Might and Magic The Might and Magic Discussion Thread

[Jaesun]

Problem DaveO?

 

[Luzur]

maybe i should mention this, since it is the Might and Magic thread.

a guy named ludmeister on the Heroes Roudn table has apparently cracked the MM3.CC file, kinda opening up MM3 for modding.

OH GOD THE POSSIBILITIES!

I've been in contact with Cedric as a couple of his Xeen apps have been instrumental in ferreting out info about the .CC's themselves (MM3.CC and SAVExx.MM3). His work is tremendously helpful to the MM3/MM4/MM5 modding community, and I think it's every bit as helpful as the Cosmic Forge was for Wizardry 8 modding, (if any of you are familiar with Wizardry 8).

It seems that MM3's crazy encryption has driven back even the best and brightest out there... and I've been watching it run in my debugging emulator for a while without any more insight than WizardStan had back in the thread about mm3 music.

Then... I had an idea.

If I can't beat MM3's encryption algorithm, I'll join it. Using the debugger, I figured out when a certain file loads when you fire up mm3.exe. I found out exactly how it is stored in memory. Then, I observed that I can change which file from MM3.CC loads in that place. Lastly, I found out where I need to set a breakpoint in the code so that the file would be completely loaded and decoded... right before the load routine exits.

Result: I can decode any file in MM3.CC of which I know its original name (about 430+ files!).

I have actually been working pretty steadily at this, and have decoded almost 260 of the 558 files, at a rate of about one file every 2 minutes or so, when I get in a groove.

Cedric's file packer should be instrumental in repacking the decoded files in Xeen-style 0x35 XOR. That leaves only one other hitch for modding purposes... making a version of MM3.EXE that has a CC loader which doesn't do the decryption algorithm, and merely XORs the content when it loads files. I feel confident that I'll be able to pull this off when I have most of the files decoded. (I'll probably need a bit of trial and error to determine the names of some of the files... I'll just let MM3.exe scream them at me when it force closes )

I plan to offer patches for MM3.exe and MM3.CC to convert the encrypted versions to decrypted versions on my website when I'm done.

MM3 was one of my favorite games, and it holds a lot of nostalgia for me, and if I can help it stay fresh, that's a huge win in my book. I know this isn't the ideal solution, but I'm confident that it's workable.

heres the thread:

http://www.celestialheavens.com/forums/ ... hp?t=12402

 

[Jaesun]

That's pretty sweet Luzur. Nice to hear.

 

[Popamole]

I played VII first, so I think the nostalgia factor is what really influences my view of it. Probably also influenced my view of VI, and the fact that I actually rank both above III which is objectively better.

 

[theverybigslayer]

MM6 and MM7 are currently tied on the votes. I'd like some posters to break the tie. Of course, the voting is still a bit imperfect when MM9 almost beats the combined votes for MM1 and MM2.

I break the tie! MM6 FTW!

MM9 is a GREAT GAME!!!!! Not so great as MM1 & MM2,but OMG: it is better than any RPG since 2005

 

[DaveO]

MM8 had I Want To Be a Dragon well before DA2. Thanks for breaking the tie between MM6 and MM7!

 

[Sceptic]

OH GOD THE POSSIBILITIES!

Does this mean it's possible to fix the Arena bug in MM3 now?

I'm surprised the system was so closed until now though. After al Swords of Xeen started as a fan project, which means the CATware team must've already had the tools to decode the WOX CC files.

I break the tie! MM6 FTW!

Oldfag necromancy FTW!

 

[Darth Roxor]

theverybigslayer posts

codex inclines massively

 

[Humanity has risen!]

So I started craving for a step-based RPG. I played Might and Magic III when I was young although I don't remember much of it (it was on Mac). I decided to fire it up again. I and II seem a bit too dated, I especially (I'm just unable to draw maps as we always switch grids and I don't know when that happens).

III is such a joyous game, I also like how puzzles are everywhere and solving them is vital to the completion of the game. I'm already stuck after completing the first few starting areas. I'll see what I can do.

I ventured into the Cyclop's dungeon but he is just too hard for me at this point.

I went into the castle close to Fountainhead and stole all the treasures, except those that were in the throne room.

 

[Redlands]

1 and 2 can be a blast, quite a bit harder in some ways than 3-5 seemed to be (although maybe after those two I was just in the zone for 3-5?). The combat's quite different and there's not quite as much personality but I enjoyed myself immensely: if you can't map then search as there's online maps. (But as I had no home internet at the time I had to map it myself.)

If you ensure your DOSBox cycles are low enough, you'll see a message pop up, similar to the "SOLID!" ones that you get when you run into walls; I forget the exact wording but when that happens you've moved between maps. There's also a L1 (I think; it's been a while) spell that tells you your map location in 1, and a minimap skill you can learn in 2 from one of the towns.

 

[Humanity has risen!]

How do you reduce Dosbox cycles?

Also is there a limit to the amount of skills MM3 characters can learn? In MM2 the limit was 2, but I can see that MM3 characters can have more.

 

[Fowyr]

How do you reduce Dosbox cycles?

Also is there a limit to the amount of skills MM3 characters can learn? In MM2 the limit was 2, but I can see that MM3 characters can have more.

from readme.txt
CTRL-F11 Slow down emulation (Decrease DOSBox Cycles).
CTRL-F12 Speed up emulation (Increase DOSBox Cycles).

