Posts from Heroes V - Remake "File restructuring, 'junk' cleanup, and game optimization"

In EE, I think you can choose in the bonuses before the start of the map what the AI will be like (defensive or aggressive).

But I completely disagree with this – an unpredictable enemy is, in my opinion, better than one that is pre-programmed to a specific behavior pattern.
In general, if you look at the original ToE, sometimes it happened that after defeating a strong neutral creature guarding some relic, the AI, instead of taking the prize, would pick up a bunch of resources or a chest, which clearly only supplemented the main treasure – that is, it gives the impression that this battle was only for gaining experience, because why defeat a strong neutral creature without taking what it was guarding? Such stupid actions by the AI generally baffle me.
Another well-known problem with the AI is its attitude towards the "Evasion" spell and mass versions of spells. If the AI is so dumb and this is irreparable, then you could try to program specific perks for it that it will/will not take, because there are clearly strong and weak perks, and even with strong perks, the AI sometimes doesn't know how to use them. In my opinion, only passive abilities will be played out in a game with the AI (that is, the development of combat skills, machinery, and logistics), and from magic, perhaps only chaos or darkness, and even then not always – these are not passive abilities, and the AI may start to act stupidly

I completely disagree with this – an unpredictable enemy is, in my opinion, better than one that is pre-programmed to follow a specific behavior pattern.
In general, if you look at the original ToE, there were times when, after defeating a strong neutral creature guarding some relic, the AI would, instead of taking the prize, pick up a bunch of resources or a chest, which clearly only supplemented the main treasure – that is, it gives the impression that this battle was only for gaining experience, because why defeat a strong neutral creature without taking what it was guarding?
Another well-known problem with the AI is its attitude towards the "Evasion" spell and mass versions of spells – if the AI is so stupid and this is irreparable, then you could try to program specific perks for it that it will/will not take, because there are clearly strong and clearly weak perks, and even with strong perks, the AI sometimes doesn't know how to use them – in my opinion, only passive abilities will be played out in a game with the AI (that is, improving combat skills, machinery, and logistics), and from magic, perhaps only chaos or darkness, and even then not always – these are not passives, and the AI may start to act stupidly.

Regarding the priority of perk selection for the AI, in the remake, the priority of perk selection is taken from "MegaAI". In the future, I plan to adjust the priority so that the AI levels up to the racial ultra skill, access to which has been made easier in the mod. But this will take time, which I don't have right now.

Added 4 minutes ago

In EE, I think you can choose in the bonuses before the start of the map what the AI will be (defensive or attacking).

Yes, but EE is currently incompatible with "Remake". As far as I know, the author of EE has reappeared on the forum and announced that a 3.2 release will be coming soon, and he called the previous version of his mod a prototype with a series of shortcomings. So, for now, I don't see the point in adapting the previous version for the modification.

Update available (17.12.17-Beta):
— The "Embalmer" ability now increases healing and damage dealt by the tent by 2% per hero level instead of 5 units;
— Bug fixes and other improvements.

The new version includes global changes within the game archive, so the option to download the previous version of the mod remains available in case unforeseen errors occur in the new version.

The mod is very good. I have an idea. About 8 years ago, a mod was posted here where Death Knights replaced Undead, etc. But at the same time, the Undead themselves (or rather, their models) replaced Ghosts, Spirits, etc. They are just too beautiful to be discarded as neutral creatures. At the same time, they became larger creatures, and to balance this, Liches were made smaller; they also look like they occupy only one cell on the battlefield. I would like to see something like this in your mod.

Hello. I downloaded the New Year's version. Could you tell me if it's possible to install a mod that prevents overlapping territories in online mode, as I haven't been able to get it to work? Also, how do you install mods in general, because they don't seem to work in Rmod H5u. I tried a couple, and even a PRT format pak didn't work.

Good day. I downloaded the New Year's version, can you tell me if it's possible to install a mod that prevents overlapping territories in online play, because I couldn't get it to work, and how to install mods in general, because they don't seem to work in Rmod H5u. I tried a couple, and even PRT format pak files didn't work.

