New Devil teleport-far Mod!

[Wolfshanze]

Hah... fooled you... no, sorry, it doesn't exist* (actually it does, see UPDATE below). But the fact you came here means you're at least interested. My guess is there's a LOT of folks interested.

It seems like such a simple little thing to mod... bump up the movement from 7 to something more useful (the Devil should AT LEAST be able to reach the opposite side in one move). No graphics changes, no new features... just bump up the combat speed.

We all know that any PAK file placed in the data directory gets read... is there some way to increase the movement speed for devils in this fashion?

Any modders want to take a crack at it? Help? Please? Somebody? Make this post have meaning with an actual mod for Devils!

UPDATE
I increased the speed of Inferno Devils & Arch Devils... no other changes have been made. You can download my DevilMod.pak here.

Devils now have a movement of: 9
Arch Devils now have a movement of: 10

This makes teleporting Arch Devils the fastest unit in the game (by 1). They are still weaker then Dragons in HPs and don't have flame breath, so I think it's a good balance with Dragons. Though they are the fastest, they still can't teleport "anywhere"... just a little further then a dragon could fly.

Simple as I could make it to install. It's a PAK file, so simply dump into your HOMM5 "DATA" folder... no fuss at all.

[Arstahd]

This is easy.

Just edit the speed parameter in: data\GameMechanics\Creature\Creatures\Inferno\Devil.xdb

The above path may not be exactly correct, but it should be close enough to find the correct file in data.pak.

This is the simplest of mods and should be doable by anyone able to use notepad.

[Wolfshanze]

Thanks for the tip... I'll look into it myself... I've done mods before for other games, but I wasn't sure how this game is setup... I'll definately do some nosing-around now that I have an idea where to look.

Thanks again! I knew somebody had to know!

[Skullmane]

If i edit the file in the archive, i cant save it.. do i need to do this some other way?

[Vision]

Wow, lets break the game by introducing a game-breaking feature that people (who love to whine, bitch, moan, and complain about EVERY-GODDAMN-THING) think should be in the game.

The creature skills are set the way they are because, duh, it is balanced. Devils can teleport anywhere now? What are you going to do next, make it so that Angels fly anywhere? How about just uninstalling and going back to the old and outdated H3, because that is what you -REALLY- want.

[Wolfshanze]

Wow, lets break the game by introducing a game-breaking feature that people (who love to whine, *****, moan, and complain about EVERY-GODDAMN-THING) think should be in the game.

The creature skills are set the way they are because, duh, it is balanced. Devils can teleport anywhere now? What are you going to do next, make it so that Angels fly anywhere? How about just uninstalling and going back to the old and outdated H3, because that is what you -REALLY- want.

Wow... I'm glad YOU have personal opinion how EVERYONE ELSE plays THEIR game.

This is a MOD... not an official patch. If you don't like it... guess what... don't use it! What's it to you if Johny plays with the patch or not?!?! Are you to determine what everyone else plays?

As for "duh, it's balanced"... I guess that's why Nival themselves have already announced that the first patch is to fix the game because... well... it's NOT balanced. Won't there be egg on your face if the official patch increases the speed of Devils for balance reasons!

Also, H3 and H4 before had Devils teleporting all over the place and nobody complained about that before. It sure was balanced in those games.

Chill guy... if somebody other then you wants to play in a differant way, what gives YOU the moral right to decide what someone else likes?

Come on folks... RELAX!

[Arzang]

wow vision, that's one of the most ignorant things I've read.

1. balance can not be determined ONLY by the company. if that was the case; why are games inbalanced? MAYBE GAMERS ARE INBALANCED!

2. a mod is a mod. not everyone needs to use the mod. mods are good; they increase lifespan. they add variety.

more lifespan=good. variety=more lifespan.

do the math.

[Vision]

wow vision, that's one of the most ignorant things I've read.

1. balance can not be determined ONLY by the company. if that was the case; why are games inbalanced? MAYBE GAMERS ARE INBALANCED!

True. However, modding a SINGLE CREATURE to be able to move ANYWHERE ON THE BATTLEFIELD during movement (something NO creature can do), and for such a SLOW creature (both initiative and speed) drastically shifts balance, to the point of being broken. THAT was my point, and THAT was why I was (and am still) so vehement on that issue

2. a mod is a mod. not everyone needs to use the mod. mods are good; they increase lifespan. they add variety.

