adamnavel
Auto-translated
Mod update as of 13.02.2021. The mod is gradually approaching the end in terms of model editing; currently, progress in this area is around 85%. A few small adjustments to frames remain, as well as the creation of about 120 full frames for 2 units; the bulk of the tasks in this regard has been completed. The next stage will be refining the interface, icons, and other elements—work there is currently at around 55%. Today, a small addition in the form of a video presenting another unit of the Necropolis faction - the Necromancer (I was inspired by this theme thanks to the game Allods 2). Also, generally, the concept of the *body* (reaper) had already been created by someone else; I worked on reworking and drawing additional frames. You can see the result at this link: https://youtu.be/suhR4N1U7bE
11.05.2020 Posting an update. Five months of work on the Necropolis faction, 12 units added, new animation, fixes, new monster voice acting, stats overview and more, available at this link:
https://youtu.be/DpAhZa_jctg
Hello everyone, thank you very much to the portal and users for the many years of support for the Heroes game series. Personally, I have learned a great deal from this resource, which helped me both in working on maps and on the game libraries.
G A M E P L A Y - V I D E O - T E S T :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-0qu4PBTkU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cDVgCRKE7I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1En7qH_hUJA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Md-VhBuAbiE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7PwK9vzGWw
Finally, after more than a year of work on this project, I found the time and reason to make this post. I hope some will find it interesting.
(you can skip the slight lyricism) I have always liked both classic heroes and mods in the style of WOG and HOTA. More than ten years of crafting maps in the editor, as well as working with ERM, inspired me to try my hand at creating a mod. Since I am a designer and also a musician, these are my strong points in the work.
Since 2017, I began work on a mod called "Days of Silence" (The Days of Silence).
Days of Silence is a mod, story, and plot campaign set between the events following Armageddon's Blade and the start of Heroes of Might and Magic IV. The plot unfolds during the period before the tragic events of the end of the world of Enroth—the great cataclysm caused by the battle between Gelu and Kilgor and their blades (you all know this from the H4 video). The campaign will consist of the stories of several factions, namely: Krigan (Inferno), Deia's Undead, and Kryulod (Barbarian). The campaign will consist of 8:8:6 maps respectively. Both old and well-known heroes, as well as new ones, are involved in the plot, entering into confrontation once again—a struggle for power and influence, among other motives. The campaign will feature many text-based story messages and references to the Heroes universe and the Might and Magic game series. Factions such as Forge, Conflux, Cathedral, Holy Legion, and Northerner Clans will have their place in the campaign plot and will be partially available for single-player gameplay.
This mod is built on the HoMM III MOP (Master of Puppets) v2.12 platform, which provides huge advantages for editing network code and porting it to the Python programming language. (Huge thanks to one of the mod developers for explaining the features of this mod, the code, and other clarifications—thanks Richard Desfray). Additional applications and improved code allow for adding many new units, spells, artifacts, and all sorts of buildings to the game, while also adding many interesting new abilities. Therefore, I chose MOP as the basis for the mod rather than VCMI or WOG (I know the latter quite well and certainly regret that there is no way to use good old ERM for specific gameplay nuances on maps, as it doesn't work in MOP 2.12; at least I haven't found a way how ZVSE scripts work). [Anyone who knows about this, please let me know if there is a way to make ERM work in MOP the old-fashioned way in the editor via events].
What can this mod offer the player?
- New gameplay mechanics
- New combat tactics
- Over 500 decorative objects for the map editor to make the game even more atmospheric
- Many new monsters of various levels with unique abilities, both neutral and factional
- New artifacts with new abilities
- Additional spells and a re-balance of some old ones
- 3 New story campaigns
- Single player and hot seat modes
- New musical compositions and videos
- New monster sounds and ambient sounds
I am making this mod completely for free out of pure enthusiasm in my spare time, with a great desire to create something beautiful that blends organically with the original game. Something atmospheric and new that will allow one to dive into the world of heroes once again and experience new emotions from the game. Many materials for working on the mod were taken from archives of various forums and from artists who shared their personal developments; some of these were reworked, and individual frames were redrawn. I also created my own unique objects, designs, and animations.
This mod cannot be installed over any other mod and will come as a separate "install" like a full game. There is no specific release date—I cannot tell you that, as the project is in progress, and after 1.5 years, about 38% is done. Work is moving slowly because I am doing it on my own and only in my free time, averaging a few hours 3 days a week. The majority of the time is currently spent on graphics, design, and project layout. Despite this, the scenario and text have already been written for the first 3 chapters of the first campaign, with many text messages, plot twists, events, and other occurrences conveying information about what is happening. The first story campaign will be playing as Inferno.
A few screenshots of the game interface and new maps that have already been made or are in progress:
This is not yet the full interface design; some elements are not yet made and require gamma and contrast adjustments. To give the plot a darker atmosphere, the menus are executed in darker cold tones with elements of Gothic style, paganism, ancient runes, and other mythical symbols.
