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1. The minimum configuration that runs "Heroes III" is Windows 95, English version. How do you install it?
Let's start with the "hardware." Due to my own carelessness, I didn't bother to save 286, 386, 486, etc., back in the day. At the time, it seemed that the more powerful, the better. Therefore, the weakest hardware I have available is a half-working Celeron 333. It has no processor fan (it broke); cooling is passive, via a heatsink.
Memory 128 Mb. Chipset i810e.
2. First, you need a clean IDE HDD 80 Gb. Boot from CD. There is an MS-DOS 6.22 option. Launch it. Partition the HDD; make each drive 1900 Mb, because the limit of this DOS version's understanding is 2 Gb in the FAT16 system. Create one such drive.
Using the command "sys a: c:", install the MS-DOS system. Copy the Windows 95 installer, English version, to the same drive. Reboot into the DOS environment. Install Windows. It is also FAT16.
Then, under Windows 95, create an additional partition on the HDD and make two more drives of 1900 Mb in it. MS-DOS cannot do this; there is some limitation on the size of the extended partition.
3. All we see is a blank screen. Install the drivers. Due to glitchiness, you cannot install the driver immediately because it is designed for Windows 98, not Windows 95. Do it like this: first, install the SVGA video driver instead of the standard VGA. This provides an upgrade from 640 x 480 resolution to 800 x 600. Then switch to 800 x 600 resolution to activate this driver and switch over to it.
Next, install the sound card driver. This enables the ability to play not only under Windows but also under DOS, for example, "Descent".
After that, manually launch the video card installation from the Windows side. Select the "i810e DC133" option. Set the screen resolution to the maximum, 1184 x ???.
Now everything is working, and you can not only play but also create maps.
Any keyboard and mouse will work, including USB and PS/2. No difficulties arise.
4. First, you need to upgrade the computer. If you just launch it as is, an important feature for painting areas to add obstacles is missing during map development. To do this in automatic mode, rather than drawing obstacles one cell at a time, you need software. Specifically, the "Internet Explorer 5" shell. It contains the necessary upgrade.
To install it, install "Office 2000" on the second drive. Unpack the archive there—it takes up 600 Mb on my 1900 Mb D: drive. Then install, for example, Word 2000 and the Internet Explorer 5 shell from the same place. That's it, we don't need anything else. You don't have to launch Office; the main thing is that it is there.
5. You also need to Russify the computer.
Go to the Control Panel, "Add/Remove Programs." Install the "Multilanguage Support" software.
Go to keyboard properties. Add a second "Russian" keyboard and set the switching method between input languages to + .
Go to the Control Panel. Launch "Regional Settings." Select Russia as the country and Russian date/time settings.
The time zone was set earlier, during the installation of Windows 95 itself.
6. Now install some Russian font. I have my favorite Russian font from the last century, Freeset, saved on one of my CDs.
Now our computer is half-Russian, half-English. The Russian font is displayed correctly in most cases where it is selected for formatting. For example, on the desktop and in Windows Explorer folders, as well as in file and folder names.
There is one difference. If you want to type something in Russian, you must switch to the Russian keyboard BEFORE entering any "internal" window, not while you are inside it. Otherwise, it won't work. Forget your habits from a Russified Windows 95 environment.
A pleasant feature: in this version of Windows, there are no tooltips in cream-colored boxes. No one will remind you that this cross is the window close button.
7. Install "Heroes III: Restoration of Erathia" from the original CD to drive D:. It takes another 200 Mb. That's where we will play.
Install "Heroes III: The Shadow of Death" to the same D: drive. That's another 450 Mb. There, we need not only the game but also the environment for developing maps and Campaigns. This is exactly where the ability to paint obstacle areas and create your own Campaigns for the game is available.
In total, out of the available 1900 Mb on drive D:, 2/3 of the drive is filled with various software.
8. Installation is complete, but how will we transfer the results of our creative work to the "big world"?
Once upon a time, long ago, there was a transfer method—the 3.5" floppy disk. That no longer exists. Only one way remains—connect the HDD to some other system unit and copy the files from one disk to another.
This motherboard has two first-standard USB ports with a transfer speed of 1 megabyte per second. That is what we will use.
9. Windows 95 does not understand USB. Therefore, on the third drive E: with a size of 1900 Mb, we install Windows 2000 SP4. The size is just right (937 Mb needed). This gives us a multi-boot system.
Now, using a 1 Gb flash drive via Windows 2000, you can copy maps and Campaigns.
There is one collision between these systems—the Recycle Bin. They are different. Their operation can cause computer malfunctions. Therefore, it is better not to empty the Windows 2000 bin on drive C:. In each system, you must empty the bin separately.
