艾万-勒布雷东采访

• So, Erwan, you've been with us all this way, starting with the creation of the world of Ashan. Tell us what it's like to create a new setting for a series that already had a world before you? If you were to create the world of Ashan again, would you perhaps change some aspects of the universe (the number of factions, the dragon gods, or something else)?
• 埃尔万，你全程参与了亚山世界的缔造，一路相伴至今。和我们说说，为一个本就有现成世界观的系列打造全新设定是种怎样的体验？如果让你重新打造亚山世界，你会不会对这个宇宙的某些设定做出调整，比如阵营数量、龙神设定，或是其他方面？
• When we acquired the IP, the existing continuity (Varn, Cron, Terra, Xeen, Axeoth) was fragmented and the existing documentation was hard to find. To be honest, it was quite confusing for us at Ubisoft. After several internal meetings, I recommended to creation of a unified, consistent, and accessible “pure fantasy” universe that could serve as a foundation for all future games across different genres, and that would be 100%, owned, documented and managed by Ubisoft.
  If I were to do it again, I would contact Julien Pirou right away to help us create a consistent bible of the pre-Ubisoft world, and use it for Heroes V and Dark Messiah, keeping the Sci-Fi elements, but only as subtle, mysterious hints.
  That doesn’t change the fact that I love what we’ve done with Ashan, especially with its core pillars like the Dragon Gods. The main thing I would change is to create more “blank” pages or spaces. We sometimes detailed huge chunks of the world or the timeline that were not present in any game and that came back to bit us later as it limited the creativity of teams who wanted to set their games in these places or periods.
  The lesson from it is “if it’s only on paper and the community doesn’t know about it, then it should not be referred to as canonical”.
• 我们收购这个知识产权时，其原有的故事时间线（瓦恩、科恩、泰拉、席恩、阿克梭）十分零散，相关资料也难以找寻。说实话，这让育碧的我们感到十分困惑。经过数次内部会议后，我提议打造一个统一、连贯且易于理解的“纯奇幻”宇宙，作为未来所有不同品类游戏的基础，且这个宇宙完全归育碧所有，由育碧整理资料并进行管理。
  如果能重来一次，我会立刻联系朱利安·皮乌，让他协助我们整理出一套连贯的育碧接手前的世界观设定集，并将其运用到《英雄无敌5》和《黑暗弥赛亚》中，保留科幻元素，但只将其作为隐晦、神秘的线索。
  但这并不改变我对我们打造的亚山世界的喜爱，尤其是龙神这类核心设定。我最想做出的改变，是留下更多的“空白”空间。我们有时会把游戏中并未呈现的大量世界细节和时间线内容写得过于详尽，这后来反倒给我们带来了麻烦，因为这限制了想要在这些区域或时期创作游戏的开发团队的创造力。
  我们从中得到的教训是：“如果某设定只存在于纸面上，社区玩家对此一无所知，那它就不能被认定为正统设定”。

• Were you familiar with the Might and Magic franchise before you started working on it? Which MM or HoMM games had you played? How did you like it?
• 你接手这个项目前，了解《魔法门》系列吗？你玩过哪些《魔法门》正传或《英雄无敌》系列作品？感受如何？
• I had played Might & Magic VI and VII, and Heroes III and IV (campaigns only, not skirmish or multiplayer / hotseat). I enjoyed them all.
• 我玩过《魔法门六》《魔法门七》，还有《英雄无敌3》和《英雄无敌4》，不过只玩了战役模式，没玩过遭遇战、多人联机和热座模式。这些作品我都很喜欢。

• Heroes 5 celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. The game is still popular with many fans. But there's a question that's been nagging me for years. According to Fabrice Cambounet, more content was planned for the game after patch 3.1. What exactly was that? New maps, neutral creatures, another Sanctuary expansion? Fans have stumbled upon lizardmen and Naga models, as well as some buildings. If this wasn't supposed to be in Heroes 5, was it supposed to be used elsewhere? Perhaps it's time to lift the veil of secrecy?
• 今年是《英雄无敌5》发行 20 周年，这款游戏至今仍受很多粉丝喜爱。但有个问题困扰了我多年，据 Fabrice Cambounet 称，3.1补丁后原本为这款游戏规划了更多内容，具体是什么内容呢？是新地图、中立生物，还是又一个瀛洲阵营的资料片？粉丝们发现了蜥蜴人和那伽的模型，还有一些建筑模型。如果这些内容本就不是为《英雄无敌5》准备的，那是为其他作品准备的吗？或许现在是揭开谜底的时候了？
• Development on Heroes V stopped after Tribes of the East because Nival moved to a first iteration of Heroes VI that obviously was never released (the project was cancelled and transferred to Black Hole). The Lizardmen models were from this ambitious Heroes VI project that had terraforming as one of its core pillars.
  I’m always excited when fans unearth lore and assets from cancelled or unused projects. Sometimes, we’ve been able to give them a “second life”. For example, content originally created for the cancelled Might & Magic Raiders eventually found their way into Might & Magic X, Duel of Champions, and Heroes VII.
• 《英雄无敌5：东方部落》推出后，该作的开发就停止了，因为 Nival 工作室转而开发初代版本的《英雄无敌6》，这个版本显然最终并未发行，项目被取消后移交到了黑洞工作室。蜥蜴人的模型就来自这个野心勃勃的初代《英雄无敌6》项目，地形改造是该项目的核心设定之一。
  每当粉丝们发掘出被取消或未启用项目的背景设定和美术资源时，我都很激动。有时，我们还能让这些内容“重获新生”。比如，为被取消的《魔法门：突袭者》创作的内容，最终就被运用到了《魔法门十》《魔法门：冠军对决》和《英雄无敌7》中。

• Some residual information indicates that, at some point after Ubisoft acquired the rights, the new game was going to be set on Axeoth? Some examples. Early versions of town descriptions in H5 occasionally mention things like "refugees from Erathia". And in the Russian localization of Dark Messiah, the dates are marked as "After the Cataclysm" (like in MM9 on Axeoth). There is also the "Beta Ashan" map that references Palaedra from H4. Can you tell us more about that supposed "Axeoth stage"?
• 有一些残留信息显示，育碧收购版权后的某个阶段，新游戏原本计划以阿克梭为故事背景？举些例子，《英雄无敌5》早期版本的城镇描述中，偶尔会提到“埃拉西亚难民”这类内容；《黑暗弥赛亚》的俄文版中，时间标注为“大灾变之后”，和以阿克梭为背景的《魔法门九》一致；还有一张“测试版亚山”地图，提到了《英雄无敌4》中的 Palaedra（历山德的王国）。你能和我们多说说这个所谓的“阿克梭阶段”吗？
• Ashan was developed in parallel with Heroes V and Dark Messiah and the first iterations of those games used references to Axeoth (but generally they were little more than name-dropping, and “all over the place”, something that would have enraged the community).
• 亚山世界观的打造，和《英雄无敌5》《黑暗弥赛亚》的开发是同步进行的，这两款游戏的初代版本中都出现了阿克梭的相关元素，但基本都只是简单提及名字，而且设定杂乱无章，这种做法本会惹恼粉丝社区。

• After HMM5, Dark Messiah came out. What were Findan, Zehir, Isabel, Wulfstan, Gotai, Kujin, Duncan, and Freyda up to in the years between H5 and Dark Messiah, as well as during the events of the latter?
• 《英雄无敌5》之后，《黑暗弥赛亚》问世。在《英雄无敌5》到《黑暗弥赛亚》的这段时间里，以及《黑暗弥赛亚》的故事发生时，芬丹、泽希尔、伊莎贝尔、沃尔夫斯坦、高泰、库金、邓肯和法蕾妲都在做什么？
• Dark Messiah happens at the end of the existing Ashan’s timeline. Describing what happened in the rest of the world during that apocalyptic time would require a full novel and a someone willing to write it 😊
• 《黑暗弥赛亚》的故事发生在现有亚山时间线的末期，要描述这场末世浩劫中世界其他地方发生的事，需要一整部小说，还得有愿意执笔的作者才行😊。

