Might and Magic The Might and Magic Discussion Thread

[rusty_shackleford]

WOX music was composed for a Sound Canvas (specifically SC-55). Of course the MT-32 version will sound more meh (though, as far as SC-to-MT conversions go, this is probably the best one around). The music is also identical between floppy and CD versions of WOX, as the CD tracks just had voices (pretty terrible one too, TBH I prefer playing the non-CD version, but YMMV).

You seem pretty knowledgeable, what's the best way to setup the audio for dosbox WoX?

 

[Mikeal]

The graphics were good enough. Crude in MM6 and more polished in MM8. MM9 OTOH was

with some laughably badly drawn monsters.

Most monsters in MM9 look like they're suffering from shitload of mental and genetic disorders.

 

[fantadomat]

The problem was that they jumped to 3d too early and also the that the game was rushed. Skeletons and liches didn't look that bad for its time.

 

[<3sRichardSimmons]

I’ve actually never played 9. Are there fan patches that get it to an acceptable state? Or is it just a lost cause entirely?

 

[fantadomat]

I’ve actually never played 9. Are there fan patches that get it to an acceptable state? Or is it just a lost cause entirely?

The game is ok if you have PS2 era resistance.It is not buggy and the difficulty is balanced. I perfectly prefer it over X.

 

[lukaszek]

deterministic system > RNG

 

[jackofshadows]

I’ve actually never played 9. Are there fan patches that get it to an acceptable state? Or is it just a lost cause entirely?

It's more than playable as is. Just looks horrendous and has abrupt ending. It has some flaws besides that, definitely, but still worth a shot for any fan of the series.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Unless I'm messing it up somehow(probably), I actually think the non-midi music sounds better than the midi versions…
But going by other people's results, it seems that way
e.g.,

 

[octavius]

The graphics were good enough. Crude in MM6 and more polished in MM8. MM9 OTOH was

with some laughably badly drawn monsters.

Most monsters in MM9 look like they're suffering from shitload of mental and genetic disorders.

Some were so bad I just LOL'ed and though they had let some high school kids do the work as part of some "work practice" program.

 

[Darth Canoli]

Unless I'm messing it up somehow(probably), I actually think the non-midi music sounds better than the midi versions…
But going by other people's results, it seems that way
e.g.,

I prefer the first one too but the issue is usually more the sound effects, it's hard to get them all right, whenever i fixed the CC weapons impacts sounds i fucked-up the arrows impacts and so on.

 

[Sceptic]

You seem pretty knowledgeable, what's the best way to setup the audio for dosbox WoX?

I have an SC-55 mkII, so I set up the game config to Sound Canvas and connect the module directly into the PC. I have to do 2 things to get it to work on a modern PC: a USB-MIDI converted, and some way of getting Vista/7/8/10 to let you remap MIDI to the USB port (and therefore the module) and not the horrendous Windows software wavetable synth. If you lack the real hardware, there are some reasonably faithful (though not 100%) software alternatives; I've tested VirtualMIDISynth with some soundfonts and found one that IIRC sounded reasonably good with WOX. Links here.

Let me know if you have trouble getting things to work and I'll see what I can do. I don't remember if DOSBox allows you to directly pick a device for MIDI output or if you still have to remap with a 3rd party, if it does then you just need the soundfont and the virtual MIDI synthesizer and you're good to go.

 

[Manisan]

I'm tried play MMIX yesterday :\ but I'm having motion sickeness with the camera. I think because of that I won't be able to finish all MM games ;--; (I took a break from VII because I noticed that I need a thief in my party O__o I can't open chests with no explosion and insta kill O__O now I need to play from beginning. And I miss the chinese mod, I had uninstal it, because it was crashing when I'm going to Deyja - The chinese mod have very beautifull trees, I miss it). Maybe I'll go to play MMX or I and II (The others I already finished)

 

[jackofshadows]

I took a break from VII because I noticed that I need a thief in my party O__o I can't open chests with no explosion and insta kill O__O

What? You can take NPC (not much of a help tho w/o skill multipliar), you can cast preservation on squishy members and heal through. Or, better yet, you can simply ignore deadly chests until getting telekinesis (or enough HP to survive traps). Thieves are almost useless outside chest opening, I hate including them.

