- by cuc
Decent essay on King's Bounty including a bit on its FM Towns version, and a segment on Quest for the Dragonbone Staff.
Chapters:
0:00 - 2:01 - Intro
2:01 - 5:45 - Story and manual
5:46 - 10:01 - The heroes (not of might and magic)
10:02 - 12:43 - Different ports
12:44 - 30:32 - The game
30:33 - 31:14 - The ending
31:15 - 33:35 - MegaDrive/Genesis port
33:36 - 35:22 - Reception and the road to HOMM
35:23 - 43:22 - Quest for the Dragon Bone Staff
43:23 - 45:12 - After New World Computing
45:13 - 46:13 - Conclusion
I wish it could have incorporated more info on circumstances of its creation from filfre. https://www.filfre.net/2021/12/heroes-of-might-and-magic/ also in the video.
An attempt to find KB's release date from magazine catalogs; a source for a different variation of JVC's "the M&M branding was added to Heroes" quote: Patrick Hickley Jr. The Minds Behind The Games, the full quote from the book:
This version doesn't say "it was called just 'Heroes' until we added M&M late in development".
It dates the dialog with retailers (who would stock more games with the M&M title) to KB's release.
"One of the difficulties with King's Bounty was we couldn't get much shelf space at retail. In fact, one retailer told us if it was a Migth and Magic game, things woudl be different," Van Caneghem said. So King's Bounty 2 of Might and Magic wasn't going to work. I kept the 'Heroes' from King's Bounty and that's how we got to Heroes of Might and Magic. Not exactly a sequel, but an evolution of the game mechanics and features that people liked from King's Bounty, with additional new ideas and systems."
- by Pol
Heroes 30th Anniversary Annoucement, lets just start them step by step:
- Ubisoft Heroes 30th Anniversary Annoucement and Tournament announced by YiranYiran
- Mark the 9th of October in your calendars, there'll be a special celebration broadcast featuring all of things Might and Magic, where you'll get to see future announcements, giveaways and community contests! Check YouTube or Twitch
- Ubisoft announced HoMM Anniversary Fanwork Showcase
- There will be Heroes Orchestra Birthday concerts in Warsava at 10th September but all tickets are already sold out. And there will be Paul Anthony Romero.
- Ubisoft opened their new Heroes 30th Anniversary Discord channel, I would recommend to join, there were already some contests and likely will be other ones in a future, in addition they are looking for content creators, so something might be under the lid.
- Schizm faction was revealed for the Heroes: Olden Era. See Devlog #13 for more details on their Eldritch's Powers.
- This weekend at CD-Action Expo you can meet Kammer and Etharil in Atlas Arena, Łódź where — together with Acid Dragon from Acid Cave — Etharil will be talking about the history of Might and Magic throughout the Decades during the Sunday Panel at 3 PM CEST! If you happen to be there, come say hello! We'll be giving away a small batch of Olden Era merch on a first come first serve basis! See you around!
- Heroes of Might & Magic: Olden Era hit over 750,000 wishlists on Steam!
-
Gamescom devs Q&A
(by Avonu)
A few (not all) Q&A from Gamescom's panel. Devs answers were longer but here is my short summary:Q: Did we still have a hot seat?
A: Yes, there is a way to us to play the hot seat.Q: Will there will be more factions later?
A: For the early access there will be six factions. (...) Then we will see. Maybe. We have some ideas.Q: Is it PC only or plan for other consoles as well?
A: ATM we aim at Steam release.Q: What other games besides MM and non-game elements inspired you?
A: King's Bounty, Civilization, Disciples.Q: Will there be a demo of the game?
A: Maybe? Who knows? (the look of dev faces says more like "no" :P)Q: You said that the campaign will be non-linear. Does it mean that there will be more than one canon ending for the story?
A: ATM it's too early to talk about the ending. (...) ATM act 1 (of three if I understood correctly) has only one canonical ending.Q: Is it possible to play local MP?
A: The hot seat one.
- by Pol
Hello,
there are a few events for upcoming Heroes of Might & Magic 30th Anniversary, both with Neal Hallford and his Anniversary Retrospective. Yep, it's now 30th years from the first release of Heroes game, beginning with Heroes of Might and Magic: A Strategic Quest (1995). And it would be even five years more, if we would be counting in King's Bounty (1990). (Which we kind of are but not by the name. )
Heroes of Might & Magic 30th Anniversary Panel at Comic-Con in San Diego next month (July 24-27), with a really impressive group of speakers: Jon Van Caneghem, Mark Caldwell, David Mullich & Neal Hallford. All people who shepherded it through its New World Computing years from Might & Magic to King's Bounty to Heroes of Might & Magic IV. (Original reddit announcement link.)
