Posts from How was Heroes 5 created?

Recently, Nival posted more details on the official website about how Heroes 5 was made:

Quoting the official site:
Hello, reader! This time we will tell you how the system of magic spells was conceived and implemented in the game; we'll talk about the difficulties we encountered during development, and reveal the whole truth about "Armageddon"!

Just don't ruin it
Magic has always been the highlight of the Heroes of Might and Magic series, one of the most intriguing features that ensured high replayability. Learning spells, their various applications on the battlefield, and the amazing atmosphere they brought to the game universe—all of this kept gamers immersing themselves in the epic world of HoMM again and again. Magic made battles unpredictable. An opponent who seemed inferior in strength could suddenly summon several dozen fire elementals to their aid... and the outcome of the battle became uncertain.

Working on the magic for the fifth part, we understood perfectly well that we were essentially deciding the fate of the entire project. After all, if we were to disrupt the balance even slightly or make the smallest oversight, the fans of the series would never forgive us. And if the players didn't like it, we'd end up as street sweepers. A game designer in a padded jacket with a broom in his hands is a sad sight. We faced a massive task—to carefully study the HoMM universe, evaluate the positive and negative features of previous parts, and finally create a new spell system that would best suit Heroes of Might and Magic V.

Divide by four
At the very beginning of the project, the idea arose to divide all spells by their mechanism of action (more details below). To clear our conscience, we, of course, scrupulously considered and subsequently dismissed other possible options. For example, we had to abandon dividing spells by elemental schools (remember Heroes of Might and Magic III). As you recall, that game had four magic groups corresponding to air, fire, earth, and water. But what, in essence, differed a "Fire Bolt" (fire school) from "Lightning" (air school)? Nothing! They affected the enemy almost identically; the difference lay only in the visual implementation. And so, at our own risk, we decided to go our own way, which may evoke associations with the fourth part of the series for a sophisticated reader.

So, in the game, all spells are divided by their mechanism of action. As a result, we have four very distinct schools: Destructive Magic, Dark Magic, Light Magic, and Summoning Magic. Destructive Magic is the school of attacking magic. It includes spells that deal area-of-effect damage. Dark Magic is the school of dark magic. Its adepts use cunning (and not always honest!) spells. Light Magic is the school of light magic. It will appeal to noble warriors—spells in this group improve various parameters of friendly creatures. Summoning Magic is one of the most intriguing schools. It is preferred by mages, the residents of the recently announced Academy city. By using spells related to Summoning Magic, you can place traps on the battlefield, summon additional creatures, and move across the adventure map in unusual ways. For example, crossing impassable mountain ranges or lava rivers on... an elephant. Convenient, right?

Build and find
The player will learn new spells just as in other parts of the series. Inventing something new would be, at the very least, strange. The gamer will have to build the magic guild in the city, each level of which unlocks two spells. To learn new spells, the corresponding skills must be developed. Spells can also be "recorded" into a magic book while traveling across the adventure map. To do this, you must find a special structure there.

Not the format
The game very subtly suggests specializing your heroes. This is necessary to maintain the overall style. Agree that a noble knight cursing his opponent with "Unholy Word" slightly alters his image. Every hero in HOMMV will gravitate toward the magic school that corresponds to them ideologically. And let the experimental player bear the responsibility for all exceptions.

Three dimensions are good
Having dealt with the list of spells, we took on their visual implementation. No one wanted to fail miserably, as our project gives many strategies a run for their money in terms of graphics. This is where our main trump card came in handy—three-dimensionality. As a result, spellcasting acquired additional aesthetic meaning. When you get to know the game, you'll realize it's no joke; everything looks truly spectacular.

What else? Oh yes, the promised truth about "Armageddon"... It is a very terrible spell. Soon you will see it for yourself.

PC Games, January 2006.

First Interface Implementation

The very first interface test for Heroes 5 was very similar to its final implementation. The city building interface consisted of half the screen occupied by a plan of the city, showing all possible buildings, and the other half of the screen showing a fully built city in 3D.

Second Interface Implementation

In the next test, which took place last year, the city was shown in its current state, and the camera was centered on the building selected for construction. It was possible to cycle through the buildings one by one. At the same time, the camera was centered on the building, and descriptions of the building, its cost, and a 3D representation of the building were displayed.

With this arrangement, it was difficult to understand which buildings were needed for what purposes and in what sequence they were located on the level.

