Posts from A new plugin for Heroes 3 tournaments!

I am in a hurry to inform the community about a new plugin for the SoD version of Heroes, which was written today by the highly respected Ben80. Previously, a plugin was written for the Mirror-3 tournament. This person has already completed my second order, for which I am immensely grateful.

The new plugin allows you to change the density of object spawns when generating a random map, and, more importantly, to change the value of key objects!!! Now you can set the value of observatories, lairs, utopias, cartographers, and each level of scrolls! In essence, we can remove the rule prohibiting scrolls without a Grand Magus if we set the desired guard strength for them, and take another step towards a game with fewer rules (or with a smaller number of them). We can also better balance the treasure zones for players, etc.

But there are also drawbacks:
Some templates will need to be edited after we change their values (literally 5 minutes of work per template).

The plugin itself is in the testing phase. The initial tests have not revealed any problems. We will also test it in this year's subscriber tournament along with other plugins.

Please share your suggestions for the values of these objects below:
Utopia
Obelisk
Hive
Conservatory
Fort
Water Cartographer
Earth Cartographer
Dungeon Cartographer
Scroll1
Scroll2
Scroll3
Scroll4
Scroll5

There are also a number of plugins that make some spells and skills more useful. We also plan to test them.

The main issue in SOD is the generation of shifted guards for passages and objects, as well as the fairly frequent difference in road junctions between players.
If these 2 issues could be fixed, all Heroes players would be jumping for joy.
The other changes don't fundamentally alter anything, except that if there is a desire to bring back Cartographers and Forts, their guard strength should be set no lower than that of ГО on Jebus Cross.

It seems to me that the work is not being done in the right direction. Perhaps it would make sense to track the number of objects in certain areas or on certain maps, but definitely not to change their value, which everyone has long been accustomed to.

actually, there are fewer problems with mirror matches because they are, well, mirror matches. Maybe it would make sense to write a plugin that completely prohibits Necromancer if the game didn't start with Necromancer.

I like using scrolls after building the corresponding Town Hall much more than using control scrolls with a value of 15-20k. And I don't see any inconsistencies with the value of the other objects either. I agree that the main, and possibly only, problem with SOD is the high frequency of buggy or poorly generated maps. Just tweak the generator to reduce the number of bad generations, and it will be a perfect game.
I don't see the point of this plugin. It's just my opinion.

1. I agree regarding the limitation of the number of objects in zones, but unfortunately that feature is not available yet. The person makes plugins for free and only in cases where it holds some priority for them and if their knowledge is sufficient to implement it. With this plugin, we can increase or decrease the chances of objects appearing during generation within a value range (precisely adjusting the chances of their appearance and quantity). We'll see — perhaps someday we'll get to the desired option. That would be nice. I am in favor of expanding functionality for organizers and creators. There will also likely be the ability to configure the spawn frequency of Prisons, either all together or by individual level.

2. Regarding the usual value. This is a double-edged sword. On one hand, I fully agree. Why all this confusion with value in different versions, etc.? On the other hand, I've heard more than once from dads on streams about playing without rules, saying it's too imbalanced when control almost for free appears in a scroll. With this plugin, we can set the desired guard for them. What their guard should be — that's not a question for me, I'm a noob in this matter. At the moment, unfortunately, we simply don't have other functionality. If it appears, I'll only be glad. For now, we'll test it outside the portal in the tournament and see what comes of it — it might be complete nonsense, or it might turn out somewhat decent. I understand there are no concrete ideas regarding value. And you suggest leaving everything as is — understood. Although standard Griffin Conservatories with value 2k is complete nonsense, in my opinion. Their value is clearly underestimated. And it's inconvenient for template creators to balance zones with value 2k for Griffin Conservatories (alongside Campfires, Treasure Vaults, and Shrines) and 9k for Dragon Fly Hives. And if the value of Dragon Utopias were made more unique, then on the same Jebus Cross we could configure a more precise quantity of Dragon Utopias, at least approximately.

3. Regarding skewed generations. I also fully agree. There is currently no way to change or fix generations and bugged passages. But Ben80 apparently said there's an idea on how to fix shifted passage guards. If he implements it, that would be great.