Good afternoon. Maps and modifications created for the standard game will unfortunately be 100% incompatible.
Could you please describe in more detail what you mean by a "mod that prevents overlapping territories"?

Update available (18.03.18-Beta):
— A new "exe" file is used without a patch to recognize more than 2GB of RAM, because due to the patch, the game had to be launched as an administrator; otherwise, some functions and scripts would not work for players, and spontaneous crashes would occur;
— The addition for unlocking all heroes is already in the archive with the game. If you don't need this feature, then delete or move the "AllHero-Unlock.pak" file from the "RMod" directory;
— First Aid Tent: the healing level of the tent has been increased when the "War Machines" skill is improved (it was 10-20-50-100, now it is 10-40-75-200);
— Bug fixes and other improvements.

Update available (17.03.18-Beta):
— A new "exe" file is used without a patch to allow the game to recognize more than 2GB of RAM, because with the patch, the game had to be run as an administrator; otherwise, some functions and scripts would not work for players, and the game would crash spontaneously;

What exactly was changed in the .exe file to remove the RAM limit?!

What exactly was changed in the .exe file to remove the RAM limit?!

Nothing. The executable from Tribes of the East was used, with patches related to the game mechanics applied, and minor changes unique to the Remake were made. In other words, the new executable is the same as the old one, but without the patch.

A small utility was used to expand the visible memory for the old executable, but in practice, it turned out that the game started behaving erratically if not run as an administrator. GSC maps were not saved, the skill wheel did not work, and so on.

Nothing. The executable for Tribes of the East was taken, and patches related to the game mechanics were applied, along with minor unique edits for the Remake. In other words, the new executable is the same as the old one, but without the patch.

A small utility was used on the old executable to expand memory visibility, but in practice, it turned out that the game started behaving inadequately if not run as an administrator. GSC maps were not saved, the skill wheel did not work, etc.

Could you tell me what this small utility is and where I can get it?

Actually, that is precisely the primary goal, and resources are just a means to an end. Reducing aggression in this case would only make sense if the AI doesn't capture mines or develop its city, but simply attacks until its forces are exhausted (it runs out of starting resources, armies, and heroes). In that case, the game would be reduced to capturing almost empty cities and hunting down weak heroes on whom the AI has scraped together something. But I think that no matter how aggressive the AI is, it should still develop its cities in some way and, accordingly, ignore mines only in the early stages, while it still has starting resources/an army. I noticed this in the original ToE as well – it seems that the amount of resources allocated to the AI for its "hero" is sufficient for it to prioritize not capturing mines, but aggressive development/rushing. Sometimes, after capturing a city around the third week, the AI would surprisingly not capture even the nearest wood and ore mines to its capital – that is, it develops the city with what it has at the beginning and goes on the attack. As you can see, this "problem" is inherent in the original game, not just the modified one.

I believe that the AI's aggressiveness should increase depending on the difficulty level. If I'm playing on Recruit, for example, I don't need it to be too aggressive; I just want to relax and have fun.

What exactly did you change in the .exe file to remove the RAM limit?!

I replied in a private message.

