Posts from HoMM3 HD - Releases and updates. Auto-translated

3.12 -> 3.13 (11/13/2012)

General:
[-] bug: With [Ctrl]+[V]/[Shift]+[Ins] in the text input field, it was possible to paste one character more than the allowed maximum, which could lead to further errors and make it impossible to play.
[-] bug: It was impossible to switch to fullscreen mode through the window menu Display -> Full Screen (+ in all modes except 32-bit MMX - crash).
[-] bug: The behavior was as follows: if you select a stack in the city/garrison window and then perform any quick army management operation, the "split stack" button does not deactivate, and clicking the button causes a crash.
[-] bug: An internal mod error could lead to unpredictable consequences.
[+] The list of errors after which the game does not crash but continues to run has been further expanded.
[+] Now, in case of a critical error, HD_CRASH_INFO.TXT, which overwrites the old file, is not generated, but the HD_CRASH_LOG.TXT file is supplemented with error information.

Tournament Extensions:
[+][!] In battle, when you hover the mouse cursor over any stack on the map, the hexes of its movement range are highlighted. In the tactical phase, the hexes of the movement range for the combat phase are highlighted. The movement range of the active stack in the combat (not tactical) phase is already highlighted, so hovering the mouse over it does nothing. In a network game, this works only when playing HD+Tournament Extensions vs HD+Tournament Extensions.
[+] The game now reads protected saves and maps from version 3.06 and higher.

Autofix Map:
[+] The algorithm for correcting map errors has been further improved and expanded.

3.13 -> 3.14 (15.11.2012)

General:
[-] bug: with a non-standard resolution and 32-bit MMX mode, it was impossible to switch to fullscreen mode using [F4].
[-] bug: in the extended battle window (with a status bar), there was a discrepancy of 11 pixels vertically between the visible and actual coordinates of the hexes on the battlefield.

Tournament extensions:
[+] improved cursor shadow in battle:
- in battle, for two-cell creatures, the cursor shadow now shows exactly the cells that the creature will occupy after moving.
- in battle, the cursor shadow is not displayed if the active creature cannot move to the specified location due to an obstacle.
- in battle, the cursor shadow shows the cells that the creature will occupy when attacking (and not the cell under the target).
- the cursor shadow is displayed when casting the Force Field spell.

3.14 -> 3.15 (20.11.2012)

General:
[!] All functionality of the mod that is incompatible with the original game has been grouped into a single module-option: HD+
It includes: fixes for original bugs affecting gameplay, protected saves, a timer that starts after a turn is taken in a multiplayer game, a replayable, bug-free quick battle without magic, and the inability to use non-original graphics from 'Terra Incognita'.
Playing online with HD+ is only possible against other HD+ users.
To further separate the interface HD (compatible with the original) and the gameplay HD+ (incompatible with the original), a change in the appearance of the window has been added to the launcher, depending on whether the HD+ option is active.

[!] The number of movement points, turn highlighting in battle, and improved cursor shadow in battle work in multiplayer games in a one-sided manner.
[!] Tournament extensions, having lost functions incompatible with the original, have become part of the Interface Extensions. The checkbox has been removed from the launcher.
[+] Turn highlighting for creatures now only works when a key is held down:
- - - [Shift] - turn taking that takes into account the creatures on the field (as in the previous version)
- - - [Ctrl] - turn taking that does not take into account the creatures on the field

[-] The fix for the original bug with starting heroes not being of the first level has been disabled for WoG/TE/ERA/WT due to a conflict.
[!] The fix for the original bug with starting heroes not being of the first level has been separated from the improved gameplay and works in a one-sided manner (on the host's side).

[+] Save protection has been strengthened.
[+] The implementation of the new cursor shadow has been improved.
[+] The extended spellbook can be disabled via the _HD3_.ini - ExtendedSpellBook option.
[+] Now all BMP files of the mod from the Common folder can be replaced with files from a plug-in module (pack).
[+] The extended interface is now available for the 800x600 resolution.
The interface changes have been adjusted for resolutions smaller than 808x608, and the behavior of the thieves' guild window has been adjusted for resolutions smaller than 826x620.

Completely uninteresting to anyone:
[-] A bug in the exported capabilities of _hd3_.dll (the library crashed when unloaded if it was not loaded from the game)

3.15 -> 3.16 (11/25/2012)

General:

[ ] The alliance settings configuration has been completely reworked.
[-] A critical bug in the alliance settings configuration has been fixed (it's unclear how it even worked at all, let alone stably for some users).
[-] A bug in the alliance settings configuration has been fixed (alliance settings in multiplayer games might not have been applied).
[-] When loading a game from a battle, the defeat video was played (3.15.1 hotfix).

[+] When the "AsyncSounds" option is enabled: added parallel processing of gunshot sounds in battle (thanks, Sav) and parallel playback of the pre-battle sound when music is enabled in the game.

HD+:

[-] The game option 'start timer after taking a turn' has been removed. The timer always starts only after taking a turn.

3.16 -> 3.17 (11/26/2012)

General:

[-] The fix for synchronization issues with new scenario settings between the host and connected players has been restored (it was removed in 3.16) (as a reminder, you don't have to wait for a player to join; you can immediately proceed to the RMG settings and starting parameter settings).
[+] The cursor shadow in battle has been improved: now the shadow only appears if the creature can move to the cells indicated by the cursor (previously, only the boundaries of the battlefield and obstacles on the battlefield were taken into account when calculating, now the creature's movement range is also taken into account), as a result, the shadow display for two-cell creatures is now always correct.
[+] The DPWSOCKX.DLL library, which is necessary for playing online with more than 2 people, has been added to the build.

