Posts from Best maps for Heroes 3.

Best maps for Heroes 3:

Maps for RoE, AB and SoD versions:

2 Friends
2 Friends (NT)
221 b. Baker Street
A Journey to Continent Castle
A Matter of Honor
Abaddon
Abetment
Ablaze
Accelerator
Accent
Acceptable
Adventuring Gnoll 1.03
Afrika
Amaranth Soul Shift
Ambush
Angelic Pride (episodes 4-6)
Anti-Hero
April Battles
Armageddon
Arundel
Arundel (Flexible)
Astral War 1
Astral War 2 TE by Vlad
Atomic Hard
Atomium 1.2
Attack1map
Attain Hard 1.1
Attainment 2.0
Attention 1.1
Attestation
Attraction 1.1
Attribute
Attune
Audaciousness
Audaciousness (Allies)
Audi 1.1
Audi 2.1
Audibility
Audibility (Allies)
Audience
Audience (Allies)
Audit
Audit (Allies)
Auger
Auger (Allies)
Battle of Glory (Team) 1.21
Battle of Glory 1.21
Befeiung der Kobolde
Birth of a God
Bug Hunt 1.1
Clash of the Titans
Dark Age
Dead Forest
Devilish Pride (episodes 7-9)
Die Argonauten
Die Ritter der Kokosnuss
Dungeons and Dragons
Elroth: Return of the Demon
Epic
Escape From Baator
Eternal Love (Where the beauty)
Fairy Tales
Fall and Rise of the Sharai
Five is the Principle
Going Gold!
Gold Heart
Grandmaster
Hail to the King
House of Flame 2 - Rin Returns
Illusion World 2
Illusion World 3
Island
Jagd auf den Gral
Kampf um Erathia
Kid Heretic
Malagorn the Saviour
Monster Island 1.02
Monster Island Ultra
Mountain Land 2.1
Northern Darkness
Out of the Realm
Pendragon's Son 2
Pendragon's Son 3
Podarok 2001
Prodigal
Reavers of the North
Rescue Rangers 1.01
Retter des Waldes
Ringing of Victory
Running With the Devil
Sander's Folly
Sentinel Recognition
Swamped in Gore
The Black Hand
The Daywalker
The Empire of the World
The Empire of the World II
The Fall of Atlantis
The Gholam
The House of Flame
The Imp
The Journey Home 1.02
The Lone Knight
The Lord of War
The Newcomers
The Outpost of Progress: Traemask 1
The Pen and the Sword
The Rise of Telmar
The Story of the Fool: Traemask 2
The Tale of the Mighty
The Uprising
Time of Testing
Titanic Pride (episodes 1-3)
To Kill for Power
Treasure of the Elves
Universe and its Last Act
Unleashing the Bloodthirsty
Vanadia SoD Edition
Vanadia's Ruler
Vanadias Ruler SoD Edittion (Allies)
Vengeance is Mine
Vidomina's Attack SoD
War of the World
When Champions Fail
Wings of Heaven
World of Darkness
Y Ddraig Goch

Maps for WoG version:

A Dracolish Helmet
A Dragon in My Heart
A Dragon in My Heart 2
Abduction
Adjudication 1.0 (Last Hope 3)
Augment 1.1
Before The Rings II: The Black Towers
Boloto
Cave of Gerfrex 1.4
Chaser 2.2f (BT)
Chaser 1.2
Choices 2.3
Clan Wars
Gelu vs. Dracon
Gelu's Legacy
Gelu's Legacy 2: Rise of Nagash
Last Hope
Life or Darkness
Oceania
Painted: The Misfit 1.1
Reunion (Hard)
Reunion (Normal)
Reunion (Very Hard)
Shadow of the Stag
T.H.U.N.K. 1.21 (Last Hope 2)
The World is not Enough
Vanadia's Freedom 1.4f
War in Middle-Earth
WaterWorld

Campaigns:

Academy
Accentuate 1.2
Accept 1.4
Astute 1.2
Asylum
Athwart 1.1
Atonement
Atrocity 1.1
Attack
Eternal Love (Hard)
The Adventures of Wren

Source: post by user Dizzie from February 27, 2007 on the AG.ru forum.

