英雄世界 - 游戏人的家英雄无敌专题站

挖坑

Sun, 15 May 2022 15:31:14 GMT

http://heroworld.gamerhome.com/soc/

征服之歌提前体验开启

Tue, 10 May 2022 16:03:11 GMT

STEAM链接：https://store.steampowered.com/app/867210/Songs_of_Conquest/

游戏本体价格90元，原声音乐集37元，支持者包70元。

游戏体积大约为2.7G。

配置需求方面，游戏基于Unity，像素风2D游戏，win7 / i5 / 8G内存 / 集成显卡可玩，推荐970 / RX570。

Fanstratics月报#21#2022-05

Sun, 01 May 2022 08:56:44 GMT

来源：https://www.fanstratics.com/fstnewsletter21，以下由HeavenK翻译。

Fanstratics Troop: Zombie Gravedigger.
兵种介绍：掘墓僵尸
While many consider all Necrotic Troops to be battle fodder, some are more suitable for the role than others. Such a Troop is the Zombie. Armed with a gravedigger’s shovel, this Troop can inflict typical Damage, but it is the Zombie’s potential to spread contagious Disease which makes this Troop surprisingly dangerous. In addition to this attribute, a Zombie can ‘self-detonate’, and disperse Disease via a potentially far-reaching Undead Outbreak. When Justin and I discussed this month’s Troop, I suggested the Zombie Gravedigger. Justin was hesitant. He thought zombies, as a concept, had become tired and stale. He’s not wrong. Over the past 20 years, it seems like everyone has tried to milk the zombie cash cow. I reassured him. I didn’t want something grim. I wanted something akin to the HoMM2 Zombie, which I found to be oddly amusing. I know it’s becoming a cliché, but I really like seeing Justin tackle these common mythological stereotypes. Another gem. For those of you who want to see Justin actually create the drawing, you can always watch a VOD of his Twitch stream.
尽管很多人都认为，Necrotic派系的所有部队都是炮灰，但显然有一些部队更胜任这一定位，比如僵尸。装备有一柄掘墓人铲子的僵尸能够承受相当的伤害，然而其能够散播传染疾病的潜力足以让其变得令人惊讶地危险。为了进一步增加这一能力，僵尸还可以“自爆”，将疾病散播到更遥远的地方爆发。

Do you know (or could surmise) what is the deal with the Basilisk on the Dungeon's puzzle map? Or any of other such discrepancies. I sort of figured out it had to do with beta lineups, and the idea for Dungeon was more "anthro creatures" in the start, that is why it had that badly obscured Gnoll (or whatever it is, it is not a minotaur) on the puzzle, too...and Inferno's puzzle has either winged demon or what used to be Manticore, as Manticore/Scorpicore fit the HOMM3's Inferno troop design approach to a T AND would have served as a nice opposition to Castle's gryphons. But that is just me.
为什么在地下族的宝藏地图里有一只石化蜥蜴？是不是beta版的兵种线里蜥蜴属于地下族？就像地下族的宝藏地图里有狼人而不是牛头人，地狱族里有的有翼恶魔与看起来像是蝎尾狮的兵种，或许蝎尾狮本来是地狱城用来与城堡族的狮鹫对位的兵种？
From the beginning, the Basilisk was seated with the Fortress, and it was never part of the Dungeon line-up. Puzzle Map graphics were rendered by our concept artist George Almond, and he simply screwed up the Basilisk’s affiliation. He had already finished the work before we caught the error. It would have taken time to correct, and we were running short on time, so we let it slide. Whatever it is, it is not a minotaur. Actually, it’s supposed to be a Minotaur, but I would agree... it’s not a well-drawn Minotaur. Inferno's puzzle has either winged demon or what used to be Manticore. I can’t decipher it either and I suspect George was simply ‘off the rails’ in this instance. Again, it would have taken time to correct, so we let it slide. It was good enough.
并不是，巨蜥从一开始就是要塞族的。藏宝图是概念美术George Almond绘制的，有部分内容他提前画好了，所以后面也就没再改。

