Posts from 1 joint tournament of HW, HP, and HL: "The Crusades"

1st joint HW, HP, and HL "The Crusades" tournament (12th tournament)

Tournament discussion thread on HeroesPortal

Tournament discussion thread on HeroesLeague

TOURNAMENT RULES

1. General Provisions

1.1. Tournament duration: from June 30 to July 30, 2009 (inclusive, until 24:00 Moscow time).
1.2. The tournament is held simultaneously on three online resources: HeroesPortal, HeroesWorld, and HeroesLeague.
1.3. The tournament is played on the following game version:
Heroes of Might and Magic I (Heroes of Might and Magic I: localization by the "BUKA" company).
1.4. Any registered user of one of the three resources – HeroesPortal.net, HeroesWorld.ru, and HeroesLeague.ru – can participate in this tournament. An identical final tournament table will be posted on all sites. However, it is strongly recommended to register on all sites – this way, you can receive bonuses on all three forums.
1.5. The winners of the tournament receive rewards corresponding to each of the resources (rating, fiefs, arrob, mines) on each of them.
1.6. ATTENTION! Throughout the tournament, the player MUST save the game at the beginning and end of EACH game day and keep these saves on their computer! The judge has the right to request daily saves and explanations from ANY player, 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 the necessary saves are not available, the player will be credited with a loss. The statute of limitations (the period during which daily saves must be kept) is 10 days after the tournament results are announced.
1.7. The tournament organizers are:
HeroesPortal – Sub-Zero,
HeroesWorld – VDV forever,
HeroesLeague – Dust.
1.8. The player must name their final save with their nickname and send it to:
turnir_heroes_1@mail.ru. The letter must indicate any difference (or lack thereof) in the player's name (nickname) on the various resources, as well as whether they are registered on HeroesPortal, HeroesWorld, and HeroesLeague.

2. Restrictions on Gameplay:

2.1. It is strictly FORBIDDEN to use cheat codes, prohibited bugs, and game features in the final playthrough, to hack saves, or to manipulate computer players in hot-seat mode. The use of standard cheat codes is allowed for the purpose of initial save scouting.

The following are prohibited:
2.2. Buying back your dismissed or killed (but not those who fled / bought their way out) heroes on the day of their dismissal / death.
2.3. Buying back developed computer heroes (a developed hero is one whose level, primary skills, inventory contents, and/or spellbook and its presence differ from the standard starting values).
2.4. Using a hero who fled / bought their way out in a battle on the day they fled / bought their way out. It is allowed to buy back such a hero;
* If a hero fled / bought their way out / died in battle during the turn, they can be bought back and used immediately.
2.5. Digging up the Treasure without visiting all the obelisks.
To prove this, the player must send the organizers, along with their final save, another save showing that all the obelisks were visited before digging up the Treasure. The name of such a save must end with "UA".
2.6. Visiting skeletons, cemeteries, demon caves, and sunken ships.
2.7. The use of other game bugs is prohibited. Using map editor errors is allowed.
2.8. Discussion of the tournament on the Internet during its duration is PROHIBITED!!!
(Players who violate this rule will automatically be disqualified, and their results will not be counted and will be annulled).

If you have any questions, please contact the Tournament Organizer.

3. Tournament Goal:

Game Objective: To raise the flag (i.e., capture) over the City of Dragons as quickly as possible.
In other words, the final save is evaluated based on the number of days spent (the fewer days, the higher the result) for the player to defeat the guards of the City of Dragons. In this tournament, an additional criterion for victory is introduced (in case of a tie in the number of days) – the sum of the parameters (Attack, Defense, Magic Power, Knowledge) of ANY of your heroes, INCLUDING equipped artifacts (the hero's existing parameters in the final save are counted).
P.S. The game time in the tournament is limited to 300 days.
It is not necessary to complete the map!

4. Preparing the Final Save.

4.1. The final save must be made before performing the last action.
The final save should contain two heroes (the remaining heroes must be dismissed): the one performing the last action and the hero whose parameters are counted; if these heroes are the same, only one should remain.
4.2. The letter with the save must contain:
- the winning save itself;
- a description of the actions leading to victory (if it is necessary to win a battle and victory is not achieved in auto-battle – a detailed description of the battle tactics);
- an indication of the hero whose parameters are used for the second victory criterion;
- an indication of the nicknames on all resources.