Collection in mail.ru Cloud as a 7z archive: download link
7-Zip archiver (free): official website.

Updates:
Archive updated and re-uploaded on 30.07.2014 at 23.54 Moscow time. Changes: found and replaced almost all maps and campaigns by Grigor Minchev (and added one missing) with archives from a copy of his now defunct website (thanks to the Wayback Machine project of the "Internet Archive" organization).
31.07.2014: Added author's descriptions for 5 maps by Grigor Minchev.
03.08.2014: Added map "Jagd auf den Gral".
21.08.2014:
- found and added author's texts for the map "Arundel" to the archive;
- added author's description for the map "Dungeons and Dragons" to the archive;
- updated map "Sander's Folly" from version 1.4 to version 1.6 along with the description and added an author's music file (optional);
- updated map "Sentinel Recognition" and its author's description;
- updated map "The Lord of War" and its author's description (AB version now instead of RoE version; Dragon Utopias are back!);
- added author's description for the campaign "Eternal Love" to the archive.
24.08.2017:
Added author's description for map 2 Friends from a post on heroescommunity.com.
The version of The House of Flame SoD in the archive is now actually SoD (previously it was effectively WoG).
A high-quality color terrain map has been added to the Grandmaster map archive (I made it myself based on the original).
Tables with information about seers and passage guards, as well as a "raw" Google translation of the author's description, have been added to The Lone Knight map archive.
Useful tips from user Vladimir from a post on maps4heroes.com have been added to The Uprising map archive.
English descriptions from user Doomnezeu's post on heroescommunity.com "Top 10 user made maps for Heroes 3" have been added for the following maps:
Gold Heart
Hail to The King
Malagorn The Saviour
Ringing of Victory
Sander's Folly
The Empire of the world 2
The Imp
The Journey home
Unleashing the Bloodthirsty
Vengeance is mine
17.04.2018:
Single map "Eternal love" is presented both in the original version by Hans C., and in Aeris Quamarine's improved version titled "Where the beauty".
A walkthrough by frifix found on a German forum, Google-translated into Russian, has been added to the map "Unleashing the Bloodthirsty".
A file with author's description and tips has been added to the map "Vengeance is mine".
Translation of the introduction and tables with passage guard and seer tasks along with my notes (green - mandatory tasks, yellow - optional) have been added to the map "The Uprising".
Links to reviews published on the HeroesWorld forum have been added to the summary table.

This list of best maps is compiled based on a number of authoritative sources (see original posts via link) and, as far as I can judge, it is quite objective: the listed maps are included in most collections and ratings of best maps, and many reviews confirm this.
It should only be added that, firstly, many more good maps have appeared in recent years, and secondly, there are almost no Russian-language maps in this list (except for "Podarok-2001"), although there are many worthy ones among them as well. But these points can be discussed and a supplement to the provided list can be made — let it remain in this form for now. Its main value is that most of the maps mentioned in it are "classics" created in the first years after the game's release, when interest from both players and authors was at its peak.
One more remark. In the original post, the list of maps was divided into 4 separate lists by version: separately for RoE, AB, SoD and WoG. But since the vast majority of players now have either Complete or The Shadow of Death (SoD) installed, these players can run any maps from the first three lists, so I combined them for convenience. Only WoG maps are listed separately, as this mod is not installed by everyone.
It would also be good to group all maps by other criteria: single-player/multiplayer, strategic/RPG. For this purpose, I included an xls table in the archive, but have only filled in part of this information so far.
I hope this collection will be especially useful to those who have decided they have learned to play very well and are now looking for sufficiently serious maps worthy of spending time on and getting real pleasure from.
Note on map versions. While assembling the collection, I tried to find and include specifically author's versions of maps with author's descriptions and (sometimes) additional files. Information in author's descriptions is sometimes priceless, and additional files (in the case of WoG maps) are simply necessary. Mostly, such versions are stored on the CelestialHeavens website. It is known that various map versions exist on the Internet and other sources. Unfortunately, most often there are no additional files with them; it is unknown who edited what and when (sometimes players remake things "for themselves"). It is impossible to tell how new a file is by its date and time: these file attributes change spontaneously during their "travels". Since most maps are quite old, I assumed that the largest "Heroes" sites likely store the most "recent" versions. Unfortunately, it is difficult to know which version is the last official one, i.e., modified by the author themselves. The oldest maps and Grigor Minchev's maps always contain a version number and date in the description within the map itself. When this information was available, I compared it and kept the newer versions in the collection. But most other maps do not have such information.
Therefore, due to the existence of different map versions, various misunderstandings may occur: for example, you might encounter an error or problem that has already been fixed. Please write about such cases — we will figure them out.