HD+:

[-] Bug: in certain cases, it was impossible to play online - players received a message that the host had an outdated version of HD.

baratorch, wait, seriously? Is it true that fixing original game bugs and password protection for saves are now inseparable? Does this mean that in tournaments, players can no longer be required to use HD+, because it changes the gameplay? But we need it for ultimate cheat control.

Is there really no way to separate corrupted saves from changes to the gameplay, including the original bug fixes in SoD? Or is it possible now, and I'm just missing something?

3.17 -> 3.18 (11/28/2012)

General:

[-] bug in tournament extensions: when starting a new scenario, invalid values could be written to certain game structures, which could lead to crashes when trying to view scenario info or a puzzle map.
[-] bug in the original game: the game could crash with some probability when loading a scenario if the sequence of actions was as follows: from a running two-level scenario with an active Dungeon, exit to the main menu and load a game without a Dungeon.
[-] bug in the original game, the result of which was, when choosing a new scenario:
1 - for a map from the list of generated maps (from random_maps), the date and time of the map's modification from maps with the same number in the list were actually displayed.
2 - the game crashed when trying to view generated RMG maps if there were no maps in the maps folder.
3 - the game crashed when trying to select a generated map (from random_maps) if its number in the list was greater than the number of maps in the maps folder.
[+] when selecting a map before starting a new scenario, the date and time of its modification are displayed (as for saves and random maps).
[+] if you add /hd+ to the command line of the game shortcut, the game will start with HD+ enabled, regardless of whether the option is enabled in the HD launcher.

HD+:

[-] bug: the game crashed when trying to load an unpassworded save after loading a passworded one.

3.18 -> 3.19 (11/28/2012)

[-] terrible bug with terrain changes and hero turns
[+] the game remembers the selected difficulty level of a new scenario when starting (not just RMG) (in 3.18 it didn't remember at all)
[+] right-clicking on a map in the new scenario list allows you to find out its file name

3.19 -> 3.20 (4.12.2012)

General:

[-] bug: the game crashed when attempting to copy the contents of an empty text field
[-] original bug in the hero exchange window during online play, which occurred much more frequently in the mod than in the original (under certain conditions, the game attempted to free the memory allocated for the received network command twice)
[-] attempting to dig up the Grail on the wrong turn caused a crash.
[-] bug: in battles with sound enabled, catapult shots and the spells of quicksand/minefield caused the game to crash.
[-] in the quick battle results window, the main battle music theme could play.
[+] it is now impossible to launch multiple instances of the HD 3.20 game from a single folder


HD+:

[+] when the turn time expires during hero level-up, the game now waits indefinitely for the player to choose a secondary skill, instead of waiting for a few seconds. When a hero levels up after a battle, the game now starts counting the turn time, but after the time expires, it still waits indefinitely for the player to choose a skill.

3.20 -> 3.21 (12/09/2012)

General:

[-] In the hero exchange window, moving a single stack of creatures from one slot to another slot of the same hero functioned as moving to another hero (a single unit remained in the slot, the rest of the creatures were moved).
[-] Moving the mouse in the kingdom overview window had a very small chance, but still could crash the game.
[-] Bug (present in the original as well): the display of the cursor shadow in battle was disrupted. Now it is no longer disrupted under any circumstances.
[!] The fix for the synchronization of new network game settings between the host and connected players has been removed (as it was a source of bugs).
[+] In a network game, the host in the new scenario window now has some buttons disabled until another player connects (to prevent the host from taking actions that lead to desynchronization – beginners often have problems with this).
[!] The mechanisms for setting memorable Random Map Generator (RMG) settings and difficulty levels have been reworked: settings are no longer lost, and any potential bugs related to this feature have been eliminated.

[+] Built-in updater (optional check for mod updates each time the game is launched, manual update check, update).
- No need to track the release of a new version of the mod online;
- When updating, only the necessary files are downloaded (usually around 500 KB), not the entire mod.

HD+:

[+] When loading protected saves/maps in single-player or hotseat, the required colors are automatically marked with checkmarks.

what to do if players play with passwords, save the game, and someone forgets or pretends to forget the password?

I'm thinking about the future, when we'll be playing Tournaments like this.

3.21 -> 3.22 (10.12.2012)

General:

[-] For some versions of the game, RMG and Conflux were not activated.
[ ] The Panic m+u template has been removed, and updated Balance m-u 200%, Skirmish m-u 200%, 2SM2c have been added.
[+] Now, for any version of the game, if the player is missing the lod files for Armageddon's Blade, the game will still launch and work (however, the campaigns of Armageddon's Blade will still only be available for the Russian SoD).
[+] In the RMG settings, the templates in the list are sorted alphabetically.
[+] In HD3_launcher.exe, when creating a shortcut or HD exe, you can choose the path and name.

3.22 -> 3.23 (10.12.2012)

General:

[-] WT crashed when attempting to start a new game.
[-] The map could be generated with a template different from the one selected.

[+] The updater has been improved, and the ability to roll back the update has been added.

3.23 -> 3.24 (12.12.2012)

General:

[-] critical bug with memory release (irregular crashes and freezes were possible)
[-] pressing [Q] in battle caused a crash if your army was without a hero.