Posts from Heroes 5 Developer Diary: "Tribes of the East"

By Sergey Semashko – HoMM5: HoF & ToE game mechanics designer

Once we decided to add the Orcs in the 2nd extension of Heroes of Might & Magic V, what did you do to design them? What was the feeling you wanted to transmit through this faction?

First we read the M&M World Bible, as it contains all the basic information about the Orcs' history, culture, and population. It also includes all the information that first appeared in Dark Messiah of Might & Magic, so obviously we also drew inspiration from this game. Then we referred to our past experience with Heroes of Might & Magic III. When we designed the Orcs we kept in mind the barbarian race in Heroes 3: we wanted to create faction that relied on pure might.

Now that the Orcs have been added, how is the game balanced between the might and magic factions? What are the extremes?

Most factions are associated with a specific type of magic; For instance the Haven units are linked with Light magic. The Academy is, of course, the most magic-oriented faction. However, it also uses might (units) in battle. On the opposite side of the board, the Stronghold is all about might. They will never use magic in battle. It is interesting because this opposition also demonstrates the history between these two factions: the Wizards created the Orcs by magically fusing human and demonic blood, then kept them as ”combat slaves” to fight demons. No wonder that the Orcs can’t stand anything that’s magical or demonic…

How did you design the Blood Rage feature? What was the spark?

We thought about a race that would not wait behind cover, that would not think whether they should attack or wait. For the Orcs the answer is simple – always hit, always rush forward. The Orcs use brute force and are proud warriors (except for the goblins maybe); we wanted their unique ability to reflect this trait.

How did you reach this line-up? Have you been inspired by Dark Messiah? What balance between shooters/flyers and walkers did you want to give to the players? What are your main inspirations for this faction? Why the Cyclops rather than the behemoth…or a dragon?

We have one creature that was taken straight from Dark Messiah: the Paokai. We loved it ever since we saw the sketch. The other creatures are either adaptations from Dark Messiah (Goblins), updated versions of classic Heroes creatures (Centaurs), or a mix of these (Cyclops). Of course we kept a good balance of flyers & shooters, big & small creatures, as we do for all races. That is the very first step of achieving good game balance.

Regarding the game balance, what are the key points to keep in mind when adding a new faction in an existing system?

We have created a sort of ”average” race that we use to benchmark all other factions. So when we add an advantage in one area, this has to be balanced by adding a weakness in another area. Every race has its advantages defined with respect to this imaginary ”average” race. For instance the Orcs use more offense than the average, but they have less effective defense. They have good low tier troops and an outstanding 7th tier unit.

What is your favourite unit in this line-up? Why?

Cyclops! They are so mighty, they eat goblins! Or maybe shamans, they are so pretty that we were afraid to get an M rating. Seriously, goblin trappers and centaurs work well in tandem: no low tier unit can approach and hit these two (the trapper has a special ability to create invisible traps that will entangle the enemy).

What will be the main specificities of the Orc heroes?

Like the other races, Orcs will have a unique racial ability called Blood Rage. We built this ability to reflect the Stronghold faction specificities and to encourage the player to use aggressive tactics. In short, this special ability means that each time an Orc unit attacks or moves it will gain a bonus in combat, whereas if it stays still or defends, the Rage level will decrease. So the more you attack, the more powerful you are. In addition to this the Orcs have special ”magic” at their disposal, or should we say anti-magic, as it mainly consists in decreasing the effectiveness of traditional magic on the battlefield in favor of might-related attacks.

How many versions have been required to design the Orc hero? Why is he riding a buffalo?

We had three variants of mount: boar, wolf, and bull. The buffalo looked like it would be the most brutal and dangerous in experienced barbarian hands.

Do you think Orcs will become popular among the HoMM players?

It will attract players who want to play pure might heroes, who love brute force rather than tricky magic. We think that this is something many players will appreciate.

How did you integrate magic in this faction? Will Orcs and Orc leaders be able to cast spells? How will it work?

NO! Orcs hate magic; they even have special anti-magic perks. They use talismans to cast adventure ”spells”, but an Orc leader only relies on his voice to buff his troops. You can call it magic if you wish but it is something far more primal, very similar to shamanic tricks. The Orcs are proud and fearless warriors and their courage is the strongest magic they need.

When you designed their town, what feeling did you want to put forward? What were your inspirations?

We combined American Indian and Mongolian inspirations and developed it from there. We wanted to extend the epic feeling when we created the town but that was very tricky as Orc towns are essentially made of tents, which are not usually very impressive. So we paid special attention to the structures' design and their location in the town in order to create something that looks disorganized, dirty and at the same time extremely solid and ”proud”.

What advice would you give to players to help them develop their Orc heroes better?

It will be very dependant on what you are up against. For instance if your opponent is a Wizard, then go for a specialization in ”shatter destruction magic”, while if you face a Necromancer, ”shatter dark magic” is preferable, and so on. Orcs have very versatile specializations; they can adapt to most situations. So you need to know your opponent well to counter him in the most efficient way.