• In Dark Messiah, it was revealed that Linna is the last descendant of the Falcons. Is this still canon, or has this fact been retconned? And did Linna remain with Sareth?
• 《黑暗弥赛亚》中揭示了莉安娜是猎鹰家族的最后后裔，这个设定如今还是正统的吗，还是被修改了？莉安娜最后和塞雷斯在一起了吗？
• I don’t remember any retcon on Leanna’s bloodline (but I may have forgotten something). There was no canonical ending for Dark Messiah but in my own playthrough, I rejected my demonic heritage and chose Leanna over Xana 😊
• 我不记得莉安娜的血脉设定有被修改过，不过也可能是我忘了些细节。《黑暗弥赛亚》并没有正统的官方结局，但我自己玩的时候，选择了拒绝自己的恶魔血统，放弃了 Xana，和莉安娜走到了一起😊。

• Is the Great Namtaru fought in Dark Messiah another form of Namtarus from H6 or just a similarly spider-themed creature sacred for the necromancers?
• 《黑暗弥赛亚》中玩家与之战斗的巨型娜姆塔茹，是《英雄无敌6》中娜姆塔茹的另一种形态，还是只是死灵法师奉为神圣、同样以蜘蛛为原型的另一种生物？
• Namtarus have three shapes: Humanoid (with 6 arms and two legs), Spider Hybrid, and full Spider. The Dark Messiah version is a Namtaru in “full spider” shape.
• 娜姆塔茹有三种形态：人形（六臂两腿）、蜘蛛混血形态，以及纯蜘蛛形态。《黑暗弥赛亚》中的娜姆塔茹就是纯蜘蛛形态的。

• What time period was the cancelled Dark Messiah 2 supposed to take place in? Who was the planned protagonist? Would it have been a continuation of Sareth's story?
• 被取消的《黑暗弥赛亚2》原本计划设定在哪个时间段？主角拟定是谁？会是塞雷斯故事的延续吗？
• The pitch of Dark Messiah 2 was you playing Raelag as a Dragon Knight to force Sareth to make the final choice. Sareth’s indecision had created a magical anomaly around the city of Stonehelm (lie a magical rift frozen in time) that could destroy all of Ashan…
• 《黑暗弥赛亚2》的最初构想是，玩家将扮演身为龙骑士的雷拉格，逼迫塞雷斯做出最终抉择。塞雷斯的优柔寡断在石盔城周边制造了一处魔法异象，像是一道被时间冻结的魔法裂隙，这处异象足以摧毁整个亚山世界……

• Have you discussed continuing Ashan's story after the events of Dark Messiah? If so, how would the world have changed?
• 你们是否讨论过续写《黑暗弥赛亚》之后的亚山故事？如果讨论过，这个世界会发生怎样的变化？
• Not really. It was part of the “we’ll discuss it when needed” sections of the internal Ashan Bible.
• 其实并没有深入讨论过。这部分内容被归到了内部亚山世界观设定集里“需要时再讨论”的板块中。

• Was Markal simply a Void follower? Or did he actually develop have some reverence for Asha after his master Sandro's fall? He does invoke her name at one point in H5.
• 马尔卡尔只是虚空的信徒吗？还是在其导师桑德罗倒台后，他其实对亚莎产生了些许敬畏之心？他在《英雄无敌5》中确实曾呼唤过亚莎的名字。
• Markal studied under Sandro but did not become a Void follower. He remained devoted to the Spider Goddess.
• 马尔卡尔师从桑德罗，但并未成为虚空的信徒，他始终效忠于蜘蛛女神亚莎。

• Heroes 7 features the Wolf Duchy. But if you look at the MMDoc cards, they look more like the soldiers of the Griffin Duchy (spearmen and crossbowmen). At some point, did you decide to change the duchy featured? Also, did you develop concept art for soldiers from other duchies while working on the franchise?
• 《英雄无敌7》中出现了恶狼公国，但看《魔法门：冠军对决》的卡牌会发现，恶狼公国的士兵形象更像是狮鹫公国的，比如长矛兵和弩手。你们是否在某个阶段决定更换登场的公国？另外，你们在开发这个系列时，是否为其他公国的士兵创作过概念设计图？
• Duel of Champions was a great way for us to explore the various duchies (producing 2D art was less costly than creating 3D models for a Heroes game). Heroes 7 used the Heroes 6 Griffin models with minor variations inspired by the Duel of Champions cards.
• 《魔法门：冠军对决》为我们探索各个公国的设定提供了很好的契机，毕竟制作 2D 美术作品的成本，远低于为《英雄无敌》系列游戏制作 3D 模型。《英雄无敌7》沿用了《英雄无敌6》中狮鹫公国的模型，只是参考《魔法门：冠军对决》的卡牌做了一些细微改动。

• Agar recreated the lizardmen. Can you tell us about the fate of those very first lizardmen created by Agar? Was there any plan to use them to revive the faction Fortress from Heroes 3? or would they become allies of Sanctuary over time?
• 阿伽重新创造出了蜥蜴人，你能和我们说说他最初创造的那些蜥蜴人的命运吗？你们是否曾计划用这些蜥蜴人重现《英雄无敌3》中的壁垒阵营？或者它们本会随着时间的推移成为瀛洲的盟友？
• The Ashan Agar is the creator of several Beastmen species, some of them that were considered failures, or designed for non-combat purposes (servants, workers, “courtiers and courtesans”). During the Beastman rebellion, not all of them joined the Orcs. The “aquatic / reptilian” Sanctuary faction was our take on the Heroes 3 Fortress and we could have indeed included Asian-themed Lizardmen.
• 亚山世界的阿伽创造出了多个兽人亚种，其中一些被认为是失败的造物，还有一些本就被设计为非战斗用途，比如充当仆役、劳工，或是“侍臣与侍女”。兽人叛乱期间，并非所有兽人亚种都加入了兽人阵营。以水生和爬行生物为特色的瀛洲阵营，是我们对《英雄无敌3》壁垒阵营的重新诠释，我们原本也确实打算加入带有东方风格的蜥蜴人。

• We came across this unusual creature in Sylvan's concept art. Could you tell us more about what it was supposed to be?
• 我们在森林阵营的概念设计图中发现了一种奇特的生物，能和我们多说说这种生物原本的设定吗？
• Simply “badass” Sylvan Werewolves (not Beastmen, Elf shapeshifters). Their giant size and visual design was inspired by the “Garous” from the World of Darkness Werewolf: The Apocalypse TTRPG (especially the “Fianna” tribe).
• 这就是森林阵营超霸气的狼人，它们并非兽人，而是能变形的精灵。其巨大的体型和视觉设计灵感，来源于桌上角色扮演游戏《黑暗世界：狼族：天启》中的“盖鲁”，尤其是其中的“费安娜”部族。