Final Interface Implementation

After beta testing, it was decided to revert to the original system with some adjustments. The first half of the screen is occupied by a plan of the city, where the buildings are arranged in a logical sequence. The second half of the screen contains a close-up 3D image of the building selected at the moment, directly in the city.

Another Developer's Diary entry from the official Nival website. This time, they will tell us about abilities:

Any game is like a large brick building. If the builders worked sloppily, the little house will collapse one fine day. Applying this to a computer game, it means that all gameplay details must be polished to a mirror shine. But how then do you maintain the integrity of the project so that the gamer doesn't scatter their attention on trifles? We encountered this problem while toiling over the racial features. However, let's take everything in order.

IN RESPONSE

No matter which stage of the development of Heroes of Might and Magic the Minds discuss, the defining word in the story will be "responsibility." And this is not for nothing, because a multi-million army of series fans expects an excellent game from us. We have to remind ourselves of this again and again to emphasize once more: any decision, even the most obvious one, is made by us only after careful analysis. We have repeatedly said that HoMMV is initially positioned not as a revolution within the famous series, but as its evolution. Evolution always implies a more thoughtful and balanced gameplay process.

NEW

Having decided on the races, we decided to endow them with unique properties that would reflect the ideological essence of one faction or another. Surprisingly, this seemingly logical idea was not fully implemented in the HoMM series games. So, we had to become pioneers.

Why "fully"? Let's recall, for instance, the Necromancy skill—the "gimmick" of the inhabitants of the Necropolis stronghold. The ability to "stamp out" skeletons best emphasized the essence of the Undead and had a serious impact on the game balance. In general, only a "small" matter remained—selecting equivalent features for the other races.

BEST SIDES

We came up with unique abilities after a detailed study of the factions' characteristics: their history, worldview, and differences in appearance. It is obvious, for example, that the soldiers of the Haven race, devoted to the motto "Honor, Duty, Order," should be perfectly organized on the battlefield and learn military affairs quickly. Thus, after a prolonged brainstorming session, the Training ability appeared. This is a new possibility for the series to train a Peasant up to the level of Archer, Archer to Squire, Squire to Clerics, and Clerics to Cavalier. To use it, you must build Training Grounds and spend a "hefty" sum of gold. By the way, a hero is able to reduce the cost of training by learning the corresponding skill. By skillfully solving economic-role-playing tasks, one can assemble a powerful army.

The mages of the Academy Fortress, who have dedicated their lives to knowledge, have learned to assemble mini-artifacts on their own. The Artifice capability is also new—it has never existed in any game in the series. We will not reveal all the details regarding this "gimmick"—we really want to give the gamers a surprise.

The designers thought for a long time about what skill to endow the Inferno troops with to emphasize their cruelty and unpredictability on the battlefield. In the end, they decided that Gating—the ability to summon reinforcements from the underworld—was exactly what the demons lacked before. As numerous experiments showed, the appearance of a devil on the battlefield is an extraordinarily effective and unexpected event.

We also struggled with the features of the elves, inhabitants of the Sylvan Castle. But, in the end, we reached a very clever decision, in our view. Elven heroes can evoke a feeling of hatred toward a specific opponent in their creatures. A thirst for vengeance—a skill called Favored Enemy—will help deal more serious damage to the foe. Notice how a seemingly purely technical detail has acquired emotional saturation in the world of HoMMV. The dark elves from the Dungeon Fortress were not left out either. They received Elemental Vision—magical intuition and the ability to sense which of the four elemental elements corresponds to each creature present on the battlefield. This feature opens up new tactical possibilities, allowing combat resources to be used more effectively. After all, your allies will deal more damage to that opponent who adheres to the opposite element.

Of course, these are far from all the unique racial abilities—some of them are kept in strict secret.

CONCERNS

Day and night, fans of the series excitedly discuss game balance on the project forum: "Will Nival be able to maintain balance between the races with so many innovations? Don't you think Haven is stronger than the others? What if the elves turn out to be the weakest?". We hasten to reassure all gamers worried about the fate of the project: balance for us is one of the most important elements of the project. We calculate incredible combinations and scrupulously think through all minor elements of the game mechanics. A beta test, which pointed out imbalances, became an excellent aid in this difficult task. So your anxiety, dear fan of the HoMM series, is quite understandable and somewhat appropriate, but... hardly justified.

RS Games. February 2006