There is no limit to amount of skills in the MM3.

 

[DaveO]

At a certain point in the game during MM3, you can purchase all of the skills. Some skills are only needed for one or two characters, but others are required for every character(Crusader, for example).

 

[Excidium]

Hey, let me recommend you this page if you don't know it already: http://shrines.rpgclassics.com/pc/mm3/

It's p. useful, specially the items list.

 

[Luzur]

holy shit guys, ludmeister over at Heroes forum has started 2 mosnter spawners mods for World of Xeen and Might and Magic 3!

If a bit of shameless self-promotion can be indulged, I'd like to take a moment to announce that I am in the process of creating two mods for these classic games.

I understand the philosophy by which the Might and Magic series got away from the Might and Magic 2 tendencies to mob the party with constant attacks. In MM2, you could never make any meaningful progress towards clearing maps of any and all resistance. Part of the fun of MM3/MM4/MM5 was that you could. At least for some.

But not me! When I fire up a Might and Magic game (as well as other RPG) I want to toast bad guys. I want to be challenged in toasting bad guys. And I crave good character development... I want, for instance, my 90 STR Knight to feel significantly stronger in battle than my 45 STR Rogue. Hence, the stock attribute bonuses seemed rather cheap to me... it used to be useless to increase attributes past 50. Become a Disciple of Bark, and your attributes were set in WOX.

I am about 99% finished with my World of Xeen monster spawn mod, which contains numerous changes to the game engine, as well as the events. I have put a couple of new events on the Clouds side, with the intent to make character development more fun. I have playtested the WOX mod, and have (I think) squashed the showstopping bugs ;-)

(RuneCaster-- You can find Sapphire bows under normal circumstances in this mod... or purchase them for the right price if you are lucky!)

I should be able to post the WOX mod on my site in the next couple of weeks.

I also have a MM3 monster spawn mod in development as well, and development is going rather smoothly. The MM3 event structure is very similar to WOX (although the event files themselves are not nearly as clean looking as the Xeen event files are). I'm able to edit the MM3 default save without issues, and have had much success editing the MM3 engine as well. This mod, for the most part, intends to enhance MM3 the way the World of Xeen monster spawn enhances WOX.

May all your Might and Magic experiences be enjoyable... and to quote one of my favorite non-MM characters, "may butts be liberally kicked in good measure!"

http://www.celestialheavens.com/forums/ ... hp?t=12577

oh god oh god ohgodohogdogohodgho

 

[Lonely Vazdru]

In MM2, you could never make any meaningful progress towards clearing maps of any and all resistance. Part of the fun of MM3/MM4/MM5 was that you could. At least for some.

Unfortunately I'm one of them, so this mod is not for me.

Still, nice to see that these games somehow stay alive.


WoX...

 

[Excidium]

What does that mean? Infinite mob respawns? Not sure if want...

 

[Luzur]

...dunno really myself, but he talked alot about stats.

read more on his website.

http://jeffludwig.com/

 

[octavius]

In MM2, you could never make any meaningful progress towards clearing maps of any and all resistance. Part of the fun of MM3/MM4/MM5 was that you could. At least for some.

Unfortunately I'm one of them, so this mod is not for me.

The problem with MM2 was that the maps didn't get saved when you exited dungeons. I always figured this was due to technical limitations of the time and not a design decision.

 

[Sceptic]

I always figured this was due to technical limitations of the time and not a design decision.

I think so too, and looking at the size of save games in MM3 I'm sure this was the main reason: way too much information to store in memory, not to mention write to disk. TBH I'd be more interested in the opposite mod - one that made the game remember all fixed events in MM1-2, so that the only respawns in an area would be the random encounters (you'd probably also have to keep at least one respawning encounter in Sorpigal, or have to change the experience tables entirely).

Also, can these modders stop reinventing the wheel and fix the MM3 Arena bug already?

 

[Krraloth]

I want to play M&M 7 but I have this withe flickering every 6 - 7 seconds that makes me go blind, is like having a strobo light in your eyes. Anybody knows how to solve this?

Win 7 32 bit normal M&M archives version of the game.

 

[DaveO]

That strobe light issue sounds like using Hardware acceleration. You could either use software mode or download the latest GrayFace patch at http://sites.google.com/site/sergroj/mm

P.S. - I wonder who finally voted for Swords of Xeen?

 

[Krraloth]

Thanks Brotah DaveO while I was waiting for your reply I decided to re-play M&M2, since I played only the genesis version I was wondering if the are amany differences between the dos / genesis? the most annoying thing was the menu navigation with the gamepad, other than that it was a blast.

 

[DaveO]

I updated my Web page at http://members.cox.net/dave.caspermeyer/ to point to GrayFace's site(http://sites.google.com/site/sergroj/mm) instead of uploading the newest patches(due to concerns about previously reported corrupted files).

I noticed that Swords of Xeen has received a few more votes to tie it with Might & Magic 1.

 

[Jaesun]

I updated my Web page at http://members.cox.net/dave.caspermeyer/ to point to GrayFace's site(http://sites.google.com/site/sergroj/mm) instead of uploading the newest patches(due to concerns about previously reported corrupted files).

I noticed that Swords of Xeen has received a few more votes to tie it with Might & Magic 1.

You should put your website as a link in your signature Dave O.