英雄无敌30周年回顾
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Heroes of Might & Magic: 30th Anniversary Retrospective
此页面是英雄无敌 30 周年回顾画册的网页双语对照版本，但是主体针对的是文本和其中的故事，画册中大部分图片事实上都是公布过的，所以这里省略了大量的配图部分。如有能力，上方有支持正版的购买链接。
封面图
章节目录
- 第一章 要有魔法 —— First, There was Magic
- 第二章 追逐赏金 —— Chasing Bounty
- 第三章 英雄崛起 —— Rise of a Hero
- 第四章 黄金时代 —— Golden Age
- 第五章 更高标准 —— Setting the High Bar
- 第六章 王国衰落 —— Fall of the Kingdom
- 第七章 新的开始 —— New Beginnings
- 第八章 血与泪 —— Blood & Tears
- 第九章 激情 —— Passions
- 第十章 重生 —— Rebirth
前言 —— Chronicler's Note
Before we set out on this nostalgic trek back through the history of Heroes of Might & Magic, I should first advise you that I am not entirely an objective bystander to these events. Many of the people to whom I am about to introduce you are friends of mine. Some are longtime acquaintances, while others I have gotten to know only recently during the writing of this book. What I can say about all of them is that I have tremendous respect and admiration for who they are and for the incredible dedication they all brought to the creation of this series of games. I know what kinds of sacrifices they sometimes had to make in the name of getting things right and of getting the games done. At one time or another nearly all of these people spent ridiculously long hours locked up in offices, sometimes not seeing friends or family for weeks or months at a time while living on pizza, energy drinks, and the blind hope that someday players would enjoy these things that they nearly killed themselves trying to create. I know this because I too am a game designer, and while I didn't work on any version of Heroes myself, my first job in the industry was at New World Computing and was given to me by my friend Jon Van Caneghem, the creator of both Might & Magic and Heroes.
在我们踏上这场充满怀旧之情的时光之旅，穿梭于《魔法门之英雄无敌》系列的历史之前，我首先要提醒您的是，对于这些事件，我并非完全是一个客观的旁观者。我即将向您介绍的许多人都是我的朋友，有些是与我长期相识的熟人，另一些则是我在撰写这本书的过程中才逐渐认识的人。关于他们所有人，我想说的是，我对他们以及他们为创作这一系列游戏所付出的非凡努力怀有极大的钦佩和敬意。我知道他们有时为了把事情做好、把游戏完成而不得不做出怎样的牺牲。在某段时间，几乎所有这些人都把大量的时间耗费在工作室里，有时数周甚至数月都无法见到朋友或家人，而只能靠披萨、能量饮料、还有对他们努力创造出来的游戏总有一天会得到玩家们喜欢的盲目期待来维持生活。我之所以知道这一点，是因为我自己也是一名游戏设计师。虽然我没有参与过任何版本《英雄无敌》系列游戏的的开发工作，但我在游戏行业的第一份工作正是在 NWC 公司，这份工作是我的伙伴、乔·万·坎内根（也是《魔法门》和《英雄无敌》的创始者）交给我的。
My point in sharing all of this with you is to underscore that the book you are about to read is not just about how these games were made but about the heroes behind Heroes of Might & Magic. Every one of these developers fought battles that were to them just as existentially challenging as those faced by their fictional creations. To bring you the games you've enjoyed, they've endured budget shortfalls, studio closures, technological failures, broken builds, disastrous demos, psycho reviewers, and passionate creative differences with their peers that sometimes may have threatened to boil over into physical altercations. Making triple-A games can be exciting, rewarding, and a lot of fun, but I assure you that it is never easy.
我向您分享这一切的目的是想强调，您即将阅读的这本书不仅讲述了这些游戏的制作过程，还讲述了《魔法门之英雄无敌》背后的那些英雄们的故事。每一位开发者所经历的战斗对他们而言，就如同他们所创造的虚构角色所面临的那样具有生死攸关的意义。为了给您带来您所喜爱的游戏，他们经历了预算短缺、工作室关闭、技术故障、崩溃的建模、糟糕的演示、疯狂的批评家以及同行之间激烈的创意分歧，有时这些分歧甚至可能会发展成肢体冲突。制作大型游戏可能是令人兴奋、富有回报且充满乐趣，但我可以向您保证，这从来都不是一件容易的事情。
While it was beyond the scope of this book to tell the tales of every one of our heroes, I hope at least you'll see how this great thirty-year adventure has been shaped by their collective energies and passions. I hope you will enjoy the telling of this adventure nearly as much as I have enjoyed the uncovering of it.
虽然本书无法详述每一位英雄的故事，但我希望至少您能了解到这场长达三十年的伟大冒险，是如何在他们共同的精力和热情中塑造而成的。我希望您能像我享受讲述一样，享受这段冒险故事。
— Neal Hallford, San Diego, California, March 11, 2025
——奈尔·哈尔福德 加利福尼亚州圣地亚哥 2025 年 3 月 11 日
ABOVE: A historic meeting of minds in Los Angeles, California, as Might & Magic X: Legacy creator Julien Pirou (left front) meets with me (left back), Heroes of Might & Magic creator Jon Van Caneghem (right front), and Heroes III director David Mullich.
