Heroes 5 developers answer questions.

A new set of answers to questions from Old Boy. Thanks to Rean for the information found.

We'll leave questions about the editor until its official release along with patch 1.3 – fortunately, there isn't much longer to wait.
And somewhere in the news I mentioned that in August we would be able to please you with new information – and we will! A bit later

Here is the new set:

1. Why is Expert Education 15% in the game, but 30% in the localized skill wheel? Why does the same wheel on your site still have Advanced Dark Magic under Defense? Are there plans to add the skill wheel into the game as a tab when leveling up or in some other form, so that hero development can be planned somehow? How difficult would it be to make a Magic_Wheel, Heroes_Wheel, Creature_Wheel similar to the "skill wheel," and is such a thing planned or not?

Unfortunately, the skill wheel originally posted on our site did indeed contain errors – there is now a corrected version.
There are no plans to add the skill wheel into the game.
Regarding the Heroes Wheel and Creature Wheel – what do you think should be displayed on them?


2. Do you plan to bring back the camera settings (which were in the beta) where absolutely all creature attacks are shown in close-up, rather than just selected ones?

No, unlikely.

3. If UBI allows it, please tell us: was the appearance of Dark Elves as a new race and a new faction in HEROES 5 planned and definitive, or did the Warlocks have rival races at that stage that you decided to abandon for some reason? If there were any, could you name them? Just briefly.

There weren't any particular rivals
...Simply put, in our view, the Dungeon castle previously lacked a certain unifying idea; it was just a castle with a random set of cavern creatures… Dark elves are one of the best-known races in relevant literature and have appeared in the world of Heroes one way or another, so their "settlement" into the Dungeon was quite natural. Moreover, "good" elves and "good" wizards already exist in the game, so why not add "bad" ones too?

4. Is there any plan to document the game's resources? Is there a plan to publish the interface editor? Is there a plan to revise the data.pak file and systematize it (to make it more convenient for modders)? Is there any documentation planned for this same file in case systematization is not foreseen?

Interface editor? – We'd love to have one ourselves
Systematizing data.pak? – no, not planned.
As for documentation, that is essentially a question of official support for modding, which is currently being worked out by the publisher. Although the editor will come with a manual.

5. I would really like to see some interesting and familiar buildings on the map, such as a university, magic school, or veterans' home. Will this happen? If so, can it fit into a patch? Perhaps these buildings (which in no way break balance) could appear in the editor?

In the editor – no, in patches - unlikely…

6. Will there be heroes who add new properties to units? For example, Axel adds certain bonuses like Attack and Defense to all Knights and Paladins, but I'd like him to add some new ability to this monster class rather than just a banal improvement to attack and defense.

There are already a couple of such heroes in the game, and we do not rule out the appearance of new ones in the future.

7. How deeply will the balance be revised, and do you plan to organize any official competitions for the game (the second question follows from the first - for such competitions, the balance must be very well-tuned)? Perhaps you will promote the game for esports competitions like WCG? Will the balance (of skills, factions, spells) be adjusted in the next patch? And how will you determine which corrections to make?

We fix the balance as needed - I don't think there will be a total overhaul, but we do have plans, for example, for significant changes to Training, Necromancy, and Gaiting – but it's too early to talk about that.
Essentially, we make those changes where the necessity is obvious to us, basing this on both our own experience and an analysis of what players write on various Heroes forums.
Regarding official esports competitions, here is an example: http://www.gigabyte.ru/gaming/2006/index.html. Let's hope this is only the beginning.

8. There are many settings in the game that are not included in the game menu (they can be found in autoexec.cfg, user.cfg and some others). Will more options be added to the game menu in the future? If not, will a list of all commands with their descriptions be posted?

Some might be added, but definitely not all settings from the files will move to the menu, as those files contain many specific settings that are not relevant for the absolute majority of players. For this same reason, it's unlikely we will ever make a full list of them with descriptions.

9. Why is there no protection on the game? This encourages the distribution of pirated versions.

…Generally, the distribution of pirated versions is encouraged first and foremost by those who buy them, and only then by the presence or absence of various protections.
As for the rejection of StarForce, that was the publisher's choice and they had their own reasons for it.

