Heroes of Might & Magic III: Horn of the Abyss

[Ermelloth]

Good luck, Panda Tar

[Ermelloth]

That doesn't make me happy and I was forced to remove your link.

Well, at least you warned. Thanks. However, why HotA links aren't allowed but WoG ones (which is also a fan-made addon / mod) are fine? I even remember that at some point WoG could be downloaded right from Celestial Heavens' satellite resource (wog.celestialhavens.com) or I am wrong?

You cannot just use a big chunk of another game and use it in your game, without having to legally obtain them both.

HotA team, just like WoG team, doesn't make any money from their expanded version of Heroes3; the addon is distributed for free, same as WoG.

Perhaps I'm missing the point, but I thought that it is illegal only if modders / addon makers somehow financially benefit or try to make money out of their creation.

[Salamandre]

Because you posted a package containing the vanilla core files as well, while wog does NOT have them. Same link for complete HoTA/SoD version was deleted in HC as well, but we kept the link of the version allowing to play HoTA if you already own SoD or Complete.

[Panda Tar]

Anyway, nothing that we can't Google and find it.

Which is what I did.

Yesterday, I tested this Hota. I must say that I'm surprised it is so well done and working. No glitches or freezing happened, units are rather fun to play with and they look and feel like Heroes units. The other modifications and additions were ok as far as I am concerned, although I didn't see them all.

I'm quite pleased.

[overall]

i cant believe that forum search actually worked and found me this thread....

HoootA.... Lets do this!!!... actually this is my second time that i play this campaigns my first run was bit messy so i gonna do this again...

Launcher gives all kinds of small information... Nice background i didnt know that Kingsnakes could grow that big...

Campaign 1. Under the Jolly Roger...

Map1.
-Skipping storylines... looks like lot of letters... scenario description gives it in smaller packed... nice animation and picture...
-Why the fuck that rock! x) i can get pass it when i killed those creatures i didn't notice this first time i played... but bit pointless rock i would leave that out or blocked that route clearly....
-Cannon makes loads of damage maybe bit overpowered but i dont mind...
-Done bit tricky map not much resources i end up trading some gold to get that castle done...

Map 2.
-Damn... time mission i don't like this at all... i took wayfarers boots just to see what they do and reload... i got expert logistic and pathfinding i dont realy need those...
-Pirate city looks nice wondering is there place for grail too...
-Hmmm... game crashed... restart... all fine...
-Nice looking new artifacts...
-Done wasn't so bad... first time that i try this i run out of time and end up using cheat codes... but this second time this was much easier maybe cuz i had expert logistic and pathfinding and i didnt waste time any time to get those mines etc...

Map 3.
-Failll... reds troops got too big and i cant get to combine my troops need to restart this map...
-Ok got my troops combined and red got sweep... done rest was easy...
-Only 3 maps on this first campaign... good starting campaign i would wanted build more on this but guess thats up to next campaign....


Campaign 2. Terror of the seas...

Map 1.
-Well first time i fail this map cuz i didnt get stronghold fast enough... this second time i just run straight for it... collecting some troops in dens and then tooking out right up corner stronghold.... and bottom left corner castle...
-Just clicking days to get moore troops to take down last stronghold... getting some luck and morale buffs before getting battle...
-Done fairly easy second time play... helped lots to know where those towns are.... crashed 3 times on this map...

Map 2.
-I liked this map first time i fail this... i tried to play this Jeremy it didnt works out so i change to Casmera that forgetfulness was most usefull...
-My plan was to take out green first... i put boost on green goes church i take boots off green runs freely what the fuck x)
-Well i got finally green down but now orange is threatening my main town i just need run before it gets there... orange backs off and i easily wipe him...
-Hmm... left corner underground there's god damn mushroom! blocking path...
-Done tricky map almost lost this...

Map 3.
-This was easy second time run well actually i didnt even fail this on first time... first time i explored hall map and almost lose it...
-Just checking where all those artifacts were getting tark and skipping days to get gold... i like this nyx creatures design...
-Done in the end i buffed Bibleys skills with grotto...

Map 4.
-Easy second time play... i didn't open those paths in middle just in case enemy tries come out of those... taking towns down one by one...
-Run run runing a round geting those nyxs... i like this map idea more than collecting those creature dens in campaign one...
-Done... good map design...

