Skip to content

Posts from "Knights of Honor"

No ratings yet — be the first to rate!
User Avatar
20 years ago
Auto-translated
OFFLINE Tournament "Knights of Honor"




I've been looking at various online resources for offline tournaments... IMHO, many find them inaccessible due to their complex and hard-to-execute rules, deadlines, and the difficulty of organizing and control... All these rules are necessary to avoid unfairness... I want to propose creating a tournament where fairness is established not by tedious rules, seconds, and judges, but by the Honor and Valor of the players themselves! As they say, We gentlemen take each other's word for it. :) In our case, something else will serve as the "word," but without any saves, game chronologies, or arena creation. Of course, not everyone will be able to play this way—most likely only proven forum members. The most important things in such a tournament are honesty and reliability. There will be no prize, of course, so there will be no incentive to behave dishonestly. It's like a game between two friends who are neighbors:
- Look how many points I scored on this map!
- That's nothing... Look how many I have!
- Wow! Well then, I'll beat the record!

As for the reward—that's up to the administration... Make suggestions on how to arrange it! Here is mine:

A list of players is compiled (only the most honest and fair!), the organizer selects maps, posts them one by one, players complete them and send a screenshot of the results showing the map name, player nick (must match the forum nick, and an identification mark issued by the organizer can be added), and points. Places will be awarded based on points. The system could be like this—for example, 8 players play a map, the 4 best results are chosen, those 4 players play the next map, 2 are chosen, and so on. Use of cheats, programs, and non-personal walkthroughs is prohibited. All this, of course, depends on your conscientiousness! I think using game bugs can be allowed, but then we'll need to agree on the game version—choice of SoD3.2, WoG, TE. Or we could ignore the version, since final points depend on the map and player experience! The point calculation formula shall be known to all: (200-(Days+10)/(N+5)+25+25)*difficulity :
where Days is the number of days, N is the number of towns on the map, difficulity is the difficulty level (easy=0.8, normal=1, hard=1.2 (seemingly), expert=1.6, impossible=2), first +25 points—if all enemies were killed, second +25 points—if the grail was dug up
Maximum 500 points. Something like that.

Waiting for your suggestions! Be honest!

Participant list:
Varg-Nar
Firelord
Qwerty
VDV_forever
fanat
Alex_soldier
Ta Kotoraya...
AlexeyPank
Supreme
UTER

The list continues to form, submit your applications.
Regulations of the first Tournament of Honor.
1. The tournament is conducted in three stages. The duration of each stage is 40 days. After this period, saves will not be accepted for consideration. There will be no exceptions!

2. Each stage involves three task-saves. Thus, the total number of tasks is nine, one for each race. The goal is to score the highest number of points while being guided by the SPIRIT, IDEOLOGY, and Rules of the save walkthrough.

3. Competitive events are held on maps of size M and L, with dungeons (M, L) and without them (L). Thus, 3 map size options are possible: M with dungeon, L without dungeon, L with dungeon. Computer opponents play in a union ("alliance"), their number ranging from 3 to 4 depending on the map's characteristics. The final decision regarding the number of opponents, map sizes, as well as terrain features (specifically water areas, mountains, teleports) is made by the tournament Organizers.

4. At the end of each stage, the participant sends winning saves and a screenshot of the "hall of fame." The winning save is made before the final battle. Winning saves should be named as follows: task number player nick points. For example: 1 vbs 500. In the screenshot name, put scr followed by the same as in the save name. The map should be completed under the nick registered in the tournament. Address for winning saves: TKoH@bk.ru

5. A player is entitled to send as many winning saves as they managed to complete. Thus, the number of sent saves can be from 1 to 3.

6. It is MANDATORY to save the message sent with the saves until the results are tallied. This is so that in case of email failure, the player can prove they sent the saves BEFORE the deadline.

7. Within a week after the end of each stage, results for each save are tallied.

8. After the third and final stage, general results are tallied. The results of all the player's winning saves are taken into account. Results are tallied by summing the points obtained during the walkthrough of each save. The tournament winner receives the corresponding title.

