Might and Magic Playing Might and Magic VI for the first time

[Epsilon]

Fuck, I just started a new playthrough of WoX the other day. But now I want to play this too!

 

[Jaesun]

Yeah. Playing blobbers is a young man's game. I recall those long nights as a young buck meticulously mapping out The Bard's Tale dungeons on graph paper while the next level oh so slowly loaded from cassette tape. I'd probably just break a hip trying to do that now.

 

[octavius]

Yeah. Playing blobbers is a young man's game. I recall those long nights as a young buck meticulously mapping out The Bard's Tale dungeons on graph paper while the next level oh so slowly loaded from cassette tape. I'd probably just break a hip trying to do that now.

I've played more blobbers as middleish aged man than a young man. The state of "RPGs" from 2003-2012 really made me appreciate those old blobbers, which are all about games and puzzles, and not story, romances and cutscenes.

I've also noticed that I've become much better at TBS games, while my skills in shooters have decreased somewhat.

 

[A user named cat]

Finished with all the crystals for the Oracle. Working on a couple of the optional dungeons, namely the Fire lord one and next the dwarf orgy simulator. After that, I assume I'm nearing the end.

 

[Lord Azlan]

Finished with all the crystals for the Oracle. Working on a couple of the optional dungeons, namely the Fire lord one and next the dwarf orgy simulator. After that, I assume I'm nearing the end.

Thanks for the OP and other posts. I bought this one at the time but quickly moved onto something else.

I recently bought it again on GOG and sometimes look lovingly at it.

Is it working okay on, I assume, your modern PC? Any crashes etc? How does it compare with recent blobbers like LoX or M&M X?

Good stuff indeed.

 

[A user named cat]

Is it working okay on, I assume, your modern PC? Any crashes etc? How does it compare with recent blobbers like LoX or M&M X?

Good stuff indeed.

Works great. Engine is a bit buggy at times when it comes to physics and wall collisions but I've not encountered any type of crashes and nothing game breaking. I've had a couple items disappear from my inventory at random but that can be remedied by using a simple save game editor. I'm running Win 7 64-bit, i5 4670k and an AMD R9 290. So no real problems at all with performance.

Is this game really a blobber? I don't know. When I think of blobbers, I think of grid-based movement and strictly dungeon crawling but that is just me. MMVI is not step-based like X or games like Grimrock, so I wouldn't compare them really. No strafing danceamole combat here. Think more along the lines of Wizardry except you can switch between turn-based and realtime combat akin to Arcanum but done much better. There's a very big world to explore, plenty of towns with quests, massive mobs of various monster types and some huge, well-designed dungeons that put scrubs like Bethesda to absolute shame. No copy-pasta design here.

I'd highly recommend installing Grayface patch and enabling mouselook: https://sites.google.com/site/sergroj/mm

Also be sure to grab his tool to set up your own controls. Link on his site is dead so grab it here: http://www.mmgames.ru/files/mm/patches/MM6Controls.zip

Here are the default keybindings. So if you want to change for example "Cast New Spell". Open MM6 control tool, hit "C" and then hit a new key for it. Easy as that. I changed most of the default keys, like setting tab as attack, mouse 3 to switch between mouselook and regular, spacebar as jump and so on. Up to you.

http://www.mightandmagicwalkthrough.com/mightandmagic6/720-keyboard-controls-key-bindings.html

 

[Lord Azlan]

Is it working okay on, I assume, your modern PC? Any crashes etc? How does it compare with recent blobbers like LoX or M&M X?

Good stuff indeed.

Works great. Engine is a bit buggy at times when it comes to physics and wall collisions but I've not encountered any type of crashes and nothing game breaking. I've had a couple items disappear from my inventory at random but that can be remedied by using a simple save game editor. I'm running Win 7 64-bit, i5 4670k and an AMD R9 290. So no real problems at all with performance.

Is this game really a blobber? I don't know. When I think of blobbers, I think of grid-based movement and strictly dungeon crawling but that is just me. MMVI is not step-based like X or games like Grimrock, so I wouldn't compare them really. No strafing danceamole combat here. Think more along the lines of Wizardry except you can switch between turn-based and realtime combat akin to Arcanum but done much better. There's a very big world to explore, plenty of towns with quests, massive mobs of various monster types and some huge, well-designed dungeons that put scrubs like Bethesda to absolute shame. No copy-pasta design here.