I really want to contribute what little I have into making the Fanstratics project a reality. Is there a way I could donate funds for the cause or should I wait for the Kickstarter to emerge?
怎样帮助FST项目？
Like a good number of gamers, I have been burned by overly optimistic Kickstarter projects, where the game never surfaces, and my cash disappears. I don’t want Fanstratics to be one ‘those’ projects. Only when I am confident the game... if funded... will deliver a finished product, will I ignite a crowd funding campaign. Until then, I would suggest keeping your powder dry.
等我能确信游戏可以最终推出时，我会开始集资。在此之前还请大家把钱留在手上。

HoMM3 Recollection: Jon Van Caneghem Racer Car Driver.
H3拾遣: 赛车手JVC
点击展开长文

Will the towns in game have a town view? Many newer TBS games seem to lack it, but we all remember beautiful art displayed in HOMM 3and fly by camera in HOMM 5. The last HOMM game didn’t have it and they added them later.
有没有城镇界面？
For me, the ‘Townscape’ was one of the most enjoyable parts of HoMM3, and I’m baffled when similar games purposely omit this feature. For Fanstratics, each Faction will have its own unique Townscape.
会的，我认为城镇界面是H3一个令人喜欢的部分，FST里每个阵营都会有独特的城镇界面。

How many factions will there be in the game and to which those from HOMM series are they most alike?
FST的阵营与英雄无敌之间有怎样的对应关系？
There are nine Factions planned, and each has a loose parallel to a HoMM3 Faction, with one exception. Keep in mind, when it comes to Faction Rosters, some Troops have been shuffled about while others have been reinvented.
- Fanstratics ←→ HoMM3
- Stoutblud ←→ Tower
- Allegiant ←→ Castle
- Thornwood ←→ Rampart
- Boggish ←→ Fortress
- Chimeran ←→ N/A
- Krasadox ←→ Stronghold
- Necrotic ←→ Necropolis
- Infernal ←→ Inferno
- Zubhewen ←→ Dungeon
目前计划9个阵营，除了一个外，其他都与H3有着宽松的对应关系。

Are you planning to put out expansions of the game, or add piece by piece in DLCs?
是否有计划资料片或者DLC？
If Fanstratics is successful... yes... I want to grow and expand the game with DLC (new factions, new campaigns, new maps, cosmetics, etc.).
如果本作成功的话一定会有DLC的。

If I’m not mistaken, you have decided not to put map editor and random map generator in your gold version of the game, and there is a possibility of them being added later. What made you decide to do such a move?
地图编辑器与随机地图生成器不会在黄金版中出现，而是之后发布，为什么这样设计？
This was an error on my part. Originally, the plan was to mimic the release pattern established by HoMM3... but my recollection was incorrect. I thought the Map Editor was released with the Armageddon’s Blade expansion, but one particular fan politely pointed out my mistake. A change has been made, and at this stage, the goal is to release a Map Editor with the initial game. As for the Random Map Generator, it will be released after the initial game.
这里是我搞错了。我原本是想按照H3当时的模式，但是后来有粉丝提醒我，H3当初就有地图编辑器。所以我更改了原计划，地图编辑器会在原版同时发布，而随机地图生成器会之后发布。

Fanstratics月报#20#2022-04

Fri, 01 Apr 2022 08:37:53 GMT

来源：https://www.fanstratics.com/fstnewsletter20，以下由HeavenK翻译。

Fanstratics Troop: Elven Centaur.
兵种介绍：半人马
While the Elven Centaur is the Thornwood’s only true ‘heavy’ Troop, it is relatively fast and agile when compared to other ‘heavies’ from other factions. Wielding a two-handed axe, this Troop has a Killer Instinct and a Slayer’s Instinct, and frequently chains together multiple Assaults before an Enemy can Retaliate. With high Luck and high Morale, the Elven Centaur’s ‘instincts’ can be surprisingly powerful. I’ve said this before, but I really like seeing Justin tackle a common mythological stereotype. He could have delivered an Eleven Centaur looking like so many others... but he didn’t. This is why I’m so happy having him design these Troops. His interpretations are simply refreshing, and it’s getting harder-and-harder to pick a favorite. For those of you who want to see Justin actually create the drawing, you can always watch a VOD of his Twitch stream.
尽管精灵半人马是Thornwood派系唯一的“重型”单位，但其与其他派系的重型单位相比更加快速、灵活。这支挥舞着双手战斧的部队有着杀手本能与屠杀者本能，能够在敌人反击前施展多段攻击。当幸运与士气较高时，精灵半人马的本能会更加出人意料的强大。