9. In case two or more participants score the same number of points, the following additional indicators apply:
1) number of days;
2) main hero's experience;
3) sum of main hero's primary skills without artifacts;
4) sum of primary skills with artifacts.

10. In case one or more players score the same number of points in the general standings, the following indicators apply:
1) "countdown" - arithmetic mean between a system fixing first and last places;
2) total number of days to complete all saves.

11. In case of doubts about the honesty of the walkthrough, the player is OBLIGED to provide a detailed report. Arguments such as "every squad had morale every turn," "all computer players entered Utopia one by one and died there," etc., will not be considered. If a player cannot provide a satisfactory report on the walkthrough, their save will be annulled. In case dishonest play is proven, the player will be excluded from the tournament without the right to participate in Tournaments of Honor for one year. In case of PROVEN use of cheat codes or other known dishonest methods in a final walkthrough, the tournament organizers will submit an ADMIN request to revoke the player's access to the site ("ban").

12. Tournament Organizers reserve the right to disqualify any participant from the tournament. They are not obliged to explain the reasons for such a step or prove that the walkthrough does not match the SPIRIT of the tournament.

Rules of the save walkthrough.
1. When completing a save, one should be guided by the SPIRIT and IDEOLOGY of the tournament and be honest.
2. Save hacking, use of third-party programs ("hero diggers" etc.), as well as the use of cheat codes is strictly prohibited.
3. Prohibited:
3.1. Dishonest play;
3.2. Use of s/l method (specifically "digging out a hero," forcing weekly/monthly growth, etc.);
3.3. Use of any cheat codes regardless of the walkthrough stage, including "map exploration";
3.4. Loading an autosave, specifically "grinding" a result through constant re-plays of each Gameplay.
4. Allowed:
4.1. Replaying the game twice FROM THE VERY beginning in case of losing the map. However, it is strictly prohibited to use saves from previous walkthroughs during the repeat attempt;
4.2. Replaying the map once from the very beginning without explaining reasons. However, it is strictly prohibited to use saves from previous walkthroughs during the repeat attempt.
5. The game is played as if against a live opponent, without constant saves and reloads.
6. I emphasize again specifically: LOADING AN AUTOSAVE, SAVING THE GAME BEFORE A BATTLE, LOADING ANY SAVE OTHER THAN THE STARTING ONE IS UNACCEPTABLE!, as it contradicts the SPIRIT of the Tournament. Only loading a save from a deferred game in case of interruption is allowed. Naturally, verifying this point is impossible, but the presence of Dessa, Crag Hack, Tazar, Solmyr, Cili among heroes and constant growth weeks, as well as taking griffin conservatories without losses, may lead to exclusion from the tournament.
7. In case of violation of the Rules, the player is guaranteed exclusion from the tournament and other "joys of life."

May Honor and Dignity be with you! Glorious Victories!:)


Starting saves -> Download

Deadline for sending winning saves - October 01, 2006, 22:05.
In reply to Zingel
19 years ago
Auto-translated
Zingel;31753
I completed the first map – it’s awesome!
I don’t know what kind of “heroic” monsters are gathered here, but I personally reloaded about 30 times. And I’m 99% sure that it’s impossible to complete this map without reloading!!!
For example: at the end of the first month, a computer-controlled hero came to me with a spellbook of air magic and boots. To defeat him, I had to pretend to be a weakling. So, that dog ran away a couple of times. And at the beginning of the second month, a second computer-controlled hero came with “angel wings” and gloves. And how can you play without reloading? I moved away from the castle by 1.5 turns – that’s it, game over – you can’t fight your way back!
My first hero in the entire game didn’t go further than the hideout with the crusaders. And in general, for the first month and a half, the main hero hung around near his city and leveled up (or was leveled up) by various wandering friends. He was only able to leave the green border after the computer-controlled hero brought him all the artifacts. But after that, in just two weeks, everyone was defeated, and I didn’t even know the map well, and I still don’t know it completely.
If anyone is interested, here are the results:
Time: 66 days. Total score: 436 (If you replay the ending a bit, you can realistically finish a week earlier. Personally, I went to loot hideouts and gather troops in the city before the victory)

I didn’t know the map, so I used the hideout with archangels only 3 or 4 times.
In general, it’s a cool map. You can’t just sit around and pick your nose. (at the beginning, of course :))

Those who have completed it and don’t mind writing a few lines – share your experience.


