Fanstratics月报#11#2021-07

来源：https://www.fanstratics.com/fstnewsletter11，以下由HeavenK翻译。

• Fanstratics Troop: Forest Dragon.
• 兵种介绍：森林龙。
• When I began searching for a concept artist, Justin stood out for many reasons. Variety of characters and creatures were a large part of it. Justin has rendered numerous Dragons, along with some wonderful Treefolk, but he has never rendered a Forest Dragon. Until now.This month, I emailed to him a list of conceptual candidates, and asked which Troop jumped out at him. His enthusiastic reply was, “Forest Dragon!” What more can I say... he nailed it.
• 介绍了一下制作组想到森林龙的缘由，简单说就是他们开始先想到各种龙和其他森林生物，直到本月，他们灵光一现，把二者结合想到了森林龙。

• Fanstratics Faction #8: Boggish.
• Fanstratics阵营8：Boggish
• From deep in the Swamp lands, lurk the cold-blooded Reptilian Boggish. Secretive and isolationist, they typically foist their influence on other civilizations, from the shadowy cracks and corners, via bribery, blackmail, and sabotage. While they rarely venture forth from their homelands, when they do, they are a truly frustrating foe. Anyone following the monthly Troop reveals will be unsurprised by this Faction’s inclusion, and will immediately recognize its similarity to HoMM3’s ‘Fortress’. Representing the Boggish is the Gatorkin Caster, which can be viewed in the Fanstratics Gallery.
• 在沼泽地的深处，潜藏着冷血蜥蜴人种族Boggish。这个隐秘而独立的派系最具代表性的一点，就是暗中利用各种手段，比如贿赂、绑架、破坏等，从而潜在地影响其他种族。尽管他们很少离开自己的家园，但作为对手还是相当难缠的。该派系很接近英雄无敌3的要塞族，其代表兵种是Gatorkin Caster。

• Fanstratics Feature: Community Map Editor & Random Map Generator.
• Fanstratics特性：社区地图编辑器和随机地图生成器。
• Some of you may be a little surprised by my listing ‘Community Map Editor & Random Map Generator’ amongst the ‘new’ features for Fanstratics. Why? Simple. People keep asking, “Will there be a Map Editor?” Obviously, “Yes.” I will do what I can to make an easy to use community Map Editor, very similar to the HoMM3 editor. As for the Random Map Generator, there have been numerous advances in algorithmic content manipulation since 1999, and I really want to do some deep research before I finalize my plan. So, at this stage, I cannot say how the RMG will operate.
• 地图编辑器很类似英雄无敌3的。随机地图生成器则会比99年的更强大，不过具体内容还没完全确定。

• When will the Map Editor and Random Map Generator be released?
• 地图编辑器和随机地图生成器什么时候发售？
• Before I answer this question, I must first tip my hat to ‘Timothy’ (you know who you are), who wrote and pointed out a mistake I made in an earlier Newsletter. Specifically, I said, “HoMM3’s map editor and random map generator were released with its first expansion pack ‘Armageddon’s Blade’. For Fanstratics, I expect to rollout both a Community Map Editor and a Random Map Generator, well after the game’s official public release.” This was incorrect. HoMM3’s Map Editor was initially released with Restoration of Erathia. HoMM3’s Random Map Generator was released with Armageddon’s Blade. My goal for Fanstratics is the same. Release the Map Editor with the base game, followed by the Random Map Generator sometime thereafter.
• 当前目标是游戏本体时发售地图编辑器，而随机地图生成器后续发布。

• It may be too early to ask, but still, “Will HoMM3 have a limit of 8 players with more than 8 factions? Will there be a similar limit in Fanstratics?”
• Fanstratics的玩家数量和阵营数量会和英雄无敌3代一样都是8个么？
• Yes. In Fanstratics the maximum number of players will be eight, and the maximum number of Adventure Heroes on the Adventure Map will be eight. As for Factions, nine are being developed, but one, two, or three more could be added with DLC, assuming the game is successful.
• Fanstratics的最大玩家数量是8人。阵营数量目前确定9个，但是未来的DLC有可能推出1~3个新阵营。

