Posts from Heroes VII

In theory, the demon models are the same as in the sixth part, so they can be used, plus there are new neutral demons, and the engine allows it. I think that if fans take it seriously, they could create a castle with them and a story about them.

The models in the 7th game are from the 6th game at the source code level, so without having the source code, it's all a waste of time! :smile29:

The models in the 7th game are based on the 6th game's source files, so without access to those files, it's all a waste of time! :smile29:

Do you mean the game's open-source code? Well, that's where the problem lies; I doubt Ubisoft would just give it away and provide it to anyone who asks.

Well, do you mean the game's open-source code? If so, then yes, there's a problem. I doubt that Ubisoft would just give it away and provide it to anyone who wants it.

No, I mean the following, specifically:

1) In Heroes of Might and Magic VII, the models are from Heroes of Might and Magic VI, but they were obtained from the source files of the models in Heroes of Might and Magic VI...

2) You can add a new model to Heroes of Might and Magic VII using workarounds, although I haven't personally delved into the game's editor, but it's not straightforward...

3) But the biggest issue is that you can unpack the mechanics, but putting it back together doesn't always work properly – it's a "feature" of the engine, but since development has been shut down, we shouldn't expect a user-friendly interface anymore...

4) All that's left is to hope that they sell the series to decent people who love making and do make turn-based strategy games... I dream about it...

All that remains is to wait for them to sell the series to decent people who love to make and do turn-based strategy games... I dream...

I agree, I think like all the other fans.

Here's some follow-up news: The French company Ubisoft Entertainment has fired the developers of the latest installments of the Might & Magic Heroes computer game. According to experts, the termination of the agreement was dictated by a lack of interest from the audience and low sales figures.

The sixth and seventh parts of the Might & Magic Heroes game series did not meet the expectations of Ubisoft Entertainment. The turn-based strategy games, developed by Limbic Entertainment, became an unprofitable project for the distributor. Both parts received less than 50% of the user rating on Steam and insignificant sales figures worldwide.

Players had mixed reactions to the sixth part, comparing it to the more successful Heroes 3 and 5. According to experts, the termination of the agreement with Limbic Entertainment was dictated precisely by the poor position of the product on the market.

Ubisoft's official statement does not contain any specific criticism of the developers, but sales figures suggest otherwise. How the "Heroes" series will develop further is still unknown.

Source: http://www.vladtime.ru/computers/513558?utm_source=rnews ©

PS Ubisoft, come on, finally use your head, what were you hoping for?!:D To get maximum return with minimal investment? Well, of course.)

Back in the day, the fifth installment was received relatively well and sold decently. The sixth game severely damaged Ubisoft's reputation, but it still sold relatively well (riding on the brand and the series' fans). The seventh game was already met with skepticism, and this skepticism was fully justified. And then they abandoned the project without support, leaving it in an unfinished state with a ton of bugs...
Ubisoft is now in a difficult situation: continuing the series themselves after so many failures would simply be foolish, but leaving it to gather dust as a dead weight is not rational, as they invested a huge amount of money in the project.
Most likely, we will see a new global reboot of the series, similar to what the fifth installment was. Under the wing of a new company, and in a new world. And in my opinion, this is actually good news, as Ashan has become stale and is not developing, and it's getting repetitive - it needs fresh blood. Currently, there are discussions about what the continuation of the series should be like.

The turn-based strategy games developed by Limbic Entertainment turned out to be an unprofitable project for the distributor.

They (Ubisoft) could have spent even less money on developing the game, maybe a hundred dollars. And then they would have set the price at two hundred dollars per copy of the game... And then they would complain that they didn't make a penny from sales.

I don't entirely agree with Ment's comment.
The French company Ubisoft Entertainment allocated significant funds for the development and promotion of the 6th and 7th installments. The issue lies in how these funds were used, which is why they terminated the contract with Limbic Entertainment.
Yes, I agree that they initially misjudged the pricing strategy, but they did acknowledge their mistake, and this was discussed in one of the forums. However, in the future, they plan to conduct thorough market research to determine the optimal price.

I don't entirely agree with Ment's comment.
The French company Ubisoft Entertainment allocated significant funds for the development and promotion of the 6th and 7th installments. The issue lies in how these funds were used, which is why they terminated their contract with Limbic Entertainment.
Yes, I agree that they initially misjudged the pricing strategy, but they did acknowledge their mistake, and they even discussed this issue in one of the discussions. However, in the future, they plan to conduct serious marketing research to determine the optimal price.