Fanstratics News: Art Mock-up and COVID update.
Fanstratics新闻：美术模型与新冠信息更新
Some of you may remember, in December of 2021, I wrote an item discussing the attempted creation of an Art Mock-up, and subsequently contracting COVID for the second time in two years. TLDR... the Art Mock-up is still on hold and my COVID has evolved into Long COVID (or Long Haul COVID). Starting with the subject of Long COVID, I’ve taken different anti-biotics, different steroids, and used different inhalers. Nothing has worked. I’ve had blood tests, EKG’s, chest x-rays, and CT scans. All tests have come back ‘clean’. My doctors have only managed to rule out other causes, thus confirming the Long COVID hypothesis. At this time, there’s no ‘cure’ for Long COVID, there’s nothing my doctors can do for me, and I’ve grown tired of the office visits, dead ends, and lost funds. So, I’ve resigned myself to living with it. April will mark the fifth month of symptoms, and I continue to have a persistent cough, shortness of breath, chest pains, heart palpitations, headaches, low grade fevers, and worst of all... fatigue and brain fog. On good days, I have about two... three... maybe four hours... before I am overcome, and I’ve read accounts from people still dealing with symptoms after 6... 9... 14... and 18 months. When will it end? I honestly don’t know. Does this mean Fanstratics is on hold or canceled? Absolutely not. While development has slowed significantly, we continue to work. Will we crowd fund this year? Highly unlikely, but I’m crossing my fingers for next year. As for the Adventure Map Mock-up, I have had difficulty finding a qualified replacement for the artists who stepped aside last year. I was talking to a strong candidate, from Russia, but he disappeared when the war in Ukraine broke out. It wasn’t my intention to build a video game during a worldwide pandemic or potential world war... but this is the strange reality in which we find ourselves.
没太多料，基本就是新冠影响拖慢了工作节奏之类的。

Fanstratics Question: What factions are planned in the event of the release of additions (or how they will look approximately)?
Fanstratics提问：游戏发售后会有哪些额外派系？
Assuming FST is successful, there are at two or three other factions I would like to add. As to the factions themselves, I have a concept for each, but I haven’t done any deep work on them (i.e. rosters, heroes, etc.).
如果一切顺利，我打算新加入2到3个新派系。这些新派系我已经有了基本想法，但还没开展设计。

HoMM3 Recollection: Cheat Codes.
H3拾遣: 秘籍
点击展开长文

First, we would like you to describe your upcoming game, Fanstratics, in a few sentences.
用简短的话介绍Fanstratics
Fanstratics is a true spiritual successor to Heroes of Might and Magic 3 (HoMM3). While it will be different, anyone who played HoMM3 will find it familiar, and firmly rooted in the present video game market.
H3的精神续作。玩过H3的玩家都会觉得熟悉。

How will you try to reach younger audience?
怎样拓展年轻玩家群体？
This is a tough question to answer. Most turn-based strategy games have a steep learning curve, and this tends to discourage inexperienced newcomers. To incentivize a player’s time investment, the best thing a developer can do it showcase art and music. When a game looks good and sounds good... players will give it a chance. In the days of coin-operated video games, this was called the ‘attract mode’. We’re doing our best to make Fanstratics... at a glance... beautiful, attractive, and engaging. Hopefully, should any player spend a little time with it, they will find it rewarding and continue to dig deeper.
很困难的问题，回合策略游戏更适合老炮，对新人不太友好。如今要想吸引新玩家，还得靠美术、音乐这些，所以我们打算把Fanstratics做得更吸引人一些。

