Twitch stream transcript 10/16/14

The game Might & Magic: Heroes VII, developed by Limbic Entertainment.
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Twitch stream transcript 10/16/14

Unread postby gourley4p » 17 Oct 2014, 13:45

Hi all,

I pulled some of the juicy bits out of the Twitch stream from 10/16/14. This is not a word-for-word transcription. It covers the highlights.

Feel free to reproduce or copy this as you wish.

Time (approx.) Detail
?:?? No 3D towns because of budgetary limits

?:?? Governor system for towns returns. You can assign one hero per
town (and one town per hero) to be Governor. That hero can provide bonuses to the town. It will be possible to build a hero to be a good Governor.

25:00 No constant online requirement. Connect once for activation and then you can play offline as much as you want. As a result, Dynasty will go away.

27:30 Area of control is not the same as VI. You can control forts to control an area, but it works differently.

28:45 Forts return, but attacking them destroys them. You can rebuild them to control the area.

36:00 You can create choke points to control a map by destroying bridges.

38:51 Static Discharge spell: Buff that does AOE damage to adjacent units at the start of the target's turn

39:05 Early in development, they had a "no retaliation" rule when attacking from behind, but they changed it to increased damage because it was over powered.

40:45 Sorcerer's Apprentices are Elite Units in Academy. The basic version has a piercing shot. The upgraded version has AOE nova attack.

40:55 Fog of war confirmed. Class style, like V or VI.

43:35 The map editor available to players will be the same as the developer tools.

45:40 We will not see single bosses like in VI, but we will see scripted special encounters.

46:30 No random skill system at the moment, but they are discussing internally adding it as an optional setting.

48:25 Modding kits a possibility but not confirmed

50:50 VII will mark the return of spell books and the "spell hunt." Various sources will give spells. Mage Guild returns up to level 4. Each faction has preferred and forbidden schools. Developers are considering allowing school specialization within boundaries to allow players freedom that the Mage Guild they build gives the types spells they want.

57:30 Cabir (Academy Core unit) = Gremlin. They are immune to fire and can repair constructs.

58:00 Detailed look at spells. All were in past games except for Static Discharge.

59:45 Ability to speed up combat animations confirmed

1:00:00 Negative morale will have serious consequences again. The enemy AI stacks suffered a morale debuff when a fellow stack was destroyed.

1:03:00 Expect more Twitch demos throughout development.

1:05:30 We will not receive information on possible lineups for Dungeon or Inferno before the vote to pick a faction ends. When the winner is announced, we will get three unit lineups and vote to eliminate one. Then we will vote for the winner of the two remaining. If Dungeon wins, expect minotaur in every lineup. If Inferno wins, expect succubus in every lineup.

1:09:30 It is possible to destroy part of your own town (down one level per turn). You might do so to change Champion creature selection or to reduce a captured town you will soon lose or to recoup some resources (requires hero skill that needs balancing in play testing).

1:10:50 Hot seat multiplayer confirmed.

1:13:20 You can build battle maps of various sizes and crowded with obstacles or empty.

1:14:05 Golem Academy unit spotted. Name was obscure by links and logos when I watched the replay.

1:14:50 Magic Bird/Arcane Bird Academy Champion unit names are not final

1:17:25 Expect a chance to vote on some of the contents of the retail box.

1:18:30 No conversion of towns. Developers feel this does not create a disadvantage for any particular faction but specifically removes an unbalanced mechanic that too heavily rewards conquering towns (enemy loses town while victor gains exactly the town needed).

1:24:10 On the MMH7 website, you can do the Konami code (Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A) while veiwing a unit page to make that unit show off the funny animation. This may confirm funny animations for idle units in combat.

1:26:50 Reputation system (Tears/Blood) gone because it forced a player to limit behavior to maximize, and the rewards were not big enough.

1:27:50 Nagas (Sanctuary) to return if sales support expansions/DLC. The dream is to have all nine factions.

1:29:35 Nods (Easter eggs) to old games in the form of names of weeks possible, but no science fiction elements will come into the game.

1:31:15 Lighting, seasons, and weather effects are for story purposes and decoration only. They will not impact gameplay except when scripted.

1:33:00 AI will not flee at the start of combat when outmatched but might surrender.

1:34:15 Heroes will have specializations, but only main characters will have unique skills.

1:34:50 Initiative will work like in VI. The Hero can act once per round any time one of his stacks can act.