And there's an outstanding Interview with Neal Hallford, on Matt Barton's Channel:
14:00 - Neal's introduction
18:00 - NWC's "dorm room" atmosphere. Games were done when JVC said it was done. Changed by acquisition.
19:30 - Few words about Might and Magic 1, including game release date (1985);
34:10 - New World Computing "desing" philosophy ("seat of your pants");
35:14 - There were no concept arts before HoMM3 (and why);
36:20 - About how HoMM3 graphics were created in 3D and later remade into sprites;
44:40 - About sounds of wor(d)s of Enroth and Erathia (for non-English speakers 😉 );
45:23 - Why Ashan was created and why was so different from NWC worlds;
55:34 - "Which of these games had the most 'hellish'?" (about HoMM4);
1:06:55 - "I think this looks objectively better than this."
1:21:44 - "Jon van Canegham was not big on story." JvC's philosophy about game stories;
2:15:55 - Few worlds about Paul Romero and Rob King
2:26:04 - About Olden Era (a few interesting bits of info);
3:02:24 - How Kickstarter looks from devs perspective.
collaborative work: cuc, Avonu, Angelspit, Pol
| Comments (2) |
- by Pol
Ubisoft announced new mobile trading card game, from Might & Magic Universum, called "Fates".
You shall be able to play cards with your wits or also with the help of Web3, likely buying crypto assets.
Take a look at the trailer below and let us know, what do you think?
Looking at the factions you can see Agrael, Anastasya, Nur & Slava, which you already know from Might & Magic: Heroes VI. Does that means that Ashan is back? Sure. And the puppeteer from the trailer is Sandro. 
See the official announcement:
Fates will invite players to build powerful decks, master a diverse array of mechanics, and battle with iconic heroes and creatures from across time in the mystical Sea of Fates. With deep strategic gameplay, faction-based playstyles, and hundreds of cards to collect, Fates is designed to offer a competitive experience where victory is earned through skill, not spending.
Matches in Fates are powered by a mana system based on gold generated directly from the cards in your hand, resulting in fast-paced matches and layered deck-building strategies. As a Might and Magic game, heroes play a central role: they fight alongside their army of creatures, can equip various artifacts, and earn experience during each battle, unlocking abilities that can turn the tide of a match. The tactical, turn-based combat system rewards smart positioning and timing, allowing players to react and counter their opponent's moves in new ways.
In addition, Might and Magic Fates offers deck-building freedom, allowing players to use any cards available, not just those tied to their hero's faction, and delivers a true trading card game experience, with the opportunity to trade cards in eligible regions. This functionality will be handled through an external marketplace powered by Immutable's technology that will enable and secure these exchanges. This feature provides no competitive advantage and is entirely optional, meaning all players will be able to enjoy the full experience and compete at the highest level without engaging with it. Visit MightAndMagicFates.com to learn more and stay up to date.
"The Sea of Fates emerged from the destruction caused by apocalyptic events across the Might & Magic worlds, a chaotic multiverse where fragments of order fight to survive. This realm draws heroes and creatures from all eras into its swirling conflict. Among them, Sandro, the necromancer, uses the power of chaos and order to summon a void of nothingness, threatening to consume all existence. As players clash in battles for survival and dominance, they unknowingly play into Sandro’s dark designs, shaping the destiny of the multiverse."
March into the battlefield! Collect hundreds of unique cards and forge your dominant deck to outsmart other players in epic tactical duels that involve mighty heroes, mythical creatures and wizardry! Are you ready to meet your destiny?
- AN ORIGINAL STRATEGY CARD GAME: Master new game mechanics, card types, and faction-specific playstyles, all supported by unique heroes and creatures from your beloved Might and Magic franchise.
- COLLECT AND TRADE HUNDREDS OF UNIQUE CARDS: Experience a true trading card game and build an unmatched legendary battle deck.
- PLAY FOR FREE, WIN BY SKILL: Glory comes from talent, not luck. Earn epic cards as you play and use them wisely to seize victory.
- WRITE YOUR LEGEND: Climb the ranks of the seasonal leaderboard and crush the best players to attain eternal renown and monumental rewards.