Heroes of Might and Magic has a really big fan base in Central and Eastern Europe, are you planning on putting out localized versions of the game?
英雄无敌系列在中欧东欧有广泛粉丝，是否有针对的本地化计划。
My plan is to create as many localized versions of Fanstratics as we can afford, with priority given to Central Europe, Eastern Europe, and Russia.
计划加入更多语言版本，中欧、东欧和俄国都会是首要目标。

How many people are working currently with you on the game?
当前有多少人在开发？
Please keep in mind, at this stage, we are technically an indie project. While people come-and-go, we have three dedicated individuals working on design, programming, and art. In the next year, to get us to the crowd funding campaign, I hope to add a couple more developers. Should the crowd funding campaign be successful, we will assemble a full team.
当前本作还算是独立游戏，所以人数不定，有三人是全职投入设计、编程和美术。来年如果有更多资金会再招一些开发者。

Fanstratics月报#19#2022-03

Tue, 01 Mar 2022 07:45:02 GMT

来源：https://www.fanstratics.com/fstnewsletter19，以下由HeavenK翻译。

Fanstratics Troop: Human Paladin
兵种介绍：圣武士
Amongst the Allegiant, the staunch and slow-moving Paladin is a metaphorical battlefield tank, encased from head-to-toe in beefy, plate armor. As his rigid faith shuns cutting weapons, the Paladin utilizes a short, heavy, mace, while wielding a large shoulder-to-knee, thick, heavy, tower shield adorned by the Allegiant Seraph insignia. In combat, the Paladin can draw faithful support from Allied Troop Divisions, while naturally guarding against any Enemy Retaliation. Shoutout to ‘ChaosIsGood’. He emailed and asked why I had changed the order by which I typically reveal Troops. Normally, the Allegiant come before the Stoutbluds, but I accidentally put the Ramfolk Headhunter ahead of this month’s Human Paladin. My mistake. I’ll get back on track with the Thornwood schedule for next month. For those of you who want to see Justin actually create the drawing, you can always watch a VOD of his Twitch stream.
在Allegiant中，坚定而行动缓慢的圣武士就是战场坦克的化身，从头到脚都覆盖着厚重的板甲。由于其死板的信仰要求避开尖锐武器，所以圣武士使用一种小而沉重的权杖，搭配上及肩高的重型塔盾，其上还装饰着Allegiant炽天使的徽章。在战斗中，圣武士可以从己方部队处获得信仰支援，并天生防范敌人的反击。

Fanstratics Feature: Experience Potions.
Fanstratics特性：经验药水。
As a game progresses, Artifact Artisans will begin selling ‘Experience Potions’. Obviously, a player can purchase these items to boost the XP of ‘lesser’ Heroes and hasten their advancement. Hopefully, this will accelerate the later stages of a game. File this feature under ‘experimental’. We are going to implement it and test it. If this feature works out as expect, we’ll keep it. If this feature does not work out as expected, we’ll cut it.
随着游戏进展，宝物商人会开始出售经验药水。该物品可以帮助玩家提升低等级英雄的升级速度。该特性目前还处在试验阶段，如果效果良好则会保留。

HoMM3 Fan Question: Hello, may I ask you are there actually magic in Might and Magic universe or is it all technology?
英雄无敌3粉丝提问：魔法门宇宙真的有魔法么？还是说全都是科技？
This is really a question for Jon Van Caneghem or Paul Rattner. Jon created the M&M universe, and Paul basically took over lore duties when Jon took a back seat after Might and Magic 5. As for myself, to the best of my understanding, there is no ‘actual magic in the Might and Magic universe’. For example, if a Wizard casts a Fireball spell... what actually happens? In my mind, the Wizard’s mental, verbal, or physical ritual invokes the capabilities of technological machines, deep within a world, causing the machines to create the Fireball and its resulting behavior. This is a pure guess on my part, but I suspect JVC was inspired by Arthur C. Clarke and his famous quote, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”
这个问题得问JVC或是Paul Rattner。我个人观点，魔法门世界并没有真的的魔法。当法师释放连珠火球时，其实是他的精神、言语或是物理仪式激发了某些深藏在世界中心的科技机械的能力，从而创造了火球。不过这完全是我个人猜测，但是我觉得JVC应该是受到阿瑟·克拉克和他的那句名言“任何足够先进的科技都与魔法无异”的启发。