• HoMM3 Recollection: The Day the Coke Machine Caught Fire.
• 英雄无敌3：可乐机器着火事件。
• Some of you may remember this story, but three weeks from finishing the game... the New World Computing (NWC) Coca-Cola machine... caught fire. Once ‘crunch’ was declared, at 7:00pm each night, Mark Caldwell would unlock the company Coke machine. No need to feed the machine money, just pull open the front half of the appliance, reach inside, and pull out a cold can of... whatever. If you have ever purchased a can or bottle of soda pop from a vending machine, you will know these machines are big and made to endure all sorts of vandalism. I vaguely remember grinding away, at my desk, with my office door open. Prior to NWC’s growth and expansion, my room was sandwiched between the offices of David Mullich and Benjamin Bent (NWC Office Manager and part time Producer (Vegas Games)). Outside my office, the hallway diverged, leading to the Tester’s Room and the Break Room. As my office wasn’t too far from the Break Room, I remember sitting there... smelling smoke... thinking, “Is that smoke?” A moment later, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a young man dart into Ben’s office. I heard a muffled, hurried exchanged, followed by the same young man rushing out of Ben’s office... followed by Ben. Now, I could definitely smell smoke. Down the hall, I heard an additional, brief conversation, after which I saw Ben calmly returning to his office. I caught Ben’s attention and he took a detour to my doorway. Me, “What’s going on?” Ben rolled his eyes, “The Coke machine caught fire.” “It caught fire?” “Well, it looks like opening and closing the machine sheared some electrical wires, and they caught fire.” Ben shook his head, “This idiot tester just stood there with a soda can in one hand, pointing at the fire.” Me, “Do we have a fire extinguisher?” “Yeah, but just unplugged the machine.” “So, we have warm Cokes now?” Ben chuckled, “We will. Get ‘em while they’re cold.” A moment after Ben returned to his office, David Mullich appeared outside my office door, “Do I smell smoke?” I remember this event rather well for a couple of reasons. First, its absurdity fit within the general absurdity of game development. Second, in many ways, it was an apt analogy for game development... something goes wrong, someone panics, someone else calmly solves the problem, and work continues. In game development, the Coke machine is always catching fire.
• 就是当年h3快要完成时，NWC发生过一次可乐机器着火的故事。

以下是Behemoth Cave的采访问答，共18问。

• While developing the game, did you anticipate that Heroes III will be a competitive title with many tournaments such as overwhelmingly popular Polish Championships which have gathered a four-digit number of contestants?
• 当年开发游戏时有没有预料到h3现在成为了竞技游戏?
• Not in the slightest. Network play in HoMM3 was an afterthought. In 1999, the idea anyone would be playing the game, competitively, twenty years later... was unimaginable. I still have a difficult time wrapping my head around it.
• 完全没有。99年那会联机对战还不是很常见。

• A breath of new life - the modding of games. What is your opinion on modding?
• 对mod的看法？
• I think most game developers consider modding to be a good thing. It extends the life of the game, and provides an avenue for potential game developers to learn the nuts-and-bolts of game development. Quake mods probably exhibited the best of this. More recently, are the jaw dropping mods for Fallout and Skyrim.
• 我想大多数制作者都认为Mod是件好事，能延长游戏寿命。

• Is modding a chance for a game to have a second life, or is it rather an unnecessary interference in the designers’ original product?
• Mod是给游戏带来了第二次生命，还是给制作者的产品引入了无谓的干扰？
• In my opinion, mods tend to give a game a second life. If a mod goes ‘too far’, this is more a reflection on the modder, not the original game developer, and I’m confident fans know and understand the difference.
• 我倾向于认为是前者。即使mod越界了，那也是mod制作者的问题，而不是对游戏制作者的问题，我相信粉丝能看出二者之间的区别。

• Have you played any Heroes III mods?
• 你玩过h3的mod么？
• When I was doing my research for Fanstratics, I went out of my way to try every mod I could find: WoG, VCMI, HD, HotA, and the numerous smaller mods changing specific game aspects. Like some fans, I have a unique install for each ‘version’ of HoMM3.
• 当然，各种版本都玩过。

• Do you follow the progress of Horn of the Abyss? The dev team behind it came up with the idea of a brand new faction - Regnan pirates (Cove). Also there is a new faction just around the corner which blends in steampunk and the Wild West - the Factory, which might be recognized as the spiritual successor to the technological Forge with original additions.
• 你玩过HotA么？那个mod里有几个新阵营，海盗族和工厂族，你有什么看法？
• Yes, I do follow HotA. Many of the technical and gameplay changes were very logical, and overall, the art is equal, or better, than many of the original HoMM3 assets. The Factory was something of a surprise. Is it a ‘spiritual successor’ to the Forge? To a degree. There were two potential approaches to the Forge. My conception was a more horrifying World War 2 approach, where David Mullich wanted a more Jules Verne ‘glass and brass’ approach. The Factory has a ‘glass and brass’ theme, with an American Western twist. It’s very unique.
• 是的，我玩过。他们的一些设计很符合逻辑，美术也很棒。他们的工厂族有点接近当初的铸造族，我当初设计的铸造族是一种恐怖的二战风格，而David Mullich想要一个更有儒勒·凡尔纳的“玻璃与黄铜”风格。工厂族其实就属于这种风格，并杂糅了一些美国西部风格，非常独特。