Map 5.
-Hmmm.... oops... Jeremy died few maps ago i remember having him first time...
-Sailing... sailing... sailing... sailing... sailing... sailing... sailing... sailing... sailing... sailing... sailing... AMBUSH! sailing... sailing... sailing...
sailing... sailing... sailing... sailing... sailing... Pol... Pol... Pol... where the HELL is Pols helmet!!! that fuzzy picture wont make any sense.... that Elvin the gray....
i mean... Elvin the yellow shirt might turn him to froggy anytime.... must get out this caves must find new helmet for Pol.... sailing... sailing... sailing... sailing... sailing... sailing... sailing...
-Blues troops got too big im trying to take their castle and wipe them with 7 days... didnt work they took my town... i got it back...
-Blue splits its troops and i manage take down their main hero...
-Damn... i summoned Bibleys only boat need to reload x)
-Done... that Ancient altar looks nice... very good map nice tricks on it...

Map 6.
-First time i didnt get this done enemy troops just got too big... this time tried to be more effective at start... i played this on Casmera main...
-Exploring and getting those lighthouses... blue hasnt got much troops i take its main hero down and going to claim its castle... blue wiped...
-Hmmm damn.... enemy just wiped Darmagen... oh nice i get him from tavern x)
-Well my troops and items are some big so i can just run round and take towns... done it last hero and town down... game end...

Well this second time this run was much easier i need to restart map only ones... i played it through 2 days i end up with 221 saved games... i end up saving lots cuz this was more challenging than those original releases... i would say this game is more fitting experienced players new players would probably get frustrated in this... my plan in this campaigns was just effective map clearing everyday... i dont like to use much heroes usually i have 1 main 1 secondary 2 scouts...
Had lots of new and nice stuff heroes, artifacts, creatures, buildings... campaign maps has good variety all bit different than other... sorry i didn't read any story but pictures and cut scenes were very fitting... all in all great sequel thank you for this!

[Pol]

HoTA - Horn of the Abyss FB homepage, where you can also find actual download links.

And quite a big discussion thread on HC about it.

Current version HoTA 1.4.2 can be download from here. And it's from 6/1 2016.

[Pol]

HotA 1.5.4 - Bug fix release

You can download it here.

AddOn purpose is to balance and polish the game, to fix various bugs and gameplay with respect to fair MP and SP. Be warned, there were changed many core things - the difference is huge. Certainly higher than between RoE and Complete. The mod is compatible with HDMod by baratorch and it's not applicable over H3HD RoE reshaped and republished by Ubisoft. This is free fan work, no one should sale it!

The changes include also map editor and work with map templates, check their FAQ for available templates. There's not a new campaign editor. And Arena mode is not yet introduced.

Their FAQ

Links:
VK Group — http://vk.com/h3hota
Dedicated section at the DF2 forum — http://forum.df2.ru/index.php?showforum=90
Our reference section that contains documentation and other info — http://h3hota.com
A topic on the English-speaking HeroesCommunity forum — http://heroescommunity.com/viewthread.php3?TID=39830
Dedicated section at the HeroesWorld forum — http://forum.heroesworld.ru/forumdisplay.php?f=319
Discord server - https://discordapp.com/invite/mvKnkVp

CHANGELOG:

HotA bugs
[-] The Pond of Gems has been fixed, previously designated as Gold Mine in the game files
[-] The possibility to repeatedly visit the Gazebo by a single hero has been eliminated
[-] A bug has been fixed where under a hero with the Sniper's Bow, a shooter stack would approach the opponent and shoot instead of attacking in melee, when so ordered
[-] The endless casting bug has been fixed for Satyrs and Leprechauns
[-] A bug has been fixed where the Resistance skill would sometimes lower the opponent's spellpower by 1 more than required
[-] A bug has been fixed where issues with pathfinding and route length calculating would arise for heroes on ships during the opponent's turn on multiplayer
[-] A bug has been fixed where the color of arrows designating the route (red or dark red) would not take into account the wearing off of the Fly spell
[-] RMG: A bug has been fixed where the maximum number set for the zone and the entire map would be calculated separately for all dwellings of the same creature
[-] A bug has been fixed where the required Shipyards would often not be spawned on random maps, most often with the 'Normal' water level
[-] A bug has been fixed where the Alt+F4 hotkey would not work
[-] RMG: Crashes tied to the overly long template description have been fixed
[-] RMG: No more than 48 towns can now be set per map (previously, exceeding this number would cause crashes)
[-] A bug has been fixed where the timer running out while on the spell selection screen in spell research would crash the game
[-] A bug has been fixed where the game would crash after entering the cheat code for increasing the contrast
[-] A bug has been fixed where an AI-controlled hero would begin moving in circles because of the incorrect evaluation of spells granted by the Aurora Borealis
[-] Town Gate now cannot be placed on water
[-] The hint featuring incorrect number of creatures to be killed when attacking a copy of a stack created by the Clone spell has been fixed
[-] A bug has been fixed where the cursor would remain artifact-shaped if it was so before exiting the exchanging heroes screen in a town
[-] A bug has been fixed where the ESC hotkey would cause issues with the exchanging heroes screen
[-] Fixed: the previously 'fixed' bug with the Faerie dragon spell frequency has been reverted, as it was found not to be a bug
[-] A bug has been fixed where the spells in Tower's Library could copy other existing spells when loading savegames made in pre-1.5 versions of HotA
[-] Some memory leaks tied to dialogue elements have been fixed

