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Interviews/Previews |
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| Interview with H5 music composer Rob King | Interview with H5 artist Oliver Ledroit |
| Click! (Polish Gaming Magazine Article) | AG.ru review |
| CPRG.ru review | |
| Heroes of Might and Magic V Preview: Gamespot | |
| Computer Gaming World-magazine review from e3 | |
| HoMM V developers answer to questions by Heroic Corner | Heroes of Might and Magic V: Sir Mullich's Preview |
| Gamers Temple Preview: HOMM V at E3 | 1UP.com Preview of Heroes of Might and Magic V |
| Inside Gamer Online Preview By Kevin VanOrd | May 21, 2005 | Gamespy Preview By William Abner | May 20, 2005 |
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Gamespot |
My HoMM5 review, by Platypotumus |
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1.Why were you contacted to work on the first HOMM What attracted you to the project? Were you familiar with the heroic-fantasy universe? 2. Is this the kind of game you play? If yes, is there a chance to meet you online? What's your nickname? |
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TRANSCRIPT OF INTERVIEW WITH
OLIVIER LEDROIT |
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CLICK! (Polish Gaming Magazine article) As translated by CaRoSh on the Ubisoft forums Classical patten for playability in new,
pleasing graphic setting -HoM&M V has a chance to win, not only
veteran, but also new players, hearts |
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As translated by
JetJedi
on the Ubisoft forums
I do not see special sense to translate whole
article. It is THE SAME but is worse written. I shall result only one
very interesting piece about tactics of conducting fight: |
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As translated by JetJedi on the Ubisoft forums
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Heroes of Might & Magic V Q&A and Profile PreviewThe Academy Faction
We talk with creative director Alexander
Mishulin about Heroes of Might and Magic V, and we profile the unique
creatures of the Academy faction.
Since it's the latest chapter in the popular fantasy strategy series, there's obviously a lot of interest in Heroes of Might and Magic V. However, there's also some apprehension, since Heroes V is the first game not to be designed by series creator New World Computing. Instead, Russia's Nival Interactive has the honor of delivering the latest Heroes game, and the studio is trying to blend the rich story and tradition of the previous games with some new elements, most notably a 3D graphics engine. We have some of the first unit details in the game, and we profile the Academy faction in this preview. But first, we caught up with creative director and codesigner Alexander Mishulin to ask him about Heroes V. The game is scheduled to ship early next year for the PC. GameSpot: From what we can tell, the Academy town and its inhabitants seem very similar to the original Wizard town of Heroes II and the Tower town of Heroes III. Why was the decision made to keep the town similar to its original versions? Alexander Mishulin: As Heroes of Might and Magic V continues the famous series, each game faction has something similar and familiar about it, and the Academy is no exception. This is an evolution, not a revolution, so fans of the Heroes of Might and Magic series should feel comfortable in the fifth game, yet have something new to explore. Besides, the Academy has always been differing from the other factions with its tactic focus on ranged attacks and magic, thus making it unique and interesting from a gameplay perspective. Plus, the titan is one of the all-time favorite creatures of the Heroes of Might and Magic series, so the world of the fifth game would not be complete without him. Still, we changed this faction a little bit, to make it more cohesive. Now the Academy is the hometown for mages, who summon or construct other creatures: djinns, titans, golems, and so on. GS: Could you tell us about how the unit upgrade system will work in Heroes V? Will players be forced to choose between two separate unit types of the same tier of development, similar to Heroes IV, or will they simply be able to build all units in a town, provided they have the buildings? Will existing units have to be upgraded manually by visiting a town? Will individual creatures earn experience points to gain levels instead, like heroes? AM: For the unit upgrade system, we chose the proven scheme of the previous games of the series. You need to upgrade a dwelling in your town (for which you need to meet certain requirements, such as owning enough resources or having built smaller buildings), after which you can buy upgraded units from this dwelling. To upgrade already acquired units, you need to enter the town which has a corresponding upgraded dwelling or to enter a special building on the adventure map, the hill fort. There is also a specialization that is exclusive to Haven heroes, who can upgrade any human-based Haven units to any other human-based Haven units (which of course requires godly amounts of recourses). Creatures do not get experience. Yet, you can increase the creatures' parameters by other means. For example, Academy heroes have the unique ability to create "miniartifacts" for their creatures, granting them better offense, defense, or speed. GS: Could you explain how unit generation will work? Will new units become available from unit-producing structures daily, like in Heroes IV, or will they only be available weekly, like in Heroes I-III? Will there be random astrological weeks that will cause certain unit-producing structures to produce extra units, or "plague" weeks that will cause fewer units to be produced, like in the earlier games? AM: Unit generation happens weekly, as it produces an additional inside cycle in the game. Of course, some may say that visiting town every week in order to get new units is not convenient, but this provides for a better balance. Weekly generation better fits the whole concept of the series: traveling, adventures, and fights. This way, after a big army defeat, you will have to plan your actions, say, whether you should stick around to the closest city, gathering the resources and waiting for the next army to generate, or whether you should ride full speed to another town. The number of units "being born" each week depends on many factors: the buildings in the town (not only dwellings themselves, as there are certain buildings affecting unit generation), the captured buildings on the adventure map (say, if you have a peasant dwelling on the map, it will also slightly increase the number of the peasants in the town), and "astrology." If a week is announced to be a week of a certain creature, the generation of these creatures will increase. There are also other pleasant and not so pleasant events associated with the beginning of a next week. GS: Seeing the different factions raises the question for us--how will morale and other factors affect different units in the game? Will armies still receive morale bonuses if they contain only units from the same town, such as all Academy units? Will morale bonuses still give units additional turns, and will luck still grant units critical hits? AM: Heroes of Might and Magic V will certainly incorporate morale and luck like previous games, although they will also face some changes. The gradation of these parameters will increase (in the previous games they had gradation of 3 maximum and -3 minimum). If an army consists of units of one faction, its morale increases. If there are units of different factions (or under a hero of a different faction), it will have some penalty on morale. The amount of penalty depends on the relations between the factions. For example, an army mixed of Haven and Inferno units will have relatively high morale. Morale can also depend on other factors. For example, Undead units are generally not influenced by morale. As there are certain changes in the game mechanics, morale does not give an additional turn; it affects the unit's initiative, giving it the ability to move sooner next time (it kind of gives an additional half of a turn). And luck grants units critical hits, allowing them to make much more damage than usual. AM: All our heroes have colorful distinctions, both in their appearances and in their gameplay characteristics. We don't divide the factions into "strictly might" and "strictly magic." They are more likely to be "more magic" or "less magic." And sure enough, an Academy hero, being a native of a mage town, is "more magic." For example, the hero has a rather high knowledge parameter that gives him more spell points. There is also a unique ability for heroes of each faction. I have mentioned the ability of Haven heroes to retrain the units into other units. The unique ability of an Academy hero is to create small artifacts (we call them miniartifacts) for his creatures, increasing certain parameters of his army. There are also some special abilities that are available only for heroes of a certain class. For example, Academy heroes can increase the spell points cost of their opponent's spells. We really tried to reflect each faction's profile in the way it's played, and we feel that this really increase the depth and consistency of the whole game--both from the gameplay and universe perspectives. GS: Thank you, Alexander. |
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REVAMPING
THE M&M UNIVERSE
~~Erwan~~ My
name is Erwan Le Breton, Might & Magic Content Director at Ubisoft. My
quest is to build the new world of Might & Magic that will be the
setting of all the current and future M&M games produced and / or
published by Ubisoft. And
my favourite colour is red (for those with an unhealthy obsession for
the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow.) Outside
of Ubisoft, I’m a published writer, author of a dozen pen & paper
RPGs, children’s novels, and comic books for various French
publishers. ~~Richard~~ I’m
Richard Dansky, Might & Magic World Designer at Ubisoft I’ve
worked on numerous games for Ubi, including Far Cry, Ghost Recon: Island
Thunder, and Cold Fear, and before that I contributed to roughly 130
roleplaying books for White Wolf. I’ve published four novels,
including the fantasy series The Trilogy of the Second Age, and various
other bits of fiction. Outside
of work, I enjoy building large wooden badgers, and running about with
silly knees-bent advancing behaviours.
There
are several
reasons for this. 1.)