Download the save:

:smile49: Prize for the winner on HW!:smile49:

This tournament is a rating tournament, so you need to earn your rating now, because at the end of the year the best player on our site in the rating will receive a separate prize in the form of a cup for the absolute winner, as well as an honorary certificate sent by mail. The rating will be awarded for 2009.

Sequence of actions:

1.Download the save.

2.The downloaded save must be placed in the GAMES folder of your installed Heroes 1.

3.Load it and start playing at any time that is convenient for you, while remembering to make daily saves.

4.After reaching the last action (after which the victory occurs), you need to save again.

5.A complete description of the tournament map is encouraged (not required). If there are any, the best of them will be published in the topic: "Feats of our best heroes!"

6.Send this save to the specified address (in the rules of this tournament).

7.Wait for the results to be announced.

I wish all participants a good time playing the game and, most importantly, VICTORY!

P.S. If there are any additions or comments, please do not hesitate to express them in order to minimize inconsistencies and shortcomings in the tournament process.

I INVITE EVERYONE TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS TOURNAMENT! SUPPORT YOUR RESOURCE, PLAY FOR IT!

+++!!!
There are some ambiguities in point 2.3. It somewhat resembles a copy-paste from the second part. What are the secondary skills of a hero? And it's unclear about the hero's inventory. Can it be non-empty?
Best regards, Ergon.

+++!!!
There are some ambiguities regarding point 2.3. It somewhat resembles a copy-paste from the second part. What are secondary hero skills? And the hero's inventory is unclear. Can it be non-empty?
Best regards, Ergon.

Previously, it was like this: “Buying other heroes who died in battle (not to be confused with those who fled) if they have artifacts and/or a level higher than the first!”
But, we decided to expand this ban.

2.3. Buying developed computer-controlled heroes (a developed hero is one whose level, primary skills, inventory contents, and/or spellbook and its presence differ from the standard starting values).

Thank you, I have corrected it.

Sincerely, VDV_forever

I sent not only the final save file but also all the step-by-step save files, a walkthrough description, and 4 explanatory images. I packed all of this into a single archive, which will be available to everyone interested after the tournament ends. Unless, of course, I take second to last place… :(
I really enjoyed the tournament; I recommend it to everyone. :smile20:

P.S. I'm going fishing tomorrow, so I will be offline until at least Monday. :smile50:

Sincerely, VDV_forever

I secured the last spot for myself. This tournament is truly very interesting, and the starting save is no less impressive than the legendary masterpiece, Water Magic.

It's a rather delicate question: how many instances of morale, luck, and special abilities triggering per round fall within the bounds of "reasonable limits"? In other words, can I expect at least two morale/luck/ability triggers per round when clearing monsters, if it's truly necessary? Something tells me the answer is no. But I've asked the question. And what about generating one morale/luck/ability trigger for a specific monster?

This is a rather delicate question: how many instances of morale, luck, and special abilities triggering per round fall within the bounds of "reasonable limits"? In other words, can I expect at least two morale/luck/ability triggers per round when clearing monsters, if it's truly necessary? Something tells me the answer is no. But I've asked the question. And what about generating one morale/luck/ability trigger for a specific monster?

So, you're participating in a tournament:smile03:

It depends on the battle, the army composition, the situation, and the hero's characteristics. I don't think we're talking about Probability Per Battle (PPB) here.
In any case, the hint is clear;), meaning you have an idea of how to implement PPB in every battle, regardless of the level?

P.S. I'll try to send you the material on morale, luck, PPB, and damage this week;)

Best regards, VDV_forever

I have a question: if I complete the task, submit the results, and then achieve a better score, can I submit the results again?

I have a question: if I complete everything, send the results, and then achieve a better score, can I send the results again?

It is highly undesirable. If it were possible, I would replay and send my save with a significantly better result, but I'm not doing that. Why can't we do this: complete the tournament, take a break, improve the result, and send the final run. ;)
Good luck!

Sincerely, VDV_forever

:) Okay, then another question: what is more important: saving a day or getting a +1 skill point?

