Posts from A program for determining luck/morality in Heroes 3!

2DmitriyAS

I'm curious, what could explain the fact that Unicorns blind in reverse for you, but not for me?

Anything: OS version, hardware, desktop or laptop, etc. I've encountered such cases in other games. Why not in Heroes? I've even had cases of complete reproduction of events in the third game. I specifically downloaded vbn's save, and they don't blind either, but I have XP. But in 30 minutes of map generation, I found a setup where you move away with snipers, they demoralize, the Wizard casts slow (which vbn couldn't do), and the rogues blind. In the 2nd round, the rogues blind again, and the snipers get lucky. If you arm yourself with a stopwatch or a macro (which was not prohibited in this tournament, let's not forget that), you can even get the Unicorn to survive. And you're fixated on the extra blinding. And in general, watch the promised video, and don't say that you haven't seen anything and don't want to watch it.

And watching a cartoon about spaceships traversing the vastness of the universe is not particularly interesting to us.

Of course, it's not interesting because it may (and I'm sure it will) become obvious how unfair many of your statements were. You will have to apologize. But instead, you sit there "honest" and offended, pretending to be a fighter for justice. You demanded proof, here it is. And if you get it, then either point out and argue why such a video is not proof, or go away silently.

Doesn't it seem strange that no one else has the same outcome?

Yes, it does seem strange, just like it does to you. And I wrote about my theories on this in my walkthrough.

Indeed, this person is very lucky to have a computer that always produces the same battles.

Regarding the battle in that recording – yes! The battle map was always the same. There were other battles with unchanging battle maps as well. But not all!

and then the person writes: "Vitaly (21:29:59 9/08/2008) and then had to generate it." "Strange," it turns out it's not always the same? Or is it always the same only when needed? And when it's not needed, it's not always the same. It's interesting, isn't it? Please decide, is it always the same or not?

Let me explain. In that recording, it was always the same. By "generate," I mean the process of creating the battle map. And since the battle map was always the same, the process boiled down to going through the ideal tree of options. Well, I didn't achieve the ideal, but what was achieved was enough.
For example, round 1. Core griffons attack, unicorns blind. The turn passes to the snipers.
There are 4 branches of development in the tree of options: snipers wait, snipers attack, snipers go into defense, snipers retreat.
At the same time, if the snipers, for example, retreat and receive a morale boost, then it would always be like that. If the snipers attack and receive a luck bonus, then it would always be like that. If the snipers go into defense, and after that, the Sorcerer casts Slow, then it would always be like that. That is, the tree of options (or the battle map, as I call it) is always constant.

well, and when you decide, then decide why for everyone else always everything is the opposite?

I explained the constancy of the tree of options by the fact that the battle was run under the OS Windows 2000, and also that the conservatory is its internal structure. And when I was writing this opinion, I also pointed out this when I posted the description, and also that my opinion does not claim to be correct. I am willing to figure out together why this sometimes happens. But listening to your offensive accusations is extremely unpleasant.

The video won't prove anything. It won't prove anything at all.
As they say, there's no proof of cheating, meaning no one caught you red-handed, neither with cheats nor with programs, nor with any kind of game manipulation. If anything happened, let it remain on your conscience.
But, to be honest, I just find it funny to hear about constantly pressing 'R', like in Heroes II, and about different operating systems...
Here's a question: Can you repeat this battle on a different computer and not on your version of the game, but with the same operating system that you have?

Now I'm ready to answer all your questions without any videos. And now everyone will be able to perfectly replicate this battle in the conservatory. I finally understood what the problem was. The problem is that many online players use a modified resource file for Heroes 3 in battles, which controls the delays during battle animations. They place this file in the Data folder of Heroes 3, and it's called Cranim.txt. Driven by my passion for idealization, I once decided to edit this file, minimizing the delays during animations as much as possible. However, the attack speed, response time, and turning speed of creatures, when using this file, somehow didn't change significantly. But I wanted more. In general, in the Cranim.txt file, which online (and offline) players use solely to save real time during battles, I replaced 1s with 0s. And it turns out that this caused the battle map for many battles (or maybe all of them? needs testing) to become fixed. By the way, the issue of controlling the outcome of morale and luck can now, perhaps, be resolved by everyone using this file – the map of any battle will always be the same for everyone. And everyone will be able to replicate any battle based on its description. Now, instead of "generating" morale or luck, you will only need to choose the ideal move along the decision tree on the battle map. So, here is the link to the Cranim.txt file in the form that most online (and offline) players use, from the Heroes of Might and Magic III file repository on heroesportal: Cranim.txt And here is the file that is in the Data folder on my computer: Cranim_vbn.rar Here are the steps to replicate the battle in the conservatory: 1) Download and unzip the Cranim_vbn.rar file. 2) Go to the Data folder of Heroes 3 on your computer, and if you already have a Cranim.txt file there, make a backup of it. 3) Rename the extracted Cranim_vbn.txt file to Cranim.txt, load the save, and make sure that the unicorns are blinding and the battle map is fixed.