• Do gremlins exist in Ashan? :) Perhaps they were created later in the timeline than H7 and were named after a nickname for cabirs?
• 亚山世界中有精怪吗？😊或许它们出现在《英雄无敌7》之后的时间线中，还是以卡比尔的别称命名的？
• Gremlins exist in Heroes V and Clash of Heroes. They are very similar to the pre-Ashan Gremlins but in Ashan, they are “specialized Goblins”, which means they were created at the same time as the Orcs. Cabirs in Heroes VII are minor spirits of Fire inspired by the Cabeiri of Greek Mythology who were associated with Hephaistos, fire and the forge, but with the added “Jinx” trait of the typical Gremlin (a mischievous sprite imagined as the cause of any trouble or mischance).
• 亚山世界是有精怪的，《英雄无敌5》和《魔法门：英雄交锋》中都出现过。它们和亚山世界观诞生前的地精十分相似，但在亚山设定中，精怪是“专精型地精”，也就意味着它们和兽人是同时被创造出来的。《英雄无敌7》中的卡比尔/火精怪是低级火元素灵体，其原型是希腊神话中与赫菲斯托斯、火焰和锻造相关的卡贝里众神，同时还被赋予了典型精怪的“霉运”特质——精怪本就是被认为会制造各种麻烦和意外的顽皮妖精。

• Do you think there could indeed be other worlds beyond Ashan in the Void? Did Sandro have a point?
• 你认为虚空中是否真的存在亚山之外的其他世界？桑德罗的看法是否有道理？
• Certainly. Julien Pirou will love to tell you more about them 😊
• 当然存在，朱利安·皮乌肯定很乐意和你们细说这些😊。

• Are there faceless - women? If so, how were they described? Or do they have no gender? Is there a finite number of faceless and can new appear?
• 有无面者女性吗？如果有，相关设定是怎样的？还是说无面者本就没有性别？无面者的数量是固定的吗，会有新的无面者诞生吗？
• They have no gender and there’s one Faceless for every Angel as they’re mystically tied to them (like the Mystics and Skeksis in the movie Dark Crystal).
• 无面者没有性别，每一位天使都对应着一位无面者，二者之间存在神秘的联系，就像电影《黑水晶》中的神秘族和斯克西斯族一样。

• Faceless Erebos was a charismatic character. Were there any new stories planned for him? Or The Blades of Erebos?
• 无面者厄瑞玻斯是个极具魅力的角色，你们是否为他或厄瑞玻斯之刃计划过新的故事？
• Erebos was a key character whose lore was originally created for Might & Magic Raiders and later integrated into Might & Magic X. There are indeed many stories to tell about him, in video game format or on other media.
• 厄瑞玻斯是核心角色，其背景设定最初是为《魔法门：突袭者》创作的，后来被融入了《魔法门十》。关于他的故事还有很多可以挖掘的，不管是做成电子游戏，还是通过其他媒介呈现都可以。

• Who exactly did Ronan Falcon take as his wife? There are two differing historical accounts of that in MM10. Was that intentional?
• 罗南·法尔肯究竟娶了谁为妻？《魔法门十》中有两种截然不同的记载，这是刻意为之的吗？
• In the lore book “The Binding of the Clans”, it is told that “Ronan the Great married the beautiful daughter of clan Griffin”. However, in “Dynasties of Light”, he “wed the dark haired Treva of house Stag and they were blessed with three sons and a daughter. The first son and heir, Brian, was born in 18 YSD.”
  The mistake is not intentional. Ronan wed Treva of House Stag. It is Ronan II the Graceful who married a daughter of house Griffin (named Tatiana) in YSD 123.
  Fun fact, Ronan is the name of my younger brother and means “little seal” in Breton (the name also exists in Ireland with the same meaning).
• 设定集《部族的盟约》中记载，“伟大的罗南迎娶了狮鹫部族美丽的女儿”；但在《光明王朝》中，记载的是他“娶了雄鹿家族黑发的特雷瓦，二人育有三子一女，长子兼继承人布赖恩于神启纪年18年出生”。
  这个矛盾并非刻意为之，正确的设定是罗南迎娶了雄鹿家族的特雷瓦，而优雅的罗南二世在神启纪年123年，迎娶了狮鹫家族的女儿塔季扬娜。
  说个趣味小知识，罗南是我弟弟的名字，在布列塔尼语中意为“小海豹”，这个名字在爱尔兰语中也是同样的意思。

• Who was Raelag's father? Do Raelag, Sylsai, and Menan have the same father?
• 雷拉格的父亲是谁？雷拉格、希尔塞和梅南是同父异母的兄弟姐妹吗？
• To be honest, we never discussed Raelag’s father. Maybe it would have been one of the revelations of Dark Messiah II?
• 说实话，我们从未讨论过雷拉格父亲的设定，或许这本会是《黑暗弥赛亚2》的伏笔之一？

• Was Thralsai intended to be Sylsai's son? Their names and clan affiliation suggest some connection.
• 斯拉尔赛原本的设定是希尔塞的儿子吗？二人的名字和部族归属都暗示着二者存在关联。
• I’m not sure we discussed this possibility but that’s a very valid theory.
• 我不确定我们是否讨论过这个可能性，但这确实是个很合理的推测。

• Can you tell us about Sveltana's fate? Was her appearance planned for future games in the series? Would we have seen a new continent, or would she have returned to Thallan with some new, unstoppable force (a massive army of the undead or a powerful artifact)?
• 能和我们说说斯维特塔娜的命运吗？你们是否计划让她在该系列后续游戏中登场？玩家是否本会见到一块新的大陆，或者她会带着全新的、势不可挡的力量回到萨兰大陆，比如一支庞大的亡灵军队或是一件强力神器？
• Sveltana was indeed planned as a recurring character (and would have been a perfect mentor / helper for Raelag in Dark Messiah 2). She was never about power and war, more about knowledge, magic and faith, so her travel to the Shrouded South would have been more about discovering how Asha was known and revered in this place.
  Fun fact: her name came from a French pun (Svelte in French means “slender and elegant”), but was not supposed to be her official name (should have been the original Russian, Svetlana). It just stuck with the team and made it to the final game in its twisted form.
• 我们确实计划让斯维特塔娜成为常驻角色，她本会是《黑暗弥赛亚2》中雷拉格的完美导师和助手。她的核心并非权力与战争，而是知识、魔法和信仰，因此她前往迷雾之南的旅程，更多是为了探寻在这片土地上，亚莎是如何被人们知晓和敬仰的。
  说个趣味小知识，她的名字源自一个法语双关语，法语中“svelte”意为“苗条优雅的”，但这并非她的原定官方名字，原本要用俄语原名斯维特塔娜。只是这个名字被开发团队一直沿用，最后就以这个变体形式出现在了成品游戏中。

• Demon attacks during the Eclipses only happen on Thallan? On other continents, too, were demonic attacks supposed to occur?
• 日食期间的恶魔入侵只发生在萨兰大陆吗？原本设定中，其他大陆是否也会遭遇恶魔入侵？
• There’s no reason Demons would limit their incursions to Thallan. But the other continents were not really developed and never mentioned by the Inferno leaders. So maybe there was something there that would repel the Demons, or maybe they had different breeds of Demons invade them, not bound to Kha Beleth?
• 恶魔没有理由只在萨兰大陆发动入侵，只是我们并未深入开发其他大陆的设定，地狱的首领们也从未提及这些大陆。所以或许那些大陆上有能击退恶魔的力量，又或者入侵那些大陆的，是不受卡-贝勒斯掌控的其他恶魔族群？

• Tell us about the other continents of Ashan. Please.. 😊
• 和我们说说亚山的其他大陆吧，拜托了😊。
• We left those blank spots on the map for a purpose. We expected a game to use them as their setting (and it would have meant a great exciting “brainstorming” for us) but the occasion never came, so we never really discussed what could have been there.
• 我们在地图上留下这些空白区域是有目的的，本期待有游戏能以这些区域为背景，这对我们来说也会是一场有趣的头脑风暴，但始终没有这样的机会，所以我们也从未深入讨论过这些区域的设定。

