Homm4 - the Good, the Bad, the Ugly - Page 2

Leonidas · April 3, 2002, 12:47

Quote:

Originally posted by moominparatrooper
although I still think nothing's gonna top HoMM2s music. It certainly beats the bland offerings in HoMM3.

moominparatrooper: Where on the web can we listen to HoMM2's music?

moomin · April 4, 2002, 08:28

Quote:

Originally posted by Leonidas

moominparatrooper: Where on the web can we listen to HoMM2's music?

I wish I knew. As I recall, the HoMM2 music was integrated in the program, not in some standarad format like mp3 or wav, so I've never seen it "out of the box", as it were. I'd kill for the HoMM2 music.

SnowFire · April 5, 2002, 23:24

You would? I actually have all the Heroes II music on my computer. How? It's stored in Redbook audio format, i.e. you can stick it into a CD player and it will play the music just fine. Therefore any freeware CD-ripping program will do the job just fine (as long as you don't rip Track 1, aka the game data track that is 25 minutes of silence). I used MusicMatch myself, IIRC. Then proceeded to rip all the music from the Heroes II CD, and the new castle musics from the Price of Loyalty CD.

Anyway, I am so glad that the drought of good PC games is over. I'll probably get Heroes IV, but I'm skeptical of some of the changes. If a demo is released, that'll be decisivie- that's why I got Heroes II. I played the demo obsessively, and realized that I might as well just buy the game. Heroes III I bought because I knew how much Heroes II ruled and that they weren't changing much. Heroes IV, I'll want to see more people reviews, as well as a comparison to AOW 2, which is also on the might buy list.

moomin · April 6, 2002, 07:40

SnowFire, you're tha Man! Thank you! I'll get rippin' right away.

What can I say about the game? It grows on me. The first impression wasn't all that favourable, and I still don't like the graphics very much, but I'm enjoying the game more the more I play it. I've revised my "best strategy" a couple of times - and that didn't happen even once with HoMM3, since it was perfectly obvious what the best strategy was. If a demo comes out, do give it a spinn.

Eli · April 6, 2002, 12:49

Darn. Is there any way to "open" and use ISO's? My CDRW is screwed.

Ecthy · April 6, 2002, 13:37

last time you talked about downloaded games your thread got closed and people flamed you

don't you dare that again

FrustratedPoet · April 6, 2002, 19:52

Quote:

Originally posted by Ecthelion
last time you talked about downloaded games your thread got closed and people flamed you

don't you dare that again

am i missing something here?

General Ludd · April 6, 2002, 20:26

Quote:

Originally posted by FrustratedPoet

am i missing something here?

ISO is an extension for cd image files, which are used to burn CDs.

Eli, not much for sublety, are you?

Ecthy · April 7, 2002, 07:22

for someone coming from an english speaking country, your spelling of "subtelty" is a rather interesting one

FrustratedPoet · April 7, 2002, 08:53

Quote:

Originally posted by Ecthelion
for someone coming from an english speaking country, your spelling of "subtelty" is a rather interesting one

I think you'll find it's 'subtlety'

, but never mind.

What's so wrong about mentioning ISO's?

Ecthy · April 7, 2002, 09:15

Search through Civ3 general and yu will find

General Ludd · April 7, 2002, 10:21

Quote:

Originally posted by FrustratedPoet
What's so wrong about mentioning ISO's?

They are typically associated with warez, ie. someone rips the ISO file, and then people can download it from them and burn it to their own CDs. Although this isn't their only purpose, the context that Eli used it in is pretty obvious.

FrustratedPoet · April 7, 2002, 11:27

ahh, thanks, i understand now ... i guess i'm just an innocent

Eli · April 8, 2002, 09:36

I played the game for 10 minutes or so... I should learn more about the changes but I my current opinion about the game is neutral.

The graphics as a whole are great, but there is a certain "something" missing. You just dont have that feeling you had when playing Heroes2 or 3.
The music sucks. I mean, the music itself is good, but the same music doesnt last for more than 10-20 seconds and the problem moominparatrooper and others described is extremely annoying.

A patch is badly needed.

FrustratedPoet · April 10, 2002, 07:05

does anyone know of a good fansite for HOMM4?
i've tried searching around the 'net and i can't find a decent one.

