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VCMI: Open-Source Engine for Heroes of Might and Magic III
- theoperagoer 3y agoHeroes II was my personal favorite
- thriftwy 3y agoThere's fheroes2 for that, an open-source port which mirrors most of the features of HoMM3's HD Mod.
- marvin 3y agofheroes2 was great for getting me unstuck on a self-imposed exercise of reverse-engineering the Heroes2 binary data format some years ago :)
- bombcar 3y agoIt also brings “backwards” some of the QoL features of H3 which helps me, because starting on H3 means H2/1 always feel too Down Grady.
- nihilist_t21 3y agoThis is fantastic! I had no idea this project was a thing. While I love HoMM3 and the HD Mod/HoA, HoMM2 was the one I played first and will always be my favorite.
- mrits 3y agoBroken Alliance map on Heroes II (was map from demo) is something I still pull out every year or so to sink a whole weekend on.
- Narann 3y agoWhen H3 released, I expected H2 colored art with more pixels, but have been disappointed by the CG-like approach with undersaturated colors. H2 keeps a hand colored vib.
- bluSCALE4 3y agoSame. It was more polished than 3. Love everything about 2.
- gchamonlive 3y agoIt must feel great to devote yourself to a passion project and it turns out to actually work and people use it. I assume this is a passion project because I can't imagine getting funds for a project like this, specially when it might conflict with upstream licenses. In any case congratulations to the developers.
- SXX 3y agoVCMI dont conflict with licenses because it's not reverse engineering effort, but engine created from scratch and licensed under GPL. Pretty much like OpenMW, OpenRA and other purely open source projects. Of course to play it you need to buy proprietary assets.
- laurentlb 3y agoAre there plans to create new free assets?
- SXX 3y agoThere is a big problem with creating actually free assets: * If everything will look completely different from original game majority of fans not gonna like it even if quality gonna be really high. As you can guess fans of old games are really opinionated and hard to pleasure. * If they looks too similar to original game then Ubisoft can righfully claim copyright infrigement so it will be impossible to distribute assets in Debian, Google Play and other stores. Actually same problem is valid for any open source game reimplementations except simulators where you can claim that you copying some original and not someone else commercial game. It's very much possible to just take VCMI and HoMM3 mechanics and create completely different game on top of it. Engine was intentionally designed for modding after all, but again it's unlikely that many fans will play it.
- bombcar 3y agoThere’s a few games out there that have absolutely immense fandoms in places unexpected - Heroes III is absolutely HUGE in countries east of the old iron curtain, partially probably because it runs well on older computers but also because it’s one of the best games ever made.
- vintermann 3y agoBack in the day, since I used Linux exclusively, a demo of Might and Magic III (ported by Loki software) was one of the very few games I had. I resorted to figuring out the save file format in order to play as the other towns on the demo map.
- wiz21c 3y agoLoki software did some serious good. Any idea what they've become ?
- vintermann 3y agoWell, I know that one of them, Sam Lantinga, went on to be a lead dev on World of Warcraft and is now with Valve. His SDL library was originally developed for Loki, I think.
- jokethrowaway 3y agoBankrupt. Icculus is famous enough for Patreon. Everyone else got good jobs. It's crazy that nobody bought them. I would have expected video game companies to be more forward-looking and try to create an alternative to Windows, especially after seeing the success console had, and Linux was the obvious choice.
- pjmlp 3y agoWhy should they? Game development has always been about IP and business opportunities coming out of that IP. Historically, specially since 1983 crash, game industry has also been mostly about closed platforms with a minimal watermark for quality, where most copy-cats stop at the door.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- bombcar 3y agoIt was too early; Valve could have bought them for the Steam deck but they'd have to have survived much longer.
- thriftwy 3y agoPro players use HoMM3 HD Mod + HotA addon, which are closed source improvements of the original binaries with solid support for multiplayer action. It has lobby with ladder ratings, simultaneous turns, etc.
- baal80spam 3y agoDitto. Just don't confuse it with official Heroes® of Might & Magic® III - HD Edition which is a blatant hackjob/cashgrab from Ubisoft with blurry textures.
