Heroes 5 developers answer questions.

Greetings everyone!

Apologies for the slight delay in responding - there were reasons for that...
And, by the way, a sincere request for the future - do not write your questions in capital letters - such questions will be ignored.
...Now let's continue:

1. Why is it impossible to sell artifacts?

One of the features that we simply didn't have enough time for. Perhaps we'll do it in the future…

2. If artifacts are not a vital part of the game, then why do they repeat? This point has always been irritating. An artifact is called an artifact because it should be a single specimen.

That's exactly why they repeat – because they aren't the most important :) They repeated in previous parts too…

3. Will artifacts that give, say, +1,+2,+3 mana per day be introduced into the game, as well as artifacts giving +1 sulfur or crystals or mercury etc., or an artifact analogous to the "Horn of Plenty"?

It's hard to answer such questions definitively, as similar things are not planned far in advance, and if they are, they can change several times. When it comes time for new artifacts, that's when we'll select bonuses for them. Theoretically - everything is possible ;)
By the way, regarding artifacts giving +1, +2, +3 mana per day: currently there are artifacts in the game that give +1, +2 Knowledge, which provide +1, +2 mana per day (besides simply increasing its pool)

4. Is it possible to remove the default abilities given to heroes? Skills are normal, but some abilities deprive certain heroes of the ability to level up their ultimate.

I repeat: leveling the Ultimate is not mandatory at all. It was intended specifically as optional. It can realistically be leveled only in greenhouse conditions, i.e., playing on a large map against a computer opponent – playing against a human, you're unlikely to develop that way. Playing the campaign, if you manage to get it at all, it will be around the last mission, which is quite beatable without it. We do not plan to make obtaining it easier, as it is specifically ultimate, and if there were guaranteed ways to get it, everyone would immediately focus on getting it, and any game would boil down to a race for the ultimate. For the reasons described above, we see no problem in the fact that some heroes cannot obtain it at all, and we do not plan to specifically fix this here.


5. Why did the esteemed developers come up with a new world and scenario instead of using the old one? Why reinvent the wheel? Especially since the old scenario had its own advantages, as well as many beloved heroes.
Old heroes like Crag Hack and Sandro are often mentioned in the game. What is the connection between the old and new worlds?

The new world and scenario were created by UBISOFT, based on the fact that the history of the old world had already become quite tangled in previous parts, and so many contradictions and inconsistencies had accumulated that continuing it was becoming problematic… The connection, as you noticed yourself, is mainly in the heroes.

6. Tell me, why does the description of units and their capabilities on the website not match the game?

In the game, during the balancing process, unit characteristics and their abilities often changed – I imagine it was problematic to constantly track this process on the website. In any case, the website is not a detailed manual for the game; it only gives a general idea of it.

7. Can we get an exhaustive answer regarding the return of Dark Knights?

We do not plan to return them to the Castle.

8. Will it be possible to capture enemy siege engines?


Unlikely

9. Why do vampires restore their numbers when attacking undead?

In our game, as you may have noticed, vampires don't suck blood, but feed on energy – life energy, in the case of the living, or magical energy that makes dead flesh move, in the case of the undead. One could even argue which energy is more powerful.

10. If for some reason you cannot make a doll, then I beg you, tell the truth!!!

Truth about what? Why it wasn't made? - I already explained: you may not believe me, but we didn't make it because we didn't consider it important whether there would be a doll or something else in this interface… Perhaps we will still make it later, although we don't guarantee it.

11. Why does the hero ride through walls on a spirited horse during a castle siege?

If this weren't the case, heroes attacking from a distance would have an unjustified advantage over melee heroes during a siege. And depriving all heroes of the ability to attack during a siege would be unreasonable. One could, of course, come up with some complex scheme, but we were limited in time to reinvent the wheel where it wasn't necessary

12. Necromancy: is the possibility of raising zombies or ghosts (in smaller numbers than skeletons) foreseen?

We had similar ideas before and perhaps we will still implement them…

13. Why were "donkey" ears given to "good" dragons? For a joke?

Perhaps the dragon ate too many elves, perhaps in childhood it was often pulled by its ears… And in general, how do you know what the ears of a real dragon should be like? :shuffle:

14. Is there any plan to update the game to version 1.5.4.3 (1.543)? Are there people on the development team who understand the essence of my question?

There are no such people. There were several assumptions. Thank you for the quiz. The question remains unanswered.

15. I just can't understand what animate dead is doing in summoning magic? It would be more logical to put it in dark magic.