Eli · April 10, 2002, 12:30

Quote:

Originally posted by FrustratedPoet
does anyone know of a good fansite for HOMM4?
i've tried searching around the 'net and i can't find a decent one.

I was looking for such site too. No luck.

jackshot · April 11, 2002, 10:58

www.strategyplanet.com/homm has a fairly active forum, if that's what you're looking for.

FrustratedPoet · April 11, 2002, 11:37

that looks like what i'm looking for. thanks jackshot.

jackshot · April 12, 2002, 10:55

you're welcome, Frustratedpoet.

But the boards there don't seem to be too happy with the game. NWC is getting a lot of heat for a massive memory leak that slows everyone's games to a crawl, and a very, very brain dead AI. The AI ignores clear resources right next to its castle, wastes itself suicide attacking huge neutral stacks repeatedly, can't handle sieges, and can't upgrade its heroes right.

Upping the difficulty just makes the neutral stacks larger, further hamstringing the AI. Not good. And the lead prgrammer just left the company, which is being very quiet about the problems like the memory leak...

Hope I'm wrong, but I'm not sure I want to go where this is heading.

FrustratedPoet · April 12, 2002, 11:26

i haven't experienced any of the bugs that most people mention on that site so that isn't a problem for me. the memory leak sounds nasty. though.

also, i have noticed that the AI is a bit stupid and never collects free resources that are close to its base. however, i am struggling to complete the campaigns and scenarios on normal difficulty because the AI builds up its armies faster than i can. this is only because i suck at this game, but at least the poor AI doesn't make the game too easy.

i completed the Life campaign (with the Lysander hero), of course, that was easy, but i'm stuck on the second mission of both the Might and Preserve campaigns. the AI is always stronger than me. whenever i send my main army out to explore/conquer/level-up the AI sneaks behind my back and captures all my mines and towns. i try leaving defenders behind, but they can never match up to the enemy's army and die. even though the AI is stupid it still hands me my ass more often than not

. i'm just uselesss, i think

, but i'm having fun with it anyway.

still no sign of a multiplayer patch. damn ... i think the only way i'll improve at this game is by playing other people and analysing how they thrash me.

i wish they'd hurry up with it.

Eli · April 13, 2002, 10:07

I'm playing the first campaign, the first level. Where is the damn hammer?

mactbone · April 13, 2002, 12:29

If you go through one of the gated areas there are a bunch of Black Dragons, if you kill them all and then visit one of the farmhouses (somewhere in the bottom maybe to the left), he'll give you the hammer. He's the one that says he has a hammer so he can kill the black dragons that killed his family. Then, you show him the heads and steal the hammer when he's not looking.

FrustratedPoet · April 13, 2002, 12:53

if you have problems finding any of the quest buildings, since they can tend to get buried on the larger maps, don't forget to look at your quest log. it keeps track of what you have to do and who asked you to do it, which can be useful if you haven't loaded that save for a couple of days ... or you just get lost.

Eli · April 13, 2002, 12:54

Thanks MacTBone, I missed that quest hut.

Ecthy · April 13, 2002, 13:12

the good, the bad, the Eli

Eli · April 13, 2002, 16:00

First campaign, third level.
Before finding the portal that will allow me to pass the gate, am I supposed to conquer (all) castles? Or is the level passable with the heroes I start with?

I started playing without conquering a thing, just searching for the portal, but then I found few stacks that I have no chances to beat(dozens of behemoths) so I realized that I should've conquered a few castles.

mactbone · April 13, 2002, 18:14

You're going to have to be more descriptive, I can't remember which one was the third one. Is it the oracle? Or the river wheel thing?

FrustratedPoet · April 13, 2002, 18:31

the oracle level should be quite easy. IIRC there aren't any towns or enemy armies around, if you're struggling on that one then it's probably because your heroes aren't a high enough level.

so i think it must be the river wheel level you're stuck on ... if so then, yes, i would capture the castles if i were you. you don't have to be too worried about defending them if you don't want to, since they're not part of the victory condition, but you're gonna need the extra units the towns produce to complete the level.

mactbone · April 13, 2002, 21:30

Haha, I took over the entire map. You just need to go to the bottom right, and I would at least get Angel Falls, or whatever the most top-left town is because they're already producing Champions I think.

Eli · April 14, 2002, 00:29

Ok. I'll restart the scenario.