Might and Magic The Might and Magic Discussion Thread

[ohWOW]

New or Free, whatever.

Thanks bro.

 

[Darth Roxor]

Started MM8.

Is it just me or is the party member swapping mechanic kinda dumb? I'm afraid of spending my limited early game dorra to take hirelings' skills to expert level because I fear there might be a superior merc to hire just around the corner o_O

 

[Luzur]

Started MM8.

Is it just me or is the party member swapping mechanic kinda dumb? I'm afraid of spending my limited early game dorra to take hirelings' skills to expert level because I fear there might be a superior merc to hire just around the corner o_O

yeah i can agree with that, would have been kinda better if you made your chars and had to collect them from the starter area and nearby regions instead.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

I just finished Might and Magic 2. Gameplay-wise it was better than Might and Magic 1, and there was a lot more to do, a lot more to explore and a lot more equipment options. I also did like the fact that I had to discover some magic spells. But... I found the humor was a pushed too much, and I thought the final dungeon was of exceedingly poor design (just a linear track) compared to the final dungeon in Might and Magic 1. Also, like in MM1, the game continued to stay exciting into the teen levels, but once you got past a certain point encounters became increasingly annoying grind fests because of the level scaling for random encounters. I hope that is fixed in MM3, which I am starting now. Time to make a new party since I hear the old ones do not transfer.

 

[octavius]

I just finished Might and Magic 2. Gameplay-wise it was better than Might and Magic 1, and there was a lot more to do, a lot more to explore and a lot more equipment options. I also did like the fact that I had to discover some magic spells. But... I found the humor was a pushed too much, and I thought the final dungeon was of exceedingly poor design (just a linear track) compared to the final dungeon in Might and Magic 1. Also, like in MM1, the game continued to stay exciting into the teen levels, but once you got past a certain point encounters became increasingly annoying grind fests because of the level scaling for random encounters. I hope that is fixed in MM3, which I am starting now. Time to make a new party since I hear the old ones do not transfer.

MM3 has not no level scaling AFAIK, but combat is much simpler and more "popamole".
I really missed the more tactical combat of MM2 when I played MM3-5.

 

[Darth Roxor]

I probably ought to check out 1 and 2 after I finish 8. But the lack of saving anywhere is a huge turn off, I'm too popamole for this









And besides, 9 comes first

 

[Damned Registrations]

Combat is kind of a lost cause when you don't have/want random enemy spawns. You can easily rest between every single battle if you're so inclined in MM3, so anything that doesn't kill you outright is going to be pretty trivial. Same issue KotC has. And of course if they put endless encounters in, then you could just grind them to get ahead.

I think MM 3-5 aren't really about combat, but exploration. The monsters are just another kind of obstacle, not meant to take much more thought or effort than pit traps or swinging blades in the hallways. Your party can either handle them or they can't, you're not meant to change that a lot through combat tricks and player skill, but rather by exploring elsewhere and coming back with bigger weapons, better stats and new spells. The world as a whole is your real target, to exploit it as best you can to have the greatest advantage as you travel around. Not individual enemies.

 

[DaveO]

In MM8, you can only recruit level 5 characters until certain events occur.

 

[Jaesun]

Game Article - Might and Magic VI - The Mandate of Heaven - Rekindling the Fire (Magic)

http://www.revelationz.net/index.asp?ID=4130

Kind of cool seeing a review for this in this day and age.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

I just started Might and Magic 3 and am trying to learn my way around. I am beginning to enjoy myself and found some odd loot (Lapus short sword, leather flamberge, wooden ring) that I need to check my manuals about. Oh, the MM3 manual seems less helpful in regards to character creation than the previous manuals. The manual is just a long fanfic-quality story. They put the spell list along with information about the character classes and races in the Clue Book. This is akin to putting the character creation notes in a Dungeon and Dragons game in the Dungeon Master guide instead of the Player's Manual.

Last time I had a good time with a knight, paladin, cleric, robber, sorcerer and archer. This time I am trying a knight, paladin, cleric, sorcerer, ninja and ranger. Almost went with a barbarian instead of a knight, but I changed my mind last minute.

