@SionIV, I feel your pain - I sank back into the HoMM 3 addiction over a week ago. It's best to just give into it and enjoy the pleasure. It's got you now. Nothing you can do about it but keep playing. (Just kidding. But glad to hear you're having fun. )
I don't know if anyone's interested in the lore question I asked above, but I got this response from someone over at Celestial Heavens:
"(Orzie said): The titans are most probably the creations of the Ancients as well as the Angels. The trick is that they are most probably a somewhat mechanical/android/biorobot entities, and they have their own instructions for behaviour.
The Titans and the Angels might have created a pact with the Wizards, or the latter just found a way to control some of them. It is true that many Ancients creations might have turned amok with time and just after the Silence."
If the ancients constructed the titans to be military machines, who then ran amok after the Silence, that would help explain why they attack adventurers on sight during MM6 and MM7.
Perhaps the wizards of HoMM 2 and 3 are then assumed to be discovering ways to capture them and bring them back under control.
What's still unexplained is why they run around in deserted areas like the Land of the Giants, the Eel-Infested Waters, the Stronghold in the northeast of AvLee, and the desert near Sweetwater, when they could easily overwhelm and destroy civilization in both Enroth and Antagarich, given their numbers.
That implies that they have some kind of agenda of their own that makes them willing to leave humanity alone as long as they are not bothered, but will kill on sight if their territories are invaded.
The same goes for the dragons, actually, who seem to be at war with the titans. Come to think of it, that would explain the "hates dragons-hates titans" mechanic in HoMM 3. Perhaps there's a story about a war between the dragons and the titans that never got told." _________________ "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." - Arthur C. Clarke, "Clarke's Third Law".
Yay! I've logged 82 hours so far in Steam playing HoMM 3 HD. It looks fantastic!
I'm still seriously tempted to re-buy BG:EE 1 and 2 on Steam just so I can get that nice hours logged counter. I'd like to see how long I objectively spend on a full BG run.
Whelp, I just finished Restoration of Erathia HD. It took 92 hours.
I've now started up on Armageddon's Blade with my GoG Complete version with HD mod.
What I've noticed immediately upon switching to the old version so that I can continue my story, is that it looks really crummy compared to the bright eye candy I've gotten used to with the HD version.
But, on the other hand, there are quite a few control and interface improvements, such as being able to see eight heroes at a time on the interface, and an easier stack transfer and splitting interface when heroes meet.
I'd still say that the new HD version is most definitely worth the $15 if you just want to play Restoration of Erathia for old times' sake. It looks quite a bit better than the old HD mod, especially if you play on a giant screen TV as opposed to a dedicated computer monitor.
But, if you can't live without all the extra convenience tweaks that come with the HD mod, you won't like it, even for RoE.
Bottom line: I got 92 hours of entertainment for $15. I'd say it was money very, very well spent.
I'm still seriously tempted to re-buy BG:EE 1 and 2 on Steam just so I can get that nice hours logged counter. I'd like to see how long I objectively spend on a full BG run.
Ehh just wait for a sale. That is what I'm doing for IWDEE on Steam (I already own it through Beamdog).
Ok, everyone who has been troubled by several problems in HoMM HD Edition, including mentioned in this thread, such as: - inability to re-visit any object with space bar - no Armageddon Blade and Shadow of Death maps - no hotkeys - FPS, -
can safely use a mod that fixes those and many other things in HoMM HD Edition
One gains absolutely nothing by having the expansions installed while playing Restoration of Erathia and its associated original single map scenarios. So, if you want to play the original campaign in beautiful, crisp, unzoomed-out, unstrectched 16x9 aspect ratio on an HD TV, I still contend that this release is worth the fifteen bucks. That's significantly less than the price of one home-delivered pizza dinner.
Despite all negative opinions about HOMM III HD, I like what @BelgarathMTH wrote about the new edition and having never played any HOMM game but IV and V, I opted to buy HoMM III HD now that it's on sale on UPlay (Gamersgate has it as well, but my RPG section in Steam is already chock-full plus I'm hedging my batch just in case digital services go down). What controls I don't know, I won't miss and I don't think I'll play more than one campaign, but I do expect the HD to be easier on the eyes. I have installed HOMM III once (I own it on GOG, but deinstalled it soon afterwards for it looking so very old).
