5 ms·

Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era Announced for 2025

67 points by NKosmatos 2y ago

NKosmatos 2y ago
That's 10 years since the last installment and 30 years after the original game. More info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heroes_of_Might_and_Magic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heroes_of_Might_and_Magic
- eddyfromtheblok 2y ago
  I played the first two on an Apple IIc clone. It came with map templates to encourage you to map dungeons and towns out with pencil and paper. Feels more immersive, in retrospect, to have to organize your own satchel of maps when you needed to revisit an area
  - zabzonk 2y ago
    i don't think you are remembering the HOMM games, which were self-mapping. towns had no real interior structure, and there were no dungeons (there was an underworld which was self-mapping, like the overworld).
kibibu 2y ago
If you can't wait that long, Songs of Conquest is already out and does a good job scratching the same itch.
- stavros 2y ago
  Seconded, I really like it. It's got the same feel.
- emptyfile 2y ago
  [dead]
- frio 2y ago
  I followed this avidly through the early access period. It’s really nice. I hope the announcement of the new HoMM drives more people to try Songs of Conquest, because for me, it does a fantastic job of revising and modernising the old formula.
1GZ0 2y ago
Warms my old gamer heart. Heroes of Might & Magic III got me info RTS in a big way.
- nottorp 2y ago
  The HoMM games aren't Real Time Strategy games though?
  - 1GZ0 2y ago
    No not really, but HoMM was a nice gateway-drug to proper RTS
  - rollcat 2y ago
    Nope, it's not an RTS, but back in the 90's - when computers were bulky, few, and preciously expensive, Internet access was charged by the minute, and friends not always within PC carrying distance - hot-seat games such as the HoMM or Worms series were winning the battle for screen-time over the likes of StarCraft or Quake in basically almost any social context. We'd sometimes meet up and try to take turns to beat a particularly difficult mission, but by the time anyone had a second (imagine!) computer in their house, broadband Internet was getting widespread. My first ever StarCraft LAN was in 2009, IIRC.
    - nottorp 2y ago
      > hot-seat games such as the HoMM or Worms series I've done both thank you. In high school I was living very close to the school and me and a group of friends gathered at my PC to play Worms after school and sometimes during school. HoMM took longer so needed more organization.
  - bombcar 2y ago
    They were similar “play feel” - perhaps Unrealtime Strategy would be a name for it. We’d be deciding to play Action Quake together, or maybe StarCraft or Tiberian Sun/Red Alert, or watch someone play Half Life, or HOMM3 hot seat. The last would often win out if it was more of a chill night.
timvdalen 2y ago
I think I played this on a Pocket PC/PDA way back when!
BSDobelix 2y ago
And if you can't wait: Open-source engine for Heroes of Might and Magic III : https://github.com/vcmi/vcmi?tab=readme-ov-file https://github.com/vcmi/vcmi?tab=readme-ov-file https://vcmi.eu/ https://vcmi.eu/
- MrJagil 2y ago
  Here’s a good overview of the different mods https://heroes3wog.net/ https://heroes3wog.net/
- quibono 2y ago
  A great addon: HotA [https://h3hota.com/en/download https://h3hota.com/en/download]
gizmo 2y ago
The top HN post talks about the importance of removing stuff, and based on this press release Olden Era takes the opposite "kitchen sink" approach. More heroes, more factions, more abilities, more spells, more character tree options, more more more. What makes HOMM2 and HOMM3 so unbelievably good is that the developers said no to so many things and instead spent their time on perfecting the game mechanics of the original DOS game. It's still early, and the game might turn out great. I think the visuals look promising. But even if Olden Era flops good things might come of it. This genre of game was left for dead ages ago, and a revival of the genre is a good thing for sure. There are two generations of gamers who have never played the originals from the previous millennium, even though the games have held up incredibly well. Revived interest in these games might also encourage indie developers to take a stab at it.
- gampleman 2y ago
  AFAICT they only announced six factions, whereas the original game shipped with seven. The article doesn't seem to suggest there will be more heroes, just that they were paying attention to making each hero more distinct from the rest (which is IMO a good thing, since the heroes were a bit generic in the originals). The spells system main difference is to reduce randomness, which again seems like an improvement. So the area where MORE seems to be happening is in the skill tree section (and the new Faction Law system). I guess that's worth criticizing, but then again if you don't make some new stuff, why bother releasing a new game and not just a HoMM3 reforged version?
  - gizmo 2y ago
    The original HOMM was a very simple game. HOMM2 was released one year later, after learning what worked and what didn't in the original game. Then, after three more years of work HOMM3 perfected those game mechanics. That's how HOMM3 ended up in a local maximum. If you want to make a game that's better than HOMM3 in some meaningful ways I think you have to start with a much simpler game that shares some of the game mechanics. That means taking features out. Then you build on top of that to take the game in a different direction. If you take HOMM3 as a starting point you end up adding the features that were intentionally left out 25 years ago.
MrJagil 2y ago
What a coincidence, i just got back in HoMM yesterday. It started when I stumbled upon a video of the world championship — didnt know that was even a thing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cu8PdY2JnnI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cu8PdY2JnnI
Svip 2y ago
Will we finally see the introduction of the Forge[0]? [0] http://www.heroesofmightandmagic.com/heroes3ab/forgetown.shtml http://www.heroesofmightandmagic.com/heroes3ab/forgetown.sht...
- frouge 2y ago
  Check out the Factory in horn of the abyss : https://heroes.thelazy.net/index.php/Factory https://heroes.thelazy.net/index.php/Factory
