Posts from Heroes of Might and Magic II Gold Edition: Mods, programming activities.

There is a free version of Heroes for Android, but according to the description, it requires files from the computer version of the game... The description also says that they are almost the same (or completely the same) as the second Heroes game, but it will be more convenient to play on tablets, because, as they say, it's too small on regular smartphones.

Yes… Why? Indeed, why all of this?
And because we love this game, especially Heroes 2.
And we are ready to search for something new bit by bit and create something ourselves…
As for Free Heroes, it’s been around for a long time now.
And by the way…, there is DRILL, Sir_DRILL, probably your bot. Just kidding…

/topic/5477/

By the way, sorry for my ignorance, but does Free Heroes II run on PC?
They say it's a clone of Heroes 2…
Interesting.

yes, I would like 2 heroes on my phone)
I just didn't know they even existed for Android) and I forgot the password for my previous account, and the email isn't coming)))
yes, it works on PC, and on Windows, and on Linux too) but there seem to be some shortcomings... it also has a higher resolution :)
maybe they added something... but it doesn't seem to be a mod, but rather a port to an open-source engine.

I already wrote this in the "Heroes 2: Revival" thread, but I'll repeat it:

Many people on the forum are talking about Napoleonic plans. First of all, if you drastically change the gameplay, Heroes 2 will cease to exist.

But what is really needed is
IMPROVED ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.

I'm not just saying this out of the blue. I created a map, distributed troops, artifacts, and skills to the bots, and these morons COMPLETELY BLEW IT!!!
Humans don't play like that. The AI needs to be taught to play
like a human: 2-3 strong heroes with the best artifacts, searching for and
capturing enemy Castles, without getting distracted by minor things, and not
leaving half of their army in a "minor Castle".

For a "high-quality, fast" product, a completely new map editor is needed, which will allow for dynamic editing of shortcomings. That is, editing and playing in a
SINGLE DEVELOPMENT ENVIRONMENT without reloading,
and not like now: you change something on the map and have to
REPLAY 5 in-game weeks.

In addition, better control over guardian creatures is needed (in terms of their growth per week, or the ability to prevent growth).

A "reverse calculator" program is needed for creatures, which will answer the question:
How many creatures should there be at the start of the map so that by a CERTAIN WEEK there will be a given number of creatures?
:cool:

The following should be added:
- alliances between players of DIFFERENT COLORS, as in Heroes 3
- a "Great Castle" - a fun building where a hero who has reached level 20 can replace
one secondary skill with ANY skill they like; accordingly, if there are 2 such buildings
on the map, then each hero can change 2 secondary skills (diplomacy,
scouting, etc.) (This formula does not exist in any of the games)
- a dragon farm - a building in which, by feeding a large number of creatures, you can
get dragons in return
- add the presence of a dungeon
- make the colored tents and gates work as in Heroes 3 (i.e., without entering a password,
so that simply visiting the colored tent is enough)
- link the sphinx to a sign on which the answer to his riddle is written (again,
simply visiting the sign is enough, and in the dialogue window with the sphinx
write that the sphinx asked a riddle, and you gave the correct answer (of course,
write this word in the dialogue) and give a prize)
- add a color flag to the sphinx and the sign (this will allow you to have multiple sphinxes on the map)
- increase the number of artifact slots by 1.5 times (by the way, I personally like that in
Heroes 2 there is no connection to a specific part of the body, and you can wear 3 helmets and 5
shields)
- move the artifacts and the artifact system (adjusting the characteristics for Heroes 2,
i.e., REDUCE them by approximately 2 times) from Heroes 3; do not forget about the correct
algorithm for the artifact to work
(if you have the Armageddon Blade and shoot with this magic, then, as in Heroes 3,
friendly creatures do NOT take damage).

The reverse calculation for a creature count of approximately 50 is described by the following formula:
Total number of creatures divided by 1.14 raised to the power of (number of weeks minus one) = initial number of creatures.
Please note: the formula is APPROXIMATE and only works with a sufficient number of creatures; the formula does not account for weeks or months of anomalous growth.

Regarding alliances: within 2-5 minutes, any map can be converted into an alliance map for any group of locations. This is achieved by removing/adding castles of the required colors.

A dragon farm exists and is called a dragon city.

A random map generator is very much needed. To achieve this, templates need to be developed, based on which the generator will operate. AlexSpl came closest to implementing this task, but unfortunately, other versions of the game took him away from us...

The reverse calculation for a creature count of 50 is approximately calculated using the following formula:
Total number of creatures divided by 1.14 raised to the power of (number of weeks minus one) = starting number of creatures.

Thank you for the formula. I had an idea to create many units with a count of 1, 2, 3, .... (and so on) and experimentally obtain tabular data on creature growth per week; in this case (not counting the anomalous growth), we would have an EXACT GROWTH TABLE.
And, for example, in EXCEL, perform reverse transformations.

Regarding alliances: in 2-5 minutes, any map can be turned into an alliance map for any group of positions. This is done by deleting/adding castles of the required colors.

I hope you understood me correctly; I meant an alliance between
DIFFERENT PLAYER COLORS (as in Heroes 3). If this is the case, please
explain in more detail how to achieve this in the map editor of
Heroes 2 GOLD.