10. Will there be an option to play in "duel" mode against the computer?

Actually, right now you can just select two players and launch autocombat for one of them ;-)

11. Are there any additional text materials planned for the new universe? For example, in the form of stories. Of course, this is a question for Ubi, but maybe you know?

This question is indeed for UBISOFT. It's too early to say definitively, but such plans are being discussed.

12. Why don't you want to make female models? After all, bearded, bass-voiced, and square "women" look very funny.
Did the developers ever have the idea to eventually make each hero's model exclusive, like those of Agrail, Markel, Isabelle, etc.? Is such a move possible from the developers?

In total, one hero's model together with corresponding animations takes about a month or more... Multiplying this number by the number of races gives an approximate answer as to why it was decided not to make female models. That is, they weren't made because their presence would not significantly affect the quality and interest of the game, but would require a lot of production time.
In fact, such decisions are typical for any large game project.

13. At the moment, war machines are truly useful only at the beginning of the game or in campaigns. Is there a plan to strengthen war machines as the hero grows, at least for heroes specializing in them? Example: a medical tent specialist not only increases the amount of hits that can be healed, but also the number of charges, say, one charge every 5 levels, etc.
In our view, they are strong enough when combined with corresponding skills.

The main problem with war machines was that they could be easily destroyed. Now we have made their "hit points" dependent on the War Machines skill and its perks. We think this will help.

14. Will there be an option in multiplayer (LAN) to do something during the opponent's turn (view kingdom, castles, units), because right now it's impossible to access anything?

Possibly…

15. Are battle replays planned?

Not for now


16. Will texts like in HOMM 3, 4 be returned? I don't mean artifacts, but texts that reveal the scenario.

No

17. Why are turns distributed randomly at the start of a battle? This is wrong.
Why can initiative only be increased for units and not for the hero using Haste magic or decreased using Slow?

We don't like the option where certain creatures always guaranteed to go first – this is, firstly, boring, and secondly, such creatures become too ultimate. A small amount of random, in this case, makes battles more diverse and forces players to adapt to a changing situation rather than acting according to one and the same worn-out scenario.
As for increasing\decreasing the hero's initiative using Haste\Slow - currently, no magic can affect the hero at all - that is how the system works, and there is no point in making exceptions for individual spells.


18. On the Igroman disk, I often saw fragments of a beautiful video clip of an angel's battle with a dragon (or a devil, I don't remember) by a ruined castle. But I didn't find this video in the game. Will the clip appear somewhere?

This was a clip made by Ubisoft based on the game long before its completion, so in terms of factual side it is weakly connected to the game and rather conveys its spirit. Therefore, we do not plan to publish it again.

19. Is there any plan to implement new spells for casters, such as animate dead for a lich or summoning elementals for a druid?

Not planned, as balancing casters is quite difficult and time-consuming, and implementing new spells would certainly require this.

20 .In the third game there was an option in autobattle to forbid the hero from using magic.. I didn't find this in the fifth. Can such an option be added?

Possibly, we will add it…


21. Logically, luck and morale (as well as computer AI in general - perhaps to a lesser extent) are probabilistic characteristics.. But with an autosave, for example, both luck and morale occur identically to the previous version. Is it possible to make them truly random values?

And why? - So that by using save\load you could replay the same spot several times until a lucky combination occurs? We wouldn't want to encourage this…
Luck and morale are probabilistic: If you play two games on the same map without using save\load – they will not repeat (By the way, this is not our personal invention - a similar randomization system existed in both Heroes II and III, and for example, in the famous Jagged Alliance)

22. Don't take this as boasting, but could you add a difficulty level higher than Hero? An "Impossible" is missing specifically for maniacs

Try playing without using save\load


23. How do the developers from Nival feel about the promises Fabrice Cambon made in his interview? Personally, some of them seem way too far-fetched to me. Were these promises made with Nival's consent or were they simply given to you as a task?

Which specific interview are we talking about? If it's this one http://www.archangelcastle.com/h5/in...c2006index.php, then there is nothing "far-fetched" in it.
In any case, of course, we are aware of the development options for the game voiced by our publisher, and all of them are, one way or another, preliminarily agreed upon.

