Fanstratics月报#15#2021-11

来源：https://www.fanstratics.com/fstnewsletter15，以下由HeavenK翻译。

• Fanstratics Troop: Hell Hound.
• 兵种介绍：地狱犬
• Fueled by inner fire and external hatred, the Hell Hound is a mid-tier Troop of the Infernal faction. These demonic lycanthropes can set an enemy division ablaze with their assaults, while their Hellish Howl can drain the fight from an entire enemy army. When Justin delivered his first thumbnail for the Hell Hound, it was a stereotypical... four legged... Hell Hound. It looked great, but I’d asked for an anthropomorphic Hell Hound (a demonic lycanthrope). Justin has been rather busy these last two months, with numerous art-related and unrelated tasks, so the miscommunication was understandable. When I pinged him a second time, and refreshed his memory, he promptly delivered a follow-up thumbnail, which dramatically blossomed into this month’s Troop. As good as the Hell Hound reads in black and white, I expect this particular Troop to look significantly better when fully realized in 3D with accompanying special effects. For those of you who want to see Justin actually render the drawing, you can always watch a VOD of his Twitch stream.
• 被内在之火与外在的仇恨所驱使的地狱犬是地狱派系的中级兵种。这些狼化恶魔一击就可以把敌人劈成燃烧的碎块，而他们恶魔般的吼叫能够耗尽一整只部队的战斗力。地狱犬的初稿是标准的四脚野兽造型，但是作者想要一个恶魔狼人风格的地狱犬。

• Fanstratics Feature: 2 or 3 Campaigns and ~45 Solo Maps.
• Fanstratics特性：2到3个战役，45个左右单人地图
• When I was hashing out the campaigns for HoMM3, my objectives were simple. Keep it short, simple, and to the point. Limiting campaigns to 3 or 4 maps accomplished a couple goals. First, more players were more likely to finish a campaign if it was short. Second, a collection of short campaigns created the opportunity to showcase individual factions, which gave a player the opportunity to experience HoMM3 in full. When I began outlining the story for Fanstratics, I must admit, there was a pull to tell a longer, more involved story. So, in the end, I decided there would be 2-3 Campaigns, each comprised of at least 8 maps. It’ll take more work to weave various story elements together, but unlike HoMM3’s development, I have more time to accomplish this aim. Time permitting, there will be three campaigns. As for solo maps, my intention is to deliver a quantity similar to RoE... ~45 solo maps (most of which can be used for multiplayer). Two map makers, who previously worked on RoE, AB, and SoD, have reached out to me about making maps for Fanstratics. I told them, when the FST Map Editor is far enough along, I’d be in touch. Truthfully, I’m considering reaching out to some members of the HoMM3 Map Making community, as some of the non-commercial scenarios are quite wonderful.
• 在英雄无敌3的战役部分，我的目标是简短、直奔主题。每个战役有3到4张地图与有限的目标。原因有二，其一，大部分玩家更愿意完成较短的战役；其二，一系列短战役方便玩家上手不同派系。但是到了Fanstratics，我有更多精力做一个更长更有代入感的故事，所以最终决定2到3个战役，每个战役有至少8张地图。而单人地图的目标是45个左右，并且其中大部分都适合多人对战。

• Hey love the work you are doing. My only complaint is that Heroes 3 needs an HD Rework for the whole Series, and Chronicles. H3/ AB/ and SOD should be at least the minimum HD project or remastered. Just having HOMM 3 in HD is a let down. I know it isn't your fault and is most likely Ubisofts fault.
• 对H3重置版的疑问，希望有后续版本以及历代记的高清重制。
• Unfortunately, I haven’t had any involvement in HoMM3, since I left New World Computing, more than 20 years ago. On top of this, I have no contacts at Ubisoft, and if I did... I strongly doubt they would listen to me. While I wish there was something I could do, I simply have no power to instigate change (which is one of the reasons why I am making Fanstratics).
• 这事请找育碧。我找没用，这也是为啥要自己做FST的原因之一。

