Songs of Conquest - HOMM2-inspired turn-based strategy adventure game - now on Early Access

[Feyd Rautha]

Will I keep my research if I raise the Academy?

Be careful this forum is full of trolls who don't actually play videogames.

I know but I'm willing to take chances.

Will I keep my research if I raise the Academy?

you never lose your research, it might just go inactive if you dont have a single building

Thanks. By don't have a single building you mean if I ever end up having just Wielders and no settlements?

 

[lukaszek]

Thanks. By don't have a single building you mean if I ever end up having just Wielders and no settlements?

once you get to more interesting scenarios, you will see that border towns are in a flux.

Each settlement got different buildings and building slots. You can actually own 2 settlements allowing you to own 2 large buildings. Or 1 settlement with 2 large slots!
Everything settlement-wise is local, save for research you mentioned. In theory you need just 1 building globally, but in case someone invades that specific settlement -> all your research becomes inactive.
You don't lose it, dont need to start over. But you will have to obtain respective building again. Might be as easy as retaking your settlement, or harder when it involves building it from scratch or converting enemy one.

 

[Feyd Rautha]

Ok. I was thinking if I can demolish the Academy once I have done all the research, and build another large building, but it sounds like I need to keep it in order for the research to remain active.

 

[Feyd Rautha]

What's the general consensus? Is this at least good for "what it is"? I kind of doubt it will stand to HoMM.

I've played some 20 hours now and the AI is far too stupid for this to be fun in the long run. Once you've beaten their strongest Wielders they are done for. I know the devs are working on improving the AI and I will wait for that before playing more. It's good but development isn't complete yet.

e:

 

[cyborgboy95]

Roadmap 2023 reveal!
Greetings Wielders!

2023 is going to be a big year for Songs of Conquest and for everyone here at Lavapotion. Not only is this the year when we will launch our full game (at the end of Q3) but there are many exciting features and things planned throughout the year that we are thrilled over!

Fully refreshed after a Swedish winter holiday we have dived into 2023 with vigor. Plans have been drafted and a new roadmap has been finalized for your enjoyment!


Try clicking it to get a bigger, cooler image.

Now, we want to emphasize that this is a living document. Things might be added to the plan as we move forward, but the things listed are the key elements towards the full release.

So what exactly
are
the key elements?

In the first quarter of 2023 we are introducing a much asked for feature with the new artifact market where Wielders can buy and sell their hard earned items. We are also improving the Beacons so Wielders will be able to use them as portals and travel across the adventure map.

The artifact market. Your one-stop-shop for everything artifacts. Graphics, implementation and name in the image above is still tbd. Tbd is an abbreviation for “to be decided” btw. (see what we did there?)

We will be adding more skirmish maps of varying sizes continuously throughout the year. Some of them have been under construction for a while now and we are eager for you to try them. A coming highlight includes the launching of our largest skirmish map yet!

We anticipate this map taking a long time to complete. So get your snacks ready and get comfy, you are in for a long ride.

The second quarter of 2023 is all about the Barony of Loth. We’ll be releasing our third campaign and you’ll get the chance to understand how and why the Barony became the necromancers they are today. We are also introducing brand new unit traits and abilities for many of the faction units as well as more hostile neutral units.

Here you can see some of our devs hard at work with the new Burrow ability! Did you watch Tremors back in the 90's?

During the third quarter our eyes turn towards the sandy dunes of Barya as we introduce our fourth and final campaign. Our mercenaries, scientists and contract-following merchants finally get their time in the sun (literally!). You’ll get to follow their Wielders as we tie together the story that started with the Arleon campaign.

We will also be adding many new artifacts and introducing support for creating fantastic campaigns of your own through mods. Of course we will be adding achievements so that you can really brag about all that you have accomplished!

The icons above may, or may not, be related to achievements. If you squint hard enough you’ll see all of them perfectly crisp and sharp.

And what about AI improvements? For sure! They are on-going and will be portioned out with our monthly updates. Enhanced strategic reasoning, battle tactics and difficulty parameters are just some of the improvements planned before release.

Now thats a very friendly looking bunch! And look at those shirts!

We are overwhelmed over the love and support that we are getting and we hope you are as excited for the year ahead as we are! If you have any questions we recommend our active and fantastic Discord Community where you can ask questions, share tactics and hype. But do feel free to drop a comment here on Steam. We read it all and try to reply as often as we can!

