MOD: HoMM III.5 "The Days Of Silence" - Questions, Features, Announcements

[adamnavel]

ATTENTION: WE NEED A PROGRAMMER IN THIS TEAM IF YOU KNOW HOW TO WORK WITH GAME CODE AND WOULD LIKE TO JOIN TEAM LET ME KNOW IN COMMENTS BELOW OR PM ME.

UPDATE 29.08.2021
A large amount of work is done, 309 Monsters and their icons complete! In general, this video will be split into two informative parts. In one of them, in the first, I will tell you about the concept as a whole, in the second, the main part concerning the main video will be touched on - which you can now watch and ask, perhaps, questions about what kind of units are these, because here you will see a lot of new things. Namely, the second part will tell you about new units in fashion, their features, general information about mechanics, tactics, and the features of those concepts that I developed, not only creating and improving graphics, but also coming up with interesting abilities and mechanics for creatures.
VIDEO: https://youtu.be/AURN0OTCAu4


UPDATE 13.02.2021
The mod is gradually approaching the end in terms of editing models, at the moment progress in this regard is about 85%, there are a number of small adjustments with frames and the creation of about 120 more frames for 2 units, the main array of tasks in this regard has been completed. The next step will be to finalize the interface, icons, and other things, so far everything is somewhere at the level of 55% of the work done. Today, a small addition in the form of a video with a presentation of another unit of the Necropolis faction - the Necromancer (I was inspired by this theme thanks to the game Allods 2) well, in general, the concept of a * carcass * (reaper) was originally created by someone, I started processing and finishing the frames , the result can be viewed.
VIDEO: https://youtu.be/suhR4N1U7bE


UPDATE 18.11.2020
Finally my job on Dwarf Fraction (Neutral units update) is done! The idea behind this was to make a world of Heroes III wider, more beautiful, more dynamic and tactically variable, many of ideas comes from Might & Magic lore, and this one is not an exception. Dwarfs was a part of a lore, somehow there are not many information, but this universe combines itself fantasy and sci-fi both are a part of the world. I have my own minds about adding some steampunk concepts that will be a bridge between fantasy and techoligical things. And my concepts was released in a list of units and the names you can see: Sibyl, Dwarf Watcher, Dwarf Guard, Berserker, Rune Master, Steam Golem, Mimic, Mountain Executor, Turtle Cannon, Steam Dragon. In the video I did, you can check the gameplay, stats, skills, graphic and sound design on which I worked on few month:

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/GzpZHHWU_Yc



UPDATE 11.07.2020 Autumn Rampart redesign v1.0b
I did some graphical changes to old Autumn Rampart mod, combined it with original classic Rampart, but more detailed and rich in composition, added new Icons, changed and fixes few graphical glitches, added more transparency to layers, and made new background.
Watch review in this video (Also I can share this grahpic modification with community): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksldvY8vzBo&t=36s




UPDATE 11.05.2020 Review of new Necropolis Fraction units (12 new units for Necropolis)
Check this link https://youtu.be/DpAhZa_jctg
to see guide about new units and graphic updates of Necropolis fraction units, also I made some new sfx sounds for 3d models and added a small fragment of main theme (menu soundtrack) that you can hear at the beggining of the video. Work on project still in progress and I will try to keep updated community with a new information about development soon. Sorry for "google" voice in the video.

Finally, after more than a year of work on this project, I found free time, to do this thread and to show you something you might be interested in.
I always loved good old Heroes 3, SOT, AB, WOG, and new one HoTA. More than 10 years of work with Map Editor and endless love to this game. As a designer and music composer I was always desired to try myself in modding and at end of 2017 I started to work on my own mod called "The Days Of Silence".