 

[Manisan]

Realy? Telekinese is from air magic right? I put a NPC with these skills in party, but I think he's not being usefull. You know what city I found town portal magic? I will try your sugestion thank you

 

[jackofshadows]

Telekinese is from air magic right?

Earth, master requirement (level 7+mid-rank for wizards, top rank for archers or druids).

I put a NPC with these skills in party

He's adding skill points to every member of the party, so you should still learn it and at least have an expert in it to being useful.

You know what city I found town portal magic?

To any. That's how it work in VI-IX games: you have to drink from central fountain in some cities in order to get access (save and try to get the idea).

 

[Mightmagic]

The graphics were good enough. Crude in MM6 and more polished in MM8. MM9 OTOH was

with some laughably badly drawn monsters.

M&M 8 was very ugly like all M&M in 3D (6,7,8,9).
M&M 7 was maybe the less ugly between M&M 6 and 9.

 

[Storyfag]

The graphics were good enough. Crude in MM6 and more polished in MM8. MM9 OTOH was

with some laughably badly drawn monsters.

M&M 8 was very ugly like all M&M in 3D (6,7,8,9).
M&M 7 was maybe the less ugly between M&M 6 and 9.

Sorry mate, but graphically MM8 was the best one.

 

[fantadomat]

The graphics were good enough. Crude in MM6 and more polished in MM8. MM9 OTOH was

with some laughably badly drawn monsters.

M&M 8 was very ugly like all M&M in 3D (6,7,8,9).
M&M 7 was maybe the less ugly between M&M 6 and 9.

Sorry mate, but graphically MM8 was the best one.

Actually with grayface patches/mods MM7 looks the best of them.

 

[Butter]

Almost finished World of Xeen now. The Dungeon of Lost Souls was awful and made me want to stop playing, but once I got past that part the game went back to being a breeze. I am however reaping the consequences of not investing in the bank earlier. Even picking up millions of gold in treasure in both the Temple of Bark and the Great Pyramid, I'm barely able to afford all the level-ups the game is throwing at me.

 

[Butter]

Finished WoX today. Got a score of 1382605210, which I'm guessing is kind of low. The ending was kind of anticlimactic, and I think dealing with Lord Xeen in Clouds was ultimately cooler than watching somebody else defeat Sheltem or not defeating anybody in order to unite the world. I'm going to play MM3 and maybe MM6 later this year.

 

[Luzur]

The development is in active stage, and today we got our first Linux builds green! https://github.com/gp-alex/world-of-might-and-magic

Many ideas to revamp this game. Bigger city layouts and maps, and interesting and more intricate traps and puzzels that one can include within caves etc, also adding more baddie dens on maps and hidden treasures.

https://github.com/gp-alex/world-of...FrQafVbyhOSCHJULWiPAXFj3iAWRzqjzxR52Ty3ovso4o

 

[lukaszek]

deterministic system > RNG

 

[Darth Canoli]

Luzur Interesting, where did you get that ? Is there a list of all the changes and planned features ?

I just checked and there is a new Merge mod build : Merge Mod from Celestialheavens

Here is thing i did for past time: merge of mm6, mm7, and mm8 on base of mm8 using MMExtension.

Game files v. 29.03.2020. Update localization files as well.
MEGA: https://mega.nz/#!Xy4AGaqb!XOxEgyqRPpW- ... biyQH_gUuQ
Update (if you have game files of previous version): https://mega.nz/#!X3g2FCjQ!8FiZ4Zpbljpi ... 3wFd7ttCo4

Highlights: monsters better orienting in dungeons, no more black screen flickering in dungeons, bunch of various bugfixes (and lot of fresh new bugs!).