Oh, that's a long story… In short, that's how it happened historically :)

16. Was the gameplay specifically turned into a wall-to-wall action with a stupid computer that loses when outnumbered 5-6 times? Yes, certainly, tactical possibilities are slightly wider, but in practice this manifests in the fact that by the tenth reload I KNOW EXACTLY when and what needs to be done... otherwise - only on major holidays. I assume a review of the model is not planned?

The AI is, at the very least, no worse than in previous parts of the series. And by abusing reloads, you can win even against a supercomputer. I didn't understand what was meant by "stupid wall-to-wall action" given "expanded tactical possibilities"… :rolleyes:

17. Why is stone skin, for example, cast on all units, but the same destruction beam only on an area? Although when selecting the corresponding skill, it says the spell will be mass.

Because the destruction beam is fundamentally more powerful. Its effect stacks. As for the description, we'll check it, and if there's a mistake – we'll fix it.

18. Is it possible to introduce "Ambiguous" spells into the game that improve some unit parameters and worsen others? Is it possible to introduce a corrosion spell that would deal increased damage to mechanisms and elementals?

The same as with artifacts. If we add new spells, then theoretically their effects could be anything, including those listed above, but since we aren't adding any for now, fantasizing about this topic is pointless.

19. Why does your vision not involve dividing heroes into warriors and mages within a single faction? After all, the entire skill system is conceptually aimed at the fact that different types of heroes can be raised. In practice - ONE effective strategy in each faction and practically no options... What kind of warrior, for goodness sake, is a hero with 12 attack, 0 defense, 10 spell power and 3 knowledge... We know how to hit, but not how to block... We can cast magic reasonably well, but only a couple of times, we don't know any more...

Firstly, you are exaggerating: it takes effort to develop such an unbalanced hero.. - Although, of course, he will most likely have an advantage in attack or defense, but that is exactly normal. Secondly, you can perfectly well hire heroes from other castles who have the specializations you need. And if, as you want, all castles initially had both warriors and mages, then the differences between castles and their original tactics would be partially neutralized.

20. Hello, I want to know from the developers what program was used to create 3D characters?

To create all 3D objects, including characters, MAYA 6 was used

21. Tell me, is this intended or just a flaw: when you try to upgrade creatures in the Tower of Upgrades (I don't remember how it's called in the original) and there aren't enough resources for an upgrade, it doesn't say which resources are missing and by how much?

It can be considered a flaw

22. Esteemed developers! Could you briefly formulate (if it's not a secret, of course) the task Ubisoft set before you (for example, maintaining some connection with the previous series, refining the skill system of 4, leaning towards multiplayer and so on)?

It's no secret: The main task is the revival of the series after the well-known events. Uniting fans of the third and fourth parts, and attracting new players is desirable. Initially, the publisher wanted a revolution in gameplay, but gradually they agreed on evolution, synthesis, and combining the best from previous parts of the series.

23. If, as you write, "the Russian version was crept into by those annoying errors that we simply didn't have time to catch – but we promise to improve and fix these errors with patches", then maybe you could help people like me (there are many of us) and give a person who bought the licensed game the ability to CHOOSE the language?

Do you know many licensed games published in Russia (excluding MMORPGs, which aren't localized in principle) where such a choice exists? I personally don't recall a single one (although perhaps there were a few once). Such are the rules of the market and the terms of agreements with publishers. And it would be strange to release a Russian game on the Russian market in English. As for text errors, most of them have already been fixed in the released patch.


24. In interface design there is a whole set of CONVENTIONS that have long been established and recognized by all. For example, [Enter] = OK, [Esc] = Cancel. Why are this and many other conventions violated by you? Similarly with right-click tooltips - they are almost everywhere (even over the OK button), but not where needed (number of creatures in an outside building etc.).

Actually Enter and Esc are used exactly as you say in most interfaces. I find it difficult to answer regarding other principles since you didn't specify them. As for tooltips on the number of creatures in buildings, I might be wrong now, but I think they weren't in previous parts either – at least not in 3. I agree that the more tooltips, the better, but everything takes time, and by setting priorities in development we are sometimes forced to sacrifice such things or leave them for patches.

25. Why does the main road to the Haven castle end up against a wall section when approaching it, with neither a gate nor a door there?

Perhaps such an unpleasantness happened on some map, but generally the castle has gates and usually the road leads exactly to them.