mcraiha 2y ago
Unfrozen Studio was founded in 2016 in Saint-Petersburg, Russia.
- ossobuco 2y ago
  And?
  - returnInfinity 2y ago
    Anything Russian is a Risk now. Might get sanctioned and unable to sell or partner with US distributors.
    - chupasaurus 2y ago
      The studio moved to Serbia. Also tell that to Focus Entertainment and id because of Saber Interactive.
    - ossobuco 2y ago
      If Ubisoft didn't see a problem with it I doubt there's any risk involved, like it or not.
Jallal 2y ago
One of the best games I played back in the day. However, I'm not "hyped" by this news. I'm way too afraid Ubisoft will favor nice gfx instead of a polished gameplay. I hope to be wrong, and I'll probably give it a chance, but I definitely have no expectations regarding the games.
nottorp 2y ago
Will it work without an uplay account?
- loa_in_ 2y ago
  Most likely not
  - Rinzler89 2y ago
    It will on the cracked version.
    - nottorp 2y ago
      There are too many games these days to bother with cracks. If they don't want my money I'll just not spend it. And this is without taking into account if the game will be any good or not.
- 7bit 2y ago
  Why do you ask a question if you already know the answer to it?
  - nottorp 2y ago
    Never give up hope?
jncfhnb 2y ago
> All campaign missions have nonlinear events that allow hero choices, like encouraging a cowardly knight to fight alongside you or letting him flee," says Golubeva. "These choices will have consequences down the line. But the grander non-linearity comes from choosing the missions themselves - some of them are mutually exclusive. Do you support Sylvans or Temple in a conflict? Your choice will change the map of Jadame, the standing of factions, and fates of certain characters." Ugh. Shut up Ubisoft. No, you’re not going to have meaningful non linear choices in a game like this. I have a jaded sort of opinion that games like HOMM 2/3 and civ 2 and aoe 2 were really popular at the time because multiplayer was mostly about low skill LAN matches with your friends. On some level the presence of online multiplayer, discussion boards that layout meta ideas, and more common balance patches make strategy games much less fun. Because most people don’t really want to play them proficiently. They want to roll the dice and experiment and try and get an advantage and then give up and restart before finishing 2/3 of the game when the other player starts to snowball.
- zeroonetwothree 2y ago
  There were many strategy boards and meta discussion at that time. Also, I really enjoyed those games as single player as well. Civ is still very popular. RTS has died out, which is kind of sad. I’m not sure exactly why, I think we can make various speculations but it seems it just doesn’t have a proper niche anymore.
  - SSLy 2y ago
    RTS were just eaten up by MOBAs
  - jncfhnb 2y ago
    There may have been but they weren’t prominent in most people’s play. And they were just not nearly as competent. That was back in the day when people were arguing about controllers vs mouse for fps aiming. These games are just not great for multiplayer. The gameplay of effective, competitive multiplayer is the opposite of what people enjoyed. Grinding out a few seconds off of your aoe 2 feudal age research time sucks. But it’s what matters. Orienting on serious multiplayer sucks but casual is hard to encourage
ptero 2y ago
For fans of the heroes of might and magic I highly recommend trying "The horn of the abyss". It is a community developed HOMAM3 extension pack, that is being enhanced and has, IMO, many new features while being fully compatible with the game spirit. And they fixed a ton of UI pain points. Coming with a very powerful map editor means that there are community created maps (up to "giant size" -- two steps larger than extra large) that take weeks of challenging play time to conquer. Pair that with a full HOMAM3 version from "good old games" for about $10 and you will have an unlimited play, no registration, no licensing classic, valid forever. My 2c.
- mariusor 2y ago
  I was surprised at how well the community of HOMM3 players is doing. The expansion has support for online ladder play and people are quite active there.
  - ptero 2y ago
    HOMAM3 was my favorite game during grad school times (sharing top spot with Civilizations 1-3) 30 years ago. Those computers and disks were long gone, but 3 years ago I found it on GOG, looked up some online maps, found HotA expansion and we are now playing that a couple of hours a week with my wife after work. If someone told me that a few years ago I would laugh. The game does have a staying appeal.
    - bombcar 2y ago
      Hot seat co-op comp stomp is some of the best conversational computer gaming around. It’s turn based so there’s no real world time urgency, only one person is actually “doing” anything at a time, so the others can lounge around and talk, and the game is just exceptionally polished (and even balanced with a few tiny house rules like no infinite ball of skeletons). The addons that stay true to the spirit make it even better. FAIR WARNING: the online versus play that still is quite active is an entirely different game; you must watch enough to learn what a “break” is and how the online etiquette goes. It’s very interesting because it’s the exact opposite of the favorite strategy of turtling until unstoppable.
zelphirkalt 2y ago
I hope they actually provide a working multiplayer, unlike HOMAM7, where the multiplayer is completely broken, and therefore fake. With HOMAM7 you buy a game thinking you will be able to play with friends, but beware, the game desyncs the moment when you could in any way interact with another player on the map. I will not forgive Ubisoft for pulling that one. I even reported this issue, but the technical support was very lacking and they acted as if this was surprising. Some back and forth with them led nowhere. Since then I am very cautious when it comes to any new Heroes games. If Ubisoft has its hands in it, I would recommend everyone to first check whether what they deliver is actually working. Do not buy until proven to work. Otherwise they might pull a fraud you.
frankie_t 2y ago
To my taste, it looks worse than HoMM3 and has a distinct mobile game vibe.