Another question for vbn. What made you suddenly think of recording a video of the battle? After all, if, according to you, it always plays out the same way, you only needed to post its description so that it could be replicated, as is done in Heroes of Might and Magic II, and which you are perfectly aware of. Or did you actually know that no one would be able to replicate the battle based on your description?

If everything written here is correct, then perhaps we will get a moral as in Heroes 2! Which would undoubtedly be a plus for the game! And now it is clear that vbn is not guilty, and I suggest that everyone apologize to him!

So, besides the fact that it's possible because a different version of Windows is installed... :D
I understand that there's nothing else to say. Or maybe there is something else? Isn't it interesting?
And seriously, random events in Heroes 3 are not random at all. Yes, you can generate them, but not always, and not everywhere, and it's extremely difficult.
In particular, according to your logic, does the wizard cast random spells? Need Armageddon - you get it. No, the wizard has a very strict spellcasting algorithm, and it's far from random. Blindness in unicorns, yes, it can be generated, but not in this example. And I won't even mention morale.
And looking for a reason, is it because you're not skilled enough, or something else? I'm not interested in that at all. The fact is, there's a battle that doesn't repeat itself, except for the person who has played it 10 times in a row and it always happens that way.
In other words, he doesn't want to or can't confirm his words with actions and show it clearly. And I don't really need to, I'm not going to prove that a hedgehog is not a camel.
The official decision is not made by me.
And I have expressed the opinion of experienced players.

Well, that’s it. Now everything has fallen into place. There was interference in the game. Whether it was intentional or not is no longer so important.

Another question for vbn. What made you suddenly think of recording a battle video? After all, if, according to you, it always plays out the same way, you only needed to post its description so that others could replicate it, as is done in Heroes II, and you know this perfectly well. Or did you actually know that no one would be able to replicate the battle based on your description?

I had this idea for several reasons:
1) To show and explain to the guys how to record battle videos, and several people later asked me for help with recording.
2) The guys asked for a beautiful and clear description of my playthrough, and the battles in the conservatory and with the titans were the most difficult, so I decided to record them.

I didn't even think at the time that no one would be able to replicate the battle. In light of what has just become clear, it turns out that, probably, no one would have been able to replicate it without modifying the Cranim.txt file. Although that's not a certainty. I'm not as knowledgeable about the physics of morale/luck in Heroes as you are, so I don't know. I thought that it was possible to replicate the battle.

Question for everyone: who uses this .txt file downloaded from the Heroes of Might and Magic forums? Be honest!

Now it's obvious that vbn is not guilty, and I suggest that everyone apologize to him!

But in my opinion, it's the opposite. There is a clear interference in the game. The players were in unequal conditions. In fact, the game was played on different versions.

Here is an excerpt from the rules. 6. It is prohibited to use cheat programs, codes, or any additional programs that can alter the game's structure during a playthrough intended for competition. What other options might there be?

"Is Vbn a cheater? Sorry..." I also have this issue with the date and HP. Is it not a problem with SOD?

Can you read posts carefully? Vbn clearly stated that he modified that file, replacing the 1 with zeros. Did you do the same?

Added 5 minutes later
Another question arises regarding online play. How does having a modified Cranim.txt file affect the game in online mode?

Gentlemen, a question has arisen! Does the original Cranim.txt file affect the game's structure?

It is known that all online players use it without exception, and at least half of the offline players do too! What should be done?
Perhaps Anton (as someone with experience in both offline and online gaming) would like to say something?

Well, here. He won't admit what the problem is until you start pushing him. :
I don't know how critical this is in this tournament.
And regarding the cheating, okay, I admit I was wrong. :)