HoMM3 Recollection: Malibu Grand Prix Embarrassment.
H3拾遣: Malibu Grand Prix Embarrassment
点击展开长文

Maybe Karin Mushegain and other musicians and opera singers can return with them too?
Karin Mushegain和其他音乐家与歌剧演员会回归么？
Personally, I like opera and choir music, and would like to see it return in one form or another. For those fans who have a contrary opinion, we may offer a choice similar to HoMM2, where you can have the music with or without the vocals.
我个人很喜欢，不过也会在游戏里给玩家提供选项，自主选择音乐带不带人声。

Will there an underground level too?
会有地下层么？
Absolutely. Lore for one of the faction’s requires it.
当然，其中一个阵营和设定就和地下层有关。

Can you tell us something about localizations? Subtitles , voices etc.
本地化有哪些部分？字幕，配音等等？
Because HoMM3 became an international game, for FST we plan to support a number of foreign languages: Russian, Polish, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Korean, Chinese, Japanese, etc. I strongly doubt there will be any voice work, as story elements will be handled in comic book fashion with word balloons.
多种语言肯定有，包括中文。不过不太会有多语种配音，剧情表述上就不会用太多语音，而是可能以漫画形式达成。

Can you tell us an approximate release date for the game? Which year perhaps?
有大致的发售时间表么？
I essentially began solo design work on FST in 2018, and estimated it would take at least three to five years before some sort of release. At this point, it’s looking like five is about right. As we approach 2021, I expect there will be continued work on game infrastructure. Hopefully, we would Crowd Fund sometime in 2022. Assuming FST is successfully funded, I would aim for an Early Access release, sometime in 2023.
最初预计三到五年，从2018年算起。不过到2021年时发现还有许多工作要做。希望2022年能获得足够资金，这些就可以计划在2023年左右出EA。

Fanstratics月报#18#2022-02

Tue, 01 Feb 2022 11:06:02 GMT

来源：https://www.fanstratics.com/fstnewsletter18，以下由HeavenK翻译。

Fanstratics Troop: Ramfolk Headhunter
兵种介绍：公羊人猎首者
Within the Stoutblud faction, the Ramfolk Headhunters are treasured allies, routinely admired for their melee ferocity. Content to occupy the front lines, they can deliver a destructive short warhammer strike, often accompanied by a devastating ‘headbutt’. Enemies enduring such an Assault, may stunned for a few turns, or concussed for the remainder of Battlefield Combat. When Justin and I started work on the Headhunter, he initially delivered... a really angry goat. In response, I told him I wanted a ‘ram’ not a ‘goat’... Thor not Wolverine. Specifically, I was looking for a battlefield ‘bruiser’, and with his next rough, he delivered something more traditional and definitely in the right direction. When he got around to rendering the actual Headhunter on stream, it really came together. At this stage in the development of the Troop rosters, I’d dare say the Ramfolk Headhunter is my new favorite. For those of you who want to see Justin actually create the drawing, you can always watch a VOD of his Twitch stream.
在Stoutblud阵营内，公羊人猎首者是极有价值的盟友，其凶猛的近战能力广受尊敬。在前线战斗中，它们携带着毁灭性的短战锤，并常常能造成可怕的“头槌”。受此攻击的敌人会眩晕数个回合，甚至在之后的战斗中也一直头晕目眩。当初开始设计这个角色的时候，Justin画了一个愤怒的山羊。作为回应，我告诉他我更想要一个“公羊”而非“山羊”。最终，Justin设计了现在的公羊人猎首者。

