Posts from HoMM3 HD is a mod (add-on) for the game Heroes of Might and Magic 3.

Indeed, I didn't think about the fact that the timer can't be stopped during a battle now. So, yes, we'll have to start the countdown only after a turn is taken, otherwise it won't work.

We need to ask baratorch to come up with something like that... what if both players press "pause" at the same time, the time would stop for both. Or maybe it could be that a player can stop the opponent's time... then, if someone needs to step away, they warn the other player, and after completing their turn, they pass it on and press pause.

Thank you for the timer and the bonus for starting the timer only after a turn is taken.

+1000! !

It’s easier to just save, calmly go for a smoke/make a phone call/have a cup of tea/buy some beer, come back, and continue playing.

It's actually easier to save, calmly go for a smoke/make a phone call/have some tea/buy some beer, return, and continue playing.

Firstly, it's not easier – you have to save and then load, and before that, you still need to agree on it.
Secondly, both players lose time – the game stops during the break.

I don't understand why the timer is chess-like. It has nothing to do with chess. Chess uses a timer, but a fair one – in a game with a set number of moves, each of the 64 pieces is allotted a certain amount of time. But what do we have here? We have Maretti rubbing the lamp (although, most likely, he doesn't even know what he wants) and blindly copying the WT timer, which is only remotely close to a fair way of accounting for battle time. If someone needed the WT timer, they would have been playing on WT all along. Implementing the same timer in SoD is detrimental. Because it will no longer be about saving time, but about excluding less reactive and inexperienced players from competition in tournaments based on a non-game principle. Also, player **R55Max** and I have described in detail that the WT timer does not take into account the different game situations that different players face. Some players have to deploy an army of a hundred zombies and master gremlins in the early days, requiring a lot of maneuvering, while others can defeat them with a few troglodytes. Some are looking for that one morale boost for their troops. Others use a mage with a minimum number of troops to storm a mine with archers or a secondary town with a single harpy or a devil. In WT, there are different priorities in the game and a narrower maneuvering space due to the time limit. (They allocated 400 seconds for "coitus" – and you have to figure it out yourself) Therefore, the formula for calculating time with such a timer does not match reality and cannot be called a chess timer. It should be called a WT timer. It's similar to the buggy quick-cast feature. But for SoD, a fair timer should be implemented. And if, for example, one player needs a minimum of 10 minutes to gain 10,000 experience points and 10,000 gold due to the game situation, while another, equally fast player, needs 30 minutes, where is the equality? And if we are looking for an analogy with a chess timer, it should take into account the time for a unit's move (60 moves = a limit of 1 minute, for example). That's all. And it would also be possible to add a difficulty coefficient for the battle, depending on the balance of power and the total amount of HP in the battle. This should only be used in tournaments with mutual consent. But the factor of a slight time saving should not outweigh the quality of the game. Otherwise, it simply kills the interest in the game. And, in fact, a time limit with timer control is completely irrelevant. Those who believe that the WT timer is a panacea are already playing on WT. I just don't understand the true motives of the players who insist on a battle time limit. But I want to remind Baratorch about the quick sale of troops by the hero in the city garrison and in the mines using a hotkey

regarding the battle time – there's an idea not to add seconds, but simply make it run slower than the time on the map. for example, twice as slow. I had a similar idea for World Tournament once, but didn't get around to it. still, 90% of battles are a tedious routine that just needs to be clicked through without much thought. Added 2 minutes later

The WT timer doesn't take into account the different game situations for different players. Some have to fight a horde of a hundred zombies with master gremlins in hand-to-hand combat with a lot of maneuvers in the early days, while others just need to poke them a few times with troglodytes.

The random map generator doesn't take into account the different situations for different players. Some have a horde of zombies on the way to the secondary resource, while others have a group of snipers.

baratorch
Thank you so much for your selfless work! Your mod has breathed new life into this unique game!
I noticed the following bug (or feature?). When trying to sell artifacts (in any city), the following image glitch appears:





Heroes 3 Complete Collection
Version 3.37
Windows 7 x64 SP1
GeForce GTX 460, driver version 9.18.13.697 (GeForce 306.97 Driver WHQL)

P.S. I ran it in HD+ and regular HD mode.
P.P.S. Almost forgot, here are the launch parameters:

The random map generator doesn't take into account the different setups of the players at all. Some players have a horde of zombies blocking the path to the secondary resource, while others have a squad of snipers.

But we're talking about a timer here.
It's obvious that the initial setup is primary. And the generator treats all players equally and doesn't make adjustments based on the version, so snipers will still be on the map. (Although I remember one case of an unjustified concession by the generator that was not in favor of WT - when the generator created a single powerful Azure Dragon on a hill in Jebus. I assume there may be other cases as well).
However, in WT, a significant correlation of the setup occurs even before the generation, at the level of code and options, and then after the generation - through scripts, and finally through the timer. I assume that the timer was created to enhance the impression of the WT tournament environment. But it is still a correlating element. No one delved into its deeper meaning, because, apparently, it was satisfactory, and no one bothered to improve it further. And now, this marvel is being applied to another environment as an example of an ideological tournament element. A wonder weapon, in a word.
Therefore, SoD needs a timer with a different mechanism; in the end, there will be a new timer model. I think that in this case, the concept of diversity of species can be used as an analogy.