My result for the first playthrough is 9 days, 448 points.
I didn’t need any restarts. They are only needed to improve the result by 2, or maybe 3 days. I had to search for one blue hero.

The map is very, very simple. The tactic is to build archers, upgrade archers, and then, having about 30 of them, recruit different monsters (especially those that are already in your army, as many know)... So, it’s not interesting to play.
If the monster properties on the map were changed so that they never join, it would be playable. The map itself is good, but the starting save is bad!

And Paladin is absolutely right, the computer’s behavior is very, very stupid!!! The game version needs to be patched to 3.2.
In reply to natasha
19 years ago
Auto-translated
natasha;31880

My result for the first playthrough is 9 days, 448 points.
I didn't need any restarts. They are only needed to improve the result by 2, or maybe 3 days. I had to search for one blue hero.


Well, I'll post my save file. The points are, of course, 448, and the number of days is one less. The map needs to be played in 6 days, but for that, you need to find good heroes; I just played with whoever I found.
In reply to PALADIN
19 years ago
Auto-translated
I have 7 days, who can do it faster?
Come on, Natasha, 5 days is too long, right?!

By the way, I finished all the maps.
My advice for the second one: look for the Clone and Armageddon! :)
In reply to nprf
19 years ago
Auto-translated
nprf;31884
Well, I did it in 7 days, who's faster?
Come on, Natasha, are you too weak for 5 days?!!!

By the way, I've completed all the maps.
Advice to everyone regarding the second one: look for a clone and Armageddon!!! :)

Well, I'm faster! So far 6 days... I didn't dig into the Heroes at all!!! I didn't replay any battles, and actually, all of them except one could be won on autobattle!
The only thing that might not strictly follow the rules is how I saw this map being played...
A save for dummies... It turns out you don't have to build archers at all. I didn't understand the organizers' idea—what kind of Castle development strategy can we even talk about?
And playing it for points is just stupid; it should have been for days from the start.
My participation in this tournament is over, I'm moving to the arena one—it's more interesting!
In reply to Pred
19 years ago
Auto-translated
Here's another suggestion: set a time limit for each turn. I think no more than 4 minutes.
Then, the game will truly resemble an online experience.
Otherwise, with the ban on saves and restarts, you have to play with a calculator, paper, and pen... spending 5 minutes thinking about each action.
In reply to nprf
19 years ago
Auto-translated
nprf;31884
Well, I have 7 days, who's faster?
Come on, Natasha, 5 days is too long, right?!


Okay, I spent another 15 minutes... on this nonsense. Here's walkthrough #2. ;)
But isn't it clear that in this save, the speed of completion depends not on the player's skill, but on the poor preparation of this task. The first players who played it immediately wondered if it was allowed to recruit monsters... :(
One plus is that it all ends quickly.
Attachments 1
1 file attached • Total size: 603.9 KB
In reply to Firelord
19 years ago
Auto-translated
Firelord;31849
Zingel, this is not a place to discuss playing HoMM3. Please stick to the topic – your post might be considered off-topic.

As one of the moderators, I believe that this forum thread is intended for discussing tournament rules, its tasks, walkthroughs, etc.
Judging by the first post with the rules, I understand that the results are also discussed here (which is usually not done until the end of the tournaments) in the Knights of Honor section.
If the tournament organizers think otherwise, I can move it to a new topic, etc.
User Avatar
19 years ago
Auto-translated
Everything is clear now... But somehow, no monsters have joined my party. I don't know how to do that yet. :(

Has anyone tried replaying the first map without recruiting monsters? :)
Try it! You'll have a lot of fun! :)
User Avatar
19 years ago
Auto-translated
A request to the tournament organizers to comment on what is happening. By the way, as I recall, the tournament is not open, but closed, with all the consequences that entails.
In reply to Zingel
User Avatar
19 years ago
Auto-translated
Zingel;31909
Everything is clear now... But somehow, no monster has joined my party yet. I guess I don't know how to do that yet :(