Fanstratics Question: In all HoMM games, cities do not respond to the type of terrain they are located on. That is, if a town whose native landscape is grass is located on a different landscape, for example, on snow or in a dungeon, then it will still be displayed as located on grass in the town menu and during a town attack. The exception is homm4, where the background pattern changed depending on the landscape. Can FST have multiple town variations for different landscapes in the town menu, or will there be a strict binding like in HoMM3?
FST问题：在英雄无敌系列中，城镇往往和某种地形相关联，即便在其他地形上的城镇，在城镇界面里却仍显示关联地形，除了4代。FST里，会为城镇适配每一种地形么？
More than likely, the binding will be strict, and the reasoning for this is budgetary. To make a city conform to each terrain type would require making at least eight iterations of the same Faction City. If FST is blessed with a big budget, we can examine the possibility of multiple city/terrain iterations, but then we must consider the memory hit, and I want to try and keep the system requirements reasonable.
这种设计的原因其实更多是出于预算。为城镇适配每一种地形就意味着每个城镇要设计8种。如果FST预算有幸非常充裕，那么会考虑加入的，不过还要看内存需求，毕竟我不想把系统需求搞得太高。

Fanstratics Question: How extensive will FST's campaign be, if one is planned? And will it manage to avoid some of the weird balance issues HoMMV had where if you don’t build your hero a very specific way, you may not be able to progress (Looking at you Mission 4.3)?
FST问题：战役的扩展性如何？能否避免像英雄无敌5里如果英雄没正确升级就无法推进游戏的问题？
- Campaigns: At the moment, the plan is to have two campaigns (Good and Evil), each with a story transpiring over 8 maps (16 total). Events of the ‘Resurgence War’, are covered in the Good Campaign. Events preceding the ‘Resurgence War’, are covered in the Evil Campaign (basically a prequel).
- Campaign Hero Carry Over: Hero ‘carry over’ is undecided. If it is implemented, we’ll make sure not to stick the player in a corner.
当前的战役计划分两个部分，善良和邪恶，每个战役包括8张地图。善良战役会是“复兴之战”的主线；邪恶战役则更像是前传，即复兴之战是怎么发生的。关于不同关卡里英雄的继承问题目前还没定，如果有的话也会避免过于严格从而导致卡关的问题。

HoMM3 Question: It's a widespread idea among fans that the 9 cities of HoMM 3 (counting Conflux) represent 9 alignments of Classical D&D. There's some discussion about which is which, but the general layout looks like...
英雄无敌3问题：9大城镇是否对应DND的阵营九宫格？
Lawful Neutral Chaotic
Good Castle Tower Rampart
Neutral Fortress Conflux Stronghold
Evil Necropolis Dungeon Inferno
（译注：这个只是硬套而已，实际应该是以下一问的答案更贴近）
守序中立混乱
善良城堡塔楼壁垒
中立要塞元素据点
邪恶墓园地下城地狱

Are there any grounds for this structure, in your opinion, or is this pure speculation? If you were asked to define the alignment for each city, would you do it this way or somehow differently?
这种对应是有意为之么？
I’m well aware of the D&D Alignment system and like it. At its core, it’s a collection of opposites (Good/Evil and Lawful/Chaotic) with a middle ground (Neutral). At its most basic, it’s an expansion of ‘too hot, too cold, and just right’. Did I use the D&D Alignment system as a structure when creating the HoMM3 factions? Not necessarily. Truthfully, I was thinking more about conceptual ‘opposites’. This would be more accurate...
- Castle ←→ Inferno
- Tower ←→ Dungeon
- Rampart ←→ Necropolis
- Fortress ←→ Stronghold
- Conflux
With the above in mind, you can fit the HoMM3 factions into to a D&D grid, but honestly... you can do this with most things. As for your layout, the Good/Neutral/Evil portion looks good to me, but who could be identified as Lawful/Neutral/Chaotic is really a matter of opinion.
我对DND的阵营系统很了解也很喜欢。不过当初并没有按这个来设计，而是采用的几组对立关系，比如城堡族和地狱族、塔楼族和地下族、壁垒族和墓园族、据点族和要塞族，以及最后的元素族。依照这些关系，你确实可以对照到DND九宫格里。不过老实说，只要你想，任何东西都可以套进去。

Can you talk something about the town screen designs in general?
FST的城镇界面会怎么设计？
In FST, ‘Cityscapes’ will be very, very similar to the Town Screens from HoMM3.There will be a build tree, structures will be added to a full screen landscape, clicking on various structures will open various windows, etc.
非常类似英雄无敌3，会有建筑树，新造建筑也会显示在城镇界面，点击建筑可以打开各种窗口等。

