered but will soon fall back into the control of the nearby town.

[zarakand]

It doesn't sound good right now from what you're saying. The things I care about are AI, turn time for AI, and random map generator. I saw the Steam sale and got nostalgic, but based on what you've seen in the beta I'll wait until it's on sale for $4-5 during the next winter sale.

[Pol]

It's 3D so it will never get good AI. (Meaning majority of resources are devoted to modeling objects and playing with them instead of creating simple models and good AI from the beginning.) This is that strange case, where I would be happy, if they would prove me wrong.

[cjlee]

Pol



Anyone who has thought or said negative things about Ubisoft in the past 3 years has been proven right.



If you're hoping to be proven wrong I would inspect the sky ever so often for flying pigs.

[prokurors]

"you do have an area of control given by towns and forts; mines in those areas can be plundered but will soon fall back into the control of the nearby town."



actually it sounds quite interesting and more appropriate than having a mine for weeks in enemy teritory

[crislevin]

I do love they bring back camera rotation, not as good as HoMM V (mice event), but still better than HoMM 6.



My 860M and 7950 handles the game well, but I didn't play long enough to notice memory leak problem so far.

[crees0921]

Pol - though I can understand your perspective that a fixed budget may go one way - graphics - or another - gameplay. I personally found the AI turns in the beta to take longer than I expected. There could be a number of reasons for that which Ubi may be addressing. I also found the AI gameplay to otherwise be above my expectations and more closely aligned to H3. Ubi is unlikely to elate every HOMM fan with this release however I do believe they have listened to the various HOMM communities and are making many positive changes - continuing to evolve the game and incorporating some of the best of the past. I am looking forward to the giving the VII release a go.

[zarakand]

Fair enough. I hope it turns out to be more like HOMM 3, which was a ton of fun. For me, I'm not willing to fork over $50 for it after the let downs of HOMM 5 and 6. Though, I do look forward to it going on a Steam Sale!

[King Imp]

So, any chance to try out the caravans yet? Just curious to hear how they are working.

[crees0921]

The caravans are similar to H4. You can only caravan troops that have not been purchased and not those posted in a town. Caravans can be brought into towns and forts though rather than entering the unit, the stay sitting outside it. That's a bit odd and I have not found a simple way of adding all at once to a hero's army. The duration of the caravan is based on the distance from source to destination and they can be intercepted by you or an opponent along the way. They can also be blocked like in H4.



There seem to be a few bugs in the caravan's 'Recruit All' functionality in certain circumstances though it seemed more associated with a single town than anything else. I am also not able to recruit from a fort which happens to be in the underground (a different layer) which could be by design since teleporting seems layer-specific in H7 as well.

[Chief of Honour]

crees0921:

In which map did you find a fort in the underground?

[ttague2005]

Will Heroes VII have DRM?

[Kalah]

Only a one-time activation via Uplay.