Gameplay
[+] If both heroes died as a result of a battle, they will not turn up in taverns, unless all other ones have become unavailable
[-] RMG: In the 6lm10a template, the unguarded 21–22 and 24–25 connections are now always land passages
[-] RMG: In the 6lm10a template, the frequency of Dragon Utopias has been increased from 100 to 200. A limit has been introduced: no more than 1 Dragon Utopia per player and AI-controlled player starting zone and the adjacent ones; no more than 2 Dragon Utopias per silver treasury zone
[-] RMG: In the Diamond template, all 4 roads from each player's starting zone are now mandatory
[-] RMG: In the Diamond template, the frequency of Dragon Utopias has been increased from 100 to 200. A limit has been introduced: no more than 1 Dragon Utopia per player and AI-controlled player starting zone
[+] RMG: Wide connections between random map zones now also work in the underworld
[-] The value of casting element protection spells by upgraded elementals has been decreased for the AI
[+] Faerie dragons now cannot aim Chain Lightning at allied stacks

SoD bugs
[+] A bug has been fixed where unoptimal hero route was traced that could change after several continuous clicks
[+] A bug has been fixed where the value of summoned creatures would become zero for the AI in the event that all other creatures under a hero's command would be killed; the AI would then cease attacking the summoned Elementals with magic, and in HotA, also with splash damage from Liches and Magogs
[+] A bug has been fixed for the situations where the hind hex of a two-hex creature's corpse would be covered by a one-hex creature's corpse; in this event, it would be impossible to target the big creature with the Resurrection and Raise Dead spells, even when pointing at its front hex
[+] The cheat codes for building up towns and reviewing the opponent's towns are now turned off upon starting a new game or loading a game
[+] A bug has been fixed where a combat would sometimes become desynchronized if one of the players had the Angel's Alliance on a hero not taking part in this combat
[+] A certain hero-clonning bug has been fixed
[+] A bug has been fixed where the game would crash upon starting a scenario with a random hero on the map, but no heroes available to the player
[+] RMG: A bug has been fixed where an unguarded passage could be blocked by a group of objects
[-] RMG: A previously missed instance of a bug where a Monolith, a Subterranean Gate or a Shipyard could block a land passage has been fixed
[+] RMG: A bug has been fixed where a wide connection between zones would sometimes not be created if a non-wide connection already existed there
[+] A bug has been fixed where the AI could enter a cycle when considering magical terrains during spell evaluation
[+] A bug has been fixed where a hero would neglect using a ship he/she summoned
[+] A bug has been fixed where another boat could be built in a town with a shipyard built right before that moment even if a boat already was there
[+] A bug has been fixed where hints about the reason of cast unavailability for upgraded Elementals and target immunity for Archangels would not appear
[+] Faulty hints when trying to order Archangels to resurrect themselves or a stack where no one had been killed have been fixed
[+] A bug has been fixed where Roland's specialty would affect Crusaders but not Swordsmen
[+] Reentering the cheat code to increase contrast now restores the regular contrast level
[+] The cheat menu now cannot be used during the video intro upon launching the game and the fading when switching between different game screens
[+] The cheat to build up the town now does not build Shipyards or boats in landlocked towns, does not skip decorative buildings and does not reset the number of hireable creatures in the town's dwellings
[+] A bug has been fixed where pushing an allied player's hero from the garrison to the guest hero slot would cause this hero to appear as changing allegiance to inactive players

Graphics
[+] New Conflux town sprites (Fort, Citadel, Castle, Capitol) have been introduced for the adventure map
[+] Faulty moat graphics have been fixed for Fortress town
[-] Blinking pixels by the horse's hooves have been fixed for the male Knight, female Necromancer and Witch combat sprites
[+] Buggy shadow has been fixed for the Pit Lords sprite
[+] Buggy shadow and a blinking pixel have been fixed for the Mages sprite
[+] The faulty Bone Dragon image on the Necropolis puzzle map has been fixed
[-] Vey, Luna, Ciele and Gelare portraits have been fixed