• Was it planned that any part of the free cities faction,wind swords, black guard, blind brothers, Nethermancer or sea elves would be represented in the game? If so, what would be an example creature roster? Maybe you were planning other factions? If so, which ones? Or subfactions (meaning, for example, in Sanctuary these are: Shanriya, Kabuki, Sayama) or new human duchies?
• 你们是否计划让自由都市阵营的相关势力，比如风刃团、黑卫、盲眼兄弟会、虚空法师或海精灵出现在游戏中？如果有，拟定的生物单位阵容大概是怎样的？你们是否还计划过其他阵营？如果有，是哪些？又或者是计划加入子阵营，比如瀛洲的珊瑞雅、歌舞伎、狭山这类，或是新的人类公国？
• Subfactions (including the Human duchies) were great for alternative upgrades (a feature we wanted to bring back to Heroes). “Neutral” groups like Wind Swords etc. were better for possible mercenaries on the map (Heroes) or to play an important role in other games (RPGs). Sea Elves or Nethermancers would have been great for alternative factions in an expansion. The tricky part was that no Ubisoft Heroes game was able to showcase all the existing factions (for obvious development cost reasons). So the priority was always “add a missing faction” and not “create an alternate one” (like the Sea Elves for instance).
  Duel of Champions allowed us to test alternative creatures and subfactions (a couple of 2D cards is far less costly than a full roster of 3D creatures and buildings for a Heroes faction).
  Mobile games are also great for this because they last for years and need regular content updates.
• 子阵营，包括人类的各个公国，很适合做单位的另类升级设定，这也是我们想重新加入《英雄无敌》系列的特色。风刃团这类中立势力，更适合作为《英雄无敌》大地图上的雇佣兵，或是在其他角色扮演游戏中扮演重要角色。海精灵或虚空法师本会是资料片中另类阵营的绝佳选择。但问题在于，受开发成本的客观限制，育碧开发的《英雄无敌》系列作品，都无法呈现所有已设定的阵营。因此我们的优先级始终是补充缺失的阵营，而非创造新的另类阵营，比如海精灵阵营。
  《魔法门：冠军对决》让我们有机会测试另类生物单位和子阵营的设定，毕竟制作几张 2D 卡牌的成本，远低于为《英雄无敌》的一个阵营制作全套 3D 生物和建筑模型。
  手机游戏也很适合做这类内容的尝试，因为手游的运营周期长达数年，需要定期更新内容。

• Does Arantir come from? How did he become a necromancer?
• 阿兰蒂尔来自哪里？他是如何成为死灵法师的？
• Like many “early” Necromancers, Arantir is from the Seven Cities and first studied as a Wizard before joining the ranks of the Spider Cultists. His lifelong interest (some would say “obsession”) was the study of Demons and of Sheogh. Not to worship or control them, but to destroy them once and for all. This naturally led him to Asha.
• 和许多早期的死灵法师一样，阿兰蒂尔来自七城联盟，他最初修习的是巫师的法术，之后才加入了蜘蛛教派。他毕生的兴趣，甚至可以说是执念，是研究恶魔和谢尔戈地狱，他的目的并非崇拜或操控恶魔，而是将它们彻底消灭，这也让他自然而然地信奉了亚莎。

• Are orcs resistant to magical mind-affecting effects?
• 兽人是否对精神系魔法效果有抗性？
• Their magic resistance applies to all “schools” of Magic but it does not make them fully immune.
• 兽人对所有派系的魔法都有抗性，但并非完全免疫。

• Necromancer Aguirre, is this a reference to you in the world of Ashan? Many fans see similarities between you.
• 死灵法师阿吉雷，是你在亚山世界中的化身吗？很多粉丝都觉得你们二人很像。
• In the original brief for Aguirre, it was not my face that we used as reference but that of the actor Christopher Eccleston. I guess the final resemblance was a (well-intended) joke from the Black Hole artists because I was often mentioning Necropolis as my favourite faction. My Ubisoft colleagues also pointed out the similarities and after a while, I became comfortable with the fact that Aguirre would be my “dark twin” in Ashan 😊
• 阿吉雷的最初设定参考，并非我的相貌，而是演员克里斯托弗·埃克莱斯顿。我想最终成品和我长得像，是黑洞工作室的美术师们开的一个善意的玩笑，因为我总说墓园是我最喜欢的阵营。育碧的同事们也指出了这一点，久而久之，我也欣然接受了阿吉雷是我在亚山世界的“黑暗分身”这个设定😊。

• What are the names of the Dungeon and Sanctuary mounts in Heroes 6? Could you tell us more about these creatures?
• 《英雄无敌6》中，地牢和瀛洲阵营的坐骑分别叫什么？能和我们多说说这些生物的设定吗？
• The Sanctuary mount was some sort of “lesser Kirin”, a mix of a goat / deer / reptile, still a sacred magical beast but terrestrial instead of flying and not as “epic” or “intelligent” as their greater cousins.
  The original design of the Dungeon mount comes from the cancelled RPG developed in Shanghai and was named “Manticore”. It was inspired by the work of the Swiss Artist H.R. Giger who designed the Xenomorphs for the Alien movies. It was part of our vision to take the Dark Elves away from Warhammer or Dungeons & Dragons and closer to their Dragon-Goddess Malassa and alien-looking shapeless shadowy entities. This “Manticore” was supposed to be an apex predator of the “Underdark”, more like a giant tiger or panther than a horse. No need for eyes because it lived in darkness and relied on other senses.
  When we reused the artwork for Shades of Darkness, the internal codename for the creature was not Manticore but “Shadowbeast”. I’m not sure it got an official name.
• 
  瀛洲阵营的坐骑是一种“低级麒麟”，融合了山羊、鹿和爬行生物的特征，依旧是神圣的魔法生物，但属于陆生生物，无法飞行，也不如高阶麒麟那般威风，智商也稍逊一筹。
  地牢阵营坐骑的最初设计，来自上海工作室被取消的一款角色扮演游戏，最初命名为“蝎尾狮”。其设计灵感来源于为《异形》系列设计异形的瑞士艺术家H.R.吉格。我们希望让黑暗精灵脱离《战锤》和《龙与地下城》的影子，更贴近它们的龙神马拉萨，以及外形怪异、无固定形态的暗影生物，这款坐骑的设计正是其中一环。这只“蝎尾狮”本是地下黑暗世界的顶级掠食者，外形更像巨型老虎或黑豹，而非马匹；它生活在黑暗中，无需眼睛，依靠其他感官感知周围环境。
  我们在《英雄无敌6：黑暗之影》中重新使用这款美术设计时，给它取的内部代号不再是蝎尾狮，而是“暗影兽”，我不确定它是否有正式的官方名称。

• White tigers are known to exist in Axeoth. Do they also exist in Ashan? If so, why were they only added for the Lost Tales of Axeoth campaigns? There's also art of the hero Ossir depicting a white tiger pelt as a trophy. Ossir killed the last white tiger?
• 阿克梭世界中有白虎存在，亚山世界也有吗？如果有，为何只在《阿克梭失落传说》的战役中加入了白虎？还有英雄奥瑟的美术形象中，白虎皮是他的战利品，难道奥瑟杀死了最后一只白虎？
• White tigers have their place in Ashan. The Heroes V art for Ossir was clearly inspired by the pre-Ashan games (remember we were developing Ashan in parallel with the game at that time, which explains a couple of inconsistencies with the lore). The fact that we haven’t put them in a game is mostly because adding creatures had a cost and we were always discussing which ones would made it and which ones would have to wait.
  The French artist Olivier Ledroit had worked on a Sylvan “White Tiger Rider” concept but he ended up proposing a white spotted sabretooth lynx instead 😊
• 亚山世界是有白虎的。《英雄无敌5》中奥瑟的美术形象，明显参考了亚山世界观诞生前的系列作品，要知道当时我们是同步开发游戏和亚山世界观的，这也解释了部分设定上的矛盾。白虎始终未在正片游戏中登场，主要是因为添加生物单位需要成本，我们总要反复讨论哪些单位能登场，哪些需要搁置。
  法国艺术家 Olivier Ledroit 曾为森林阵营设计过“白虎骑士”的概念，但最后他改成了白色带斑点的剑齿山猫😊。