G A M E P L A Y - V I D E O - T E S T S:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-0qu4PBTkU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cDVgCRKE7I

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1En7qH_hUJA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Md-VhBuAbiE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7PwK9vzGWw

The Days Of Silence is the MOD, the story, campign, between HoMM (AB) and HoMM IV about tragic ending of Enroth world, the great cataclysm that caused by Gelu and Kilgor when they fought with two warring blades. (You all know this is the opening trailer in HoMM IV) The campaign will consist from the history of several fractions Kreegans (Inferno Campaign), Necromantic Order (Deyja, Necropolis Campaign) and Krewlod (Barbarian Campaign) wich will consist of 8\8\6 Maps. A huge amount of new and old well know heroes will again confront the war for power, survival and the fulfillment of their secret plans. The campaign will have a lot of text and references to the well-known and related to the universe of heroes series of games called Might and Magic, and appear in game different new fractions like Forge, Conflux, Cathedral, Holy Legion, Northerner Clans. They all will take a part in campaign story and will be half available for single player.

This mod is created on platform HoMM MOP (Master of Puppets) v2.12 which gives a convenient opportunity to edit the game code using the programming language Phyton. (Big thanks to the one of the developers that explained me a lot about programming and software for editing mr. Ричард Десфрей [Richard Dethfray]) New code features allow add to the game a lot of new content, abbilities, spells, town rules, dificulty scaling etc. So I decided to work with this code, not ERA or WOG (the last of which I know very well and regret that there is still no way to use the good old way of modding individual maps, although according to the authors of the mod, which formed the basis, it can still be done somehow) [if you work with phyton and MoP let me know how it possible to use because ZVSE triggers doesn't work].

What this mod will offer to player?
- New game mechanics
- New battle tactics
- More than 500 decorative objects for map editor to make game more atmosphere
- A lot of new monsters, with special abbilities of different levels. Neutrals, fraction monsters
- New artifacts with new abbilities
- New spells and redesign of some old spells
- 3 new campaigns
- Single and hot-sit maps
- New music and Video trailers
- New sounds for monsters and environment fx's

I do this mod for free, when have free time with a great desire to create a truly beautiful organic addition that will not be inferior to the original and will fit beautifully into the general atmosphere, giving players a lot of new interesting fractional objects and interesting game moves. A lot of materials for the work were borrowed from various archive libraries and collected in different forums, many of the objects or animations were improved or redrawn by me. New unique animations, objects and interface elements were also created.

This mod can't be installed on any other mod or platform and will be a distinctive individual. There is no specific date of release, because the project is in work, and after 1.5 year only 38% done, slow work, due to the fact that I do it in my free time, if possible, but try to devote at least 3 days a week to the project. Since the main part of the time now is working with the graphics and design of the project, there is not much time left to work with text content, however, the first campaign has already advanced to 3 scenarios, and the text and game messages, storyline have already been wroted before the end of the first campaign (Inferno).

Here is some screens of game UI update and new maps I'm working on or have already finished.















This is not the final UI design some elements still doesn't been changed and require more work on brightness ballence. To emphasize the darker atmosphere of this add-on, I decided to add more Gothic and darker elements to the design, from this the general gamma of the interface prevails in dark cold tones, and also contains a lot of different mystical symbols.















All new objects allow to variy fraction environment, for example Arena has new clone Demonic Altar wich is also gives +2att\+2def but looks better for Inferno fraction on lava, similar changes added to different fractions. New objects was also created for campaign story to make it more truth and realistic. More water objects and new bank objects allow to collect more artifacts and resources throughout the game and some of this objects can be truly challenging at late game, where Dwarwen Treasury can't grant truly great challenge and reward to main hero. Game allows to have more than +100 A.D.S.K. and to have more skills. Game contains all well known 8LVL DW and also a lot of WOG units some of them was updated on graphic. Also more new different level DW from 1 to 10 lvl. From now on Azure Dragon not alone on olympus of most dangerous and rare monsters.