Most of the new objects will help expand the atmosphere of the factions; for example, the Arena, which didn't blend well with lava desert landscapes, will now have an equivalent called the Demonic Altar. Like the Arena, it will give bonuses to the player but fits better in lava landscapes. Various similar objects and mines will be available for most factions. Also, unique decorations and textures will be created specifically for the campaign to make the story more immersive. Water structures as well as new resource banks will help obtain even more artifacts and resources and can become a real challenge for a strong player in the late game (where, for example, the Dwarf Treasury could no longer provide a challenge or a worthy reward).
The game allows players to gain over 100 ADSK points and acquire more skills with one hero; also, some skills have been supplemented and reworked. The game contains many units and objects already loved by WOG players, including level 8 upgrades that have also been graphically enhanced. Additionally, the ranks will be joined by new units from levels 1 to 10, thereby pushing the rare, legendary Azure Dragons off the pedestal of sole kings (now there will be several such).
New units will also receive new abilities. For example, the Hell Fafnir (Level 10) is a unit of mass disorder on the battlefield—which has a probability of casting berserk on both itself and nearby enemies, can fly, attack monsters attempting to pass near it, and is one of the fighters of the Inferno faction (Krigan). A few such units will force the opponent to spread their troops as far from the Fafnirs as possible and resort to Dispel and Cure spells to avoid unnecessary losses of their detachments due to confusion. Magic Dragonlets can cast the Meteor Shower spell 3 times; you can freely switch between casting and attacking manually. Higher-level units always have more interesting new abilities, but their hiring cost is correspondingly higher—now one will have to fight even more fiercely for their habitats. A full list of all monsters will be added both in the in-game help and in a separate PDF file distributed with the game. But if you want to know more about the units, you can leave a comment here with a corresponding request, and I will try to make a separate post.
My own work:
New hero portraits for the campaign:
New Forge fraction dwellings:
New Forge fraction mines:
Several different faction objects (from left to right - Inferno Garrison, Magic Inferno Garrison, Pirate Ship, Hell Seal, Destroyed Elf House, Destroyed Elf Stables, Wood Mill):
Reskin of old cities with new animation:
Void Dragon:
Immortal:
The interface will be partially in English and partially in Russian. I am from Ukraine, but I decided to choose Russian as it is most convenient for me for the proper artistic writing of story texts; at the alpha stage, all messages will be duplicated (ENG) and (RUS). In beta, there might be 2 separate exes and a move of translations to corresponding files. Thanks to all other teams involved in creating their own mods who shared their experience and inspiration, as well as materials and advice—this helped me a lot.
Update 31.12.2019
Pre-New Year update: castle animations added. 5 Campaign maps completed. Map Editor lists have been optimized. New decorative objects added, and some bugs fixed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDOF-3i2z4A - work performed on new objects and a piece of the campaign map is here.
11.05.2020 Posting an update. Five months of work on the Necropolis faction, 12 units added, new animation, fixes, new monster voice acting, stats overview and more, available at this link:
https://youtu.be/DpAhZa_jctg
Hello everyone, thank you very much to the portal and users for the many years of support for the Heroes game series. Personally, I have learned a great deal from this resource, which helped me both in working on maps and on the game libraries.
G A M E P L A Y - V I D E O - T E S T :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-0qu4PBTkU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cDVgCRKE7I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1En7qH_hUJA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Md-VhBuAbiE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7PwK9vzGWw
Finally, after more than a year of work on this project, I found the time and reason to make this post. I hope some will find it interesting.
(you can skip the slight lyricism) I have always liked both classic heroes and mods in the style of WOG and HOTA. More than ten years of crafting maps in the editor, as well as working with ERM, inspired me to try my hand at creating a mod. Since I am a designer and also a musician, these are my strong points in the work.
Since 2017, I began work on a mod called "Days of Silence" (The Days of Silence).
Days of Silence is a mod, story, and plot campaign set between the events following Armageddon's Blade and the start of Heroes of Might and Magic IV. The plot unfolds during the period before the tragic events of the end of the world of Enroth—the great cataclysm caused by the battle between Gelu and Kilgor and their blades (you all know this from the H4 video). The campaign will consist of the stories of several factions, namely: Krigan (Inferno), Deia's Undead, and Kryulod (Barbarian). The campaign will consist of 8:8:6 maps respectively. Both old and well-known heroes, as well as new ones, are involved in the plot, entering into confrontation once again—a struggle for power and influence, among other motives. The campaign will feature many text-based story messages and references to the Heroes universe and the Might and Magic game series. Factions such as Forge, Conflux, Cathedral, Holy Legion, and Northerner Clans will have their place in the campaign plot and will be partially available for single-player gameplay.