• Can we say that the younger spirits of the elements (troglodytes, Cabirs , Kappas) are small peoples with their own culture?
• 我们能否将这些低级元素灵体，比如穴居人、卡比尔、河童，视作拥有自身文化的弱小族群？
• They are lesser sprits but not children. Not a question of age but of purpose. Their tasks and dominions are more limited / specialized.
• 它们是低级灵体，但并非“幼体”，这和年龄无关，而是其存在的使命决定的。它们的职责和掌控的领域，都更有限、更专精。

• Who did Ivan Griffin choose as his wife according to canon? Nolwenn or Tanis?
• 按照正统设定，伊凡·狮鹫娶了谁为妻？是诺尔温还是塔妮丝？
• Nolwenn became his wife and mother of his son Alexei. Tanis remained a close advisor and confident, possibly a mistress. The full tale has never been written…
• 正统设定是伊凡娶了诺尔温，她也是伊凡之子阿列克谢的母亲。塔妮丝则一直是伊凡的亲信顾问，二人关系亲密，她或许也是伊凡的情人，这段完整的故事我们从未执笔撰写……

• Are there any fictional but unrealized creatures? Do you have concept art or descriptions of these creatures?
• 是否有只存在于设定中、但从未登场的生物？你们有这些生物的概念设计图或相关设定描述吗？
• The Thrall was a great addition to the Demon legions (from Dark Messiah 2).
  The Fallen Angel was discussed with Nival for their cancelled Heroes VI project.
  Also from Nival’s Heroes VI was the first Sanctuary / Naga concepts and a female Djinn Blade Dancer.
  A cancelled ambitious RPG that was supposed to be developed by Ubisoft Shanghai gave us the Dark Elf “Shadow Priest / Sorcerer” that inspired the entire Dungeon Faction in Shades of Darkness.
  The same RPG project had an amazing Sylvan line-up, including this top tier “Forest Lord” (the Elf Werewolves were also from this project).
• 奴魔本会是恶魔军团的全新单位，这个设定来自被取消的《黑暗弥赛亚2》。
  我们曾和 Nival 工作室探讨过，在其被取消的初代《英雄无敌6》中加入堕落天使的设定。
  Nival 的初代《英雄无敌6》中，还诞生了瀛洲和那伽的初代概念设计，以及女灯神刃舞者的设定。
  育碧上海工作室一款被取消的野心之作——某款角色扮演游戏，设计出了黑暗精灵“暗影牧师/暗影巫师”的形象，这个设定也为《英雄无敌6：黑暗之影》的整个地牢阵营奠定了设计基调。
  这款被取消的角色扮演游戏，还为森林阵营设计了一套超棒的单位阵容，包括高阶单位“森林领主”，森林阵营的精灵狼人设定也来自这个项目。
  

• When Hangvul lost his limbs, he rebuilt them using a special dwarven metal. Could you tell me more about this metal? Is it used elsewhere?
• 汉格瓦尔失去四肢后，用一种特殊的矮人金属重造了肢体，能和我们多说说这种金属吗？它还有其他用途吗？
• It’s Shadowsteel, Ashan’s “Dark Mithril” found underground. Light but sturdy and easily enchanted. It’s mostly used by the Dwarves and Dark Elves. Some say it was born from the spilled blood of the Faceless.
• 这种金属是暗影钢，是亚山世界的“黑暗秘银”，蕴藏于地底。它质地轻盈却十分坚固，还极易被附魔，主要被矮人和黑暗精灵使用。有传言称，暗影钢是由无面者洒落的鲜血凝结而成的。

• How do dragons appear in Ashan? Do they hatch from eggs or are they magical clusters? Have you discussed the possibility of other dragons appearing in the game? (Would they be the avatars of Shalassa and Ylath, or something else borrowed from the old universe (Rust, Azure, Faerie), or perhaps something else entirely?)
• 亚山世界的龙是如何诞生的？是从龙蛋中孵化，还是由魔法能量凝聚而成？你们是否讨论过在游戏中加入其他种类龙的可能性？比如会是莎拉萨和伊拉斯的化身，还是借鉴旧世界观的其他龙种，比如锈龙、碧龙、仙女龙，又或是全新的龙种？
• No Rust of Fairy Dragons planned, no. Again, we never envisoned “Fairies” in Ashan. We did not want endless combinations of Dragons like in other Fantasy games. Dragons found on Ashan being avatars of the Gods but also “material” creatures would probably lay eggs but these would be indestructible artifacts of immense power, and fiercely defended by their parents.
• 我们从未计划加入锈龙和仙女龙，亚山世界观中也从未设定过“仙子”这类存在。我们不想像其他奇幻游戏那样，设计出无数种龙的变体。亚山世界的龙，既是神明的化身，也是拥有实体的生物，它们大概率会产卵，而这些龙蛋都是坚不可摧的至宝，蕴含着强大的力量，龙的父母会拼尽全力守护龙蛋。

• Would we ever meet leprechauns, satyrs, trolls or orcs?
• 玩家是否有机会在游戏中见到丛林妖精、萨堤尔、巨魔，或是兽人？
• Leprechauns, no. That was a pet peeve of mine. I’m from Brittany, the Celtic area of France, I love everything Celtic, including Leprechauns, and I really felt that they had nothing to do in Ashan where there are no “Fairies” or gnomes or brownies, etc., unless completely reinvented to fit the lore.
  Orcs exist in Ashan. Satyrs or Fauns would simply be Beastmen. Trolls are very similar to Ogres and Cyclops, so to add them would mean making them some kind of Earth / Stone spirits rather than another Orc sub-species.
• 丛林妖精是绝不会出现的，我个人很反感在亚山加入这个设定。我来自法国的布列塔尼，这里是凯尔特文化区，我热爱一切凯尔特文化，包括丛林妖精，但我认为丛林妖精和亚山的世界观格格不入，因为亚山没有仙子、侏儒、棕仙这类生物，除非对丛林妖精的设定进行彻底重塑，否则绝不加入。
  兽人在亚山世界是存在的，萨堤尔或半羊人会被归为兽人亚种。巨魔和食人魔、独眼巨人十分相似，若要加入巨魔，会将其设定为土元素或石元素灵体，而非另一种兽人亚种。

• Does gunpowder exist in Ashan? If so, when and how did it appear? In the game, we encountered a goblin with bombs (pictured), but could we have encountered humans (one of the duchies) or dwarves with firearms? Which faction would these developments be more suitable for?
• 亚山世界中有火药吗？如果有，是何时、如何出现的？我们在游戏中见过带着炸弹的哥布林，那玩家是否本有机会见到使用火器的人类，比如某个公国的士兵，或是使用火器的矮人？火器这类设定更适合哪个阵营？
• One of the commandments of Ashan shared with all the teams working on Might & Magic games was NO GUNPOWDER. And to be honest I don’t know this Goblin Juggler / Bomber creature or what game it’s from (the last games I worked on were Elemental Guardians and Era of Chaos, but it’s possible they added creatures without our team being involved, due to the nature of Mobile games requiring a constant addition of new content).
• 我们给所有开发《魔法门》系列的团队定下了一条铁律：亚山世界中禁止出现火药。说实话，我并不认识这个扔炸弹的杂耍哥布林，也不知道它出现在哪款游戏中。我参与开发的最后几款作品是《魔法门：元素守护者》和《魔法门之英雄无敌：战争纪元》，而手游的特性就是需要持续更新内容，所以很可能是其他团队在未告知我们的情况下加入了这个生物。