MM1 and MM2 have the same interface, so that MM2 just seems like MM1 with some very nice additions. However, the interface to Might and Magic 3 is very different and I feel like I'm playing a clone of the first two games. Gone are numerous switch actions, such as searching after every encounter for treasure; this was replaced with lairs where you can find and open chests. Also, it seems like the random encounters are gone in the initial city or at least scaled down. I can also shoot a bow at creatures as they approach, which I found out when trying to type 'S' for search.... 'S' is instead now for shoot.

I no longer seem to be able to put characters in rows to protect them from melee attacks, or I don't think I can as I can't find an indicator and my characters in the rear slots keep taking hits. The game is now meant to run more with the mouse, as opposed to the MM1 and MM2 DOS versions which ran with keyboard inputs. I actually liked the old keyboard inputs as I was faster with them than I am now with the mouse, but I am getting quick on learning the new key presses.

Combat seems a lot easier thanks to the game letting you start with a few thousand coins, a cheap item shop nearby, and an inexpensive temple where I can donate some coin to get blessed. Blessings now work for a character rather than the whole party. I lost two party members on the one large fight I encountered in a store room of the first town, but instead of having them raised at the temple, I reloaded, rested the party, had them all blessed at the temple, and stomped those rats to a pulp before looting the store room. This allowed me to raise each character to level 2. So far it seems the game is easier than MM2, which was easier than MM1.

Also changed is the maps where every square is a room, some accessible by trying to walk through an illusionary wall or secret door. Without a search command I don't believe I can search for secret doors. Instead there seems to be a bash command for kicking down portals to other areas; something which damages my first two characters in my line-up when I perform the action.

Are there any other changes I should know about?

 

[Damned Registrations]

Lineup does have some effect on who gets hit in melee (prefering to hit the characters early in the lineup), it's just not absolute by any means. There are also enemies with specific hatreds (Like hating clerics for example) which will tend to target those characters, regardless of position. And tons of attacks hit the whole party anyways.

You can find the item stats by having the items identified at the item store (I think theres a spell also) instead of using the cluebook. Likewise, spell descriptions can be found at the guild, provided you have a character high enough level to learn the spell. I don't think they even have to by the right class for the description to be available.

Secret doors (Which are basically all bashable walls) can be found via a skill you can learn. Although some race or class has this skill innately. Part of the interface will wiggle when standing in front of such a wall. There are various bits of the hud that do things like this, indicating if monsters are near, if you are levitating, protected from various elements, direction facing, and maybe something else I forgot.

You can actually play the game entirely with the keyboard still. I always did. F1-8 for party members, 0-9 for selecting items or spells or monsters to target, page up/down for scrolling pages. R to rest, A to attack, I forget a bunch of other keys. The game came with a little card with the keybindings on it, an online list shouldn't be hard to find.

That party should be fine, though you'll miss out on some chests for a while without a robber, until you get some thievery bonus gear for the ninja. Or just recruit a hireling thief. Your sorceror is also going to be strapped for spell points trying to keep power word shield up on everyone later on, and it's really worthwhile to do so. But the game isn't that hard, so maybe don't do that and just use it on the most fragile members and you'll have more fun anyways.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

Damned Registrations

Thanks! That's some great information and I'm going to try the keys next. I can't brofist you on this thread, but here's a cool icon instead.

 

[Lonely Vazdru]

Game Article - Might and Magic VI - The Mandate of Heaven - Rekindling the Fire (Magic)

http://www.revelationz.net/index.asp?ID=4130

After playing Skyrim for almost a year, I needed a break with something that could compliment it. Making a comparison between the two, it is interesting to see how much the genre has evolved in a decade. The evolution has made the playing experience much less taxing on the player's patience. On the other hand, some of the hard core elements that are in MMVI, have been sacrificed for the sake of a wider audience.

