Posts from An unprecedented joint tournament of three forums, “Two-Handed Shooting.”

Joint tournament of Three forums for the second Heroes game
"Shooting with two hands"!

Tournament rules:

0. This tournament features an unprecedented experiment. A cooperative map is provided for the game, where one side must defeat the other. Moreover! One person will play for both cooperative players - You! Thus, each of the players is like two hands, controlled by Your mighty intellect!

1. General provisions:

1.1. The tournament will run from May 18 to June 17, 2011. The tournament results will be announced on June 22, 2011.
1.2. The tournament will be held simultaneously on three Internet resources: HeroesLeague, HeroesPortal, HeroesWorld
1.3. The winners of the tournament will receive rewards corresponding to each of the resources (rating, statuses, etc.) on each of the resources.
1.4. ATTENTION!!! Throughout the tournament, the player MUST make saves at the beginning or end (both options are required) of EACH game day and keep them on their computer! The judge has the right to request daily saves of the gameplay from ANY player and explanations for them, up to a description of the tactics of a specific battle.
If there are no satisfactory (from the judges' point of view) explanations, 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.
1.5. The tournament leaders are Dust on HeroesLeague, Sir Kowalski on HeroesPortal, and Qwerty on HeroesWorld.
1.6. The player must name their final save with their nickname, followed by 2, and send it to: hmm2@mail.ru

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. However, after the scouting is completed, the player must load the starting save and start the game again.
2.2. The rule for digging up the Ultimate Artefact (UA). You can only dig up the UA after visiting ALL obelisks. To prove this, the player must send the organizers, along with their final save, another save that shows that all obelisks were visited before digging up the UA. The end of such a save file must include "UA".
2.3. You can control a redeemed escaped/bought-out hero on the day they escaped/were bought out. You can redeem such a hero on the day of the escape/redemption; you can redeem and control your dismissed/killed hero in battle only on the day after their dismissal/death; if a hero escapes/is bought out/dies in battle during a turn, you can redeem and control them immediately; it is also not allowed to redeem developed computer heroes (a developed hero is one whose experience, secondary and/or primary skills, the contents of the spellbook, and its presence differ from the standard starting values).
2.4. Visit graveyards, demon caves, and ghost ships. You can visit ships with skeletons.
2.5. The use of the "Haunt" spell and the "feeding" of spirits is prohibited, i.e., only one battle with a given group of spirits is allowed, and it is mandatory to make a save before and immediately after the battle.
2.6. It is forbidden to use weeks of +5 monster growth and months of double monster population increase. If such weeks and months appear, the player must "rewind" until these weeks and months no longer appear. If significant difficulties arise, the player can write a private message to the tournament judge, and if the judge decides that this phenomenon does not distort the gameplay, further play is possible.
2.7. It is strictly forbidden to attack any objects belonging to the allied player: castles, villages, mines, heroes. It is also strictly forbidden to redeem heroes who previously played under the flag of an ally.

3. Tournament goal:

3.1. The goal of the tournament is to defeat all computer opponents in the shortest possible time. At the same time, BOTH players under the control of the player (both red and green) must survive to the victory.
3.2. The main criterion for victory is the number of days. In this case, the result of the final table is taken into account, that is, in the event of a victory during a turn, the result corresponds to the NEXT game day (the player's turn ends by pressing the "end turn" button and creating the "autosave" file). The secondary criterion in case of an equal number of days is the amount of gold, in this case, the total amount of gold for both players under your control.

4. Preparing the final save.
4.1. The final save should be made before the last battle, after which the final battle takes place.
4.2. If an obvious game is needed to win, the letter should contain recommendations on how to conduct this battle. If it is necessary to use morale/luck modifiers, the battle must be described in detail, "turn by turn".
4.3. The letter with the save should contain:
-) the winning save;
-) the subject of the letter - the player's nickname;
-) an indication of nicknames on all three resources;

For example, the subject of the letter is Shooting with two hands - vbn,
the save with the name vbn2 is attached to the letter, and the letter says: the nickname on the League is such and such, the nickname on the Portal is such and such, the nickname on the world is vbn. The battle is fought in auto-battle.