• Given the existence of the steamship of Bart Brimstone, is it possible that other steam-related inventions (drills, lifts, pumps, etc.) will emerge? Also, what is Bart Brimstone's fate after the events of the game?
• 既然巴特·布林斯通的蒸汽船存在，那亚山世界是否可能出现其他蒸汽相关的发明，比如蒸汽钻机、蒸汽升降机、蒸汽水泵等？另外，游戏故事结束后，巴特·布林斯通的命运如何？
• Bart Brimstone is one of Julien Pirou’s additions to Ashan that was supposed to make the world evolve from “Pure / High Fantasy” where Magic and the Dragonblood crystals replace science to a possible future where science would play a part (including Steampunk, gunpowder…) and where the Science-Fiction elements present in the pre-Ubisoft Might & Magic games could come back. Only Julien would know what fate he had planned for Bart 😊
• 巴特·布林斯通是朱利安·皮乌为亚山世界加入的角色，这个角色的存在，是为了推动亚山世界从魔法和龙血晶取代科学的“纯奇幻/高奇幻”风格，向科学占据一席之地的未来过渡，甚至可能加入蒸汽朋克、火药等元素，也让育碧接手前《魔法门》系列的科幻元素有回归的可能。至于朱利安为巴特规划了怎样的命运，就只有他自己知道了😊。

• Tell me more about Sayuri. We met her in Might and Magic: Elemental Guardians, but before that, we came across Sayuri's diary in Heroes 6 and Art in MMDOC.
• 和我们多说说小百合吧。我们在《魔法门：元素守护者》中见到了她，而在此之前，《英雄无敌6》中出现过她的日记，《魔法门：冠军对决》中也有她的美术形象。
• She had a bigger role to play. Under her discreet demeanour, she was hiding her true identity, a Dragon Knight observer (obviously dedicated to Shalassa).
• 她本会扮演更重要的角色，看似低调的她，隐藏着自己的真实身份——龙骑士观察员，而且她效忠于的显然是莎拉萨。

• Is it time to reveal who Kha-Beleth really was? His origins and history? How did Raelag defect to Kha-Beleth? And why did everyone forget about him (except Sorshan, by the way, why didn't Sorshan forget)?
• 现在是时候揭晓卡-贝勒斯的真实身份了吧？还有他的起源和过往？雷拉格是如何投靠卡-贝勒斯的？为什么所有人都忘记了雷拉格，唯独索杉没有忘记？
• We had two possible candidates for Kha-Beleth and we were unable to decide.
  The first one was the “obvious” choice. It was Sar-Shazzar who sabotaged the ritual of his master Sar-Elam and later entered Sheogh through the “flaw” during a Lunar Eclipse to rule over the Demons and become the Demon Sovereign (remember that the night he “died”, his body turned to ashes so there was no real proof of his true death).
  The second option was more “mystical”. Kha-Beleth was born because of Sar-Shazzar’s sabotage but its impact was to split Sar-Elam’s soul in two. One (the “largest and brightest” part) became the spiritual wall locking Sheogh, the other (the “small dark splinter”) took shape in the form of Kha-Beleth. In this version, Kha-Beleth is Sar-Elam’s twisted shadow, maddened and enraged by years of imprisonment in the prison he had himself built. This is a stronger motivation for the Tears of Asha because her “prophet” is broken and doomed to eternal torment (not just “dissolved”). This once again feels like a reference to the movie Dark Crystal where it all starts when the crystal is broken and when spiritual unity is restored when the missing splinter is returned.
  The story of Agreal / Raelag is already quite detailed so I’m not sure which part you feel is missing.
  When Raelag joined the Dragon Knights he gained access to one of their greatest powers which is to make people forget them or fail to notice them (something of a “mass” Jedi mind trick or Men In Black neuralyzer).
  As for Sorshan, he was protected from the effect by his deep connection to the “whispers of Malassa” (his constant visions of buried secrets and lost memories), and maybe chosen by Raelag to remember him?
• 我们为卡-贝勒斯的真实身份拟定了两个候选答案，最终也没能敲定。
  第一个是比较直观的答案：他就是萨-沙扎尔。这个角色破坏了导师萨-艾朗的仪式，而后在一次月食期间，通过一道“裂隙”进入谢尔戈地狱，统治了恶魔，成为了恶魔君主。要知道，他“死去”的那晚，身体化为了灰烬，没有任何证据能证明他真的殒命了。
  第二个答案则更具神秘色彩：卡-贝勒斯因萨-沙扎尔的破坏行为而诞生，而这次破坏的后果是萨-艾朗的灵魂一分为二。其中那部分“最庞大、最光明”的灵魂，化作了封锁谢尔戈的精神屏障；另一小部分“黑暗的碎片”则凝聚成形，成为了卡-贝勒斯。在这个设定中，卡-贝勒斯是萨-艾朗扭曲的影子，因被囚禁在自己亲手打造的牢笼中数百年，变得疯狂而暴怒。这个设定也让亚莎之泪的剧情有了更强烈的动机——因为她的“先知”已然破碎，注定要承受永恒的折磨，而非简单的“消散”。这一点再次致敬了电影《黑水晶》，故事的开端源于水晶的破碎，而当遗失的碎片归位，精神的统一才得以恢复。
  阿格雷尔/雷拉格的故事线其实已经相当详尽了，我不确定你觉得哪部分内容有所缺失。
  雷拉格加入龙骑士后，掌握了他们最强大的能力之一：能让人们忘记自己，或是根本注意不到自己的存在。这种能力就像是大范围的绝地心灵控术，或是《黑衣人》里的记忆消除器。
  至于索杉，他之所以能不受这种能力的影响，是因为他与“马拉萨的低语”有着深厚的联结，他总能看见那些被掩埋的秘密和遗失的记忆。或许，也是雷拉格选择让他记住自己的？

• What was Kirill's fate after Heroes 6? Did he become the leader of a secret resistance in Shio? What would this organization do?
• 《英雄无敌6》之后，基里尔的命运如何？他是否成为了谢尔戈某支秘密抵抗组织的领袖？这个组织的使命是什么？
• Kiril indeed goes “undercover” in Sheogh to prepare his final strike against Kha Beleth. He is recruited by the Dragon Knights to become a Dragon Knight of Urgash (a very rare thing). He was supposed to appear in Dark Messiah 2 to help Raelag.
• 基里尔确实潜入了谢尔戈，暗中筹备对卡-贝勒斯的最终一击。他被龙骑士招募，成为了一名鄂加斯龙骑士，这是极为罕见的事。他本会在《黑暗弥赛亚2》中登场，辅佐雷拉格。

• In the latest mobile games in the series, we've seen characters from the old universe. (For example, Katerina, Gelu.) Are these their Ashan counterparts or a homage to the old universe?
• 在该系列最新的手游中，我们看到了旧世界观的角色，比如卡特琳娜、格鲁。这些角色是他们在亚山世界的对应形象，还是对旧世界观的致敬？
• Homage to the old universe. Most of the mobile games take a lot of liberties with Ashan’s canon (again, due to the fact that they constantly need new content, have to go fast, and are less focused on the narrative and more on the systems).
• 这些都是对旧世界观的致敬。大多数手游都对亚山的正统设定做了大幅改动，原因还是一样的：手游需要持续更新新内容，开发节奏快，且更注重游戏玩法系统，而非剧情叙事。