• While nobody can deny the success of HoMM3, it has always been largely a single player game with the exception of Local Hotseat. Online play was infamous of dropping connection, out of sync errors, etc. Recently, passionate fans made not only an unofficial, now de facto expansion of the game, Horn of the Abyss, but also a working online lobby with Elo rating system and stable multiplayer features. And that's not all, what I think is the single biggest feature is the addition of sim turns, so effectively, up until the meeting point, players can play their turns simultaneously, thus cutting the play time by nearly a half, which is huge when it comes to competitive heroes (2-3 hours in some occasions). Do you plan to add something similar to Fanstratics, to support online play? Thanks in advance!
• 关于线上模式的讨论，未来Fanstratics会有怎样的联机玩法？
• ‘Yes’ is the short answer. Regarding network play, I expect Fanstratics’ to be technically ‘competent’. Thankfully, Unity will go a long way to preventing past issues: dropped connections, out-of-sync errors, etc. When it comes to an online lobby, with an Elo rating system, I’m still looking at this. My first instinct is to create the server technology, hand it over, and let players setup their own leagues, house rules, etc. I know most companies want to run a central server and control everything, but I don’t foresee us running Fanstratics as an ongoing service. Supporting the game is one thing, running online ladders and leagues is a different beast. As far as simultaneous turns go, I am looking to implement it, in some form, to help compress play time. I am also brainstorming a couple other alternatives. I don’t know if they’ll make the final cut, but I understand the need to make network games shorter and more play friendly.
• 简单说了一下，不会建立中心服务器，而是由玩家自己建主机进行联机。

• HoMM3 Recollection: Phil Steinmeyer.
• H3拾遗: Phil Steinmeyer
• 点击展开长文
• 

• What do you think is the best element/part of Heroes 3 what put it on the strategy classic status?
• 你觉得英雄无敌3里最好的要素是哪个？
• Everything Heroes of Might and Magic 3 (HoMM3) works in concert (design, programming, art, sound, and music), and because it works in concert, it’s impossible to select a ‘best’ element.I can however, pick a personal favorite... Battlefield Combat.Almost everything in the game distills down to Battlefield Combat, and if Battlefield Combat wasn’t fun and engaging... the game would falter.
• 都很棒，个人最喜欢的是战场战斗。

• What was the hardest part of developing Heroes 3?
• 开发英雄无敌3最难的部分是什么？
• As a Lead Game Designer, you have your fingers in everyone’s respective pie: production, programming, art, sound, and marketing.You must render your own work, then clarify it for others who want or need something from you... almost every day.If you can’t responsibly handle the daily onslaught of required multitasking, you will be overwhelmed and probably replaced.
• 搞清楚各个部门的需求。

• Do you think that Heroes 1-2-3 was an evolution of the same type of gameplay? Heroes 1 was the start and 3 was the refined, upgraded, enhanced version of that gameplay?
• 英雄无敌前3代的游戏性之间是一种进化么？
• Absolutely. HoMM2 was an evolution of HoMM1, as HoMM3 was an evolution of HoMM2.
• 当然。

• Concerning balance issues on Units, or between the factions power and strength, between the creatures. Do you think is there any balance issue still in H3?
• 关于英雄无敌3平衡性的看法？
• As for HoMM3, in its current state, does it have any balance issues?Of course.As to curbing any balance issues... it would be incredibly difficult to do at this stage. For ten years, StarCraft 2 dedicated a full team to game balance.Despite continual adjustments derived from testing unit stats, map balance, and analytics gleaned ongoing amateur and professional multiplayer games... players still complain about game balance.Game balance is difficult, and for the game developer, it’s really a ‘no win situation’.In the end, you simply do the best you can. Thankfully, and what is interesting to me, is how HoMM3 online players have naturally adapted their overall competitive play to cope with these imbalances.
• 英雄无敌3哪怕是现在也确实存在平衡性问题，但是平衡性本身也是一个很困难的事。星际争霸2有专门一个小组负责平衡，但也很难做到面面俱到。不过我很感谢，也让我感到很有趣的，是英雄无敌3的粉丝自发的对游戏进行平衡。