4. Regarding the ban on Necromancy and any other skills and abilities in general — I am categorically against it. Regarding slightly balancing skills, buildings, generations, guards, factions, etc. — I am all for it. But regarding mirror templates — there is already a plugin with which you can block any heroes. However, it works perfectly for regular templates, but there is a bug with mirror templates due to the h3vrleaz plugin. Yesterday I spoke with WizarDX576, and if the h3vrleaz plugin is improved, the possibilities will be expanded.

The most important thing is that the movement has gotten off the ground in terms of improving SoD in many aspects over the past couple of years. And you, as the community, will filter out everything unnecessary and take what you need for yourselves.

It seems to me that the work is not being done in the right direction at all. Perhaps it would make sense to fix the number of objects in certain zones, on certain templates, but definitely not to change their value, which everyone has long been used to.

What stopped me from starting work on the templates was precisely the lack of ability to adjust the value of objects and thus influence the quality of zone content and, more broadly, the accuracy of implementing the strategic idea of the template. This is less relevant in HotA on HL+U (and for those who are particularly interested in this format), because a large number of objects often negates the spread of probabilities, but on small maps like Panikov, the variety of layouts is still an insurmountable challenge.
So, in my opinion, this latest plugin is exactly what's needed – after the template editor, this plugin is the next step towards longevity – the work is moving in the right direction. And now I know at least one programmer who can handle that important thing you're talking about here; he may even understand better what is most important.

With all due respect for the work done, but... in my opinion, nothing here needs to be changed (or it should be done very carefully, only for individual tournaments on individual templates). HD mod + high-level rules is the pinnacle of Heroes development, and the proposed "improvements" can only harm the gameplay. And maps and forts can be easily removed with a single checkbox.

and we'll get one step closer to a game without rules

but why? For those who like to play without rules, there is already anarchy.

It seems I finally understand what the issue is. And at the same time, it became clear why some of the things that Alfein writes are not understood by many. It's not about tastes and other subjective criteria at all; it's very prosaic, objective, and simple. For example, if someone is told "red," they associate it exclusively with one specific color, like a small child, and no shades or comparisons like "blood, boiled crayfish, the flag of the USSR, etc." come to mind. If they hear "no rules," they only think of anarchy, without even considering that it could mean something else. After that, any discussion automatically becomes boring, and the topic of opposing "hota-sod" can be safely closed.

It's funny when those same people later say that I'm the one who starts trolling and causing arguments. Well, at least now there's a topic where, hopefully, such "gems" will be moved soon.

It's funny when the same people later say that I'm the one who starts trolling and causing arguments. Well, at least now there's a topic where, hopefully soon, they'll move these kinds of "gems."

Just tell me, do you finally understand what Armag was talking about when he wrote "without rules," or not? This isn't an argument; it's a test, no offense!

In my opinion, a Scroll of Control with a 15k value is much more overpowered than it used to be. You see a guard and go to attack it, but it's not a given that you'll go for a random, unclear scroll in an unknown location. Scrolls are usually contested by both players. Attacking a 15k value target in the second week is not difficult.

caliban and saneok: no one suggested increasing the value of control scrolls here. There was a suggestion to increase the value for all scrolls.

Added 6 minutes later

and why? For those who like to play without rules, there is already anarchy.

The phrase about playing without rules meant simplifying the rules, i.e., so that there would be fewer rules in which one could sometimes simply get confused.

I think that the work is not being done in the right direction. Perhaps it would make sense to fix the number of objects in certain zones, on certain templates, but definitely not to change their value, which everyone has long been used to.

This is not very difficult, I will add.
I also believe that for the SOD generator, the most important thing is to fight bugs, but "drawing" maps using the generator, changing the value and density, is also a useful feature.

Actually, I dream of one day seriously starting to fight at least some of the bugs in the SOD generator, and I made this utility for Armag, because I know that he really likes to play with templates.

Regarding a number of plugins that Armag mentioned - they were written by me under the guidance of AlexSpl a year ago. At the moment, I have a rather negative attitude towards them )) because I do not approve of changing the basic mechanics of SOD. But I cannot forbid the use of these plugins.

As far as I understand, many Heroes players dream of a programmer who would fulfill all their dreams. I have a slightly different desire - to find a tournament master who would create completely different online tournaments, and not those that the community holds ))

The phrase about a game without rules meant simplifying the rules, i.e., reducing the number of rules in which one can sometimes simply get confused.

I know, but it was said in the context of using scrolls without GM setup, which already perfectly solves the issue of house rules; it's impossible to get confused.