Can we see the differences in a town, on the map, when we build something?
建造建筑会在大地图上有显示么？
On the Adventure Map, each city type will have three variations: barren, un-walled, and walled.
冒险地图上只会有三种城镇类型：白板状态、无城墙、有城墙。

Will the town screens will be in 2D?
城镇界面是2D的么？
Cityscapes will be fully rendered in 3D, but player interaction will be strictly 2D.Previously, for a conceptual example of what we have planned, I have pointed to Ori and the Blind Forest, which is a fully rendered 3D world, with a 3D environment, and 3D characters, but with player interaction strictly 2D.
3D建模，2D表现。类似与奥日与迷失森林。

Will Paul Romero and Rob King do the music for this game?
保罗·罗梅罗和罗博·金会制作游戏音乐么？
I have been in touch with Rob King about he and Paul Romero handling the music. Provided FST reaches critical mass, I see no reason why they woldn’t contribute.
已经和他们取得联系。

3AMM

Thu, 13 Jan 2022 17:06:00 GMT

来源：https://www.ubisoft.com/en-us/company/careers/search/743999793436310-senior-brand-manager-might-magic-

Ubisoft Shanghai is looking for a Senior Brand Manager to champion the brand marketing and product marketability of a new Might & Magic AAA game. Under the management of the Brand director, join an ambitious team and help reinvent one the biggest Fantasy franchise in video game history.

招聘信息表示UBI上海要招一名高级产品经理，为一个3A的魔法门游戏招的……

不过英雄无敌基本没可能做到3A，所以八成来说要么是动作游戏要么是RPG……

Fanstratics月报#17#2022-01

Sat, 01 Jan 2022 10:11:00 GMT

来源：https://www.fanstratics.com/fstnewsletter17，以下由HeavenK翻译。

Fanstratics Troop: Snakish Brigand.
兵种介绍：蛇盗
Within the Boggish roster, the Snakish Brigand is a staple Troop known for its slithery tactics. As it is lightly armored, the Brigand prefers ranged assaults, featuring pronged arrowheads soaked in its own venom, to whittle down a target before finishing it off with equally venomous melee strike. Originally, for this month, Justin and I had another Troop in mind, but after thinking it over, we decided to pivot toward another. At first, I was a touch hesitant, as the Snakish Brigand is actually a relatively standard Troop type. When thinking of inspirational Troop types, ‘snake man’ isn’t the most exciting idea. However, we have Justin at the wheel. ;-) For those of you who want to see Justin actually create the drawing, you can always watch a VOD of his Twitch stream.
在Boggish的部队中，蛇盗以其狡猾的战术而闻名。这些轻甲盗贼善于远程袭击，会将自己的毒液涂抹在散射箭头之上，从而削弱对手，最终用同样带毒的近战攻击终结目标。

Fanstratics Fan Question: How will the game teach its mechanics and general systems?
FST粉丝提问：游戏机制与系统的教程怎么运作？
When HoMM3 was being developed, tutorials were largely limited to game manuals. Games were starting to incorporate interactive tutorials, but weren’t given a lot of attention as they took time away from primary game development. Today, players expect games to be just as complex, just as difficult, but more friendly. While I have yet to design the tutorial, I have contemplated three potential options.
- ‘Go Here Do This’ tutorial: Every gamer is familiar with this typical type of tutorial. If you are like myself, you don’t find them informative. Instead, you find them annoying and boring. Should my other efforts fail, or should I run out of time, this tutorial is my fallback position.
- Self-directed tutorial: Most gamers learn various games by diving in, making their mistakes, and learning from them. Provided the game is relatively fun... gamers keep playing. A self-directed tutorial would be a ‘trial and error’ experience, but accelerated with a touch of developer guidance. This tutorial approach is arguably the most difficult to make, but with the most ‘fun’ potential.
- Video tutorial: Twitch? Youtube? Sometimes, it’s simply better to watch someone else play a game for 5 to 10 minutes. With this approach, you can also subdivide into basic, advanced, expert, and subject specific tutorials. If I had to make the tutorial today, I would choose this option.
英雄无敌3时代，游戏说明主要在纸质版手册中；但如今的游戏已经不用这一套了。我的计划目前有三种选择：“去哪里做这个”式的教学关；“自我引导”型的教学关；视频教学。第一种是传统的教学关，属于后备方案；第二种会把教学与游戏相结合；第三种的话会放在Twitch或Youtube上。

