Decline Heroes of Might and Magic III HD - It's out

[hoverdog]

https://mmh7.ubi.com/en/blog/post/view/a-special-announcement

Heroes of Might & Magic III – HD Edition will be available on 2015/01/29 on Android tablets, Ipad and PC!
As Heroes fans ourselves, we know that nothing we could have done on this title would have surpassed the original game and this never has been our intention since the beginning of this project. Our objective with HOMM3 – HD Edition is to offer a new way to experience Heroes III on iOS and Android, alone or with friends thanks to the acclaimed hotseat mode (no more boring long train journeys!). To also please our PC fans we have worked on a Steamworks version of Heroes 3 RoE! If you want to try the game after all those years, play it again in HD and benefit from Steam multiplayer features, this version is made for you!
Community team note: But why only RoE? To understand the origin of the project and its development we need to go back to 2003. At that time we asked New World Computing to retrieve their archives for all the Might & Magic titles. We found tons of documentation and data but regarding Heroes III we had nothing but the usable source code of Heroes III Restoration of Erathia.

Please take note that this article is an exception due to a special announcement and this website will continue to focus on M&M Heroes VII. For more information about Heroes III – HD edition, please visit official page on http://bit.ly/homm3-hd and M&MFacebook/Twitter accounts.

lolololol it doesn't even feature the expansions

 

[Grunker]

lolololol it doesn't even feature the expansions

 

[Rpgsaurus Rex]

They're gonna strike gold with this one. Minimal investment on their part while shearing the money off all the now-casualized retrogeezers.

It's a shame M&MX didn't sell and is now stuck in a Wiz8-like limbo of almost-but-not-quite-finished games.

 

[UndetectedButthurt]

I'll just stick to this thanks guise

https://sites.google.com/site/heroes3hd/

 

[Muty]

I'll just stick to this thanks guise

https://sites.google.com/site/heroes3hd/

I thought that this thread was about this then I started reading the article

 

[pakoito]

The only thing they had to revamp was the UI and they didn't. What's the point of playing it over the moddable GOG version?

 

[Rpgsaurus Rex]

The only thing they had to revamp was the UI and they didn't. What's the point of playing it over the moddable GOG version?

Our objective with HOMM3 – HD Edition is to offer a new way to experience Heroes III on iOS and Android, alone or with friends thanks to the acclaimed hotseat mode (no more boring long train journeys!).

 

[pakoito]

The only thing they had to revamp was the UI and they didn't. What's the point of playing it over the moddable GOG version?

Our objective with HOMM3 – HD Edition is to offer a new way to experience Heroes III on iOS and Android, alone or with friends thanks to the acclaimed hotseat mode (no more boring long train journeys!).

 

[Rpgsaurus Rex]

pakoito

Is it the VCMI port? Does it even have a functioning AI?

 

[Eyeball]

HOMM3 still looks and sounds great today. Completely unneccesary update.

 

[pakoito]

pakoito

Is it the VCMI port? Does it even have a functioning AI?

Top is the original at real size, bottom the remake straight from their website.

 

[J_C]

There are a few perfect games in gaming history. Thief is one of them. Heroes 3 is another. It doesn't need an HD remake, especially since it has an HD mod. And that's all we need.

 

[Average Manatee]

Remember when "HD" actually meant entirely remade assets? Who the fuck started this shit where HD = 16:9 aspect ratio with no other changes? Is this thanks to the consoles again?

lolololol it doesn't even feature the expansions

I'm speechless.

 

[pakoito]

Worse. Mobile!

 

[Monkeyfinger]

the art assets in the ubisoft remaster actually look really fucking good

but, no expansions = no buy

 

[himmy]

Remember when "HD" actually meant entirely remade assets? Who the fuck started this shit where HD = 16:9 aspect ratio with no other changes? Is this thanks to the consoles again?

They are doing exactly that, though.




Which, yeah, looks pretty cool, but probably not worth the price they're gonna ask and the fact that they didn't do this for the Complete Edition is either idiocy or long-term business plan. This being Ubisoft, it's probably both.


Edit:

Community team note: But why only RoE? To understand the origin of the project and its development we need to go back to 2003. At that time we asked New World Computing to retrieve their archives for all the Might & Magic titles. We found tons of documentation and data but regarding Heroes III we had nothing but the usable source code of Heroes III Restoration of Erathia.

Well, it's even sadder than that.

 

[Average Manatee]

Remember when "HD" actually meant entirely remade assets? Who the fuck started this shit where HD = 16:9 aspect ratio with no other changes? Is this thanks to the consoles again?

They are doing exactly that, though.

That looks nicer. I guess it doesn't show up in Pakoito's screenshots.

Community team note: But why only RoE? To understand the origin of the project and its development we need to go back to 2003. At that time we asked New World Computing to retrieve their archives for all the Might & Magic titles. We found tons of documentation and data but regarding Heroes III we had nothing but the usable source code of Heroes III Restoration of Erathia.

Wow, here I was assuming that they were holding back DLC or something. If this updated version never ever gets the expansions then that's pretty horrible.

 

[AMG]

Unlike Baldur's Gate: Blurry Edition they actually put work into gfx and probably a lot of it. If I didn't think that every remake is awful by definition, I'd even say that the new assets look very good.
Still, even though it's not a complete cashgrab, there is still no reason to buy this, considering originals work without a hitch and this doesn't even feature expansions. I guess tablet gaming enthusiasts are happy.
At least this let me discover that ghost dragon actually had arms!

 

[Martius]

Hm... Some sites are posting this comparison but I have no idea from where it came. I thought it should be of course from Ubisoft but I cant find it on official site.

 

[Darth Roxor]

I am fairly sure my homm3 was not that fucking pixelated. What the hell?

Also, there's something weird about that archdevil. And the bonerdagon for that matter.

 

[Zboj Lamignat]

The only worthwhile things from the expansions would be some balance improvements and obviously the maps, both of which would be pretty easy to implement in this, but of course they won't do it. I guess many people care about the additional campaigns and the Conflux, but meh.

I am fairly sure my homm3 was not that fucking pixelated. What the hell?

It's called marketing, but "hell" is a pretty good synonym, as that's where all the marketing hacks are going.

 

[hoverdog]

radom map generator

 

[baturinsky]

I am fairly sure my homm3 was not that fucking pixelated. What the hell?

Also, there's something weird about that archdevil. And the bonerdagon for that matter.

I assume old one is top, "HD" is bottom.

 

[Grunker]

I have HoMM3 installed right now. The old models aren't pixelated in that manner.

 

[Orzie]

I have already told this on some sites, and I'll repeat it here.

Calling this

and this

and this

and this

and even this

"an official Heroes of Might and Magic III HD Remake" should be law penalized.


This is the first time I see a company neglecting the fans so much. This remake was anticipated, and we all couldn't sleep fine because of it, but all we've got is these soap graphics made in a big hurry and inheriting all graphic bugs of the original game. This is no more than a trash aimed to cut easy money from naive fans.

And I am 100% sure that the words about "we have only the working RoE source code" is a total bullshit. Of course if the project will be sold good enough, spontaneously we will know that Ubi finds the code for AB and SoD... and will sell them as DLCs for no more than $30.

Commercialization has killed the game development industry. I realize this more and more with the pass of time.