Has anyone considered trying to replay the first map without recruiting any monsters? :)
Give it a try! You'll have a lot of fun! :)
Hello everyone!
I finally completed all three maps, once each, and that's enough; I don't have any more time.
By the way, I completed the first map without recruiting any monsters; it's quite easy, although it took me two tries.
In reply to Qwerty
19 years ago
Auto-translated
Qwerty;31920
I request the tournament organizers to speak out regarding what is happening.
By the way, as I recall, the tournament is not open, but closed. With all the resulting consequences.

Is this about the discussion of the results?
As I understand it, the following is written:
"It's like a game between two friends who are neighbors:
-Look how many points I scored on this map!
-That's nothing... Look how many I have!
-Wow! Well, I'm going to beat that record!"
Firelord suggested creating a separate thread so that the moderators wouldn't delete it. Nothing else has happened so far.
This means everyone decides for themselves how they participate in the tournament, etc.
Although on all other resources and Tournaments, discussion is indeed forbidden...
If there are specific requests from the organizers, I can moderate as well.
But first, let them change the tournament rules so people don't get offended that I'm doing this with their posts...

Added after 6 minutes
Zingel;31909
Everything is clear... Only, for some reason, not a single monster joined me.. I don't know how to do that yet :(

Does anyone want to try replaying the first map without monsters joining? :)
Try it! You'll have a lot of fun! :)

Well, what's the pleasure in it being 7 days instead of 5?
The first time I played that way, I even shot the demons; I was fine without them.
The game is for points, which means it's about speed...
If the task were like an arena tournament to gather an army for the final battle, then there would be interesting things on the map that you'd want to conquer.
But what is the point of this map for points?

And one last thing. The organizers promised to consider the players' wishes. Here are mine in brief:
1. If viewing the map in the editor is allowed in the tournament, then the map should be provided to all tournament participants along with the starting save (assuming that those who have SoD already have it is incorrect; I have both Breath of Death and Armageddon, but the standard maps were deleted long ago for being unfit!).
2. I suggest switching to playing for time instead of points. I think the Walkthrough results posted on the forum clearly show why this is necessary (the results with a difference of almost a week give the same result, and many, due to inexperience, are misled by playing for points and do not understand that the true task is to capture all castles and destroy the computer opponents as quickly as possible).
3. It is better to generate saves on Tournament Edition, and to play on this version as well. I will justify my opinion point by point:
· Firstly: it is possible to set absolute identity of settings with Breath of Death, i.e., remove all innovations, including hero ordering, etc.
· Secondly: the use of cheat codes can be completely forbidden. Then there will be no need to doubt whether a player scouted the map or not. Cheat codes are impossible, meaning the game is fair.
· Thirdly: the game will have the best balance, especially in magic. There will be no need to worry about whether a tournament participant "dug" for heroes or not – "cheater" heroes are changed, meaning there will be no need to prove that someone dug something in the tavern, etc. Everyone is simply on equal terms. (If one wants to play with familiar heroes, that can also be done, though I don't know why; I assumed they were too lazy to mess around in the editor)
· Fourthly: changing a single setting will prevent all monsters from joining; they will always be aggressive (this is specifically regarding the first quest; it will be interesting to play then, whereas otherwise, I didn't even have to build up).
· Fifthly: TE allows setting a specific time for both the game itself and for each turn. This would truly make it close to online (as was intended when your tournament was created).
· Sixthly: if the entire tournament is moved to TE, then when checking the player's final save, it can be verified whether they played on TE or not! A very important point for checking Fairness (unfortunately, this point is premature for now, as not everyone can afford to download WoG, without which TE cannot be installed, but it would be advisable for the future.)
· Seventhly: in TE, the +5 monster weeks and monster months have been removed; again, there will be no problem with straining for a necessary week or month and proving that it happened by chance.
· Eighthly: in TE options, without resorting to the map editor, you can forbid the appearance of overly powerful spells (for example, portal, fly, etc.), artifacts, and the ability to assemble sets (for example, the Undead King's cloak, which allows raising liches instead of skeletons). Very convenient and removes the need to set configurations on individual map objects.
· Ninthly: although perhaps I should have started with this, numerous game bugs have been removed! (I won't list those used for "cheating," I'll only mention the naga bank as an example, which now gives precious stones, as it should, in the Tower).
· Tenthly: what I started with. All specified TE settings will work even if you play on WoG or SoD – the game version problem will become obsolete! (The only thing I'm not entirely sure about is the timer...)