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Re: Twitch stream transcript 10/16/14

Unread postby mr.hackcrag » 17 Oct 2014, 16:05

gourley4p wrote: 1:24:10 On the MMH7 website, you can do the Konami code (Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A) while veiwing a unit page to make that unit show off the funny animation. This may confirm funny animations for idle units in combat.
.
I couldn't get that to work. :(

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Re: Twitch stream transcript 10/16/14

Unread postby gourley4p » 17 Oct 2014, 17:30

mr.hackcrag wrote: I couldn't get that to work. :(
It worked better on some than others. Basically, the page refreshes and loads a different file (maybe a .swf).

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Unread postby cjlee » 29 Oct 2014, 16:11

As one of the most pessimistic people on Heroes VI, I can’t but help feel very happy to read this interview. It seems they have learned from the last debacle indeed.

The following really appear to be logical improvements. 3DO never did them, but it makes sense. So Ubisoft is genuinely changing the game and making it evolve, without being so radically different that we lost many of the things that we liked.

I would suggest going even further, and offering the opportunity to alter several structures on the map. For instance, you could spend money and time sabotaging a mine, leaving it permanently damaged that your enemy has to spend money to rebuild. You could have a pier or dock that could be transformed into shipyards or destroyed leaving a bare pier. These will have substantial impact on game dynamics without altering balance between races or strategies.


28:45 Forts return, but attacking them destroys them. You can rebuild them to control the area.

36:00 You can create choke points to control a map by destroying bridges.

38:51 Static Discharge spell: Buff that does AOE damage to adjacent units at the start of the target's turn

39:05 Early in development, they had a "no retaliation" rule when attacking from behind, but they changed it to increased damage because it was over powered.


1:00:00 Negative morale will have serious consequences again. The enemy AI stacks suffered a morale debuff when a fellow stack was destroyed.



The following I am not so optimistic on. Why level 4 rather than 5 levels like in previous heroes games? We are familiar with the various spells at each level; changing these won't greatly enhance the game and may mess with balance eg it would make a huge difference which level spells like Town Gate, Fly, Dimension Door, Forgetfulness, Armageddon, Meteor Shower, Raise Dead, Regeneration, AntiMagic are assigned.


50:50 VII will mark the return of spell books and the "spell hunt." Various sources will give spells. Mage Guild returns up to level 4. Each faction has preferred and forbidden schools. Developers are considering allowing school specialization within boundaries to allow players freedom that the Mage Guild they build gives the types spells they want.

I believe the following can enjoy racial bonuses. For instance, ‘evil’ races may find it easy to destroy but hard to rebuild. ‘Good’ races may find it easier to build. ‘Neutral’ races will have demolition and reconstruction costs balanced.

1:09:30 It is possible to destroy part of your own town (down one level per turn). You might do so to change Champion creature selection or to reduce a captured town you will soon lose or to recoup some resources (requires hero skill that needs balancing in play testing).

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Unread postby Kalah » 29 Oct 2014, 22:07

Nice thread. :)
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Unread postby Panda Tar » 30 Oct 2014, 12:28

Map Control is a good addition/rework in this version. In H6 was one of the things that mostly made the game, in my view, dull, repetitive, easy and lacking strategy. I'm glad that there will be caravans and that they can be stopped/attacked in tour – instead of Town Portalling here and there at will.

All these build and destroy features are also a good point which pleases me, very similar to Age of Wonders features that I also liked, such as building roads, forts, watch towers. The fact that there will have more interactive points around the map is a nice feeling, it makes you busier than just exploring and forgetting everything already explored or leaving places to never return.
"There’s nothing to fear but fear itself and maybe some mild to moderate jellification of bones." Cave Johnson, Portal 2. :panda:

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Unread postby gourley4p » 23 May 2015, 15:16

Notes from the Twitch stream on 21 May 2015.