Update available (11.04.18-Beta):
— New release numbering system to avoid misleading users;
— Standard icons restored for most heroes;
— Standard icons restored and new icons added for heroes in duel mode;
— The "Suzerain" hero ability now reduces retraining cost by 1% for each hero level;
— Fixed incorrect percentage display in the skill wheel; the information is now accurate;
— Balance changes: (Attempt to balance creatures that were changed in levels + data was selectively taken from TBM (Tournament Balance Mod)) (For those who are not aware, the changes proposed in the Balanced Units mod were fully transferred to Remake back in the summer of 2017):
— Academy:
— Elemental Gargoyles: life 22 (+2); TBM
— Haven:
— Halberdiers: life 28 (+2); TBM
— Monks: attack 9 (+2), defense 10 (+5), damage 6-8 (was 5-10), life 32 (was 30);
— Inquisitors: attack 8 (+1), defense 12 (+4), damage 7-9 (was 5-15), life 48 (was 35);
— Adepts: attack 11 (+2), defense 18 (+10), damage 7-9 (was 6-12), life 48 (was 35);
— Knights: attack 18 (+6), damage 15-23 (was 9-12), life 60 (was 54);
— Paladins: attack 22 (+6), damage 14-21 (was 9-12), life 73 (was 80);
— Knights of Isabel: attack 22 (+2), damage 14-24 (was 9-12), life 67 (was 80);
— Griffins: attack 17 (-5), defense 15 (-6), damage 15-25 (was 20-30), life 75 (-15);
— Royal Griffins: attack 20 (-4), damage 9-27 (was 20-30), life 88 (-12);
— War Griffins: attack 20 (-4), damage 10-20 (was 20-35), life 130 (+30);
— Sylvan:
— Elder Druids: damage 10-15 (was 9-14), life 34 (+1); TBM
— Greater Druids: attack 8 (-4), defense 12 (+4), damage 9-13 (was 10-14), mana 12 (-3); TBM
— Fortress:
— Bone Throwers: attack 4 (-2), damage 2-6 (was 4-5), life 13 (was 20);
— Berserkers: damage 3-8 (was 5-6), life 27 (was 30);
— Arbalests: attack 5 (-2), damage 3-7 (was 5-6), life 27 (was 30);
— Bears: attack 9 (+4), damage 4-5 (was 2-6), life 30 (was 25);
— Bear Lords: defense 10 (-4), damage 6-7 (was 3-8), life 35 (was 30);
— Northern Riders: attack 9 (+1), damage 6-7 (was 3-7), life 35 (was 30);
— Arcanite Priests and Flame Priests: the "Fire Immunity" ability has been removed, and the "Fire Resistance 50%" ability has been added; TBM
— Jarls: health 145 (+25), the "Fire Immunity" ability has been removed, and the "Fire Resistance 50%" ability has been added; TBM
— Earls: health 120 (-25), initiative 11 (+1); TBM
— Dungeon:
— Dark Riders: attack 12 (+2), life 55 (-5), initiative 12 (+1); TBM
— Swift Riders: attack 8 (-4), defense 12 (+3), initiative 11 (-1); TBM
— Twilight Witches: attack 14 (+7), damage 13-18 (was 7-14), life 54 (was 80);
— Shadow Lords: defense 15 (+1), damage 15-22 (was 9-15), life 60 (was 90);
— Night Hags: attack 16 (+1), defense 14 (-1), damage 15-22 (was 9-12), life 67 (was 90), the ability to shoot has been removed, and the "Invisibility" ability has been restored;
— Manticores: attack 25 (+7), damage 10-20 (was 17-24), life 105 (was 80);
— Scorpios: attack 25 (-5), damage 13-20 (was 17-27), life 150 (was 95);
— Cave Manticores: attack 25 (-5), damage 13-17 (was 20-30), life 150 (was 100);
— Necropolis:
— Bone Archers: attack 2 (+1), damage 2-2 (was 1-2), life 4 (-1); TBM
— Necromancers: attack 9 (+3), defense 10 (+4), damage 3-4 (was 6-8);