Map editor
[+] The incorrect position of Elementals in the creature lists has been fixed

Template editor
[+] An 'Anarchy' option has been added where turning it on will often allow visiting objects with the use of Fly without having to defeat their guards, and revert the bugfix to always place object guards correctly
[+] A 'Portal repulsion' connecting option has been introduced where turning it on will force the Monolith-enabled connection to spawn as far as possible from object guards, Subterranean Gates and other Monoliths
[-] A bug has been fixed where the order of object setup rules would change when editing several zones at a time
[-] The faulty exporting of *.jpg images has been fixed

Interface
[+] Hints has been introduced to be displayed when targeting a stack, showing the effect of damage spells, healing and resurrection spells and First Aid Tent healing, along with the number of remaining shots for caster creatures
[+] The hint about the number of remaining shots for arrow towers has been removed, seeing as they have unlimited shots
[+] The casting interface has been enhanced for the Faerie Dragons: the cast-shaped cursor will now replace the attack cursor only when the prepared spell can indeed affect at least one creature being targeted to the selected hex
[+] The game window will now not become unresponsible during generating a random map or loading a map
[+] Maps of non-standard sizes are now correctly displayed on the scenario selection screen

Miscellaneous
[-] A number of issues with maps, templates, texts and fonts have been fixed
[+] New map Daggerwin Valley have been introduced
[+] Templates mt_Andromeda, mt_Antares and Clash of Dragons have been introduced
[+] Map creation date format has been changed in the map selection dialog
[+] The limit for list length in the pathfinding algorithm that could lead to irregular behavior from the AI has been lifted


[!] - Important Information.
[-] - Bug and error fixes and changes to previous elements.
[+] - Innovations.

FULL CHANGELOG (EN/RU/PL) has been pinned by Docent Picolan here.

[Pol]

Factory has been hinted by Doc Picolan, see in the end:
https://youtu.be/HTXUglrxUQc

[ByteBandit]

I't's definitely not fair that HotA is listed under a WoG banner here on CH. It should have it's own banner. It has nothing to do with WoG at all. To me, it's more like an expansion pack for HoMM3 than a Mod. You know … RoE, Ab, SoD, and now, HotA. Then, really, WoG could follow after these games. That's more the proper order now.

[Panda Tar]

That's a fair point.

[Pol]

Moved up in forum hierarchy.

[ByteBandit]

Ahhhh…… Thanks for making this thread it's own thing. That's more like it.

HotA is incredible to me. Yeah, there may not be as much stuff in it as compared to ERA II, I agree. But I'm at the point where I'll give up a lot of stuff, for now, to keep the game more stable and more balanced than ever before. The game for me is almost virtually crashless. I've always liked reverse engineering in games anyway, Notably, Neverwinter Nights with the CEP (Community Expansion Project). It's the next best thing to the source code itself. I've been playing that Game for the last ten years and still play it now and then, but HotA… Good to see HoMM3 back again.
It's like you have to learn how to play the game all over again now, however, with the addition of HotA, because it's so balanced now. I used to just sail through the game with either Necro, Tower or Castle. But not so much anymore. With DD and Fly not so available as before, you really have to keep more concentration on what your enemy has and where they are as opposed to just sneaking around them. Really makes for intriguing gameplay. And all the other remaining sub par towns have a good chance to kick some butt now than ever before. I never thought I could ever win a map with Fortress, but there you go.
The newer artifacts are more like an "unbalance" to SoD than an addition. And I am not saying it in a negative light. It's nice to see Artifacts with negative luck and negative morale. It balances out all the positive ones prominent in SoD. Other Artifacts available are no so overpowering for overall gameplay either.
And the three newer neutral creatures seem like they have been missing all along rather than just a recent addition to the game. I only wished that the HotA team could've added a Mermaid much like those in H4, but it's a small loss I can live with.
The Creature Banks are a good balance to the other structures too. Nice to see.
And since the Cove town is obviously a Sailing domain, it's also good to see that HoMM3 now shows a little more emphasis on the water, where as before, I never cared much to get the navigation secondary skill or thought it so necessary. Now, it's not so painful. Especially with all the newer water objects that are available in the HotA Map Editor. The only thing I was surprised not to see in this package was a Campaign Editor. But who knows, ….. maybe someday. Again, a small problem, not a major one.
These are just some thoughts I have with this game. Hope to see some more from other people.
HotA is the greatest thing to come along since HoMM3 Complete was released! I'm not ashamed to say it.