/The lavapotion Team

 

[man-erg]

When's the HD remaster due?

 

[cyborgboy95]

Update 0.82.5
Update 0.82.5

Greetings Wielders!

It’s time for another update and yet again it’s filled to the brim with all manner of news and improvements. The focus this time has been on upgrading the AI and making sure that it offers you a more exciting challenge, especially when you are facing enemy Wielders in battle.

Even though AI has been the focus, it's far from the only thing worth mentioning in this update. The team has done some amazing things and we can’t wait for you to experience them firsthand.

With the new and improved AI, you might even learn a few things!

We are proceeding as planned, following our roadmap, and as always there are tons of things happening that are not listed in the update. We are looking forward to releasing stuff like more unit abilities and a whole new campaign in the months to come.

So let’s talk about AI. Our devs have been more than busy so it will be impossible to go into depth in every single detail. We recommend reading the full release notes by scrolling down. But let’s look at some highlights.

The computer is now much more efficient when it comes to planning their adventure map movement. The AI should no longer leave obvious low-hanging fruit, easy claimable map objects untouched. It will save up their money to buy bigger units of troops so that their expeditions can last longer and push deeper into your lands.

Now that’s what we like to call AI efficiency!

Do you know how you sometimes pat yourself on the back after using a successful repel and explosive fungi combination? Well now the AI knows how to use that ability too! This update brings many changes, including implementing repel and swap into the AI wielder’s repertoire.

It has also gotten a lot better at knowing if and when to use its spells, like keeping those dangerous damage spells to the end to really use them efficiently.

The AI also got a lot better at both defending and attacking. It will no longer needlessly attack its fortifications or obstacles and will try not to waste those high-damage class cannons before they get a chance to prove their worth!

It feels different when it’s happening to you.

So what's new besides all that awesome AI stuff? We added an option to pick where you want to teleport, this was created for Beacons but works for portals too if set in the map editor. This makes Beacons even more interesting to Claim, like cutting off an enemy from returning to their own area before you attack and more easily transporting across your realm.

Choosing where you teleport puts a whole new level to the larger maps.


Another skirmish map has entered the lists. Rags to riches is a small map for two players, designed to take you from poverty to wealth, competing for those precious resources.

Do you have what it takes to rise from rags to riches?

A cool surprise addition to the game is something we call spell dmg preview. Designed to help you plan spell usage better and to more clearly show the effect your spells will have in battle. It even includes and shows things like spell resistance!

Time to put away those calculators, spell review is here to stay!

But the list goes on. This is a huge update and one we are very proud of. Let us know what you think and tell us about your experiences with the new additions and the improved AI. The road ahead is packed with awesome content. We will have interviews with developers, a map-making contest together with mod.io, and more besides. We want to know what you are looking forward to!

Keep up the adventure!

/The Lavapotion team

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Changelog 0.82.5

Notable additions
Add teleport functionality to beacons of power
Allow teleports to have more than one destination using a teleport menu
Add damage preview for spells in battle
New Skirmish map: Rags to Riches

Notable bug fixes
Buy button sometimes not working when recruiting units
Common game-breaking exception when killing last AI wielder
Aura abilities not doing anything
Exception when killing final troop with acid cloud or explosive fungi
Ai not able to pillage dwellings and gets stuck when interacting with them
Dragons disappearing after upgrading in draft menu
Can’t attack town with walls if occupied
RMG maps should no longer have inaccessible loot areas or blocked roads
Adventure - Can no longer walk through undiscovered tiles with wielders
Fixed regression of “story actors” not being interactable in people’s custom maps