- NiteOwl066 3y agoI think you are a little bit biased here. Heroes® of Might & Magic® III - HD Edition from ubisoft has one major issue, it's lacking expansions. But the graphics itself is imo better than in hd mod. https://www.gamersgate.com/media/products/product/14687141/screenshot_1920_1080_7OCRHU0.jpg https://www.gamersgate.com/media/products/product/14687141/s... https://i.imgur.com/i1DNqNp.png https://i.imgur.com/i1DNqNp.png The second one is a pic from hd mod. The first one is hd edition.
- bombcar 3y agoThe texture complaint is specifically around the character portraits if I recall correctly. The lack of expansions is the real killer imo, so many “basic” things were actually added in expansions.
- Kiro 3y agoWhat basic things are you referring to? I've only ever played the original and didn't even know there were expansions.
- bombcar 3y agoDepending on what "original" you played, it may have had the expansions bundled together - Heroes 3 complete came out in 2000. Features added in expansions: * Conflux * Can choose to buy unupgraded creatures from an upgraded dwelling * Can garrison mines * New Heros * Combination Artifacts * Random Map generator * Magical terrains The Random Map generator is the biggest one, likely.
- nathell 3y agoI still spend inordinate amounts of time playing Heroes 3. It’s been a strong procrastination feeder over the decades, but it also gave me a lot of fun! I mostly play HotA in HD Mod these days, but I had used VCMI on Android (with SoD). It’s been a bit rough – the client-server thing that it does would have connection issues, the mechanics differed in subtle ways, etc. But I’m also super grateful that it exists.
- SantiagoElf 3y agoSame here. Heroes 3 with HD Mod, but without HotA addiotions. Tons of fun - usually I start a XXL map with 5 computers, I play Kyrre from Rampart and rush to find first the Dragon Utopia get Town Portal/Dimension door and hunt them down the map.
- bombcar 3y agoThe campaigns are fun, some of the custom maps are absolutely amazing, but there's nothing quite like a classic old compstomp.
- stavros 3y agoTry Songs of Conquest. It captures the original feel 100% for me, and is a game I really enjoy.
- IG_Semmelweiss 3y agois this a mod over HD ?
- bombcar 3y agoIt's an early access HOMM-like game: https://www.songsofconquest.com/faq#faq-overview https://www.songsofconquest.com/faq#faq-overview
- chrysoprace 3y agoIt's got some real potential, here's hoping they actually finish it as I've been burnt on Early Access before.
- thih9 3y agoOff topic, I wanted to compare it to the original, wanted to run that in Boxer.app[1] and realized that this software is now unmaintained. That’s unfortunate, it was a nice product with good UX. Also, unapologetically skeuomorphic, like many apps of that era. [1]: http://boxerapp.com/ http://boxerapp.com/
- jokethrowaway 3y agoDos won't cut it for H3; it's wine territory and wine is a pain to use on mac, as Apple killed it with the move to Catalina
- 5- 3y agocrossover (the commercial wine release) still supports macos: https://www.codeweavers.com/crossover#mac https://www.codeweavers.com/crossover#mac through a pretty cool technology: https://www.codeweavers.com/blog/jschmid/2019/9/10/so-we-dont-have-a-solution-for-catalinayet#progress https://www.codeweavers.com/blog/jschmid/2019/9/10/so-we-don...
- notpushkin 3y agoPersonally, UTM with a Windows XP VM worked for me (I'm on Apple Silicon, so Wine was a no go from the start).
- biggieshellz 3y agoWine works fine on Mac -- see https://www.reddit.com/r/wine_gaming/comments/1599bm1/does_wine_work_for_macos_ventura/ https://www.reddit.com/r/wine_gaming/comments/1599bm1/does_w... for the Gcenx packages that work.
- chrchang523 3y agoI recently started running HOMM3 HD on my Mac with Porting Kit, which has been working great: https://www.portingkit.com/game/236 https://www.portingkit.com/game/236 .
- stavros 3y agoHow about 86box?
- bombcar 3y agoMy personal ranking puts HD Mod above VCMI (currently) but VCMI has some features that HD Mod will likely never enable - because they’re fundamentally game changing. https://sites.google.com/site/heroes3hd/ https://sites.google.com/site/heroes3hd/ HD Mod also works with Horn of the Abyss https://heroes3wog.net/horn-of-the-abyss-download/ https://heroes3wog.net/horn-of-the-abyss-download/ which is an (pretty successful) attempt to build an unofficial expansion to H3 that has the feel of H3. Anyone who played Wake of the Gods will know it felt quite “unH3” at points.
