Map details

 Name: Mercenaries
 Size: large (136x136) with underground
 Type: Quest/RPG
 Overgame difficulty: expert
 Multiplayer: No
 Players: 1/4
 Game version: ToE 3.0
 
 Current map version: 1.3
 Author: Franzy (franzy@hotbox.ru)

Installation notes
 Just copy file Mercenaries.h5m into Maps directory of the game. The map may look like a mod, but it's not! It DOES NOT modify data of the game and thus should be fully compatible with other maps and almost any mods. 
 The map has a lot of text (over 400Kb), so it is recommended to use a mod that enlarges game's message boxes for a more convenient reading. Note: it is not neccessary to read all the text to win. Though if you want to fully understand what's happening, you definetely should :)
 Please note that you can only install one language version. You can't have several language versions even if you rename the files. But this shouldn't worry you: all the versions are the same! 

Introduction

 One thing that always bummed me in all of the HOMM games is that after playing any map for a while you can amass an army so strong that all the battles turn into lazy enemy beating. Virtually there is no limit to how many troops your hero can have because you don't have to pay their wages! And that's a huge balance problem, to my mind. So I decided to make a map where you *have to pay* maintainance cost for your troops. This will force player to use as compact army as possible to save money. So, no more brute force, welcome finesse tactics! 
 You will play a dwarven hero who travels to a distant land in search for certain holy relics. He will have some forces to start with, but will have no town. To win, you will have to *hire* local mercenaries troops (i.e. non-dwarven creatures) from dwellings or special stacks on the map. While dwarven creatures are free, mercenaries will demand *daily fee* which is usually 10-30% of their hiring cost. (The exact numbers are given in "merc_fee.txt" file.) So you will always have to keep balance between your income (from mines, quests, chests, etc) and expenses on the maintaining your army.   
 There is almost no townbuilding on this map, so you can concentrate on role-playing, quests and tactical battles. By the way, some battles you encounter may seem impossible to you (like several hundreds of Treants, for example). But I assure you, they all are winnable provided you use the right approach (tactics, creature abilities, spells or/and hero skills). These are challenges for your tactic genius and usually are very well rewarded.  
 As for role-playing, there are two additional hero stats (they are not visible to player till a certain point in the game): Alignment and Renown. 
 Alignment shows your inclination toward Light (Good) or Darkness (Evil). By comitting bad, evil, greedy or selfish acts, you earn Dark points. Noble, honorable, selfless, and altruistic deeds earn you Light points. Your alignment affects several things in the game, most notably, how it ends.      
 Renown shows how well you are known in the land. You earn Renown points by winning battles, leveling up and completing quests. Some quests become available to you only after you reach a certain level of renown (most quests, though, also have other requirements).  
 You start the game with neutral Alignment and zero Renown.
 Be warned that many buildings on the map behave differently than usual. Right-click buildings to learn their new name and function.

Features 

 - A detailed world with its own history and mysteries for you to solve 
 - Almost 7000 lines of code to make the world of Heroes much more interactive!
 - A non-linear storyline with several possible endings 
 - Over 25 long and complex quests (not just kill-that bring-this, but whole multistaged adventures)
 - New rules to rebalance the game
 - Over 400 Kb of texts spiced with humor to make a strategy game real fun role-playing experience

P.S. Yes, there is a puzzle on the map (as always on my maps). However, it is totally optional - just giving you a fine reward for being smart ^^)   


History:

 0.9 - Public beta for playtesting. All comments and opinions are welcomed, including reports of spelling and grammar errors - English is not my native, you know.

 1.0 - Added new objects and enchantments miniquest.
       - Hill Fort can now make alternative upgrades 
       - Added some visual effects  
       - Fees were changed. Melee fighters (cannonfodder) cost a lot less.
          Shooters and casters are still high.
       - Starting money increased.  
       - Haegar sends stronger reinforcements for plot advancing and 
          now also some weak reinforcements periodically.
       - Added another mine underground.
       - Added several low level creature stacks and many easy-to-pickup treasures
          for early hero development.   
       - Numerous spelling and grammar errors corrected.
       - A few other changes.

 1.01 - A minor bug with clerics corrected (they did not take away XP)

 1.05 - Bug with Firehall's tavern corrected - was skipped from the queue 
             (thnx to Mystic Phoenix)     
         - Bug with easy difficulty - many scripts errors were caused by wrong formulas. 
          It turns out on easy GetDifficulty actually returns 0, not 1 as I thought. My bad :(
            (thnx to Marianne)

 1.2  - Fees are now difficulty-dependent.
        - Fees now randomly increase from time to time. More often on higher difficulties. 
        - Corrected bug with slavers guild 
              (thnx to Mystic Phoenix)   
        - Enchantments bugs corrected 
              (thnx to Wimfrits) 
        - Several small improvements suggested by Wimfrits, 
               also many spelling errors corrected he pointed at. Thnx twice, Wimfrits! :)  
        - Alignment rebalanced. It's overall harder to gain Light points. 
             Remember to donate gold to charity from time to time to earn Light points! 
        - There is now a limit of 100000 Gold your hero can carry.
        - It's more difficult to restore the fortress.
        - Slavery rebalanced. 

 1.3   - Several newly introduced bugs corrected (thnx to akalin423, nikk)
         - Some tune-ups.
         - Now no fast-growing creatures armies block vital plot spots.
         - Combat script redone. Prepare for surprises!
         - Score system implemented (for tournaments)
         - Now camera only shows reinforcements caravan arrival once (thnx to Ogo-i for idea) 
         - Now war machines also require fee (maintainance cost)! The cost scales up with WM-related skills.
           If you can't pay their MC for too long, they will break. Also, you can now leave you machines in the 
           Fortress and take them back whenever needed.
         - You can now start the game with a "clean" hero  (with no predefined starting skills)

1.31 - Bug with WM keeping in the fortress corrected (thnx Mystic Phoenix)

1.32 - Autosave when the game starts added (for tournaments)
        - Now the map also comes in German! Translated by Mystic Phoenix.
        - The large message box mod also included with the bundle. Mod's author - King_MB. 
        


Credits:
 Idea, design, scripts, texts, primary testing - all by Franzy
 Translation into German - Mystic Phoenix
 Translation into Russian - Praetor & Honter, edited by Franzy
 Large Message Box mod - King_MB
 
 Thanks to Alexoff, EyeGem, Honter, Ogo-i, Valex, and other guys from AG.ru forum for their contribution.
 Best regards to guys who created SciTE editor. Really nice thing to write HOMM5 (and other) scripts! 

 Your name can be here too :) I love recieving emails from players with suggestions and bug reports. 