Link to Google Sheet

Time (approx.) Topic Detail
:10 Designers Xavier Penin (Game Designer) and Julien Pirou (Writer and Game Designer)
:34 Trailer Showed the beta announcement trailer
2:02 Beta Beta features 2 skirmish maps, Haven & Academy factions with all heroes, solo or multiplayer gameplay (hotseat for beta confirmed at 3:54)
2:40 Beta Beta menu contains a link that leads to a forum where testers can give feedback
3:10 Beta The beta build in the stream is a little behind the version testers will get Monday, so it is a rougher version with different bugs
3:50 Maps Map #1 - The Dried Lands: 4 players, Big size; visible description: Made possible by Titan workers, the great dam of Al-Sadd is one the great achievements of the Wizards House of Materia. Its construction--and the subsequent drying of the southern valleys--revealed mysterious ruins
3:50 Maps Map #2 - Bad neighbors: 2 players, Small broad size; visible description: Enough is enough! This time your neighbor has gone too far, and you going to teach him a lesson. Of course, he claims you are the one who is always provoking him and looking for a fight, but you know who is right and who is
4:00 Maps Options: Human/PC, Color flag, Position, Team, Faction, Hero, Bonus, Status
4:00 Game Settings Turn Type, Forced Quick Combat, Skill Type [open or random], Team can trade, Difficulty, Adventure Map TImer, Combat Map Timer
4:17 Haven Visible heroes: Amilcar, Edric, Ella, Krystoff, Mellisande, Orna, Serguei, Tyris, Wilhelm
4:30 Academy Visible heroes: Aali, Asad, Gloria, Johari, Masfar, Minalsi, Myrim
5:06 Week of Conscription [note: many others appeared, but I did not record them]
5:15 Haven Townscreen: Latest version has a 2D watercolor look with several animations, including flying birds, running water, drifting clouds, puffing smoke, and moving shadows from clouds offscreen
5:27 Hall of Heroes See the Hall of Heroes at this time in the stream
5:27 Haven Serguei (Vindicator) stats: Might 8, Defense 2, Damage 21-24 might, Magic 1, Spirit 1, Mana 10, Leadership 15, Destiny 5, Movement 22
5:30 Haven Wilhelm (Inquisitor) stats: Might 1, Defense 2, Damage 21-24 fire, Magic 3, Spirit 4, Mana 40, Leadership 15, Destiny 5, Movement 22
5:42 Governor Specific abilities benefit governors, but players get some benefit even for untrained governors
6:05 Heroes Series Julien: "Heroes IV had a lot of great ideas, actually." [in reference to Governor system]
6:48 Troops You now can have heroes without any troop stacks
7:35 Skills Random skills ON: At level up, players get a choice among 2 skills and 2 abilities available to that hero's class. In the stream, the text for the choices was missing from the UI
7:55 Skills Heroes can have up to 5 skills. Skills unlock abilities.
8:35 AI The AI in the stream is playing at the slowest pace possible, as slow as humans. They promise it will be faster later.
9:59 Haven Tyris (Paladin) level 2 stats (with some map buffs): Might 2, Defense 7 (4 was the starting value), Damage 22-27 might, Magic 1, Spirit 1, Mana 10, Leadership 20 (10 was base value), Destiny 10, Movement 22
9:59 Mana Regen Spirit * 2 to Spirit * 10
9:59 Movement Cost +50% on rough terrain, -50% on roads
9:59 Hero Screen 8 artefact slots, 20 inventory slots, 7 troop stack slots, 3 warfare slots
11:24 Skills See the skill wheel [it's a pie] at this time in the stream
11:35 Beta You are allowed to stream footage, upload videos, and share screenshots of beta
12:20 Governor As Governor, Tyris doubles base cavalier/curassier growth
13:13 Combat Hero melee attack animation is waving the hand like in VI instead of riding by on the mount like in V
13:20 Combat Leadership triggers an extra turn for dire wolves
13:30 Combat Destiny triggers critical damage for dire wolves
14:20 Flanking Dire wolves had damage * .49 vs. sentinel front, but another sentinel later had damage * 1.35 flanking from behind or damage * 1.13 flanking from the side or damage * .9 flanking from the front.
14:55 Flanking Flanking originally prevented retaliation, but the developers found this to be overpowered and removed it. [but the flanked stack did not retaliate in the stream]
15:38 Music Battle music; Some old, some new. Plays randomly, but it is possible beta will not feature all music
16:15 UI Xavier was unsure if grid can be hidden in combat. [Ubi-Moshi said in chat that is can be hidden]
17:30 Development Q: Are all elements final? A: Nothing is completely finished. Julien said he thought the lights were too bright on the map they were playing and needed to be adjusted.
17:55 Simturn The choice for simultaneous turns should be there for beta
18:30 Town Screen Q: Is it possible to click on buildings in the town screen to open them? A: Yes
19:10 Town Screen Town trees differ by faction. For instance the Academy Mage Guild is straightfoward while others have prerequisites to unlock Mage Guide. Haven has 2 Core unit structures at level 1 but others might have only 1 Core unit structure.
19:40 Town Screen Recruit All button allows to buy all available troops as in previous games
20:03 Combat Q: Funny idle actions? A: Yes
20:40 Troops See a neutral gryphon stack at this time in the stream
21:28 Factions Q: Will we get other factions in DLC/expansions? A: No current plans for DLC. Concentrating on base game for now
22:20 Mage Guild Each town's Mage Guild allows players to choose a specialty element. Get at least one spell from the specialty school at each Mage Guild Level. Faction also can give another guaranteed element.
23:00 Spells Confimation [again] that we can learn spells from shrines
23:25 Troops Q: Since Arcane bird is made of magic, is it magic resistant. A: Yes
23:49 Collector's Edition See the Ivan statue at this time in the stream
24:12 Collector's Edition See the CE box at this time in the stream
25:44 Academy Town screen animations: floating magic duct and flowing water
26:10 Academy Minasli is a Disciple of Water (+6 when casting water spells)
27:12 Skills Xavier had to spend a point on Expert Water Magic (skill) to unlock the abilities.
27:25 Troops Q: Will there be epic monsters such as the crystal dragon? A: No real answer except to say elementals and cool new ones. Xavier: "Champion neutrals tend to be pretty badass. [it also sounded like they mentioned a changeling that is deceptively powerful]