Let's start with the "hardware." Due to my own carelessness, I didn't bother to save 286, 386, 486, etc., back in the day. At the time, it seemed that the more powerful, the better. Therefore, the weakest hardware I have available is a half-working Celeron 333. It has no processor fan (it broke); cooling is passive, via a heatsink.
Memory 128 Mb. Chipset i810e.
2. First, you need a clean IDE HDD 80 Gb. Boot from CD. There is an MS-DOS 6.22 option. Launch it. Partition the HDD; make each drive 1900 Mb, because the limit of this DOS version's understanding is 2 Gb in the FAT16 system. Create one such drive.
Using the command "sys a: c:", install the MS-DOS system. Copy the Windows 95 installer, English version, to the same drive. Reboot into the DOS environment. Install Windows. It is also FAT16.
Then, under Windows 95, create an additional partition on the HDD and make two more drives of 1900 Mb in it. MS-DOS cannot do this; there is some limitation on the size of the extended partition.
3. All we see is a blank screen. Install the drivers. Due to glitchiness, you cannot install the driver immediately because it is designed for Windows 98, not Windows 95. Do it like this: first, install the SVGA video driver instead of the standard VGA. This provides an upgrade from 640 x 480 resolution to 800 x 600. Then switch to 800 x 600 resolution to activate this driver and switch over to it.
Next, install the sound card driver. This enables the ability to play not only under Windows but also under DOS, for example, "Descent".
After that, manually launch the video card installation from the Windows side. Select the "i810e DC133" option. Set the screen resolution to the maximum, 1184 x ???.
Now everything is working, and you can not only play but also create maps.
Any keyboard and mouse will work, including USB and PS/2. No difficulties arise.
4. First, you need to upgrade the computer. If you just launch it as is, an important feature for painting areas to add obstacles is missing during map development. To do this in automatic mode, rather than drawing obstacles one cell at a time, you need software. Specifically, the "Internet Explorer 5" shell. It contains the necessary upgrade.
To install it, install "Office 2000" on the second drive. Unpack the archive there—it takes up 600 Mb on my 1900 Mb D: drive. Then install, for example, Word 2000 and the Internet Explorer 5 shell from the same place. That's it, we don't need anything else. You don't have to launch Office; the main thing is that it is there.
5. You also need to Russify the computer.
Go to the Control Panel, "Add/Remove Programs." Install the "Multilanguage Support" software.
Go to keyboard properties. Add a second "Russian" keyboard and set the switching method between input languages to + .
Go to the Control Panel. Launch "Regional Settings." Select Russia as the country and Russian date/time settings.
The time zone was set earlier, during the installation of Windows 95 itself.
6. Now install some Russian font. I have my favorite Russian font from the last century, Freeset, saved on one of my CDs.
Now our computer is half-Russian, half-English. The Russian font is displayed correctly in most cases where it is selected for formatting. For example, on the desktop and in Windows Explorer folders, as well as in file and folder names.
There is one difference. If you want to type something in Russian, you must switch to the Russian keyboard BEFORE entering any "internal" window, not while you are inside it. Otherwise, it won't work. Forget your habits from a Russified Windows 95 environment.
A pleasant feature: in this version of Windows, there are no tooltips in cream-colored boxes. No one will remind you that this cross is the window close button.
7. Install "Heroes III: Restoration of Erathia" from the original CD to drive D:. It takes another 200 Mb. That's where we will play.
Install "Heroes III: The Shadow of Death" to the same D: drive. That's another 450 Mb. There, we need not only the game but also the environment for developing maps and Campaigns. This is exactly where the ability to paint obstacle areas and create your own Campaigns for the game is available.
In total, out of the available 1900 Mb on drive D:, 2/3 of the drive is filled with various software.
8. Installation is complete, but how will we transfer the results of our creative work to the "big world"?
Once upon a time, long ago, there was a transfer method—the 3.5" floppy disk. That no longer exists. Only one way remains—connect the HDD to some other system unit and copy the files from one disk to another.
This motherboard has two first-standard USB ports with a transfer speed of 1 megabyte per second. That is what we will use.
9. Windows 95 does not understand USB. Therefore, on the third drive E: with a size of 1900 Mb, we install Windows 2000 SP4. The size is just right (937 Mb needed). This gives us a multi-boot system.
Now, using a 1 Gb flash drive via Windows 2000, you can copy maps and Campaigns.
There is one collision between these systems—the Recycle Bin. They are different. Their operation can cause computer malfunctions. Therefore, it is better not to empty the Windows 2000 bin on drive C:. In each system, you must empty the bin separately.