- notpushkin 3y agoThere's an incomplete HotA implementation on VCMI, too! https://github.com/vcmi-mods/horn-of-the-abyss/blob/vcmi-1.4/screenshots/01.png https://github.com/vcmi-mods/horn-of-the-abyss/blob/vcmi-1.4... It can be installed from the launcher, on the Mods tab.
- thriftwy 3y agoHD Mod also works (albeit in reduced form) with HoMM3: Succession Wars, which is a mod for Heroes III which make them look like Heroes II. It's WIP but it is charming. https://www.moddb.com/mods/h3sw https://www.moddb.com/mods/h3sw
- sdwvit 3y agoNo (original) AI, and thus most maps not really compatible on a gameplay level with original
- 5- 3y agovcmi has seen a lot of progress recently. the goal has also changed from mostly wog-related functionality (which thankfully has fallen out of fashion) towards recreating the original game+expansions+hota (+better mod support).
- inasio 3y agoI still have an original Loki Heroes3 Linux CD, still scared of falling down the rabbit hole again
- npsimons 3y agoSame here, as well as the original Jagged Alliance 2 DVD case. Glad to add HoMM3 to my list of previously closed-source games that are now open. Now if only they'd open source NeverWinter Nights . . .
- anonyfox 3y agoIs there any good iOS port on HMM3 again? There was something many years ago that probably wasn’t maintained anymore for new iOS versions. Would gladly pay!
- SXX 3y agoThere is iOS port of VCMI: https://wiki.vcmi.eu/Installation_on_iOS https://wiki.vcmi.eu/Installation_on_iOS It's actually works, but you need to manually sign, install IPA and upload game assets on your phone.
- cacois 3y agoNever played any of the Heroes games - what's the draw to 3 specifically, above 4, 5 etc?
- iammjm 3y agoFun and balanced castles, expansions and mods, playable and bug-free on modern systems. It's a great game, or actually several games in one: town-building, map exploration, RPG, chess-like strategy battles
- suoduandao2 3y agonever played 4 or 5, but from reviews at the time it sounded like 4 and 5 were just lower effort games coasting on the reputation of 2 and 3
- hydrok9 3y agoActually 4 was supposed to be a better game than 3, but there was a huge backlash against the introduction of a technologically based faction. They scrapped this idea and the game was rushed out. 3d0 went bankrupt right after.
- bluefirebrand 3y agoI had never known they were planning a technology faction for HOMM4, that's interesting to hear. Might and Magic is a fun setting because it's secretly SciFi and you would never know it from the Heroes games as far as I've ever seen. But a bunch of the Might and Magic RPG games start with sword and sorcery and end with laser guns.
- hydrok9 3y agoLooks like I had my games confused. The Forge was supposed to be a faction for Armageddon's Blade, but was cancelled. 3do did rush heroes 4 though, and one of the biggest complaints about it is how bland and lifeless it feels compared to 3. If you haven't already, you should try the Horn of the Abyss mod for Heroes 3. It's great! Adds tons of qol stuff and has a new campaign and faction.
- qwertyman2 3y agoWell it’s open source. But is it free though?
- SXX 3y agoVCMI engine is free and open source software licensed under GPLv2. Original game assets (music, sprites) are proprietary and you have to buy them in order to play. There actually Heroes 3 Mac demo that can be legally used as alternative source of Heroes 3 game data, but it missing some towns.
- qwertyman2 3y agoThanks for the clarification. Nifty thinking with the demo assets!
- lbhaberlaw 3y ago[dead]
- throwawayq3423 3y agoTest
- MenhirMike 3y agoWas more excited until I read the "Heroes of" part :D I know that HOMM 3 (and 5) are absolute classics, but I'd really love for a new interpretation of the original Corak/Sheltem Quintology. Might & Magic X's engine was pretty alright actually, if something like that exists as open source, that would be awesome.
- thdespou 3y agoI played it. It works fine. It has some glitches with some of the campaign missions. Overall I give it 90% there compared to the original.
- girafffe_i 3y agoThis is great news.