If TE doesn't suit you, at least install the full 4 Mb patch from heroesportal - the AI's stupidity simply kills the desire to play (for example, my AI pops out of the castle with a very weak army and tries to kill a hero with 20 archers, dying without killing a single one; do you really like such a game?)
If I haven't convinced you, explain to the people what is wrong with my suggestions.
User Avatar
19 years ago
Auto-translated
Natash, the rules of this tournament prohibit any scouting. There is no mention of using an editor or talking, which is why the map is not provided.
As for TE, this particular tournament is being held on SoD. You are currently running a tournament for TE, and that's great to see. But here, it's a tournament on SoD. If you go into the same-gender heroes thread and say: "guys, why the hell are we playing such old stuff, there's imbalance and all that, let's move to Heroes V" — believe me, the pushback will be quite serious. There are different games and different versions of the same game. With all due respect to SoD, I, for example, don't play it. And I don't play Heroes V either. Or Heroes IV. Or Warcraft. But I do play Starcraft. If some guy came into your tournament thread right now and said "TE isn't cool, let's play Disciples" — you'd hardly engage in a constructive conversation with him. Showing off just won't work :)))
In reply to Qwerty
19 years ago
Auto-translated
Qwerty;31993
Natasha, the rules of this tournament prohibit any scouting. There is no question of using an editor, so a map is not provided.
As for TE, this tournament is held on SoD. You are currently running a TE tournament, and that's great. But this is a SoD tournament. If you come to the forum for the second heroes and say: "Guys, why are you so upset about playing such an old game? It's unbalanced, let's play the fifth game" - believe me, the response will be very strong. There are different games and different versions of the same game. With all due respect to SoD, I, for example, don't play it. Nor do I play the fifth game, or the fourth, or Warcraft, or Starcraft. If someone comes to your tournament forum now and says "TE isn't cool, let's play Disciples" - you probably won't engage in a constructive conversation with him. Bragging won't work:)))

The discussion was about viewing maps in the editor, so I wrote: "If...". I understood that scouting the map using cheat codes is prohibited.
I suggested generating saves for TE primarily because, firstly, it is convenient for the organizers (they don't need to spend a long time working with the map in the editor; it is enough to activate only a few menu items), and secondly, the save will be fully compatible with both SoD and TE, which means that those who already have TE installed will not have to look for the Breath of Death disc to reinstall it. These are the realities.
In this case, TE is not a version of the game as such, but a very convenient tool!
But I still don't understand why patch 3.2 wasn't installed.
Or is that not the third game either?!
Who needs a stupid AI algorithm and bugs that are prohibited from being used in all tournaments (I specifically looked at one of the bugs in the second quest, and it is quite critical!)???
User Avatar
19 years ago
Auto-translated
I agree with natashey; the tournament was conceived one way, but it turned out differently. This once again proves that the more complex the rules, the more problems there are for the organizers and the players, so they just added more headaches for themselves.
The main drawback of the tournament is that its results cannot be used to judge the skill of the participants.
In reply to fanat
19 years ago
Auto-translated
fanat;32149
I agree with natashey; the tournament was conceived in one way, but it turned out differently. This once again proves that the more complex the rules, the more problems there are for the organizers and the players, so they just added more headaches for themselves.
The main drawback of the tournament is that its results cannot be used to judge the skill of the participants.

Yes, the rules should be such that it is possible to really check the fairness of the player. And when everything is based on trust, then Paladin was probably right; we will argue when the results are summarized.
And when you can play a map no more than 2 times in a month... Well, probably those who posted the results

Statistics

Welcome our newest member: recijeb