Adventure
Fixed bug making it possible to pathfind through unexplored tiles
Fixed not being able to interact with “story actor” map entities
Fixed some invisible “story actor” map entities being spoiled by mouse over tooltips
Fixed exception that happens when pressing “Accept” in the post-battle menu after defeating the last wielder and winning the game
Fixed long standing bug whose most common symptom was when trying to claim a lookout tower using the wielder’s very last movement you would only get a message about the pretty view but not actually claim it (also you paid too much movement to do it)
Fixed bug where artifact market close sound was played when ending turn
Fix bug where player couldn't purchase troops after selling a building and building a new of same type
Fix team color in movable troop UI when splitting troops
Fix ESC/C hotkey not working after moving an artifact in the inventory
Show team name in pre battle menu in multiplayer
“Mini menu” (the menu when clicking owned buildings) is now closed when right clicking
Add notification when destroying artifact in inventory
Add move all buttons to defense menu
Update lots of UI for elder dragons and trigger related tutorials
Fixed incorrect wielder “race plus class” text combinations in some languages
Add available troops (if any) to owned adventure map entity tooltips
Add highlights to inventory slots of correct type when hovering artifacts
Add highlight animation to newly purchased or equipped artifacts
Show notification when trying to walk into unexplored terrain in adventure
Show notification when trying to walk without a valid path in adventure
A few Random Events will now reward you with Essence

Battle
Fixed abilities buffing nearby troops not having an effect
Fixed bug where it was possible to select an invalid target hex for troop abilities and ending up in a weird UI state
Fixed movement outlines briefly flashing before troop attacks
Fixed a bunch of buffs not showing up as “buff arrows” in troop stack panels
Add looping scaling to entangle VFX. It was very hard to see on some troops
Common
Removed subtitle text that was mistakenly showing at the beginning of all cutscenes
Multiplayer
Fixed exception when clearing “random seed” value in map settings

AI - Adventure
Enabled usage of movement buff entities
Enhanced terrain analysis to detect “pockets” in the map in order to clear out the map better
Should not turn home as often (unless threatened) to recruit but instead be better at saving up for bigger purchases less often.
Fixed bug related to neutral dwellings and pillage
Barya AI has more efficient build plans for their towns
Fixed Adventure AI sometimes ignores unclaimed towns and settlements
Troop recruitment improvements
Fixes for AI becoming too passive in later stages of large maps

AI - Battle
Added implementation for spells Repel and Swap
Added implementation for a Repel into Explosive Fungi spell
Should now be much better knowing when to use, and not to use most spells
Should use more damage spells to kill off enemy units, especially towards the end of a battle
Tries to avoid attacking or moving in battle if it would result in instant death when it’s better to just stand still
Split the AI roles of attacker and defender into five different ones to better represent different play styles based on troop composition and wielder stats
Added specific roles to all troops to help differentiate and balance their behavior
Melee are troops now much better at defending ranged troops when playing defensively
Deadly but weak troops should now be better at keeping safe until they can strike first
Should be better at actually defending a siege if the AI sees it as the best option
Should no longer attack blocking map entities in sieges when AI wants to defend behind them
Should smash through blocking map entities in sieges when AI do want to make a sortie
Should no longer attack random map entities that make no sense attacking
Add ability to cast Entangle spell

Audio
New Barya building sounds added

Random Map Generator
Fixed issue causing paths to sometimes be blocked by spawned entities, this should now be less frequent
Fixed issue causing some areas being inaccessible due to environment edges
Updated blueprint, entities should now be more varied overall and starting areas have been balanced for a better experience. A new region has also been added to the blueprint, treasure_low.

 

[Skorpion]

At first I thought this was just a clone taking advantage of old nostalgia but it seems to really be shaping into a game I now look forward to. Keeping an eye on this one as it gets closer to 1.0!

 

[Feyd Rautha]

With those upgrades to the AI the game is probably pretty playable by now.

 

[lukaszek]

With those upgrades to the AI the game is probably pretty playable by now.

my main issue is how it incentives playing tanky magical units that do nothing but survive and generate large amount of orbs. Then you obliterate enemy army with magic with minimal losses. It nullifies cool war of attrition that is going on in this game

 

[cyborgboy95]

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/867210/view/6754877058985925476

Update 0.83.6
This update our main focus has been on the map editor! Good news for all you map creators out there!
Greetings Wielders!
Another month, another update. This time we’ve focused on the map editor in an effort to make level creation just a bit easier for everyone! It is an important feature of Songs of Conquest. Not only it is the tool that we use to create our maps and campaigns, but it’s also something that you, the community use to create awesome maps

So what have we been up to this busy spring month? As we mentioned we have been focusing on the map editor, making sure it’s easier to work with, and updating a bunch of its features. For instance, you can now search for entities and crop maps and we have added drop-down menus for your convenience.

It’s ever so convenient!