The world used as a background for the Might & Magic games
has often changed from
one title to the next (Varn, Cron, Terra, Xeen and then Axeoth with
Enroth, Erathia, Jadame, Cheh'dian, etc.) As
a result the consistency between all the M&M games was a little weak
and the overall background was vague, if not flat-out confusing at
times. We want to have a single, deep world that’s consistent across
the board and has layers of story and content that players can just dive
into. 2.)
There was just so much information in the world that it was difficult
for new players to really embrace everything that was there. The mass of
backstory and continuity was almost intimidating, and we wanted to
create a world that new players could enjoy as well. 3.)
As much as we enjoyed the original M&M worlds, they had a certain
science fiction undertone, while we really wanted to focus on the
fantasy aspects – the “might” and “magic”, as it were. Those
games were also “lighter” in tone than what we had in mind for the
new generation of M&M games. Again,
we really loved what was done in the past, so it simply made sense to
respect that and build our world from the ground up, focusing on
capturing the core essence of what drew as all back to Axeoth over and
over, rather than try to modify things that people really loved and
enjoyed.
The
more obvious aspect is that we are still in “high fantasy” world,
ripe with valiant Human knights in shining armor, mysterious Elves
lurking in the woods, savage Orc tribes raiding the frontiers, Undead
armies gathering in the dark of the night, and all that good stuff. But
of course, in our new implementation, expect to find more than one twist
on the canonical representation of these elements. J Then,
we decided to keep the Factions that made the Heroes line so
popular. By “faction”, we mean the city / nation / race coalitions
known to Heroes fans as Haven, Inferno, Academy, Dungeon,
Stronghold, etc. Many of them will be back, some with a familiar aspect
and “philosophy”, others with a bunch of surprises up their sleeves! Soon,
we’ll be revealing loads of exciting stuff on the factions, but for
now, here’s a quick rundown on the first two: Haven and Inferno. Haven:
The Humans of the Holy Griffin Empire are inspired and guided by angels.
It’s a feudal society driven by the rigorous edicts of the Dragon of
Light – not any place you’d want to be a heretic. Picture an
ironclad alliance of Arthurian Britain and Victorian England and you get
a general idea. Oh, and did we mention the Spanish Inquisition? Guess
not… Inferno:
Imprisoned between worlds by the legendary wizard known as the Seventh
Dragon, the Legions of Chaos want out in the worst way – and we mean
that literally. Destructive, hateful, vicious, sadistic – that’s
just a warm-up for these guys. Even worse, they’ve got a plan, and
that’s where things get really interesting. We
preserved the epic quality of the former M&M titles, which drives
the player to experience fantasy on a grand scale and participate in
world-shattering events. The actions the player takes impact the whole
world. We
were also determined to maintain the
ambiguous oppositions and moral choices which made the M&M
narratives so compelling. Indeed,
rather than a striking opposition
between Good (Light) and Evil (Darkness), there has always been,
in the former M&M games, a balance of the opposites, with most
characters painted in shades and grey (ie: fully fleshed out personalities,
covering the whole spectrum between radiant benevolence and wicked
villainy instead of square-jawed caricatures). Nobody
is all good, and nobody is pure evil. Any character (and the heroes
above all) could choose to be a villain or a hero at the moment. It’s
a lot like life as we know it.
First
things first: we want to make it deep, consistent, and exciting! By
“deep and consistent”, we mean giving the world a sense of history
and of scope. The universe shouldn’t feel like it was shiny and new
and unwrapped just for the game. You
might not see all the background that’s being built in Heroes 5,
but it’s important that it’s there – that sort of continuity
informs everything else, and lets you know that the world doesn’t end
at the edge of your mission map. As
for the “exciting” aspect, well, expect to re-discover all of the
familiar fantasy places and races, with countless subtle touches that
will spark your imagination. Chief
among the races you’ll see will be our Dragons, who are, literally,
the base the entire universe is built on. They are a vital part of every
aspect of our world – from the cosmology to the nature of magic, to
religion and the way people talk day to day.
Our
first task is to design a common background: a brand
new fantasy world complete with history, geography, politics, culture,
etc. Then,
we build a common “identity”: a tone, an atmosphere, a style that
will permeate all the facets of any future M&M products from the
global concepts (dramatic themes, general mood, etc.) to the more
specific details (graphic codes and symbols, musical leitmotivs, etc.). Finally,
because we are talking about games, we must also create a common set of
“core rules”: What is mana and how do we use it? What are a paladin
or a fireball in our world? These things seem pretty basic, but you
really need to nail down your definitions early – it’s amazing how
many things can cascade off of simple things like this.
We’ve
been heavily inspired by seminal fantasy
authors like J.R.R. Tolkien (of course), but also Michael Moorcock, Guy
Gavriel Kay, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, Glen Cook and George R.R.
Martin. These are authors whose worlds and stories are both epic and
tragic, with the perfect balance of horror and wonder.
Let
us say that it’s time for Dorothy to ride the dark whirlwind and leave
the gentle light-hearted fantasy of Axeoth behind. Ahead lies a world of
blood and shadows, of jagged blades and voracious flames, of sweet lies
and bitter poison… That’s
where we’re taking you, and the best part is, you’ll gonna ask for
more J
Olivier
Ledroit is a French Comic book artist, very popular in Europe, best
known for his first series Les Chroniques de la Lune Noire (“The
Black Moon Chronicles”, 1989-2005). He
has more recently worked with the British writer Pat
Mills (of Marshal
Law
and Slaine fame)
on several “dark horror” series such as Sha or Requiem. Olivier
is an extremely talented artist, and his dark baroque fantasy universe
was one of our main graphic inspirations for the new M&M world. So
the logical step was to ask him to contribute on the project, and you
easily imagine our extreme excitement when we he accepted the assignment
J For
more info on Ledroit, check out his interview and bio.
Simply
because Heroes 5 will be the first M&M game published by Ubisoft,
and as such, will really lay the bases for the “reborn” brand J So
the events of the single player campaign you’ll play in Heroes 5 will
have direct repercussions in all the M&M games to be released in the
coming years. Here is where the avalanche starts, and it’s going to be
a hell of a ride down.
In
the future M&M games, we will deal with the “apocalyptic”
consequences of the main plot featured in Heroes 5. We
will also expand the “known world” to include new Factions (5 are
currently planned). And
we are already thinking of a “prequel” saga that would let you delve
into some of the more obscure mysteries of our world. There’s
an awful lot of backstory, culture and history in the world we’ve
created, and we want to give you a chance to explore it. This is, of
course, another way of saying we want to share all of the cool stuff
we’ve been coming up with, because, well, it’s cool and we’re just
naturally both a couple of show-offs. It’s still cool, though. Honest.