24. A personal question for Old Boy: What is your favorite castle in Heroes V and why? (don't be modest)

Generally, I play different castles depending on my mood. But the human one has always been and is my favorite, simply because humans are somehow closer and dearer to me


25. Will a cheat mode for mapmakers be returned to check the playability of a map?

In patch 1.3, cheats will work for single-player games and will not work in multiplayer.

26. Why were caravans removed? Why spend effort gathering troops across the whole map?

This was an ambiguous innovation of the 4th part that was far from liked by everyone. The point of gathering troops across the whole map is that it's a normal strategic choice that a player must make before each specific battle: Attack immediately or bring up reserves, losing time.

27. Will the local network play be improved? In many networks, even with the patch release, this possibility didn't appear. Maybe you should consider creating a direct-IP mode?

Local network gameplay will be improved, but we don't promise direct-IP for now.

28. Will there be maps? Not mission maps, but geographical maps, preferably tied to the game's plot in some way. At least like in the third one.

I didn't quite understand: Do you mean maps integrated into the game or additional materials about the universe from the publisher in the form of maps? The first – unlikely, the second – possible.

29. "Might & Magic Universe" - what do you mean by this? Is it just HoMM and Dark Messiah, or something more large-scale - maybe even books?

For us as a developer, right now it is primarily Heroes V. According to the publisher, this universe will develop in many games in the future - Heroes V and Dark Messiah are only the first steps.

30. During battle there are angles such as, say, following the flight of an arrow (or whatever that's properly called?). Is more diverse camera movement planned - spectacular fly-bys, etc.?

No, not planned.

31. Will there be any statistics on Ubisoft servers, i.e., number of wins and losses for a particular player, total rating, etc? And will this rating be built directly into Heroes? Or will we still have to surf Ubi-soft websites?

Player Rating is available on the Ubisoft site. You can see your own number of wins\losses and other similar information in the network profile. Additionally, a rating for duels will be added in patch 1.3. We do not plan to make some kind of total rating.

32. Is UBI planning to create "souvenirs," figures of heroes\monsters\artifacts?

Actually, Ubisoft has already released various souvenirs for the game such as playing cards, t-shirts, mouse pads, etc. Depending on the market success of the game, they will release more.

33. As far as I know, a book about the HOMM_V universe is being sold on Amazon with UBI's blessing; will there be something similar in electronic or paper version, but in Russian? And if so, when?

No official book about the HOMM V universe from UBISOFT has been released yet. There is a Strategy Guide, but that's not the universe. If you send a link to what you saw on Amazon, I can answer more specifically.

34. Will it be possible for a hero to teleport from a dungeon to the surface and vice versa using magic?

No, it will not

35. Are the developers present on the official Ubisoft forum, or does Ubisoft staff pass all comments and suggestions expressed there to the developers at Nival?

We are not directly present on the UBISOFT forum, as we barely have enough time for our own. However, we are aware of the sentiments and desires of the Western audience.

36. Is it possible in the future to increase map levels (for example, as in Age of Wonders 2: two dungeon levels, plus a demon world)?

No.

37. Currently, installing mods causes some difficulties with multiplayer games. Is it possible to implement a mechanism for blocking/disabling mods when creating a multiplayer game (for example, by adding additional protection to the original packages that prohibits their direct editing, plus tracking "non-native" packages)?

Well, actually, people have always installed amateur mods at their own risk. We are, of course, pleased that such mods for Heroes V are being made, but we are not providing any official mod support yet – we simply don't have the time for it.

38. In the company for the Sylvan faction, there is a Necropolis called Apel-Sin
Is this a joke by the translators, or did it just "happen"? Who came up with the names?

The original English names were created by UBISOFT. The Russian versions are by our translators. Regarding Apel-Sin, in English it is called Apil-Sin - so one could see this as either a literal translation or a joke by the translators.


39. Why can't neutral creatures (elementals, phoenixes, dark knights) be added to the elves' list of sworn enemies?

Bug. Already fixed.

40. Why are there no buildings on the maps where you can buy dark knights or phoenixes?

Dark knights and phoenixes are not for sale!