上图：一场意义深远的思想交流活动在加利福尼亚州洛杉矶市进行。《魔法门10：传承》的创作者朱利安·皮乌（左前）与我（左后）、《魔法门》系列的创作者乔·万·坎内根（右前）以及《英雄无敌3》的总监大卫·穆里奇会面。
关于作者 —— About the Author
Neal Hallford, a thirty-five year veteran of the computer gaming industry, began his career as a game designer at New World Computing with Might & Magic III: Isles of Terra and the science-fiction role-playing game Planet's Edge. In 1993, he wrote and codesigned Betrayal at Krondor for Dynamix, and in 2002, Dungeon Siege for Gas Powered Games. In 2003, he united with several Heroes of Might & Magic veterans to lead the design for the real-time strategy game Lords of Everquest for Sony Online Entertainment.
奈尔·哈尔福德是 PC 游戏行业一位拥有35年从业经验的资深人士。他的职业生涯始于 NWC 公司，当时他担任游戏设计师，参与了《魔法门3：幻岛历险记》以及科幻角色扮演游戏《星球边缘》工作。1993 年，他为 Dynamix 公司编写并参与设计了《叛变克朗多》；2002 年，又为 Gas Powered Games 公司设计了《地牢围攻》。2003 年，他与几位《英雄无敌》系列的老员工合作，领导了索尼在线娱乐公司开发的即时战略游戏《无尽的任务战略版》的设计工作。
Hallford is the author of two other nonfiction books, Swords & Circuitry: A Designer's Guide to Computer Role-Playing Games and The Derailment of the Sunset Limited. He lives in San Diego, California, with his wife, Jana, where they co-own and operate the film and media company Swords & Circuitry Studios. His blog about his diverse slate of film, gaming, and music-related projects can be found at NealHallford.com.
哈尔福德还著有另外两本非小说类书籍，分别是《剑与电路：一位设计师的 PC 角色扮演游戏指南》和《日落特快列车的脱轨》。他与妻子贾娜一起住在加利福尼亚州的圣地亚哥，他们共同拥有并经营着电影媒体公司"剑与电路工作室"。有关他多样化的电影、游戏和音乐相关项目的作品博客可以在"NealHallford.com"上找到。
特别感谢 —— Special Thanks
To all the people who have had some part in making Heroes of Might & Magic the international phenomenon that it is today, from the creators to the fan mapmakers to the players who still devote tens of thousands of hours battling their ways across the magical worlds of Enroth and Ashan.
致所有为《魔法门之英雄无敌》这一国际知名作品的诞生做出贡献的人们，从创作者到制作地图的玩家，再到那些至今仍投入数万小时精力，在恩洛斯和亚山的奇幻世界中征战的玩家们。
In particular I need to thank Jon Van Caneghem for giving me my first job in the computer gaming industry; without him there never would have been a Might & Magic nor a Heroes. I need to thank Ken and Anji Mayfield, who convinced me to apply for that job at New World Computing so long ago and who helped this Okie survive my first two years of life in California. I am deeply indebted for the friendship of Julien Pirou, who not only gave the world Might & Magic X: Legacy but also the one who recommended me to write this book. I also must thank my wife, Jana, who always is the first to read anything I write and ensures that whatever I commit to the page sounds at least vaguely lucid.
我特别要感谢乔·万·坎内根，是他为我提供了在电脑游戏行业的第一份工作；若没有他，就不会有《魔法门》系列游戏，也不会有《英雄无敌》系列游戏。我还要感谢肯和安吉·梅菲尔德，是他们很久以前说服我申请 NWC 公司的那份工作，并且在我这个俄克拉荷马州土包子来到加利福尼亚的前一两年里帮助我度过了难关。我深深感激朱利安·皮乌的友谊，他不仅创作了《魔法门10：传承》，而且还是推荐我写这本书的人。我还必须感谢我的妻子贾娜，她总是最先阅读我所写的东西，并确保我写在纸上的内容至少听起来还算清晰易懂。
In the course of my research for this volume I interviewed dozens of people, but I am particularly thankful to Mark Caldwell, Nicholas Beliaeff, Phelan Sykes, David Mullich, Greg Fulton, and Ervan Le Breton, not only for their insights into the important roles they played in the development of Heroes of but also for helping connect me to people and resources that enriched the telling of these stories. Last but certainly not least, I want to thank my editors, Ian Tucker at Dark Horse and Etienne Bouvier at Ubisoft, for their patience and forbearance as I've struggled to weave thirty years of game development into a coherent narrative that I hope not only entertains but also does justice to the people and projects involved. It has been an incredible journey.
在为准备这本著作的过程中，我采访了数十个人，但我要特别感谢马克·考德威尔、尼古拉斯·贝利埃夫、菲兰·西克斯、大卫·穆里奇、格雷格·富尔特和艾万-勒布雷东，不仅因为他们为在《英雄无敌》这款游戏的发展中所发挥作用提供了宝贵的见解，还因为他们帮助我联系到了能够丰富这些故事的人员和资源。最后但同样重要的是，我要感谢我的编辑伊恩·塔克（来自黑马出版社）和埃蒂安·布维耶（来自育碧），感谢他们在我努力将三十年的游戏开发历程编织成一个连贯的叙述过程时，所展现出的耐心和宽容。因为我希望这本书不仅能带来娱乐，还能公正地展现相关的人物和项目。真是一段不可思议的旅程。