What nonsense – has everyone already forgotten how they collected money for pre-orders, citing the consequences of the global financial crisis? Personally, I haven't forgotten; I paid and purchased a pre-order and then waited – waited, hoping for a miracle, but the miracle didn't happen – where is the promised user-friendly modding toolkit without workarounds?! :smile04:

Unfortunately, I don't have any links to Ubisoft's financial reports, but there are many indirect signs (such as attempts to save on models, in particular, initially Limbic wanted to use vampire and lich models from the sixth game in the seventh game, and it was only fan dissatisfaction that changed their position on this) that suggest that Ubisoft wasn't particularly generous. This is clear, as their priority has always been games like "Assassin's Creed."

To clarify, Limbic Entertainment (the Developer), having received another substantial financial investment from Ubisoft Entertainment (the Publisher), instead of spending the funds on a user-friendly modding toolkit, improving models, creating new campaigns and scenarios, and meticulously refining the terrain and landscape, spent them on renting obscure office spaces and paying inflated salaries to hired staff (who, unfortunately, only delivered 30% of the value of the investment).

Let me clarify: Limbic Entertainment (the developer) received another significant financial investment from Ubisoft Entertainment (the publisher). Instead of spending the funds on a user-friendly modding toolkit, improving models, creating new campaigns and scenarios, and meticulously refining the terrain and landscape, they spent it on renting obscure office spaces and paying inflated salaries to hired staff (who, unfortunately, only delivered about 30% of the value of the investment).

Is there a link to the source?! :smile21:

Let me clarify: Limbic Entertainment (the Developer), having received another substantial financial injection from Ubisoft Entertainment (the Client), instead of spending the funds on a user-friendly modding tool, improving models, creating new Campaigns and scenarios, and meticulously refining the terrain and landscape, spent them on renting obscure office spaces and paying inflated salaries to hired staff (who, unfortunately, only delivered about 30% of the value of the investment).

It's quite possible that Ubisoft still sees it that way. But most likely, this simply indicates higher demands from Ubisoft.
1. Limbic is a small studio, as far as I know. And before "Heroes," it had never worked on large projects (well, this information is definitely accurate). Ubisoft, however, hired them specifically for a AAA project, which is how the seventh installment of "Heroes" was positioned. Yes, it was indeed positioned as AAA, and the price tag speaks volumes about that.
Conclusion: someone decided to cut costs on the developer.
2. All of the above goals require not only funds but also time. I won't comment on the rest, but we all saw how the models were created (specifically, how quickly they were created) during the development process of "Heroes 7" (thankfully, this process was quite open. At least that's a plus). Saying "very quickly" is an understatement. However, speed is only a positive aspect. To achieve this speed, the developers must have a) motivation (in the form of salary, of course), b) decent working conditions (including premises, yes), and c) there must be a lot of them (that is, the total salary must increase). So... All the investments from the above ("renting obscure office spaces and paying inflated salaries to hired staff"), in my opinion, sound quite logical. But from your message, I conclude that Ubisoft was probably unhappy with this allocation of funds. That is,
Conclusion 2: someone again decided to cut costs on the developer.
3. Okay, as a result, we don't have a user-friendly modding tool, etc., and so on. Who will do this? Will Ubisoft hire someone else again? Just as they hired Limbic to improve the sixth installment? And will they again do everything crookedly and with a reduced budget? Or will everything remain as it is? Apparently, it is quite possible that it will remain as it is. But they could have added more budget (even exceeding the limit), demanded improvements from Limbic (just to avoid making a fool of themselves. And who knows, maybe such an approach would have expanded the player base). And then they could have parted ways with them. Instead, they are parting ways during the active development phase (yes, this is an active development phase. Until the very end, Limbic released patches with good regularity. As someone who was playing "Heroes 7" at that time, I saw this very well).
Conclusion 3: yes, the same conclusion.
In general, I'm not necessarily defending Limbic. They are probably "good" in their own way: I think they simply don't know how to make such games. But the point is that this was obvious even before they were hired, and all of this should have been taken into account in the development process. And not be surprised later that an indie studio's game turns out to be not very good.

Is there a link to the source?! :smile21:

This is accounting information. I can't provide it, but you can figure it out yourself based on indirect clues.

Ubisoft has a certain policy. I wouldn't say that Nival was a very strong development studio at the time. Of course, Ubisoft's managers miscalculated when they chose such a developer. It's a pity, because this affected not only Heroes 7, but also the universe as a whole.

This is just accounting information.

Where did you get this information? Do you work at Ubisoft? Or did you get it from someone else?

I wouldn't say that Nival was a very strong development studio at the time.

Well, Nival had two quite decent Blitzkrieg games by that time.