We have also added more features for those of you that want to create story-driven maps with objectives, just like how we create our campaign maps. Our fantastic artists have created more portraits for custom dialogues and we have thrown in an “objective group” field to story objectives, making it easier to create a series of objectives when you create your own maps. We look forward to what you will create with these new tools.

And speaking of community-created maps, to celebrate our new map editor we have just launched a competition together with mod.io, be sure to look it over on its very own steam post. You have the chance to get your map into the official Songs of Conquest map list and win some money too!

Get creative and submit your map for the chance to win.
Read about the competition here!

We also gave some development love to one of our experimental features, co-op. Although we aren’t done yet we made sure this got some much-sought-after improvements. For example, you can now ping each other on the mini-map and send resources.

Get in there and do things together!

There has also been more work done on AI, both for adventure and battle. We are proud of all the improvements made with last month's AI update and community feedback has been important for those extra additions and fixes. One of those fixes has been to change the AI behavior during sieges, now we force AI attackers in sieges against players to always be the aggressor.

We have worked a lot with unit roles and behavior and that work will continue to be important for us. This update introduces many small changes, fixes, and updates and as always we recommend reading the entire changelog down below, we promise it’s a rewarding experience.

Keep up the adventure!

/The Lavapotion team

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Changelog v0.83 - March 24, 2023
Notable additions
Added a new hierarchy view in the map editor, where all the placed map entities are listed and searchable.
Most objects in the map editor now have tooltips and better English translations
33 new Random Events for the Rana faction

Notable bug fixes
Fixed issue causing passive AI on randomly generated maps
Fixed bug where upgrading Eth’dra could cause Dragons to exceed their max Troop Size
Fixed bug where upgrading troops could cause upgraded troops from the pool to disappear
Fixed bug where the AI could do actions on the adventure map while stashed in a town
Fixed a bug where towns sometimes could not get attacked, which was also a cause for AI freezing on their turn.
Fixed bug related to Rapid Fire spell, Onslaught spell, or Double Strike trait, where you could get stuck in Battle after killing a troop and still having attacks remaining.

Adventure
Tweaked scouting thresholds (hostile threat levels can now be seen one tile further away than previously)
Fixed text size problem on post adventure stats menu
Fixed team color glow on the mini menu.
When ejecting a wielder from a town or settlement it is automatically selected
Don't close town interaction menu when the enemy is storing wielder in sim turns
Updated behavior for how the camera follows wielders
Slowed down building in progress smoke effect
Updated cursor notification pivot to show notification left of the cursor if it's too far to the right of the screen
Invisible “story actor” map entities no longer block movement
Fixed being able to exceed stack size limit when upgrading troops
Add overflowing scouted troops in pre-battle into the tooltip instead of the cover grid
Allow aborting forced camera movements by pressing WASD or begin panning with the mouse
Refresh town list when initiating a raze/convert the town
Fixed town wall gates being placed underwater
Fixed color tinting map entities not being active at map start
If a research building is banned on a map it no longer shows up in the research menu
Show building cost even if players don't have any available build site
Fixed the issue of not generating an alternate valid path for the wielder when the optimal path goes through unexplored parts of the map
The behavior is now always the same when capturing neutral settlements no matter which faction the capturing team belongs to
Fixed showing “pillage” mouse cursor and tooltip for neutral buildings that could not be pillaged
Fixed wielders sometimes unnecessarily move when the ground underneath them changes appearance
Show level-up menu before joining popup after the battle

Battle
Add retaliations to melee attack preview
Stop reload animation after troop has ended turn the second time after firing
Fixed battle outline null reference exception
Increase damage of most spells
Lower cost of Biting insects to 4
Increase the cost of Earth block to 5
Increase the cost of Repel to 8
Only show equipped artifacts in battle on the wielder tooltip
Update wielder tooltip layout
Fixed being soft-locked after killing the initial target with troops that have additional attacks left
Remove troop essence section in battle tooltips for troops without a wielder
Add notification to troops that can hit again

Common
Fix localization of codex faction headers in the building category
Fix some troop portrait positions
Fix localization bug in the codex research section

