Unread postby Caradoc » 17 Oct 2007, 20:05
While I'm waiting for TOE to download (only six more hours, they say), I thought I might write a brief comparison of HOMM and FFH for those who might be curious.
Both are strategic, empire building, turn-based, fantasy games.
FACTIONS: Heroes has 8. FFH has 19. In both cases, each faction has a special 'flavor' and set of traits that make playing it a unique experience. In the case of FFH, most of these traits are invested in a leader, and some civilizations have several different leaders to choose from. Where HOMM has neutral monsters, FFH has barbarians and wild animals to deal with.
CITIES: As you would expect from a Civ mod, FFH has far more elaborate city building with a huge assortment of things to build. These are tied to your progress on an equally robust technology tree, making this part of the game much more enjoyable than HOMM.
UNITS: Where each unit in HOMM has something special about it, most FFH units are common across most civs. However, each civ gets several unique units and many of the common units have skins appropriate to the civ. Instead of the HOMM upgrades, the FFH units gain experience points that you can use to get promotions. There are many, many promotions available but each unit type can only get some of these.
HEROES: The FFH heroes are fighting units, like in HOMM4. They are specific to a civ or to a religion and have to be built like other units. They don't hang out in Taverns. They advance in levels over time and through combat.
MAGIC: The spells in FFH are tied into a 'mana' system, similar to the schools in HOMM, so that each kind of mana provides access to different spells. They are further divided into sorcery, summoning, and divine tracts according to the type of spell caster and they are arranged in three levels. Still they are less numerous and varied than the spells in HOMM, but powerful spellcasters are still a force to be rekkoned with. You have to capture mana nodes in order to get the spells.
MAPS: The civ map programs work with FFH so there are a wide range of map types to choose from. You control the size, continents, terrain features, etc. Because the generated maps are so good, there are much fewer user-made maps (scenarios) but there are some good ones.
ADVENTURE OBJECTS: Like HOMM, FFH has resources scattered all over the map. However, once you discover a resource, you have to build a city nearby and dispatch a worker unit to build a farm, mine, plantation, etc. Other than some lairs, there are no creature generators on the map, so you build them in your cities. HOMM has a lot more kinds of adventure objects like shrines and vaults, but there are a few in FFH, including the Tribal Villages that offer an assortment of bonuses to those who discover them.
COMBAT: FFH combat is very simplistic, using attack and defense numbers for the units involved, adjusted for whatever promotions the units have received. There is no tactical battlefield and unit on unit battles are resolved individually and in a single turn.
I think I've hit the main points here, but if anyone wants more details, let me know.
Before you criticize someone, first walk a mile in their shoes. If they get mad, you'll be a mile away. And you'll have their shoes.
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What's wrong with amazon.com or a local store? Oh, and by the way... you will never tire from BtS...
Took over a month to ship my free game and free HD VGA cable. I was going to use it to buy Oblivion but after the GotY edition came out, Oblivion disappeared from their website. 