Then I stumbled on a secret in New Sorpigal, which will make life much easier if you decide to explore it. Hidden in the south wall of the bank, you can find a fly scroll. You can use this to get to the top of the Buccaneer's Lair guild, where a hidden teleporter is concealed in the northern wall. This will take you directly to the Shrine of the Gods, which is surrounded by high level dragons. You'll have to be quick and lucky here, if you are to survive. Immediately after teleporting in, run into the shrine and hit space to go to turn based mode. Each character should use the obelisk in the shrine to get 20+ to all attributes, permanently! In addition to that you will find a hidden entrance to the NWC dungeon on the western wall of the shrine. In this dungeon you will find plenty of great loot, including unlimited food, 10.000 gold, and cheap herbs and potions.

 

[7hm]

Damned Registrations

Thanks! That's some great information and I'm going to try the keys next. I can't brofist you on this thread, but here's a cool icon instead.

When you get the pathfinding / mountaineering skills, don't do what I did and buy them for the entire party. You only need 2 of your party to have the skill.

Also, look for the merchant skill asap. Money is pretty useful in this game (at least into the mid stages, where I'm at now), because you can turn it into experience in a while you'll find fairly early.

And I'm totally ignoring the blessings and various wells. They make a sizeable difference in terms of difficulty, but the game isn't that hard anyway, and it's too fiddly to go around getting them.

 

[Darth Roxor]

Oh MM8, you so wacky

Garrot Gorge:

Dragon hunters: plz eradicate all dragons
Dragons: plz eradicate all dragon hunters

'alright'

*stands outside temple spamming armageddon*

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED *american flag waving proudly in the distance*

 

[Luzur]

Then I stumbled on a secret in New Sorpigal, which will make life much easier if you decide to explore it. Hidden in the south wall of the bank, you can find a fly scroll. You can use this to get to the top of the Buccaneer's Lair guild, where a hidden teleporter is concealed in the northern wall. This will take you directly to the Shrine of the Gods, which is surrounded by high level dragons. You'll have to be quick and lucky here, if you are to survive. Immediately after teleporting in, run into the shrine and hit space to go to turn based mode. Each character should use the obelisk in the shrine to get 20+ to all attributes, permanently! In addition to that you will find a hidden entrance to the NWC dungeon on the western wall of the shrine. In this dungeon you will find plenty of great loot, including unlimited food, 10.000 gold, and cheap herbs and potions.

man, that is the worst kept secret in all of the Might and Magic series, almost the same level as the tree that gives scrolls outside Ironfist or the chest hidden as a rock in New Sorpigal.

 

[Luzur]

Damned Registrations

Thanks! That's some great information and I'm going to try the keys next. I can't brofist you on this thread, but here's a cool icon instead.

the HUD part of DR's infotime should maybe explained abit better.

if enemies are near, and you got the sense danger skill, the bat ontop of your screen will move its maw, if you got fly on, the gargoyle will flap its wings, if you got that clairvoyance spell, the heads on either side will shake their hedas up and down or left to right when you are about to open something that might be trapped, and the gem is the Save/Load game menu.

 

[Luzur]

new update on Might and Magic X:

Might and Magic X
Press Release: November 1st, 2012

Might and Magic X: Children of the Void

Project Update: November 1st, 2012

November is going to be an absolutely great month. We’re all back into our daily routines and hard at work on Might and Magic X. Although we continue to struggle with things like producing assets, managing staff members, and recruiting new developers, this project is sticking it through ‘til the end and staying true to our purpose of making the next chapter to the Might and Magic RPG series. Be on the lookout for new developments on the horizon, because we won’t stop until Might and Magic X is a finished product for you guys to explore, live your fantasies, and relive your nostalgia for the series!

Production Schedule (Q4 2012 through Q1 2013)
• MMX Game Editor – Completed October 2012
• MMX Developer Build Thjorgard 0.1.0 – Completed October 2012
• Tutorial Dungeon Level – Due January 2013
• Tutorial Outdoor Level – Due February 2013
• Tutorial Release – Due March 2013

New Game Design Feature

In October 2012 we have determined that Might and Magic X: Children of the Void will be using the 2d interior screens that appear when you enter shops and houses, as done in MM6-8. This will require extra art assets and possibly some 3d modeling if we choose to animate the interior screens in the future. Using the interior windows greatly reduces the amount of 3d modeling we’ll need, and the level design staff has strongly urged the use of interior windows. So, it is said!

