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Posted by Cepheus at 18:50, 16 Aug 2010:
Numerous Gamescom screenshots leaked early
Yet another early leak as several Heroes VI screenshots have hit the net, days before the game has even been officially announced. There is no doubt about it now, Heroes VI is indisputably on the way - and looking extremely good to boot. Check them out here.
Posted by Cepheus at 17:21, 16 Aug 2010:
Gamescom CGI trailer has been leaked - DEVELOPER REVEALED
It's leak central over here: Nelgrith has posted us towards Jeuxactu TV, a site blatantly and unashamedly displaying the Heroes VI Gamescom trailer, packed with top-notch CGI, at least a day before its intended reveal by Ubisoft. Spoilers ahoy:
http://www.heroworld.net/news.php?id=957
The trailer finally provides concrete answers to two of our most often-posed questions: who is developing the game, and when is it expected for release. Well, you heard it here first, people: Black Hole Entertainment, and TBA 2011.
EDIT: It seems the trailer has since been removed from the site and replaced with some imagery of a French woman chatting about something. Don't worry, though: the video should be revealed, officially, very shortly.
EDIT 2: Heroworld, a Chinese HoMM fansite, managed to preserve and upload the trailer, and the link has been updated accordingly.
Posted by Cepheus at 01:04, 16 Aug 2010:
An (alleged) Heroes VI screenshot has been leaked early
As if any sense of subtlety hadn't already been destroyed, a guy with contacts in Gamescom styling himself HulkHogan has decided to leak what he claims is a Heroes of Might and Magic VI screenshot.
We're not sure about its legality or authenticity and haven't been contacted by Ubisoft yet, but I'm sure you won't need me to add fuel to the speculation on its content while it's still here, so without further ado about nothing, discuss it!
Posted by Cepheus at 23:13, 14 Aug 2010:
This mystery game is almost certainly Heroes VI
Evidently, a major Might and Magic title is going to be announced very shortly, as predicted. A newsletter from Ubisoft, accompanying the teaser covered below, was sent out on the 11th of August, stating that "Ashan's new war starts in 7 days". With commendations to Google, Red_Flag has provided us with a direct URL to the newsletter's source. And look at how it's formatted:
http://newsletters.ubi.com/EMEA/M&M_H6_EMEA_100811/uk_index.html
That's that, then. So much for suspense.
Seven days from the newsletter's original distribution would place the reveal at August 18th - the first day of Gamescom.
Posted by Cepheus at 19:12, 11 Aug 2010:
Mysterious official teaser and impressive fan efforts
A couple of minutes ago I decided to check if the MM Facebook page had anything new worth looking at, and I wasn't disappointed. Here is a newly uploaded, extremely cryptic teaser (if you are not on Facebook, view it here), suffixed with the phrase:
"A new Might and Magic era begins - stay tuned"
Well, I'm tuned alright, but what could this mean? Short as it is, the production values and CGI quality seem far too high for me to write this off as some cobbled-together gimmick. Get speculating!
In less-mysterious news, Magnomagus had finalised version 1.0 of his masterpiece, the incredible Role Playing Edition mod for Heroes V. This update contains numerous fixes and rebalances, greater differentiation between hero classes, along with Ashan and Axeoth cores which allow players to choose between the heroes of their favoured worlds.
Finally, savetara has shared several screenshots from his excellent upcoming project, The Legend of Erthia - a Might and Magic-inspired RPG with a strong emphasis on tactics. Take a look at his thread, and the YouTube trailer.
Posted by Cepheus at 18:28, 24 Jul 2010:
Heroes VI announcement for August at Gamescom?
Straight from Acidcave, we learn that Polish site Online Games reports that Ubisoft accidentally made reference to an undisclosed project, a "strategy with RPG elements", planned to be exhibited at Gamescom 2010 (an enormously popular Germany-based videogame festival). As befits the track record for recent rumours, this piece of news appears to have been mistakenly disclosed and was quickly hushed up: alas, not quickly enough to prevent headlines like this one. What are the odds that this mystery strategy game may turn out to be Heroes of Might and Magic VI?
Having been deprived of any details regarding the supposedly-extant project at E3 2010, Gamescom would be the next best venue for an announcement on the horizon. Gamescom will be held in Cologne between 18 to 22 August, a little over a year since the "t-shirt hint", so keep an eye out for anything pertaining to our favourite series if you're headed over there.
