Fanstratics - Questions for Greg

[Pol]

Hello,
let's flock here. Whatever serious will come to your mind, what you would like to know from Greg and his upcoming game, jot it down.

We have all Fanstratics covered here.

[Pol]

What were supposed to cast Dendroid Soldiers? There's an unused animation of them, making and releasing some glittering spell?

http://heroescommunity.com/viewthread.p ... genumber=1

[Blake]

Hi Greg, super excited about Fanstratics! I know they were probably made after you left NWC but have you ever seen or played the 8 Heroes Chronicles chapters made in the HoMM3 engine to bridge the gap from HoMM3 to HoMM4? Was a great opportunity to play more of the final elemental conflux faction and battle some of the super dragons from the addon packs.

(PS newsletter 12 is out Pol)

[Pol]

PS newsletter 12 is out Pol)

Yea I know but there are some limits in news per week and my publishing capabilities as well. I'm not alone, MUHA are late too. (They 'promised' new devblog at the end of each month.)

More questions for Greg please. At least 12 solid.

[Blake]

Just realised you probably wanted purely Fanstratics questions sorry. Greg's been answering questions in his newsletters about HoMM3 so thats why I chucked in one about that era too.

Lol yeah we're all dying for that late MuHa dev diary over in the MoM community too!

Anyway if no one else is bothering.. here's some more I've thought of (which hopefully don't double up on anything asked before as it's hard to remember the content of 12 giant newsletters haha)

1. You've mentioned in previous interviews that the Fanstratics game world will be displayed from tradition top down 2D perspective but will use modern 3D engine/environment/assets. Will the Town/Castle screens be something similar? And will there be some decent 'life' brought to them? I know budget is a factor but I always loved how in HoMM1 each of the faction castle screens looked so unique, the buildings were way different and creatures stood outside their dwellings animating and moving about. However by the time we got to HoMM4 all the castle screens looked almost the same with no creatures, and very little animation or difference between faction buildings. Ubisoft did something similar with big sprawling animating 3D castle screens in HoMM5 only to end up with simple barely animating 2D castle screens by HoMM7 to cut costs.

2. Will there be a dark mysterious mushroom filled underground world to conquer beneath the surface in Fanstratics much like in HoMM3 onwards? Will there be other worlds to teleport to? (ie like the elemental planes HoMM3 & Chronicles)

3. How much involvement in battles will Heroes have in Fanstratics? HoMM1-3 it was just spells, HoMM4 was full blown fighting presence in battle, and HoMM5 was more like HoMM3 but heroes had an interesting range attack that increased as they leveled up.

4. Any chance you can lure in Paul Romero for the Fanstratics music? Or do you want to go in a completely different direction?

5. Can you say anything yet about what sort of Heroes sub skills (eg Logistics, Path Finding etc) system you'll have in Fanstratics? HoMM3's system was good and probably what most prefer although I have a soft spot for HoMM4's which added more skills and something like 5 or 6 levels of upgrades in each skill ensuring much more depth to Hero development.

6. Will Fanstratics creature's have upgrades like in HoMM3? I was disappointed when HoMM4 removed them. I quite liked how HoMM5 offered 2 alternative upgrades for every creature but I understand such a thing causes budget and balancing issues hence why later Ubisoft HoMM games dropped it.

[Pol]

Thanks Blake

They might from the past, it doesn't matter.

[Blake]

No worries mate. I noticed the last dev diary didn't have a link to this thread so maybe edit that to have a link at the top (as not everyone will read it all to the bottom) and do the same with the next one. Then hopefully some others will come by with questions so you & I don't have to sit here thinking of another 6 questions haha!

[cuc]

Question:
You have the collaboration of David Mullich. Have you tried to contact other key developers of NWC, like Phil Steinmeyer (H2 lead designer) and Gus Smedstad (H3 programmer, H4 lead designer)?

[Blake]

Wow.. I posted about this thread over in the Fanstratics thread over at RPG Codex and got bombarded with questions haha. I realise this thread is meant for CH members to ask questions but if not enough come forward then at least now you've got backups to choose from to make the 12 Pol.

Okay ill bite.

1. What are some innovations you are planning to bring to game compared to classic Heroes ? (Not sure how to phrase this part so feel free to edit it) While the game will follow the spirit of classic heroes, you are not straight up copy with improved graphics.
2.What do you plan to do in terms of storyline, do you intend to present completely linear story or allow some degree of choice and consequence, Im not speaking about giving player option of what they had for breakfast but of having player able to make decisions at pivotal moments where it is completely in character for hero to actually choose different solutions or choices without breaking character just to allow player to make a choice.

Thanks for the suggestion, [USER]Blake00[/USER]. Here are twelve questions I'd like to ask him, though three of them have already been put forward by an user in CH (yourself, I guess) and perhaps some have been answered already:

1. Will there be any novel approach to sieges? Will creatures be able to tear down the gate without the assistance of artillery?
2. Will the active involvement of heroes in combat extend beyond casting spells/using potions? [question 3 in Blake's post #5]
3. Will players be able to assign stat points upon levelling up or will only choose secondary abilities? Will there be custom heroes?
4. Will there be multiple levels to maps (v.gr. underground, skyroads, etc.)? [question 2 in Blake's post #5]
5. Will heroes be able to move stealthily in the adventure map (seen in H4)?
6. Will all creatures have upgrades or just some of them? Will there be alternative upgrades/dwellings for creatures? [question 6 in Blake's post #5]
7. Will players be able to transform castles to their own alignment?
8. Will there be caravans or portals connecting towns? Will players be able to create tunnels/gates around the map (outside cities)?
9. How do heroes acquire spells? Will there be spells for modifying the way heroes traverse the adventure map? Will there be spells that affect enemies on the adventure map (à la Disciples)?
10. Will there be special units able to operate the adventure map through unique interactions but not to lead armies or capture landmarks (e.g. thieves who sabotage mines)?
11. Is the development focus to deliver multiplayer balance or mainly building fun singleplayer campaigns?
Less relevant than the previous questions but still interesting since it remains a controversial title,
12. has he played Heroes IV? If so, what's his verdict on it?

Will there be simultaneous retaliations?

[cuc]

Following the Sep newsletter:

You mentioned "preliminary work for Heroes IV". What can you tell us about this early Heroes IV concept?

UPDATE:
Was there any plans for Might & Magic 8 before the Forge incident? Had the incident impacted MM8?

[Blake]

Here's another one for Greg I just thought of..

HoMM4 made the excellent addition of Caravans that transported units from dwellings to the castles saving huge amounts of 'collector hero' micromanagement. HoMM5 took it further by making the Caravans visible on the map and attackable leading to fun raiding missions. Any plans to include this important advancement in Fanstratics.