MMX Mission Statement and Purpose

The current mission of this organization is to develop and produce Might and Magic X: Children of the Void, the next and final chapter of the Might and Magic RPG series, independently, on behalf of Ubisoft (not officially), and release it at no cost to the public, furthermore, it will be one of the greatest free games ever made. The purpose of our organization is to create a community and network for gamers and game developers alike, with a primary focus on the Might and Magic Series games, as well as other popular RPGs and game types. Whether you are an amateur or already a professional game developer, Might and Magic X has made its purpose to allow you the opportunity to design and/or play a game that is being made with the finest technology, care, and professionalism.

Department Updates

Art Department

Our artists are currently working heavily on environment, architecture, character, and creature design. Many of our finished and work-in-progress concepts have been released to the MMX Facebook Page for display, and we have many more concepts in the works. At this point, we are still looking for new artists because many of our current art staff members are finding themselves short on time with their many personal obligations. For this reason, we’ve published a 2d Ad on Concept Art Jobs, a very professional and resourceful website for networking with aspiring artists. You can check out our latest advertisement from October. In other art news, we are continuing to Livestream a group event called the MMX Sketch Jam, which occurs every weekend. If you’re interested in watching our team in action, be on the lookout for our Sketch Jams which will be advertised on Facebook and Twitter.

Audio Department

We have both musicians and sound effects designers on our audio department, and they are hard at work on brainstorming and composing the game’s soundtracks and effects, especially those which we’ll be featuring in the tutorial. As we progress in the audio department, we are first going to tighten up the leadership and team moral so that we have better communication between our sound designers. The next steps will include cataloguing the sound effects and compositions we need, assigning tasks to audio department staff members, and creating a review process, followed by the mixing and mastering and finalization of each individual audio clip. You should be hearing a lot more of our soundtracks on YouTube in the near future, but until then, check out the MMX YouTube Channel. Subscribe to us for future uploads and updates if you wish!

Level Design Department

Our level designers are extremely essential to this project, as they have in their hands the power to create the game’s visual presence and overall presentation. We are currently looking for more 3d modelers, texture artists, and animators to join the MMX project so that we can speed up development and make more rapid progress on creating playable areas in the game. The level design department has many responsibilities, some of which include architectural design, environment and landmass design, creature design and animation, and static and dynamic object design, among various others. Easily one of the most core essential aspects of making an RPG is the level design, and our plan at MMX to increase our capacity for asset generation is to increase our 3d modeling staff. We will execute this plan by releasing a highly visual advertisement for 3d modelers early in the month of November 2012. The 3d ad is almost finished and we are just waiting on several more 3d models to be finished so that we can showcase as many visuals as possible in the 3d ad. It will be posted on many different websites and should be able to target a wide audience. We hope this effort will reap many rewards!

Programming Department

The programming department has a professional quality staff and excellent leadership. They are the behind the scene guys who make it possible for us to assemble the game. A game editor and a pre-alpha internal release of the tutorial have been completed in October 2012, and we highly look forward to several more game features implemented each month from now on. Always in need of extra service, our programming staff is about to release an ad, much like the 2d and 3d ads to acquire a larger team, and therefore optimize development.

Writing Department

The writers of MMX have been relatively silent for the past few months after finishing the majority of written lore, quests, and dialogues for the tutorial. Coming this December 2012, all that is about to change. The writing department is going to begin building the continent of Iranese and adding to the already-established world of Axeoth. We call this process worldbuilding. What worldbuilding involves is creating the geography, culture, and societies using the world map and attributing unique, real world characteristics to each individual region on the continent. The worldbuilding process will include expanding on the MMX Lore Bible, creating a regional atlas of all map areas, cataloguing preexisting lore from past Might and Magic games, especially Might and Magic IX and Heroes IV, creating unique kingdoms and unique characters, and tons more. This part is all about the ideas, which we believe are the most essential part of making a successful game. Not just successful Might and Magic games, but any successful game greatly benefits from a thoughtful and immersive storyline experience.

I thank you greatly for supporting us. We will not let you down!

