Posts from The first show tournament for Heroes III – Horn of the Abyss.

First Show-Tournament for Heroes III - Horn of the Abyss

(First HotA Show-Tournament)[/CENTER][/SIZE]

Tournament Bracket

General Information:
Dates: March-April 2015.
Number of participants: 8.
Format: Single elimination (all games bo1, including the third place match; final - bo3)
Game version: Heroes III - Horn of the Abyss. Latest version at the time of tournament start.
Templates: 2SM4d(3), Diamond, Mini-Nostalgia, Jebus Cross, 8mm6a, 6lm10a, 8xm12a.
Template selection - standard draft, blue starts.
Castle selection - draft from 10 castles (including Wharf), red starts.
Restarts: 113.
Timer: chess timer.
Rules: http://vk.com/topic-59561616_30971585

Tournament Features:
Each match will be broadcast live on the channel http://heroes3.tv/twaryna. Tournament commentator: twaryna + guests. Stream announcements will be in this thread.

Prize Pool: 20000 rub.
Prize distribution: 10000 rub - first place; 6000 rub. - second place; 3000 rub. - third place; 1000 rub. - fourth place.

Tournament host and judge - twaryna (ICQ - 301303816, Skype - ТварЫна). Assisted in judging by Dirty_Player (ICQ - 408722873)

The tournament is invitation-only; no registration. Participant list: Amiloo, Dirty_Player, Gomunguls, HellLight, KobRa, Maretti, Pit for LM, =Stinger= (substitutions possible at the organizer's discretion).



Rules for Heroes III - Horn of the Abyss Online Games

General rules for all templates.

1. Restarts.
In the situations described below, players must/may start a new game with map regeneration.

1.1. Mandatory restart. A mandatory restart must be taken. Immediately after game generation, players must check for grounds for a mandatory restart and are required to take one within 1 minute in cases where:
- a player or the computer is missing a starting castle;
- no roads lead out of the starting castle;
- ГО generated right next to the starting castle (such that it is impossible to exit or enter the starting castle without a battle with ГО).

1.2. Restart on first encounter up to 115-116-117 inclusive for fast-medium-slow roads respectively.
An encounter is considered direct contact between players, i.e., any battle between them (battle between any heroes, battle with the opponent's castle garrison or mine).
If an encounter occurs within the specified timeframe, either opponent has the right to demand a restart immediately after it.
If both players agree to continue the match, the game continues. Subsequent encounters in this generation occurring within the specified timeframes are not grounds for a restart.
After the first encounter restart, the timeframe for taking a repeat restart is reduced by one day, i.e., the second encounter restart is taken up to 114-115-116 inclusive for fast-medium-slow roads respectively. The timeframes for the third and all subsequent encounter restarts are reduced by another day, i.e., up to 113-114-115 inclusive for fast-medium-slow roads respectively.

1.3. Subjective restarts.
Each player has the right, without explaining reasons, to take a restart/restarts no later than the end of their turn on the corresponding day. It is possible to take either 3 restarts on the first day of the game (111+111+111), or 2 restarts on the first and second days (111+112 or 112+111), or one restart on the third day (113).

1.4. Restart at the request of a player whose only road leads into ГО (for templates 2SM4d(3), Jebus Cross, Balance, Nostalgia). Taken on the day this fact is discovered, but no later than 115.
If subjective restarts remain, a subjective restart of the player's choice is spent (e.g., on 114 one can take a remaining 111 restart).
If subjective restarts are exhausted and the player discovers that the only road from the starting castle leads into ГО, they have the right to demand an additional restart.

1.5. Restart due to strong block up to 112 inclusive.
A block is a strong guard of something that cannot be destroyed without catastrophic losses in a specific distribution.
The restart is taken at the request of the player holding the block if it is impossible to bypass the block, which cuts off the castle from the main part of the starting zone, leaving no possibility for development up to the block.

