[HN Gopher] VCMI: An open-source engine for Heroes III
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VCMI: An open-source engine for Heroes III
Author : eamag
Score : 182 points
Date : 2025-12-06 16:27 UTC (5 days ago)
(HTM) web link (vcmi.eu)
(TXT) w3m dump (vcmi.eu)
| bombcar wrote:
| VCMI is an acronym of the Quenya phrase "Vinyar Callor Meletyo ar
| Ingoleo", meaning "New Heroes of Might and Magic".
|
| I wish it worked with HotA but it is nice to play natively;
| though even run through emulators HIII is fast enough.
| notpushkin wrote:
| There is a partial HotA port: https://github.com/vcmi-
| mods/horn-of-the-abyss (available in the launcher to install)
| hyperpl wrote:
| Interesting post timing. At the airport lounge before a long
| int'l flight and in preparation I'm installing bottles + homm3
| GOG + HOTA.
|
| While I played and wholeheartedly commend the developers' effort
| in making VCMI I still prefer the original + HD/HOTA.
| ostwilkens wrote:
| Very cool! I have one non-technical friend who occasionally wants
| to play HOMM, and she often has issues getting it working
| (specifically non-hd, non-hota on intel mac). This could be a
| remedy.
| ostwilkens wrote:
| > add new towns, creatures, heroes, artifacts and spells without
| limits or conflicts
|
| If the original game had these features, it would likely have
| gotten me into programming at an even earlier age!
| orphea wrote:
| In the Wake of Gods mod (aka HoMM 3.5) had ERM scripting and it
| was hella exciting for a kid! You could make your own
| artifacts, automate things on a map, make a dynamic story that
| reacts to your actions.
| notpushkin wrote:
| One interesting use I've found is installing the Android version
| on an Oculus Quest. Very weird experience at first, but it's
| really really cool.
| barfoure wrote:
| I see a HoMM thread, I upvote.
| internet_points wrote:
| how's the AI (as in computer opponent) these days? last time I
| played vcmi, that was my only gripe - the bots were so stupid.
| krige wrote:
| They're still not too bright, which is kind of faithful to the
| original game. However at least the android client allows you
| to pick alternate algos and further AI mods that at least claim
| to make it more challenging are available for download.
| eamag wrote:
| There's an ongoing project of build an RL AI
| https://github.com/smanolloff/vcmi-gym/
| nasretdinov wrote:
| In my experience VCMI already feels like a proper Heroes 3 game,
| even if it doesn't fully support HotA mods, etc. It's certainly
| the easiest way to play Heroes 3 casually e.g. on an M1 Mac, and
| it has no wine-related crashes, and doesn't require a virtual
| machine with Windows's x86 emulation workarounds (like having to
| limit the game to a single CPU as otherwise units wouldn't do any
| damage in combat :))
| chrysoprace wrote:
| Very cool project. An interesting note is that this makes HoMM
| III available to play on Android. That being said the game has
| had such a community revival surrounding the excellent Horn of
| the Abyss (HotA) mod that I can't really see myself playing VCMI
| (outside of Android) unless they fully worked together.
| Nevertheless, I am always stoked to see these community projects
| because they illustrate the pure passion people have for these
| games.
| vincnetas wrote:
| Lost couple of evenings to nostalgia because of this recently :)
| p2detar wrote:
| For people that are nostalgic to HOMM2, like me, there is also
| fheroes2 [0].
|
| 0 - https://ihhub.github.io/fheroes2
| CurrentB wrote:
| I love homm2 and have been playing fheroes2 for a bit now.
| homm2 is truly a masterpiece. To me it's the peak of the heroes
| series. The art and music are both great and still hold up to
| this day. The game play is basically perfect for what it is -
| subsequent games in the series, to me, just are adding more and
| more piece types to a chess board.
| tuananh wrote:
| how stable is the game?
| iberator wrote:
| Lol. It would be embarrassing for this clone to not be 100%
| stable after like 30 years of development lol
| nasretdinov wrote:
| There are occasional bugs, especially in fresh minor releases,
| but typically nothing game-breaking. I am yet to see it
| actually crash though
| bbminner wrote:
| Did HoMM series ever get popular outside Eastern Europe? I am yet
| to meet a person born and raised in the US who have heard about
| it, but maybe i am just unlucky or targeting a wrong demographic.
| philistine wrote:
| Friends and I loved Heroes 3, but we're Quebecois.
| tarentel wrote:
| I played Might and Magic as a child but I never knew about this
| series nor have I ever played it. I also don't know anyone who
| has either now that you mention it.
| axus wrote:
| Let's say not as popular as other games, but it was popular
| enough to pirate in the US.
| IG_Semmelweiss wrote:
| It found a following in some parts of LATAM as well.
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(page generated 2025-12-11 23:02 UTC)