Map Editor
Removed old “Island” type random map generation
Improved mirroring when drawing using “circular mirrored” mode
Make it possible to disable the ability to build walls in cities
Added “objective group” field to story objectives, allowing them to be grouped as a single entry in objectives HUD in-game
Story actors now correctly get the color used by the team selected for it
Added a way to add custom map editor names to entities to make them searchable.
All lists and fields in map entity properties now have a different way of drawing themselves, so they should now be more responsive
All dropdowns now have a search bar
Fixed issue where the area trigger grid never disappeared from a wielder spawn point once added
You can now see where roads and walls will end up around towns and settlements in the editor
Added keybindings, most can be found in the tooltip for each tool. Keybindings added but not found in tooltip - <Tab> cycle tool context, <ctrl + Q> and <ctrl + E> set brush size, <shift + ctrl + Q> and <shift + ctrl + Q> to change height when drawing terrain height.
Added 11 neutral personas to use in dialogues
Added tools for padding and cropping maps

Multiplayer
Show other players’ selected teams in the lobby when the co-op is enabled
Exploration data is now shared between allies
Scouting is now provided by allies’ wielders and map entities
Added a tooltip for allies’ wielders showing level, skills, troops, and equipped artifacts
Allies can now use each other’s Beacons as teleports in co-op games
Allies can send minimap pings to each other during co-op games by right-clicking the minimap
Allies can now recruit their own troops from each other’s rally points during co-op games
Allies can now send each other resources during co-op games
Prevent showing pillaging mouse cursor and tooltips when pointing at allies’ buildings

AI - Adventure
Fixed exception bug that happened when AI rebuilt map regions
Fixed some guarding issues to better help the AI abort thinking in transitions to/from battle, when an AI team dies, and when the game is over.
Fixed a bug that made it possible for AI wielders to attack across the map even if they were stored in buildings
Remove Option creation redundancy (optimization)
Usage of portals entirely refactored
Map loot pocket scoring tweaks
Removed mismatch where the AI was braver when planning long routes, but chickened out when it got close.
Map interaction improvements
Changed how the troops are valued by the AI when recruiting or transferring troops

AI - Battle
Tweaked when the AI uses the Aim ability
Increased chance of AI casting a spell during a troop round
Removed some restrictions on AI casting spells if is has 20 or more essence in total
If AI can afford it, it will try to fill the path of a Repel spell with Explosive Fungi
Made AI more restrictive about using the Aegis spell
AI should be more willing to “waste” damage in order to use Ice Bolt and Rupture more often
Defensive AI teams are more restrictive about using Sabotage spell
Defensive AI teams are much more restrictive about using Destroy Essence spell
Defensive AI teams are more restrictive about using the Lethargy spell unless very early in combat
AI is much more likely to use Entangle spell if the enemy only has one unit left
AI no longer should cast Pacify spell as often, and not as a must cast when one enemy left
Defensive AI teams less likely to waste Onslaught spell on troops with support roles
Rebalanced Wait ability to work like other abilities and actions to make it viable again
Aggressive AI teams are much less likely to use the Wait ability
Removed elevation scoring bonus for attackers unless they are in reach of an enemy
Added an extra elevation bonus when occupying a hex next to an enemy
Fixed the bug of troops not being able to just stay in place if they had a valid melee target that was too dangerous to attack
Force AI attackers in sieges against players to always be the aggressor
Increased the aggressiveness of a team without a wielder meeting a team with a wielder
Added a “no retreat” penalty to discourage aggressive attackers to retreat toward the back edge of the map
Added a “retreat” bonus to encourage passive defenders to retreat toward the back edge of the map for certain troop roles
Tweaked down the fear of damage for troops with supportive roles for teams with high aggression

Audio
Don’t trigger wielder death sounds from opponents in the fog

Random Map Generator
Tweaked random faction chance for random hostiles and should now be more varied

Misc
Change the percentage of beacons needed to win from 70% to 64%

 

[whydoibother]

What campaigns are available right now?

 

[cyborgboy95]

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/867210/view/6754877058982184065

Spring Map Making Contest
Spring contest to celebrate our newly improved Map Editor
Hello, Wielders!

Our improved map editor is just about out and we are celebrating it in the best way possible, with a friendly competition! Together with Mod.io, we are launching a map-making contest. We’re even throwing in a 1000 USD prize for the best map maker out there, as well as adding the winning map to the official Songs of Conquest map pool. But don’t fret if you don’t win, the runners-up get some lovely prizes too!

