Posts from HoMM3 HD is a mod (add-on) for the game Heroes of Might and Magic 3.

discovers a new version of HD 5.0 beta 46 with a "delicious" description of the changes in the lobby within the launcher. However, attempts at automatic installation led to numerous failures, errors, and other "delights" (I can describe them if needed).

describe it.

describe.

I'll describe it now, but first, let me express my excitement about the person who hasn't followed the Heroes series for 5-7 years. That night, I finally installed the latest update manually, and spent the whole weekend exploring the new features and playing the new campaign. What can I say... Kudos to the developers! The HD mod is simply divine! Absolutely all the things that a hardcore HoMM player would want are implemented, and they are implemented well and in a usable way, in a complete style, that is, exactly as one would want! This is incredible in itself; I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it. Moreover, a ton of things have been implemented, things that one wouldn't even dare to dream about – they seemed so unpromising and unrealizable. For example, simultaneous turns and (simply amazing!) a dedicated lobby in the game with all the features. And this is in a game from 1999, when even abroad, the internet was not available in every home, that is, in a game that was not designed for normal online play. There are no words. A big thank you to the developer for all this work. The history of game development will not forget this. Regarding Heroes in general, I'll write about it separately somewhere. Probably... All that's left is to buy the rights to the series and launch it on Steam. Success is guaranteed ;) Just don't tell Ubisoft, or they'll steal the ideas. By the way, there is HoMM III with increased resolution and the title "Remastered" on Steam. I was happy, thinking it was something like a remastered version of Homeworld, where new developers take old content and harmoniously integrate it into a new engine or refine everything that fans have been waiting for in the old engine. But no, my disappointment was boundless – it's just SoD, just a different resolution. And that's it. But you went much further. Sorry for the long text, I got carried away. So, about the errors. The very first one was something like "Folder _HD3_Data not found." By the way, there was a mention of this on March 25 in the "bug reports" on VK, but there is still no solution or continuation of the discussion. There were also errors, I think, related to access (UAC), something like no access to files. Now it's hard to remember exactly what they were, but after an unsuccessful attempt to install the updates, I had to manually give myself permissions to access these files, as they were changing. After all these errors, I installed the game not on the system drive and manually installed the update through the installer posted on the site. In general, I simply bypassed these errors, so I can't describe them in more detail. Now everything is installed without any particular problems in "automatic mode," with one exception: "Please close HD Launcher and retry." It's funny, of course, to read this as a user when the update is launched from the launcher's interface; a regular user is not aware that HD3_Update is responsible for the update. And I couldn't find any technical description of which files go where. It would be logical for the update program to check if the launcher is running, close it if necessary, install the update, and launch the new version, as happens in the normal user world. Another thing. If you click on the shortcut, the game starts (let's say, in full screen), and a separate window of the launcher reports that an update is available. This is cool, but it would be logical to check for updates before launching the game, update itself, and then launch the game. Otherwise, the whole point of the automation process is lost, because you have to close the game, click "update," close the launcher manually, update, open the launcher, make sure the new version is installed, and then play. But these are user complaints; the main thing is that all the main features have been implemented and are working! Added after 21 minutes Finally, I went into the lobby, and everything became clear about the activity: with the appearance of the lobby, the community no longer needs other places to communicate. Respect

I'll describe it now, but first, a moment of admiration for the person who hasn't followed the Heroes topic for 5-7 years.

Many HD users received all the features gradually, over 9 years of development.
If all the current functionality was released at once, it would be a bombshell, yes.

By the way, there's HoMM III with increased resolution and the title "Remastered" on Steam... But no, there was no limit to the disappointment - it's just SoD, just a different resolution.

Correction: just RoE.

So, about the errors...

It would be logical for the update program to check if the launcher is running, close it if necessary, apply the update, and launch the new version, as it generally happens in the normal user world.

Actually, that's how it happens with the HD update for most users. That's why I asked about the errors. It's a pity that the description is unclear and not very detailed, but judging by it, the problem is with access rights to the folder and files in it.
Heroes were created when Windows 95 and 98 were in vogue, and users had unlimited rights in the system.
Today, Heroes and the HD mod need to be installed in a folder to which you have full access.
Such a folder is NOT: System drive\Program Files (x86)\...
Installing not in Program Files doesn't always solve the problem if your Windows account has some additional restrictions. Plus, an antivirus program may interfere with HD.