The dragon farm exists and is called a dragon city.

Indeed, the dragon city exists, but, as far as I know, you cannot
"feed many weak creatures" there and, in return, receive dragons (i.e., the number of dragons given DEPENDS on the number of creatures fed and the level of the creatures fed). While in the dragon city, you can
BUY A FIXED number of creatures EVERY WEEK.

A random map generator is very much needed.

You are right, a random map generator is needed. But it is needed as one of the options for a completely new, POWERFUL map design environment. Where the map can be edited and played SIMULTANEOUSLY. That is, in the external shell, there is a switch "PLAY/EDIT".
A NEW design environment for the OLD engine. The whole point is that
map design will resemble PLAYING on the map, but at the same time, the map can be adjusted DURING THE GAME and WITHOUT REPLAYING each time with ANY change on the map, which will reduce the laboriousness of creating a map
BY TENS OF TIMES!!!!

I (in the first approximation) am an artist, and I am interested in creating a map with
a rich scenario and a refined balance, where, including before the final battle, the hero's life HANGS BY A THREAD, but with the available tools, it is relatively easy to refine the balance ONLY in the first week!!! If I could find a competent programmer who would create a NEW map creation environment for the OLD, but awesome game, it would be GREAT!!!!
:smile20: :smile20: :smile20:

I hope you understood me correctly; I meant an alliance between
DIFFERENT COLOR players (as in Heroes 3). If that's the case, please
explain in more detail how to achieve this in the map editor for
Heroes 2 GOLD.

1. Load the map into the editor.
2. Determine which alliance you need. For example, yellow and red against the rest.
3. Go to the Maps folder, copy the map, and give it a different name.
4. Load the copied map into the editor.
5. Swap the yellow and red castles with the green and blue castles.
6. Set the game objective in the editor to "one side defeat the other," choosing green and blue against the rest.
7. Save.
8. Play.

In recent years, I have played exclusively this way, except for very rare tournament games. It takes about 5 minutes to edit.

Qwerty, Thank you very much – I figured it out!!!
Now the maps will be “a little” more interesting!!!!
:smile13: :smile20:

How can I make the AI use the “Summon Boat” spell?

Please help me change the monster parameters... I just need to reduce the health of the black dragons... Can you recommend an editor, or can someone help me? I'll be happy to return the favor; the game is very interesting.

2 Arni42
Good day.
There is a mod; Lux in tenebris wrote about it on our forum: /topic/4829/, yes, it's on the previous page...
If you understand the problem, install and test everything – write down your impressions! Obviously, the project is quite interesting, but I would like to know the details from someone who has experienced it firsthand...

Yes, yes, that's exactly what I need! But it's for the English version=(...And I need it specifically for the platinum Russian version or the gold version, whatever it's called...That mod would be perfect for me! The main thing is to reduce the health of black dragons from 300 to 250, or red dragons from 250 to 220...I'll gladly play the English version once I find it. But my father has been playing the Russian version his whole life...I tried to do it myself with Far, but I haven't had any success yet...Maybe someone can help me edit these balances. I need to change the dragons specifically=(...Or how to adapt that mod to the Russian version...Please advise, or I can send you this executable file, maybe someone can change it. In principle, I'm not completely clueless about these edits, but in Far, I have this problem: I found where to change the descriptions of items and artifacts, and everything is in Russian...so I'm thinking that I'm not looking in the right place...It's hard to watch my father play these games for 15-20 years, and then one bug makes the game unbalanced...Thank you in advance!

There is one person, his nickname is AlexSpl. He is currently, perhaps, the only one who creates programs for the Russian version of the second Heroes game. Where and how can you find him? Search and you shall find; you can use search engines. He is my only hope, but unfortunately, he has left our forum...

Thanks... I'll try to find more Russian localization for the English version; maybe it will work that way. I'll work on it over the weekend and test the English version with the mod if I can find where to download it. I don't necessarily need the program; I'm familiar with Far Manager, but I still can't find these parameters... Lux in tenebris wrote that you can change them with Restorator. I open the executable file through it, and I have 4 folders there: icon, menu, dialog, version. There is an MNUADVD file in the menu folder, the only place where I found the units.
They are arranged in a column like this:
MENUITEM "Peasants", -24536
MENUITEM "Archers", -24535
MENUITEM "Rangers", -24534
MENUITEM "Pikemen", -24533
MENUITEM "Veteran pikemen", -24532
MENUITEM "Swordsmen", -24531
MENUITEM "Master swordsmen", -24530
I think I'm looking in the wrong place?... Maybe someone using Far Manager can tell me how to find these parameters?... Yes, I think I won't plan to change anything drastically in the game. I just want to figure out the dragons for the Russian version... Years go by, but we don't stop playing the game, so I'll keep trying

Yes, many have tried. But everything somehow faded away...
I'll try to find AlexSpl...
The world is big, there are 2 Heroes games, it's a great game... And who knows, maybe right now, a programmer in Honduras is working on something unique for the second game...
We'll keep looking for information periodically... But I think if something worthwhile is created, it won't take long to appear.