— Plague Liches: attack 16 (+7), damage 11-13 (was 7-11), life 33 (-2);
— Archliches: attack 17 (+8), defense 19 (+10), damage 11-14 (was 9-13), life 33 (-7);
— Vampires: attack 11 (-4), defense 6 (-9), damage 10-13 (was 12-17), life 66 (+16);
— Greater Vampires: attack 18 (-1), damage 17-25 (was 17-20), life 80 (+25);
— Vampire Princes: attack 15 (+6), damage 8-21 (was 12-21), life 90 (+35);
— Inferno:
— Imps: speed 6 (+1); TBM
— Devilings: life 7 (+1), speed 5 (-1); TBM
— Fire Demons: attack 2 (-1), defense 5 (+1); TBM
— Cerberuses: defense 3 (+1); TBM
— Hellhounds: defense 20 (+3), damage 8-16 (was 10-17), the "Fear Attack" ability has been removed; TBM
— Nightmares: attack 20 (+2), damage 10-17 (was 8-16); TBM
— Archdevils: initiative 12 (+1); TBM
— Creature Abilities:
— "Stun" ability: duration 2 (-1), chance of activation (factor 1 (was 3)); TBM
— Creature ability "Fear Attack": chance of activation 1 (+0.2); TBM
— "Regeneration" ability 40-60 (was 30-50); TBM
— Hero Abilities:
— Mentorship now gives 10% experience instead of 25%;
— Silent Stalker: 8 cells of additional vision (-4); TBM
— Earthquake: stun duration 0.3 (+0.2), damage 96+12*K (was 10+5*K); TBM
— Native Lands: 1 speed on grass (-1); TBM
— Devil's Strike: chance of activation 50% (+20%); TBM
— Counter Strike: 10/15/20/25% to counterattack damage (was 5/10/20/25%); TBM
— Lord of the Dead: 10% to necromancy (+5%); TBM
— Spells:
— Adventure Spells: "Summon Creatures" spell level 4 (+2); TBM
— Adventure Spells: "Portal to Town" requires hero level 15 (-5);
— Call Spells: "Terrifying Roar" requires 8 mana (+1);
— Call Spells: "Wrath of the Horde" requires 12 mana (+2);
— Runes: "Rune of Resurrection" level 5 (+1); TBM
— Runes: "Rune of Draconic Might" level 4 (-1); TBM
— Summon: "Swarm of Wasps" level 1 (-1), at level without skill, pushes the target back 0.05 on the ATB scale (+0.05); TBM
— Summon: "Fire Trap" level 2 (+1); TBM
— Summon: The "Summon Hive" spell at all levels has a base of 10 initiative, initiative growth per 1 K: 0.05/0.1/0.15/0.2, 200 health (+100), 20 defense; TBM
— Light: "Evasion" level 2 (-1); TBM
— Light: "Regeneration" level 3 (+1), requires 10 mana (+2); TBM
— Light: "Dispel" level 3 (+1); TBM
— Dark: The "Slow" spell reduces initiative by 10%/20%/30%/40% (was 25%/30%/35%/40%); TBM
— Dark: The "Destructive Ray" spell has the air element removed; TBM
— Chaos: The "Freezing Touch" spell requires 15 mana (+4), physical damage boost 1%/2%/3%/4%*K depending on the skill level, damage formula 60/72/84/96+12*K; TBM
— Chaos: The "Magic Arrow" spell requires 5 mana (+1); TBM
— Chaos: The "Armageddon" spell: Without skill: 11+11*K/ Base: 14+14*K/ Advanced: 17+17*K/ Expert: 20+20*K; TBM
— Buildings:
— Fortress: "Hall of Clans" requires 10 crystals (-10); TBM
— Academy: "Library" cost 2000 gold (-1000); TBM
— Hero skill drop chances:
— Sylvan: Attack has a drop chance of 8% (+2%); TBM
— Sylvan: Magic has a drop chance of 2% (-2%); TBM
— Fortress: Mechanics has a drop chance of 2% (-13%); TBM
— Fortress: Magic of Light has a drop chance of 15% (+7%);
— Fortress: Magic of Summoning has a drop chance of 10% (+6%);
— Bug fixes and other improvements.