26. You said you would support modders. How is this manifested?

In the editor, which we will try to release by August, it will be possible not only to make maps but many other things, though it's too early to say specifically what ;-) Furthermore, we specially made the game resources open so that they could be edited without additional difficulties (with some restrictions regarding network play). After the release of the editor, we will try, as much as our strength allows, to answer pressing questions related to it on our forum (naturally a manual for making maps will be attached to it). As for official support and its forms, the publisher and I are still thinking about this issue.

27. Will anyone from Ubisoft be here (naturally, Russian-speaking)? Since you cannot answer some questions, like the one about the addon for example, let them come and answer themselves. At the same time they will see suggestions.

If we cannot answer some questions now, it means that TOGETHER with UBISOFT we are not yet ready to answer them for some reason.
I would also note, by the way, that thanks to this topic the Russian gaming community currently knows a bit more about the future of Heroes than everyone else, because we naturally try to share as much possible information with you.
As for Russian-speaking French colleagues, firstly, as far as I know, there are none, and secondly, I wouldn't count on their talkativeness ;)
As they say: Everything in its own time

28. Question-suggestion: can a "Use System Font" checkbox be added to the settings - then the player could choose themselves? By the way, a system font would likely help offload the processor on "minimal" machines.

Implementing this as a setting is technically difficult. Moreover, the existing font was chosen and approved by the publisher as the only correct one…

29. What about building your own castles, like in HOMM3.5? (i.e., a hero can destroy any city and build a city of their race in its place, with 2 conditions: A. break 1 building per 1 day (just like construction). B. absolutely all buildings must be broken to change the castle's race).

Although this was done in HOMM3.5, in our view it somewhat contradicts the original concept of the series, so for now we do not plan to introduce such a possibility. Although I think that modders, configuring the game for themselves, will be quite able to add such a possibility to the game…

30. A question arises about the hero. Why give him the ability to shoot/hit? It's somehow unclear: if we take HoMM III he should peacefully smoke on the sidelines, occasionally casting something; judging by 4, when is he supposed to charge into the field to receive and deal damage left and right?

Well, we weren't making 3 or 4, but 5! :super: Therefore, having analyzed the advantages and disadvantages of both approaches, we hope we found the most balanced solution, where the hero is active enough in battle, but nevertheless cannot do without an army, as was the case in 4.

31. Are the developers, i.e., Nival, entitled to influence the success of the Game, express disagreement with some ideas/prejudices of the publisher, introduce (at least for consideration) their own ideas aimed at increasing the popularity of the fifth part of Heroes and so on?

Yes, of course! We worked together on this game and argued a lot about various issues, which in the end only benefited the game. In some places we managed to defend our point of view (like keeping the turn-based mode), in others we accepted the publisher's point of view (like increasing the arena size), but more often we came to a good joint solution.
There are enough fans of the Heroic series among the developers, and in general we have always put more into our games than just money or time, otherwise why would we do this? – After all, there are easier and faster ways to make money. And in general, differences in points of view on some things and related emotions are absolutely normal when people care about what they do.


32. How accurate is the skill wheel currently used by everyone?

A localized "skill wheel" available for download is posted on our website – we can vouch for that one. In those I've seen online before, there were some errors.

33. Will a function to disable animations on the world map be introduced?

There is no particular point in this, as by our estimates it consumes few resources and even on weak machines its disabling will not give a noticeable performance boost.

34. A question for the map makers: do you play what you make yourselves? Because I have no words regarding the Legacy map - only emotions!!! You leave the castle and almost at the entrance there's a guard of solid dryads and archers. And guarding mines with druids and archmages on Exile is just funny... and sad...

Firstly, of course they play, and more than once. Secondly, I specifically looked at these maps now – everything is normal there. Dryads and archers are only level 1-2 creatures. Druids and Archmages on "Exile" guard gold mines, which also fully corresponds to the balance: such reward - such guard…

35. How many people do you have working on testing? And especially, testing the patch?

Both we and UBISOFT are involved in testing the patch. I find it difficult to name the number of testers at UBISOFT since I don't know exactly (but there are many), and our number is also difficult as such information is usually not disclosed, but they exist ;-)
Another thing is that unlike consoles, where everything is the same for everyone, computers and software (drivers, current OS state) are different for everyone, and many bugs encountered by certain users we haven't seen ourselves and cannot reproduce. Naturally we work on fixing errors, but not everything here is as simple and fast as one would like.

36. Why can other races, having captured a Haven castle, effectively use training?

We will fix it.

37. Approximately how much time went into creating the plot for the campaign (in my opinion this is the most successful part, just super)?

