Heroes V Legends of the Ancients

Maps and the art of mapmaking.
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vicheron
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Unread postby vicheron » 23 Dec 2006, 02:51

I hope the storyline will be unconventional like the Heroes 4 campaigns. I think Gauldoth would be smart enough to suppress the demon population after setting up a sufficiently large human and undead army. The Kreegans should definitely come up with a more creative plan for conquest.

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Pitsu
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Unread postby Pitsu » 24 Dec 2006, 00:37

Marzhin wrote:@ evilp : no, it's just good old textboxes.
I think also stationary "cutscenes" can be added if necessary. Animations are a pain to do AFAIK, but using the cutscene screen you can add map views or with some additional effort any image you wish. I have not played with the sound part, but a sample what kind of screens you can call up during the game:
http://www.celestialheavens.com/admin/pitsu/scene2.JPG

The image is slightly bended as you see. It can be made better, but not sure if I am skilled enough :p. Bad fit into the window is just because it is only a proof of principle screenshot.
Avatar image credit: N Lüdimois

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Marzhin
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Unread postby Marzhin » 03 Jan 2007, 10:17

Pitsu wrote:
Marzhin wrote:@ evilp : no, it's just good old textboxes.
I think also stationary "cutscenes" can be added if necessary. Animations are a pain to do AFAIK, but using the cutscene screen you can add map views or with some additional effort any image you wish. I have not played with the sound part, but a sample what kind of screens you can call up during the game:
http://www.celestialheavens.com/admin/pitsu/scene2.JPG

The image is slightly bended as you see. It can be made better, but not sure if I am skilled enough :p. Bad fit into the window is just because it is only a proof of principle screenshot.
That's very interesting. I may have use for this, to make opening and closing "movies" for each "book". Thanks Pitsu ;)

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Akul
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Unread postby Akul » 06 Jan 2007, 17:44

-Gauldoth - he seems a bit... young. In the story he felt/was drawn as someone older and with longer hair. Someone in his stair does not seem to care if he looks younger when he looks horrible.

-Lord Lysander - shoudn't he be calld King Lysander or does he still has his I-am-not-King policy tough he found out that he has Griffins blood in him?

-Potraits look fabulous
I am back and ready to... ready to... post things.


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Marzhin
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Unread postby Marzhin » 08 Jan 2007, 10:46

Can't see your screenshots, when I click on the link it only displays www.heroworld.net, but I see what you mean.

I will indeed use effects on the map but only if it is justified by story.

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Marzhin
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Unread postby Marzhin » 09 May 2007, 09:19

Rather than staying idle now that Book 1 is done and will be released soon ™ (as soon as Nival get the HoF version of the campaign editor out of their ***...), I am hard at work on Book 2. It is fully written and in proofreading. It will be 4 maps long and for the moment the first 2 maps are done.

A few "work in progress" pictures of some of the characters. The portraits are "under production" as I speak (now that sounds serious :))

Image

Harke is back six years after the end of "Elwin and Shaera"... Based on Thralsai. I love putting graphical stuff from previous MM games in my skins, so you may recognize his shield from MM6 or 7.

ImageImage

Thalia, a new character, is based on Ylaya from HoF. I modified her skin a lot, trying to give her an "egyptian queen" feel.

Image

He's big, he's black-furred, he's a powerful and dangerous geomancer : Darkstorm is back and ready to kick some elven butt. I still have to modify his axes and a few things here and there (the horns are too white, and so on). The body markings were inspired by the Sunners in the comics "Wasteland". He kinda invited himself in the story after Jean-Mathias (the friend who is drawing the portraits) insisted on drawing minotaurs :)

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Marzhin
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Unread postby Marzhin » 14 May 2007, 09:50

In LotA you will encounter "map-specific" variations of existing towns which are for scenario use only as they are unbalanced. Here two examples :

The "Pirate Haven", with a line-up of various creatures including gremlins gunners, blade-dancers and dwarf brawlers...

ImageImageImage

The "Chedian Haven" where the Chedian units (modified from HoF renegades) can be recruited.

ImageImageImage

I'm trying to change the music in the town screen for those special towns, but it seems the music is defined in the Reference tables so you can't change it on a specific town without changing the music for all haven towns. If somebody knows how to do it...

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Marzhin
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Unread postby Marzhin » 15 May 2007, 08:38

A very, very special town... :) The background is not finished yet, but it gives you a good idea of what I'm aiming at :)

ImageImageImage

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arturchix
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Unread postby arturchix » 15 May 2007, 09:48

Wow, it looks absolutely awesome! I can't wait for it, especially the underwater town. :-D

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Pitsu
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Unread postby Pitsu » 15 May 2007, 17:48

Eh, will anyone recognize this "campaign" as H5 when it cones out. Looks more like a completely other game.