New units also has new abbilities, for example Hell Fafnir (Inferno Dragon) [lvl10] is a full berserk unit, that cast berserk spell on itself and targets around, can fly, strike foes that passes by and adds morale to Inferno fraction. Magical Dragons [lvl3] can cast meteor shower by 3 times, you can choose to strike magic or to use melee attack. More higher level unit has more new and interesting abbilities for rare and valuable units you really have to fight. Full list of monsters will be added to game with teaching aid document PDF where you will find a list of all game changes. (Someday) But if you want to know more about game units just let know about it in this thread, and I will try to post more.

My own artworks:
New portraits for Campaign heroes:



New Forge fraction dwellings:


New Forge fraction mines:


New different fraction objects (from left to right - Inferno Garrison, Inferno Garrison Magic, Pirate Ship, Hell Seal, Destroyed Elf House, Destroyed Elf Stables, Wood Mill):


Void Dragon:


Immortal:



As you can see interface is on Russian language, I'm a guy from Urkaine, so I choosed this language for mod, but as soon as all will be finished for early alpha I will start to add a translation on English. Big thanks to all other mod teams, who share their knowledge and metarials that helped a lot in my work.
PS. Sorry for my English.

Update 31.12.2019
Added castles animation and changed some things graphically. 5 Campaign maps finished. Map Editor update. New decoration objects added and some bug fixes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDOF-3i2z4A

[adamnavel]

Few new screens

[Pol]

Fingers crossed for all that hard work, it looks superb

[adamnavel]

Fingers crossed for all that hard work, it looks superb

I pray to gods of Enroth to finish all this haha

[adamnavel]

NEW SOUNDS AND GRAPHIC IS HERE: VIDEO

It's time for another big update. I already noticed about some changes on youtube in the last two videos I posted there.
So I decided to do a lot of rework with a LVL8 WOG creatures concepts that almost old as a time itself haha. Yeah I seen a lot of variations, many people have updated it graphically, some re-color of models and icons but I was looking for something more for this part, as all this units and mechanics was included in the MOP mod by default and I already did a lot of work on my own project based on this engine, I have no choice that made it perfectly in my opinion and someway made my mod more authenthic from another. I took some public placed models (like Darkness Dragon and HellBaron) added new frames, created new big and small icons that will fit to models, also created few my own and the most important from all of this, I created completely new soundset for every 8Lvl creature and now they sound different from 7Lvl which is good I think.



Supreme ArchangelSeraphim
I have two ideas what to do with a basic Archangel, first concept was - to do Seraphim older with gray long hair and red armor, later I decided to add a crown to basic model, but later I felt that this is too pretentious.
And in a few days I started new concept. Yeah basic WOG model was also good, but something you made by your hands always look and feels better So first of all I added gold helmet maded from a few layers, rendered it frame by frame. Than you can see on the picture, that armor has some texture, this is a "Star Armor" I think it's a good concept because as you know lore of M&M tells us a lot about what is exactly "Agels" and "Archangels" are. So it's cool futuristic sci-fi armor and stars in that armor is static while model moves, it creates very weird and beautiful effect. The next one I added texture of light rays to the wings to made it more "glory" and brighter than original one. All this steps took about 3-4 days to do it, and then I began to work on small icons and sound set. I took few basic sounds that will be familiar to people who played H3 and new sounds, mixed and layered old + some new and here u go, familiar but new style concept BTW you can hear all of sounds I made just by checking the video, I don't know how to post things like this on forum.


Diamond Dragon
I took one of the variations from web, very love the style that was made by some good person, It looks much more closer to a graded white elven units than basic "Blue" version of WOG Diamond Dragon. Later I created new big icon for it that are same as Autumn Rampart refix I maded for mod. And for this concept I spent a lot of time working with sounds, there was some quality issues before I was satisfied by a result.


Lord of Thunder
I took original Giant model for reworking and a bit changed armor, seen many respray models but wanted something my own, so reworked sword and amulet and also added some graphic to boots. New icons etc.


Hell Baron (Antichrists)
Very old model from hub, it inspired me to made few more own 3rd level upgrades for Inferno fraction for campaign, new icons also maded for this one. Also new dwelling included to this mod for them.



