A guide to Heroes of Might and Magic I! Auto-translated

AlexSpl

I agree! I think that over time, we will do just that. ;) I have a feeling that the guide still needs to be expanded and expanded; there is a lot of work to be done, and that can only be a good thing :smile20:. Yes, it would be good to rummage through your stacks of printouts; I think there is a lot of interesting material there :) I hope that from time to time you will delight us with new information (as well as your gameplay in tournaments ;) ) from your archives, and I will definitely post material on the site as much as possible ;)

P.S. We need to redo the structure of the site itself, i.e., first section 1. History of the creation of Heroes of Might and Magic I (download the game), then 2. History of Heroes of Might and Magic I, 3. Basic concepts and terms (basics of the game), etc.

P.P.S. Section 25, Basic concepts and terms (basics of the game), I think I will finish this week :smile49:

Sincerely, VDV_forever

Catapult in Heroes of Might and Magic I

The catapult is a siege weapon designed to destroy castle walls. In one round, at best, it destroys one tower, and with the "Ballista" artifact, it destroys two.

With 100% certainty, it can be stated that the first shot of the catapult will hit the second or fourth tower, and the second shot will hit the fourth or second tower, respectively. After that, the catapult chooses its target randomly.

The probability of completely destroying a tower in one shot is:
- 30/151 = 19.9% for a human player;
- 45/151 = 29.8% for a computer player (cheater!).

The probability of completely destroying a tower in one shot is:
- 30/151 = 19.9% for a human player;
- 45/151 = 29.8% for a computer player (cheater!).

Do you think that this probability doesn't change depending on the buildings constructed?:eek:
I've repeatedly noticed that when attacking a "strong" (well-developed) castle, the probability of destroying the tower on the first try is much lower than for a "bare" castle.:rolleyes:

In such cases, during tournaments when besieging a castle, I often had to use load/save very frequently before the catapult could break down the wall:p

Sincerely, VDV_forever

2VDV_forever: It doesn't change: 30 out of 151, meaning the Tower will fall. Although, I'll test it again. Maybe I missed something ;)

I checked, and the probability doesn't depend on the number of buildings.
It's not worth taking in-game probabilities too seriously, at least because the generation of a new pseudo-random number is influenced by the old one. In the context of a siege, this means that the effectiveness of the next shot from a ballista is influenced by the entire history of the battle.

You can also include information about the probability of inflicting specific damage in the reference. For example, what is the probability that an archer tower will inflict damage, say, 72, if the damage range is 68-102, etc.? I'm currently thinking about the "blind spots" in the physics of HoMM I. Are there any left? For now, only the not-so-accurate 1.77 (Diplomacy) comes to mind. Everything else seems to be in order.

Maybe I'm not saying anything new, but...

Let's assume that the attack of the attacking unit and the defense of the defending unit are equal, i.e., there are no damage modifiers.

Let there be N warriors in the attacking unit, and the damage range of each warrior is [min_dmg..max_dmg], then:
a) if N = 1, then all damages from the range are equally likely. The probability of inflicting specific damage is 1/(max_dmg - min_dmg + 1).

Example 1. One dragon inflicts 25 damage with the same probability as 50. The probability is 1/(50 - 25 + 1) = 1/26, but if there are two or more...

b) if N > 1, then damages located in the center of the range are more likely.

Example 2. Four nomads ([2*4-5*4] = [8-20]) are most likely to inflict 14 damage (probability 17.19%), while the probability of inflicting 8 or 20 damage is only 0.39%! The probability that the damage will be at least 75% of the maximum is 41.41%.

For comparison, three nomads inflict damage of at least 75% of the maximum with a probability of 31.25%.

If you build a graph of the dependence of the probability of a specific damage occurring (Y-axis) on that damage (X-axis), you will get a curve that looks like a bell.

You can get the exact probability values using programs.

The first line is the damage, the third is the probability of it occurring.

It doesn't change: 30 out of 151, which means the Tower will fall. Although, I'll test it again. Maybe I missed something ;)

Everything is correct; it seems it just seemed that way to me.

You can also include information about the probability of inflicting specific damage in the reference. For example, what is the probability that a ranged Tower will inflict damage, say, 72, if the damage range is 68-102, etc.?

I would be happy if such information is available.

I'm currently thinking about the "white spots" in the physics of HoMM I. Are there any left? For now, only the not very accurate 1.77 (Diplomacy) comes to mind. Everything else seems to be in order.