Lider1, I didn't say "I will do it," let alone "I will do it right now." ;) I just wanted to have such a collection as a concept. I can create such a collection, but it needs to be put together first – carefully and thoughtfully. There are collections on the internet like "A Thousand Maps for Heroes 3," and I've even downloaded a couple, but a collection of the best maps should be at an appropriate level. I have one of those too, but honestly, the selection in it isn't very good: there are quite a few mediocre maps, and some are clearly amateurish, hastily made with a 4x4 square brush... :smile27: :smile48: :smile18:
By "appropriate level," I mean that we need to find the original versions of the maps with all the files that the authors included: in the early years, they considered it their duty to provide maps with descriptions, tips, and hints; some maps have additional files with background information and other things; with WoG maps, it's even more fun: they often came with WoG settings files (*.dat), custom hero portraits (*.pcx), modified files with creature or map object stats, and other necessary files, without which the map will either not run at all, or the gameplay will be drastically different from what was intended! (which is why, by the way, I hardly play them).

P.S. Hooray! The collection is ready! I've uploaded it to my cloud storage: see the link in the first post (unfortunately, I can't attach an archive of 20 MB directly here).
P.P.S. I need help finding a map that I haven't been able to find yet: Retter des Waldes! :smile45:

Guys, how do I add a map? I created a map, but how do I add it?

Welcome back, Marmot! )
Here, under the spoiler, they write that such a map exists: http://rutracker.org/forum//topic/2217250/

Hello, I categorize the maps I play into two types: 1) the game boils down to winning the map. That is, despite all efforts, tactical maneuvers, and strategic moves, the main problem is achieving victory. 2) maps that contain a lot of everything, and the main competition is to achieve the fastest completion. At the same time, there are no particular difficulties in completing the map scenario.

I would like you to recommend maps of the first type, for those who have encountered such maps before; the size doesn't matter.

What about new maps? For example, Paragon could top the list of best maps, even though it wasn't created in the early years, but it incorporates the best of the accumulated experience. And a separate question about Chinese maps. For example, there's no Way Home (I stumbled upon it by chance, then found a walkthrough online), and probably many others that I haven't even heard of. And they are unusual. They are quite different from European maps (in my opinion).

solmir2003, I've put together a draft list of maps to add, including those that weren't included in this collection, and some new ones. The list includes maps that I've played and that made a very good impression, as well as maps that I haven't played yet but that other players have highly rated. Here's what it looks like now:

007 chases Dr. No
A Beautiful World
A kivalasztott
Astral Venice
Before The Rings
Campaign against Nekromanser
Central law
Desafio Final
Fatum
Greyhawk
Happy time Dragons!!!
Heroes
Infernal Conquest
Jedi Story
Last Real Heretic
Lord of the Rings 3.0
Necromancing the Bone
Seven seals
The 5th element - episode one
The Adventures of Blademan
The Battle of the Zodiac
The Final Test
Undead apocalypse
Wayfarer
Апокалипсис
Гвинн Ап Нудд
Дикие Земли: проблемы с магией
Краувинд
Остров малого черепа
Парагон
Первая кровь
Поиски потерянного города
Последний крестовый поход
Эффект бабочки

