[HN Gopher] OpenEnroth - Open reimplementation of the Might and ...
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       OpenEnroth - Open reimplementation of the Might and Magic 6, 7, 8
       game engine
        
       Author : toasteros
       Score  : 95 points
       Date   : 2023-01-23 17:12 UTC (5 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (github.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (github.com)
        
       | memetomancer wrote:
       | Nice to see it! I had a pretty big hand in making these suckers,
       | worked at New World Computing during that era...
       | 
       | I'm thinking I'd better not elaborate on the particulars or give
       | out any personally identifying information, but maybe I'll pop
       | into their discord and make myself vaguely available (if I could
       | even be of any help).
        
         | toasteros wrote:
         | Oh wow! I found out about the project recently and had no idea
         | sharing it could grab the attention of an NWC dev! I've played
         | the series to death so I'm sure I've killed you a couple of
         | times in the secret NWC office levels.
         | 
         | If it doesn't impose any ethical / legal questions (a la an ex-
         | Windows dev working on ReactOS) I'm sure your expertise could
         | be extremely valuable.
         | 
         | I'm not sure if by that era you mean that you strictly worked
         | on 6-8, but you may also be interested that ScummVM recently
         | started supporting the Xeen titles and even more recently
         | started working on implementing MM1 & 2[0]!
         | 
         | [0]: https://github.com/scummvm/scummvm/tree/master/engines/mm
        
           | thriftwy wrote:
           | Oh wow, I would gladly play MM1 but with modern-ish UI and
           | minimap. I just find 1990 UI impenetrable. Also it's hard as
           | it gets.
        
             | toasteros wrote:
             | ScummVM aims for authenticity, so at least in its initial
             | implementation the UI would most likely be exactly the same
             | as it was at release, but it does open the door for
             | modification I suppose - you may not see those enhancements
             | made directly in the ScummVM tree though.
        
       | nix23 wrote:
       | Those are some of the greatest games ever especially 6!!!
       | 
       | However if you play with the original engine (from GOG) it still
       | works perfectly with windows and wine (Linux,FreeBSD) but don't
       | forget the patches and mouse-look:
       | 
       | https://grayface.github.io/mm/
        
       | malermeister wrote:
       | In case folks are interested in _Heroes of_ Might and Magic,
       | specifically the fan-favorite part 3, there 's also an open
       | source reimplementation of that engine available:
       | https://vcmi.eu/
       | 
       | It has high-res and mod support btw :)
        
         | toasteros wrote:
         | There is also fheroes2[0], for Heroes of Might & Magic II!
         | 
         | [0]: https://github.com/ihhub/fheroes2
        
         | thriftwy wrote:
         | As well as closed source but still awesome expansion, Horn of
         | the Abyss.
         | 
         | https://h3hota.com/
         | 
         | The main selling points of HotA + HD Mod is UI improvements,
         | modern display resolutions support, balance fixes as well as
         | new content.
         | 
         | ...and, of course, online lobby and simultaneous turns feature
         | for online play.
        
           | malermeister wrote:
           | You can play HoTA as a VCMI mod :-)
        
       | seaners wrote:
       | I would love to see this done to the original Hero's Quest by
       | Sierra
        
       | jtlisi wrote:
       | The "Might and Magic" and "Heroes of Might and Magic" games were
       | a large part of my childhood. Personally, these games are the
       | foundation to my understanding and expectations of anything in
       | the fantasy genre.
       | 
       | I like Warhammer: Total War. However, I prefer the almost
       | textbook archetypes/playable-civs in HOMM(1-3) over the dark and
       | gritty palate of the Warhammer franchise. A new version of HOMM
       | in the total war style would be amazing. Especially, if I had the
       | option to doomstack Gremlins
       | (https://i.ytimg.com/vi/hxKjBeVvro8/hqdefault.jpg).
        
