Fanstratics月报#13#2021-09

来源：https://www.fanstratics.com/fstnewsletter13，以下由HeavenK翻译。

• Fanstratics Troop: Mammoth Bone Crusher.
• 兵种介绍：猛犸碎骨者
• No other Troop enjoys up close and personal melee combat more than the Mammoth Bone Crusher. Disgusted with the idea of traditional weaponry, their iron ‘knuckle dusters’ give additional mass and momentum to their assaults, while serving to protect their heavy hands. In their presence, few opponents can mount a sustainable defense. Just as Fanstratics (FST) has Factional parallels to HoMM3, FST also has Troop parallels. When it came to replacing the Behemoth, I needed a massive monster embodying brute force.My first thought was ‘elephant’. My second thought was ‘mammoth’. My third though was, “This one’s going to be a lot of fun.” Once again, Justin nailed it. VOD of his Twitch stream.
• 没有那支部队比猛犸碎骨者更擅长近距离肉搏了。有别于传统武器类型，它们的钢铁指虎让攻击变得更具冲击与威力，同时也能起到保护自身厚重手掌的作用。当它们上场的时候，很少又对手能够持续地防御。FST不仅阵营与英雄无敌3类似，部队也是一样。当我们想设计一个类似于比蒙的兵种时，我脑海中闪过了各种大体积并且勇猛的怪物。我的第一想法是大象，第二个念头则是猛犸，最终我想，“这家伙肯定能带来不少乐子”。

• Fanstratics Feature: Battlefield Artifacts.
• 游戏特性：战场神器
• While this is another old and somewhat logical idea, I am a touch embarrassed to admit it didn’t occur to me until I started preliminary work on HoMM4.Initially my thoughts were... ‘more war machines... different war machines’. After thinking it through, the concept quickly evolved into ‘Battlefield Artifacts’. While War Machines are the Ammo Cart, Ballista, Catapult, and Medical Tent... Battlefield Artifacts are unique. Their individual effects only trigger when specific conditions are met on the Battlefield. Please keep in mind, this particular feature is a work in progress, and if the result isn’t as envisioned... it will be removed. In my brainstorming for Fanstratics, I have created numerous Hero Attributes, Hero Skills, Hero Spells, Troop Attributes, and various Artifacts. When one of the aforementioned doesn’t ‘make the cut’, I try to work it into the game as a Battlefield Artifact. We’ll see what happens. I’m relatively hopeful.
• 虽然这是另一个并不新鲜且合情合理的想法，但我不得不尴尬的承认直到我开始英雄无敌4的初步设计工作时才想到。起初，我想的是更多的战争机器，不同的战争机器。但是随着想法的深入，这个概念很快进化成了“战场神器”。战争机器不过是弹药箱、弩车、投石机和医疗帐篷这些，但是战场神器则更为独特。它们的效果只有在战斗中满足特定条件之后才会触发。请注意，这些特性还在设计中，最终结果尚未确定，且有可能被移除......

• Question: I have one question about one of the heroes from HoMM3...Kyrre. What gender this hero is supposed to be? Kyrre looks like he is a man, name Kyrre is a common Norse male name, there is a standard scenario in the Shadow of Death expansion - Battle of the Sexes, where male heroes play against female heroes, and Kyrre on this map represents the male side. Also in HoMM4 there is also Kyrre, a man. But at the same time, technically in the game this hero is female, and in the description of the hero there are words "Her ability to navigate...".So, Kyrre became a woman by a mistake, or there is no mistake?
• 提问：英雄无敌3的英雄凯琳到底是男的女的？她看起来像男的，名字也是男名，而且在性别大战地图中，她也是出现在男性一边；在英雄无敌4里她也是一个男英雄。但唯独在3代里她是个女性。
• Regarding ‘Kyrre’... there is a mistake. This particular memory is rather fuzzy, but if remember correctly, I originally specified the Hero as Male. Soon thereafter, Chris Vanover wrote the Hero’s biography and I named the Hero. After this was accomplished, the Hero’s portrait, as rendered by George Almond, was put into the game. When I saw Kyrre’s portrait, it created some confusion, as myself and others thought Kyrre didn’t look male. I did a quick survey amongst the HoMM3 staff, and more people, at first glance, thought Kyree looked female. So, I went with the majority opinion and made Kyree female (as defined by the manual). In hindsight, I should have also changed Kyrre’s name as well. So, yes, it appears there is an error/bug, which carried over into HoMM4.
• 哦，那是个错误。如果我记得没错的话，起初设定是男性英雄，但是后面看到头像的时候，设计组的大多数成员都觉得像是女性，于是少数服从多数，我就把她设定成女性了。马后炮来看，我应该把名字也改掉的，也正是这个错误一直带到了4代。