Update available (04.05.2018-Beta):
— Academy:
— All “Gargoyles” have had their standard stats restored; they are no longer mechanical;
— All “Djinn” have had their standard stats restored; all Djinn are now elementals;
— Building “Golem Forge”: requires city level 6 (+3);
— “Mages” and “Archmages” have had their standard body models restored. The gem on the Archmage’s turban has been recolored to red to match the icon. (It was blue);
— The formula for calculating parameters for all mini-artifacts, except for magical protection, has been changed. Parameters will now be lower than or equal to the original on different levels of hero knowledge;
— The maximum values for the following mini-artifact parameters have been reduced:
— Health: 15;
— Attack: 20;
— Defense: 20;
— Armor Penetration: -5;
— Luck: 7;
— Morale: 7;
— Speed: 5;
— Initiative: 50%;
— Haven:
— “Archers”: the appearance of the creatures has been changed – they now wear chainmail;
— “Royal Griffins”: the creature model has been changed – armor has been removed;
— “Battle Griffins”: the creature model has been changed – armor has been removed;
— Hero Iris – the “Griffin Trainer” ability has been temporarily changed to “Mystic,” and the hero’s biography has been changed;
— Building “Barracks”: requires city level 6 (+3);
— Sylvan:
— Battle Unicorns: the appearance has been changed to be more fierce, the creature icon has been changed, and the description has been updated;
— Fortress:
— All Priests are now level 4 (-1) creatures:
— “Rune Priests”: attack 9, defense 6, damage 7-9, health 34;
— “Arcane Priests”: attack 9, defense 9, damage 8-10, health 35;
— “Flame Priests”: attack 9, defense 9, damage 10-12, health 37;
— All Bears are now level 5 (+1) creatures:
— “Bear Riders”: attack 9, defense 10, damage 8-10, health 60;
— “Bear Lords”: attack 11, defense 10, damage 10-12, health 70;
— “Northern Riders”: attack 11, defense 12, damage 11-20, health 70;
— Dungeon:
— Shadow Lords: the appearance has been changed, a dress has been added, and the creature icon has been changed;
— All “Manticores” – the “Poison” ability has been changed to “Animal Venom” due to the incorrect functioning of “Poison”;
— Necropolis:
— “Necromancers”: abilities have been changed: the “Undead” ability has been removed, only the basic “Plague” spell remains, mana reserve 12 (+1);
— “Plague Liches”: the standard name “Archliches” and standard spellbook have been restored;
— “Archliches”: the standard name “Greater Liches” and standard spellbook have been restored;
— “Vampires”: attack 9 (-2), defense 15 (+9), damage 9-12 (10-13), health 50 (-16);
— “Greater Vampires”: attack 14 (-4), damage 7-18 (17-25), health 58 (-22);
— “Vampire Princes”: attack 14, damage 8-21 (10-16), health 67 (-23);
— All “Skeleton Dragons” have been returned to their standard stats and received the common ability “Overwhelming Gaze”;
— “Bone Dragons”: damage 20-30 (15-30);
— Building “Vampire Court”: now requires “Forge” instead of “Tavern”;
— Inferno:
— City buildings:
— “Hellhound Kennels”: now requires “Forge” instead of “Tavern”;
— “Sacrificial Pit” and “Gate of Chaos” have been swapped;
— Spells:
— Light: “Antimagic” – the level of spell removal has been reduced by 1 on all mastery levels (1, 2, 3, 4) (it was 2, 3, 4, 5);
— Summoning: “Summon Wasps” – mana cost reduced from 5 to 4;
— Summoning: “Raise Dead” – mana cost increased to 11 (now it is on the 3rd level of magic);
— Starting spells have been changed for all heroes except for campaign heroes and those with a specialization in spell enhancement:
— Humans: Divine Power;
— Academy: Magic Bolt;
— Dwarves: Stone Skin;
— Elves: Summon Wasps;
— Dark Elves: Magic Arrow;
— Necropolis: Grief;
— Demons: Weakness;
— Some city buildings have been rearranged on the city building scheme for a more logical appearance, without changing the construction conditions;
— The balance of garrisons on the “Battle for Glory” map has been changed;
— Bug fixes and other improvements.

I'm curious, do you ask the creators of graphical mods for permission to use them?

Added 3 minutes later
And also, it seems to me that the balance changes too often. Sometimes you make changes, and then you revert to the original. And you change the visuals with the release of new mods.