If subjective restarts remain, a subjective restart of the player's choice is spent (i.e., on 112 one can take a remaining 111 restart).
If subjective restarts are exhausted, the player has the right to demand an additional restart.

2. Permitted Actions, Prohibitions and Restrictions

2.1.1. On all templates except XL+U size templates, red-rush is prohibited: the player playing as red is forbidden from attacking on the first day of the week with growth purchased that day:
a) the blue castle (even if the castle is unguarded);
b) blue heroes or guarded mines, if the presence of growth may affect the outcome of the battle or losses in the battle for either player.
Clarification 1. The following are not considered growth and can be used without restrictions:
- troops not purchased last week;
- troops from neutral cities and villages captured on that day;
- troops arriving with purchased heroes and heroes from liberated prisons;
- troops from external dwellings ("caches") and troops from Summoning Portals;
- troops from Pandora's Boxes, Griffin Conservatories, Poison Snake Hives, Seer Huts, Refugee Camps.
Clarification 2. Upgrading any troops is permitted.

2.1.2. The concept of red-rush is not applicable when the opposing players' heroes end up on different sides of the Monolith/Portal or Underworld Gates during an attack, if red cannot see where the blue hero is standing.

2.1.3. When it is impossible to distinguish old troops from growth troops (in case they were merged at a hero or in a castle), it is assumed that growth dies in battles with neutrals.
Until growth has been mixed with old troops, it is considered growth, regardless of losses to the old army.
/For example, if 4 Cavaliers were purchased on 121 to join 2 existing ones and 3 Cavaliers were lost in a battle with neutrals, then when attacking the opponent, two Cavaliers can be used, and one should be dismissed / left in the castle / transferred to another hero. But if the old army suffered losses of one Cavalier on the way home, and only after that mixed with growth, then when attacking the opponent, only one Cavalier can be used./

2.1.4. In a game involving more than two human players, the rule applies sequentially to other colors (blue-rush, tan-rush ...).
In games with alliances, an ally's growth is also understood as growth.

2.2. Hit-and-run is prohibited: Your hero attacking an opponent's hero has no right to retreat in the first round of battle if they cast any magic. This prohibition does not apply to the defending hero.

2.3. Taking monsters wishing to join is prohibited. You must either kill them or let them escape.
Diplomacy is permitted only for reducing the cost of same-side bribes and lowering the required level for access to the Library of Enlightenment.

2.4. Dimension Door spell:
- on all templates except XL+U size templates, can be used by each hero no more than 1 time per day;
- on XL+U size templates, can be used by each hero 2 times per day with expert air magic.

2.5. Transitions between zones.

On all templates except XL+U size templates:
2.5.1. To pass from one zone to another through a specific passage, it is necessary to eliminate the guard of that passage. If there are several guards at the passage, destroying any one of choice is sufficient.
2.5.2. If the guard of the passage between zones is shifted deep into the neighboring zone, passing into that zone is permitted for its elimination. In the presence of several passage guards, passing into the neighboring zone to eliminate any guard of the player's choice is permitted. Elimination of the guard in these cases must be the first action in the new zone.
2.5.3. It is permitted to enter a neighboring zone without breaking through the passage guard to visit an object belonging to the zone where the player is currently located.
2.5.4. When passing through a Monolith/Portal or Underworld Gates, it is sufficient to eliminate the guard at the entrance.
2.5.5. In the absence of a passage guard, free movement from zone to zone is permitted.
2.5.6. It is permitted to enter neighboring zones using Angel Wings, Dimension Door and Fly spells without destroying the guard.
2.5.7. Passing by passage guards without destroying them is permitted if
- the player has already passed through this passage themselves (i.e., destroyed one of the guards);
- the player saw an opponent destroy one of the guards or pass through this passage;
- there is any other indisputable evidence that the guard was destroyed.

On XL+U and Diamond size templates, it is always permitted to pass from one zone to another without breaking shifted guards.