Again true. But again, with a mod that destroys the balance already in the game, it DESTROYS lifespan. Want Heroes 3 devils? Play Heroes 3... or maybe in my first post I should have included - 'or make a mod that turns H5 into H3 3D'.

more lifespan=good. variety=more lifespan.

do the math.

Where is the math? I see no math in this issue. More variety != more lifespan 100% of the time. If it did, then everyone would cheat, hack, crack, mod every game out there, whether they were modable or not.

However, being modable does make a game more enjoyable (vis a vis Half-Life), for most people. Breaking the games mechanics (make the glock one-shot-kill, every other gun stays the same) destroys that enjoyment.

You... do the math.

[theLuckyDragon]

Who says there currently is balance in the stats, so that it may be "broken" by this mod?

[Wolfshanze]

Breaking the games mechanics

I love your use of that term... so please explain what makes you an expert on what is "breaking" the game mechanics, and what is a useful mod?

Maybe it's my opinion that the game mechanics as-is is currently "broken" concerning the Devil's speed. What makes you a better expert then me or anybody else? Did you go to Devil-U or something? Did you major on proper game balance in college?

Just because a game company put something out doesn't necessarily mean it's the best it could be... and certainly not in everyone's opinion. The purpose of a mod is to make a game specifically good to individual desires. I've seen plenty of games that were messed-up out of the box and improved by the user community after release.

Why not back up your reasons without using such big fluff-words like "broken game mechanics"... that's a totally opinionated phrase and means absolutely NOTHING in proving your point.

Why not convince us why YOUR opinion on how Joe Schmoe should enjoy his game is more important then Joe Schmoe's opinion. Then maybe we can progress from there. We're waiting...

[Vision]

What creature in the game (without mods) can move anywhere on the battlefield? none

What creature in the game (without mods) can move anywhere on the battlefield without worrying about obstructions? none

What creature with a speed of ... hell, no creatures can move the entire battlefield in one turn.

By entire battlefield, I mean lower left to upper right corners, or equivalent.

The fact that Devils can, Summon Pit Fiends and Gate more devils is why their init AND movement are low. By giving them the ability to teleport anywhere, this mod would make them 'broken'.

People make mods because they want to do something of their own to the games engine (see Half-Life).

People making mods in the very early life of a game do so because they dont like what the developers did, and think their ideas are better or more worthy. Hence, the Treant mod, the "female knight" mod, the "OMGWTF INQUISITOR IS GONE!! YAAY!" mod that is being looked at, the gargoyle "i am no longer a jukebox, now I am a stone imp" mod, etc.

I am not against mods. I am against people whining and moaning about crap... and I know that people will say "Hippocrit!" because I am doing exactly that... but this isnt whining. This is straight out fact-stating and kicking people who are whining about the game in the teeth.

So flame me if you want. Attack me, agree, disagree, I dont care. Making Devils teleport across the entire screen is stupid.

[theGryphon]

Wow, lets break the game by introducing a game-breaking feature that people (who love to whine, *****, moan, and complain about EVERY-GODDAMN-THING) think should be in the game.

The creature skills are set the way they are because, duh, it is balanced. Devils can teleport anywhere now? What are you going to do next, make it so that Angels fly anywhere? How about just uninstalling and going back to the old and outdated H3, because that is what you -REALLY- want.

Why are you posting here anyway? If you don't like the idea just stay away. What's your business with somebody else modding his private copy? Why bash? Why flame? You think you're omniscient but you're not...

[Dublex]

Wow, lets break the game by introducing a game-breaking feature that people (who love to whine, *****, moan, and complain about EVERY-GODDAMN-THING) think should be in the game.

The creature skills are set the way they are because, duh, it is balanced. Devils can teleport anywhere now? What are you going to do next, make it so that Angels fly anywhere? How about just uninstalling and going back to the old and outdated H3, because that is what you -REALLY- want.

Wow... I'm glad YOU have personal opinion how EVERYONE ELSE plays THEIR game.

This is a MOD... not an official patch. If you don't like it... guess what... don't use it! What's it to you if Johny plays with the patch or not?!?! Are you to determine what everyone else plays?

As for "duh, it's balanced"... I guess that's why Nival themselves have already announced that the first patch is to fix the game because... well... it's NOT balanced. Won't there be egg on your face if the official patch increases the speed of Devils for balance reasons!