This mod is built on the HoMM III MOP (Master of Puppets) v2.12 platform, which provides huge advantages for editing network code and porting it to the Python programming language. (Huge thanks to one of the mod developers for explaining the features of this mod, the code, and other clarifications—thanks Richard Desfray). Additional applications and improved code allow for adding many new units, spells, artifacts, and all sorts of buildings to the game, while also adding many interesting new abilities. Therefore, I chose MOP as the basis for the mod rather than VCMI or WOG (I know the latter quite well and certainly regret that there is no way to use good old ERM for specific gameplay nuances on maps, as it doesn't work in MOP 2.12; at least I haven't found a way how ZVSE scripts work). [Anyone who knows about this, please let me know if there is a way to make ERM work in MOP the old-fashioned way in the editor via events].
What can this mod offer the player?
- New gameplay mechanics
- New combat tactics
- Over 500 decorative objects for the map editor to make the game even more atmospheric
- Many new monsters of various levels with unique abilities, both neutral and factional
- New artifacts with new abilities
- Additional spells and a re-balance of some old ones
- 3 New story campaigns
- Single player and hot seat modes
- New musical compositions and videos
- New monster sounds and ambient sounds
I am making this mod completely for free out of pure enthusiasm in my spare time, with a great desire to create something beautiful that blends organically with the original game. Something atmospheric and new that will allow one to dive into the world of heroes once again and experience new emotions from the game. Many materials for working on the mod were taken from archives of various forums and from artists who shared their personal developments; some of these were reworked, and individual frames were redrawn. I also created my own unique objects, designs, and animations.
This mod cannot be installed over any other mod and will come as a separate "install" like a full game. There is no specific release date—I cannot tell you that, as the project is in progress, and after 1.5 years, about 38% is done. Work is moving slowly because I am doing it on my own and only in my free time, averaging a few hours 3 days a week. The majority of the time is currently spent on graphics, design, and project layout. Despite this, the scenario and text have already been written for the first 3 chapters of the first campaign, with many text messages, plot twists, events, and other occurrences conveying information about what is happening. The first story campaign will be playing as Inferno.
A few screenshots of the game interface and new maps that have already been made or are in progress:
This is not yet the full interface design; some elements are not yet made and require gamma and contrast adjustments. To give the plot a darker atmosphere, the menus are executed in darker cold tones with elements of Gothic style, paganism, ancient runes, and other mythical symbols.
Most of the new objects will help expand the atmosphere of the factions; for example, the Arena, which didn't blend well with lava desert landscapes, will now have an equivalent called the Demonic Altar. Like the Arena, it will give bonuses to the player but fits better in lava landscapes. Various similar objects and mines will be available for most factions. Also, unique decorations and textures will be created specifically for the campaign to make the story more immersive. Water structures as well as new resource banks will help obtain even more artifacts and resources and can become a real challenge for a strong player in the late game (where, for example, the Dwarf Treasury could no longer provide a challenge or a worthy reward).
The game allows players to gain over 100 ADSK points and acquire more skills with one hero; also, some skills have been supplemented and reworked. The game contains many units and objects already loved by WOG players, including level 8 upgrades that have also been graphically enhanced. Additionally, the ranks will be joined by new units from levels 1 to 10, thereby pushing the rare, legendary Azure Dragons off the pedestal of sole kings (now there will be several such).
New units will also receive new abilities. For example, the Hell Fafnir (Level 10) is a unit of mass disorder on the battlefield—which has a probability of casting berserk on both itself and nearby enemies, can fly, attack monsters attempting to pass near it, and is one of the fighters of the Inferno faction (Krigan). A few such units will force the opponent to spread their troops as far from the Fafnirs as possible and resort to Dispel and Cure spells to avoid unnecessary losses of their detachments due to confusion. Magic Dragonlets can cast the Meteor Shower spell 3 times; you can freely switch between casting and attacking manually. Higher-level units always have more interesting new abilities, but their hiring cost is correspondingly higher—now one will have to fight even more fiercely for their habitats. A full list of all monsters will be added both in the in-game help and in a separate PDF file distributed with the game. But if you want to know more about the units, you can leave a comment here with a corresponding request, and I will try to make a separate post.
My own work:
New hero portraits for the campaign:
New Forge fraction dwellings:
New Forge fraction mines:
Several different faction objects (from left to right - Inferno Garrison, Magic Inferno Garrison, Pirate Ship, Hell Seal, Destroyed Elf House, Destroyed Elf Stables, Wood Mill):
Reskin of old cities with new animation:
Void Dragon:
Immortal:
The interface will be partially in English and partially in Russian. I am from Ukraine, but I decided to choose Russian as it is most convenient for me for the proper artistic writing of story texts; at the alpha stage, all messages will be duplicated (ENG) and (RUS). In beta, there might be 2 separate exes and a move of translations to corresponding files. Thanks to all other teams involved in creating their own mods who shared their experience and inspiration, as well as materials and advice—this helped me a lot.
Update 31.12.2019
Pre-New Year update: castle animations added. 5 Campaign maps completed. Map Editor lists have been optimized. New decorative objects added, and some bugs fixed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDOF-3i2z4A - work performed on new objects and a piece of the campaign map is here.