Let’s
just put it this way – when a child is born in a way that contravenes
every known law of the universe, it might be time to start worrying. And
Isabel was that child. She’s a beautiful woman of noble birth, the
only child of her parents’ old age. Her
upbringing was rather lonely — she had nannies, tutors, and maids
rather than siblings, parents, and friends. None of them could have
prepared her, however, for what she’s about to go through. Now
that she has come of age, she is promised to Nicolai, the young ruler of
the Holy Griffin Empire. But
Isabel is not destined to find happiness. Her fiancé will die, her
world will crumble, and, well, you’ll just have to see what happens
after that. It’s going to be one hell of a honeymoon. As
for her portrait, well, picture an immaculate apple-blossom frozen in
its delicate beauty and purity by an early, unnatural, frost, and set to
a sharp, metallic twig... This is what Isabel looks like…
I
think that the best praise we could get for this new universe is that it
“feels strong and it feels real”. All
of the different factions have very good reasons to justify their
existence and their ongoing struggles with the rival nations. All
of the characters have legitimate motivations and credible mindsets. The
drama is tight, focused on a long chain of major events that covers
millennia of spoken myths and written history. Everything
is related. Every action has its consequences, sometimes hundreds of
years later. And the Magic is there, stronger than ever and ready to lead you to places you’ve never seen before. |
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July
2005 F.A.Q. for Heroes of Might and Magic V By
Fabrice Cambounet, game producer. This
FAQ is intended to clarify current information on Heroes of Might &
Magic V. It is targeted primarily to fans, who raised a number of
questions regarding the current development status, and was designed
with the help of community leaders. -
There
hasn’t been a lot of information revealed so far about the game since
it was announced, will there be more information soon? Since
the game was announced in March, we’ve been working very hard on
developing the game, trying out new ideas and testing features. Because
it’s still so early, we want to make sure that we communicate
confirmed game information and features. We
are bringing many great improvements to the game, and our priority is to
make the right decisions and implement them, so we want to make sure we
don’t talk about features that might never make their way to the final
product. -
Which
towns are in the game? There
are six towns in the game, two of which were revealed at E3: humans and
demons. Other towns will be revealed later. What you can expect in the
remaining four towns is a completely new one and a bit of shake-up. -
What
will happen with the old Might & Magic world? We
decided to create a completely new world, so we know and can control all
aspects about it. This is really a huge investment, and, I think, a
testimony of Ubisoft’s involvement in the license. There are quite a
few people here dedicated to the crafting and rebirth of the Might and
Magic world. The
main reason for creating a new world is to avoid any mistakes or
inconsistencies with previous titles: there wasn’t a complete bible
for the old Might and Magic universe and because we were missing
information, we would have run the risk of making critical errors in
recreating the old universe. The
other reason is that we wanted to create a deep and dense world, in
which we would be able to ensure better continuity—starting with Heroes of Might & Magic V - and decide what goes on in the world
or in the scenario. -
Why
are you simplifying the game? Though
we’ve never said that we were simplifying the game, I’ve read this
in some forums. I understand that fans have concerns about Heroes
gameplay that they have enjoyed in the past. The truth is that the game
is not being simplified compared to previous versions. The fact is that
we’re making a game that is easier to access, and faster to play. We’re
working on a tutorial to help new players get up to speed (precisely
because this game has a great deal of depth), along with a detailed
world and intricate storyline. It
also means working on the game ergonomics and making multiplayer faster
to play. Not seeing some interface or lengthy text doesn’t mean the
inner structure was simplified, just that it will be easier to navigate
in the game. -
Is
this game just Heroes 3 in 3D? No,
this is Heroes of Might and Magic
V in 3DJ.
Now, this is a tough question. The fan community is clearly divided
between Heroes 3 and Heroes 4.
Both games have good ideas, and neither completely takes the lead over
the other. Early
in the production we discussed where we wanted to go with the gameplay.
We looked at how things were handled in previous games to see if there
was a way to make it more interesting and if there was room for
improvement. In
many cases—like with 3D, towns, world, scenario, campaign, and others,
we made huge improvements for the new game. In other cases, the debate
raged for a long time before we reached a solution that was balanced and
understandable. For instance, we were faced with the question of “to
be or to not to be on the battlefield” for heroes, so we designed an
intermediate solution where they can enter the field to do specific
actions. We also added some new elements, of course. Most of them will
be optional so you can play the game the way you like. Battles, for
instance, can be played in turn-based or in dynamic mode. There are also
many small elements in battles that will increase the tactical choices.
In other areas, we stayed true to the tradition: stacks, resources, turn
structure, etc… Finally,
in the great realm of multiplayer gameplay, there will be a lot of new
features. There is a mode where you will be able to play, even when
it’s not your turn to play! This is a revolutionary mode for
turn-based games. So, all in all, I believe we are making a real step
forward. J -
Why
this particular graphical design? We
want to update the look of the series, while keeping the core principles
of its rules. The game must be recognized as a Heroes game at first
look. We wanted create a lively world with many details and for it to
have a medieval flavor, with bright colors, shiny items, bold heroes,
fearless units, and impressive towns. The look of the game is inspired
by many modern sources, from all parts of the world. These sources have
been used and adapted by artists to create a more epic version of the
previous games. -
Why
are heroes out of the battlefield? This
is one of the most difficult decisions we had to make on the gameplay. Heroes
4 proposed a new take on heroes by including them in the battles.
This created new possibilities: More than one hero could be in an army,
an army could be without a hero, an army could be made of heroes without
any creature. This
was a bold step that also created an imbalance: fresh heroes were poor
beings to protect, while stronger ones could wipe out whole armies by
themselves. Unless the growth of heroes’ power was removed, this could
not be balanced. But it was a great idea, and we looked for ways to stay
close to it. Believe
me, many options were considered, and we agreed that the current one
fulfilled all criteria. It is a mix of both versions that can be tuned
and balanced, it allows the hero to act on the battlefield, gives out
new options with the hero growth and allows different actions for
different factions. That solution means that heroes, although having the
ability to fight on the battlefield, are mostly commanders: They need an
army at all times, and an army needs a commander in the same way. -
What
about the retaliation system? We
went for the alternate system of battles. It offers more tactical
opportunities—you have to time and plan your actions, in order to get
the clear advantage of being the attacker. Plus, it is certainly easier
to understand visually, with less action and info jumping at you at the
same moment. -
Is
there no fog of war? Of
course there is one! It was removed from the E3 demo, only to allow us
to show the different areas of the map. -
What
is this hero’s trail? This
is a new feature of the game. Each hero will leave a sort of trail
behind him, enabling others to track him. This trail will be different
for each race, and it will grow in size with the hero’s level. Thus
you will be able to judge who has come by in an area. -
What
is the size of the battlefield? And how does it vary? The
default size of the battlefield is similar to previous games, in terms
of the number of cells. It will switch to a smaller size, if both armies
are small (with few stacks). The goal here is to play small battles
faster, to speed up the game, especially the first encounters. You can,
however, easily force a large battlefield, if your strategy requires it,
by having more stacks. Sieges will be played on the largest version. -
Is
the combat completely automated? No,
it is not. This impression could be coming from the E3 demo. We removed
all interface from the battle phase and all controls. This was done to
get the best sequence of action, and elaborate better cameras. We
didn’t want to show the control system at this stage. -
Why”
less of this” or “more of that”? Heroes’
discussions are often a fight of figures. How many creatures? How many
spells? “My skill system has more choices than yours,” that sort of
thing. Although these elements are an important part of the game
(especially when considering the number of missions or number of towns),
this is not a complete picture of the gameplay. A better system, with
more strategic choices, leading to more ways of playing, does not
necessarily rely on more items. So,
for sure, in comparison with previous games, there are areas where Heroes
of Might & Magic V will have “less than”, or “more
than”. When this is the case, it was a deliberate choice to do so.
This may have been done because the underlying system works well,
because it will be easier to balance, or because this area of the game
has a specific level of importance compared to the rest. It can also be
that we want to have some room left to expand on for the future. -
Will
there be open beta testing? There
will be different beta tests, with a different number of seats and
different objectives. There will be at least a closed one, which will
include a good number of fans, and we are planning for an open one later
for a larger community. More details will be announced, and the first
beta test should open in late summer. -
What
are these “random events”? What about that dragon appearing at the
end of the trailer and the E3 demo? That
was a cliffhangerJ.