28:35 Multiplayer Q: Will we have to open certain ports for multiplayer. A: Multiplayer uses port forwarding.
29:15 MMX Julien said the gratitude for MMX really warms his heart
30:20 Skills Metagic - Novice: Increase spell duration by X; Expert: Increase spell duratin by X [presumably bigger than Novice]; Master: Ultimate ability of Clarity gives 50% chance to gain second action when casting spells
31:33 Town Screen Q: Why no 3D town screens? A: 3D town screens accounted for 50% of the art budget for Heroes V. The developers decided it wasn't worth the expense for something players look at a couple of times before using the menus to perform all functions
33:58 Development Q: Release date? A: Firm September 2015
34:09 Academy Gloria (Blademage) stats: Might 2, Defense 2, Damage 21-24 might, Magic 2, Spirit 3, Mana 30, Leadership 5, Destiny 10, Movement 22
34:14 Academy Johari (Battlemage) stats: Might 2, Defense 0, Damage 21-24 air, Magic 3, Spirit 6, Mana 60, Leadership 5, Destiny 10, Movement 22
35:10 Development MMHVII will have more text than MMX
35:25 Random Maps Q: Will MMHVII have RMG? A: Very complicated [which sounds like a no]
35:55 Map Editor Expect a couple more Twitch streams, with at least one dedicated to the map editor and tools in August
36:25 Development Q: Why only 30 hero levels? A: Classic and it seems like enough. Adventure map buildings will allow heroes to learn more skills and abilities than the 30 points you get leveling up
37:19 Town Portal Instant Recall [the spell for Town Portal] doesn't work like Heroes VI. Only takes you to the nearest town you own, like in Heroes V.
37:45 Troops Q: Number of creatures you can deploy on the battlefield? A: 7 stacks on hero, but during deployment you can split stacks to have up to 9. [Not clear if this is possible only with Outnumbering ability.]
38:30 Development Q: is it possible to view an ally's battles while you wait for your turn in 2v2 maps? A: Not right now. Xavier: Your opinion might be very interesting.
38:53 Music Q: Is Paul Romero involved in the music again? A: Yes. Rob King and Paul Romero with operatic pieces from Karin Mushegain [from previous titles]
41:50 Development Q: Why are system requirements so high? A: Still optimizing. Can't know the final requirements when you are sitll putting things in the game
42:30 Artefacts Sandals of the Blessed: Might +1, Defense + 1, Magic +1, Spirit +1
43:05 Troops Q: Why didn't the gargoyle fly in combat? A: Because it only moved a short distance. It will fly for longer distances.
43:08 Artefacts Sandals of the Blessed appear to be part of a set. DEPRECATED - Crest of Courage, Celestial Shield, White Shield, Regal Armor, Celestial Staff, Sandals of the Blessed, The Blade of Truth, Warden of Winter. Set Bonus: +250 gold/day
43:10 Academy Minasli (Wizard) level 5 stats wearing Sandals of the Blessed artefact: Might 1, Defense 1, Damage 28-36 prime, Magic 6, Spirit 9, Mana 80, Leadership 7, Destiny 8, Movement 23
43:25 Academy Asad (Blademage) stats: Might 2, Defense 2, Damage 21-24 might, Magic 2, Spirit 3, Mana 30, Leadership 15, Destiny 10, Movement 22. Specialty (rakshasas)
43:28 Academy Yasir (Wizard) stats: Might 0, Defense 0, Damage 21-24 prime, Magic 3, Spirit 6, Mana 60, Leadership 7, Destiny 8, Movement 22. Specialty: Delver of the Royal Purse (+250 gold/day)
43:29 Haven Edric (Vidicator) stats: Might 6, Defense 2, Damage 21-24 might, Magic 1, Spirit 1, Mana 10, Leadership 15, Destiny 5, Movement 22. Specialty: (dire wolves)
44:21 Game Settings Q: Can you choose to be a random faciton when you create/play a map? A: Not in beta but in retail
44:37 Inspiration Q: Favorite games? A: Xavier: Tactical RPGs "I wouldn't say Heroes is one of them, but it's the same kind of thing. Tactical battles and everything is story and character deveopment." Julien: Strategy games, RPGs, point and click adventures. He has been playing The Witcher 3.
45:30 Development Q: Is 60 mana too much for a wizard to start with? A: Still tweaking values
46:06 Development Q: How about replacing the die icon for Destiny with a rainbow? A: No real answer [sounds like a no]
46:54 Troops Apprenctice (Academy Elite troop) stats with Minasli as leader: Might 11, Defense 9, half damage at range
47:39 Combat Q: Morale and luck rolls? A: Yes, every time a creature acts. Good morale results in a second turn. Good luck results in critical damage.
49:10 Heroes Series Q: Favorite Heroes game: A: Xavier: V. Julien: II
49:38 Heroes Series Julien: "I think some people will hate me, but I never really liked Heroes III." [His reason was that he liked the colorful cartoon art of II and found III to be bland.]
51:35 Factions Q: Can we see Sylvan or Dungeon? A: Just starting to get the assets for those. Look for them in mid-June.
52:40 AI The AI does not cheat and get free troops. The AI starts with more resources on higher difficulty settings, but it won't get free troops or resources during the game. So no more of defeating a full army of AI only to see it has another one the next day.
53:50 Development Q: Are you able to interact with the environment? A: Mention of the destructible structures on the adventure map and forts
54:57 Troops Q: Are there male druids? A: Julien: "JeremiahEmo, is that you?" Druid troops are female. The heroes can be male or female.
55:38 Troops Q: What is the progress of the Necromancer revamps? A: Still in progress. The lich is very skeletal, not a "meth head. lich"
57:20 Resources Q: Are gold mines worth 1000 gold/day? A: Value is 1000 gold/day in game, but could [not can] be adjusted in the editor
57:32 Maps Q: How many maps at retail? A: Campaigns are huge. We will have Multiplayer and Scenario maps. And the Map Editor. Not 50 or 60, but more than VI outside of the campaign.
58:50 Factions Q: Who is the main antagonist? A: Each campaign is its own story like Heroes IV that can stand alone.
1:00:07 Beta Beta is in English only, but retail will include other languages
1:02:26 Collector's Edition After playing the beta trailer again, Julien showed the Ivan statue a second time and opend up the CE box to show the artwork printed on its inside[/url]

