1.3 Academy

[Sir_Toejam]

it's not a bad idea.

the only thing i couldn't immediately figure out how to do was create a new UI for being able to cast on a specific stack in your army from the adventure screen.

the rest isn't that difficult to implement.

give it a few months for folks to learn more about how the interface works, and you might get your wish.

[LordErtz]

Again, I think that people are missing important points or failing to register things.
If you build a mini-artifact the resources are not lost; you can always dismantle the artifact again and get the resources back!
To make an extreme point here: you can waste all resources on artifacts, equipping your troops, go fight an especially nasty stack of neutrals with the benefit of those artefacts, go back to town, dismantle them and build dwellings with them.
This looks like a bit of legwork, but is a completely legal and viable tactic.

You said it best...

You have to bus your ass back and forth to the castle

[ThunderTitan]

Yeah, self upgrading artifacts would eliminate the legwork.

And how does Consume Artifact work? It would be cool if it gave you the resources back, as the mana you get should be ofset by the loss of the stats on that creature.

[Jolly Joker]

Yeah, the coolest thing would be if could stay in town, build some rocket launcher and be done with it.

[DaemianLucifer]

Yeah, the coolest thing would be if could stay in town, build some rocket launcher and be done with it.

You mean you cant now?Then I had my hopes up for no reason

[ThunderTitan]

Yeah, the coolest thing would be if could stay in town, build some rocket launcher and be done with it.

That didn't help the germans in WW2 much. Seriously though, having to go in town every time isn't very good, all the other faction don't need to do it just for the special, they just do it for the normal reasons.

[Gaidal Cain]

*Cough* Sylvan and Haven *cough*

[ThunderTitan]

Please, Sylvan only needs to change the target so many times, and for Haven it's better to come for the newly hired units and upgrade everyone then. Doing what JJ suggested would take alot more back and forth.

[Elvin]

Not so much.Unless you lvl up every day Or get knowledge boosting artifacts.Not every property changes for every point.Some get +1 every 4,5 or 10 points of knowledge

[Sir_Toejam]

Some get +1 every 4,5 or 10 points of knowledge

there's a big difference between +1 and +2 speed.

or +1 and +2 health, when applied to a stack of hundreds of gremlins.

nope, both academy and preserve could very well use an easier way to use their abilities, just to avoid the tedium of having to go back to town all the time (it sure happens frequently enough when I play to notice).

either that, or make town portal available at a much lower level.

hmm. that would kinda remedy things a bit, wouldn't it?

what do folks think about making town portal available at a much lower level, like level 12?

Edit:

this is such an easy fix, that i decided to go ahead and do it anyway.

consider like a half-ass fix until a better solution works itself out.

...done and tested:

https://www.celestialheavens.com/homm5/ ... al4-12.zip

[Jolly Joker]

How about giving the Hero a portable Arcane Forge. A little stove carried on his back, so he can change resources back and forth on the fly? Now, THAT would be something. On second thought, a portable mage guild wouldn't be so bad either: always having to go back into town to learn a new spell is really tedious and annoying, you know.

[Sir_Toejam]

you know, you should actually spend more time playing the game than flappin' your lips there, JJ. Your sarcasm lacks wit.

obviously since it's perfect as far as you're concerned, you won't be doing any modding, so why bother participating in these threads?

really, I'm curious.

[Jolly Joker]

Sir_toejam, this is a game. It has four difficulty level and on the highest one you should just lose sometimes. Making a plethora of mods with the sole aim to make winning easier doesn't make a lot of sense, but you seem to relish it.
I mean, 10 or so pages with a lot of whining about how bad everything is and how you cannot use the racial, and then someone points out that you can very well, but it's not like sitting around and warming your foot, and now the whining is, ah, oh, okay, BUT it should be easier.
This is supposed to be a STRATEGY game; it invoves a bit of planning and foresight, for god's sake. You suddenly have uses for your spare heroes now. Same in other threads.
But sure, no problem, make mods as many you like. Of course you could play on easy or normal instead banging in a mod making things easier, but no.

[Sir_Toejam]

yack, yack, yack.

there seems little point in discussing the very point of modding with you.

why did Nival change the resource utlization curves so drastically with the latest patch, hmmmm?

many thought, as YOU did, that the resource utilizations were just fine.

so why tinker with it?

answer that question for yourself, and you might get a clue as to what modding is all about.

otherwise, you're just playing the whining toady yourself, chump.

I also notice you didn't actually answer my question:

why is it you are spending time in these threads, JJ, instead of just playing the game, since it seems to fit your notions as it is?

[Grumpy Old Wizard]

.
But sure, no problem, make mods as many you like. Of course you could play on easy or normal instead banging in a mod making things easier, but no.

I believe that what he is trying to do is give each faction a level playing field. Some of the races need balancing in various areas?

Whether or not you want to use mods is entirely up to you. If anyone uses no mods or 1000 mods in single player mode it really does not affect anyone but the person playing the game.I have not used any yet though I most likely will at some time in the future.

Let's keep this thread mud free guys. No need to get it closed.

GOW

[Sir_Toejam]

I believe that what he is trying to do is give each faction a level playing field. Some of the races need balancing in various areas?

meh, don't bother, he just wants to argue rather than listen to what other people have to say about their experiences with the game.

and practice his sarcasm, since it needs so much work.

[Jolly Joker]

I don't mind modding, but I mind senseless modding just for modding things. Sure, if you do it for fun, go ahead, like, I made this and that mod, don't know about balance, but I thought it might be fun to play. No problem. But, hey, two people see some biiiig balance problem, let's go ahead and FIX it with some half-baked, let's cut something here and add something there attitude? That's something else, and please be so kind and allow me to point it out.

[masotime]

Although this isn't really related to boosting early-game Academy strength, I was thinking it might be nice to introduce an element which would make use of the large mana pools that Academy heroes normally have.

This involves allowing a hero to cast multiple spells simultaneously, like the spell sequencer from BG2. For example, 3 fireballs at the same time or mass haste and mass slow at the same time, but for every additional spell you cast the mana required goes up quickly.

Let's say you have 4 spells A, B, C, D, each with mana cost a, b, c, d.

Spell A: Mana cost a
Spell A + B: Mana cost (a+b) * 2
Spell A + B + C: Mana cost (a + b + c) * 3
Spell A + B + C + D: Mana cost (a + b + c + d) * 4

Thus more spells at the same time would grant a greater advantage, but also at a much higher price. e.g. if a fireball spell cost 10 mana, then to cast 4 simultaneously, you'd need 40 * 4 =160 mana.

It may need some tweaking to balance the idea. For example you can limit each battle to only one sequencer, or to cause the hero to take his next turn much later, as if he had actually cast the spells one at a time. I think it would be fun to have this option.

[Mytical]

Well the problem is that it is not 1 or 2, but many who see some problems, and a few who don't. The majority sees this as a problem. So therefor sir_toejam has tried to do something about it. If you don't like the mod, simple, don't download it or use it. Let those who want to download it and use it. Also there are those of us who can not mod who like to suggest things so those who can might . Anyhow...you are welcome to your oppinon JJ, just don't expect everybody to share it. I know I sure dont expect everybody to share mine .

[ThunderTitan]

Not so much.Unless you lvl up every day Or get knowledge boosting artifacts.Not every property changes for every point.Some get +1 every 4,5 or 10 points of knowledge

If you read a while back you'll notice a certain strategy JJ illustrated. That's the main thing was talking about. It was about getting the resources back to build something after you used them once. Also note how all the other faction don't need to return to town to get stuff back after they already used the special.