- MIGHT AND MAGIC: Immerse yourself in the world of Ashan through Might and Magic's captivating lore and striking artworks. Play with your favorite factions, beloved heroes, iconic creatures, and signature spells, and create a theme deck with its own narrative. Your game, your story.
Game type: Card Game (TCG)
Platform: Mobile (iOS, Android) & PC (Digital Only)
Developer: Ubisoft Paris & Immutable Games
Crypto: Likely, hence Immutable do in Web3
Release date: Winter 2025
Ubisoft | Immutable | MM:Fates
| Comments (2) |
- by Pol
Tensions rise yet again - The would-be protectors of Jadame clash their arms against one another, engulfing the continent in chaos and conflict. Reason is forsaken in the name of conquest and bloodbath. In the shadows, a malevolent force emerges, seeking to use this opportunity to claim dominion in the name of their master. Who will prevail? Find that out and more once Olden Era launches into Early Access this summer!
Interesting, interesting, interesting. Triple "I"iniciative link to the video follows below, what that would be?
We are getting closer, another beta test is running, this time focused on Single Hero Mode - Multiplayer. As usually you can apply for, on the Olden Era Steam page. ;)
What we know so far?
- Units have abilities, which are being charged as the battle progress. Usually you can use them in the second turn.
- All units size is one hex.
- Magic is immensely powerful but might seems to be strong too.
- Instead of Inferno, there's Demonic Hive.
- It happens in Jadame, long, long time ago Heroes III.
- Octavia is in, as Murmurwood Efreeti.
- Early Access is planned for Q2 2025
- See our thread for more info.
& Wishlist "here".
- by Pol
Olden Era Showcase in Belgrade
Greetings, today we'd like to make another spectacular announcement — Olden Era is coming to Belgrade in Serbia!
Come visit us this Saturday, March 15th, and have a rare opportunity to play Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era in Haos Community Space, Kraljice Natalije 11 Street!
The event starts at 2 PM CET and will feature the following:
- Hands-on Sessions: sit down and play Olden Era at one of the booths prepared for it, use the chance to try the latest installement of the legendary HoMM series
- Q&A with us: Come and ask @Katya and @Dnot your most intriguing questions
- Showmatch: Witness another duel(s) in Arena mode between the guests at the event
What: Olden Era Showcase in Belgrade, Serbia
Where: Serbia, Belegrad, Kraljice Natalije 11 at Haos Community Space
When: 15th March 14:00-18:00 CET
Olden Era Interview at gamepressure.com
MM: Okay, so what about spells? I know, there are four schools of magic, so I need to know EVERYTHING about that!
BP-L: Yes, we have the Daylight School, The Nightshade School, The Primal Magic School, and The Arcane Magic School. Each of them has their own spells that do various things depending on which school you’re specializing in. We also tried to make magic heroes feel more enjoyable to play and make a little bit more unique compared to might heroes. Magic heroes are capable of casting two spells a turn if they have a unique skill that is exclusive to them.
Bartholomew Podress-Leszek is known as Etharil.
Katya Prikhodko is known as Katya.
The link to the original interview in PL at gry-online.pl is here.
The Triple-i Initiative
"For all things indie and beyond, has announced its return."
That’s all we can say for now. Got to stay quiet like a deer in Murmurwoods, however, you can expect an update from us very soon. Check out https://iii-initiative.com/ for more information. The details will unrevealed later, at this link.
You can read more about Heroes Olden Era and discuss the news here.
--src: Unfrozen Discord
- by MadMax
The Heroes of Might and Magic 3: Day of Reckoning team just revealed some major updates, showing the Palace town screen, creature evolution charts and some very beautiful map screenshots. I'll share parts of the update, but I highly recommend reading the full post.
"Day of Reckoning – Project Update #1
The holidays are over, and many of us are back to our usual routines and hobbies. The same goes for the Day of Reckoning team, and this means that it is time for an update. The past several months saw substantial development in areas like visuals and music, and while the final product is still not there yet, we would like to share some of our recent progress with you. We also want to discuss some overdue matters which were not previously covered, such as the subtleties of Palace’s design, some of the mod’s other features, our design philosophy, as well as the Grotto and Forge. Of course, while still making sure to not spoil too much, and to keep surprises for future updates, too. Lastly, we will talk a bit about the prospects of joining the team."
This YouTube video shares some previews, but the full post can be read in our very own forums, or in Polish at Acid Cave.
The Kirin in full display.
Forge battle!