[ByteBandit]

Just a quick note:

Go to the Wog Files downkoad page here on CH and get the New Interface Mod file. Manually put in every PCX file you can into the data folder. Next, get these files:

http://www.mediafire.com/file/b0i7s83nv ... 5D.sfx.exe

http://www.mediafire.com/file/rwuzbvjt8 ... 20.sfx.exe

http://www.mediafire.com/file/9ywhf08e8 ... 29V0.2.rar

Now you have most of the new interface look with HotA.

I also use my own Heroes portraits and I use the Vampire 'Blah' from H2. All very nice in the game.

[Pol]

Version 1.6.0 released!
* Resistance is back to choose from
* New Skill Interference is introduced
* Beautiful Wasteland terrain and decorations inspired by Heroes II (but without Factory town yet)
* New Quest conditions and triggers for AI-controlled player
* Specify Banks guards and rewards
* New Unit: Steel Golem

Full description of all features is here. Download link in the article.

[Panda Tar]

Cool. Interference comes as a good rebuke against magic heroes.

[Pol]

See Armadillo, new Factory unit in action

[Panda Tar]

Neat.

[Pol]

Version 1.6.1 relased, this is a bugfix release.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
HotA patch 1.6.1

Download link: http://download.h3hota.com/HotA_setup

[!] - Important Information.
[-] - Bug and error fixes and changes to previous elements.
[+] - Innovations.

HotA bugs
[-] Fixed a bug where the game would crash when an ally's heroes made an exchange in online play
[-] Fixed a bug where the game would crash when digging up a Grave in online play
[-] Fixed a bug where the game would crash after a new month's monster spawn on maps with many objects
[-] Fixed a number of bugs and memory corruption connected to creating a new boat
[-] Fixed a bug where the game would crash when reviewing a turn where a hero had been acquired from a sea Tavern or Prison
[-] Fixed a number of bugs and memory corruption connected to an AI-controlled hero disembarking a boat
[-] Fixed a bug where information on certain events would be transferred incorrectly to an inactive player during online play
[-] Fixed a bug where the pathfinding mechanism would misbehave due to the game failing to consider whether an inactive player's hero were on a boat
[-] Fixed a bug where Fangarms would fail to retaliate to all attacks in the first turn
[-] Fixed a bug where, upon death of a stack that had been cloned several times, only one clone would disappear
[-] Fixed issues with incorrectly converted campaign savegames made in old versions
[-] Fixed a bug where the Map Editor would crash when holding down Shift
[-] Fixed a bug where checking a map with a Grave would cause the Map Editor to crash
[-] Fixed a bug where objects would sometimes be displaced when opening map files made in old versions in the Map Editor
[-] Fixed issues with certain menu objects in the Map Editor
[-] Fixed the bug where Steel Golems would lack a tick after editing their properties in the Map Editor
[-] Fixed a bug where the setting for available factions in monsters would be read incorrectly from a Template Editor file

SoD bugs
[+] When checking the casting possibility, Spellcasters now consider all stacks instead of the first one on each side only

Gameplay
[-] Spawning points for Zombies were changed for Churchyards
[-] Warlock's Lab value was raised from 3000 to 10000

Graphics
[+] Small creature portraits were reworked and improved
[+] Some large creature portraits were reworked
[+] A Snow sprite was added for the Warlock's Lab
[+] Yellow battlefield grid was introduced for Highlands and Wasteland
[+] Campaign bonus resource icons reworked
[-] Campaign bonus icons were added for the Cove's Fort, Citadel and Castle

Interface
[+] Monolith/Portal and Subterranean Gate icons were added for World View

Miscellaneous
[+] Firewalk and mt_Firewalk templates were added
[-] On arena maps, event messages are only skipped now if they contain no text
[+] Incorrectly looped ambient soundbites for Sea Serpent Maelstroms, fire and two-way Monoliths/Portals were fixed
[-] A number of scenarios and texts were fixed

Source Discord - Klejnot Nilu

[Pol]

There's running live stream with AbsoluteZero, if you would like to spot up some HotA in action
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-WfsVxe25k

[cjleeagain]

See Armadillo, new Factory unit in action

Now THIS, I'm very interested in. But it seems kinda odd to have an armadillo from the Factory faction. Just because it has hard skin, doesn't mean it is a factory-made unit!