Posts from Walkthroughs for custom maps. Auto-translated

Fortunately, I haven't encountered maps where winning a battle requires finding the perfect spot on the map, where the terrain helps position the troops as needed. However, I remember a couple of battles where the terrain of the battlefield turned out to be very advantageous: the first case was on the "Longest Journey" map, in a battle with azure dragons on the island before the black gate, through which we would reach the Pink one. There, obstacles are located side by side, and I took only one large stack of titans into the battle, placing them in a cell between the obstacles. As a result, the dragons attacked only one stack at a time, so as not to roast their own brethren standing on the other side. And the second case was recently on the "Zemsta Mutare" map; there, before one of the Libraries, there is a powerful elven ambush, and a long obstacle runs from north to south. So, in the final stage of the battle, my troops stood in the center behind this ridge and were safe while the archers shot down the unicorns, and the dragons "led them around." It was there that I sketched out quicksand, preventing the unicorns from taking an extra step.
And I also remember how it happens: a weaker enemy hero is nearby, but he deliberately stands on cursed ground, and I think: well, stay there, I won't attack you there – I don't need extra losses!

Let me illustrate the terrain more clearly. I think many will find it interesting and useful. Here is a link to the program: H3CombatTerrain Run the executable. To check the terrain, we need the coordinates (x, y) and the terrain type. It is selected as follows: 1 = Dirt 2 = Sand 4 = Grass 8 = Snow 16 = Swamp 32 = Rough 64 = Underground 128 = Lava 256 = Naval combat f1 = Coast (terrain next to water) f2 = Magic plains f4 = Cursed ground f8 = Holy ground f16 = Evil fog f32 = Clover field f64 = Lucid pools f128 = Fiery fields f256 = Rocklands f512 = Magic clouds Enter the required information and view the terrain of the point. Note that the terrain changes when HD+ is enabled, so the calculations are only valid when the HD+ option is disabled.

Overall, I spent 3 months playing on this map, and I'm back in the game! :)

At first, I was taken aback by an enemy that appeared out of nowhere in the 7th month, but the AI's stupidity knows no bounds, as usual. I buried him in a puddle.

Well, grinding for two weeks to generate the perfect starting save, like someone on heroesportal did on the Wayfarer map for the fastest possible completion, also doesn't look very appealing. It's better to just enjoy the game, build up an army, and take your time defeating everyone.

That's exactly what I'm talking about – it's two sides of the same coin. You can, of course, play at a leisurely pace if the map allows it, but not for five years. I'm not talking about a relaxed stroll across the map when the remaining enemies are trapped and waiting for their end, but about the need to simply accumulate legions.

Hello everyone and happy gaming!

I've been swamped in the lead-up to my vacation, and I've only just relaxed — now I can both play and share walkthroughs.

What passions are stirring here!) Marmot, I read your amazing report about Astral Venice and was stunned... Based on the name, I thought it was a map where you need to place the Grail in the town of Svishtov within 12 months (I used to have that map, a real nail-biter), but the names of the castles and the walkthrough were from a completely different story. I was surprised that my version of the map had disappeared — I must have deleted it when I was cleaning up.

I downloaded it from the link and started playing as Conflux. At the moment when I dove into the whirlpool and ended up next to the shore with the blue tent and the gold dragons, I got a sense of déjà vu — I had already played this map, and it's not a Grail map at all! Hmm... I couldn't remember, so I kept playing, but the déjà vu wouldn't let go. When I came out of the portal next to 4 Inferno towns and hordes of Behemoths at the gates — I remembered!! I played this map about 6 years ago, as Necropolis, with the heroine Vidomina (Vera Vermina).

God, thank you for finding this map! After the reinstallation and my endless cleanups, I thought I'd never find it again, and I'd forgotten the name. And the map is wonderful! Respect to the author for just the names of the castles and heroes alone.
Back then, I played it through to the end, but as for how I won — for that alone, I should be drowned in a whirlpool, after having my admiral's hat taken away... At that time, I didn't know the value of the Shackles of War, the Sphere of Vulnerability, the Cloak of the Undead King with Liches, or many spells. I just played dumbly for the sake of playing, and winning or losing no longer mattered. And I won thanks to insane luck and God knows what else. A clear example of "fools are lucky.")