I'd highly recommend installing Grayface patch and enabling mouselook: https://sites.google.com/site/sergroj/mm

Also be sure to grab his tool to set up your own controls. Link on his site is dead so grab it here: http://www.mmgames.ru/files/mm/patches/MM6Controls.zip

Here are the default keybindings. So if you want to change for example "Cast New Spell". Open MM6 control tool, hit "C" and then hit a new key for it. Easy as that. I changed most of the default keys, like setting tab as attack, mouse 3 to switch between mouselook and regular, spacebar as jump and so on. Up to you.

http://www.mightandmagicwalkthrough.com/mightandmagic6/720-keyboard-controls-key-bindings.html

Cool - thanks for this post. My bad - was thinking of the earlier M&Ms which I liked quite a lot.

I have a long weekend planned and lots of free time. Need a break from PoE or even AoD. Feel like back to basics would be a good option now.

 

[gunman]

Has anyone tried the HD mod?

http://www.celestialheavens.com/forum/10/16047

I tried it and I got crashes in the first dungeon. It says it requires MMExtension, but I'm not sure how to install it. I just copied the directories inside the game folder (after installing the unofficial patch).

 

[A user named cat]

Has anyone tried the HD mod?

http://www.celestialheavens.com/forum/10/16047

I tried it and I got crashes in the first dungeon. It says it requires MMExtension, but I'm not sure how to install it. I just copied the directories inside the game folder (after installing the unofficial patch).

Had the same experience, crashed within 5 minutes of testing. Only thing that looked better to me were the clouds. Game looks fine as it is really.

It's funny how this was bashed from old reviews I recall for using dated 2D sprites over 3D backgrounds but I actually love the aesthetics. No smudgy N64-era 3D here, looks better than even MMX and shitty Unity cartoony visuals. Just sharp, pixelated details everywhere even when upscaled to 1440x1080 on an HD monitor. Wish it had proper widescreen but that's about it. Speaking of which, avoid the widescreen patch as well. It just stretches the game window and looks terrible.

 

[lukaszek]

deterministic system > RNG

 

[gunman]

I prefer the cartoony portraits and monsters of MM VII & VIII to this, I find those dudes photos jarring.

 

[Excidium II]

The larping portraits have their appeal.

Still, MM 3-5 > all in the grafics department.

 

[gunman]

Installing MM 4-5 World of Xeen ...

 

[A user named cat]

You guys are crazy. Just look at those glorious portraits and sprites, so much better than cartoony bullshit. Thumbs up indeed.

 

[BlackGoat]

Yeah, it's going to take some serious effort to adjust when I move onto Might and Magic VII. The photo portraits are M&M to me. Which is weird cause I remember them being a huge turn-off when I first bought the game.

Trying to fill in some crpg blank spots, and M&M is one of the major ones. Are the first three games worth playing or should I skip to Xeen?

 

[Dorateen]

. Are the first three games worth playing or should I skip to Xeen?

Yes, Secret of the Inner Sanctum, Gates to Another World, and Isles of Terra are all worth playing. Among the pinnacle of the series. (MMIII is same engine as Xeen anyway.)

 

[Electryon]

Kind of glad someone else is trying this stuff out. Always loved the HoMM series, and I remember if you clicked the door in HoMM 2 you got a preview of one of the might and magic games, looked super amazing. About a year ago I bought them all, watched a video on how to play, and realized they suffered from some old game tropes. It's a bit like playing the original Zelda on NES. How any one person is supposed to know that bush 15 on screen 72 needs a blue candle to burn away and reveal a dungeon without someone telling you is kinda crazy. Might and Magic is the kind of game I'd love to convince a group of friends to play so we can find all that goofy shit together, but the odds of that happening are really slim.

This is really only an issue in 1 and (maybe 2). Everything from III on isn't nearly as cryptic. Yes, you need to visit every place on the map, and yes, you need to talk to most NPCs as almost all of them at least are involved in the training of some skill, but that just makes the world feel more meaningful and less copy and paste. They are time consuming, but the character and skill progression of every Might and Magic from III on is among the most addicting in the genre. The first two are definitely more on the hardcore side of Wizardry and Bard's Tale (though Secret of the Inner Sanctum, the first, is by far the hardest to swallow from a modern perspective).

