Fanstratics月报#33#2023-05

来源：https://www.fanstratics.com/fstnewsletter33，以下由HeavenK翻译。

• ​​Fanstratics Troop: Cultist.
• 兵种介绍：邪教徒
• Cultists have chosen to compromise their humanity for short-term arcane empowerment. This self-destructive path of darkness and corruption gives them exceptional arcane skills, and the ability to assault Enemy Troop Divisions from a distance. Utilizing an 'arcane heart', pulled from their own bodies, the assault from Cultists may cause Enemy Troops to explosively 'combust' and injure other nearby Enemy Troops. Additionally, upon death, Cultists themselves will occasionally 'combust', creating an explosive effect harming nearby Enemy Troop Divisions. This unique trait not only makes Cultists risky to assault in hand-to-hand melee combat, but it also makes them a tempting target to sacrifice for tactical advantage. Less distinct Troops are actually more difficult to conceptualize than say... a Minotaur or Medusa. For this Troop, after the initial round of thumbnails, I basically crossed my fingers and put my faith in Justin. Once again, he came through. :-)
• 邪教徒选择以自己的人性换取短时间的奥术强化。这条遍布黑暗与腐败的自我毁灭之路给予他们卓越的奥术能力，以及从远距离袭击敌方部队的技能。利用从自己身体中抽取出来的“奥术之心”，邪教徒的袭击能将敌人部队变成爆炸的“燃料”从而伤害到周围的其他敌人。此外，邪教徒自身死亡时偶尔也会“燃烧”，造成一场伤及周围敌方单位的爆炸。这一独特的性质不仅使得在近战中面对邪教徒存在不小的风险，也让他们成了牺牲以换取战术优势的绝佳目标。

• Fanstratics Question: I always enjoyed how all the non-human species (such as minotaur, lizardmen, goblins and so on) were part of some societies one way or another in the RPG series and in HoMM3-4. Like in MM8 you could see minotaur and trolls included in other societies such as dark elves (and dark elves in MM didn't hit the stereotypical "elf but evil" concept), in HoMM3 and HoMM4 you could see different species take up positions of heroes and some of them were equals. Like say the same minotaur heroes in HoMM3 who coexisted with the warlocks of the Dungeon town, how human coexisted with lizardmen and Gnolls. It seems to be unique enough and nowadays I don't see anything similar being done nowadays with fantasy. Like Ubisoft more or less gave up on this and this is one of the aspects that made Might and Magic really unique for me. Different creature species acting like people and being accepted as such to an extent. Heck, you could even see the undead function as a society in MM8 with their own ambitions and passions that wasn't just being an evil necromancer (the lich who just really wanted to adventure comes to mind). Will there be similar concepts in Fanstratics?
• FST问题：英雄无敌3-4代那种不同种族以类似的社会环境划分的阵营方式会保留到FST中么？
• The short answer is ‘Yes’. Might and Magic had a tradition of integrating ‘creatures’ into a broader society, but I personally don’t know the reasoning behind it. As for Fanstratics (FST), I can tell you this concept will be prevalent. When it comes to my primary fantasy foundations, I reference Dungeons & Dragons, The Hobbit, and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Of these three, for myself, The Lion, the Witch and Wardrobe is arguably the most influential. Within Narnia, animals and fantasy creatures talk, have personality, and cultural allegiances. I like this and it is one of the reasons why FST is leaning into anthropomorphic Troops. Within FST, as it is conceptualized, it makes logical sense for men, beasts, and man-beasts to all be physically, intellectually, and culturally competitive.
• 会。魔法门系列有着将不同生物整合成一个广阔社会的传统，虽然我个人并不清楚背后的缘由。至于FST，我会保留类似的设计。我个人的奇幻基础来自于龙与地下城、霍比特人以及狮子、女巫和魔衣橱，特别是后者对我影响颇大。纳尼亚的那种世界观我很喜欢并且FST也会有类似的阵营分类。

• HoMM3 Question: I always enjoyed how the interface was clear - of course skeuomorphic design was current standard then, but HoMM managed to separate itself from looking like a business program (it's something at Sierra games (like Pharaoh or Caesar 3) failed a bit with their "File..." bar at the top). The adventure map was magically coherent and usable - I say magically because it is immediately, or almost immediately which parts are interactable (there are few non-obvious skeletons or something but those are exceptions) and yet everything was fluidly fitting with each other without using artificial highlights etc. Variety of content - both in maps with a lot of detail and unique shapes to never look like glued from prefabs (it blew my small child brain when I ran the map editor for the first time and realized that in fact, yes, there was a finite amount of forest sprites etc.) but also in the cities and unit rosters - 7 cities and each very different with look and feel - unthinkable in this day and age.
• 英雄无敌3问题：英雄无敌系列的UI比同时代的游戏都更好地与游戏结合在一起，不像法老或是凯撒大帝3那种直接在最上方一个“文档”按钮，跟一个商业软件一样。此外，英雄无敌里还有很多地图元素等等。
• A logical interface, via either the UI or Map Elements, is not easy to create. Most people simply do not see it.
• 毕竟UI或是地图元素并不好设计，而大多数人又很难注意到。

• HoMM3 Recollection: Minimum Wage Slave
• H3拾遗：底薪
• 点击展开长文
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