Methinks to new players (like me), HOMM III HD might turn out to be a nice starters kit that might lead to playing the old HOMM III if they want to play more than one campaign - the latter apparently might result in either a pleasant surprise of better controls or the unpleasant surprise of a game unfit for larger monitors.
For it's sale price, it's just as much as pizza (€7,49 at UPlay, €8,49 at Gamersgate), I have been waiting for the price to drop since january. Belgarath eats expensive pizza's, at €14,99
In regards to the multiplayer mode, I had the chance to play several games with @Shandaxx. We had a lot of fun. We played without any issue (the game froze just two or three times, but it was because of my bad Internet connection). A pity that the HD version does not include the expansions. It does feel incomplete.
I think the lack of expansions was the deal breaker for me and I disagree that it's the same criticism that the enhanced editions faced. If you are just interested in playing the game for the campaigns and custom maps, then you are doing a bad purchase.
Now if Beamdog had released BG without Totsc, then we might have a better comparison imo.
The HD version does look nice. And that's it. To be perfectly honest, the original game without the HD mod looka perfectly fine. It's pretty, yes. But it's only value lies in the graphics. If you are contebt with the hundreds of hours of content the expansion provides being cut, then hey, by all means, go for it. But it has no other redeeming qualities.
Having never owned it myself I jumped on the HD version early on (didn't know that the expansions were cut until reading this thread).
I will say that I feel more at home playing Heroes 2. For some reason, me leading armies of skeletons feels right (despite knowing that Archibald has to lose for Might and Magic 6 to work).
I bought the HD version to play the OC, and I was pleased with my purchase. I don't like the widescreen mod because it makes the interface really tiny.
I own both the HD version and the classic version from GoG, along with all the Chronicles. When I want to play the OC, I use the HD version because it looks really beautiful. When I want to play expansions, I use the classic version.
Unless you're on a really tight budget, it doesn't have to be either-or.
I bought the HD version to play the OC, and I was pleased with my purchase. I don't like the widescreen mod because it makes the interface really tiny.
I own both the HD version and the classic version from GoG, along with all the Chronicles. When I want to play the OC, I use the HD version because it looks really beautiful. When I want to play expansions, I use the classic version.
Unless you're on a really tight budget, it doesn't have to be either-or.
I do own both, mostly because I just wanted to see what it looked like. And the excuse Ubisoft has for why the expansions can't be converted (or it isn't worth their time to do so) is because the source code is lost. And I'm sure that's true. Hell, Beamdog can't get their hands on the source code for Icewind Dale 2. Thank god we have GOG preserving these games. There isn't anything wrong with what is IN the HD mod. It's the base game as it was presented when it first came out. The vanilla version of Heroes 3 plus all the map scenarios is a massive time-sink as it is. I can't recommend buying it if you are only going to get one, but yeah, the negative reviews are only because it's incomplete. And the reason the reviews are so negative is that in this day and age, a remaster is really expected to include all expansions and extra content. For instance, it would have been absurd for Beamdog to remaster Icewind Dale and not include Heart of Winter or Trials of the Luremaster. I understand WHY that didn't happen, but it is too big a pill for most to swallow. Especially since the expansions added not only new campaigns but whole new towns, and introduced things like set items for heroes.
@JuliusBorisov On these boards, we are enemies. In the HOMM universe, we are allies. We played several maps that offer the chance to play with a friend as allies and we had a lot of fun. We helped each others in many ways - giving resources, fighting powerful enemies and so on.
We played one map where we had another ally as well - it was the computer IA. It was very stupid. He just walked across the map in a random way and he did not try to get back his castle even if he had good chances.
Funny thing: Shandaxx visited just one obelisk and guessed the position of the treasure. I dug a random spot thanks to his suggestion and I immediately found the grail!
So does anyone here also frequent the Heroes Round Table forum over at Celestial Heavens? I used to post a lot under the name Fenris over there: Back when the boards were hosted on another site, well over ten years ago. When it moved over to celestialheavens.com I just gradually fell out of the loop.
I am playing again HOMM3 HD in these days. I would like to work on the Italian translation since it has an incredible amount of typos. How can I edit HOMM3 HD translation? Does someone know where can I find the texts?
Many thanks in advance for the attention
Comments
I don't know if anyone's interested in the lore question I asked above, but I got this response from someone over at Celestial Heavens:
"(Orzie said): The titans are most probably the creations of the Ancients as well as the Angels. The trick is that they are most probably a somewhat mechanical/android/biorobot entities, and they have their own instructions for behaviour.
