Posts from [HMM II TOURNAMENT OFF] 6th Joint 3-Resource Tournament: "Golden Dragon"

"Gold Dragon".

1.1. The tournament will run from April 24th to May 25th, 2009.
1.2. The tournament is held simultaneously on three Internet resources: HeroesLeague, HeroesPortal, HeroesWorld.
1.3. The tournament will be played on the following game versions:
Heroes II: Price of Loyalty 2.1 (English), Heroes II: Цена верности 2.1 (Russian). Playing on earlier versions of the game, where many bugs have not been fixed, is prohibited. It is forbidden to play in DOS and switch between different versions.
1.4. Any registered user of one of the three forums – HeroesPortal, HeroesLeague, HeroesWorld – can participate in this tournament, with an identical final tournament table being displayed on all three sites. However, it is strongly recommended to register on the HeroesPortal, HeroesLeague, and HeroesWorld websites; this way, you can receive bonuses on all three forums.
1.5. Tournament winners receive rewards corresponding to each resource (rating, fiefs, arrob, mines) on each resource.
1.6. ATTENTION!!! Throughout the tournament, players MUST save at the beginning or end (both options are required) of EACH gaming day and keep them on their computer! A judge has the right to request daily saves from ANY player and explanations regarding them, up to describing the tactics of a specific battle.
If there are no satisfactory explanations (from the judges' point of view), the player's result will be annulled. If there is a satisfactory description of the gameplay but the necessary saves are missing, the player will be given a loss. The statute of limitations (the period during which daily saves must be kept) is 7 days after the results of the round are announced.
1.7. The tournament leaders are Dust on HeroesLeague, Lion Star on HeroesPortal, and Qwerty on HeroesWorld.
1.8. Players must name their final save with their nickname followed by "gold" and send it to: hmm2@mail.ru

2.1. It is strictly FORBIDDEN to use cheat codes, prohibited bugs, and game features in the final playthrough; hacking saves or manipulating computer players in hot-seat mode is also forbidden. Using standard cheat codes for initial reconnaissance purposes is allowed. However, after completing the reconnaissance, the player must load the starting save and start the game again.
2.2. Rule regarding obtaining Ultimate Artifacts (UA). UAs can only be obtained after visiting ALL obelisks. To prove this fact, the player must send an additional save file along with their final save, showing that all obelisks were visited before obtaining the UA. Add "UA" to the end of the filename of such a save.
2.3. You may control a redeemed escaped/bought hero on the day they escaped/were bought. Buying back such a hero is allowed on the day of escape/purchase; buying back and controlling your dismissed/killed hero is only allowed on the following day after dismissal/death; if a hero escapes/is bought/dies during turn transition, you can buy them back and control them immediately;
It is also not allowed to redeem developed computer heroes (a developed hero is defined as one whose experience, secondary and/or primary skills, spellbook contents, and its presence differ from the standard starting values).
2.4. Visiting graveyards, demon caves, and ghost ships is prohibited. Visiting shipyards with skeletons is allowed.
2.5. It is strictly forbidden to dismiss all previously used heroes who have the Estates skill before sending the winning save, leaving only one hero! Otherwise, the save will not be counted.

3.1. The goal of the game is to earn the maximum amount of gold within the allotted time – 22 gaming days.
Completing the map is not required.

4.1. The final save should be made on the first day of the fourth week (1-4-1).
4.2. The player must have at least 30,000 gold! Otherwise, the save will not be counted!
4.3. The email with the save file should contain:
-) the actual winning save;
-) the subject line - the player's nickname;
-) indication of nicknames on all three resources;

For example, the email subject could be GoldDragon - Alex_R,
the attached save file would be named Alex_R gold, and the email body would state: my nickname on League is such-and-such, my nickname on Portal is Alex_R HW, and my nickname on World is Alex_R.

5.1. Download the save and map.
Note: The save and map are archived using WinRar 3.62.
5.2. You need to place the downloaded save in the Games folder within the Heroes 2 installation directory on your computer.
5.3. Load it and start playing at any time that suits you, remembering to make daily saves at the beginning and end of each gaming day.
5.4. Save on turn 141, naming this save according to the requirements.
5.5. A complete description of the tournament map is encouraged (not required). If there are any, a competition will be held for the best description, with the top 10 taking their rightful place in the "Feats of Our Best Heroes" section!
5.6. Send this save file to the specified address (in the rules of this tournament).
5.7. Wait for the results to be announced.

TOURNAMENT in HMM II: "Gold Dragon"
Number	Participant
1	Psixxx
2	Ergon
3	-----
4	-----
5	-----
6	-----
7	-----
8	-----
9	-----
10	-----

Have a great game!

Excellent! Have a great game, everyone!

In the League of Heroes, this is the most important, final tournament of the year, the winner of which will receive the title of "League of Heroes Champion" and will proudly wear it throughout the next season.

Another copy-paste?

Another copy-paste?

Oh dear... may he be cursed... We apologize and thank you.

Good luck.

Why were the victory conditions changed on the tournament map? I mean, the conditions specified in the game itself – find an artifact, and a rather strange one at that. Or am I mistaken?

As far as I know, tournaments are held on specific themes, and regarding the artifact, there's only the UA digging challenge.
As for "Tax lien," take a closer look at the map...

Nickname: Psixxx. Game version: Heroes2 Gold. Please register me if possible.

Yes, I can see it on the map. On a regular map, Minerals are present, and to win, you need to eliminate all opponents. I don't understand the point of the author changing the victory conditions in the save file from the computer's perspective. Why even bring in this Tax? Does the game's strategy change because of it? Sorry, maybe in the latest version of RoL, the victory conditions in this scenario have been changed.
I played on an open map until the required day, and there are some unpleasant moments. The growth keeps appearing, but it seems to be prohibited for all armies, regardless of whether the player has them or not. It's useful that I was able to roughly estimate the amount I was accumulating.

If you eliminate everyone, how will you collect gold afterward? ;) But otherwise: don't touch the art and do whatever you want.

Sorry, but usually in Heroes of Might and Magic II, if there are no opponents, the game simply ends regardless of the victory condition. At least, that's how it works in the scenario "The Clearing." Please excuse my being so meticulous; I just want to understand.
If you really managed to make it so that the game doesn't end until you take the artifact, then I apologize.

What about guarding an artifact against AI opponents?

Added 4 minutes later
To the organizers: Why mention 30,000 gold in point 4.2? In the ВК tournament, I calculated <8 days for a hint and was correct. Here, you could have written a larger amount... Or was it mentioned without intention in both cases?

I understand that we shouldn't consider excessively modest results. Does anyone know why the computer changes its gameplay? I went through a rough draft, adjusted it to match the computer's playstyle, and everything was going well. I was planning to finish the final version by tonight, but the computer suddenly started playing completely differently.

Usually, the AI changes its turn in response to any change in actions, but, as the King's Bounty tournament showed, in absolutely identical situations, the outcome can be completely different, and this happens on every turn. When I pitted a Knight against a Sorceress in King's Bounty, the Knight won consistently, but with varying amounts of health remaining. But when I replayed the previous turn, the situation changed, even though the heroes were in the same positions. The Sorceress won 19 times in a row. I postponed continuing the game until the next day (real time). Then everything went as it should.

Thanks, I guess I should stop torturing this machine, and most importantly, myself, today as well.

In this tournament, additional resource generation is allowed.
This artifact should not be touched.
The goal of this tournament is to accumulate as much gold as possible within a fixed number of days.
Computer-generated actions are definitely allowed.