Right from the start, I had to flee from the heroes of Siziy (Turquoise). And I successfully fled until the middle of the game. While I was trying to do something, he methodically took out the others, opened the guardians, captured the Necropolises, the Inferno towns, wiped out almost all the neutrals, regardless of how many legions there were. But that's where the luck kicked in. In endless battles, he lost most of his army, even though he leveled up quite a bit. And neutrals started joining Vera and me. In hordes, then legions. I managed to hide from the Turquoise main hero, but at one point he attacked from a gate, which I really didn't expect. I was about to rage quit, but I thought, screw it, attack! He attacked and... lost. I sat there for about ten minutes processing it. My level skyrocketed, and I ended up with all his artifacts, most of which I didn't even know how to use!). My dream was to find the Angel Wings (I never did) and tomes of Air and Earth magic. They are on the map, but guarded by ferocious dragons. I couldn't take them, even by the end of the game. The only thing I managed to snag was the Wizard's Hat.

After Turquoise's failure, the AI abruptly changed its tactics. When a legion of gold dragons joined me near the blue tent (the game had already been going on for over a year), the enemies went into hiding. I captured Turquoise's castles by jumping around, eliminated his last heroes, then the others'. It's one of those rare maps where you feel sorry that it's all over once you've won.

Xaart, welcome back!

Based on the name, I thought it was a map where you need to place the Holy Grail in the city of Svishtov within 12 months.

From the description, I figured out whose map it might be and what it's called (although I haven't played it myself, but I saw it, and it's also included in the collection of best maps that I compiled):

Map Name: AstralWar2 TE
Map Maker: Grigor Minchev
Country: Bulgaria
Special Win: Transport the Grail to Svishtov. You may also defeat all heroes and towns.
Special Loss: Lose the hero 'Astral'.

Actually, when searching for a map about Venice, this one appears because of the common word in the title. As for how I developed as a player – probably, like many others who learned the game independently through trial and error. For the first 3 years, I played WoG with the version my friend gave me. Then, after registering on this site and reading about how people play in Tournaments, I downloaded FizMiG and started improving gradually. I installed the Complete Collection and began playing the original Heroes. I started keeping records of which maps I completed and which ones I couldn't: there are many maps, and you can't remember them all. I also keep selected saves from several years: sometimes either I or others need to recall something.

I started with the "Armageddon's Blade" disk. Oh, that was a long time ago...

I looked at the list of games, here's what I've already played, most of it a long time ago:
2 Friends
A Journey to Continent Castle
A Matter of Honor
Abetment
Adventuring Gnoll 1.03
Afrika
Amaranth Soul
Ambush
Audit (Allies) – the ally was killed at the very beginning, I took full revenge)
Battle of Glory (Team) 1.21
Bug Hunt 1.1
Clash of the Titans
Die Argonauten – the fact that the Grail was always nearby killed it
Dungeons and Dragons
Elroth: Return of the Demon
Going Gold!
Gold Heart
Grandmaster
Hail to the King
Illusion World 2
Kid Heretic
Monster Island 1.02 – one of my favorite maps. If you play as Dungeon and free Rommel, and with his help, create a legion of black dragons – the game is yours. I haven't managed the Ultra version yet
Out of the Realm
Reavers of the North – a good map, but it takes a lot of time
Ringing of Victory
Running With the Devil
The Imp
The Lord of War - I recently completed it
The Rise of Telmar
Treasure of the Elves
Vanadias Ruler SoD Edition (Allies)
Vidomina's Attack SoD - I messed up the first time, then I completed it
War of the World – I recently completed it, I will write a more detailed review
When Champions Fail
Wings of Heaven – one of the best maps
A Dragon in My Heart 2 – I recently played it, I posted a review
Before The Rings – a cool map, I haven't played version 2 yet
Oceania – I played it twice. The first time, the enemies found the sphere of suppression, without which it is impossible to finish the game. And they died themselves (except for the Pink one), and they didn't let me win. The second time, I reached the end.

