Content of the game

[MuadDib]

Hi everyone

I see many people wondering and complaining about the content of the game. These discussions happen on most forums I visit, but not to the level of what happens here at CH. I couldnt care less for what pirates think, but when long time members of the community join the threads, it means a clarification is needed.

As a note, I find it interesting to see that people who get the game for free, illegally, still get on to complain - perhaps they're french ?



Anyway, here are some details on what will be released this week (and the next for the US), and what will be released later. Most if not all of these infos were already given through Q&As.

H5 will consist of :
- A campaign of 6 chapters with 5 missions each. Each chapter is centered on one race, in this order : haven, inferno, necropolis, dungeon, sylvan, academy.
- 6 single scenario maps, plus 3 more in the limited/collector edition
- 10 multiplayer maps
- 18 preset heroes for the duel mode

In the couple of months following the release, we'll offer updates containing notably :
- 10 more multiplayer maps
- the map editor
Of course these updates will squeeze unforeseen bugs and improve the balance, but besides this and what i listed, we are planning more content, although i wont detail it now.

In the first addon, a lot of features will be added, notably a random map generator. I cant give more specifics on this addon yet, but the time to disclose more info is not far away.



Now, I'll try to adress some subjects of discussions I've read these days.

There arent enough maps !
All in all its close to 60 maps that will be playable. H3 and H4 offered about 70. That's indeed more, but I think we spent enough time on all these maps to guarantee their quality. The 10 initial MP maps for instance, have been through the beta test for most of them. The other maps did not go through it, and they have been reserved for an update after the release, to get more time to polish them.

Why doesnt the game include the map editor/rmg/... ?
This is a choice that we made, and this choice is, what does matter for the initial release ? I think an editor is critical for a game longevity, but not for the release. So we can take a bit more time to finish it. Same about the rmg, this is not something that most players will boot right after install. We concentrated on creating a world and a story, and that is played through the campaign, and the single scenarios, which are all closely linked with the world events (well, except one :p).

The performance drops a lot !
The game has been tested on all common configurations and almost all graphic cards, and the results were outstanding, much better than i anticipated. Nival did a great job at tweaking performance in the last few weeks. However, there is one particular case where you can see a framerate drop, its when you lower the camera down to the ground level, and pan to see the whole map on the screen. In this case, logically, you get to display a huge amount of objects, and the framerate will drop. But this is clearly not designed as a playable view, it is there only for screenshots.

The AI is bad !
Well, one thing's for sure, is that we didnt communicate enough on this point. It was developed late in the process, thats the main reason. The AI has been done and tuned with the help of Steve Fawkner, and the result is quite good. Its a pretty efficient attacker. Any flaw that is discovered after release will of course be corrected through an update.
In the scenario or campaign maps, the AI is strictly guided, as these maps are about a story. So the AI has great limitations to what it can or cannot do. This is not the place where you can judge it.

The missions are too difficult !
This is one point i recently answered to i think. Judging from the demo feedback and also from reviewers, an easy setting was missing. It will be added in the first update.



To conclude, I suppose it is normal that fans get anxious right before the game release, and even more so when pirates feed their own (often misinformed) opinion into the fray. The feedback we've had from the journalists is great so far, and I hope you will agree on that when you get to try the game for real !

[FantoMaxJM]

As a note, I find it interesting to see that people who get the game for free, illegally, still get on to complain - perhaps they're french ?

...Thanks for the clarification (although I´ve never concidered cancelling the pre-order, after 1 year intense waiting for Celestial Heaven´s sake!).

[Znork]

As a note, I find it interesting to see that people who get the game for free, illegally, still get on to complain - perhaps they're french ?

Rofl would seem like it, well people normaly loos it right before realse!

[ThunderTitan]

To conclude, I suppose it is normal that fans get anxious right before the game release, and even more so when pirates feed their own (often misinformed) opinion into the fray.

Huh?! Why are the pirates misinformed? Exagerated, unprofesional, biased i'd get. But misinformed? Wouldn't they not be pirates if they were misinformed?

[Sikon]

Thanks for the information, Fabrice! I hope it will somewhat slow the rumor mill.

Each chapter is centered on one race, in this order : haven, inferno, necropolis, dungeon, sylvan, academy.

Interesting. Just in the order they were unveiled.

[theLuckyDragon]

@MuadDib
It's good to hear this from you.

I wish people would be more optimistic. Or maybe just stop complaining for a while, just until that important update is released. Maybe (very probably, I think) it really will improve the game.

(...)and the single scenarios, which are all closely linked with the world events (well, except one :p)

So the scenarios are part of the story also, just not included in any campaign? That's a nice innovation. But will people who don't buy the limited/collector edition be able to get those 3 other scenarios? Also, there's no chance of any details on what you said in that paranthesis, right?

[ThunderTitan]

I wish people would be more optimistic. Or maybe just stop complaining for a while, just until that important update is released. Maybe (very probably, I think) it really will improve the game.

Already said I rather complain and be wrong then be optimistic and get screwed...

[Veldrynus]

[
Huh?! Why are the pirates misinformed? Exagerated, unprofesional, biased i'd get. But misinformed? Wouldn't they not be pirates if they were misinformed?

Why would they be exagerated, unprofesional or biased either ?
They get the game for free, wich allows them to see the product with more neutral eyes. If you had payed big money for something you don't like, you will become even more angry, because you have the feeling that you were fooled. Another possible reaction would be trying to hide the dissapointment and like you had got exactly what you wanted. Either way you will become more or less biased because you had invested money in that game. The same goes for the "exagerated" part.
Pirates are not less profesional than every non-krimal members of this board.

