Might and Magic The Might and Magic Discussion Thread

[Magellan]

For me, my M&M journey started with 6. Absolutely loved that game and finished all M&Ms after that. I did try to play 1-5, but they were before my time and as I really like good user interfaces, I just couldn't get into any of them. The inventory system is atrocious.

The best game in the series for me is a very hard choice between 6 and 7. 7 has better game systems (classes, races, progression, choice between good and evil and most importantly the skill system is much improved); 6 on the other hand has more and higher quality content. If NWC had been given the time to flesh out MM7, it could have excellent.

By the way, does anybody whether there is still something going with the MMTribute game?

Legend of Erthia? It's still being worked on.

 

[lorn]

Legend of Erthia? It's still being worked on.

No, there are actually three MM-likes in development. There was children of the void, which was cancelled last year, this was pretty much based on the MM6-8 engine. Legend of Erthia is the second one. Third one is/was called MMTribute http://www.mmtribute.castlegobs.nl/
There hasn't been an update in several years and forum/wiki activity is very sporadic, so I guess it's abandoned, but I thought maybe someone here knows more.

 

[Luzur]

So, Children of the Void died huh?

Well it was predicted since almost no mods for Might and Magic ever makes it out alive WIP hell.

 

[Luzur]

also Grayface updates his tools:

Here are new versions of my tools, now all with source code. Go to https://sites.google.com/site/sergroj/wog#TOC-MMArchive-v1.1 for download links.

MMArchive v1.1
Fully-featured M&M and Heroes 3 archives editor. Supports all archive types except ".hwl".
What's new:
[+] Full files Drag&Drop and Copy&Paste support
[+] "Merge With..." menu item
[+] "Extract For DefTool..." menu item
[+] When importing 24 bit bitmaps into icons.lod an adequate palette is generated
[+] Drag&dropping an archive gets it opened. You can still add an archive as a file using "Add" menu item.
[+] *.pac files association
[+] Def frame shown under trackbar when seeking manually
[+] Text format for Favorites list ("Store Favorites As Text" menu item)
[+] Favorites can be sorted manually
[+] Shift+Delete removes the file without creating a backup
[+] Rename
[+] Custom lods support
[+] RLE bitmaps support (including those saved by PhotoShop)
[-] Palette numbers weren't displayed for bitmaps.lod files in MM
[-] Critical bug in adding files to VID archives
[-] Adding files to games.lod wasn't handled properly
[-] File backups were only created for LOD archives
[-] Files added to MM SND archives weren't being compressed
[-] Crash when quickly browsing through SND archives
[-] Big Favorites list was causing a delay on close
[-] Favorites list wasn't saved in some usage scenarios
[-] Drag&drop issues of Favorites list
[-] Sometimes MMArchive wasn't able to select the file chosen in Favorites
[*] Better handling of corrupt files in SND archives
[*] Proper delays for adventure map defs


LodCompare v1.3
Lets you compare two lod/vid/snd archives and see which files have changed. Lets you create a new archive containing only those files. Thus you can minimize size of a mod by distributing only this archive and merging it to user's archive using LodMerge.
What's new:
[+] Now similar files that were compressed differently are be considered the same (but not in MM lods)
[+] Shows number of different files.
[+] Allows adding files to an existing archive.
[-] Fixed progress bar behavior.
[-] Correct handling of .vid archives.


LodMerge v1.1
Lets you merge two lod/vid/snd archives together.
What's new:
[+] /bf modifier makes the program create backups for individual files.
[+] /r modifier makes the program rebuild the archive.
[-] Critical bug in adding files to VID archives
[-] Adding files to games.lod wasn't handled properly


Txt Edit v1.2
Txt tables editor for Heroes 3 and M&M.
What's new:
[+] Find&Replace dialogs
[+] Select Row, Select Column
[+] "Add to context menu for *.txt" option
[+] Immediate language switching
_________________

 

[Naraya]

Wow, they really blamed Iraq war for 3DO's demise? This is hilarious.

 

[lorn]

NWCs story is truly a sad one, 3DO really was the worst publisher you could wish for and now MM is in the hands of Ubisoft, which again the worst publsiher you can think of. IF NWC had been given the time needed to develop their games, MM could still be one of the most cherished RPG-series.

