Posts from Official System Requirements - Heroes 5

The Warlock, I won't mince words, is a real jerk!!! He didn't show up, didn't bring the beta, so until next weekend – damn, I'm in mourning... :(

I agree.

Too much. I have a question: why are so many resources needed?

Animate the female elves with whips :D

That's a lot. I'm wondering why so many resources are needed?

Where is it "a lot"? Nowadays, all modern projects consume that much... Although, unlike Heroes, the engines used are not outdated, but new...

Animate female elves with whips.

Along with scantily clad succubi!

Nowadays, most modern projects consume a lot of resources... Although, unlike Heroes, the engines used are not outdated, but new...

Well, I'm comparing it to all the previous Heroes games.

Well, I'm comparing it to all the previous games.

Compared to the previous ones, yes. They overdid it. But on the other hand, now the heroes' graphics don't differ from the other games.

The Warlord, I won't mince words, is a real jerk!!! He didn't show up, didn't bring the beta, so until next weekend – damn, I'm in mourning... :(

So, where are the long-awaited impressions:confused:?

SO IT HAS COME TO PASS!!!

The long-awaited beta test of Heroes V on my machine finally took place last Sunday!!! It should be noted that this momentous event would not have been possible without the following people, for which I offer my greatest respect:
Optimist - for providing the beta itself;
Dion - for kindly providing the hotseat crack;
Alex-ls - for technical advice on modem sharing problems on the local network, and just for friendly company and support...

So, I'm sharing my impressions (I'll say right away that they are purely personal and only about the graphics and overall performance; we won't discuss the gameplay):

Test machine:
CPU - AMD Athlon 64 4000+ (2.4 GHz).
Memory - 2 x 512 DDR 400.
Video card - Gigabyte GeForce 7800 GT 256 Mb.
Motherboard - Gigabyte K8N nForce 4 SLI
Monitor - 19" BENQ FP91V+

So, loading the game, switching between the city screen and the global strategic map - it's quite fast, not annoying.
Viewing the strategic map at a fairly close and medium distance (camera rotation, zooming in and out within these limits) - no slowdowns, the same on the city screen... The only inconvenience is that the camera on the city screen is quite fixed.

When zooming out the camera on the strategic map to the maximum possible distance, there are unjustified slowdowns (most likely, this is a general lack of refinement and optimization of the engine), which disappear after some rotations (when the picture is fully cached).

In general, the whole game runs quite smoothly and does not cause any particular complaints, only when viewing the strategic map at a global scale, it noticeably slows down.
The game reacts normally to ALT-TAB, no crashes or freezes were detected during 8 hours of testing (one map was played completely, plus all races were tried out a little bit)...

Hmm... now about the sad part - about the quality of the 3D graphics...:( The engine is clearly outdated, in my opinion, it's a well-refined engine from Demigods, but without any particular frills (no active use of shaders, bump mapping, and other bells and whistles was found, except perhaps the water is nice)... i.e., if the game will slow down on an average Russian gamer's machine with this engine, then the blame will be on the clumsy hands of the programmers, and not on the lack of money in the family budget... (for comparison, the quality of 3D objects from X3 - Reunion will never be achieved by the fifth Heroes engine)... The graphics are very reminiscent of Warcraft, in terms of style, it is more childish (cheerful, even when drawing necromancers and inferno), rather than epic and fantasy... But faces from 10 to 15 will definitely like it...

3D objects of cities and combat units are made normally, when zoomed in, the lack of polygons does not hurt the eye, when zoomed out, everything is generally excellent... special effects of magic are also great...
Unfortunately, I cannot say the same about the objects on the strategic map... Unfortunately, I have to conclude that the objects on the strategic map were made in a rather "diverse" way, there is no single style and quality of execution... For example: on the sea, two objects were found - "Mermaid" and "Siren", and if the mermaid is quite recognizable, rounded and cute, then the siren is some kind of square frog (not at all like the classic sirens in my idea) with a face that vaguely resembles a human... When zooming in the camera and examining this "miracle", I was surprised to find that its "face" is flat (maximum 2 polygons, or rather one), with a carelessly stretched texture (also of poor quality), there are no breasts at all... In general, the artists skimped on polygons and textures for this "creature", as if their supply (of polygons) to the Nival company suddenly stopped and the "Siren" was somewhere at the end of the queue... I don't know about other gamers, but I found such absurdities on the generally pretty game map caused hysterical laughter...