This was done to round out the end of the sequence nicely, with some
surprise. Perhaps it is also linked to the story…I’ve read wild
speculations about this being a gameplay element using random
appearances that could break the game flow. This is an assumption based
on a rumor, of course. -
What
are these “year-old” screens that popped up on the net? The
game development started a long time ago, way more than one and a half
years now. A few external people were allowed to have a look, and some
leaked these very early screens over the Internet and broke personal and
contractual trust. The important point to remember is that these
elements are so old that almost all of them are outdated. The game has
progressed a lot further, so these screens do not represent what the
game is like today. In
conclusion, there are still many good things ahead until the game
releases. We are releasing the first wallpaper which features the
“Godric” artwork by Olivier Ledroit, who works with us on the
artistic direction of the brand. We will be featuring an interview with
Olivier soon, so stay tuned. |
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Heroes of Might and Magic V Preview: Gamespot When it appeared 10 years ago, Heroes of Might and Magic quickly established a loyal and fervent fan base, thanks in large part to its addictive and deep strategic gameplay. Heroes of Might and Magic was a turn-based strategy game that let you control a fantasy race, build up a fortress city, and then raise armies in an attempt to conquer a magical realm. It was so good that it led to four sequels, including the upcoming Heroes of Might and Magic V, due out in 2006. Heroes of Might and Magic V is a step in a whole new direction in a number of ways. First, it's being developed by Russia's Nival Interactive, as opposed to longtime series creator and developer New World Computing. Second, it's being set in a whole new environment. To get the latest details, we caught up with Ubisoft producer Fabrice Cambounet and assistant producer Thomas Le Grand. GameSpot: How do you feel Heroes V was received at the Electronic Entertainment Expo by the press and the fans? Fabrice Cambounet and Thomas Le Grand: We received great feedback and incredible buzz from fans, retailers, press, in the official forums and communities, and even other developers and publishers. Everybody wanted to know more about the game, and it seems we managed to deliver what they were expecting. Fans are always eager for one more bit of information or one more screenshot, and many journalists seem to be fans themselves. The Heroes franchise is still very strong and very popular. According to the feedback we received during the show and in the forums, it seems we are on the right track to make a great game that any Heroes fan will be proud of. GS: Are the new factions starting to take shape at this point? Is it safe to compare the strengths and weaknesses of returning factions, like the humans and the inferno town (which seem to strongly resemble the castle and inferno towns of Heroes III), to previous versions of them in previous games? Or are the factions being changed significantly to add more variety, since there are fewer than there were in Heroes III or IV? FC & TLG: Indeed, the factions are really starting to take shape at this point of the development. Most of them are already playable, and they look and behave very nicely. From the outset, Ubisoft decided to revamp the whole Might and Magic universe into a revolutionary modern fantasy. So, we have created a brand-new world, with a new mythology and, of course, new factions. As a result, the current factions are not directly similar to the ones available in previous games. Since we have a new cosmogony, a new philosophy, a new world, and a new magic system, it is really hard to compare them. Nonetheless, as you pointed out, we decided to respect the franchise legacy. We have kept some of the most emblematic features, like, as you mentioned, the haven faction partially resembles the previous castle faction. We believe that subtle familiarity is great for the game and its fans. We wanted to remain consistent with the legacy and respect the heritage. We also have some surprises for you, such as a never-been-seen-before faction. In addition to this new world and the new factions' composition, we also worked on an improved gameplay. This means you will find a new balance and new strengths and weaknesses, as well as specific abilities in order to let the players set up several tactics and strategies in Heroes of Might and Magic V. GS: We've seen from the E3 version of the game that much of the classic overland exploration remains, such as finding treasure chests that can be converted to gold or experience, resource nodes like lumber mills and gold mines, and monsters guarding artifacts and gateways. Can we also expect to see underground, or perhaps, multiple layers of underground exploration? Will there be overseas navigation, as in the previous Heroes games? What other enhancements or additions are being made to the exploration aspect of the game? FC & TLG: To keep some things a surprise to fans like yourself, we can't reveal a lot of the content of the game. We can say, however, that the exploration part of the game will be as detailed as it was in previous games, and better. Thanks to the detailed 3D world that is being built, you can spend a lot of time simply exploring and discovering regions of the map. Hopefully this will not distract players from actually conquering enemy towns, but, in any case, this will greatly improve the experience of playing the game. GS: Could you discuss more details on the role of hero characters in the game? As we've seen, heroes will return to their positions off the battlefield (rather than on it, as in Heroes IV), and they will still be able to learn different types of skills, such as combat abilities or advancing in different schools of magic. Will each hero still have at least one distinct, inherent advantage (such as, for instance, an attack bonus with a specific kind of unit) or possibly multiple advantages? How else will their roles be expanded and enhanced? Will they be able to learn larger numbers of skills? FC & TLG: Heroes are the center of the gameplay of course, and their roles remain critical in winning battles. They will be able to enter the battlefield at some point, for specific actions, which will depend on their race. These types of actions will be gained during their growth in power. The skill and magic system implemented in the game are fantastic new takes on the previous games. It will feel familiar when you choose the progression of your heroes, and leveling up is as simple and quick as before. You will also discover new ways of expanding your capacities. GS: What can you tell us at this point about the strategy involved in creating armies in Heroes V? In previous games, players would often be faced with the choice of hiring larger armies or buying specific town upgrades; or hiring a few units instead of waiting an entire week for a larger army to become available. In Heroes IV, players were actually forced to choose between certain army types (such as choosing between minotaurs and evil eyes, for instance). Will these features all be back in Heroes V? How else will the strategy behind building armies be changed and improved? FC & TLG: At this time, we can't say much about the strategy details. This is the core of the game and more will be revealed later, once all the factions, creatures, and towns have been unveiled. GS: We've seen from the combat demonstration at E3 that, for instance, armies that don't have a first strike or other ability will attack simultaneously--a change that was originally made in Heroes IV that had a subtle effect on strategy. Then again, a lot of the appeal of the Heroes games has been about strategy that lies just below the surface, like the strategic effects of abilities like hydras attacking all nearby units, or sprites not eliciting a counterattack (and therefore being very dangerous in large numbers, despite being relatively weak). Will the game have the quick-resolution combat option that Heroes IV did? FC & TLG: A major addition to the gameplay of battles is that you will choose how you want to play: either remain in a turn-based mode or increase the action and pressure with a dynamic system. We decided to add more time pressure in the game for more thrills. In this mode, units will slowly get ready to move, and when they are, they will do so at once. Everything will keep moving, and the enemy will not be waiting for you! We have developed several tools and a brand-new interface that wasn't shown at E3, which will make this experience very intuitive. This will also be helpful for the classic turn-based mode. Thus, you will have to discover how to use creatures' and heroes' abilities in the best way in order to overcome the opponent. The underlying tactical choices will still have a great influence in Heroes of Might and Magic V, perhaps more than in previous games. GS: Can you reveal any more information on the game's multiplayer modes? Traditionally, the Heroes series' multiplayer, while enjoyable, could often be so time-consuming that only highly dedicated fans played it for very long. How will the new multiplayer enable everyone to participate? FC & TLG: That's indeed one of our main objectives: We have to deliver multiplayer game modes that are fast and exciting, but still be tactically challenging. There are a lot of different ideas being incorporated into the game to make it faster and more appealing in these modes. For example, we will provide a lightning-fast mode of play for one-on-one action; fate can be decided in just 15 minutes. In another mode, you will still have a vast array of actions to perform, even when it's not your turn to play. This will be a revolutionary mode for turn-based games, and it will prevent any downtime in multiplayer games. GS: How far along is the game at this point? Are the different factions still being implemented, or are missions still being created? What is the team working on now? FC & TLG: The development is on time, in full-speed production phase, for our early 2006 release. We are now testing a lot of new stuff (maps, creatures, etc.) each week, while continuing to search for any possible improvements. This is why opinions and requests from the fans are useful to broaden our views. GS: Finally, is there anything else you'd like to add about Heroes V? FC & TLG: Our objective with Heroes of Might and Magic V is to unify the fans and communities as we begin a new series and era in fantasy strategy games. In the coming weeks, we will reveal lots of details about the game: races, creatures, and story. Stay tuned! GS: Thank you, gentlemen. |
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DEV
TEAM’S AMBITIONS
First of all, could you introduce yourself? Hi,
my name is Alexander Mishulin. I am Creative Director of Nival
Interactive and one of the game-designers for Heroes of Might and Magic
V. Why did you want to develop the next Heroes of Might and Magic game? Was it important for you? Of
course, we are very excited about developing the next Heroes of Might
and Magic game. We have many fans of the series among our team (actually,
most of
them are J).
But besides this desire we also had a great experience in game
developing, including games in TBS genres and/or fantasy universe. We
really felt that we COULD do the next Heroes of Might and Magic game,
and that we could do it good. And
now we are trying very hard to make it as great as any fan of Heroes
series would dream of. What is your ambition for this title? From what we heard so far there will be few innovations regarding the core of the game. So where is the challenge for you and what can we expect? Our
ambition is the “Best PC Game” of the year – the “Best
Strategy” at least.
J
Heroes
of Might and Magic V is not just transferring the old gameplay into 3D.