• HoMM3 Recollection: Lobstrosity?
• 英雄无敌3拾遗：Lobstrosity
• In Newsletter #09, I addressed a question from Behemoth Cave, where they asked about the ‘Lobstrosity’. At the time, my reply was, “this concept drawing. While I never saw the modeled Lobstrosity, and never knew it was in the game as a ‘secret’ Troop, I do recall seeing the concept art. As it is now commonly called, the Lobstrosity was George Almond’s first attempt at the Behemoth (the concept art file is appropriately named). After Phelan showed the sketch to me, I told her, “No.” She then shrugged and asked, “Well? What’s it supposed to look like?” told her, “Something like the Rancor from Return of the Jedi.” With this new information, she departed and spun up the game’s final result. As for the Lobstrosity, I had no idea the creature had been modeled and I never saw the final result. This would explain why I didn’t remember it.
• 在之前的文章中有人提了关于Lobstrosity的问题。我当时回答是没见过这个部队的设定。后来我仔细看了看设定图，想起来这应该是当初George Almond关于比蒙设计的初稿，后来Phelan问我的时候，我觉得这玩意看起来更像绝地归来里的兰苛，而不像比蒙，所以这个初稿就毙掉了。我没想到他们后面还做出了模型，而我也没见过这个最终版模型，所以这就是我之前不记得的原因。

• HoMM3 Recollection: 3500 Naga Queens.
• 英雄无敌3拾遗：3500个娜迦女王
• 点击展开长文
• 
• 简单说就是当初在难度调试的时候，作者一上来就击败了别人都觉得不可能击败的3500个娜迦女王关卡，并最终影响到了游戏设置的难度。

• We’ll now ask you some quick questions: Did you plan on creating an introduction film to Shadow of Death, similar to Restoration of Erathia or Armageddon’s Blade?
• 当初是否打算给死亡阴影制作一隔开场影片？
• Originally, after the Restoration of Erathia, three expansions were planned.
  • Armageddon’s Blade. Forge faction. New campaign. New solo maps.
  • Unnamed expansion. Conflux faction. New campaign. New solo maps.
  • Unnamed expansion. No new faction. No new campaign. New solo maps. This expansion eventually became Shadow of Death.
  After the Forge was canceled, the story was revised to utilize the Conflux as the substitute faction. This effectively eliminated the planned second expansion, and moved the third expansion up. Shortly after Armageddon’s Blade was shipped, I left New World Computing, and when I left, the Shadow of Death expansion didn’t have a name, and there were no plans for an introductory cinematic.
• 当初在埃拉西亚的光复后，计划出三个资料片，分别是：
  • 末日之刃，出铸造族、新战役、新单人地图；
  • 未命名资料片，出元素族、新战役、新单人地图；
  • 未命名资料片，无新种族、无新战役、新单人地图
  其中最后一个资料片才应该是死亡阴影。但是后来由于铸造族事件，元素族提到了末日之刃资料片中，原本的第二个资料片取消，死亡阴影提到了第二个资料片的位置。由于当时我已经离开了NWC，至少在我走的时候，死亡阴影资料片还未命名，也没有计划出开场影片。

• Which town / hero / creature in Heroes III is your favorite?
• 你最喜欢英雄无敌3里的哪个种族、英雄、生物？
• I don’t really have favorites, but specific towns, heroes, and creatures do stand out as iconic. Castle, Dungeon, and Tower towns are all beautiful. Astral, Crag Hack, Dracon, Sandro, Solmyr, Tazar, and of course... Sir Mullich... all stand out. I never thought Ancient Behemoths, Gorgons, and Troglodytes would become fan favorites.
• 我其实并没有特别喜欢的，但是一些特定的种族、英雄和生物确实成了游戏的代表。城堡、地下和塔楼都很漂亮。艾斯却尔、肯洛·哈格、德肯、山德鲁、索姆拉、泰泽，还有姆拉克爵士都很杰出。而我没想到比蒙、蛮牛和穴居人会成为粉丝的最爱。

• What was the biggest challenge in the development of Heroes III?
• 英雄无敌3设计中的最大挑战是什么？
• In ‘project’ terms, art was the biggest challenge. Thankfully, David Mullich and Phelan Sykes shielded me from the perpetual tug-of-war with the art staff. In ‘personal’ terms, the biggest challenge was dealing with the constant second guessing from anyone who thought they knew what was best for the game design. This included everyone from management to testers. From the outset, it was tough, as I had to prove myself, but as production moved forward, most people chose to leave me alone. Only occasionally, did I feel compelled to put someone in their place. Most of the time I was gentle.
• 在整个项目中，美术是最大的挑战，多亏了David Mullich和Phelan Sykes的帮助。而对我个人来说，最大的挑战是当人们觉得他的想法对游戏设计最有利时，如何冷静下来仔细思考。

• After all these years - is there anything you would like to change in Heroes III?
• 多年以后，你觉得英雄无敌3还有哪里是需要修改的？
• In general, “No.” By the time Armageddon’s Blade was published, everything I wanted, with the exception of the Forge, made it into the game. It felt complete. Only with Fanstratics, after 20 years of reflection, am I able to find undiscovered areas for improvement.
• 整体来说没有，末日之刃发售时，除了铸造族以外，其他一切我设想的都完成了，可以说完美。而对这20年来的其他想法，我会在FST中实现。