It was also described in detail by the player R55Max and myself that the WT timer does not take into account the different game situations of different players at all.

You say it as if the SoD timer does take them into account.
I don't understand what's wrong with carrying over unused time to the next turn. After all, it's because of this feature that the timer was called a chess timer. For me, carrying over unused time is an obvious plus and a desirable feature.
The time for the first turn can be set much higher - combined with the carry-over, this is also an obvious plus and a desirable option.
I perfectly understand that a fixed bonus to the battle does not take into account the situation of the battle. However, firstly, it takes into account the frequency of battles, and secondly,
we can set a bonus, for example, of one hour per battle - and this will be practically equivalent to stopping the timer in the battle (we must not forget that the unused bonus is deducted after the battle), or we can experiment and find an adequate bonus that does not allow the player to relax.
With this bonus to the battle, this timer can no longer be called a WT timer.
I really don't understand the indignation and dissatisfaction of R55Max and yours.
And besides, the timer is optional.
And no religious beliefs prevent me from implementing a timer bonus of one action per squad in battle.

Added after 36 minutes

I noticed the following bug (feature?). When trying to sell artifacts (in any city), the following image glitch appears:

Run the game without the mod and make sure that the complaint should be addressed to Buke, who was in charge of the game's localization.
I will need to fix this in the SuperPack_Rus package...

And no religious beliefs prevent me from implementing an increase to the timer, adding one action for a unit in battle.

No, no, there's no need to overcomplicate things. The timer is very good as it is!

I didn't know that HD-MOD also works in HotA.

I am one of the developers of HotA. HotA is developed according to the same principles and on the same platform as HD 3.x, so it is the only fan-made add-on that is 100% compatible with HD 3.x, just like SoD.
Currently, I am not actively involved in the development of HotA, but I participated productively in the past and now I follow the work. The main and currently the only programmer in HotA is Sav; if you follow the HD changelog, you can see that
it includes Sav's work on fixing SoD bugs.
In general, I believe that the future of tournament games lies with HotA, because
serious work is being done on the map generator and balancing of cities, but without any WoG-like features. And in terms of fixing bugs in the original game, the future HotA 1.3 is ahead of HD. In combination with the features of HD, HotA should be very attractive for Heroes fans.
Here is a small advertisement from me.

Hooray!!! baratorch, I want to have your children!))))) It would also be great to create an HD version of the hero lobby, as Stick suggested, with simultaneous turns and mirrored map templates – the game would become simply perfect ^^

There are no words to express my gratitude, baratorch, thank you! Soon everyone will forget what WOT is. :)
You're so modest, so I'll allow myself to remind you about your wallets:
WMR: R135486086479
WMZ: Z303789865880
I promise to donate from all the money I earn from Heroes! :D

We still have this kind of mentality: we're not used to paying for something we can get for free (even if we can't imagine our lives without it), but sooner or later we'll come to this, just like all civilized countries, I'm sure.

I'd like to know more about HotA, someone should make a review.

+ for stopping the timer before taking a turn.

You're talking as if the SoD timer takes this into account.

It does, due to its infinite time.

I don't understand why transferring unused time to the next turn is a bad thing. After all, it's this property that gave the timer its chess-like name. For me, transferring unused time is an obvious plus and a desirable feature.

There was no talk about transferring unused time at all. There wasn't even a hint about this aspect of the chess timer's properties. And this function of the timer is the second one. The first function is still - controlling the spent time. And that's what I've been talking about all along. And in this part, there are big discrepancies with the chess timer. An important point regarding time control has been ignored. Namely: in chess, everything is simple - 40 minutes are given for 20 moves, for example. You move a piece - and the turn is made. The time spent for the physical movement of any chess piece across the game board is the same. In Heroes, however, the time for each and every battle is somehow equated to the time spent moving a piece - a turn in chess. Which is wrong. So, it turns out that to achieve the same goals, one player physically needs to perform 200 clicks, while another needs 50 - and only because the map is set up that way. And one player, under otherwise equal conditions, is playing against the timer. That's what I'm saying: the time control function should be fair: not with control over the battle as a whole, but with control over the number of clicks within a given time. Another thing is if this is not feasible. Although the initial signals - clicks - are available. But I don't understand this. And using an unfair timer creates limitations on conducting specific battles, even if I move very quickly.

I really don't understand the indignation and dissatisfaction of R55Max and yours.

I guess I've explained it. It's just that no one wants to delve into the details. And I'm not at all pleased with the idea of having to deal with a clumsy timer. It's one thing to fight a hundred zombies with 85 starting gremlins, and another to fight 120 troglodytes. The first will be in time trouble from the start of the game, while the second will accumulate minutes. And the already weak Tower might end up being sidelined because of the timer.

And the timer is optional anyway.

That's only for the time being. The organizer will prescribe it in the tournament - timer.

Well, and no religious beliefs prevent me from implementing an increase in the timer by one action per unit in battle.

That's exactly what I'm talking about :) Only from a different angle and with different words. It's one thing when a player falls asleep in battle, and another when they frantically maneuver to move to an unreachable distance or to catch morale... This will be a custom HD timer, not some chess timer.