The Titans and the Angels might have created a pact with the Wizards, or the latter just found a way to control some of them. It is true that many Ancients creations might have turned amok with time and just after the Silence."
*************************
To which I replied:
"@orzie, hmm, thanks, that's food for thought.
If the ancients constructed the titans to be military machines, who then ran amok after the Silence, that would help explain why they attack adventurers on sight during MM6 and MM7.
Perhaps the wizards of HoMM 2 and 3 are then assumed to be discovering ways to capture them and bring them back under control.
What's still unexplained is why they run around in deserted areas like the Land of the Giants, the Eel-Infested Waters, the Stronghold in the northeast of AvLee, and the desert near Sweetwater, when they could easily overwhelm and destroy civilization in both Enroth and Antagarich, given their numbers.
That implies that they have some kind of agenda of their own that makes them willing to leave humanity alone as long as they are not bothered, but will kill on sight if their territories are invaded.
The same goes for the dragons, actually, who seem to be at war with the titans. Come to think of it, that would explain the "hates dragons-hates titans" mechanic in HoMM 3. Perhaps there's a story about a war between the dragons and the titans that never got told."
_________________
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." - Arthur C. Clarke, "Clarke's Third Law".
I'm still seriously tempted to re-buy BG:EE 1 and 2 on Steam just so I can get that nice hours logged counter. I'd like to see how long I objectively spend on a full BG run.
I've now started up on Armageddon's Blade with my GoG Complete version with HD mod.
What I've noticed immediately upon switching to the old version so that I can continue my story, is that it looks really crummy compared to the bright eye candy I've gotten used to with the HD version.
But, on the other hand, there are quite a few control and interface improvements, such as being able to see eight heroes at a time on the interface, and an easier stack transfer and splitting interface when heroes meet.
I'd still say that the new HD version is most definitely worth the $15 if you just want to play Restoration of Erathia for old times' sake. It looks quite a bit better than the old HD mod, especially if you play on a giant screen TV as opposed to a dedicated computer monitor.
But, if you can't live without all the extra convenience tweaks that come with the HD mod, you won't like it, even for RoE.
Bottom line: I got 92 hours of entertainment for $15. I'd say it was money very, very well spent.
- inability to re-visit any object with space bar
- no Armageddon Blade and Shadow of Death maps
- no hotkeys
- FPS, -
can safely use a mod that fixes those and many other things in HoMM HD Edition
http://heroescommunity.com/viewthread.php3?TID=41033
https://steamcommunity.com/app/297000/discussions/0/604941528472210055/
Methinks to new players (like me), HOMM III HD might turn out to be a nice starters kit that might lead to playing the old HOMM III if they want to play more than one campaign - the latter apparently might result in either a pleasant surprise of better controls or the unpleasant surprise of a game unfit for larger monitors.
For it's sale price, it's just as much as pizza (€7,49 at UPlay, €8,49 at Gamersgate), I have been waiting for the price to drop since january. Belgarath eats expensive pizza's, at €14,99
We had a lot of fun. We played without any issue (the game froze just two or three times, but it was because of my bad Internet connection).
A pity that the HD version does not include the expansions. It does feel incomplete.
Now if Beamdog had released BG without Totsc, then we might have a better comparison imo.
I will say that I feel more at home playing Heroes 2. For some reason, me leading armies of skeletons feels right (despite knowing that Archibald has to lose for Might and Magic 6 to work).
I own both the HD version and the classic version from GoG, along with all the Chronicles. When I want to play the OC, I use the HD version because it looks really beautiful. When I want to play expansions, I use the classic version.
Unless you're on a really tight budget, it doesn't have to be either-or.
On these boards, we are enemies.
In the HOMM universe, we are allies.
We played several maps that offer the chance to play with a friend as allies and we had a lot of fun.
We helped each others in many ways - giving resources, fighting powerful enemies and so on.
We played one map where we had another ally as well - it was the computer IA. It was very stupid. He just walked across the map in a random way and he did not try to get back his castle even if he had good chances.
Funny thing: Shandaxx visited just one obelisk and guessed the position of the treasure.
I dug a random spot thanks to his suggestion and I immediately found the grail!
Feel free to send me a message
Many thanks in advance for the attention