The game has enough innovations in it to keep several game-designers
occupied for a couple of years. We tried to make the gameplay more
mature, with even more strategic and tactic choices, with more complex
yet still clear schemes and structures. On the other hand, we wanted the
fans of the previous games fell themselves at home in the new game with
all these innovations. This is our biggest challenge, and although the
game has not been played by outside gamers yet we can already see that
we succeeded with that. Etherlords, Silent Storm, and now Heroes… Your teams seem to enjoy turn-based gameplay a lot. Could you explain us why you appreciate this way of playing? What are - according to you - the advantages/disadvantages of it vs real time? Turn-based
genre gives you time to think the situation over and to implement the
best solution possible. So I would call it the most thoughtful gameplay
among all genres. Of course, real-time strategies also make you think
but because you are tied with the time factor you have to do it fast –
and usually you really can’t afford wasting the precious time on
tactics, you think more global, building your strategy. Yet because it
TBS so time-consuming it is not as dynamic as RTS, and this is its main
disadvantage in our present era of speed. It is especially a
disadvantage in a multiplayer mode, when you wait not for the computer,
but for another human brain, that is thinking over all combos possible.
That’s why we are focusing on making the multiplayer in Heroes of
Might and Magic V dynamic, smoothing the waiting time with various
means. What is your vision of the Might and magic universe? How will you translate it into the game? I
would describe it in two words: dark and epic. By “dark” I mean that
the world of Might and Magic is more mature, with more complex relations
between “good” and “evil”. If you remember the first Heroes of
Might and Magic games they had very cute and cartoon-like graphics. In
the 3rd game the graphics became more “grown up”, yet the
general atmosphere was kept fairy-tale like. In Heroes 5 we want its
universe to be not a fairy-tale but a world as complex as our real world
is. And here we come to another word describing the new Might and Magic
universe – “epic”. We are making the Might and Magic universe more
large-scale, deeper and more global. Even the plot of the game is more
epic and more serious. Have you been influenced by other movies/books/games? How will that translate into the game? Our artists have made a great job on studying different cultures and different periods of history. In creating new images of towns and creatures they took them as a base – say, human race reflects the period of Medieval Europe, and everything, from the look of the warriors to the architecture of the towns is more or less kept in these frames. You’ll meet such references to various cultural heritages in the game, starting with ancient myths and up to the Decadence of the beginning of the 20th century. Talking
on influence by some fiction, I should mention Lord of the Rings we
surely had been thinking of. Not like we tried to follow it in some way
- although you’ll find a couple of references to it in the game (since
these universes have some cross points up to some creatures, such as
elfs or orcs). It’s rather some sort of a standard we were trying to
meet. We were greatly impressed how epic, mature, and “dark” this
universe is, and consider it to be one of the absolute examples of the
fantasy universe. What in your opinion are the features that make the Heroes series that unique and addictive for players? I
will tell you my point of that, although I’m sure that everybody will
be able to name his own reason for his love for Heroes of Might and
Magic. J
I
would say that the main reason why the series has been so popular is the
freedom in strategic and tactical solutions of the player its gameplay
suggests. You can fully concentrate on tactics and take a deep analyse
of the battlefield options, or you can play only on the strategic level,
leading your heroes to victory - or
you can keep in mind both in any proportion you like. Because of its
depth on both tactical and strategic levels, the gameplay of Heroes is
very flexible providing each player with the opportunity to play “his
own Heroes” the way he likes. Yet despite this complex structure the
gameplay is also simple enough for anyone to understand it intuitively
and to dive into this world. It really is the best strategy set in a
fantasy world of all times! And we are keeping these best features of
the series – even with all the innovations the game will be as
comprehensible and addictive as the previous games of the series. Could you explain us the process of designing the creatures in Heroes 5? What did you keep from the previous titles, how did you translate that into 3D, what was your objective when you created/adapted the new designs? We wanted to populate new universe with some new creatures as well as keep there the creatures that made this world real due to their vivid personalities J . We studied different forums to identify the creatures that gamers loved the most. These creatures are kept in the game. Some of the creatures from the previous games are kept in the new game but they have been “moved” to other towns (factions). And surely some new creatures have been added, kept in the traditions of each particular faction. All
the creatures were redesigned from the very beginning in all the
aspects. Since the graphic standards of Heroes of Might and Magic V are
much higher than in the previous games, we drew new sketches even of the
creatures that had been in the previous games of the series. Creating
their new image we definitely kept in mind the way they had look before,
plus the general style of the faction they belong to – plus the inner
vision and inspiration of the artist, of course. We also developed new
animations, new sounding and new effects for them. Many creatures have
also got some new abilities, so there was some work for game designers
too. How do you tune the gameplay on a game of this scale (over 100 creatures, 200 skills, 40 spells…)? Well,
we have already had an experience of balancing some large scale games
– Etherlords, despite its numerous creatures and spells and their
rather complicated relations, has a very strong balance. Coming back to
Heroes, I would say that we use standard mechanism of balancing –
mathematics at first, then we implement it to the game, when we try
everything over and over, when we use playtests and beta-tests to make
sure we didn’t miss anything. Plus there already are some balance
schemes from the previous games of the series that can be a good base
sometimes, too. How will you handle the AI in the game? I
won’t be able to give you the programming details, so I’ll tell
about handling the AI from the game designer’s point of view. J
We
studied thoroughly the AI of the previous games in the series,
especially in the third and the fourth parts and took the best features
from there. We also took as a base expert opinions, especially as one of
our game designers had been a pro gamer of Heroes of Might and Magic
having a huge experience of multiplayer gaming, so could give us very
much valuable expert estimations. Because of more tactical varieties the AI has to do much more analysis now. Say, you can point your griffins a cell they should aim at after some time, and should they meet an enemy’s unit there when the time passes, they will make a big damage to it. However, if there’s no enemy’s unit there, it will be count as a miss and you’ll waist your turn and effort. So you should really think deep to use this option to the fullest. The same goes for the AI as it has to analyse the present situation on the battlefield and possible ways of its farther development. Then it points the future aim to the griffins based on this analysis. This is just one of the examples of how analytical the new AI needs to be. |
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Computer Gaming World-magazine review from e3 It’s
Your Move Publisher: Ubisoft Developer: Nival Interactive Genre: Strategy Release Date: Q4 2006 Heroes of Might and Magic V Back with a vengeance? The charitable assessment of Heroes of Might and Magic IV goes something like this: It was a train wreck. With napalm. And some anthrax. Sharing the ignominy of our Coaster of the Year booby prize with the similarly hapless Might and Magic IX, the two alleged games combined to ring what sounded like a definitive death knell to one of our most favorite franchises ever. But now, there’s a glimmer of hope that bell may be unrung and the Heroes part of the Might and Magic franchise will be snatched back from the abyss. And who is braving the inferno to rescue our beloved? Nival Interactive, the geniuses behind last year’s riveting-until-the-robots strategy gem Silent Storm. Respect for the Dead If a die-hard Heroes fan were to question Nival on taking over the game from the dear, departed New World Computing, he could not help but walk away pleased—at least with the company’s ideas for the game. While the developers are reluctant to spill too many details this early, they’ve got all the right answers. Will the maps still be packed with resources, items, and goodies galore? Of course. Will there be subterranean levels on the sprawling maps? Sure thing. Will there be scads of maps, slews of creatures, and hundreds of hours of gameplay? You bet. Will you be able to toggle the hexes and movement info in the battlefields? Done. How about a map editor for creating your own scenarios? Already working on it. And will they be ignoring the debacle of HOMM4 and instead look to HOMM3 for inspiration? Thankfully, happily, a resounding YES. All this happy retro news doesn’t mean that Nival is settling for a quick and dirty remake. One look at the astounding graphical update will clue you in to that. Gone are the flat 2D maps of previous HOMM games—this one features a rich 3D world that is bursting with life. It’s a surprising addition to the HOMM franchise, but not so surprising considering the source: The amazingly detailed Silent Storm engine was one of the highlights of 2004. Fit to Fight Gameplay will be classic HOMM fare, with your stable of heroes amassing armies and gathering experience as they charge about the map. The game will switch to the now-classic battle map mode for conflicts, and heroes will (unlike in the fourth installment) return to their rightful place behind the