Heroes of Might and Magic III: The Succession Wars (H3SW) is a fan-made total conversion of Heroes of Might and Magic III that recreates the atmosphere of its prequel, Heroes of Might and Magic II, and aims to fit New World Computing's Might and Magic lore[1][2]. It is built on The Shadow of Death through the WoG-derived ERA platform, not on Horn of the Abyss[3][4]. The latest version, 0.8.2 Beta, came out on 31 December 2022[4].
History
- The project dates back to 2008, when mister_kalu started it[3]; MMGames.ru places the start in 2007–2008 under ShinKalu[5]. He also released a pre-beta[6].
- Kivo announced the beta on Heroes Community on 8 January 2013, crediting the programmer Kegolo; players were asked not to pick the unfinished Heretic town, and the mod needed the latest ERA[6].
- Since the end of 2013 the team has been coordinated by Orzie[3].
- The v0.8 trailer appeared on 10 May 2018[7]; version 0.8.0 followed at the turn of 2019 as the "first stable version"[8], and 0.8.1 on 1 February 2019[9]. A second trailer was shown at Streamfest 2019 in Moscow[10].
- After an update trailer in September 2022[11], version 0.8.2 was released on 31 December 2022[4]. Acid Cave wrote that the project had stalled and questioned whether the planned Inferno and Forge towns would appear[12].
Versions
| Version | Released | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| pre-beta | before 2013 | released by mister_kalu[6] |
| beta | 8 January 2013 | announced by Kivo; required ERA[6] |
| 0.8.0 Beta | 31 December 2018 – 1 January 2019 | "first stable version"[8]; installs and plays without a separate ERA setup[13] |
| 0.8.1 Beta | 1 February 2019 | [9] |
| 0.8.2 Beta | 31 December 2022 | latest version[4] |
Content
- Like Heroes II, each faction has a single hero class[3]. The six classic factions — Knight, Barbarian, Sorceress, Warlock, Wizard and Necromancer — are joined by the Witch and the Dervish; a might-oriented Heretic exists but is unfinished and disabled[3][9][5].
- Each faction has seven creature types[14]. MMGames.ru counts fifteen new creatures plus fifteen upgrades, and a third upgrade for golems and dragons[5].
- Battles use the Heroes III battlefield and rules; Heroes II's bad luck returns[3].
- The art follows Heroes II's pixel style, with a Heroes II-style interface and the mod's own map editor[3][4].
- Version 0.8.2 added Heroes II siege walls and towers for the six classic factions, Heroes II spell graphics, twelve maps converted from Heroes I–III and several music packs; it cut the Sorcery skill's bonus to 10/20/30%, and started voice-over and cut-scene work for a "Voyage Home" campaign[4].
- Reviewing the 2019 beta, Tabletowo noted dozens of scenarios, random maps and multiplayer, but no tutorial and no single-player campaign[15].
Installation
- It needs a clean Heroes III: The Shadow of Death or Complete; HotA, WoG, ERA and HD Mod must not be in the game folder, and Restoration of Erathia, Armageddon's Blade and Ubisoft's HD Edition are not supported[8].
- The installer puts the mod in its own Mods folder. HD Mod can be added afterwards and is partly compatible, but its HD+ features are not available on ERA[4][3].
- The team is not sure HotA and H3SW can share a game folder, because both ship conflicting patcher files[4].
Community
The official forum is Forums of Enroth[16]; the mod also has a YouTube channel, ModDB and VK pages, and a Russian branch on df2.ru, described as temporarily frozen[3]. Russian players discuss installing it on Old-Games.ru[17].