Another very interesting piece of text from the forum post:
"A question which might arise from reviewing Palace’s lineup posted above is that of whether the town will feature two alternate creatures or not. That is indeed the case. The aim of alternate creatures is not to cause a lack of balance, but to add more flavor to the towns and expand upon their aspects, as well as buff weaker towns and cover gameplay niches. And that is certainly the case in Palace.
Regarding new spells and skills, we still wish to keep a certain secrecy around them. But I can say that there is one “campaign” skill which will be introduced in DoR 1.0, besides the faction skills of Palace and Grotto, Initiative and Vitality. For those who are not aware, Initiative is a counterpart of Tactics: while Tactics allows you to manipulate the creatures’ “movement”, Initiative allows you to boost the “initiative” (turn order) of one of your creatures, in the first turn. Vitality, on the other hand, is a Health-boosting skill. While not better than Armorer against creature attacks, it is also effective against spells, as opposed to Armorer, which is not."
So, what do you think of this latest update? The Heroes of Might and Magic community really has been given a lot of treats lately, haven't we?
- by Pol
Perfect Evening for All Heroes Fans
Hello everyone
today we have a special announcement: "We'll be guests at the event organised by CD-Action Magazine in the H40S Club in Warsaw, Poland on March 1st!"
The party starts at 12:00 PM CET (Noon) and ends at 6:00 PM CET (afterparty available right after the event), and you'll be able to have fun with the following:
- A chance to try Olden Era and other HoMM games on a few prepared stations!
- Q&A with @(CM) Etharil and @Katya
- Arena showmatch between two best players at the event;
- And more! See you there!
What: Perfect Evening for All Heroes Fans, chance to play Heroes Olden Era and meet Etharil and Katya from Unfrozen Team
Where: Poland, PC Club H40S, Marszałkowska 64, Warszawa
When: Sat, March 1st 12:00 PM (CET)
source: (CM) Etharil, Unfrozen Discord
| Comments (1) |
- by Pol
SIM TURNS
One of our developers, Niklas, spent his Christmas working on it, and we’re proud to say that it's now ready for testing. It’s not fully done yet, but it’s close. There might still be a few small hiccups, but internal playtesting has been very promising (and fun). Now, we’re opening it up on the Public Test Realm right now, for everyone to enjoy, and if you find bugs, let us know by using our in-game bug report tool.
We plan to test this for about a month before rolling out a major update to improve Songs of Conquest for everyone. We promised multiplayer updates on our Roadmap, and this is a big one.
More hills, more water and elevation!
We’ve also made improvements to our random maps—most notably, they now have elevation, something they didn’t have before! It’s more than just a visual upgrade, though that part matters too. We’ve also tweaked the gameplay in ways we think you’ll enjoy. We made sure that not just the terrain is more varied but that pick-ups, buildings, and artifacts are more varied.
- Mines and settlements now spawn more randomly
- Guard worth adjusted
- Amount of troops in starting area lowered
- Amount of exotics in starting area lowered
- Experience entities increased
- Gold sources more varied
- Artifact entities increased
- Water now appears more making the map look more varied
- High ground now is a thing making the maps more beautiful
- Woods and mountain areas now look more varied
- Ground textures are now more varied and blending better
- Player starting area is now themed to the players faction
For now, jump into that Public Test Realm, try Sim-battles with a friend, and surprise them with your latest Vanir strategy. One that, for some reason, just involves a lot of pigs.
You can read the full breaking annoucement here.
| Comments (1) |
- by Pol
Fanstratics Final Newsletter #45
I hope each of you is safe and healthy. This is my last Fanstratics newsletter. Previously, (Newsletter #44), I touched upon my continuing health issues and the perpetual lack of progress. I have tried numerous approaches to alleviate my collection of conditions, with mild degrees of success, but my accumulated experience and research point to the obvious. My illness is more than likely permanent, and I will likely never again be what I was when I started this project. While my spirit is willing, my flesh is weak, and I need to be honest with myself and those of you who subscribed to this newsletter. My chances of finishing Fanstratics are remote. Thus, I am concluding development. As for the future, considering my physical and mental decline, I need to step back and figure out what I can and cannot accomplish. I have enjoyed writing the HoMM3 Recollections, and I think I could turn them into a memoir. We’ll see what happens. In my welcome email to these newsletters, I said this would be a journey. Not all excursions are successful. Take care. Greg
Read on: Fanstratics - Newsletter #45 January 2025 - Final One
Fanstratics Final Newsletter #45 as of January 2025, Fanstratics development is cancelled due to ongoing post-covid issues.
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