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GrayFace patches and MMExtension

Edit Summary: GrayFace's unofficial patches for MM6–8 and the MMExtension modding environment — versions, features, tools; cited inline.

GrayFace patches are unofficial patches for Might and Magic VI, VII and VIII by Sergey Rozhenko, known as GrayFace[1][1]. His MMExtension is a modding environment for the same three games, with a level editor and Lua scripting[1]. Many MM6–8 fan projects are built on them, including the 6, 7, 8 Merge[1] and MM8 Redone[1].

The patches

  • The MM6 patch includes Mok's and Angel's earlier fan patches and fixes many bugs[1]; the MM7 and MM8 patches include Mok's patch. All three add quick saves, MP3 music playback, a double-speed mode and mouse look; the MM6 patch also adds remappable controls and runs on modern Windows without compatibility settings[1].
  • The MM7 patch also contains the official patches and Black Phantom's patch, and its save files stay compatible with the unpatched game in both directions[1].
  • Separate builds exist for the Russian edition published by Buka and for other localisations[1][1].
  • All settings live in an INI file (for example mm7.ini), filled with the main options on the first run[1].
  • PCGamingWiki lists the MM7 patch under "essential improvements", noting that it fixes many bugs and adds features[1].

Versions

VersionReleasedWhat it added
1.xby April 2010the April 2010 homepage lists MM6 Patch 1.10, MM7 Patch 1.5.1, MM8 Patch 1.4 and MMExtension 1.2[1]
2.0by March 2016MM6, MM7 and MM8 Patch 2.0 and MMExtension 2.0 are listed[1]
2.16–7 July 2018high-resolution rendering in Hardware 3D with 32-bit colour, borderless full screen[1][1]
2.217 March 2019resizable game window (MM6); accurate sprite coordinates and better water animation in Direct3D (MM7, MM8)[1]
2.34 June 2019widescreen-friendly flexible interface in Hardware 3D — MM7 and MM8 only[1][1]
2.417 September 2019HD texture support through bitmaps.lwd archives (MM7, MM8)[1]
2.521 December 2021ShooterMode: aim at monsters and attack with a left click, as in a first-person shooter[1]
2.5.74 March 2022current version for all three games[1][1]

Release dates from 2.1 on are the GitHub release dates; the dates of the 1.x versions are not documented, only that they were current in April 2010[1][1].

MMExtension and MMEditor

  • MMExtension (MMExt) is "a rich modding environment for MM6-8": it includes a complete level editor, uses the Lua scripting language and gives access to all commands of the games' internal event scripts[1]. After the first run, tables in Data\Tables — for example class stats and skills — can be edited[1].
  • GrayFace announced it on the Celestial Heavens forum on 25 September 2009 and posted version 1.0.1 on 1 October 2009; from version 1.3 it could edit text tables[1].
  • The current release is MMExtension 2.2 with MMEditor 2.1, dated 4 June 2019 in the forum thread's title; MMEditor is described as a "fully-featured level editor"[1][1].
  • The source code is on GitHub (repository created in 2017, still updated in 2026). Its setup instructions require GrayFace patch 2.1 or later[1][1].
  • Rodril's Merge of MM6, MM7 and MM8 is built with it and ships with the patch, MMExtension and MMEditor included[1]. Some of GrayFace's own add-ons, such as upscaled MM6 textures, need MMExtension too[1].

Other tools

GrayFace's page also offers MMArchive (an archive editor for M&M and Heroes III), LodTool, LodMerge, Txt Edit and RSBinkPlayer[1]. Independent of him, the command-line tool mmarch handles the same .lod archives on Windows, Linux and macOS[1].

Popularity

The GitHub release files of version 2.5.7 alone were downloaded about 44,000 times for MM6, 43,000 for MM7 and 29,000 for MM8 by October 2026, not counting the SourceForge mirrors[1]. The MMExtension forum thread on Celestial Heavens has run to almost a thousand posts[1].

See also