Posts from Heroes 6 - Discussion

Today, we will finally learn what the seventh installment of the series will be like. A Ubisoft representative agreed to answer our questions.
Editor - The Conflux servers are expected to be shut down in the coming months, and the announcement of the seventh installment was made just half a year ago. Will the new heroes be ready by the announced date?
Nicolas - Undoubtedly. As you know, the Indian company White Sun is famous for its short development times for high-quality products. The game is almost ready. In addition, we are closely monitoring the development process. We are so confident in the quality that we have even decided to forgo beta testing.
- As you know, among the fans of the Heroes series, there is still a division between those who prefer different installments. Which installment did you focus on during development? What will the game be like?
- Oh, we tried to borrow the best from each installment. But, we believe that the sixth installment was the most successful. We tried to develop its best ideas first.
- For example?
- Well, let's say the resource system. At the moment, it is clear that reducing the number of resources has benefited the game. So, we decided to remove a few more. Now, there are only two types of resources: gold and crystals. This way, it will not happen that one player has an excess of ore and can ignore a certain mine. The confrontation will become more intense and dynamic. In general, we tried to fight against routine, and I think we succeeded. For example, the creature recruitment mechanism. Previously, you had to constantly run to the castle and buy troops. Now, all this routine is a thing of the past. The hero can recruit troops from anywhere on the map. We also noticed that choosing only three, rather than seven, levels of troop strength allowed players to abandon recruiting useless low-level creatures. But, as we noticed, this was not enough. After all, many players prefer to divide one type of troop into several squads. Therefore, we reduced the total number of troop types to three per castle, and at the same time, we also removed the upgrades that make ordinary creatures unnecessary.
- Wait, but doesn't that mean that there are fewer opportunities in the game than before? Fewer troops, fewer abilities...
- Well, of course not. Now, each type of troop has a choice between abilities. So, if before unicorns could only blind and protect against magic, now their abilities depend entirely on the hero. Depending on his skills, under the player's command, there may be combat unicorns, flying unicorns, and even dark unicorns. The choice is huge. The number of abilities has increased by about three times. I advise you to purchase the collector's edition, as it will include a complete reference guide.
- And can you tell me more about the heroes?
- With pleasure. Heroes are the center of the whole game. We took into account many wishes of the fans. So, the skill system has been improved. If before there were many useless skills that no one wanted to invest points in, now there is no such problem. With each level gained, the hero receives all the skills corresponding to that level. And points are invested in primary parameters, such as attack or defense. No more randomness, no more inactive skills. Although there will be hidden skills, for unlocking which you will have to work hard. They are not available without achievements. Moreover, the heroes of each faction are now absolutely unique in terms of development.
- How many factions will there be?
- Here we borrowed experience from other projects. As you know, it is practically impossible to create a large number of truly different factions. Even in the sixth installment, we did not manage to achieve the level of faction diversity that we were striving for. Therefore, now there will be four of them. But these will be truly absolutely different sides of the conflict. Each with its own set of strategies and clan of heroes. You will be greeted by three familiar races and something new.
- And what about borrowings from other installments? Will the heroes directly participate in the battle?
- Oh yes! We have come up with a way to solve the problem of heroes dying. After all, no player liked the fact that his hero could be killed in the first few minutes of the battle. Now, heroes fully participate in battles, but cannot be killed. A hero who has received fatal wounds can still use magic, but cannot attack. And he will die only if his entire army is defeated or flees.
- And what about cities, i.e., the city screens? What will happen this time?
- We received a lot of feedback on the city screens for the sixth installment. We drew conclusions, don't worry. We will please everyone. As you remember, in the sixth installment, you could eventually choose the type of screen. There were both 3D and 2D options. This time, we went further. The number of options will amaze you. Here is the first screenshot. This is one of the screen options created for the so-called "old-school" players.
- Wow! And what about the plot?
- This time, the plot will immerse you in the distant past of Ashan. This is the time when people still worshiped the dragon of air, Ialat. The new story is full of drama and difficult choices. I can't tell you more yet.
- Does this mean that we will not meet necromancers, dark elves, or orcs?
- Not as factions, but as characters - definitely!
- Maybe a few words about online services?
- I was hoping you would ask. The game has become much more social. There will be more achievements, more communication, more competitive spirit, and a sense of camaraderie. For example, the production of crystals in mines will depend on your relationship with other players. Although, of course, there will still be an opportunity to increase production by buying shards of power. Shards will be sold in the updated altar of desires. Now, they can be bought not only for in-game currency but also for real money. Even the campaign can only be completed in a cooperative mode. Without the help of allies, you will not be able to complete the key tasks, since heroes of different types will be required. There will be more customization. Remember, I already told you about the unicorns? If you wish, you can change their distinctive signs.
- Will the artificial intelligence be improved?
- Yes, but its importance has been significantly reduced. After all, modern games have long implied playing with and against people. We did not seriously focus on those few players who like to repeatedly defeat a dummy. But, of course, a training mode is provided in the game.
- Anything else you would like to tell us?
- You didn't ask anything about tactical battles. After all, this is one of the most important parts of the game, which we worked on the hardest. I assure you that they will become even more interesting. First, we finally got rid of the slow creatures that dragged out the battles. Secondly, we found a compromise between players who want to heal troops and those who are against healing. Now, all troops in battle regenerate on their own. This will encourage players to take active tactical actions. And there will be no need to be distracted by healing troops.
In general, you will find new heroes, improved, corresponding to the spirit of the times, but easily recognizable.
- Thank you for the answers.

I found this lovely thing in the "Anniversary" edition:

Four elementals every week. But the troops accumulate from the very beginning of the mission. So, you can completely build the city in three months, and then buy at least a large stack of elementals in this building :).

PLEASE don't take THIS seriously.

The design of the elements could have been done better, for example, like in the fifth game.

It is possible that if your computer has two video cards (one high-performance and the other less powerful), the game switches to the less powerful one, even though you have configured the Nvidia driver in the control panel to use the best video card on your computer.
How do you switch to the correct video card?

If you have a laptop, this is done through the Nvidia driver (it is recommended not to create universal settings for each program, in our case - "Might & Magic: Heroes 6"). Note that some machines are not equipped with a dedicated video card, and in this case, you will not be able to do anything.

In the case of desktop computers, this problem should not have occurred, but if it does, there are two options:
- The computer only has an integrated video card; in this case, we will have to fix the bugs or remind our users that integrated solutions are not officially supported (although they do work on them).
- The computer has a dedicated video card that was disabled by the user. This should have been done by the user when activating the integrated video card, which is not something that is done every day. In this case, the user should know what to do, but if not, they need to activate the dedicated card from Windows and then disable the integrated card from the BIOS settings and switch the monitor cable from one card to the other.

The seventh installment is being developed by the creators of the flash game "Happy Farmer," according to an insider.

I found this gem in "Anniversary" the other day:

Four elementals every week. But the troops accumulate from the very beginning of the mission. So, you can completely build up the city in three months, and then buy at least a large stack of elementals in this building :).

Why are there 4 elementals when there are 6 slots?