Another thing. If you click on the shortcut, the game starts (let's say, in full screen) and a separate window of the launcher reports that an update is available. This is, of course, cool, but it would be logical to check for updates before launching the game itself, update itself, and then launch the game itself. Otherwise, there is simply no point in the automation process, because you have to close the game, click "update", close the launcher manually, update, open the launcher, make sure there is a new version, and play.

1. The update is checked in parallel with the game launch, simultaneously with it. If you do it the way you suggest, first check the update and then launch the game, the game launch time will increase.
Depending on the state of the network from you to the update servers and the state of the servers, the launch time can increase significantly. At the same time, why should the player wait for the results of the update check if there are no updates, i.e., the latest version is installed.
2. Usually, you don't need to close the game or launcher manually. When you click "Yes" in the update window, HD closes the game and launcher itself if nothing (Windows) prevents it.

specifically, I'm interested in, for example, whether it's possible to enable this:
https://sites.google.com/site/heroes3hd/rus/description/extended-ui
... Found:
UI.AdvMgr.SkipMapMsgs
It's strange that it's not enabled by default when it's in the description...

Actually, it's enabled by default. It seems that in this case, HD again has a problem with accessing its files.
But if anything, it can be enabled/disabled in the game: system options -> show object messages.

- Sys.CPU.ReduceUsage - Reduce CPU usage? How does it work?

set the value to 1 - the CPU load decreases.
If, at the same time, mouse lag appears (it will appear if you have a mouse with a high polling rate, some kind of gaming mouse) or some other lag, then set the value to 2
if the lag still exists, then return to 0.

you can also reduce the CPU load by choosing a lighter graphics filter in the launcher: for example, the one that is set by default: Bilinear SharperX2

***

The description of HD features on the website has not been updated since January 2016. The information there is not complete and is sometimes outdated. So, you may not have discovered and tried all the HD features yet.
Unfortunately, I don't have enough time for everything.
It's hard for me alone to support and develop the mod itself (> 100,000 lines of code in it). And I don't have time or energy for documentation, feedback, and PR.
You're lucky, I answered.

OH is a great thing (SoD), of course I am also grateful and would like to buy the ability to continue using it. Question - can we hope for an end-turn option to "emulate waiting for the second player's standard turn"? i.e., so that the checkmark for accepting the turn doesn't appear immediately, but say - 5 minutes in the old mode one could gather their thoughts, examine the map, think over the move, and only after 5 minutes would the turn acceptance window appear. That would be ideal .. At least, such a possibility.

That would be ideal... At least, having such an option.

1) - in my opinion, this is essential for tournaments and/or players who aren't as quick-witted (I, as an example of such a player, often lose clarity/planning under a chess timer because it's a permanent time crunch), but
2) - this undermines the very slogan of Quick Play ("Speeding up the game")
Ideally, there would be another setting in the timer, from 1 to 5 minutes, possibly a function based on game time. But I'm sure everyone would be against it.
And I can't resist: the lobby is a sweetheart © Colonel Monblan.
*as an alternative, increase the turn time in Quick Play by 30..45 seconds.
There will still be savings, even if you increase it by 2 minutes, even by 7 - this is the minimum turn duration for an opponent.

Correction: just RoE.

Then it's even more of a disaster. I didn't buy it, I just looked at the screenshots. They ruined the idea, and now fans will trust such "remasters" even less.

Today, Heroes and the HD mod need to be installed in a folder to which you have full access.
Such a folder is NOT: System drive\Program Files (x86)\...
Installing it outside of Program Files doesn't always solve the problem either, if your Windows account has some additional restrictions. Plus, an antivirus program can interfere with the HD mod.

I've already figured this out empirically. It seems that all problems are solved by checking the box "Run this program as an administrator" in the "Compatibility" tab for each executable for all users; with updates, this specifically applies to HD_Launcher.exe and _HD3_Data\HD3_Update.exe.
Besides, there is always the possibility to download and install the update manually. Thank you for the comment.

If you do it the way you suggest, first checking for updates and then launching the game, it will increase the game's startup time.