       | Moosdijk wrote:
       | This is great! Coincidentally, I was thinking: how great would it
       | be to experience MM6 in VR? just yesterday!
       | 
       | MM6 was a big part of my childhood and its great to see a modern
       | reimplementation of it. Maybe in the future I will see my dream
       | of VR MM6 come true :)
        
       | dangerwill wrote:
       | Hell yeah, so neat! Given that we are entering/have entered the
       | age of nostalgia for early 3d, it would be so interesting to me
       | to see someone making a commercial project off of this (obviously
       | sans assets from the original games)
        
         | fbdab103 wrote:
         | I assumed that the appeal of pixel-arty games was the reduced
         | engine and art requirements more-so than any aesthetic. I do
         | not know anything about game programming, but I could deduce
         | how to layer a bunch of 2d assets on top of each other to
         | produce visuals. I could even sketch out some quasi-decent art
         | in paint.
         | 
         | I would have to hit the books on how to work with a 3d world.
         | Incorporating passable 3d art assets is well beyond my artistic
         | ability.
        
         | udp wrote:
         | _> Given that we are entering /have entered the age of
         | nostalgia for early 3d_
         | 
         | Are we indeed! I look forward to the new era of retro games
         | then - maybe they will finally move on from the SNES aesthetic.
        
           | Narishma wrote:
           | There's this recent PS1-inspired horror game:
           | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqQSliCGpMU
        
           | chongli wrote:
           | _finally move on from the SNES aesthetic_
           | 
           | Why do we need to move on from the SNES aesthetic? Can't it
           | coexist with other styles? To me, it feels like someone
           | saying "maybe we'll finally move on from classical music."
           | 
           | Now if there's some other retro style you want to support
           | then I fully embrace that. I love the look and feel of HOMM3
           | and would love to see new games done in that style. But
           | there's no reason to abandon a style like 8-bit or 16-bit
           | pixel art if there's plenty of people who enjoy it.
        
             | udp wrote:
             | Sorry that was poorly worded - I love the SNES aesthetic
             | and of course hope it's here to stay. I meant "moving on"
             | as in chronologically to the styles that came afterwards.
             | As though we gradually iterate through the past, marking
             | each era as "retro vintage cool" instead of just "old".
        
               | chongli wrote:
               | I think some periods have more lasting appeal than
               | others. For example, the grainy low-polygon, low-colour,
               | dithered look of early 3D PlayStation games has, to my
               | mind, much less appeal than the 2D games of late SNES era
               | (and PlayStation era, viz. Castlevania: SOTN).
               | 
               | Lots of people are nostalgic for Final Fantasy 7, for
               | example, but I think most prefer the remake over the
               | original.
               | 
               | Early 2D games have the same issue. I think very few
               | people are fans of the Atari 2600 and its extremely crude
               | graphics. To me, that machine is more interesting from
               | the technical perspective than the visual or gameplay
               | perspective.
        
               | 2muchcoffeeman wrote:
               | There's definitely a sweet spot for me that overlaps with
               | when games became "really good" to my taste.
               | 
               | I was playing Civ6. And honestly, why the 3D and all the
               | animations? It's just slow and consumes power that it
               | doesn't need to. The Civ2, MOO2, MOM, X-Com era is still
               | to my mind the best. I just want the quality of life
               | improvements and some of the newer mechanics from the new
               | games.
        
               | chongli wrote:
               | Yes. I completely agree. I refuse to play new 3D games
               | like Civ6 because they feel incredibly "heavy" without
               | any benefit. A skilled team of 2D artists and graphic
               | designers could run circles around Civ6 with incredibly
               | beautiful and detailed art and user interface design
               | without any of the power consumption or heaviness.
               | 
               | I am a huge fan of Civ2, MOO2, MOM, SMACX, and X-Com as
               | well. Bringing those games forward with updated 2D
               | designs, clean user interfaces, and high quality of life
               | would be incredible!
        
               | andy81 wrote:
               | Final Fantasy 3-4 is the big example for this.
               | 
               | Remade in 3d, then remade again in 2d to appeal to
               | nostalgia for that style.
        
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       (page generated 2023-01-23 23:00 UTC)