:) okay, then another question: what is more important: saving a day or getting +1 skill point?

The answer to your question is in the first post of the topic:

The goal of the game: to raise the flag (i.e., capture) over the City of Dragons as quickly as possible.
In other words, the final save is evaluated by the number of days spent (the fewer days, the better the result) in which the player can defeat the guards of the City of Dragons. In the current tournament, an additional criterion for victory has been introduced (in case of a tie in the number of days) – the sum of the parameters (Attack, Defense, Magic Power, Knowledge) of ANY of your heroes, INCLUDING equipped artifacts (the hero's parameters in the final save are counted).

If I may add, no one is forcing anyone to submit their save file and secure a spot on a list sooner. I myself thought that the sooner I finish playing, the sooner I would be able to take a break from tournaments. But now, instead of resting, I regret and suffer because I sent the save file with a result that wasn't the best I could achieve. Well, good luck to all participants!

Dear participants! Don't rush to send in your save files! For example, I'm already losing interest because I know that some people have submitted far from optimal playthroughs (as they themselves say). Is it really interesting to compare your result with a mediocre one (or something like that)? I understand that you want to quickly "get rid of this burden." It always seems that your current result is the best, and that you can't do any better. I assure you, this is not the case. Almost always, the result can be improved, thereby increasing the competition.

There is a simple solution: don't limit the number of save files submitted. What difference does it make if they just sit there until needed? Only the last submitted one counts. I don't understand the organizers' position, especially that of the respected VDV_forever, who, although he wants to improve his result, can't do so because of the rule of only one save file. So the question is: will the winner really win, or will he just play better than his opponents in a rough draft playthrough?

If I have time, I will participate too. I looked at the map today and skimmed through it: it's quite tedious, to be honest.

There’s a simple solution: don’t limit the number of save files submitted. What difference does it make if they just sit there until needed? Only the last submitted one counts.

As an organizer of various tournaments, I can say: your suggestion is very inconvenient for the organizer because a lot of emails come in, and then it’s very difficult to sort out which one is the latest and which one isn’t, and most importantly, the chance of making a mistake is very high. Therefore, I ask everyone to limit themselves to one save file, although we have had many instances where we counted the second submitted save file as well. But it’s still better to limit it to one, please be considerate of the organizer.

Good luck.

Dear participants! Don't rush to send in your save files! For example, I'm not even interested anymore, because I know that some people have sent in far from optimal Walkthroughs (as they say themselves). Is it interesting to compare your result with a quorum (or something like that)? Of course, you want to quickly "get rid of this burden." It always seems that the current result is the best, and that you are not capable of more. I assure you, this is not the case. Almost always, the result can be improved, thereby increasing the competition.

There is a simple solution: do not limit the number of save files sent. What difference does it make – let them sit there until needed. Only the last one sent is counted. I don't understand the position of the organizers, in particular, the respected VDV_forever, who, although he wants to improve his result, cannot do so because of the rule of one save file. Then the question is: will the winner really win, or will he simply play better than his opponents in a rough draft?

If I have time, I will also participate. Today I looked at the map, ran through it: it's tedious, to be honest.

From the point of view of the participants, yes, I sent my first save, the second one in 1 day, the third one in 2 hours, etc., i.e., there is no need to worry that the save will not be received, or that it will not be possible to improve the result in the last hour of the Tournaments. From the point of view of organization, it is more difficult to check all the emails, and if there are 50 from one participant, to look at the last email? And what if it doesn't contain the save that the participant wanted to send, but sent it in, say, email number 47. Confusion will begin among the participants themselves, not to mention the organizers.
On the other hand, the proposal is very good, and I really like it, but let's say, limit it to 3 final save files from one participant.
As for me, nothing can be changed in this Tournament anymore, I failed it, and according to the rules, I cannot improve it; I think it is unacceptable to make changes during the Tournament. After the Tournament, I will try to discuss this issue with the organizers of other resources. Thank you.
I will be very grateful for your participation in the Tournament. Unfortunately, very few people are participating in this Tournament on HW, and there are still 6 stages ahead – the Van Kanegem stage!


Added 1 minute ago

... and most importantly, there is a very high probability of error in this.

I agree. But 3, I think, will be just right;)

Sincerely, VDV_forever