Also, H3 and H4 before had Devils teleporting all over the place and nobody complained about that before. It sure was balanced in those games.

Chill guy... if somebody other then you wants to play in a differant way, what gives YOU the moral right to decide what someone else likes?

Come on folks... RELAX!

True, but its also entirely possible that Nival did intend Heroes V devils to have a different flavour as it were which is why they took away the teleport everywhere ability. I would suggest we all wait until the patch before flying off the handle one way or another.

[Wolfshanze]

True, but its also entirely possible that Nival did intend Heroes V devils to have a different flavour as it were which is why they took away the teleport everywhere ability. I would suggest we all wait until the patch before flying off the handle one way or another.

That's a much NICER way of saying it then trolling and flaming like vision.

Anyways, there's two thoughts to answer your statement.

1) Nival is not infallible. Believe it or not, game companies CAN make mistakes (referance HOMM4, where user mods outshined what the game company could do).

2) This is a MOD... not an official patch. If you don't like it, don't use it! What makes ANYONE a better decider how somebody else enjoys their own private copy of the game?

[Vision]

Why are you posting here anyway? If you don't like the idea just stay away. What's your business with somebody else modding his private copy? Why bash? Why flame? You think you're omniscient but you're not...

He can mod his private copy all he goddamn wants. Other people can download it all they goddamn want.


And for those of you who wanted it to begin with... here is a link to it. 1 file, 2 xdb files in the archive, movement upped to 11.

http://www.strategybox.com/devilmod.zip

So you see, I am not a full-out jerk. I just dont like the stupidity that comes with making mods for a single thing (when nothing else has that kind of movement)

edit: extract to your Heroes 5/Data folder

[Ethric]

I am against people whining and moaning about crap... and I know that people will say "Hippocrit!" because I am doing exactly that... but this isnt whining. This is straight out fact-stating and kicking people who are whining about the game in the teeth.

Yeah, and you're way out of line. So state your opinions without the kicking and screaming, or don't state them at all.

[Arzang]

The creature skills are set the way they are because, duh, it is balanced.

I interpreted that sentence wrongly.

vision; after reading the other things you have written it seems like I can't disagree with you too much. I thought you meant that Nival alone can determine balance.

but you didn't.

as a side note:

is more movement the only thing devils need to be balanced? I like the teleport feat but is that really enough alone?

and I really think that people who want to mod for balance should wait until patches come with less regular intervals. in fact; if there ever should be a balance mod it should be like equilibris. that's one hell of a mod.

[Vision]

The creature skills are set the way they are because, duh, it is balanced.

I interpreted that sentence wrongly.

vision; after reading the other things you have written it seems like I can't disagree with you too much. I thought you meant that Nival alone can determine balance.

but you didn't.

as a side note:

is more movement the only thing devils need to be balanced? I like the teleport feat but is that really enough alone?

Thank you.

and I really think that people who want to mod for balance should wait until patches come with less regular intervals. in fact; if there ever should be a balance mod it should be like equilibris. that's one hell of a mod.

THAT was my point exactly! If you want to mod devils to move anywhere, then mod EVERY creature (and that is why I said just make it "H3 3D")

In any event, I did the mod for the speed increase, its up for DL, and it works (for me). The mod isnt too hard, as the files are XML and very easy to read (if you program for a living or know XML/HTML at all)

[Vision]

Also, H3 and H4 before had Devils teleporting all over the place and nobody complained about that before. It sure was balanced in those games.

I missed this reply... but I have to interject (yet again)

In Heroes 3 (and 4 I suppose...), Devils teleported all over.... yeah.

In H3, Angels flew everywhere, and could get to that one hex that devils couldnt... but both owned the entire battlemap (for the most part). There is NO creature that does that in H5.

In H5, again, no creature can make it to the other corner in one turn. Emerald and Black dragons, being the fastest in the game (for hireable from town creatures), cant even move the entire battlefield in one turn. They have speed 9, and can however attack a "large" creature directly opposite them (or within 2 hexes I -think-). So, this is why I said you would have to change all the creatures, because you would.

[Paradox]

I dunno what all the fuss is about, if he wants his devils to move the entire map, so what, so what if it's imbalanced? the AI cheats anyway, if he wants to play offline against the AI and have devils moving the entire battle map..thats up to him, i dont get why you made such a big deal over it?