• Do you have a favorite creature in Ashan? Visually or conceptually?
• 你有亚山世界中最喜欢的生物吗？无论是从视觉设计还是设定概念上来说。
• The Faceless. They look great and I love the concept of “for each Angel, there is a Faceless, both sides of the same coin”, and maybe one day they will merge into a superior “cosmic” being that would serve Asha (once again, strong reference to the movie Dark Crystal that had a strong influence on me as a child).
• 是无面者。他们的视觉设计非常出色，而且我很喜欢“一位天使对应一位无面者，二者是同一枚硬币的两面”这个设定。或许有一天，他们会融合为更高级的“宇宙存在”，效忠于亚莎。这一点再次深度致敬了电影《黑水晶》，这部影片在我小时候给了我很大的影响。

• Were you involved in the early development of Fate and Olden Era? Is anyone from the original writing team still working on the games? For example, in Fates, we see characters from Ashan, but there's no plot at all. Do your remaining colleagues at Ubisoft consult with you? Do you communicate with anyone from the Might and Magic Team?
• 你是否参与了《命运》和《上古纪元》的早期开发？原编剧团队中还有人参与该系列游戏的开发吗？比如在《命运》中，能看到亚山的角色，却完全没有相关剧情。你育碧的老同事会向你咨询相关问题吗？你还和魔法门开发团队的人有交流吗？
• I have not been involved at all but a former member of our Might & Magic team still works for Ubisoft as a freelance and helps them with lore, assets, etc. (I won’t be specific, I haven’t asked this person if they would be OK to be mentioned). I’m still discussing with the Ubisoft people working on the Might & Magic games, but not as a consultant. I still have regular contacts with former Might & Magic team members who have also left Ubisoft.
• 我完全没有参与这两款游戏的开发，但我们魔法门原团队的一位成员，如今以自由职业者的身份为育碧工作，协助他们处理世界观设定、美术资源等相关事宜。我就不具体说是谁了，毕竟没问过对方是否愿意被提及。我现在依然会和育碧旗下负责魔法门系列的工作人员交流，但并非以顾问的身份。我也和其他离开育碧的魔法门原团队成员保持着定期的联系。

• Would you participate in the development of MMH (HoMM) or MM again? If so, and you had to decide which universe the events would take place in, would you choose Ashan? What would these games be like, especially in terms of plot and lore?
• 你是否愿意再次参与《英雄无敌》或《魔法门》正传的开发？如果愿意，且由你决定游戏的故事背景，你会选择亚山世界吗？你心中的这款游戏会是什么样子，尤其是剧情和世界观设定方面？
• I would be honoured to work on a new Might Magic game but when I left, my last recommendation was “leave Ashan behind and create a new world”. Main reasons were “Ashan is now so rich (meaning complex) with lore that it gives a lot of constraints to new developers who don’t know what they can or cannot do” and “Might & Magic is not a “world”, it’s a multiverse so have fun with that”. That said, if I was given the opportunity to do a game set in Ashan, it would be turn-based party RPG (similar to Baldur’s Gate 3).
• 能参与开发新的魔法门系列游戏，对我来说是莫大的荣幸。但我离开育碧时，最后的建议是“放下亚山，打造一个全新的世界”。主要原因有两点：一是亚山的世界观设定如今已经极为丰富，换言之也十分复杂，这会给新的开发者带来诸多限制，让他们难以把握创作的边界；二是魔法门系列的核心并非单一的“世界”，而是一个“多元宇宙”，完全可以在这一点上大胆创作。话虽如此，如果有机会开发一款以亚山为背景的游戏，我会把它做成一款回合制小队角色扮演游戏，风格类似《博德之门3》。

• You led us all this time around the Ashan universe. Now, looking back, would you repeat that whole journey as well or change anything? Wouldn't you release all games or on the contrary insist on releasing a canceled project?
• 你一直引领着我们探索亚山宇宙。如今回首过往，你是否愿意重走这段开发之路，还是会做出一些改变？你会选择推出所有规划过的游戏，还是反过来，坚持推出某个被取消的项目？
• Great question! I would stick to my decision to build Ashan but I would hire Julien Pirou right away and connect with the community to include more references to the previous worlds of Might & Magic. I would also explain better our decision (my statements at that time were felt as offensive and arrogant, which I totally understand). I would reduce the scope of Heroes VI to prevent its tragic ending (the state of the game when it launched and the fatal blow it dealt to Black Hole). I would fight tooth and nail to have sequels to Clash of Heroes and Dark Messiah (two amazing games that deserved more love and support). I had tons of other Might & Magic games I wanted to push but they were mostly RPGs.
• 这个问题问得非常好！我依然会坚持打造亚山世界的决定，但我会立刻聘请朱利安·皮乌加入团队，同时和粉丝社区保持紧密联系，在设定中加入更多对魔法门旧世界观的致敬。我也会更好地向大家解释我们的创作决定，我知道我当时的一些言论让人觉得冒犯且傲慢，这一点我完全理解。我会缩减《英雄无敌6》的开发规模，避免它落得那样的悲剧结局——游戏发售时的糟糕状态，也给黑洞工作室带来了致命的打击。我会竭尽全力推动《魔法门：英雄交锋》和《黑暗弥赛亚》推出续作，这两款游戏都非常出色，值得更多的喜爱和支持。我原本还想推动多款魔法门系列新作的开发，只不过这些作品大多是角色扮演类的。

• Are there any Easter eggs or references in the games that fans haven't seen yet? Could you please share them if there are any?
• 游戏中是否还有粉丝尚未发现的彩蛋或致敬细节？如果有的话，能否和我们分享一下？
• Julien Pirou is really the “Grandmaster” of Easter eggs and hidden references so this question is for him 😊 Concerning some of my personal Easter eggs, I guess someone has already spotted it but the map names in the Heroes VI Necropolis campaign (In the Wake of Adversity, Towards the Within, Circumradiant Dawn, The Spider's Stratagem) are “albums” or “songs” from one of my favourite bands, Dead Can Dance (a fitting band for the Necropolis faction). If you’re familiar with Tarot and Alchemy, you’ll also find several references I disseminated in Ashan and our games.
• 朱利安·皮乌才是设计彩蛋和隐藏致敬的“大师”，这个问题还是留给他吧😊。至于我设计的一些个人彩蛋，我想可能已经有人发现了：《英雄无敌6》墓园阵营战役中的地图名称，比如《逆境之后》《走向内心》《光辉黎明》《蜘蛛的计谋》，都是我最喜欢的乐队“逝者之舞”的专辑名或歌曲名，这支乐队的风格和墓园阵营的气质也十分契合。如果你对塔罗牌和炼金术有所了解，还能在亚山的设定和我们开发的游戏中，发现我埋下的诸多相关致敬细节。