Blood Dragon
Just swiped basic WOG model into another, very nice one, I decided to made sound set that will fit to this very bloody creepy dragon, blood splash element while move, very hard n wet hit, and some fraglie ghost sounds in defense stance etc.


Darkness Dragon
Have same idea and was happy to find someones made it first, just did few own frames to polish graphic and also created icons and sounds.


Ghost Behemoth
No changes here, very happy with this one, becomes translucent when moving so all I wanted to do here was add sounds.


Nightmare Hydra
It was pretty well made recolor by someone, who also changed attack frames to fire breath, but I felt that it was too dark, too contrast and painful for eyes, so reworked light on model and think now it looks better.


Sacred Phoenix
The basic idea of this model I created a year ago, but was not sure if I was experienced enough to do all the frames well and synchronize the graphics of the movement of the fire and the base model. Therefore, I returned to this idea in the summer, it took almost 18 days to do everything as well as my understanding of graphics allows me.


Aspid Mirage
To develop the idea of upgrades, I decided to also add an 8 lvl for the Asps, which are the seventh level of the city of Cove. it took some time to ballence them with other 8lvls and also to create new icon and made it's own sounds different from 7nth level a bit.

[cjleeagain]

This is very exciting, but I hope you can get teammates to work with you. Otherwise it is too much work and will take forever to be finished!

I keep watching out for H3 and H4 updates, because have long since given up on Ubisoft ever producing anything that I like.

[cjleeagain]

I just watched the video.

In general, I liked it and feel very positive about "The Days of Silence". The music was nice too. I don't know what to think about including all the WOG inspired stuff, since not really sure how it impacts balance.

I'm a bit worried that you have too much to do. If you're looking for a programmer at this point, then this mod still needs a lot of work.

Remember that perfection isn't the goal. Nobody can make a perfect game to make everybody happy. Admittedly I am somewhat itchy for a good Heroes game now...

[adamnavel]

I just watched the video.

In general, I liked it and feel very positive about "The Days of Silence". The music was nice too. I don't know what to think about including all the WOG inspired stuff, since not really sure how it impacts balance.

I'm a bit worried that you have too much to do. If you're looking for a programmer at this point, then this mod still needs a lot of work.

Actually there is not a lot of things to program, the original authors of Master of Puppets engine did a very large pool of mechanics for magic, artifacts, map objects, and created few very comfortable programs to work with mod. The only thing that mod requires is restriction few MOP mechanics and clean few bug fixed, it does not requires any new code, only to fix.

Thanks for your attention to this mod. Well it is already few years in develop, and yeah for a one man it's too hard, but I have full plan what and how to do, and just keeping clean the plan list step by step, I hope it will be ended in a year or two maximum. Depends actually on how much free time I will have, because I work on few jobs, so you know if it was like a bit more free time to spent on it, then I would definitely have finished it before this year.

[cjleeagain]

Would it actually be possible for you to break this mod down into more manageable pieces and start by offering beta version for public testing?

I'm an author myself, and I also have to consider things like pacing and foreshadowing and what not.

So not doing everything in one shot makes things easier on you. It makes it easier on fans like me who hate to wait another 2 years. And it makes it more likely that you get a huge population of beta testers who can give you feedback that you can't get from working only with your own current computer.

And then you can do what Heroes traditionally does - have two expansion packs or more! Or release new campaigns only later!

That way everything doesn't have to be done at the same time. You can have more time and feedback to work on balance.

Balance is not just important, it is ultra important.
In particular I am hoping that you will consider some changes to Inferno and Conflux to ensure that they have balance.

[adamnavel]

I will post beta versions and invite beta testers for ballence for sure. It was in my plans, I know that ballence is very important and solo I can't count all the nuances and cituations in gameplay.
But any of this, will be done, only after I do most part of mechanics fully ported from files to game archives to be working propertly.

[cjleeagain]

Really wish you the best, Adamnavel! I'm no programmer myself; can barely even code basic spread functions!


