[HN Gopher] The year of peak might and magic
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The year of peak might and magic
Author : cybersoyuz
Score : 54 points
Date : 2025-07-18 17:21 UTC (5 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.filfre.net)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.filfre.net)
| artemonster wrote:
| Astrologers proclaim a week of HOMM3 appreciation posts.
| vunderba wrote:
| What I wouldn't give for a new Heroes of Might and Magic game
| with the pixel art style of HOMM2 and the gameplay mechanics of
| HOMM3...
| tdrgabi wrote:
| Not exactly what you asked for but
| https://store.steampowered.com/app/867210/Songs_of_Conquest/
| is somewhat close.
|
| I played the campaign and it scratched the itch
| selimthegrim wrote:
| The SsethTzeentach review is something else
| vanderZwan wrote:
| Aren't there mods out there for HOMM3 to make it look like
| HOMM2?
|
| edit: found one called "The Succession Wars"
|
| https://heroes3wog.net/the-succession-wars/
| northhnbesthn wrote:
| Forget AI. Get in here this is our thread.
| jaza wrote:
| Amen!
| GeekyBear wrote:
| I keep a Windows 2000 virtual machine with no network access
| around just to occasionally play HOMM 3.
|
| There aren't many games from that era that are as infinitely
| replayable. Command and Conquer: Yuri's Revenge and Starcraft
| come to mind.
| Mars008 wrote:
| > I keep a Windows 2000 virtual machine with no network access
| around just to occasionally play HOMM 3.
|
| according to wiki there should be an easier way:
|
| Platform(s) Windows, Macintosh, Linux (PowerPC/x86), iOS,
| Android
|
| Release March 3, 1999
| 0cf8612b2e1e wrote:
| I would be quite surprised if a modern Linux could run the
| original binary without gymnastics. Windows is the only OS
| which prioritizes backwards compatibility.
| GeekyBear wrote:
| The game isn't stable under modern versions of Windows.
| morsch wrote:
| You're probably right about the native version, but the
| Windows version works fine:
| https://www.protondb.com/app/297000?device=pc
| 0cf8612b2e1e wrote:
| Heh. Which is why the only stable Linux ABI is Win32.
| GeekyBear wrote:
| That report is for the fixed version of HOMM 3 from GOG,
| not the original version of the game.
| GeekyBear wrote:
| The Windows version is no longer compatible with modern
| Windows versions.
|
| The Mac version (I own both) was for PowerPC Macs.
|
| I've already paid for it a third time, as part of a HOMM box
| set for Windows.
|
| Good Old Games has produced a fixed version, so I could pay
| for it a fourth time, but running it in the VM still works.
| ktallett wrote:
| https://vcmi.eu/
|
| There is also a great remake with a new engine, that of
| course requires the original assets.
| asboans wrote:
| I keep seeing might and magic related content, despite never
| having played it, or even having heard of it until recently! But
| in the last few months I have been getting the odd YouTube
| recommendation, or see the occasional Reddit (and now HN) thread.
|
| Why?
| egypturnash wrote:
| Possibly it is the Baader-Meinhof Effect.
|
| Possibly this is a game you will love playing and should check
| it out. Whether by emulating an ancient DOS machine or by
| picking up one of the eleven games in the series available on
| Steam. (https://store.steampowered.com/sale/might-magic/)
|
| If it is the latter case then I am sure some enthusiastic fans
| of this series will reply to this comment or yours with
| detailed opinions on which option is the best :)
| ferguess_k wrote:
| As a side (but arguably related) topic:
|
| Is there any webpage or book or any media that analyzes the
| technical aspects of a game? Take HOMM3 as an example -- what are
| the most difficult technical problems and how did the developers
| solve them? What are the algorithms that run aspects of the game
| (e.g. how is path-finding implemented? How is AI implemented?)?
| What is the architecture of the engine? Does it have a scripting
| engine and if so how is it implemented?
|
| I like post-mortems but mostly are given by designers, directors,
| not programmers -- and even by programmers they did not go very
| deep like "John Carmack" type deep. The "Black books" by Fabien
| came into mind but these are few and far between.
| nottorp wrote:
| I don't think anything in the Might and Magic series was ever a
| serious technological advancement on par with id software's
| early work.
|
| They're some of the greatest games ever made, but it's the
| design, not the code.
|
| Come to think of it, same thing goes for most games that make
| the greatest game lists.
| hcs wrote:
| Warren Robinett wrote an interesting one on Atari VCS Adventure
| http://www.warrenrobinett.com/inventing_adventure/
|
| It doesn't go super deep, he had a more technical book in the
| works but I haven't heard any updates about it for a while:
| http://www.warrenrobinett.com/ecv/annotated_adventure_toc/in...
| rikthevik wrote:
| Love to see some Might and Magic articles.
|
| Earlier this year I found a boxed copy of Might and Magic IV:
| Clouds of Xeen on Marketplace. Everything is in the box and it's
| all pristine. It goes very nicely with my boxed copy of Might and
| Magic III that I bought (used!) to play on my first computer, my
| 386.
|
| I think I'm going to get these maps framed.
| incanus77 wrote:
| I played the shit out of HOMM3. I bought it, though, only after
| sneaking plays in between customers while working at Radio Shack.
| We had some ~300MHz Compaq machines that Radio Shack had recently
| partnered with to sell and on slow days, it was a good way to
| pass the time.
| wtf242 wrote:
| One of my favorite games of all time. It's so simple yet can be
| so complex. You can legit spend 8+ hours playing the first couple
| levels easily.
| dekhn wrote:
| I remember, as a kid, seeing the first ad for M&M in a computer
| journal I read. At the time I was happy playing Ultima and it
| looked like it was going to be a better ultima, and ordered it.
| Waiting for the floppy disk to arrive seemed like an eternity and
| at some point I literally dreamed I was playing the game. The
| game itself, I barely remember- it wasn't that great, kind of
| like ultima and wizardry but didn't really improve on either of
| them significantly.
| ModernMech wrote:
| "By the seventh go-round, this was no longer quite the shock it
| once was, but series tradition must be served."
|
| To be fair, MM7 was the first time for some of us, and it was
| quite a shock. What do you mean all the points I put into might
| and magic are now moot, as the only endgame weapons worth using
| are blasters?!
| TrackerFF wrote:
| Me and my friends had really been playing M&M 6&7 in 98/99, such
| fond memories. We had really high hopes for Ultima 9 - which came
| out in 99, as it looked so much more modern than the M&M
| games...nope, a total turd. Think I still have the box somewhere
| in the attic though, that was probably the most impressive thing
| about the game.
|
| M&M8 which came out the year after, was good enough though.
| That's around the time I stopped playing the M&M series.
| autoexec wrote:
| One thing I loved about HOMM 3 was that even with just one
| computer you could take turns and get a game going with friends.
| Not many games offered that unless they were based on board games
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