Posted by Cepheus at 13:21, 2 Jul 2010:
A Heroes III-centric mod for Civilization and cheap games
I'm sure there are more than a few Heroes players out there who also enjoy the Civilization series? If you do, it's your lucky day - I was just notified about an amazingly ambitious mod for Civilization III hosted at CivFanatics, entitled "Conquests of Might and Magic III". Basically, its creator, tom2050, has fused Civilization's gameplay with Heroes III's art, storyline, style and creatures. The first and current release, which was unveiled today, is a public beta, which means there's plenty of time to add input as the mod is perfected. Full campaigns and a scenario based around the map of Antagarich are forthcoming, along with continuous improvements. Try it yesterday, if not sooner!
For any fans in the US, Xhane kindly notifies me that there's a price slash in the US Ubishop on Heroes V and its expansions ($14.99 in total), and a similar promotion on the DS version of Clash of Heroes. Additionally, I've pretty much forgotten to report on it until now, but Good Old Games also has some great deals on the Might and Magic classics, offering Might and Magic I-VI, Heroes II Gold, Heroes III Complete and King's Bounty: The Legend for $10 each. Thanks to PhoenixReborn for initially letting me know months and months ago. :P Heroes III has been an on-and-off top ten bestseller there for weeks on end now - let's push it to the #1 spot!
Posted by Cepheus at 18:46, 10 Jun 2010:
Clash of Heroes contests and modding breakthroughs
Xhane (Ubisoft's Might and Magic community developer) and Elvin (moderator at Heroes Community) have graciously organised a series of intriguing Ubisoft-promoted competitions open to any participant, with prototype action figurines of the characters of Clash of Heroes going to the victors. The five contests involve either creating factions, writing a short story, devising unique hero perks, creating an interesting scene in the map editor or putting together an NCF creature. Anybody can enter at any time, and no deadline is currently set, so feel free to jump in!
In modding news, Pesmontis has constructed an excellent model viewer/importer for Heroes V dubbed Archangel. While still under development, the program will successfully open any Heroes V model and can convert and import new works with a little trial and error - definitely a more than worthy tool for modders. TSoD has already published some early results, managing to import a Naga Myrmidon from Warcraft III into the Heroes V framework.
Mysteriously enough, a forumgoer under the name benhur has posted a previously unheard-of and extremely interesting package of files in the Wake of Gods subforum - seemingly-authentic former NWC content, extracted from the unreleased sci-fi Heavenly Forge faction for Heroes III: Armageddon's Blade which never saw daylight. The .rar contains fully animated sprites for the Forge town screen, ready to be implemented into Heroes III. It's unknown where these materials came from, but they may well pull the abandoned Forge project out of its long hiatus.
Posted by Cepheus at 15:48, 16 Feb 2010:
Ubisoft enforces new DRM for future (Might and Magic) games
Ubisoft recently unveiled its "Online Services Platform", a new anti-piracy validation measure which will require the users of most of its future titles to remain connected to the internet on a constant basis to play, in single-player and multiplayer modes alike. Offline play will be completely unavailable - if an internet connection is not detected, the game will simply refuse to operate.
Opinions among Ubisoft's fan communities regarding the digital rights management system have been generally negative, with some pointing out that pirated copies removing the connection enforcement may become more desirable than the official product - entirely defeating the DRM's intended purpose.
Currently, Ubisoft's closing word on the matter to loyal customers is as follows: "We hope that customers will feel as we do, that signing up for an account will offer them exceptional gameplay and services that are not available otherwise."
Though no direct announcement has been issued, it seems very likely that the clearly-in-development Heroes of Might and Magic VI - and any future Might and Magic projects - will avail of this service, a controversial move as none of the prior installments in the series have required permanent internet access. Share your thoughts on the policy at Heroes Community, or the Ubisoft forums.
If you disagree with the platform's possible implications for Heroes VI, you are encouraged to join this Facebook group.
Posted by Cepheus at 22:23, 5 Dec 2009:
Clash of Heroes is surprisingly good
Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes (official site) for the Nintendo DS was released this week. Though there have been some community-wide doubts floating around, I at least can vouch that Capybara Games have turned out a high-standard piece of work. While its atmosphere remains markedly rooted in another vein to the classic Heroes of Might and Magics, the gameplay is masterful yet faithful to the TBS outings, with plenty of nice twists.
The exploration phases are pretty reminiscient of any of the Might and Magic titles, the campaign mode is filled with sidequests and bonuses, the storyline isn't without merits this time - generally less out-of-place and clunky than Heroes V or Dark Messiah - and, most importantly, it's addictive. Since you're probably part of this community, you might have been pretty sceptic like I was, but if you have a DS, grab the game yesterday. Don't just brush it off as some cutesy cash-in unfaithful to the rest of the series, or you'll miss out.