• What other projects have you been involved with besides Might and Magic? (Not necessarily gaming ones) Can you tell us about it?
• 除了魔法门系列，你还参与过哪些项目？不一定是游戏相关的，能和我们说说吗？
• My first paid job in the gaming industry was in the early 1990s. I was asked to collect all “fan fictions” from a play by mail “MMORPG” that was called Quest. I was myself a guild leader in this community. The end result was a world book called Kharne. Then I moved to writing several “Play Your Own Adventure” books for a teenage audience, all based on different mythologies (Djinn is one of them, obviously based on the Arabian Nights). I also co-wrote with my brother a series of Bandes Dessinées (French word for “Comic Books”) on Celtic folklore called Les Contes du Korrigan (the Korrigan is the Breton cousin of the Scottish Brownie or the Irish Leprechaun).
  I have been working on a novel for some time. Hopefully it will be published someday…
  At Ubisoft I have been involved in some way on several other games, notably Beyond Good & Evil 1 (before Might & Magic) and Beyond Good & Evil 2 (just before I left), The Settlers, For Honor, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey.
• 我在游戏行业的第一份有偿工作是在上世纪90年代初，当时我受委托收集一款名为《探索》的邮件式大型多人在线角色扮演游戏的所有粉丝小说，我自己也是这个游戏社区里的一个公会会长。最终这些内容被整理成了一本名为《卡恩》的世界观设定集。之后，我为青少年读者创作了好几本“自定冒险”类书籍，每一本都基于不同的神话体系，其中有一本关于精灵的，灵感显然来自《一千零一夜》。我还和弟弟合著了一系列以凯尔特民间传说为主题的法国漫画，名为《科里甘的传说》，科里甘是布列塔尼地区的精怪，相当于苏格兰的棕仙、爱尔兰的丛林妖精。
  我还在创作一本小说，已经写了一段时间了，希望有一天能正式出版……
  在育碧，我还以不同的方式参与过其他多款游戏的开发，尤其是《超越善恶1》（在接手魔法门系列之前）、《超越善恶2》（就在我离开育碧之前），还有《工人物语》《荣耀战魂》《阿凡达：潘多拉边境》《刺客信条：奥德赛》。

• Could you tell us what you're currently working on? Tell us more about your studio, Hawkswell, and the recently announced Legends of Awen: Rise of the Fianna? Does the game have any similarities to Might and Magic games? Could this studio develop games set in the Might and Magic universe or projects that could serve as spiritual successors to the heroes?
• 能和我们说说你目前在做什么吗？详细讲讲你的霍克斯韦尔工作室，还有最近公布的《阿文传说：费安娜的崛起》这款游戏。这款游戏和魔法门系列有相似之处吗？这间工作室是否有可能开发以魔法门宇宙为背景的游戏，或是打造英雄无敌系列的精神续作？
• At the time of this interview, my studio, Hawkswell has unfortunately been closed for financial reasons. Our game was a CRPG set in a Celtic-Fantasy world with little reference to Might & Magic, more connected to my comic book series and my studies (I wrote a Master Thesis on the Irish playwright and poet William Butler Yeats as a student at La Sorbonne University, and his work was strongly rooted in Irish mythology and folklore—the name Hawkswell comes from one of its plays “At the Hawk’s Well”, which is ironically about the pursuit of immortality).
• 在接受这次采访时，我的霍克斯韦尔工作室很遗憾因财务问题已经关闭了。我们当时开发的游戏是一款传统角色扮演游戏，背景设定在凯尔特奇幻世界，和魔法门系列的关联很小，更多是和我创作的漫画系列，以及我的学术研究相关。我在索邦大学读研究生时，写过一篇关于爱尔兰剧作家、诗人威廉·巴特勒·叶芝的硕士论文，他的作品深深植根于爱尔兰神话和民间传说。而霍克斯韦尔这个工作室的名字，就来自他的一部剧作《鹰之井边》，颇具讽刺意味的是，这部剧的主题正是对永生的追寻。

• Would you write a book about Ashan? Perhaps release an add-on to Ashan Compendium, or even write an adventure novel (And maybe even direct a film or TV series)? Maybe game developer diaries? Or developer diaries for an universe Ashan?
• 你会写一本关于亚山的书吗？比如为《亚山设定集》推出增补内容，或是写一本冒险小说，甚至执导一部相关的电影或电视剧？也可以是游戏开发日志，或是亚山宇宙的开发手记？
• I would love to write a series of fantasy novels set in Ashan or direct a TV show (it would be costly but worth it 😊). But the world of Ashan is owned by Ubisoft and there’s very little chance they would sell it to me for an amount I could afford. And considering the recent Might & Magic games, I don’t think their plan is to develop transmedia content based on Ashan.
• 我非常想写一系列以亚山为背景的奇幻小说，或是执导一部相关的电视剧，虽然成本会很高，但这一切都是值得的😊。但亚山世界的版权归育碧所有，他们几乎不可能以我能承受的价格把版权卖给我。而且从最近的魔法门系列游戏来看，我认为育碧并没有计划围绕亚山开发跨媒介的衍生内容。

• How do you spend your free time? Do you have any hobbies?
• 你平时的空闲时间是怎么度过的？有什么爱好吗？
• Apart from writing, I love to swim, snorkel and scuba-dive. I used to play the guitar in a pop-rock band. We were mostly doing covers, from the Rolling Stones to Metallica and Rage Against the Machine. I was singing a couple of songs from our setlist. That’s me back then during a live show in the streets of Paris (before Hawkswell). Now that I have some “free time” again, I plan to join a new band.
• 除了写作，我还喜欢游泳、浮潜和水肺潜水。我以前还在一支流行摇滚乐队里弹吉他，我们主要翻唱其他乐队的作品，从滚石乐队、金属乐队，到暴力反抗机器乐队的歌都有。我也会在演出中唱几首我们的曲目，那张街头演出的照片就是我创办霍克斯韦尔工作室之前拍的。现在我又有了一些空闲时间，打算加入一支新的乐队。

• By the way, do you follow the work of fans of your games? These works are by our active members, and they wanted to share them with you.
• 对了，你有关注玩家粉丝们的创作吗？这些作品都是我们社区里活跃成员的心血，他们想把这些作品分享给你。
• It took me quite some time to answer all your questions. I had to dig back into my archives to make sure I wasn’t misremembering certain details. But in doing so, I found myself on an emotional journey back in time, made all the more meaningful because I knew I was taking it for people who care so deeply about our work (not just mine).
  What you wrote in your email, and in the introduction and conclusion to your questionnaire, along with the breathtaking quality of your Ashan-inspired artworks and figurines, truly moved me. They arrived at a difficult moment in my personal life and career, and their impact was greater than you may realize.
  There are times when you begin to wonder whether what you do matters at all. Whether you’re just running in circles, or pushing a Sisyphus-sized boulder up a hill you’ll never climb.
  But moments like this remind you that someone is watching, and more importantly, that someone cares. That what you imagine finds its way into other people’s lives.
  So thank you. From the bottom of my heart. You’ve given me one of the best reasons to keep fighting, to keep writing, and to keep building worlds that resonate with who I am. And, hopefully, with others as well.
• 回答这些问题花了我不少时间，我不得不翻出过往的资料档案，确保自己没有记错某些细节。但在这个过程中，我仿佛踏上了一段充满情绪的时光之旅，而这段旅程因我知道是为了这些深爱着我们作品的人——不只是我的作品——而变得更有意义。
  你在邮件里、问卷的开头和结尾写下的那些话，还有粉丝们创作的这些惊艳的亚山主题美术作品和手办，真的让我深受感动。这些东西出现在我个人生活和职业发展的低谷期，它们带来的影响，远比你们想象的要大。
  人总会有这样的时刻：开始怀疑自己所做的一切是否有意义，怀疑自己只是在原地打转，或是像西西弗斯一样，推着一块巨石爬上一座永远无法登顶的山峰。
  但这样的时刻会提醒你，有人在关注着你，更重要的是，有人在乎你。你所构想的世界，最终走进了别人的生活。
  所以，谢谢你们，从心底里感谢。是你们给了我坚持下去的最好理由，让我继续创作，继续构建那些能和自己产生共鸣的世界，也希望这些世界，能和更多人产生共鸣。