They already start selling the HoMM 7 beta for 50€ on steam. Well, this isn't a HoMM topic, but it'll interesting to see what they do with 7, considering the disaster 6 was and the fact, that they put the MMX devs on HoMM7. They did a good job with MMX, maybe they can make a dignified entry to HoMM, too. Either way, I won't buy it, thanks to fucking uplay.

 

[GlutenBurger]

In case anyone is interested, I just saw that you can currently get I-VI as well as X and a bunch of HoMM games for $15 at Humble Bundle.

 

[erthia]

Yup! I got some more updates coming in soon.

Legend of Erthia? It's still being worked on.

 

[MilesBeyond]

You know, looking at the poll results I was a little surprised at first. I never thought 7 would be so close to Worlds. But then, at the same time, I feel like 7 is going to be the preferred game for people who don't really like MM games. If to you RPGs are more about plot and characters, 7's probably the one that is the best in that department. Plus it ties in directly with the most successful HoMM game. I mean you get to wander around Steadwick! That one town you had to capture and then capture again! And there are gryphons flying around! Seriously, though, that was probably the main draw for me, and it was pretty awesome.


What I really want to know is: Who are these four people that voted for 9?

 

[Leitz]

M&M6 GOG version for the first time. I have a big problem here:

The game runs fine and I can save the game without trouble for 10-15min. then all of a sudden I can't save anymore (I can access the screen and put in a name for the savegame but it never saves the game at this point).
When I enter a dungeon usually, the game autosaves. After these 10-15min whenever I enter a dungeon autosave fails and the game crashes.
The game is hardly playable this way since I have to wait until I can't save anymore, then restart the game and play the last bit of progress again, then after 10min repeat.

There are people on the web having general savegame issues mostly because of administrator rights. I play on WinXP so this can't be the issue. Nobody out there seems to have the exact problem like I do.

I tried stuff like tabbing out and deleting all the savegames on the fly to make new ones but still the problem is still there. I also made an exception for the firewall. I haven't touched the inofficial patch yet, seems like it won't help.

 

[octavius]

Enough room on HD?

 

[Parsifarka]

I guess reinstalling the game didn't help. Perhaps using compatibility mode? Just for trying something.

 

[Leitz]

I guess reinstalling the game didn't help.

Actually it did help to reinstall the game! Now it works fine. I guess that's a big facepalm moment for me. Thanks for the suggestion though, now I can finally play.

 

[Snorkack]

you should really install the greyface patch, too. After a little bit of fiddling with its .inis the interface becomes so much more pleasant. Also, have fun! One of my favorite games of all time. Wish i could replay it for the first time as well

 

[granit]

VII was very good. VI better. Great game. X was ok. Rest, I didn't try them. Probably should!

 

[Parsifarka]

Nice. Glad to help throwing another soul into Enroth!
As Snorkack says, the Greyface patch is really advisable, it severely improves navigation.

 

[baturinsky]

VII was very good. VI better. Great game. X was ok. Rest, I didn't try them. Probably should!

Play World of Xeen (4&5) at least. It's good and short.

 

[Luzur]

You know, looking at the poll results I was a little surprised at first. I never thought 7 would be so close to Worlds. But then, at the same time, I feel like 7 is going to be the preferred game for people who don't really like MM games. If to you RPGs are more about plot and characters, 7's probably the one that is the best in that department. Plus it ties in directly with the most successful HoMM game. I mean you get to wander around Steadwick! That one town you had to capture and then capture again! And there are gryphons flying around! Seriously, though, that was probably the main draw for me, and it was pretty awesome.


What I really want to know is: Who are these four people that voted for 9?

Steadwick should have been bigger though, like Freehaven in MM6, since it is supposed to be the capitol of the continent and stuff.

As its presented in the game its feels smaller then New Sorpigal.

 

[MilesBeyond]

Steadwick should have been bigger though, like Freehaven in MM6, since it is supposed to be the capitol of the continent and stuff.

As its presented in the game its feels smaller then New Sorpigal.

To be fair, though, Steadwick did just go through some pretty rough times.

But yeah. 7's generally small scope is probably one of its biggest weaknesses. The massive towns of 6 or Xeen are nowhere to be seen. I blame 3DO.