So, who are Mod.io? They provide cross-platform mod support and host all the awesome player-created maps that our community has designed.

The competition will run from April 3rd and will last until the 28th of April, giving you a month to complete a large map. Lavapotion will announce the Winners on 12 May 2023 via the Songs of Conquest Twitter account: twitter.com/songsofconquest
Can you create anything? No, but pretty close. Let’s list the requirements and go into everything in a bit more detail. Scroll down to the bottom to read the longer eligibility.

Here’s what we are looking for:

• Large map size.

We are looking for a large map, the map size we have the fewest of. That is the 125x125 size in our editor.

• Stick to our default values when working with entities.

Don’t change default values like the value of pickups when working with entities, that’s because the maps in our official map pool must work in cohesion with each other and represent Songs of Conquest the way that we designed it. Remember, your map could be the first map that a new player plays. So don't change the value of a sack of gold for example.

• Winners' Criteria are “Fun to play, good visuals, and best overall fit with the game.”
• Just like the rest of our skirmish maps, we don’t focus on lore or story.

As we mentioned above, this could be a player's first map and we don’t want it to break from Songs of Conquest lore. So although we don’t mind small story elements and fun little additions the focus should be on gameplay and good visuals.

Tag your map with “spring map contest” after uploading your map to Mod.io

How do you submit a map?

That part is easy. Start with creating a profile on mod.io, then agree to and not breach the mod.io and Lavapotion terms of use and privacy policy. After you create a large-sized map, upload it to mod.io with the correct tag and then you’re good to go!

… What are you waiting for, cartographer? We are looking forward to your awesome creations!

Enjoy your adventures!

/The Songs of Conquest Team together with Mod.io

----------------------------------------------

Eligibility


All eligible mods and creators will be automatically considered for entry into the competition. If you do not wish to participate, you can opt out by sending an email to support@mod.io;

For mods to be eligible, the creator must:

-Have a single active member account on mod.io when the Prizes are determined and on the last day of the relevant month. Duplicate accounts will be grouped or banned;

-Have agreed to, and not be in breach of, the mod.io or Lavapotion Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, and any other policies as may be required by Lavapotion or mod.io from time to time;

-Not be employed or provide services for mod.io or Lavapotion or be related to or live with someone who does;

-Live in a jurisdiction where they can participate in unregistered competitions for games of skill; and
-Be tagged with “Spring map contest” after being uploaded to mod.io; and
-Be willing to have their submitted map featured in the Songs of Conquest official map roster.

For mod(s) to be eligible, they must:
-Be your original creation;
-Be publicly available and visible on mod.io;
-Be active and not taken down from mod.io for any reason;
-Be compatible with the latest version of Songs of Conquest;
-Be correctly submitted by the submission date; and

Comply with the relevant Lavapotion EULA and any other policies required by Lavapotion from time to time.

Additional rules:
Notwithstanding the above eligibility criteria, Lavapotion and mod.io reserve the right to exclude any creator or mod from the program for any reason;
Creators who are found to have acted in bad faith, in mod.io’s sole discretion, will be permanently excluded from this and any future competitions;
If a mod has been created through the contributions of multiple parties, only the primary creator, as credited on the mod page, is eligible to enter and win prizes;
Mods that are obviously trying to "game" the system in any way to win will be disqualified from participation; and
The decisions of Lavapotion and mod.io staff regarding eligibility, Winner Selection Criteria, and winners of the competition (Winner) are final and binding on all creators.

 

[luj1]

Heard the magic system is great, but unit variety is poor

 

[lukaszek]

What campaigns are available right now?

still 2/4, frogs and humans

Heard the magic system is great, but unit variety is poor

thats odd statement, see, magic and units are interconnected. Mage will chose different units than warrior hero. Mages will be picking different units based on spells they like casting

 

[luj1]

unit variety compared to HoMM

 

[lukaszek]

unit variety compared to HoMM

random, vague comment. Try using more words. For now my answer is 'no'

 

[luj1]

There are 4 factions compared to like 9 (+neutrals) in Heroes 3

I appreciate the magic twist but definite decline in other respects

 

[lukaszek]

wanted to end at

disciples is just another homm like, although with lower faction and unit variety

but decided to do a bit more

There are 4 factions compared to like 9 (+neutrals) in Heroes 3

ahh so its heroes 3... Number of factions mean shit. Just look at hero hour with its 13...

homm3 had 7 units per faction. Songs got 8. Comparison is a bit meaningless due to game mechanics resulting in you not just building every building once. Per homm terms you can build few troglodyte caves and have no room for other buildings.

