Reported Post by oblivion9032

oblivion9032 · Mar 23, 2011

oblivion9032 has reported a post.

Reason:

Should be in console gaming
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Post: Heroes of Might and Magic
Forum: General Discussion / Off Topic
Assigned Moderators: Blupig, Karl

Posted by: Peetu
Original Content:

Has anyone here played the series?
If so, what's you favourite part?

Mine is HoMM IV, due to the awesome music it has, and the general gameplay.

GameplayThe Heroes series is within the genre of turn-based strategy. The titular heroes are player characters who can recruit armies, move around the map, capture resources, and engage in combat. The heroes also incorporate some role-playing game elements; they possess a set of statistics that confer bonuses to an army, artifacts that enhance their powers, and knowledge of magical spells that can be used to attack enemies or produce strategic benefits. Also, heroes gain experience levels from battle, such that veteran heroes are significantly more powerful than inexperienced ones. Experienced heroes may persist through a campaign, but do not carry over between single scenarios.

On a typical map, players begin a game with one town of a chosen alignment. The number of different alignments varies throughout the series, with the lowest count of four appearing initially in Heroes I and peaking at nine in the Heroes III expansion Armageddon's Blade. Each town alignment hosts a unique selection of creatures from which the player can build an army. Town alignment also determines other unique traits such as native hero classes, special bonuses or abilities, and leanings toward certain skills or kinds of magic.

Towns play a central role in the games since they are the primary source of income and new recruits. A typical objective in each game is to capture all enemy towns. Maps may also start with neutral towns, which do not send out heroes but may still be captured by any player. It is therefore possible, and common, to have more towns than players on a map. When captured, a town retains its alignment type, potentially allowing the new owner to create a mixed army. A player or team is eliminated when no towns or heroes are left under their control. Barring any special conditions, the last player or team remaining is the victor.

A side objective commonly appearing in the series is the acquisition of a powerful object called the "ultimate artifact," (Heroes I and II), grail (III and IV) or Tear of Asha (V), buried under a random tile on the map. As heroes visit special locations called obelisks, pieces are removed from a jigsaw puzzle-like map, gradually revealing its location to the player. Once found, it confers immense bonuses to the player capable of breaking stalemates: the grail can be taken back to a town and used to build a special structure, while the ultimate artifact provides the bonuses directly through possession.

Time and resource modelEach turn (consisting of all players' moves) is represented as a single day, and days are organized into cycles of weeks and months (measured as four weeks). The primary resource is gold, which is generated by towns on a daily basis. Gold alone is sufficient for obtaining basic buildings and most creatures. As construction progresses, increasing amounts of secondary resources such as wood, ore, gems, crystals, sulfur, and mercury are required. These resources, as well as gold, are produced at mines and other secondary structures, which are located on the map and require heroes to capture them. As with towns, mines can also be captured by enemy heroes, presenting an additional avenue for conflict.

At the start of each week (each day in Heroes IV), creature dwellings produce new recruits, and in most cases neutral armies will increase in size (by default; can be turned off if desired). In some of the games, the start of a new month causes neutral armies to spawn all over the map, providing fresh challenges and opportunities.

[edit] CombatWhenever a player engages in battle, the game changes from the adventure map display to a combat screen, which is based on either a hexagonal or square grid. In this mode, the game mimics the turn-based tactics genre, as the engaged armies must carry through the battle without the opportunity to reinforce or gracefully retreat. With few exceptions, combat must end with the losing army deserting or being destroyed, or paying a heavy price in gold to surrender. Surrendering allows the player to keep the remaining units intact.

Creatures in an army are represented by unit stacks, each of which consists of a single type of creature, in any quantity. A limited number of stacks are available to each army, varying by game. Players generally maneuver their stacks attempting to achieve the most favorable rate of attrition for themselves. The games also have an automatic combat option that allows the computer to make tactical choices for a player. Heroes participate in battle as well: passively by granting bonuses to their army, and actively by engaging in combat and casting spells. In most of the games, heroes do not act as units, and cannot be harmed. However, in Heroes IV they do act as regular units and can be "killed"; dead heroes are transferred to a dungeon where they can be re-recruited by the battle winner.

Combat is affected by several random factors. In addition to simulating dice rolls to determine damage, a variety of influences including hero abilities and special bonuses determine a unit's luck and morale ratings, which affect the likelihood of those units triggering a bonus during combat. A unit that triggers good luck deals more (or receives less) damage, and a unit that triggers high morale receives an extra turn. In some other games, luck and morale can also be negative, with opposite corresponding effects. Luck and morale can be improved by hero abilities, artifacts, and spells. Morale may suffer with overwhelming odds in combat or by mixing incompatible unit types (e.g. Chaos with Order.)
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Example of HoMM IV music:

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Gameplay of HoMM II:

Gameplay of HoMM III:

Gameplay of HoMM IV:

Gameplay of HoMM V:

If you haven't played the series, but checked the vids, please tell which part looks the best to you?

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