67 points by NKosmatos 2y ago

That's 10 years since the last installment and 30 years after the original game. More info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heroes_of_Might_and_Magic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heroes_of_Might_and_Magic

eddyfromtheblok 2y ago
I played the first two on an Apple IIc clone. It came with map templates to encourage you to map dungeons and towns out with pencil and paper. Feels more immersive, in retrospect, to have to organize your own satchel of maps when you needed to revisit an area
- zabzonk 2y ago
  i don't think you are remembering the HOMM games, which were self-mapping. towns had no real interior structure, and there were no dungeons (there was an underworld which was self-mapping, like the overworld).

kibibu 2y ago

If you can't wait that long, Songs of Conquest is already out and does a good job scratching the same itch.

stavros 2y ago
Seconded, I really like it. It's got the same feel.
emptyfile 2y ago
[dead]
frio 2y ago
I followed this avidly through the early access period. It’s really nice. I hope the announcement of the new HoMM drives more people to try Songs of Conquest, because for me, it does a fantastic job of revising and modernising the old formula.

1GZ0 2y ago

Warms my old gamer heart. Heroes of Might & Magic III got me info RTS in a big way.

nottorp 2y ago
The HoMM games aren't Real Time Strategy games though?
- 1GZ0 2y ago
  No not really, but HoMM was a nice gateway-drug to proper RTS
- rollcat 2y ago
  Nope, it's not an RTS, but back in the 90's - when computers were bulky, few, and preciously expensive, Internet access was charged by the minute, and friends not always within PC carrying distance - hot-seat games such as the HoMM or Worms series were winning the battle for screen-time over the likes of StarCraft or Quake in basically almost any social context. We'd sometimes meet up and try to take turns to beat a particularly difficult mission, but by the time anyone had a second (imagine!) computer in their house, broadband Internet was getting widespread. My first ever StarCraft LAN was in 2009, IIRC.
  - nottorp 2y ago
    > hot-seat games such as the HoMM or Worms series I've done both thank you. In high school I was living very close to the school and me and a group of friends gathered at my PC to play Worms after school and sometimes during school. HoMM took longer so needed more organization.
- bombcar 2y ago
  They were similar “play feel” - perhaps Unrealtime Strategy would be a name for it. We’d be deciding to play Action Quake together, or maybe StarCraft or Tiberian Sun/Red Alert, or watch someone play Half Life, or HOMM3 hot seat. The last would often win out if it was more of a chill night.

timvdalen 2y ago

I think I played this on a Pocket PC/PDA way back when!