How to install:
Warning: do not install MMPatch before applying game files.
1. Install GOG version of Might and Magic VIII.
2. Copy mod files into MM8 folder, replacing existing.
3. [Optional - skip this step if game already works] Install MMPatch 2.4.1 (https://github.com/GrayFace/Misc/releas ... v2.4.1.exe )
4. [Optional] - download localization files, links below.

Optional, in case of questions/issues:
5. Check tracker in case of questions.

Known unfixed bugs/issues:
1. One half of double-leaf doors in MM6 dungeons sometimes stays impassable, second part usually works fine.
2. Check tracker for more.

Possible contributions if someone would:
1. Testing.
2. Repainting mm6/7 armors to fit mm8 dolls. (List of armors requiring to be repainted: https://www.dropbox.com/s/1uxa88lcbioif ... t.txt?dl=0)
(video-example at 1:18 : https://youtu.be/lipriutf3SI (video a bit outdated, use dump(*table*) function to find new fields of structures)).
3. Some texts have not been localized yet, translate any, and share them here, please.
Here is list: https://www.dropbox.com/s/3qzcvdzeajg5z ... t.txt?dl=0
put this file into "Data" folder to see new texts in game. Open debug console with ctrl+f1 and execute "RelocalizeTables()" (without quotes) with ctrl+enter to see new texts without relaunching game.

Current contributions:
- Two elf females and woman from MM7 by J.M.Sower.
- Two elf males and man from MM7 by Albahr.
- MM7 dwarves, goblins, and all MM6 characters by Jamesx.
- Two connective cross-continent questlines by Echo.
- Items splitted into subtiers by Xfing: Weapons, Armors (not fully implemented yet), Apparel (not implemented yet)
- Water frames, body armor conversion and code fixes by GrayFace.
- Suggestions/bugs/tasks tracker by Templayer: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xf4 ... mZ3o/edit#
- MM6 -alike interface by Vinevi

[...]

 

[Luzur]

Luzur Interesting, where did you get that ? Is there a list of all the changes and planned features ?

I just checked and there is a new Merge mod build : Merge Mod from Celestialheavens

Here is thing i did for past time: merge of mm6, mm7, and mm8 on base of mm8 using MMExtension.

Game files v. 29.03.2020. Update localization files as well.
MEGA: https://mega.nz/#!Xy4AGaqb!XOxEgyqRPpW- ... biyQH_gUuQ
Update (if you have game files of previous version): https://mega.nz/#!X3g2FCjQ!8FiZ4Zpbljpi ... 3wFd7ttCo4

Highlights: monsters better orienting in dungeons, no more black screen flickering in dungeons, bunch of various bugfixes (and lot of fresh new bugs!).

How to install:
Warning: do not install MMPatch before applying game files.
1. Install GOG version of Might and Magic VIII.
2. Copy mod files into MM8 folder, replacing existing.
3. [Optional - skip this step if game already works] Install MMPatch 2.4.1 (https://github.com/GrayFace/Misc/releas ... v2.4.1.exe )
4. [Optional] - download localization files, links below.

Optional, in case of questions/issues:
5. Check tracker in case of questions.

Known unfixed bugs/issues:
1. One half of double-leaf doors in MM6 dungeons sometimes stays impassable, second part usually works fine.
2. Check tracker for more.

Possible contributions if someone would:
1. Testing.
2. Repainting mm6/7 armors to fit mm8 dolls. (List of armors requiring to be repainted: https://www.dropbox.com/s/1uxa88lcbioif ... t.txt?dl=0)
(video-example at 1:18 : https://youtu.be/lipriutf3SI (video a bit outdated, use dump(*table*) function to find new fields of structures)).
3. Some texts have not been localized yet, translate any, and share them here, please.
Here is list: https://www.dropbox.com/s/3qzcvdzeajg5z ... t.txt?dl=0
put this file into "Data" folder to see new texts in game. Open debug console with ctrl+f1 and execute "RelocalizeTables()" (without quotes) with ctrl+enter to see new texts without relaunching game.