Sergey Semashko - game mechanics creator

1. Once you decided to add Orcs in the second expansion of Heroes of Might and Magic V, how did you start designing them? What feeling did you want to convey through this faction?

First, we reread the M&M World Bible, as it contains all the basic information about the history, culture, and heritage of Orcs. It also includes all the information that appeared in Dark Messiah of Might & Magic, so obviously we also drew inspiration from that game. When we created the Orcs, we envisioned them as a Barbarian race from Heroes 3; we wanted to create a faction that relied on pure Might.

2. Now that Orcs have been added, how is the game balanced between Might and Magic? What are the extremes?

Most factions are associated with a specific type of magic. For example, Haven units are linked to light magic. The Academy is, of course, the most magic-oriented faction. However, it also uses units in battle. On the other hand, the Stronghold is based on Might. They will never use magic in combat. This is interesting because this opposition also demonstrates the history between these two factions: the Wizards created the Orcs by magically fusing human and demonic blood, then kept them as "COMBAT SLAVES" to fight demons. It's no wonder that Orcs remain something of a middle ground between magical and demonic beings.

3. How did you design the Blood Rage (Fury) feature? What served as the spark?

We thought about a race that wouldn't stand aside, that wouldn't think about whether they should attack or wait. For Orcs, the answer is simple — always the sword, always rush forward. Orcs use brute force; they are proud warriors (except for goblins, perhaps); we wanted their unique ability to reflect this trait.

4. How did you come up with this feature? Were you inspired by Dark Messiah? What balance between shooters/flyers and foot soldiers did you want to give the players? What was your main inspiration for this faction? Why a Cyclops, rather than a behemoth... or a dragon?

From Dark Messiah, we took only one creature exactly — the Paokai. We fell in love with it as soon as we saw the sketch. Other creatures are either adaptations from Dark Messiah (Goblins), updated versions of classic Heroes creatures (Centaurs), or a combination of them (Cyclops). Of course, we maintained a good balance of flyers and shooters, large and small creatures, as we do for all races. This is the very first step in achieving good game balance.

5. Regarding game balance, what key points should be kept in mind when adding a new faction to an existing system?

We created a kind of "average" race to determine the effectiveness of all other factions. For example, when we add an advantage in one area, it must be balanced by adding a weakness in another. Each race's advantages were defined relative to this imaginary "average" race. For instance, Orcs deal more damage than average, but they have less effective defense. They have good combat troops and an outstanding 7th-tier unit.

6. Who is your favorite unit in this race? Why?

Cyclopes! They are so powerful, they eat goblins! Or perhaps the Shamans; they are so cute that we were afraid of getting a bad rating. Seriously, goblin hunters and centaurs work well together: lower-tier units cannot approach and hit both of them (the hunter has a special ability to create invisible traps that entangle the enemy).

7. What will be the main specificities of Orc heroes?

Like other races, Orcs will have a unique racial ability called Blood Rage (Fury). In building this ability, we tried to reflect the specifics of the Stronghold faction and encourage the player to use aggressive tactics. In short, this special ability means that every time an Orc unit attacks or moves, it gains an advantage in battle, whereas if it stays put or defends, the Rage level decreases. Thus, the more you attack, the more powerful the unit becomes. In addition, Orcs have a special "magic," or to be precise, anti-magic, since it mainly consists of reducing the effectiveness of traditional magic on the battlefield in favor of Might-related attacks.

8. How many versions were there during the design of the Orc hero? Why is he riding a Bison?

We had three mount options: boar, wolf, and bull. The bison seemed like it would be the most brutal and dangerous in experienced barbarian hands.

9. Do you think Orcs will become popular among HoMM players?

It will attract players who want to play heroes who love brute force rather than tricky magic. We think this is something many players will appreciate.

10. How did you integrate magic into this faction? Are Orcs able to use spells? How will it work?

NO! Orcs hate magic; they even have special anti-magic advantages. They use a war cry to cast a "spell," but an Orc leader relies only on his voice to buff his troops. You can call it magic if you wish, but it is something else, very similar to shamanic tricks. Orcs are proud and fearless warriors, and their courage is the strongest magic they need.

11. When you created their town, what feeling did you want to emphasize? What was your inspiration?

We combined Native American and Mongolian tribe inspirations and developed it from there. We wanted to expand the epic feel. When we created the town, it turned out to be very tricky, because Orc towns are essentially made of tents, which are not usually very impressive. Thus, we paid special attention to the design of the structures and their location in the town to create a feeling that the appearance is deceptive — dirty, yet at the same time extremely solid and, most importantly, "proud."

12. What advice would you give players to help them develop Orc heroes more effectively?

It will be like a method of opposition. For example, if your opponent is a Wizard, then get "Shatter Magic" skills, whereas if you face a Necromancer, "Shatter Dark Magic" is preferable, and so on. Orcs have very versatile specializations; they can adapt to most situations. Thus, you must know your opponent well to counter them in the most efficient way.