BSDobelix 2y ago

And if you can't wait: Open-source engine for Heroes of Might and Magic III : https://github.com/vcmi/vcmi?tab=readme-ov-file https://github.com/vcmi/vcmi?tab=readme-ov-file https://vcmi.eu/ https://vcmi.eu/

MrJagil 2y ago
Here’s a good overview of the different mods https://heroes3wog.net/ https://heroes3wog.net/
quibono 2y ago
A great addon: HotA [https://h3hota.com/en/download https://h3hota.com/en/download]

gizmo 2y ago

The top HN post talks about the importance of removing stuff, and based on this press release Olden Era takes the opposite "kitchen sink" approach. More heroes, more factions, more abilities, more spells, more character tree options, more more more. What makes HOMM2 and HOMM3 so unbelievably good is that the developers said no to so many things and instead spent their time on perfecting the game mechanics of the original DOS game. It's still early, and the game might turn out great. I think the visuals look promising. But even if Olden Era flops good things might come of it. This genre of game was left for dead ages ago, and a revival of the genre is a good thing for sure. There are two generations of gamers who have never played the originals from the previous millennium, even though the games have held up incredibly well. Revived interest in these games might also encourage indie developers to take a stab at it.

gampleman 2y ago
AFAICT they only announced six factions, whereas the original game shipped with seven. The article doesn't seem to suggest there will be more heroes, just that they were paying attention to making each hero more distinct from the rest (which is IMO a good thing, since the heroes were a bit generic in the originals). The spells system main difference is to reduce randomness, which again seems like an improvement. So the area where MORE seems to be happening is in the skill tree section (and the new Faction Law system). I guess that's worth criticizing, but then again if you don't make some new stuff, why bother releasing a new game and not just a HoMM3 reforged version?
- gizmo 2y ago
  The original HOMM was a very simple game. HOMM2 was released one year later, after learning what worked and what didn't in the original game. Then, after three more years of work HOMM3 perfected those game mechanics. That's how HOMM3 ended up in a local maximum. If you want to make a game that's better than HOMM3 in some meaningful ways I think you have to start with a much simpler game that shares some of the game mechanics. That means taking features out. Then you build on top of that to take the game in a different direction. If you take HOMM3 as a starting point you end up adding the features that were intentionally left out 25 years ago.

MrJagil 2y ago

What a coincidence, i just got back in HoMM yesterday. It started when I stumbled upon a video of the world championship — didnt know that was even a thing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cu8PdY2JnnI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cu8PdY2JnnI

Svip 2y ago

Will we finally see the introduction of the Forge[0]? [0] http://www.heroesofmightandmagic.com/heroes3ab/forgetown.shtml http://www.heroesofmightandmagic.com/heroes3ab/forgetown.sht...

frouge 2y ago
Check out the Factory in horn of the abyss : https://heroes.thelazy.net/index.php/Factory https://heroes.thelazy.net/index.php/Factory

mcraiha 2y ago

Unfrozen Studio was founded in 2016 in Saint-Petersburg, Russia.

ossobuco 2y ago
And?
- returnInfinity 2y ago
  Anything Russian is a Risk now. Might get sanctioned and unable to sell or partner with US distributors.
  - chupasaurus 2y ago
    The studio moved to Serbia. Also tell that to Focus Entertainment and id because of Saber Interactive.
  - ossobuco 2y ago
    If Ubisoft didn't see a problem with it I doubt there's any risk involved, like it or not.