This rule applies only to guards of passages between zones. Bypassing object guards is permitted by any means available in the game.

2.6. Assembling the Cloak of the Undead King artifact set is prohibited. All other artifact sets may be assembled.

2.7. Actions not prohibited/restricted by these rules are permitted.

3. Fair Play
The most important point: players must play fairly and respect each other.

3.1. Using cheat codes, unauthorized programs, or bugs resulting from the use of additional programs and files during a match is prohibited.
3.2. No one except the judge/tournament host has the right to open save files of an unfinished match, and only in the event of a disputed situation in the match. For this purpose, it is recommended to set passwords on saves at the start of the game (function available in HD-mod). If there is no connection with the judge/host at the moment a dispute arises requiring the opening of save files, the match must be interrupted and saved by both participants until contact with judges is established.
3.3. Viewing the hero's skill tree via software tools is prohibited (equated to maphack).
3.4. Opening the map on which the game is being played in the editor before the end of the match is prohibited.
A match is considered finished when one player has completely destroyed the second or one of them surrenders, which must be reported separately. Only after this is it permitted to open save files and view the map in the editor.

3.5. When playing with passworded saves, players are required to:
- provide their password to the opponent(s) immediately after the game;
- provide the password for an unfinished match upon request of the tournament host/judge in the event of a disputed situation.

4. Miscellaneous
4.1. If a "stalemate" situation occurs in battle, the attacking player must retreat.
Example: during the battle, the attacker has 100 Dwarves left, and the defending hero has 1 Serpent. The 100 Dwarves cannot catch up to the Serpent. In this case, the attacker with 100 Dwarves must retreat (or pay a bribe). If someone is wearing Shackles of War, it is necessary to load the last saved game, repeat all moves exactly as they were made before this battle, and dismiss the troops that were killed during this battle. Then the player who was wearing the Shackles of War must remove them, and the attacker must attack and flee/pay a bribe.

4.2. If a disconnect (desync) occurs during the game, the player whose turn it was saves the game. Then they load from this save file and continue. Alternatively, they load the autosave of the player who was inactive at that moment. If the connection was lost during a battle, after loading all battle moves are repeated as closely as possible to those before the disconnect.

Map setting options, additions, and rule differences for popular templates.

Descriptions and text files for templates, as well as information on how the random map generator works, can be found here: /topic/6313/
It is recommended to adhere to the general rules set out above, with individual differences for each template.

1. Template 2SM4d(3):
Map setting options: map size L+U; players – 2; computers – 0; teams – 0; no water; strong monsters; difficulty 160%; turn time limit – 6 minutes, with chess timer - (16:00+06:30+01:00).

2. XL+U size templates: 8mm6/8mm6а, 8xm12/8xm12a, 8xm8/8xm8а, 6LM10/6LM10a, Spider:
Map setting options: map size XL+U, players – 2; computers – 6; teams – 0; no water; strong monsters; difficulty 160%, turn time limit – 8 minutes, with chess timer - (21:00+08:00+01:15).
Additionally:
- Restart on slow roads. Taken at the request of at least one opponent immediately after map generation.
Clarification:
Red-rush is permitted.
Bypassing any guards without breaking through is permitted.

