Posts from Heroes 5.5 WarGame Edition - Tactical Edition.

As there are intermediate results (spell balance, duel heroes, and unit balance), a duel release is planned within 2-3 weeks. After that, the website will be restored. Regarding the name changes: Peasant Militia => Peasant Militiamen Guard Swordsmen => Swordsmen-Guards Gremlin Masters => Gremlin Arsonists (a crowd of masters doesn't quite fit) Impulsive Vikings => Fierce Vikings (fits the northern theme perfectly) Fierce Ogres => Furious Ogres Grizzly Riders => Riders on Grizzly Bears (Grizzly Riders?) Winged Creatures => Deadly Creatures (more specific, as this subtype of wyvern is very poisonous) All unit names (in Russian and English):

Could it be "Grizzly Riders"?
Rider sounds more appropriate for horses.
Maybe I can help in some way to speed up the release?

Could it be "Grizzly Riders"?
Rider is more suitable for horses.
Maybe I can help in some way to speed up the release?

Riders already exist in the alternate version (Northern Riders). It needs to be possible to distinguish between versions of creatures with one word (briefly), as, for example, riders/kayaks/mounted riders. Although in the English version (for now, just on paper), both use "Riders."

The main difficulty and time consumption lies in balancing: setting the strength of spells and how much mana to give to units, the strength of their abilities, and their stats.

It would be possible to introduce a certain coefficient to determine the strength of an ability. For example, something like this: (([cost] + [base increase]) x [number of resources in the cost, if there are none - do not multiply]) x [creature tier x 2] And, for example, then make calculations (I'll take a non-existent one now, because I don't remember the specific numbers). Monks have the Fireball spell. One monk costs 500, the base increase is 5. There are 0 resources. The tier of monks is 5 (6 paladins, 7 archangels). 5 x 500 = 2500 x (5 x 2) = 25000. Cave demons cost 620, the increase is 4, the tier is 7. [620 x 4] = 2480 x 14 = 34720 And assign, for example, such coefficients: For every 5000 units - +10 to the base damage per creature. If the coefficient is <15,000, then there is no skill. From 15 to 20 - basic skill. From 20 to 30 - advanced skill. From 30 and above - expert skill. I just sketched this out, there may be inaccuracies, but I think I was able to convey the general concept.

The problem is that I can't use freshly baked balance concepts that haven't been tested on anything. Accuracy and working formulas are important here, not just rough estimates. For example, in the case of a ranged attacker, the weight of the ability (the multiplier by which the creature's Power is multiplied) depends on: - the ratio of the casting power (in equivalent damage units, calculated for each spell at the corresponding skill level and mana stack) to the attack power, since one ability replaces the other. - the duration (how many rounds the unit can cast, i.e., how many rounds the "caster" ability remains relevant). If the caster is a melee unit, then the calculations simulate shooting with the casting power for a corresponding number of shots. I have working formulas and concepts, the question is evaluating/re-evaluating them for 150+ abilities and 60x4 spells (by skill level) in relation to the mana stack. That is, there is simply a lot of routine work to be done.

Impulsive Vikings => Fierce Vikings

Well, here's a solution. A great replacement.

Could it be "Grizzly Riders"?
Rider sounds more appropriate for horses.

I decided to completely remove "Rider" from the name.
Now they will be:
Rampant Grizzlies

The name is justified by the unique ability "Bear Roar".

In principle, this is correct, as the grizzly bear is the decisive element in the name of this unit. At the very least, the name sounds good and doesn't cause any dissonance or conflict.

How are things going?

How are things going?

I resumed active work on the mod a few days ago, but there is still a lot to do before the duel mode is released.

Nargott, on Hugo's forum, you mentioned a modified executable file... Could you please provide more details about what exactly was changed and how?

Nargott, on Hugolek, you mentioned a modified executable... Could you provide more details about what exactly was changed and how?

Three things were changed in the executable itself:
1) The number of slots for classes was increased from 9 to 24 (IDs from 0 to 23).
2) The level thresholds after level 25 were significantly reduced.
3) The number of slots for creatures was increased to 999 (like in NCF).

How it was changed is unknown: the executable itself was taken from an RPE mod.

Added 2 hours 48 minutes ago
I came up with an interesting way to implement the Summoned Phoenix.

For comparison:

Sacred Phoenix (neutral, natural phoenix, does not level up):
Length from tail to beak: 600 cm
Attack = 40
Defense = 40
Damage = 30-30
HP = 60
Speed = 6
Initiative = 15
Large size
Flight
Immunity to fire
Fire Shield
Resurrection
Magic resistance (50%)

Summoned Phoenix (chemical phoenix, steroid phoenix):
Length from tail to beak = 540 + (15/20/25/30 x Magic) cm
Attack = 40
Defense = 40
Damage = 18 + (3/4/5/6 x Magic)
HP = 15/20/25/30 x Magic
Speed = 6
Initiative = 16.2 - (0.3/0.4/0.5/0.6 x Magic)
(Note: initiative cannot be lower than 1)
Large size
Flight
Immunity to fire
Fire Shield
(without resurrection and 50% magic resistance)

The whole idea is that the mage literally levels up the phoenix; the higher the magic skill, the larger the size. And then physics comes into play:
- increased damage (proportional to the cross-section of muscles, or the square of the size)
- increased survivability (proportional to mass, or the cube of the size)
- decreased initiative (proportional to size)

Thus, the larger the phoenix, the more powerful, thicker, and slower it is. Moreover, there is such a thing as an over-pumped (too large) phoenix.

At a length of over 10.5 m (damage 120, HP 510, initiative 6), the phoenix becomes too unwieldy and may start to lose effectiveness. The peak of this form is reached with Magic = 17 and expert summoning.

At a length of 13 m, the phoenix reaches the peak of unwieldiness (damage 170, HP 760, initiative 1). A form close to this is achieved with Magic = 25 on expert, and the exact match is achieved with Magic = 38 with basic summoning (i.e., the phoenix is obtained from a tome).

Seriously, I find the interplay of size and the reduction of the phoenix's initiative to be an interesting mechanic. The fact that the phoenix's effectiveness stops increasing with excessively high magic skill also applies to short-term buffs with a duration of (Magic + 1) / 4. The dependence on magic is strong in both cases, but it stops providing benefits with extremely high stats.

I don't quite understand... What size are you referring to? Does it take up more cells? Or am I in the wrong section?

I didn't quite understand... What size are you referring to? Does it take up more cells? Or am I in the wrong section...?

Just an element of atmosphere. It shows that the phoenix is larger in real (non-game) size. What compensates for the enlargement is:
- increased damage
- increased survivability
- decreased initiative
From a practical point of view, it doesn't carry any other information. That is, this is simply how I explained why the summoned phoenix grows in stats and why it grows in this way.

As a side effect of this approach (through physics), there is a limit to the phoenix's development. At its peak (SP 17 expert summoner), the summoned phoenix reaches the strength of approximately 2 dragons. And not unlimited, as in the original, where it could easily take down 10.

A more powerful alternative to the phoenix with very high spell power can be elementals. After all, their strength grows with the number, and there is no such limit.

The idea is good, I like it. But in my humble opinion, the dependence of initiative on magic is too high... An ideal phoenix should have an initiative of 4-6 with magic, and initiative is a very useful parameter for summoning; the more it interferes with the enemy, the better. But with an initiative of 6, this thing is useless in my humble opinion... It's not usable below 10 (or at least 9). It will simply be ignored. Unless it has 60 magic and an initiative of 1, so it can one-shot someone once and then summon a new one )))