Jallal 2y ago

One of the best games I played back in the day. However, I'm not "hyped" by this news. I'm way too afraid Ubisoft will favor nice gfx instead of a polished gameplay. I hope to be wrong, and I'll probably give it a chance, but I definitely have no expectations regarding the games.

nottorp 2y ago

Will it work without an uplay account?

loa_in_ 2y ago
Most likely not
- Rinzler89 2y ago
  It will on the cracked version.
  - nottorp 2y ago
    There are too many games these days to bother with cracks. If they don't want my money I'll just not spend it. And this is without taking into account if the game will be any good or not.
7bit 2y ago
Why do you ask a question if you already know the answer to it?
- nottorp 2y ago
  Never give up hope?

jncfhnb 2y ago

> All campaign missions have nonlinear events that allow hero choices, like encouraging a cowardly knight to fight alongside you or letting him flee," says Golubeva. "These choices will have consequences down the line. But the grander non-linearity comes from choosing the missions themselves - some of them are mutually exclusive. Do you support Sylvans or Temple in a conflict? Your choice will change the map of Jadame, the standing of factions, and fates of certain characters." Ugh. Shut up Ubisoft. No, you’re not going to have meaningful non linear choices in a game like this. I have a jaded sort of opinion that games like HOMM 2/3 and civ 2 and aoe 2 were really popular at the time because multiplayer was mostly about low skill LAN matches with your friends. On some level the presence of online multiplayer, discussion boards that layout meta ideas, and more common balance patches make strategy games much less fun. Because most people don’t really want to play them proficiently. They want to roll the dice and experiment and try and get an advantage and then give up and restart before finishing 2/3 of the game when the other player starts to snowball.

zeroonetwothree 2y ago
There were many strategy boards and meta discussion at that time. Also, I really enjoyed those games as single player as well. Civ is still very popular. RTS has died out, which is kind of sad. I’m not sure exactly why, I think we can make various speculations but it seems it just doesn’t have a proper niche anymore.
- SSLy 2y ago
  RTS were just eaten up by MOBAs
- jncfhnb 2y ago
  There may have been but they weren’t prominent in most people’s play. And they were just not nearly as competent. That was back in the day when people were arguing about controllers vs mouse for fps aiming. These games are just not great for multiplayer. The gameplay of effective, competitive multiplayer is the opposite of what people enjoyed. Grinding out a few seconds off of your aoe 2 feudal age research time sucks. But it’s what matters. Orienting on serious multiplayer sucks but casual is hard to encourage

ptero 2y ago

For fans of the heroes of might and magic I highly recommend trying "The horn of the abyss". It is a community developed HOMAM3 extension pack, that is being enhanced and has, IMO, many new features while being fully compatible with the game spirit. And they fixed a ton of UI pain points. Coming with a very powerful map editor means that there are community created maps (up to "giant size" -- two steps larger than extra large) that take weeks of challenging play time to conquer. Pair that with a full HOMAM3 version from "good old games" for about $10 and you will have an unlimited play, no registration, no licensing classic, valid forever. My 2c.

mariusor 2y ago
I was surprised at how well the community of HOMM3 players is doing. The expansion has support for online ladder play and people are quite active there.
- ptero 2y ago
  HOMAM3 was my favorite game during grad school times (sharing top spot with Civilizations 1-3) 30 years ago. Those computers and disks were long gone, but 3 years ago I found it on GOG, looked up some online maps, found HotA expansion and we are now playing that a couple of hours a week with my wife after work. If someone told me that a few years ago I would laugh. The game does have a staying appeal.
  - bombcar 2y ago
    Hot seat co-op comp stomp is some of the best conversational computer gaming around. It’s turn based so there’s no real world time urgency, only one person is actually “doing” anything at a time, so the others can lounge around and talk, and the game is just exceptionally polished (and even balanced with a few tiny house rules like no infinite ball of skeletons). The addons that stay true to the spirit make it even better. FAIR WARNING: the online versus play that still is quite active is an entirely different game; you must watch enough to learn what a “break” is and how the online etiquette goes. It’s very interesting because it’s the exact opposite of the favorite strategy of turtling until unstoppable.

zelphirkalt 2y ago

I hope they actually provide a working multiplayer, unlike HOMAM7, where the multiplayer is completely broken, and therefore fake. With HOMAM7 you buy a game thinking you will be able to play with friends, but beware, the game desyncs the moment when you could in any way interact with another player on the map. I will not forgive Ubisoft for pulling that one. I even reported this issue, but the technical support was very lacking and they acted as if this was surprising. Some back and forth with them led nowhere. Since then I am very cautious when it comes to any new Heroes games. If Ubisoft has its hands in it, I would recommend everyone to first check whether what they deliver is actually working. Do not buy until proven to work. Otherwise they might pull a fraud you.

frankie_t 2y ago

To my taste, it looks worse than HoMM3 and has a distinct mobile game vibe.