I think there are still many of them.

for example, the reference lacks the following information:

what types of obstacles exist on the battlefield (stones, trees, volcanoes, logs, etc.), and also that during the siege of a Castle, all of them are completely ABSENT!

one of the most important questions remains a "white spot": the drop of morale, luck, special abilities, and Damage. I will definitely write an article about this, and if you don't mind, I will send it to you by email for review, since I consider you an expert in this difficult matter (especially since most of the information in this article will be yours).
But, the best thing would be if you wrote this article yourself:o

Maybe I'm not saying anything new, but...

Let's assume that the attack of the attacking unit and the defense of the defending unit are equal, i.e., there are no damage modifiers.

Let there be N warriors in the attacking unit, and the damage range of each warrior is [min_dmg..max_dmg], then:
a) if N = 1, then all damages from the range are equally likely. The probability of inflicting specific damage is 1/(max_dmg - min_dmg + 1).

Example 1. One dragon inflicts 25 damage with the same probability as 50. The probability is 1/(50 - 25 + 1) = 1/26, but if there are two or more...

b) if N > 1, then damages located in the center of the range are more likely.

Example 2. Four nomads ([2*4-5*4] = [8-20]) are most likely to inflict 14 damage (probability 17.19%), while the probability of inflicting 8 or 20 damage is only 0.39%! The probability that the damage will be at least 75% of the maximum is 41.41%.

For comparison. Three nomads inflict damage of at least 75% of the maximum with a probability of 31.25%.

If you build a graph of the dependence of the probability of a specific damage occurring (Y-axis) on this damage (X-axis), you will get a curve similar to a bell.

The exact values of probabilities can be obtained using programs.

The first line is the damage, the third is the probability of it occurring.

yes, the information is definitely interesting and requires study (not for the average mind:p). I will figure it out, thank you.

Sincerely, VDV_forever

Updates to the reference!

Added 20 hours 43 minutes ago
I am pleased to announce that a new section 25, Basic concepts and terms (game basics) has been added to the reference; I ask all interested parties to familiarize themselves with it:smile20:

Also, in section 23, History of Heroes of Might and Magic 1, the 2nd letter from Lord Ironfist has been added. The 3rd and 4th letters are coming soon. My wife, Phoenixhmm, is now in charge of the translation :p

Sincerely, VDV_forever

In Heroes of Might and Magic I, the base damage is generated separately for each unit in the squad. Example 1: Let's say a squad consists of 3 dragons. The base damage is the sum of 3 numbers from the range [25-50]. For example, the base damage could be 25 + 25 + 25 = 75, or 31 + 47 + 28 = 106, or 50 + 50 + 50 = 150, etc. Obviously, the base damage of 3 dragons ranges from 3*25 = 75 to 3*50 = 150. An inexperienced player might think that all damages in the range [75-150] are equally likely, but this is not the case. Example 2: Three gnomes ([2-4]) deal base damage from the range [3*2-3*4] = [6-12], i.e., the base damage of three gnomes can be 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, or 12. Let's consider all the cases: 1 2 3 ----- 2 2 2 = 6 2 2 3 = 7 2 2 4 = 8 2 3 2 = 7 2 3 3 = 8 2 3 4 = 9 2 4 2 = 8 2 4 3 = 9 2 4 4 = 10 3 2 2 = 7 3 2 3 = 8 3 2 4 = 9 3 3 2 = 8 3 3 3 = 9 3 3 4 = 10 3 4 2 = 9 3 4 3 = 10 3 4 4 = 11 4 2 2 = 8 4 2 3 = 9 4 2 4 = 10 4 3 2 = 9 4 3 3 = 10 4 3 4 = 11 4 4 2 = 10 4 4 3 = 11 4 4 4 = 12 The total number of possible combinations is n^k, where n is the number of units in the squad, and k is the length of the range for one unit (the number of possible damage values). In our case, n = 3, k = 4 - 2 + 1 = 3. Therefore, n^k = 3^3 = 27. As you can see, the damage of 6 can be obtained in only one way (when all three gnomes generate a damage of 2), the damage of 7 can be obtained in 3 ways, and so on. 6 - 1 way (1 out of 27, probability of 1/27) 7 - 3 ways (3/27) 8 - 6 ways (6/27) 9 - 7 ways (7/27) 10 - 6 ways (6/27) 11 - 3 ways (3/27) 12 - 1 way (1/27) Thus, 3 gnomes are most likely to deal 9 damage (probability 7/27 = 25.9%). The probability of dealing 6 or 12 damage is only 1/27 = 3.7%. In the additive theory of numbers, the above decompositions (e.g., 10 = 2 + 4 + 4) are called compositions with M parts (in our case, M = 3), where each part does not exceed a given number N. The number of such compositions is denoted by c(N, M, n). There is a formula for c(N, M, n). I will not provide it here (it is not simple). Therefore, the probability of a specific damage value = c(N, M, n)/n^k. The probability of damage values at the ends of the range decreases sharply as the number of units in the squad increases. Damage values from the center of the range are more likely. The theory is in excellent agreement with practice (the probability distribution of damage values has been verified by testers). Why is this important? a) To avoid being surprised if your squad does not deal maximum (or close to maximum) damage; b) To be surprised if this happens to your opponent; Knowing the probabilities of damage values will also help you assess the effectiveness of your squads (e.g., which one is better). I would also like to note that the above reasoning is also valid for Heroes of Might and Magic III (when the number of units in the squad does not exceed 10; the qualitative part of the post is also valid for other cases).