 

[A user named cat]

Speaking of cryptic; my only complaint with MM is the same one I have for most Goldbox games and similar titles. You're exploring around in first person view, yet most of the NPC's are invisible on screen. This really put me off from World of Xeen as I recall there's a bar right near the beginning of the game, and you have to walk around clicking on empty tables and guessing where people are. Makes it feel so lifeless. MM6 is a bit of an oddball in that you see all the town NPC's strolling around and populating towns, yet in dungeons during a few of the rescue quests, you discover them by clicking on empty beds and blank cages. Never understood why this was done and never liked it, even if it's intentional. If game engines couldn't draw sprites in different positions, some other workaround (icons? labels?) should've been used to display them.

 

[BlackGoat]

Man, double speed mode with Grayface patch. So good.

 

[Electryon]

Speaking of cryptic; my only complaint with MM is the same one I have for most Goldbox games and similar titles. You're exploring around in first person view, yet most of the NPC's are invisible on screen. This really put me off from World of Xeen as I recall there's a bar right near the beginning of the game, and you have to walk around clicking on empty tables and guessing where people are. Makes it feel so lifeless. MM6 is a bit of an oddball in that you see all the town NPC's strolling around and populating towns, yet in dungeons during a few of the rescue quests, you discover them by clicking on empty beds and blank cages. Never understood why this was done and never liked it, even if it's intentional. If game engines couldn't draw sprites in different positions, some other workaround (icons? labels?) should've been used to display them.

Not really, when you go into buildings in World of Xeen, the place to click on that you are looking for is almost always straight ahead and very obvious. Think of it as walking into the bar and going up and ordering a drink. From VI on, going into a building just brings up the options screen, which certainly eliminates a step, but Xeen isn't trying to hide the NPCs from you, they're fairly obvious.

 

[A user named cat]

Speaking of cryptic; my only complaint with MM is the same one I have for most Goldbox games and similar titles. You're exploring around in first person view, yet most of the NPC's are invisible on screen. This really put me off from World of Xeen as I recall there's a bar right near the beginning of the game, and you have to walk around clicking on empty tables and guessing where people are. Makes it feel so lifeless. MM6 is a bit of an oddball in that you see all the town NPC's strolling around and populating towns, yet in dungeons during a few of the rescue quests, you discover them by clicking on empty beds and blank cages. Never understood why this was done and never liked it, even if it's intentional. If game engines couldn't draw sprites in different positions, some other workaround (icons? labels?) should've been used to display them.

Not really, when you go into buildings in World of Xeen, the place to click on that you are looking for is almost always straight ahead and very obvious. Think of it as walking into the bar and going up and ordering a drink. From VI on, going into a building just brings up the options screen, which certainly eliminates a step, but Xeen isn't trying to hide the NPCs from you, they're fairly obvious.

It's not really a matter of being obvious, it's simply offputting and frankly annoying to have areas filled with emptiness where NPC's should be. The bar was just one example though. It's especially bad in many of the gold box games and even the early Shin Megami Tensei titles. Half the time, you're accidentally bumping into NPC's while exploring empty hallways and areas. I don't understand how this is supposed to be a good thing or was ever considered a quality design idea, if it's not simply a limitation of the times.

 

[crpgnut]

I'm playing VII with the texture mod, but I think VI looks pretty good without it. I will be playing this pretty soon and I generally play VII, VIII, VI in that order as VIII is the weakest of the three and the allure of VI helps me to finish that one. MMVI just has wonderful dungeons. Not just one or two, but the majority. Great game.

 

[A user named cat]

It's pretty crazy to think of anyone playing through the trilogy back to back to back. I'm working through the Control Center with these loathsome terminator units and I'm pretty burnt out on the gameplay now, ready for it to end. Leveled to mid-80's and everyone is armed with blasters, so there's not much challenge left aside from healing status effects and no non-redundant skills left to pump. Can't imagine hopping into VII or VIII after this, looking forward to something completely different.

 

[Baron Dupek]

I skipped Control Center in both my playthroughs, just grabbed blasters and RUN.
It's not about skill, it's about resistance to burn(ing out). They're simply not fun to fight.

 

[A user named cat]

I skipped Control Center in both my playthroughs, just grabbed blasters and RUN.
It's not about skill, it's about resistance to burn(ing out). They're simply not fun to fight.

Damn, I should have checked my quest log lol. I thought the Control Center was mandatory. Here I've been going through it and clearing out all the stupid drones thinking there was a quest item I needed at the end. Already grabbed the scroll that said I was a goober too. Well I'm glad I can ditch this place.