Current contributions:
- Two elf females and woman from MM7 by J.M.Sower.
- Two elf males and man from MM7 by Albahr.
- MM7 dwarves, goblins, and all MM6 characters by Jamesx.
- Two connective cross-continent questlines by Echo.
- Items splitted into subtiers by Xfing: Weapons, Armors (not fully implemented yet), Apparel (not implemented yet)
- Water frames, body armor conversion and code fixes by GrayFace.
- Suggestions/bugs/tasks tracker by Templayer: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xf4 ... mZ3o/edit#
- MM6 -alike interface by Vinevi

[...]

was a Facebook post i found while scrolling.

 

[Darth Canoli]

The development is in active stage, and today we got our first Linux builds green! https://github.com/gp-alex/world-of-might-and-magic

Many ideas to revamp this game. Bigger city layouts and maps, and interesting and more intricate traps and puzzels that one can include within caves etc, also adding more baddie dens on maps and hidden treasures.

https://github.com/gp-alex/world-of...FrQafVbyhOSCHJULWiPAXFj3iAWRzqjzxR52Ty3ovso4o

Found them on celestial heavens too, probably mixed them with the merge mod before as their mod is called MM 6/7/8 Total remake

They're at it since 2010 it seems ...

Contacts:
skype: alex.g.parshin
facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mm7engine
code: https://github.com/gp-alex/world-of-might-and-magic

Current status:WE ARE SEARCHING FOR 2D ARTISTS TO DO TEXTURING WORK

Today I would like to present my project.
For about four month now, I am working for a project on a decompilation, reconstruction, upgrading and tuning of Might and Magic 6/7/8 engine. As a base, I've taken an original MM engine (7th) and decompiled it. But the result of decompilation is very unstable, all data structures are messed, so I analyze the code, find the dependencies, correct the errors, and then rebuild it. The difference is when rebuilding, I can add any features I like, even those not supported by the engine. This is a big work, so I reconstruct and add the features one-by-one. The latest stable version includes:

* all the animations, videos, sounds and music are played from original dataset (*.vid and *.snd files) using the engine.

* Decompression and parsing of LOD files
* Loading and rendering RGB, Transparent and palette textures.
* TGA and PNG textures, data override folders
* DirectDraw4 render (DirectDraw2 support was cut due to huge amount of excess code)
* Input using DirectInput8
* Font rendering (except little issues)
* First game state (MainMenuUI) is operational:

* Second game state (PlayerCreationUI) operational.

* Loading Outdoor maps (*.odm), actors (creatures), icon/texture frame tables
* First touch to events (*.evt)

Currently working on first in-game render and parsing world management/update code:

* 12.06.2010 Minimap and in-game GUI are fixed!

* 15.07.2010 3D Render on it's way, weird colors are because palettes are not set up correctly

*

* 29.09.2010 Actors (NPCs, monsters), objetcs, dropped items and other placeables are rendered and animated. Little problems with palette colors are being solved (getting rid of the palettes actually). Interactable actors are on the way.

* 30.09.2010 Colors are finally fixed.

* Walking, colliding, jumping, falling, drowning. Inventory.

* 05.12.2011 Terrain is finally rendered, many thanks to mkienenb and his mm8leveleditor sourcecode.
First playable demo will come shortly after.

My goals here:
(1) Fully reconstruct the original engine.
(2) Update render to modern Direct3D 10 graphics maintaining back-compatibility with mm6/7/8 resources.
(3) Create a base for the community which can be enchanted by everyone willing to contribute, e.g. keep the engine open-source for programmers and provide various flexible tools for artists and modders so anyone can create his own adventures in the world of Enroth.
(4) Additionally, there are some ideas for multiplayer.

Current project status:
stage (1) ~35% completed ( 70 000 / 193 000 lines of code parsed)

Expected feedback:
* Ideas, wishes, support.
* Strongly required C/C++ programmers with basic knowledge in assembler.
* 2D artists
Last edited by Nomad on Dec 14 2016, 2:40, edited 22 times in total.