5. All about the starting save

5.1. Download the save and the map.
Note: The save and map are archived using WinRar 3.62.

5.2. The downloaded save must be placed on your computer in the Games folder in the folder where Heroes 2 is installed.

5.3. Load the multiplayer game, 2 players. Load the save and start the game at any time that is convenient for you, while remembering to make daily saves at the beginning and end of each game day. I remind you that during one game day, the game is played for two players!

5.4. After reaching the last action (i.e., before the final battle, after which the map is completed), you must save again.

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, 10 of which (the best) will take their honorable place in the "Feats of our best heroes" section!

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

5.7. Wait for the results to be announced.

P.S. I wish all participants of the tournament a good game.

I will be offline until June 14th.
In case of emergencies, you can contact me through the members of the clan "Phoenix Order".

Just a brief summary. This map isn't very suitable for competitive play. I see a negative trend where leading players in 2v2 matches are choosing less-than-optimal maps, which is causing the already small fanbase to drift towards other games. I used to love Heroes of Might and Magic II, but now the official tournaments in Heroes of Might and Magic III are much more interesting; there's more to think about. Considering that Heroes of Might and Magic III has captured attention, while Heroes of Might and Magic I hasn't, there simply isn't enough time for Heroes of Might and Magic II. And I apologize for such a direct statement.

Preliminary results of the tournament.

Just a quick summary. The map isn't very good for achieving unprecedented results. I see a bad trend where leading players in the "Tournaments" choose suboptimal maps, causing the already small fan base to drift towards other games. I used to love "Tournaments," but now the official tournaments in "Might and Magic III" are much more interesting; there's more to think about. Considering that "Might and Magic III" has captured my attention, while "Might and Magic I" hasn't, I simply don't have time for "Tournaments." And I apologize for such a straightforward statement.

Thank you for your kind words.
I remember your stories about how playing exclusively the Russian version hinders you in the Van Kanegem tournaments. After I specifically created a map for the last tournament on the English version and generated a save file on the English version that could be completed in 5 days (you said you needed quick and easy tournaments), placing a prison on the map within one move's distance and selecting barbarians to avoid having to dig them up, you didn't play.
This tournament is experimental; I've been planning it for a long time. Its purpose is to rekindle interest in friendly hotseat games – when two friends get together and, while chatting over a good table, play in alliance against the computer. I hope someone will have something to remember:)))

You didn't use save files from the English version. I liked the tournament on the "Another Side" map, but I didn't quite understand what to do in the "Dungeons." Usually, heroes with powerful creatures, artifacts, and stats that can really help in battles are imprisoned in dungeons, but here there wasn't much point. Perhaps the fascination with Heroes 3, due to its interesting starting save files, made people more demanding of save files in Heroes 2. And regarding the hotseat, it seems that nothing new has been devised for Good versus Evil.

You yourself didn't accept saves from games played on the English version.
I liked the Tournaments on the "Other Side" map, but I didn't quite understand what to do with the prisons. Usually, heroes with powerful creatures, artifacts, and stats that can really help in battles are imprisoned, but here there wasn't much point. Maybe the fascination with Heroes 3, due to its interesting starting saves, made you more demanding of saves in Heroes 2. And regarding the hotseat, it seems that nothing better than Good versus Evil has been devised.

Allow me not to believe that. The trick of buying up similar heroes, especially for a Barbarian start, especially on a map covered in snow, especially when the host initially created chains of prisons, where one hero frees the next and passes on the army to him, etc. – are you not familiar with this? There's no need for pretense; I've seen your saves and know the strength of your game. I fear that the problem lies elsewhere: an active game and a positive attitude towards heroes have led to a shift in focus to other areas...

The tournament results are considered final. Energizer's comment on the winner's game - SDV: "This is how you should play! Well done. He did everything right!"