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Unread postby mr.hackcrag » 23 May 2015, 20:46

gourley4p wrote: 14:55 Flanking Flanking originally prevented retaliation, but the developers found this to be overpowered and removed it. [but the flanked stack did not retaliate in the stream]
No retal and double strike have always been one of the best creature abilities in the game and I don't think they should be passing this around to as many units as they have been - especially when they aren't changing the retaliation battle mechanics. There's even spells that give these abilities.

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Unread postby Darkström » 26 May 2015, 11:53

I'll just put this here because it stood out to me when watching the video.

I was hoping that the town screens they showed on the blog were just concept art - because they totally look like concept art. But unless it's still work in progress, they seem to be the final thing. Ugh.

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Unread postby gourley4p » 27 May 2015, 02:13

I thought the town screens looked much better in the stream than the concepts presented on the Shadow Council. The moving parts really brought it to life for me.

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Unread postby Galaad » 27 May 2015, 06:21

My 9yo niece could draw better town screens.

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Unread postby ThunderTitan » 04 Jun 2015, 18:00

So... can anyone post a summary.
Disclaimer: May contain sarcasm!
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Unread postby Kalah » 04 Jun 2015, 18:13

This is a summary.
In War: Resolution, In Defeat: Defiance, In Victory: Magnanimity, In Peace: Goodwill.

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Unread postby ThunderTitan » 04 Jun 2015, 18:37

A summary of the summary... get with it Kalah, that's how it's done now... tl;dr
Disclaimer: May contain sarcasm!
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