I am confused how the rogue haven town skeleton was modified. Is there a method to actually insert your own models?

Marzhin wrote: I'm trying to change the music in the town screen for those special towns, but it seems the music is defined in the Reference tables so you can't change it on a specific town without changing the music for all haven towns. If somebody knows how to do it...
Yes, it looks like the music is defined by the town type. At least in standart game, there are also TOWN_NO_TYPE and TOWN_SPECIAL which one could perhaps use to define a completely new race (or town type). It needs mod overwriting several reference tables though, as some important links for these types are missing and have to be added. I did get my own music playing in an academy/haven chimerae, but the game crashed when tried to build a structure. So, I lack experimental evidence whether it is possible to add a new race with fully functional and customized castle or not.

But anyway, Keep up the good work!!!!
Avatar image credit: N Lüdimois

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Marzhin
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Unread postby Marzhin » 16 May 2007, 09:11

Pitsu wrote:Eh, will anyone recognize this "campaign" as H5 when it cones out. Looks more like a completely other game.
Err I haven't changed that many things... Mainly a few visuals here and there. gameplay-wise, it's 100% H5 :)
Pitsu wrote:I am confused how the rogue haven town skeleton was modified. Is there a method to actually insert your own models?
I haven't modified the skeletons. I just switched the skydomes and changed the ambient lights, removed the fog and a few spcial effects (pigeons in the underwater towns for instance :)).
Pitsu wrote:
Marzhin wrote: I'm trying to change the music in the town screen for those special towns, but it seems the music is defined in the Reference tables so you can't change it on a specific town without changing the music for all haven towns. If somebody knows how to do it...
Yes, it looks like the music is defined by the town type. At least in standart game, there are also TOWN_NO_TYPE and TOWN_SPECIAL which one could perhaps use to define a completely new race (or town type). It needs mod overwriting several reference tables though, as some important links for these types are missing and have to be added. I did get my own music playing in an academy/haven chimerae, but the game crashed when tried to build a structure. So, I lack experimental evidence whether it is possible to add a new race with fully functional and customized castle or not.
Yep all my tries in this direction ended up in the game crashing. The best I managed was the game not crashing but the UI disappearing when I try to click on anything on the town screen.
Pitsu wrote:But anyway, Keep up the good work!!!!
That's the plan :)

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Marzhin
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Unread postby Marzhin » 31 May 2007, 09:03

Another pic of the underwater town with reworked background.

Image

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Marzhin
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Unread postby Marzhin » 10 Jul 2007, 08:38

A quick update on the release dates of the various Books :devil:

Legends of the Ancients Book 1 : Fires from the North will be released next week. Yay ! (for Hammers of Fate)

Book 2 : The Sunken Kingdom will be released in September. (for Hammers of Fate)

Book 3 : Demons and Wonders will be released this fall, after the release of Tribes of the East. The Chedian setting could do with some orcs :)

Book 4 : Heirs of the Dead will be released in spring 2008. (for Tribes of the East)

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arturchix
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Unread postby arturchix » 10 Jul 2007, 16:24

That's great news! :)

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Kareeah Indaga
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Unread postby Kareeah Indaga » 10 Jul 2007, 16:33

Woot! :-D

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Elvin
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Unread postby Elvin » 10 Jul 2007, 17:16

I was out of the picture for some time, glad to learn that the release is close and that the other books will follow soon :hoo: I always enjoy a good campaign and this seems most promising!
I, for one, am dying to find out what colour they paint Michael's toenails.
- Metathron

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Orfinn
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Unread postby Orfinn » 10 Jul 2007, 17:23

Bring on tha' mead and salty pork!!! :-D

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Metal Wolf
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Unread postby Metal Wolf » 26 Jul 2007, 06:56

Ok.. Ive been playing LOTA for a couple of days now.

Just wanted to say to the creator/s of these camaigns - very good job!
I think that the best thing about it is the design and the look of the maps - easy to notice that every single tile was well-thought beforehand... It just makes me want to explore the map and to enjoy its beauty, without even thinking about the objectives.

tumorbane
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Unread postby tumorbane » 08 Aug 2007, 18:29

Great job so far....enjoying it very much. Only have encountered one minor bug. In the mission where you give the bag of endless gold to a seer's hut, it stayed in my inventory after doing so. That wasn't a bad thing for me obviously, but I'm not sure if it was intentional.


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