battle lines and not engage directly in combat. Again, the graphic update makes its presence felt, with robust and colorful combat animations giving the battles a more muscular feel than previous iterations of the game had. With all this classicness going on, it’s nice to know that Nival still feels free to experiment. Along these lines, there are plans for five different online modes. As great as the HOMM games have been, their slower pace left multiplayer somewhere south of riveting. HOMM5 is slated to feature an “active-time” battle option that will speed up multiplayer games and not leave you sitting for huge blocks of time, waiting for your unseen opponents to battle hordes of NPC critters. This game won’t be out until winter 2006…if Nival stays on schedule. That’s a long time from now and a lot can change, a lot can go wrong. That said, this is the turn-based game we simply cannot wait to play. The 5 Essential Turn-Based Strategy Games X-Com: Ufo Defense While you must develop, finance, and maintain a global alien-fighting organization, the heart of this game is its tense, gripping squad-based battles, with your teams battling an ever-escalating alien menace. A huge RPG component adds even more strategic depth. Oft imitated, never equaled, X-Com is the gold standard for squad-based tactics. Sid Meier’s Civilization III Until Civ IV, this is the best Civ ever. This version added even more depth (most notably in the effect of culture), more civs, more advances, and more wonders of the world to create an infinite number of play possibilities. The richest, most accessible 4X game is the definitive “just one more turn” time sink. Heroes of Might & Magic III Beautiful, sprawling maps are packed with goodies, dangling so many carrots on so many sticks that you’re compelled to keep playing and building your empire. Easily understood but challenging military face-offs where even pixies can kick your ass make HOMM3 the king of fantasy strategy. Silent Storm Released just last year, Silent Storm blows you away with incredibly deep squad-based action coupled with an intricate layer of RPG gameplay. The gritty WWII setting is spectacularly rendered in an amazing game engine that brings the world to life and makes the environment a crucial gameplay element. Jagged Alliance 2 Aliens and unicorns just not your thing? Then Jagged Alliance 2 should be. Like X-Com before it, JA2 melds a metastrategy game with squad-based combat, only with a decidedly down and dirty feel as you command a squad of hardened mercenaries to liberate a totalitarian state. Civilization IV The world is your oyster The videogame pooh-bahs of the world could excrete nothing but real-time games until the end of time, but as long as the Civ series exists, turn-based games will never be dead. The latest installment of this venerable series is slated for release later this year—but you already knew that, thanks to our exclusive preview last issue. Just as you also know the multiplayer, the A.I., the graphics, the structure of government and religion, and the combat are all getting serious upgrades. What don’t you know? Just how many hours of your life this time-chomping monster is going to consume. The answer: a lot. Start clearing your calendar now. We’ve basically set aside all of November, December, and January just for this. WPUBLISHER: Ubisoft
DEVELOPER: Nival Interactive GENRE: Strategy RELEASE DATE: Q4 2006;
WPUBLISHER: 2K Games DEVELOPER: Firaxis GENRE: 4X Strategy RELEASE DATE:
Q4 2005; WPUBLISHER: TBA DEVELOPER: Imaginary Numbers GENRE: MMO Fantasy
RELEASE DATE: Q4 2006; WPUBLISHER: 2K Games DEVELOPER: PopTop Software
GENRE: Tactical Military Strategy RELEASE DATE: September 2005 |
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Q & A with Nival Developers on Nival's Forum Translated by Sikon Q: How would
you define the main innovation of the project? |
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HoMM V developers answer to questions by Heroic Corner Translated by Ruuh_Allah from Ubisoft H5 Message Boards
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Heroes of Might and Magic V: Sir Mullich's Preview by David
Mullich Heroes
V E3 Preview
David
Mullich was the Director of Heroes III, Armageddon’s Blade, During my annual
pilgrimage to E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo), I could not resist
finding out how Ubisoft was doing with the game that was my love and
labor for nearly five years. Finding the Heroes V demo
proved to be about as hard as locating Heroe’s grail object. The
Ubisoft booth was tucked away in the corner of an enormous hall that was
also home to the behemoth Activision, Electronic Arts and Vivendi
Universal booths. Then, it took me several minutes to find the Heroes V
display, which was set aside in a back corner, barely noticeable next to
the attention-grabbing Peter Jackson’s King Kong theater.
(Fortunately, there was a second demo station for the best turn-based
strategy game of all time at the more prominent Games For Windows booth,
where E3 adventurers are more likely to discover it). Indefatigable Heroes V
producer Fabrice Cambounet gave a short, well-rehearsed game demo to
visitors, two at a time. Because the noise from nearby games was
deafening, visitors had to wear headphones to hear Fabrice’s demo as
he spoke into a microphone headset. When it was my turn to don a
headphone, Fabrice asked me if I had ever played a Heroes game before.
“A little bit,” I replied, then quickly glanced down to verify that
my name badge was visible and wonder if he would recognize my name
without me wearing Sir Mullich’s big floppy hat. If he did, he
didn’t show it. Fabrice began the demo on
the town screen for the human faction, whereupon the camera began
encircling the town, which was being rendered real-time in gorgeous 3D
graphics. Heroes creator Jon Van Caneghem had long resisted the urge to
take the Heroes series from the realm 3D because he felt that technology
was not powerful enough to render artwork as beautifully as pre-rendered
2D artwork. Well, let me tell you, based upon what I saw, technology has
finally reached a state where I think JVC would have been satisfied.
Many of you old-time “Heroes” players will be pleased to hear that
the color palette had been changed back to the cheerful hues last seen
in Heroes 2, before I introduced the grittier “extreme fantasy” look
of Heroes III and Heroes IV. The town was a
fairy-tale-style medieval village of about a hundred small houses, in
the middle of which was a very tall sky-scraper-like castle with tall
turrets built adjacent to the walls and elaborate structures sitting on
top. After admiring the visual splendor, I began to wonder about
gameplay. Fabrice described this as a “fully built town,” and as
there were no user interface elements (buttons, icons, indicators,
roll-over text) anywhere on the screen, I didn’t get any hints of what
town construction or the build-tree was like. I did see what appeared
to be an Angel generator and another high-level creature generator on
top of the castle, but where was the mage guild, black smith and grail
structures? If the town included these buildings, was Ubisoft adhering
to the Heroes design principle that you should be able to tell (or guess
at) the function of an object just by looking at it? I worried that a
lot of the turrets and structures looked indistinct. Fabrice went on to say
that as the player built up the town, more and more houses would appear
around the central castle. While we did something similar in the
previous versions of Heroes, there appeared to be many more dwellings in
this fifth incarnation, and I wondered if the functional structures were
too-tightly packed in a too-small portion of the screen. Granted, this
was now a real-time 3-D game with camera zoom controls, so the
functional portion of the town could take up as much or as little screen
real estate as you choose, but the previous versions of Heroes had shied
away from the idea of zoom controls on the belief that the camera should
remain at an optimum, fixed position so that you always be shown
everything you needed to see and interact with during that turn without
worrying about zooming the camera to the proper distance. My concern about camera
placement and gameplay grew when Fabrice transitioned to the adventure
screen, which showed the mounted hero waiting at the town’s entrance
at a high zoom level that reminded me of the over-sized graphics in
Heroes I. Now, before I alarm
anyone with my concerns, let me bring several caveats to your attention.
First, this was a demo
made for an E3 audience, which consists of buyers and press who have a
very short amount of time to be dazzled. So, I’m sure that everything
shown was set up to be as visually impressive as possible and may not
represent final gameplay. Second, this is a
work-in-progress. Fabrice said that the game would be released in Spring
2006, so there is still a year’s work to do on it. Much has not yet
been properly adjusted or even initially implemented, and I have no
doubt that Ubisoft will eventually undergo lots of gameplay testing, and
they will adjust anything that they discover needs to be adjusted. Third, watching a game
being played is not the same as playing it yourself. You really can’t
tell what works and what doesn’t until you spend time at the controls
yourself. Finally, making sequels
is a tricky business, whether they are games, movies or books. To be
successful, you need to make enough changes to make the sequel different
enough from the original to make people want to buy it too, but without
changing it so much that it loses what made it popular in the first
place. Worse, technology and taste change over time, and what made the
original successful yesterday may no longer be popular to the audience
of today. Sometimes you guess right about what combination of changes
will work (Heroes III, if I may be so bold) and sometimes you don’t
(Heroes IV, anyone?) Getting back to the
adventure screen, the graphics were gorgeous. While the camera was
zoomed in closer to objects than in the last few Heroes sequels, the
graphics were also more detailed. The mountains had much more texture to
them, the branches of trees swayed in the wind, and the lava pits glowed
and flowed very realistically. As I mentioned above,
your army is still represented on the adventure screen as a hero on
horseback and the town is still represented as a castle surrounded by a
wall, although the castle’s details change as you build up your town.
