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Quite some time has passed since the release of the mobile game Age of Heroes: Army of Darkness. The first part of this mobile role-playing strategy was certainly successful and found both its fans and critics. 
We (QPlaze-RME) received an incredible number of reviews and suggestions, and due to some quite objective remarks, we decided not to release the sequel on the engine of the first part as originally planned, but instead to put maximum effort into improving the Gameplay and refining the game engine. The result of our work is a nearly completely reworked second part of Age of Heroes titled Horror from the Dungeon. Improvements touched almost every aspect of the game. Player capabilities were expanded, and the Gameplay, graphics, sound design, and animation were improved, but let's take it one step at a time.
What is Age of Heroes
Age of Heroes is a series of role-playing strategy games about great heroes, united by a single fantasy world. Each game is a separate story that immerses the player in a world of adventure and magic. The Age of Heroes series contains everything necessary for a good representative of its genre: a large map filled with settlements, various friendly and hostile creatures, artifacts, treasures, magical scrolls, and all sorts of quests that must be completed to achieve the goal. As in any role-playing game, the player must move across the map, gathering their army, defeating enemies, and increasing their hero's abilities. Each new game released in the Age of Heroes series features its own original design and plot. We strive to take into account all objective requests and comments from players.
How the game plays
In Age of Heroes, the hero moves across the map in turn-based mode: a certain number of steps can be taken per turn, after which the turn passes to the opponent. Clashes with the opponent take place in a special combat mode. This is a separate screen where we can see the hero's army as independent units. During the battle, the player controls their units by moving them across the battlefield or attacking the enemy. After all of the player's units have made their moves, the turn passes to the opponent. The hero can also use magic to deal damage to enemy troops or to aid their own units. This mode should be familiar to many players acquainted with PC games such as "Heroes of Might and Magic" or "Demiurges". The game features many dialogues, some that help the hero complete quests and others that simply introduce the player to the surrounding world and its problems.
New Plot
Once, Evil was defeated, but much time has passed since then. The fates of others have once again fallen into the Hero's hands: the dead have awakened not only in human settlements but also in the domains of underground dwellers. Dwarves are brave warriors, but their weapons are weak against death magic, and one of the few who can help them is a Necromancer named Ortega, a former court mage now spending his days in a small hut on a mountainside. Such is the fate of a Necromancer — to fight the undead spawn of evil forces. For him, the time has come again to take up the combat staff and use the most powerful spells — the world must not plunge into darkness! In the new game, more opponents, quests, and characters await the hero. He will journey into the depths of the dwarven underground world, where no human foot has ever stepped. In "Horror from the Dungeon," we encounter the dwarf race and new creatures of Darkness. Additionally, new artifacts, magic, and characters have appeared.
New Gameplay
For those hearing about Age of Heroes for the first time, we recommend visiting the official game page (quest.qplaze.com) to learn more in detail. If the reader has encountered Age of Heroes before, they will be pleased to know that 20 levels of improvements are available to the hero in the new version (only 3 in the old game).
Now, leveling up affects the attack and defense parameters of the hero's army; furthermore, parameters such as leadership, magic level, and mana have been added. Leadership is necessary to be able to recruit a larger number of warriors into the army, while the magic and mana parameters affect mana regeneration and the level of spells used.
The player can have three levels of magical mastery; the higher the level, the more mana the spells require, and the stronger the result. 11 types of magic are available to the player. A new type of magic has appeared that allows it to be applied to the entire army, and resurrection magic has been added. The number of quest artifacts and characters in the game has increased. The number of opponents and allies has significantly grown. We decided to move away from shops for artifacts and soldiers; now the army is recruited on the map, and artifacts can be obtained by completing various quests.
Additionally, in the new game, there is no need to confirm the end of a turn; it ends automatically, and if there is no aggressive opponent nearby, the next one begins immediately. Informativeness has significantly increased; now the player receives messages about reaching a new level, attacks, and successful game saves.
Almost all characters have been given the ability to move. Some enemy characters even pursue the player throughout the location. The combat structure has also changed; we moved away from the square grid, and now the field is based on hexagons, which provides greater freedom of maneuver. The classic combat scheme, where player and opponent characters were positioned on opposite sides of the screen, has been expanded; now the opponent has the ability to surround the hero's army, in which case you will have to start the battle within a ring of enemy warriors. Combat statistics are displayed at the end of the fight. A flying unit type has been added; they are capable of overcoming ground obstacles. The army window now allows for merging and splitting squads. Almost all dialogues in the game have several development options rather than being linear, as was the case in the previous version.
Graphics
In designing Age of Heroes II, we tried to make maximum use of the available Java midlet size. The game is rich with high-level graphics and animation; almost all dialogues are accompanied by character images. Fans of the series will be interested to know that an expanded team of artists worked on the design of the second part of the game. We tried to fill even the weakest phone models to capacity.