February 11, 2009 – The website underwent numerous changes with the addition of new information.

• The website structure was changed; that is, all sections were revised, and some of them were divided into two due to their significant expansion;
• Information in some sections was updated, and minor inaccuracies were corrected (I made corrections as I went, but I didn't record the changes, I confess…);
• Two letters from Lord Ironfist were added to section 2. The game's storyline;
• Four images of heroes on the map were added to section 4. Primary characteristics, troops, and hero classes. Information regarding the "Luck" parameter was corrected;
• A new section was added: 10. Features of combat, where you can see both the revised old information and a large amount of new, unique information (+5 screenshots)!
• A subsection 11.2, Probability of dealing specific damage, was added to section 11. Calculating damage dealt in combat;
• Section 13. Probability of a hero gaining a specific skill was completely rewritten!
• A very important strategy was added to section 22. Tactics and strategies used in the game.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to AlexSPl for his great work and for providing reliable and unique information that was included in the guide!
I would also like to acknowledge the great work done by my wife, Phoenixhmm, in translating the letters from Lord Ironfist, section 2, The game's storyline. Thank you for your efforts!

Sincerely, VDV_forever

2VDV_forever
I apologize, but why are the links to the sections in the previous post broken?

2VDV_forever
I apologize, but why are the links to the sections in the previous post broken?

Because:

The website structure has changed, i.e., all sections have been reworked, and some of them have been divided into two due to their significant expansion;

Sincerely, VDV_forever

2VDV_forever: Excellent work! Now I know how to spend my evening ;)

I've noticed the following inaccuracies:
Section 4. The name "Crag Hack" for "Buqi" is translated as "Crag Hack".
Section 10.3.1. The word "зависит" (depends) is missing the first letter.

In the section about the probabilities of a specific damage value, it should be mentioned that all "random" numbers in Heroes of Might and Magic are not entirely random, but rather pseudo-random, so all probabilities in the game should be taken as approximate. (Any PRNG has a period. If it is short, the pseudo-random numbers will repeat).

And the links are indeed broken (they point to this forum, not to the reference website).

P. S. Special thanks to Phoenixhmm for translating Lord Morglin Ironfist's letters! I will read them with pleasure and remember how it was :)

It seems that "Buka" translates it this way – Crag Hack.

It seems that "buga" translates it that way - Crag Hack.

AlexSPl meant that the reference book has incorrect information: Crag Hag. I will correct it soon.;)

P.S. I've been running the tournament non-stop for the last two days. I am very happy with the result!:smile03:

Sincerely, VDV_forever

Added 4 hours 21 minutes ago

Any PRNG has a period. If it is short, then the pseudo-random numbers will repeat.

I am correcting the inaccuracies you found, and also adding information about pseudo-random numbers. Question:

Am I understanding correctly that PRNG stands for Pseudo-Random Number Generator:o

http://handbookhmm1.narod.ru/news.html

Sincerely, VDV_forever

Yeah, but are there still people who don't know that all computer random number generators are actually pseudo-random?

Played the game again today. :p

I think we should add information about all the castles to the reference guide. I just don't remember if there are any castles with unique names in the campaigns. :confused: Does anyone remember?

For now, the list contains 36 names.

Best regards, VDV_forever

Good day, dear fans of Heroes 1!

On February 27, 2009, the following information was added to the website www.handbookhmm1.narod.ru:
The last 3 letters from Lord Ironfist have been added to section 2. The game's storyline. Thus, now you can fully familiarize yourself with the exciting plot of Heroes 1 on the website. I would like to express my gratitude to my wife, Phoenixhmm, for translating and proofreading all the letters…

Read more http://www.handbookhmm1.narod.ru/news.html

Sincerely, VDV_forever