Similarly, similar underdeveloped objects are found everywhere (unclear logs, piles of resources that look more like piles of waste products, etc.) ... all this is unpleasant in contrast to the lovingly crafted sunflowers in the cute peasant garden with a fence... In short, the lack of a comprehensive approach to the design of objects and a weakening of quality control is evident...

And finally, I will describe two of the most difficult things for game developers, which everyone succeeds in with varying degrees of success - these are grass and trees...
Well, the grass didn't cause me any particular complaints - in principle, it's suitable for a strategy game...
But the trees are kind of strange - although in general their appearance is quite natural - but they are constantly swaying, like drunk... moreover, it seems that a permanent hurricane with a variable wind direction is raging on the surface... Dear Nival people - real trees don't sway like that!!! That is, of course, the leaves and thin branches sway in the wind - mainly the crown, BUT not the entire trunk from the ground!!! In short, the trees create the impression of complete alienness of what is happening... although who knows - maybe in the world of Ashan all vegetation is made of rubber and terrible winds are raging... but this somehow does not fit with the pastoral tranquility and serenity of the same, for example, the above-described garden...

In short, the graphics in the game can safely be given a solid four, but unfortunately, it does not reach the level of a masterpiece...

P.S.: and also!!! I was honestly annoyed by the randomly and abundantly generated flocks of pigeons at the maximum zoom distance on the map... I wonder how the heroes can calmly ride around the land when there is such a flock of "bombers" flying above...

P.P.S.: the Academician hero, who comfortably settled on the back of an elephant and is constantly smoking a hookah, was especially amusing - great!!! a rastaman's dream!!! Now I understand why the Academy learned so many magical secrets - the main thing is a lifestyle :D

P.P.P.S.: in the dungeon, everything is gloomy and dark, and the camera, which constantly moves into the blackness of the walls, adds even more gloom... and in general, the developers made every effort to make the player get completely lost in the dungeon... By the way, the dungeon draws a completely inadequate mini-map, which also does not help with orientation on the ground ;)...

Necrophile Well, if that's really the case, then the game is actually pretty good! We're waiting for the release!

I'm 100% sure the game will run, but I'd like the characters to look less cartoonish.

I'm 100% sure the game will run, but I'd like the characters to be less cartoonish.

All complaints should be directed to Nival. Although, I think the anime style looks good!

Okay, today I'll try the beta on a Duron-750, 512 MB of RAM, and a Radeon 9250, and we'll see how it goes. When the third installment of "Heroes of Might and Magic" came out, the requirements were a Pentium 166 or higher and 32 MB of RAM, and on my K5, with 16 MB, it ran incredibly well (the only issues were with XL cards).
And by the way, in "Most Wanted," I can play on MEDIUM settings on my machine. It just depends on the settings. ;)

Okay, today I'll try the beta on a Duron-750, 512 MB of RAM, Radeon 9250, and see how it goes. When the third Heroes game came out, the requirements were a Pentium-166 or higher, 32 MB of RAM, and on my K-5, with 16 MB, it ran great (the only problems were with XL cards).
And by the way, in Most Wanted, I can play on MEDIUM settings on my machine. It just depends on the settings. ;)

That's absolutely true!

P.S. After the game is released, you can safely go and buy new hardware; it will be cheaper by that time.

Well, regarding the beta. I want to say a big thank you to Dion right away. Before the test trip to Necropolis, he gave me a crack. Overall, I liked it. Although not very much... :D :D :D At Necropolis, I saw the graphics at maximum settings. It's beautiful. Not stunning, but beautiful. Of course, they can still optimize it, but... They just released two mediocre maps for the beta. At home, I checked the gameplay. It's okay, but it doesn't really grab me yet. It's even strange. There's a lot of imbalance. A lot. But I'm sure the game will be amazing!!! :cool: You just need to figure things out specifically. All priorities have changed!
P.S.: I want to play through the campaigns first.