Sincerely,

MMXAlamar
President of Might and Magic X
mmxalamar@gmail.com

but, vladimir-maestro, the guy who made that MM6 mod, Chaos Conspiracy, have doubts about the usage of 2D interior design in shops/houses etc.

Might and Magic X

New Game Design Feature

In October 2012 we have determined that Might and Magic X: Children of the Void will be using the 2d interior screens that appear when you enter shops and houses, as done in MM6-8. This will require extra art assets and possibly some 3d modeling if we choose to animate the interior screens in the future. Using the interior windows greatly reduces the amount of 3d modeling we’ll need, and the level design staff has strongly urged the use of interior windows. So, it is said!

why you decided so?
you know - it is the hardest way! in mm8,5 we have no choice so we MUST do this indoor screens...but you can go another way.

the main advantage we have - game resolution! mm8 have no change resolution options so we made static screens... but if mm10 will have - you'll have to solve +1 new problem.

no offence but if i were you - i'll prefer to go the easiest way: using fully 3d interiors. yes, maybe they will look similar to mm9 but it will be much more easier to relise and make by your 3d artists.
otherhand you got better engine and can affort better 3d graphic indoors that won't affect productivity of the entire engine.

i made ondoor animation and the hardest one require about a week of working: creating a concept, creating models, fitting stuff, creating action figures, clothes for them if it is required, riggiding, animating, light works, effects, and finally rendering (the most time requiring thing, not less than a day for 460*344 resolution!!)...not to forget about future composing, sound effects.
via unity you can simply create fully-possible house with interior, putting opening script for the door and you got it! unity can import many file formats and understand textures with them like 3ds max or similar. i liked it for the 3s max support file format, was easy for me to work in my favorite program and afterthat import it into unity with collisions and other ingame usefull options.

just my oppinion.

for information:
dead city tavern:

size: 460*344
framecount: 460 frames
render engine: 3ds max' simple mental ray
lights: 1 omni, 1 for shadows, 1 for volume light
character animation: 4 people, mutual time about 2 days
scene: almost 95% of material was premaded and i created only small amount of hooka? (eastern smoking jar). so if i had to create entire scene by myself - hard to imagine how long would it take!!! study the arcitecture, clothes...etc.
render time: about 25 hours (intel core i5, 4gb ram, 1gb video).
so if you will use better resolution like 800*600 or bigger - this video could take about 80 hours to be rendered!

 

[DaveO]

Darth Roxor, you still have to go inside the Dragon Cave to eradicate all dragons there. And Armageddon won't work inside the cave.

 

[Darth Roxor]

Darth Roxor, you still have to go inside the Dragon Cave to eradicate all dragons there. And Armageddon won't work inside the cave.

I know. But larping an orbital bombardment HQ is amusing as all hell

Also, MM8 is p. good so far. If it keeps this up to the end it might even be better than 7.

 

[DaveO]

I got into MM8 far more than I did for MM7. I really liked doing the bounty hunter monster quest chain, which is worth quite a bit of experience if you complete the last tier. I know it's really pretty much the same game as MM7, but they added classes that can compete with the standard Knight, Cleric, and Wizard.

 

[Rpgsaurus Rex]

So what are the glaring flaws of M&M8 (which I haven't played)? Why is it regarded inferior to 6 & 7 by KKKonsensus (which I have)?

 

[Mastermind]

I'd imagine the lack of party creation ranks pretty high.

 

[DaveO]

So what are the glaring flaws of M&M8 (which I haven't played)? Why is it regarded inferior to 6 & 7 by KKKonsensus (which I have)?

Dragons, which are basically 'I win mode'. Character recruitment has a HUGE chance to be exploited. Some promotion quests are quite easy.

It still has Arcomage and none of the sci-fi stuff in 6 & 7(incline or decline depending on your point of view). Also, characters from the Heroes series show up.

 

[Pope Amole II]

Dragons, which are basically 'I win mode'.

I'm so tired of seeing this notion over and over again. It's simply wrong. Yeah, dragons may have some advantages in early game, but late game they're worse than liches, clerics & dark elves and that's like the 1/3 of the game classes. And they're not that much better than knights, trolls & vampires either, like, their only advantage is ranged attack (they deal less dmg, though) and that high fireball spell they have.