It's hard to say how much time was spent directly on it at UBISOFT, but in general, its development and approval took several months. Then, of course, it was further corrected during implementation.

38. Why does the "Defense" skill (10%, 20%, 30%) turn out to be cooler than "Offense" (5%, 10%, 15%)?

Not cooler :) In reality, the first strike already has a very great significance in battle, and receiving an additional 30% bonus on it is too much. Now, for defense +30% at maximum is normal. Offense, in general, is always by definition stronger than defense, which is why the bonus numbers are corresponding.


39. Will there be a converter for old saves so they can be loaded after the patch? If yes, then when? If no, then why?

Actually they can be loaded now - it's just that if something was fixed on this specific map, you probably won't see the fix. But in the next map (if we are talking about a campaign) everything will be normal, so there is no need to start the game over. Therefore we see no need for a special converter.

40. Would it be better to remove the "possible damage" tooltip in battle mode? I look at the scale of who moves when, I look at possible damage and whether they will retaliate, I skip the weak ones, I choose stronger warriors and - kill without losses; isn't that too much?

What you described is exactly tactics, where having certain information you decide when and whom to attack. It's just that before some people played Heroes with a calculator or calculated damage in their head, and now this information is available not only to hardcore players but also to ordinary players, which, in my opinion, is fair.
Winning without losses against weak neutrals is, of course, possible, but against a hero with a comparable army and especially against a human – that's unlikely.

41. Is it possible to put a close button (cross) on all windows you open in the game?

Most such windows can be closed via the "Cancel" button and the "Esc" hotkey. Adding a cross everywhere is problematic.

42. In screenshots from a year ago, a luxurious, magnificent, stunning sky was visible. Where is it now?!

It's reflected in the water :)
In reality, it didn't fit well with the actual game (more precisely with various camera angles) and we had to give it up…

43. Are you going to add hotkeys to the game menu?


No

44. Why does the "Sworn Enemy" ability not use non-upgraded/upgraded troops as a single enemy?

Because in that case, it would be easy to define almost all of the opponent's creatures from the corresponding castle as sworn enemies, which would leave this opponent no room for maneuver when dealing with a human, or simply give too strong a bonus if dealing with AI.

45. Will the upcoming editor be only for maps, or are variations possible (with possibilities to edit hero abilities, troop stats, racial abilities, etc.)?

Variations are possible… :super: We cannot tell you more in detail yet.

46. Why does the tent heal a certain number of times?

Otherwise, with it one could wipe out all (or almost all) neutrals without losses, simply leaving a few unfinished and cycling turns with the tent. And since we don't want stupid turn-cycling in battle waiting for full restoration, nor overly easy battles without losses, the number of charges is limited.

47. Will creatures be able to move without a hero in the future, as they did in part 4?

On their own – no. But alternative ways of delivering reserves to the battlefield are being worked on…

48. Will the possibility of playing as the same heroes be removed in duels? Yesterday I played Ossir against Ossir, and the opponent spitefully set up almost everything mirror-image... In the end I spat and left...

It is the players' right to decide which heroes to play against whom in duels – why deprive them of this right? If they want to play as identical ones – let them play as identical ones :)

49. Will a pause be added to network games with limited time per turn? Because if you need to step away, you can't even stop the game.

If people set a time limit per turn in a network game, they probably want to play dynamically. Your opponent on the other end of the wire is unlikely to like it if you drag out your turn for a reason not obvious to them, especially since pausing could be used simply to think over some action better, i.e., to cheat. Moreover, Heroes are turn-based and you can attend to your own affairs during the opponent's turn.

50. Will a mode be added (I forgot what it was called in 3), which would show the location of resources, artifacts, buildings on the open part of the map?

Unlikely - It seems no one really asked for this.

51. Is it possible to add the ability to switch players to AI in multiplayer games?

We'll think about it…

52. The Elf Hunter kills the target immediately on the first shot, why does he shoot at it again?!

That's a coup de grâce :cool:

53. I strongly ask you to comment on the following AI actions noted by us during four consecutive hot-seat games on xl-maps on the highest difficulty level: after about four game months, the computer stops showing activity on the map (having previously run quite quickly and developed well), locks itself in castles and just sits there until the balance finally and irrevocably shifts toward us, while we are generally trying to make life as difficult as possible for ourselves to make it more interesting. It feels like he's getting scared

This is most likely just a bug. We'll look into it - fix it if necessary.

PS. "He flew away, but promised to return!" (c)