To compare actual units, lets forget about mana generation in Songs. Homm3 units are a bit bland. Many got nothing special, reach didnt exist yet.
Have a quick look at this table: https://songsofconquest.fandom.com/wiki/Rana#Units
Each got special passive/active abillities.

Anyway this is trying to slice songs of conquest into singular dimension and trying to compare. Its games made many years later and it shows(like having elevation etc). Also it got a bunch of unique mechanics to be its own game, not just 'homm like'.

Magic aside, game is somewhere in between homm and disciples. You play battle of attrition to exhaust enemy economy - by design there is no such thing as largest army since there is hard cap on numbers that is easy to reach. While your units dont lvl up, your hero might be able to carry a bit more of them as he lvls up.

 

[luj1]

Also it got a bunch of unique mechanics to be its own game, not just 'homm like'.

lets see how far it can go

it seems similar in some aspects (regarding units) to Kings Bounty

and some stuff (regarding magic) that reminds me of MtG

 

[.Pixote.]

The game looks great, but runs like a slug! They need to speed it up considerably, and another thing I find annoying is the fog of war is not permanent - you open an area only for it to go dark as soon as your hero moves away. I like to plan ahead for potential enemy attacks but can't see their movement. The battle screen feels too close for me, they could pull back a few hexes and enlarge the field. The game has great potential...

 

[Maculo]

Did the devs shake up the unit abilities any? I remember the factions/units had the exact same defense/relation stance ability.

 

[Infinitron]

Undead campaign:



https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/867210/view/6027549530043499944

The graveyard shift starts now
We are finally going to the graveyard of Loth, so bring a shovel and come along!

Yes, the time has finally come! Today we are releasing the highly awaited campaign for the Barony of Loth, and this one will surely rattle your bones.

Carrying gunpowder to the battlefield comes with both benefits and hazards, as this poor Musketeer just found out. Either that or someone just dropped a well placed Fireball.


The campaign features four missions available on Easy, Normal and Hard difficulty, offering a real challenge similar to the previous campaigns of the Arleon and Rana factions. You will gain insight into the history of the Barony of Loth, as well as the tragic fate that befell the Aurelian empire. The campaign begins with the tale of Baron Aldus of Loth, who encounters a mysterious scholar that offers him a chance to seize an ancient power. Desperate to save his declining Barony, Aldus strikes a deal with the stranger, only to find out that there is a grave price to be paid. Yet, there might be a sliver of light at the end of the tunnel.

Who’s that lurking in the shadows? Someone is prying on the Baron as he offers prayer and sacrifice to Aurelia Eternal. Quite rude if you ask me.


We’re very excited for you all to experience the Barony of Loth campaign starting today. We’ve been dead set on perfecting this story and expanding on the game’s intricate lore to give you all a chance to explore yet another aspect of Aerbor, the world of Songs of Conquest. As always, the cinematic cutscenes are delivered in the form of a song, which is written and performed by our game designer Carl.

He sings, he designs and he even starred in a horror movie. Is there anything this man can’t do? (Drop a comment below if you know what movie it was, for serious trivia bonus points!)


The whole team is immensely proud of what we have achieved so far and the Loth campaign is not the end of it. You can look forward to more unit abilities and siege battle improvements, as well as AI becoming smarter and a better adversary. We also have a few surprises up our sleeves, but that is for later, today we celebrate the return of the dead and wish you all a good play session!

Can the Faey be trusted? Maybe, maybe not. In our experience they lie quite a loth.


Leave a comment below and let us know if you are excited to try out the new campaign! Or just drop a message to the team. Your ideas, feedback and encouragement are greatly appreciated!

/Team Lavapotion


Full patchnotes can be found here!

 

[lukaszek]

from first 2 missions in campaign, its magic oriented faction yet they give you might heroes

 

[ArchAngel]

Whole 4 more missions.. how nice of them LOL
Are these also same bullshit with enemy heroes spawning with full stacks at certain turns?!