(TIME) 2 smokefree vs (EARTH) 0 Korugar

[Xinef]

i've never tried HOMM2 since when my friends introduced me to the genre it was already HOMM3
but i understand where you're coming from about disliking the newer one, i played HOMM3 -> HOMMV and imo HOMMV is the worst crap i've ever seen, better graphic doesnt do it for me
and worst of all, it has the same simultaneous attack as HOMM4
i too try not to have any creatures killed in combat, even losing the tent and occasional ballista(sp?) made me tear up a bit

Necromancer (undead faction in HOMM3) has always been a favorite of mine
start with a hero with Raise Undead and you could potentially never lose a single unit throughout the game
which is exactly why we ban those heroes if we did multiplayer match (we also ban heroes with logistics, gaining extra steps each level up)

good timesnot sure how it turned into this but i see no harm in it plus its great to see someone else loving a game i played (and still do)

I think HoMM2 (and WarCraft 2) were among the first computer games I played, so it kinda brings back positive memories... but I still like HoMM3, HoMM5 and some things about HoMM4. I even played HoMM1 at some point just for the heck of it, but no wizards and violet dragons was enough to keep this experience short

Anyway, I liked HoMM3 because the map editor allowed some more UMS kind of thing, if you know what I mean (If you don't, it's a StarCraft term derived from Use Map Settings) And the lack of fairytale feel was it's only drawback. As for HoMM4, the graphics were too sugarsticky, so to say, and I just can't stand their decision to reduce the number of tiers to 4. On the other hand I liked the increase of heroes involvement in the fight (although it was a bit unbalanced) and the clearer game mechanics (in HoMM1/2/3/5 it was hard to find out what exactly does attack/defense mean in terms of calculations, and the same about skills). As for HoMM5, it has a similar feel to 3 (as was intended by producers) and pretty much the only thing I disliked was the skills tree, since some heroes were unable to ever develop certain skills due to starting with some other skill. Also, HoMM5 was quite laggy on my laptop, and I've never played it on my new PC, so I've never seen it in full details.

[kobisjeruk]

of course i know what you're talking about, i created generated tons of map with my own theme....(and though HOMM4 doesnt have deck generator, the coding you are allowed to do in the map editor is a big plus compared to HOMM3, i did some RPG stuff in HOMM4, one with diablo-esque theme)
as of right now, HOMM3 with WoG mod is in my fresh-format install pack (along with M:tG Shandalar - DotP)
i personally like HOMM4 too even though they went with a completely different team on that one (HOMM5 was made by a different company, Ubisoft that tried to tried to make the best from both, but they failed)
i only tried HOMM1 years later after i came across a compilation of some sort *piracy ftw* and it didnt take long for me to uninstall the damn thing...it was uglay

[Xinef]

of course i know what you're talking about, i created generated tons of map with my own theme....(and though HOMM4 doesnt have deck generator, the coding you are allowed to do in the map editor is a big plus compared to HOMM3, i did some RPG stuff in HOMM4, one with diablo-esque theme)
as of right now, HOMM3 with WoG mod is in my fresh-format install pack (along with M:tG Shandalar - DotP)
i personally like HOMM4 too even though they went with a completely different team on that one (HOMM5 was made by a different company, Ubisoft that tried to tried to make the best from both, but they failed)
i only tried HOMM1 years later after i came across a compilation of some sort *piracy ftw* and it didnt take long for me to uninstall the damn thing...it was uglay

I tried WoG, but never had an opportunity to play multiplayer. As for HoMM5, technically it was made by Nival Interactive, and Ubisoft was the publisher. I played some other games by Nival Interactive, and they seemed to be well made.

I don't know what do you exactly dislike about HoMM5. I know the campaign was a bit strange, this whole 'let's make a different world setting' thing too, the dark elves are strange and don't quite fit (and I'm more used to dark-skin, white-hair version of Drows), the initiative was also a thing some might dislike, but overall it was a game I could play with friends and enjoy, so I'd like to know why do you think it failed?

As for ugly graphics... well, I'm a kind of old school gamer too, and I can play games such as Master of Magic, Master of Orion, Civilization 1, Colonization, X-Com and the like for hours (well, not right now when I'm busy with studies, war and stuff, but during holidays and so on), and resolutions like 640x480 and lower are no problem for me. In fact those pixel arts are often better done than textures in new 3D games. And these games often were better written than the current ones. For example Master of Magic had only one game mode - randomly generated maps - and they were always quite well generated. Some of the current strategy games lack a good random map generator... eh, I'm not surprised so many games today aim to 'look like' old games
It's only sad they don't aim to be as playable, or at least not as often as they could.

Heh... why do I feel like a grumpy old gamer grumbling about the 'good ol' tmes' ? :>

I mean, we have Elements and stuff. And war. And virginsrookies to sacrifice.

[Memorystick]

Um... no offence, guys, but why don't you take off-topic to PM's? It's slightly annoying to see this coming up when I check my updated topics

[kobisjeruk]

so I'd like to know why do you think it failed?

my opinion and of those that also play HOMM series is that they should just put down the game as a tribute to HOMM series but not actually use the brand name
i mean it plays like HOMM but it just doesnt feel like it...tbh it feels more like Final Fantasy (actually i dont play FF...at all but i tried Chrono Crusade and people say its similar to FF series)
especially the initiative part
dont be mistaken, i enjoyed the game but it doesnt hold a candle to either HOMM3 or HOMM4

there is one other TBS game series, Warlords...i would've love it if not for the fact the AI is really bad sometimes
it is also ugly as hell but i can live with that had it not been for theawesomer graphics in Warlords: Battlecry (which lead me to the TBS game in the first place)
have you ever tried that one?
oh memorystick ninja'd me while i was busy typing (i'm a slow typer!) and getting all the facts straight

[Korugar]

So, is HoMM a free game? Or a subscribing game? Maybe one with a single price to download, and then you can play it for free? Or what?

[Xinef]

So, is HoMM a free game? Or a subscribing game? Maybe one with a single price to download, and then you can play it for free? Or what?

Quick answer: Pay once, play for free.

Longer answer:
The publisher of the first 4 parts was 3DO Company, that went bankrupt some time later. It seems the intellectual property was sold to Ubisoft then. So, generally all 5 parts and their addons are standard proprietary software that you have to buy to play.
Though, some people argue that 'according to laws in their country', or something similar, at least some of these are abandonware. If you live in USA this probably is not your case. There are attempts at rewriting the games as open source, as well as pretty advanced unofficial mods, but the first are still far from playable I guess, while the second need original game to be legal.

[kobisjeruk]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heroes_of_Might_and_Magic

if you look at WOE map example you can see some similarities with buildings found in HOMM series