3. Template Jebus cross:
Map setting options: map size XL-U, players - 2, computers – 0; teams – 0; no water, strong monsters, difficulty 160 %, turn time limit – 10 minutes, with chess timer - (24:00+08:30+01:30).
Additional restarts:
- Restart on slow roads. Taken at the request of at least one opponent immediately after map generation.
- Mandatory restart if a player has no ГО at all between their starting zone and the center, i.e., there is no ГО on any passage to the center. Taken on the day this fact is discovered.
- Mandatory restart if a player has no single passage from their starting zone to the center. Taken on the day this fact is discovered.
- Restarts at the request of a player who:
a) lacks ГО in the passage through which the road leads to the central treasure zone;
b) lacks a road to the central treasure zone,
taken on the day these facts are discovered. If subjective restarts remain, a subjective restart of the player's choice is spent (i.e., on 124 one can take a remaining 111 restart). If subjective restarts are exhausted, the player has the right to demand an additional restart.
Additional rules for transitions between zones:
- To exit your zone into the central treasure zone (zone 5), as well as to pass from the central treasure zone to other zones, it is necessary to break through the corresponding ГО. Using bugged passages between the central treasure zone and a specific zone is prohibited until the ГО between these zones has been broken.
- Passing via bugged passages between two zones 1-4 is only permitted if the ГО between the central zone 5 and both of these zones have been broken.
- Transition between zones using the Angel Wings artifact and Fly and Dimension Door spells is permitted:
a) between any of zones 1-4 and the central zone 5, if the ГО of any passage between the corresponding zones has been broken;
b) between two zones 1-4, if the ГО between the central zone 5 and both of these zones have been broken;
c) in cases of several ГО for one passage - to approach the ГО chosen by the player, while the first action in the new zone must be the elimination of this ГО.

4. Templates 2sm2с, Balance(200), skirmish at 200% difficulty:
Map setting options: players – 2; computers – 0; teams – 0; map size M; no water; medium monsters; difficulty 200%; turn time limit – 4 minutes, with chess timer - (08:00+04:00+01:00).
Castle and bonus selection is random.
Additional restarts:
- Restart for generations with identical castles. Taken at the request of at least one opponent immediately after map generation.
- Restart on Balance template at the request of a player who lacks a road to their home village.
- Restart at the request of a player whose stone or wood mine, or on the Balance template - home village, is guarded by monsters of level 3 and above or level 2 archers.
Additional rules.
- After each subjective restart, players swap colors.
- Passing from one zone to another via bugged passages is prohibited.
- Using the Trading Post is prohibited.
- Using Fly, Town Portal, Dimension Door spells, as well as the Angel Wings artifact, is prohibited.
- Heroes Solmyr, own-name Dimir and Aislin can use their signature spell against opponent heroes only in cases where:
a) the player has built a level 4 Mage Guild in one of the cities or captured a city with a built MG4. If your castles do not have the corresponding MG level, you must fully build MGs of all levels in any two castles that belong to you.
Visiting these castles with a hero is not mandatory. It does not matter whether the castles with built MG levels are subsequently controlled.
c) if the corresponding spell was obtained by any of your heroes in a Pandora's Box (even if this hero does not have sufficient wisdom skill to learn this spell);
d) if a Magic Book of the required element is found.

5. Template Mini-Nostalgia:
Map setting options: map size L+U; players – 2; computers – 6 (or 0 - in which case neutral castles will be used instead of computer players); teams – 0; no water; strong monsters; difficulty 160%; turn time limit – 8 minutes, with chess timer - (19:00+08:00+01:15).
Castle selection. Players choose their castles and colors via standard draft. Then they choose castles for the computer players - their immediate neighbors on the template: red chooses castles for brown, orange, and green, and blue for light blue, pink, and purple. Castles for computer players are chosen by human players alternately one by one from the list of remaining castles. The player who drafted castles first starts choosing. All starting castles must be different. Before starting, the player creating the game assigns the chosen castles to the computer players.
Additionally:
Passing by a shifted ГО is prohibited. Passing by shifted guards of other passages between zones is permitted.

6. Template Diamond:
Map setting options: map size L+U; players – 2; computers – 6; teams – 0; no water; strong monsters; difficulty 160%; turn time limit – 8 minutes, with chess timer - (19:00+08:00+01:15).
Castle selection. Players choose their castles via standard draft. After this, players cross out one castle each from the remaining eight that will not participate in the game. The player creating the game assigns the other six castles to computer players in any sequence. All starting castles must be different.
Additionally:
Restart on slow roads. Taken at the request of at least one opponent immediately after map generation.
Bypassing any guards without breaking through is permitted.