Compatibility
It is no secret that alongside powerful and modern smartphones, there are many weaker siblings with limited midlet sizes and not-so-fast processors. We felt it would be unfair to neglect less powerful phones, and therefore we made every effort to ensure maximum consistency of the plots regardless of the phone model. Of course, we are not magicians and cannot fit 150 kilobytes of graphics into a phone that supports only 65 kilobyte applications, so users of such models will have to settle for more modest game design, but quality Gameplay is guaranteed for all.
We (QPlaze-RME) received an incredible number of reviews and suggestions, and due to some quite objective remarks, we decided not to release the sequel on the engine of the first part as originally planned, but instead to put maximum effort into improving the Gameplay and refining the game engine. The result of our work is a nearly completely reworked second part of Age of Heroes titled Horror from the Dungeon. Improvements touched almost every aspect of the game. Player capabilities were expanded, and the Gameplay, graphics, sound design, and animation were improved, but let's take it one step at a time. What is Age of Heroes
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How the game plays
In Age of Heroes, the hero moves across the map in turn-based mode: a certain number of steps can be taken per turn, after which the turn passes to the opponent. Clashes with the opponent take place in a special combat mode. This is a separate screen where we can see the hero's army as independent units. During the battle, the player controls their units by moving them across the battlefield or attacking the enemy. After all of the player's units have made their moves, the turn passes to the opponent. The hero can also use magic to deal damage to enemy troops or to aid their own units. This mode should be familiar to many players acquainted with PC games such as "Heroes of Might and Magic" or "Demiurges". The game features many dialogues, some that help the hero complete quests and others that simply introduce the player to the surrounding world and its problems. New Plot
Once, Evil was defeated, but much time has passed since then. The fates of others have once again fallen into the Hero's hands: the dead have awakened not only in human settlements but also in the domains of underground dwellers. Dwarves are brave warriors, but their weapons are weak against death magic, and one of the few who can help them is a Necromancer named Ortega, a former court mage now spending his days in a small hut on a mountainside. Such is the fate of a Necromancer — to fight the undead spawn of evil forces. For him, the time has come again to take up the combat staff and use the most powerful spells — the world must not plunge into darkness! In the new game, more opponents, quests, and characters await the hero. He will journey into the depths of the dwarven underground world, where no human foot has ever stepped. In "Horror from the Dungeon," we encounter the dwarf race and new creatures of Darkness. Additionally, new artifacts, magic, and characters have appeared. New Gameplay
For those hearing about Age of Heroes for the first time, we recommend visiting the official game page (quest.qplaze.com) to learn more in detail. If the reader has encountered Age of Heroes before, they will be pleased to know that 20 levels of improvements are available to the hero in the new version (only 3 in the old game).
 |  |
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Now, leveling up affects the attack and defense parameters of the hero's army; furthermore, parameters such as leadership, magic level, and mana have been added. Leadership is necessary to be able to recruit a larger number of warriors into the army, while the magic and mana parameters affect mana regeneration and the level of spells used.
The player can have three levels of magical mastery; the higher the level, the more mana the spells require, and the stronger the result. 11 types of magic are available to the player. A new type of magic has appeared that allows it to be applied to the entire army, and resurrection magic has been added. The number of quest artifacts and characters in the game has increased. The number of opponents and allies has significantly grown. We decided to move away from shops for artifacts and soldiers; now the army is recruited on the map, and artifacts can be obtained by completing various quests.
 |  |
 |  |
Additionally, in the new game, there is no need to confirm the end of a turn; it ends automatically, and if there is no aggressive opponent nearby, the next one begins immediately. Informativeness has significantly increased; now the player receives messages about reaching a new level, attacks, and successful game saves.
Almost all characters have been given the ability to move. Some enemy characters even pursue the player throughout the location. The combat structure has also changed; we moved away from the square grid, and now the field is based on hexagons, which provides greater freedom of maneuver. The classic combat scheme, where player and opponent characters were positioned on opposite sides of the screen, has been expanded; now the opponent has the ability to surround the hero's army, in which case you will have to start the battle within a ring of enemy warriors. Combat statistics are displayed at the end of the fight. A flying unit type has been added; they are capable of overcoming ground obstacles. The army window now allows for merging and splitting squads. Almost all dialogues in the game have several development options rather than being linear, as was the case in the previous version.
Graphics
In designing Age of Heroes II, we tried to make maximum use of the available Java midlet size. The game is rich with high-level graphics and animation; almost all dialogues are accompanied by character images. Fans of the series will be interested to know that an expanded team of artists worked on the design of the second part of the game. We tried to fill even the weakest phone models to capacity.
Compatibility
It is no secret that alongside powerful and modern smartphones, there are many weaker siblings with limited midlet sizes and not-so-fast processors. We felt it would be unfair to neglect less powerful phones, and therefore we made every effort to ensure maximum consistency of the plots regardless of the phone model. Of course, we are not magicians and cannot fit 150 kilobytes of graphics into a phone that supports only 65 kilobyte applications, so users of such models will have to settle for more modest game design, but quality Gameplay is guaranteed for all.
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