Xaart, based on the list you provided, I think you've smoothly transitioned to the point where you can try playing Vengeance Is Mine and Unleashing the Bloodthirsty :)

And after ViM and UtB, what would you say is next in terms of difficulty?
Xiedu is certainly impressive. I wish I had the time to create something similar myself...

Way Home, probably. It's the simplest map by Season, but it's still a very serious challenge. I should write a report about it while my impressions are still fresh. After that, other maps by Season follow in terms of difficulty, and then maps by Nautilus. Something like that.

Xaart, based on the list provided, I thought you were gradually approaching the point where you can already try to play Vengeance Is Mine and Unleashing the Bloodthirsty :)

Hi!)

I already tried, unsuccessfully. The author of Unleashing the Bloodthirsty is a real sadist), I managed to hold out for 8 months, and only thanks to a legion of ghost dragons grabbed at the start of the game. I could have played longer, but one bad landing and that was it, Triplethorn, or whatever his name is) attacked me and Hitler kaput. Has anyone even beaten this map?

I can't beat Vengeance Is Mine, at all. I'm still futilely searching for a road, that's it, no castle-no game.

Added after 1 hour 57 minutes
Not long ago I beat War of the World by the esteemed Darklord. The map is quite old, from 2003. Due to the abundance of maps (over 2000), many of them are only being discovered now, after a general cleanup.

I liked the geometry of the map and the symmetry between the lands.

I played as Gray (Brown), with starting towns Dungeon and Necropolis. In Necropolis, Sandro is declared the main hero, such a dearie simply must obtain the Cloak of the Undead King. The cloak pieces lie on our own land, though the amulet is guarded by rusty dragons. We also have another Necropolis and Dungeon, parts of the statue of legion, and the opportunity to obtain the admiral's hat. Garrisons protect us from neighboring enemies. Each hero's land has a tent (ours is red). Besides the author's declared main enemy - Pink, the strongest turned out to be Azure (Turquoise). I don't know who handled the translation and localization of the Complete Collection, but in my version of the game, only a colorblind person could call brown gray and turquoise azure, no offense.

Through a two-way portal, the exit leads to the main land and an X-shaped passage to portals leading to enemy lands. In the center stands a neutral Conflux, approaches to it and the artifacts lying nearby are guarded by dragons, wizards, and sharpshooters.

A downside was the lack of Town Portal, I had to take a risk by sending Sandro to scout the terrain. Exiting the portal, I spotted two prisons guarded by giants and champions. I freed both prisoners with decent skills for 30, sent them home to defend the homeland from foes. My intuition didn't fail me - as soon as Sandro moved to Blue's land, Azure's main hero flew over to me with a huge army and the intention of visiting the red tent. He didn't attack, and thank goodness for that). By then, I had already assembled the Cloak of the Undead King for Sandro, plus I found the Shackles of War, set up a raid on Blue's lands, and rushed home through the garrison. Azure got too close to the garrison, but then the turn ended. Well, he got burned, and we got the Angel Wings and much more, captured from dragon utopias. Alas, there was no tome of earth magic, and then Purple's hero also started flying, though on neutral lands.

By juggling between the Cloak of the Undead King (combat) and the Wings (movement), I flew to a lone Stronghold and beat the hero sitting inside it. Hurray, I captured the tome of earth with the ability to choose any town portal. Next, I took the Conflux in the center, defeating the dragons and recruiting 700 wizards, plus I added the Wizard's Hat and a mana well to the collection. The Cloak of the Undead King raised 5000 liches, and another 2000 came from a battle with the flying Purple-Astral (another pair of wings). By that time, I hired Mephala from the tavern with a bunch of artifacts and skills for 40, gave her the Wings and spare artifacts.