When you click on the adventure map, your route is still traced out by
arrows (still looking very much like the solid-green arrows from Heroes
II) following a hexagonal path. As has been noted in
other previews, the user interface has been reduced down to just a
mini-map in the lower left-hand corner and an end-turn button surround
by information screen buttons in the lower right-hand corner. Gone are
the gold and resource indicators, buttons for quickly accessing your
various armies and towns, and indicators showing what creatures your
currently selected army consists of. The interface was streamlined
“for simplicity,” but I wonder how having less information on the
screen will affect the game’s strategic and tactical depth as you play
it. Fabrice first moved his
army to a nearby windmill, which told me that the game still has
resource generators. When the army arrived, a symbol representing the
player’s forces appeared over the windmill to show that he now owned
it. For the first time I noticed that this symbol also appeared on the
player’s fluttering flag. Where player’s no longer represented by
colors? No, the mini-map showed town and resource generator ownership by
color. I then looked back on the symbols on the army flag and above the
windmill and saw that they had a tinge of the player’s red color
around them. I wonder whether the use of both a color and symbol will be
as easy to “read” as just using a color to represent player
ownership as in previous Heroes. Fabrice then moved on to
a treasure chest, which offered him a choice between 1500 gold and 2500
experience (if I recall the numbers correctly). He next went to an
experience obelisk, at which he leveled up. As a Level 11 knight, he was
offered a choice between two “Skills” (diplomacy and pathfinding, I
believe) and two “Attributes” (logistics was one, I think). Fabrice
said that the pop-ups were less wordy than in Heroes IV (a good thing, I
say), although these particular pop-ups looked to me about as wordy as
their Heroes IV counterparts. As I looked at a nearby
river as was pleased to note a whirlpool present, an (unmounted!)
Inferno enemy hero approached and engaged me in battle. The game
transitioned to the combat screen, which Fabrice said was incomplete and
did not yet have the movement grid and battle options buttons found in
previous versions of Heroes. I did note that there were stack numbers
set in teal-colored boxes next to each troop on the battlefield. For Heroes V, the heroes
have been moved back off the battlefield and no longer participate in
combat other than to cast spells. (That’s probably a good thing.
Although I was the one who championed putting heroes onto the
battlefield in Heroes IV, I’m not convinced that that actually added
much to the game and perhaps even took away from it). Each side had four stacks
of creatures in its army. The humans had among it troops archers,
griffins and cavalry while the flame-engulfed Inferno army had devils,
hellhounds and two types of demons. The real-time 3D creatures were
detailed enough that I think JVC would have been pleased, although
things like helmets, shoulder guards, gloves and swords were over-sized
for my tastes. The armies were closer
together than we have seen in previous Heroes; Fabrice said that when
armies with fewer stacks fight, the battlefield is reduced accordingly
to make battles go more quickly. I wondered how this change would affect
the tactical distinguishments between walkers, shooters and fliers, as
well as movement point balance, particularly with a mix of high and
low-level creatures. When battle commenced, I
was reminded of the Playstation 2 version of Heroes, “The Quest for
the Dragonbone Staff”. The camera would automatically shift to show a
close-up of an attacker firing a weapon or hero casting a spell, and
then immediately cut to show what happened to the victim. The camera
placement was usually very good, and it felt more like watching a movie
than playing a game, although the addition of a moving camera did
concern me that it took away from the chess-like experience of previous
Heroes games. The creature and spell
animations were all very good, although they had a feeling of being
incomplete. Sometimes creatures popped into animation sequences rather
than smoothly transitioning into them, and some of the spell effects
seemed to be lacking start-up or end animations (like a puff of smoke
when a creature was incinerated) that would made some spells more
dramatic. I didn’t see any of the graphical icons we used in previous
Heroes that communicated what the spell actually did (for example, a
magical bolt being deflected off of a mirror to denote Magic Mirror). However, the demo ended
with a nice visual treat of a smoking bone dragon suddenly fly out of
nowhere and land in the battlefield and blowing everyone away. After Fabrice finished
the demo, I quickly introduced myself to him, congratulated him on
making such a magnificent looking game (which it is) and wished him well
with the finished product (which I do). However, there were other people
waiting to see the demo, and so my time with Fabrice was short. While
I did have some concerns about some of the design decisions I saw in the
demo, I’m going to give Ubisoft the benefit of the doubt and keep my
fingers crossed that next year we will have another great Heroes game to
play.
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Gamers Temple Preview: HOMM V at E3It’s been a little while since strategy gamers have had the chance to play a new Heroes of Might & Magic game. The turn-based fantasy series was known for providing gameplay that was simple on the surface but addicting and challenging to play. Well the long hiatus is over and fans of the original series can look forward to playing the newest incarnation of their beloved games in full 3D while those new to the games will have the chance to experience the pleasure of a Heroes of Might & Magic game for the first time. The first thing that stands out when you see Heroes of Might & Magic V (HOMMV) is the stunning 3D graphics. The units, heroes, cities, and entire gameworld are rendered in full 3D with a level of detail never before seen in the series. You’ll be able to zoom in on structures, artifacts, monsters, treasure, and more, rotate the camera to view them from any angle, and examine the high level of detail of all of these objects. Resource locations appear abandoned and in a state of disrepair until they are captured, after which they return to life and become fully animated as they begin producing resources. Gone are the static, flat cities of the prior games, replaced by fully 3D cities that you can watch grow as they expand. The unit animations are also smooth and detailed, not only on the battle maps but on the over world map as well. Knight heroes work the reigns of their mounts as they gallop across the map, while demon heroes go into battle snorting fire and flexing their muscles. The 3D engine is also being put to good use to render some amazing looking spell effects and you’ll see the units react as they take damage in battle. HOMMV will be more than the same old game with new graphics, though. Play is being smoothed so that it moves along at a brisker pace. As you move around the world map capturing treasure and resources, the game pops up visual cues to let you know what you’ve gained without requiring you to respond to a dialog box of text. When you must make a decision such as whether to accept gold or experience as a reward, you can make your choice and be on your way with a quick single click of the mouse. These and other touches mean that you’ll spend more time exploring, building your army, and fighting battles than you will responding to text messages. Other changes are in store when you move to a battle screen. You can still play in the traditional manner, with units attacking in turn while moving across a grid overlaid on the local terrain. However, your heroes will be more active participants, not only casting spells but also moving onto the map to attack enemy units. You also have the option of using the new dynamic battle system to recreate more of a simultaneous, RTS experience. While the game is still in an early stage of development, I was able to find out about a few of the game’s vital statistics. There will be six unique factions in the game, with a campaign for each of them and about 30 or so total missions. There will be over 40 different creatures in the game for you to recruit and fight. The game will also support multiplayer mode, with five different game types available. The game will also ship with a level editor so that you can create and share your own missions or campaigns. Look for Heroes of Might & Magic V early next year. |
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1UP.com
Preview of Heroes of Might and Magic V
New publisher, new developer...new game? by Bob McTague 05/24/2005 The original Heroes of Might and Magic hit store shelves all the way back in 1995. Now 10 years later, we're getting our first look at the fifth installment in the series -- Heroes of Might and Magic V. Fans of the series are likely skeptical of Heroes V -- and rightly so. The award winning, previous installments in the series were developed by the now defunct New World Computing. Now, after purchasing the rights to the series, Ubisoft has employed the talents of Nival Interactive to take the helm. Thankfully, the folks at Nival are certainly no strangers to strategy gaming -- their resume includes the Blitzkrieg titles, Etherlords and Silent Storm, to name a few. At their core, the Heroes games are turn-based strategy games with the goal being to raise an army, take over other towns on the map and eliminate all other players. In the game play department, Nival is taking the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" approach to development. From what we were shown, unless you were told beforehand that Heroes V was being developed by a different team, you probably couldn't tell. Players still take turns moving their heroes, capturing mines, raiding towns, picking up artifacts and fortifying their own castles. This is definitely the same Heroes game play that fans know and love. The biggest and most obvious difference in Heroes V is the game's move from a 2D landscape to a fully realized 3D world. Everything in the game, from the heroes themselves to the towns and scenery, is beautifully detailed and animated. At any time you can spin the camera around or zoom in on strongholds, artifacts, groups of monsters, and so on. During battles, the camera now moves into position to give you a much more cinematic view of the fight, highlighting the incredibly detailed models and spell animations. Overall, we came away quite impressed by just how great the game looks. While the mechanics are essentially unchanged, the new development staff is making some minor changes to the overall style. First and foremost, things have been sped up a bit. For instance, in the previous games, when picking up ore on the map, a screen would appear confirming what you just received. In the new Heroes, you see a brief image of the item with a number denoting how much of it you picked up. All of this was done as an attempt to cut down on the amount of clicks necessary to get your turn done, and will hopefully enable gamers who haven't had experience with the past games to jump right in and not be put off by the complexity. Another change is in the game's multiplayer mode. Players waiting for their turns are now in a sort of ghost mode. These players aren't able to pick up items or attack creatures and towns, but they can, in essence, spy on the player whose turn it is and do things to make that player's turn more difficult. Six total races have been confirmed for the final game, five being from previous installments and one being entirely new. In addition, there will be more than 40 creatures that can be recruited and, of course, tons of different heroes. The overall interface wasn't available for viewing in the E3 demo, but we're told the final version will remain true to the Heroes style. Though the new team certainly has their work cut out for them trying to match the success of the previous games, it looks like the Heroes series is back, and dare I say it, looking even better than before. We'll know for sure when the game is released in early 2006. |
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Inside Gamer Online Preview By Kevin VanOrd | May 21, 2005 It was
only a matter of time before Heroes of Might and Magic fans were led
into the world of 3D. At this year's E3, we had a chance to talk to
Ubisoft's Fabrice Cambounet to see how HoMM V is shaping up, and we came
away surprised at just how solid the engine and mechanics are coming
together. |
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Gamespy Preview By William Abner | May 20, 2005 A fan's dream come true -- old-school Heroes of Might and Magic goes 3D. Spiffy: Brings back the gameplay from Heroes III with amazing 3D graphics and sound. Iffy: It looks great on the surface, but we'll have to wait and see how competent the AI is.
