Message from Oelm:
baratorch, I'm afraid you are wrong in your approach of rushing into the situation with quick combat. Such "fixes" lead to a situation where, before playing SoD-HD, it becomes MANDATORY to familiarize oneself with some kind of manual. Now, expanding this manual is not a very pleasant thing for users. And I suggest proceeding along this path with caution at the very least. For example, prison bugs — by fixing these, we do not affect player capabilities in any way.

Message from rebellious:
/topic/at/604117/

Message from Medium_HP:

Message from baratorch:
in HD I will not do it for every sneeze, for every small change to an option, as some would like.

Changing the quick combat mechanics after introducing the ability to replay it is no longer just a "sneeze".
I agree with the above; I'll add that it's unclear where the latest innovations came from, without any discussions or advice from online players.

To baratorch:
A big request: let the implementation of various changes be coordinated with the Heroes community and weighed for pros and cons, rather than just because they were liked by the author; moreover, not being an online player, it's unclear why you are making changes that players themselves didn't even ask for. If this is not for online play, then name it accordingly; otherwise, it is at least unprofessional for a skilled programmer to be creative as he pleases personally.

Previously, when the mod was just developing and until recently, SoD version players received a breath of fresh air in the form of increased comfort in playing SoD; back then, there was no talk of changing things like quick combat, the timer (which is discussed more and more), road placement, and other quite good options, and everyone was happy. Now everything is being lumped together; before it goes too far, baratorch, you must first decide for yourself: which direction will the mod move and, most importantly, who is on that path.

I have a proposal to bring all the last 6 rs versions into proper shape and somehow differentiate this matter:

1. HD mod with gameplay identical to SoD, with password-protected saves and fixed bugs (except for recalculated tower damage and the introduced quick combat, including the ability to replay it).

Moreover, it would be important to leave this version of the product more or less untouched and same as least optional in the future, except for possible cosmetic restorations.
This type of mod fully corresponds even to the most own-rooted conservative views. In this way, one can kill two birds with one stone:
a) Absence of disputes with the side advocating for the immutability of SoD gameplay and having a certain basis that will become known in a relatively unchanged (over the years) form to an increasing number of players.
b) Easier promotion of changes that you and other people believe are fundamentally necessary for SoD.

In the future, for example, if improvements in versions were obviously needed and eventually proven by experience in online games among players, they could be added to the base mod more easily and calmly. Simply put, the desires of all players are so diverse that without a foundation, it's impossible to please everyone, but with each change, it is quite realistic to gradually peel off supporters one by one.

2. Progressive HD mod.
Here you can freely implement your Creation and vision in some other way.

Message from Oelm:
I don't like your position, because it is obvious to me that quick combat a la VT will give no real gameplay advantage, and therefore should be in the version for everyone. There are simply even fewer reasons to accommodate an opponent if, in some tournament game, they suggest playing on the SoD version.

I also don't like your position because by counting yourself among VT version players, while discussing something general or indirectly comparative, you completely ignore SoD players and do not hear their position simply because you do not want to understand it.

Here is how the difference manifests in a game with quick combat (especially replayable) versus its absence:
I took one of the saves at random (attachment below) from my last finished game against Tiamat. Day 131, but let's imagine that theoretically on turn 127 mef (at the very start of the turn) is hit by 85 gr pegasuses, being slower than them; we don't buy growth and attack with all the army we have — whether to remove archers or not doesn't matter, because that's not the point.

So, if using quick combat, we always get THE SAME result, even after 10 quick combats with the same army: 8 unicorns remain and 0 mana (rs2).
- If fighting manually, we almost always get different results due to the unicorn ability and the morale of our/enemy units! In the worst case, out of 20-30 times, I was left with 6 unicorns, 1 dendrobates, and 5 elves, plus half mana, which is worse than the AI result because of numerous pegasus morale checks, if we imagine the battle was somewhere near a place to replenish mana.
- In the best case, losses were some dwarves, kentaurs, 2 dendrobates, and 9 grands; both dragons remained, all 8 unicorns, 2 dendrobates, and 5 grands.

Conclusion:
firstly, having quick combat can result in battles that show a better result in SoD than fighting manually!
Secondly, having replayable quick combat and accepting it means that while we actually play everything differently with quick combat, we get one result!! We lose a different number of units than would be lost in a manual battle! This variance increases many times over when armies have abilities and influence morale. Sometimes quick combat is so negative, and sometimes so positive, that before the battle, imagining certain losses, we exaggerate or underestimate them, not hoping for possible abilities and morale of our/enemy creatures, which obviously shows and speaks to the necessity of conducting games manually in SoD, and if one uses quick combat, then without replays, at one's own risk.

Message from baratorch:
I am not at all against making a chess timer and showing MP to target; when I get around to it, I will definitely do it (MP is simpler and higher priority) (Now R55Max will start some butt-hurt that's unclear to me, since this will all be optional, separate from true-SoD mode, and available only by mutual consent)

What is unclear about him is also unclear to me. My only wish is that while playing online, sod+Hd does not disrupt the Gameplay of pure SoD (excluding bug fixes and cosmetics), as fixing bugs in hd is not forbidden but welcomed with one caveat: not all bugs are created equal! Considering the interests of gamers is necessary first and foremost, and secondarily considering your own vision of their interests. The more categorical and harsh the implementations are, the same will be the reactions of the three parties — those "for", "against", and neutral parties will also have to choose which side to stand on.

P.S. There is an HD mod, there is an author, there is a community of SoD gamers who simply need this product and its provider. How can one exist without the other, as I cannot imagine denying the interests of one of the parties. I hope the path of the HD mod will move specifically taking into account the interests of the SoD community.

P.P.S.I had an unclear rs2 crash; something changed in the root folder. I wanted to report a bug: when loading a save and attacking golems in quick combat with 3 angels, no losses occur, but in the window after the battle it says my losses are 2 air elements, although there were none during the attack (only 3 angels in 1 stack). In the end, I reinstalled rs2 from scratch, using "replace files", perhaps I made a mistake somewhere. Now 2.98 and rs are non-functional; specifically, 2.98 does not launch, which is understandable, but rs2 launches and reads 2.98 saves, yet an error occurs when attempting to attack neutrals. What do I need to do to restore the ability to play on 2.98 and 3.0 rs1 or 2? The option of deleting everything and reinstalling is not considered, as I want to understand the problem. I'll attach files to help:
- Error. this is a loaded 2.98 file and it crashes upon attacking neutrals.
- Crash log included