While the enemies were knocking each other out, I decided to visit Pink. I couldn't jump through the space gates, and there's no portal to him either. The only option is by sea through whirlpools. The nearest Pink town is separated from the land by a whole series of whirlpools and a garrison. At the start of the turn, jumping into the nearest one, I switched the Admiral's Hat for the Wizard's Hat, jumped across 3 whirlpools, then another 3, another leap over the garrison, switched back to the Admiral's Hat, landed on the shore, switched hats again, jumped and flew closer to the town, swapped the Wings for the Cloak of the Undead King and stormed to victory. The AI was genuinely confused by my maneuvers, Pink's heroes started aimlessly running back and forth and hid in towns, other enemies gave up their internecine wars and all turned against us at once. I sequentially captured Pink's towns, the toughest battle against Scylla gave me 10000 liches. Two towns were left, but I couldn't find the gates to them (I searched the entire map for them, and they turned out to be near one of Pink's towns, oh well(..

I dealt with the remaining enemies, they didn't put up much of a fight. Azure and Purple had already crushed Blue before me, leaving the latter huddled in a citadel. I took out both, but I felt sorry for Blue to the point of tears. The hero came out of the town and surrendered it without resistance. I didn't kill him, he disappeared after seven days. I returned to Pink again, found the passage to the remaining towns and that was it, victory.

Hello!)

I've already tried, but without success. The author of Unleashing the Bloodthirsty is a real sadist), I managed to last 8 months, and even then thanks to the legion of spectral dragons I captured at the beginning of the game. I could have played for even longer, but one unsuccessful landing, and that was it, Tripplethorn, or whatever his name is), attacked me, and Hitler was kaput. Has anyone actually completed this map?

Yes, some players have completed it, and some even managed to do it with only elves (I found a screenshot in the corresponding topic on http://heroescommunity.com). I completed it quite a while ago, about five years ago. But the map is memorable precisely because I hadn't encountered such difficult scenarios before.

I can't complete Vengeance Is Mine, not at all. I'm still fruitlessly looking for a way through; if there's no Castle, there's no game.

If I remember correctly, in the first week, you need to find a secret path to the Castle in the swamps. I was also confused by this moment at the beginning)

Yes, some players completed it, with some even using only Elves for certain parts (I found a screenshot in the corresponding thread on http://heroescommunity.com). I myself completed it quite a while ago, about five years ago. But the map stood out because, up until then, I hadn't encountered such challenging scenarios.

If I remember correctly, in the first week, you need to find a secret path to the castle in the swamps. That moment also confused me at first).

It's too difficult for me:(. I tried Wayfare, and I also couldn't manage to take the castle within 7 days. I'll keep trying, maybe I'll get lucky).

I remembered something else about my old playthroughs of UtB and VIM. I played them on WoG without the WoGification patch, but with commanders and creature upgrades (yes, I also used to think that playing SoD maps in WoG wasn't a bad idea :D). As a result, I struggled with battles against Inferno companies (fire shield on all creatures, dispel only removed it for one round) and companies from the Conflux (the same thing + the enemy commander kicked out 30% of my creatures before the battle :smile28:). I won't repeat those mistakes again).

Due to the abundance of maps (more than 2000), many of them are only being discovered now, after a thorough cleanup.

I remember reading somewhere that there shouldn't be more than 800 maps in the Maps folder to avoid problems when the game tries to read its directory. I personally do this: only standard maps are constantly stored in the Maps folder (although they could be moved to another location), and the maps that I am currently playing. After completing a map, I delete it from Maps. All other non-standard maps are stored in folders-collections in another location.

I don't know who was in charge of translating and localizing the Complete Collection, but in my version of the game, only a colorblind person could call brown gray and turquoise bluish, no offense.

This is exactly what I think. More precisely, Turquoise is called "tea-colored." TEA-COLORED, for crying out loud! Show me tea of that color, please! We, the players, should be offended because mistakes of this level are unforgivable!