Nival
is best known for its very good turn-based strategy series, Etherlords.
Having already worked on turn-based strategy games, Heroes fans
can breathe a bit easier knowing that the series is not trying to branch
off in a different direction; in fact, it is doing just the opposite.
Nival is going back to the Heroes III design and plopping it into
a breathtaking 3D world. Seeing the game on the show floor, it was an
amazing experience to see how stunning the Inferno faction's city looked
(think Mordor) or how detailed a fully developed Knight city looked.
It's a Heroes fan's dream come true, at least aesthetically. |
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| Fragland
Preview: Heroes of Might & Magic V previewed by Doccie
Heroes of Might & Magic is a series that has been around for a long time already. Ubisoft decided to make a fifth game for Heroes of Might & Magic, after New World (former developer) shut down. New
World always wanted Heroes of Might & Magic to stay loyal to the
original concept of the game. However, Ubisoft is now working things out
a little different, with new and useful addons, like 3D-elements. The
city view is now completely in 3D and also the fights are animated with
a 3D-animation movie. Mix this with some nice light effects and you know
you're dealing with a very good-looking game! |
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E3 Day One Elysium-Wed,
05/18/2005-11:28pm Heroes of Might and Magic V - While I hate to start off with it, the graphics were there in full and wonderful. All 3D and beautiful. Not just the engine, which seemed fairly competent, but the art direction was simply gorgeous. Not the "shiny megabumps OMG" gorgeous, but the feel of a well painted picture gorgeous. Now the encouraging gameplay news is that they seem pretty committed to not screwing it up. It's still HoMM in almost every gameplay detail, which pleased me greatly. My ears perked up however when I heard the dreaded "easier to play, more appealing" line from the dev. So I pressed him on it and it turns out they intend to make the interface easier to use and simpler to make the game go quicker. They seem pretty dedicated to keeping it HoMM and changing the gameplay as little as possible, and using a good UI to make it easier and faster to play. For instance, in combat you can turn on "dynamic battles" which sets a time limit on your turn. It's still the same turn based combat, but now you have to make decisions in a limited time span, which could speed up multiplayer tremendously. Also the size of the battlefield scales with the armies involved, so two small armies facing off meet on a smaller battlefield, in order to resolve the battles more quickly. The basics were there, it looked gorgeous and it seemed they were committed to keeping the HoMM gameplay intact. So far what I've seen has me satisfied, though it's still at least a year off which leaves plenty of time for things to change. |
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| Gamespot By
Andrew Park, GameSpot
POSTED: 05/18/05 12:00 AM Ubisoft will be
showing off the next game in the Heroes of Might and Magic strategy
series at E3 2005. Heroes V will be the first game in the series that is
not developed by the now-defunct New World Computing. Instead, this new
game is in development at Nival Interactive, the Russian studio
responsible for such games as Silent Storm and Etherlords. Like its
forebears, Heroes V will be a colorful turn-based strategy game that
takes place in a high-fantasy world of griffins, knights, and dragons.
However, unlike any other Heroes game before it, Heroes V will be a
fully 3D game. That's right; the next game in the series will use 3D
polygonal graphics to represent its lush overland environments, its huge
towns, and its many hero and monster units. We were able to watch a
very brief gameplay demonstration that revealed a number of details
about Heroes V. To begin with, we saw an early version of what a fully
upgraded town will look like for the "human" faction
(apparently the new name for the original castle/knight faction). These
developed towns will have a huge central castle surrounded by familiar
structures like a griffin aerie and mage towers, while less-developed
towns will appear as just that, even on the overland map. The 3D
graphics will come complete with a 3D camera that will let you zoom in
on various features on the overland map, such as waterwheel mills,
which, like in the previous games, will yield resources when captured
but will also spring to life and become animated once you or someone
else has claimed them. From what we've seen so
far, overland map exploration in Heroes V will be very similar to what
it was in previous games. You'll lead your hero's army across the land
on a path lit by a series of green arrows, which will mark the extent of
your reach this turn. You'll be able to recover artifacts, such as a
pair of magic shackles, and pick up treasure chests full of gold that
can be added to your coffers or donated to the local peasantry in
exchange for bonus experience. Gaining enough experience, either through
recovering treasure or being victorious in battle, will let your hero
character gain a level and learn an additional skill, including classic
skills like pathfinding and mastery of different schools of magic, along
with new skills that have not yet been revealed. Of course, the heart of
the Heroes series is combat, and while the battles will be staged with
colorful 3D graphics, they seem like they'll retain the spirit of the
classic Heroes games. We were able to witness a battle between the human
faction and the inferno faction (the demons from Heroes III). The
demonstration we saw took place on an open field map, and, according to
Ubisoft's Fabrice Cambounet, the game will let you place hex squares on
the map to track your units' movement. Also, combat will continue to be
about strategic decision making, unit placement, and matching up the
strengths and weaknesses of different units against each other. On the
battlefield, we were able to see traditional inferno creatures, like
nightmares and devils in action, along with traditional castle/knight
units like cavalry, griffins, and archangels. Top-level units like
archdevils and archangels seem just as devastatingly strong as they were
in previous games. This particular battle was won by the humans. The
archangels mopped up after the battle was over, but at the very end, a
skeletal dragon swooped down on the battlefield for some reason and
decimated the survivors. Cambounet suggests that unpredictable events
like this will take place in Heroes, which should make battles even more
interesting. Other details about Heroes V remain sparse at this time. There will be a total of six playable factions in the game, including the humans, the inferno, and four other factions, which, according to Cambounet, will include some that "should be familiar to fans of the Heroes series," as well as one all-new faction. Siege combat--that is, battles waged in and around towns--will apparently take place on very large maps and will look "very impressive." The team is also planning to add in an optional, alternate setup for combat that will resemble the "timed initiative" system of most console role-playing games, in which each unit will have a continuously filling time meter and will be able to move or attack once its meter is full. Cambounet also made sure to point out that the game will have the highly requested feature of hotseat support, as well as an all-new mode that will apparently let you play through a session in 15 to 20 minutes (though exactly how isn't yet clear). Heroes V is scheduled for release later this year. Stay tuned to GameSpot for more updates from E3. |
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My
HoMM5 review, by Platypotumus Ok,
words of caution, this review kind of sucks. There was a small crowd,
and the speaker wasn't nearly loud enough, but I watched him play
through the demo, and here's what I thought: |
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