Which town has the best graphics?

[Mirez]

ask in the modding section if it's possible
I don't think it'll improve the loading times that much though

[Ohma]

This ain't H1 and there are alternative ways to buy creatures and that method is always usable. There is no way to make it useless.
In fact, H5 has all needed functions in its interface which makes adding buildings to the town only for estatic reasons. There was no reason to include building-clicking in first place.

So...if the town view serves no purpose other than to look good, why do we need it? I'd rather have a more straightforward menu interface (with buttons that I didn't have to point out to friends playing with me) than a pointless rendering of the town that doesn't show me any useful information, or allow me to easily access things within said town.

And for future reference it's aesthetic not estatic.

[Mlai]

We need 3D towns for the same reason we need 3D overmaps and 3D battlefields.

[Bandobras Took]

So...if the town view serves no purpose other than to look good, why do we need it? I'd rather have a more straightforward menu interface (with buttons that I didn't have to point out to friends playing with me) than a pointless rendering of the town that doesn't show me any useful information, or allow me to easily access things within said town.

And for future reference it's aesthetic not estatic.

Er . . . so those big buttons on the lower right and left hand corners of the town screen mean nothing to your friends? Are you sure they should be playing strategy games?

Precisely which buttons were causing all the confusion?

[Metathron]

If stopping the city rotation makes the city screen load faster, I'd support having an option in the menus that turns off cinematic city rotation.

Doesn't unchecking Fly-by Town Camera in Options ---> Video & Audio achieve just that?

[Akul]

We need 3D towns for the same reason we need 3D overmaps and 3D battlefields.

Just what I wanted to say

[Mirez]

srry dubble post

[Mirez]

I play the map with old homm vieuw
though I love the 3d fights (especially after the sharpness mod)
I love the 3d towns aswell

[Ohma]

Er . . . so those big buttons on the lower right and left hand corners of the town screen mean nothing to your friends? Are you sure they should be playing strategy games?

Precisely which buttons were causing all the confusion?

They aren't all that big once your resolution passes 1024x768. Though the more pertanant problem is just that the buttons aren't particularly informative. Why would you expect someone to understand that clicking on a helmet lets them buy creatures? Or that the button with the burger king guy on it lets you look at a heroe's stats? Or that that other button with a helmet on it lets you upgrade creatures? Sure if you've played other HoMM games or feel like looking this stuff up in the manual you figure this stuff out, but this could've been made much simpler by:

1. having the buttons be text instead of icons (where appropriate, up and down arrows would still be arrows) and generally have the interface give you more useful information without you looking for it.

2. Having the town view screen be set up more like the other games in the series. With everything on screen and identifiable. Yeah yeah, then Nival woudn't have been making full use of their 3D engine and all that, but telling my friends to "click on the castle" to hire creatures rather than "click on the helmet button in the lower right corner" would've been much easier for me and most of all them.

[Bandobras Took]

They aren't all that big once your resolution passes 1024x768.

I play at 1600x1200.

Though the more pertinent problem is just that the buttons aren't particularly informative. Why would you expect someone to understand that clicking on a helmet lets them buy creatures?

That could be part of the problem. The bag of gold lets you by creatures. The helm is for upgrading creatures.

Or that the button with the burger king guy on it lets you look at a heroe's stats? Or that that other button with a helmet on it lets you upgrade creatures?

Reasonably intuitive to me.

Sure if you've played other HoMM games or feel like looking this stuff up in the manual you figure this stuff out, but this could've been made much simpler by:

Don't give the manual too much credit.

1. having the buttons be text instead of icons (where appropriate, up and down arrows would still be arrows)

That's what right-click/tooltips are for.

And generally have the interface give you more useful information without you looking for it.

That results in a clunky interface. Lingering tooltips/multiple right clicks is the balance point, IMO.

2. Having the town view screen be set up more like the other games in the series. With everything on screen and identifiable. Yeah yeah, then Nival woudn't have been making full use of their 3D engine and all that, but telling my friends to "click on the castle" to hire creatures rather than "click on the helmet button in the lower right corner" would've been much easier for me and most of all them.

Heroes IV had precisely the setup you describe, and the towns of that game are indisputably the most boring, bland, artificial, tasteless things across all five titles. Heroes 1 and 2 didn't even have a castle screen for hiring all the troops at once. You could view weekly growth by clicking on the Well in II, but that was it. The Heroes Town screens have from the first title been more about graphics and animations in the name of atmosphere than they have ever been about communicating loads of text information. To discount that tradition would sadden me greatly.

[Ohma]

I play at 1600x1200.

Good for you.

That could be part of the problem. The bag of gold lets you by creatures. The helm is for upgrading creatures.

Fine, whatever, that doesn't change the fact that unless you know that you can buy and upgrade creatures ect., that those buttons aren't very informative (and HoMMV is by no means the only or worst offender when it comes to this, I can list numerous games where a button with a picture of something *completley* incomprehensible has concealed something highly useful).

Reasonably intuitive to me.

Good for you.

Don't give the manual too much credit.

Believe me, I don't. ;p

That's what right-click/tooltips are for.

And that's perfectly fine for the less abstract buttons (eg. the "raise/lower number of creatures to hire" arrows, the money bag or check mark to actually confirm building or hiring something) but why not just have a button labeled "creatures" or "upgrade" or "hero screen" instead of trying to represent those concepts visually with a little 20x20 icon?

That results in a clunky interface. Lingering tooltips/multiple right clicks is the balance point, IMO.

See above.

Heroes IV had precisely the setup you describe, and the towns of that game are indisputably the most boring, bland, artificial, tasteless things across all five titles. Heroes 1 and 2 didn't even have a castle screen for hiring all the troops at once. You could view weekly growth by clicking on the Well in II, but that was it. The Heroes Town screens have from the first title been more about graphics and animations in the name of atmosphere than they have ever been about communicating loads of text information. To discount that tradition would sadden me greatly.

You could view weekly creature growth in 1 as well. However you for some reason completly skipped 3, which had everything I've mentioned and unlike 4, looked good.

I'm not saying "ooh, shiny graphics are teh suxxorz111 everything needs to be ASCII111" I *am* saying that I feel that the town interface in HoMM 3 struck a better balance between looks and functionality.

[Bandobras Took]

Good for you.

I'm glad you approve.