As for the Chinese maps, they won't appeal to everyone because of the complete lack of understanding of the texts (and simply the impossibility of reading them) and the unconventional nature of most of them, which lies in the use of changes to the appearance of objects (through a patch for the editor), cleverly designed hero parameters (often not set in the editor, but set by editing the map file), and other mind-bending features. They just don't know how (or don't want to) make ordinary maps, and that's it! :) But visually (especially the mini-map), many of them look like masterpieces (like Way Home, for example).
In any case, if you know of any worthy maps, let me know and tell me about them.

The list is interesting, but where can I download it? Unfortunately, a Google search for "Wild Lands" didn't yield any results.

solmir2003, with the exception of Samatron's maps ("Island...", "Search...", "Effect...") presented directly on this site, the rest can be found in the largest known collections of "heroes" sites:
http://heroesportal.net/maps.php
http://www.maps4heroes.com/heroes3/maps.php
http://www.celestialheavens.com/search2.php
Maybe 2-3 maps were taken from somewhere else. If you can't find something, write to me and I'll help. Of course, they could all be uploaded as an archive, but since we are far from a complete version, I think it's too early.
By the way, here is another excellent RPG map that I will definitely include: The 5th element - episode one (I'm playing through it now; I've gotten a bit stuck, but I hope to make it out). Link: http://www.maps4heroes.com/heroes3/maps.php?keywords=The+5th+element&type=The+Shadow+of+Death&size=&difficulty=&sort=3

The collection has been updated and re-uploaded on August 24, 2017.
The collection on mail.ru Cloud: download link https://cloud.mail.ru/public/4vpg/PHy2nWcyV
Changes:
Added the author's description for the 2 Friends map from a post on the heroescommunity.com website.
The version of the The House of Flame SoD map in the archive is now actually SoD (previously it was essentially WoG).
A high-quality color map of the terrain (I created it myself based on the original) has been added to the archive with the Grandmaster map.
Tables with information about seers and passage guardians, as well as a "raw" Google translation of the author's description, have been added to the archive with the The Lone Knight map.
Helpful tips from user Vladimir from a post on the maps4heroes.com website have been added to the archive with the The Uprising map.
English descriptions from user Doomnezeu's post on the heroescommunity.com website "Top 10 user-made maps for Heroes 3" have been added for the following maps:
Gold Heart
Hail to The King
Malagorn The Saviour
Ringing of Victory
Sander's Folly
The Empire of the world 2
The Imp
The Journey home
Unleashing the Bloodthirsty
Vengeance is mine

Is there a separate collection of single-player maps or campaigns that feature a storyline, lots of triggers, etc.? Something like the adventures of Jared Harett from HotA or that quest with the Zmey Gorynych from WoG?

The adventures of Jared Harett is a SOD scenario, not a HOTA scenario. All the "triggers" there are standard events, set through the SOD map editor.

Thanks for the maps! Downloading them now. Let's see how interesting they are.

Made a small update.
Changes:
The single-player map "Eternal love" is now available in both the original version by Hans C. and the improved version by Aeris Quamarine, titled "Where the beauty".
A walkthrough for the map "Unleashing the Bloodthirsty," found on a German forum and translated into Russian using Google Translate, has been added.
A file containing the author's description and tips has been added to the map "Vengeance is mine".
A translation of the introduction and a table with tasks for the gatekeepers and seers, along with my notes (green color - mandatory tasks, yellow - optional), have been added to the map "The Uprising".
Links to reviews published on the HeroesWorld forum have been added to the summary table.
I recommend that everyone who has previously downloaded the collection update it.
The collection is available on mail.ru Cloud: download link https://cloud.mail.ru/public/5icD/r2RzGHirK

I reviewed the list, and almost all the maps are old. But time doesn't stand still, and many interesting maps have appeared in recent years that deserve to be called "the best" just as much as the generally recognized classic maps. Perhaps it would be a good idea to update the list?