I understand. I won't argue.

Actually, it's enabled by default. It seems that in this case, the HD mod again has a problem with accessing its files.
But if anything, this can be enabled/disabled in the game: system options -> show object messages.

Yes, I already found it in the game. I might have even unchecked it myself and not noticed - I got lost in the abundance of features.

set the value to 1 - the CPU load decreases.
If, at the same time, mouse lag appears (it will if you have a mouse with a high polling rate, some kind of gaming mouse) or other lag, then set the value to 2
if the lag is still present, then return to 0.

And here, can you elaborate? Reducing the polling rate of input/output devices? What exactly does this parameter change with different arguments? I happen to have a gaming mouse with a 1ms polling rate, and the cursor sometimes "sticks" in the game. At the same time, the CPU cores are not loaded to 100%. I'll try it, thanks.

I'm still going through the new campaign on the impossible difficulty level :cool:, remembering how to play and looking at new features. I've already answered many of my questions in the process of playing. Documentation would, of course, speed up the learning of all the new features, but I completely understand you in terms of time and fully agree with the "as is" policy. I just wanted to describe my impressions on a large scale and provide feedback. I am personally very touched by your work, thank you very much again. I think this is generally important for the developer, and that's why I "got lucky" with a response.
If it becomes relevant and necessary later, when I master everything, I can try to participate in writing the documentation. Slowly. For free.

If it becomes relevant and necessary later, after I learn everything, I can try to participate in writing the documentation.

I'll try to give a small piece of advice: write immediately from the perspective of a new user. Later, with practice, the rough edges of the user experience will be perceived as normal or forgotten, but they are important for beginners.
I'm thinking - maybe we should create a readme with the basic rules in the online lobby? Because there are so many inexperienced players there...

A question for baratorch, if it's not too much trouble: is there a hypothetical possibility to program more two-sided maps into the map generator, like in HotA, and abandon one-sided maps in SoD?

And you can also cover all the rough terrain with cobblestones. Do you find the gameplay lacks smoothness?

Hello everyone!

I'm sure this question has been raised and discussed many times in the 233 pages of the forum, but browsing all 233 pages in search of an answer is a nightmare. Could you please point me to the page with the answer, or explain whether it is possible in WOG 3.58 to configure HD+ so that there are options for quick transfer of items and troops between heroes, and the battle replay option works? If so, how? If this is not possible, what is the reason?
I've tried playing around with tweaks and settings, but I can't get it to work.

HD+ is not available for WoG, and it won't be. This applies to repeating battles. Quick transfer of items and troops in the exchange window - see the tweak UI.Ext.SwapMgr {0,1,2} = 2 (or "1") for game resolutions >= 664px.

Gentlemen, I need your help. I haven't played Heroes for a while (previously through Hamachi), and now when I log in, I can't join a potential opponent in the lobby. It gives me the following reason: "Sorry, your version #3.2.hw.1.40 is incompatible with the server version #4.0." Moreover: a) If the HW version is 1.38, it gives the same error, but indicates my version as 1.36. b) If I disable HW completely, it seems to connect, but playing without HW wouldn't be much fun. Reinstalling or changing the directory didn't help. Has anyone encountered this, and does anyone have a solution? Thanks in advance.

Guys, please help.
I haven't played Heroes for a while (previously through Hamachi), and now I've logged in, the lobby, everything. But I can't join a potential opponent. It says the following reason: "Sorry, your version #3.2.hw.1.40 is not compatible with the server version #4.0"
and
a) if the hw version is 1.38, it shows the same error, but indicates my version as 1.36
b) if I disable hw completely, it seems to connect, but playing without hw wouldn't be much fun
reinstalling/changing the directory didn't help
has anyone encountered this, and does anyone have a solution? Thanks in advance.

For now, in the launcher, you need to Create an HD exe and run it.
Otherwise, it will be fixed in the next update.

for now, you need to create an HD executable in the launcher and run it.
but it will be fixed in the next update...

Nope, I tried both through the launcher and by running the created executable directly, something else is broken...

In my opinion, 3.2 and 4.0 are versions of the executable file for "Heroes 3" (3.2 - The Shadow of Death, 4.0 - Complete Collection). It's likely that you and your opponent have different versions.