 

[Leitz]

Nice. Glad to help throwing another soul into Enroth!
As Snorkack says, the Greyface patch is really advisable, it severely improves navigation.

What's wrong with vanilla navigation? I play mostly with keyboard and I haven't had any problems yet. The interface is also ok, besides some minor things that wouldn't convince me to install a mod.

 

[Scroo]

M&M6 GOG version for the first time. I have a big problem here:

The game runs fine and I can save the game without trouble for 10-15min. then all of a sudden I can't save anymore (I can access the screen and put in a name for the savegame but it never saves the game at this point).
When I enter a dungeon usually, the game autosaves. After these 10-15min whenever I enter a dungeon autosave fails and the game crashes.
The game is hardly playable this way since I have to wait until I can't save anymore, then restart the game and play the last bit of progress again, then after 10min repeat.

There are people on the web having general savegame issues mostly because of administrator rights. I play on WinXP so this can't be the issue. Nobody out there seems to have the exact problem like I do.

I tried stuff like tabbing out and deleting all the savegames on the fly to make new ones but still the problem is still there. I also made an exception for the firewall. I haven't touched the inofficial patch yet, seems like it won't help.

I have exactly the same issues. Never had it before, tried reinstalling, tried gog version, steam version, it happens every time. Reinstalling seems to fix it for a few hours but sooner or later it starts again. That's why I ended my current playthrough, it's just frustrating to lose progress over and over again. Win8.1 btw

 

[Leitz]

M&M6 GOG version for the first time. I have a big problem here:

The game runs fine and I can save the game without trouble for 10-15min. then all of a sudden I can't save anymore (I can access the screen and put in a name for the savegame but it never saves the game at this point).
When I enter a dungeon usually, the game autosaves. After these 10-15min whenever I enter a dungeon autosave fails and the game crashes.
The game is hardly playable this way since I have to wait until I can't save anymore, then restart the game and play the last bit of progress again, then after 10min repeat.

There are people on the web having general savegame issues mostly because of administrator rights. I play on WinXP so this can't be the issue. Nobody out there seems to have the exact problem like I do.

I tried stuff like tabbing out and deleting all the savegames on the fly to make new ones but still the problem is still there. I also made an exception for the firewall. I haven't touched the inofficial patch yet, seems like it won't help.

I have exactly the same issues. Never had it before, tried reinstalling, tried gog version, steam version, it happens every time. Reinstalling seems to fix it for a few hours but sooner or later it starts again. That's why I ended my current playthrough, it's just frustrating to lose progress over and over again. Win8.1 btw

Yes, sorry I forgot to mention that the problem came back. But I found some kind of a solution: When I go into the main menu the "problem" resets; so what I do is making a lot of saves and after 5 or so I go once back to the main menu and then reload the last save. Maybe this works only for me. It's kind of a hustle because I have to savescum constantly and go into the main menu every ten minutes, but honestly I've had worse.

 

[Snorkack]

Nice. Glad to help throwing another soul into Enroth!
As Snorkack says, the Greyface patch is really advisable, it severely improves navigation.

What's wrong with vanilla navigation? I play mostly with keyboard and I haven't had any problems yet. The interface is also ok, besides some minor things that wouldn't convince me to install a mod.

it doesn't for me. Hitting left or right arrow key just briefly makes me do several piourettes at once. Also the buttons for looking up/down and flying are inconvenient. The mod lets you rebind your keys, which isn't possible in vanilla game.
Scrooge have you tried running it in a VM already? Works wonders with most old games.

 

[Scroo]

Scrooge have you tried running it in a VM already? Works wonders with most old games.

haven't tried yet no, thanks for the advice

 

[Why.jpeg]

About to dive into MM6 for the for the first time and I have a question about the fan made Grayface patch. I understand it resolves some of the unfixed bugs relating to certain spells and dual wielding and the like but it also seems like it goes beyond that and makes some changes to gameplay mechanics. Im not sure if I should use it on my first play through or not, I just want the best experience and you never really enjoy a game as much as you do on your first play through. If it makes any difference plan on going full caster party; Cleric/Sorcerer/Cleric/Sorcerer.