Some units that probably deserve serious tweaking in H3.5:

Now I'm looking at this from Blizzard's point of view. Like when they balanced Warcraft 3. They basically check that all units receive usage. While not all units needs to be used equally, a unit that is persistently ignored and sidelined and never sees battle, is probably not an attractive unit to hire. Conversely, if everybody tries to get a certain unit, then it seems to be overpowered.

So with that in mind, lets consider the following:

Zombies - they are never used and basically just function as free experience by almost all players. Maybe make them cheaper, or tougher, to make it worth hiring zombies.
(Personally I never hire Zombies. They are too slow!)

Inferno - is too weak due to lack of hit points. They are very vulnerable to enemies who can inflict spell damage. Someone on this site once did an analysis of Heroes 3 factions by hit points, and Inferno had the most expensive units for the hit points you get.
I think the simplest solution is to increase all inferno units' hit points by 10%, except for the Efreet Sultans who can stay the same. Then let your beta testers see if it works.

Fortress' top unit, Chaos Hydra, is not that strong. It's the slowest Tier 7 unit, yet it also has among the lowest hit points. A Hydra in mythology is very hard to kill. I think you should consider increasing its hp to 300. Even though Hydra actually has low cost, most people aren't going to use it because by that point, you might as well spend more to get better units.

Phoenixes - grow too fast in normal H3. But if you cut the growth to 2 per week, Conflux becomes underpowered. Because After Tier 1, 2 and 3, Conflux is weak. Furthermore Conflux has many vulnerabilities that take double damage from spells, so human magic hero will kill the elementals very easily. So one solution is to cut the Phoenix growth to 2 per week, but to strengthen Conflux's mid tiers.
Energy elementals should get 5 hp more, and Magma elementals should get 30hp more. If you have high HP Magma elementals (without increasing their damage and other stats), that already functions like how Earth Elementals normally are like in H4 or H2: modestly damaging, slow, and tough to kill.

Peasants - they are seriously a joke, much as in H2. In most cases, peasants are not even worth attacking for experience, since they give so little experience. I'm wondering if there can be some changes made to make it worth hiring peasants.

[adamnavel]

Check the huge video update in the title UPDATE 29.08.2021

[cjleeagain]

I looked at your video, and wow!

As you said yourself (in the translated subtitles, at least), you're a one man army.

Doing everything.

Whew!

But I do hope you won't take forever to get this done! I think there's no need to do videos featuring all the level 1-10 creatures as you suggested. Fans will do that for you.

[adamnavel]

Not much fans, so don't know if someone will do this but hope yes, at least I'm not doing videos every week, so do not waste a time on all this endless uploads, just a few times per season, to let people know that work goes on.

[adamnavel]

A small update on the schedule before the new year, as well as a video from the map editor in the link below: Archi-Lich (grade 3) Cost: Basic 550 600 1100
The photo below shows the redesigned unit model, updated death graphics, armor colors, staff design, skull, animation / lens flare colors.

Last Video of 2021:
Map Editor, Map Work:

[adamnavel]

Hello everyone, due to the war, I had to postpone all my business for a long time. But a few weeks ago, I returned home and decided to continue working on the mod as much as possible. There are 2 new videos. With a map consisting of neutral factions as the main storyline for 6 players (Necromancers, Magical Elves, Dwarves, Elite of Erathia, Nomads and the Underwater Kingdom). In one of the videos, there is a little passage of the map itself, in the second, the first test against a live human player.
Kings and Queens Map (PvP) gAbrie11 vs SPACEsPICE


Kings and Queens Map overview and gameplay

[adamnavel]

Hello people all around the world, want to share some updates on mode job. I worked on heroes portraits and icons, trying to make some nice job through AI + my own Photoshop skills to get the best possible result and make it close to original as possible. Here's some of my works on screen. If you interested to see how was the process done use a link to youtube video where I'm doing editing (it took about 5 days for 50 Icons) now I have few sizes from ultra large to small. All this will be added to my mod.
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