[theLuckyDragon]

@TT
You could just stop complaining and patiently wait to see what's going to happen. You never know...

@Veldrynus
That' such an idealistic view...

[Derek]

Why doesnt the game include the map editor/rmg/... ?
This is a choice that we made, and this choice is, what does matter for the initial release ? I think an editor is critical for a game longevity, but not for the release. So we can take a bit more time to finish it. Same about the rmg, this is not something that most players will boot right after install. We concentrated on creating a world and a story, and that is played through the campaign, and the single scenarios, which are all closely linked with the world events (well, except one :p).

This is really great. Justifying buying a game that does not have all the features that should be there. It sure would be nice if everything was there, but patience should not be a virtue when large sums of money are involved. If you're going to release a game why not include key features in the release? Additional content is one thing, but a map editor has been commonplace for so long that it really is something that should be there in the initial release. All criticisms of the game aside it sure would be great if it looked like you guys were planning on making a good first launch. Remember H4? They had such a great launch that we only had to wait a few months to play multiplayer...

A few months is a long wait considering I've just shelled out money for something that I assumed would have a map editor. Is the retail copy of the game going to say on the box, "Just wait a little while so that we can prepare more content that should have been there in the first place." That would be great. If I didn't go to this website I would have figured that HOMMV would include a map editor, what crazy guy would say different? Now, I have the head honcho himself justifying lack of features to the fan base! Really now, this is just crazy.

@TT
You could just stop complaining and patiently wait to see what's going to happen. You never know...

Since when should fans ask others not to complain? As far as I'm concerned we should complain until we get the product that we actually want rather than the one that is given to us.

[Wildbear]

Thanks for the information, Fabrice! I hope it will somewhat slow the rumor mill.

Right, those aren't rumors anymore since he just confirmed everything

[ThunderTitan]

Why would they be exagerated, unprofesional or biased either ?

The same reasons people that buy it would. None of the review were really objective. They all sounded pissed off after playing the game for a rather short time. When ur pissed u tend to exagerate.

@TT
You could just stop complaining and patiently wait to see what's going to happen. You never know...

Hey, it's not my fault nobody is discusing somewhere else on the forum about something else.

[Veldrynus]

Thanks for the information, Fabrice! I hope it will somewhat slow the rumor mill.

Right, those aren't rumors anymore since he just confirmed everything

And, he also included some ridiculously weak excuses too.

[theLuckyDragon]

@Derek

(...)until we get the product that we actually want rather than the one that is given to us.

You will never get what you all want.

Since when should fans ask others not to complain?

I don't know if they should, but I know that they can suggest a more balanced attitude. Anyone can complain, and some have done so a lot. There's nothing that can be done now, so that's why I was suggesting to wait until the patches start coming.

As far as I'm concerned we should complain until(...)

No offense, but that sounds like spoiled brat attitude.

@TT
Riiight...

[Infiltrator]

Thanks for the post. I myself don't care much of the maps that are in on the launch, nor about the map editor (considering they will be added soon ), but what I am concerned about is some performance issues apart from lowering the cam to almost-horizontal view (in the demo matriarchs/matrons shooting provoke a significant frame drop for example, there are other cases as well), I hope that it's fixed in the retail or in the 1st patch.

[Akul]

Thanks for the information, Fabrice! I hope it will somewhat slow the rumor mill.

Each chapter is centered on one race, in this order : haven, inferno, necropolis, dungeon, sylvan, academy.

Interesting. Just in the order they were unveiled.

Interesting petrhaps, but not suprising. The fact that they didn't reveal the new faction at end made me believe that the campaigns will be at order they were revealed.
I hoped that the campaigns would have more scenarios (6), but this will be enough.

[Derek]

As far as I'm concerned we should complain until(...)

No offense, but that sounds like spoiled brat attitude.

How? Why should we just buy something if it does not have the features that we want? So I'm a brat if something that I buy does not have what I want in it? That does not even make sense.

The real point here is that MuadDib has justfied lack of features in a release and people are already like, "It will be in the expansion/patch." Wow, that's wonderful. It is nice to see people already lining up to spend more money or wait for stuff that should have been there in the first place.

[ThunderTitan]

As far as I'm concerned we should complain until(...)

No offense, but that sounds like spoiled brat attitude.
@TT
Riiight...

What's the alternative?! Take whatever they give us?!

Juma' din chestiile care le scriu le gandesc pe loc, si nu cred in ele neaparat.

I hope that it's fixed in the retail or in the 1st patch.

Hope for it in the first patch.

[theLuckyDragon]

@Derek
If it doesn't have what you want, then why are you buying it? Don't tell me, you made a pre-order? Then I'm sorry, but you should have had more patience. If you didn't make a pre-order, then what's all the fuss? You stated your opinion, now you could wait to see if the patches make things better.

Again, if you did make a pre-order: there's nothing you can do about the game now. You (generally speakin, not particularly "you") have already complained, and Fabrice's post here proves that he is at least aware of what improvements could be made. I agree that it's not exactly logical for certain things to be left out from the initial release, but this is just how things are at the present moment. The can't just retire all the copies that have been made.

[Veldrynus]

How? Why should we just buy something if it does not have the features that we want? So I'm a brat if something that I buy does not have what I want in it? That does not even make sense.

You can simply choose NOT TO BUY it.
If the actual version of the game isn't what you want, you're not forced to spend money on it.
Ubisoft has the right to sell everything it wants, even if it is a piece of junk like this game. It is their loss if they are making a bad reputation with flawed releases.
The wisest thing we can do now, is not to buy such a product. Not before they really finish it.