Fanstratics Fan Question: Are there plans to include a manual?
FST粉丝提问：会有手册么？
I expect Fanstratics to be generous with tooltips and exhibit an in-game encyclopedia. A physical manual would be limited to a collector’s edition (assuming we have one).
应该会出游戏内百科，纸质版的手册可能会在典藏版里。

HoMM3 Recollection: The Day I Foresaw 3DO’s Doom.
H3拾遣：3DO末日的预见
点击展开长文

What are the main differences in general, and what are the main similarities, with Heroes series (or with H3)?
和英雄无敌系列（或者说英雄无敌3）的主要区别和共性有哪些？
This is a big question, on a very broad topic.To properly answer it would require three or four pages of brief descriptions and bullet points.In general, I would say this... On the fundamental details, Fanstratics (FST) and HoMM3 are very similar; Adventure Map, Cityscape, Battlefield, etc.On the surface details, FST and HoMM3 are very different; lore, art, sound, music, etc. A spiritual successor takes inspiration from... while taking the place of... a predecessor.Hopefully, if a careful balance of the major and minor elements is accomplished, a true ‘spiritual successor’ will be born.
这个问题比较大，简单说，基础细节上FST和英雄无敌3非常类似：冒险地图、城市界面、战场地图等等。但在具体细节上区别很大：比如剧情、美术、音乐、音效等等。

Will there be many kind and type of creatures, heroes, skills, etc. in this new game?
FST中会有大量不同类型的生物、英雄、技能么？
As FST is a ‘spiritual successor’ to HoMM3, many of the Heroes, Troops, Skills, etc., are mirrored in one form or another.This being said, I have also made many evolutionary changes.In many respects, FST is as much a ‘spiritual sequel’ as it is a spiritual successor.
FST作为英雄无敌3的灵魂续作，自然会有大量的英雄、部队、技能等。自然也包括许多升级变化。

Will the Heroes would fight on battlefield or no or perhaps something new mechanic can use on the battlefields?
英雄会上战场战斗，或是有其他可以在战场上使用的机制么？
Heroes will not fight on the battlefield.
英雄不会上战场战斗。

How you will use the new 3D engine that can cause the map a 2D look alike? As similar it was looked in Heroes 6 or else way?
你会怎么用新的3D引擎制作2D风格的地图？会类似英雄无敌6这样么？
To match HoMM3 proportions on the Adventure Map, Cityscape, and Battlefield, we are stretching the camera perspective.Consequently, this approach requires we ‘stretch, squish, and flatten’ the various game models for everything to look proper.In the end, we have a 3D game, with 2D interactions, which should be very familiar to anyone who has played HoMM3.
为了匹配英雄无敌3风格的冒险地图、城镇界面、战斗地图，我们会拓展镜头限制，将许多模型进行拉伸、扁平化等等以达到预期效果。

Fanstratics月报#16#2021-12

Wed, 01 Dec 2021 11:15:00 GMT

来源：https://www.fanstratics.com/fstnewsletter16，以下由HeavenK翻译。

Fanstratics Troop: Cyclops Siege Breaker.
兵种介绍：破城独眼
Truly the anchor of Chimeran army power, the mighty Cyclops Siege Breaker has the ability to throw large boulders the length of any Battlefield. This makes them a powerful ranged Troop, and better than any Catapult when it comes to destroying Enemy Siege Walls. Over time, the Cyclops as a mythological creature, has gone from a one-eyed giant to a one-eyed monster. In popular culture this is due mostly to Ray Harryhausen and his work on the movie The 7th Voyage of Sinbad. As I have mentioned in previous interviews, it is often better to embrace a stereotype, than attempt to redefine it. With lesser, relatively unknown Troops, such as the Gatorkin Castor, you have a lot of room to play around with the conceptualization, and this is arguably easier than working within popular known constraints. With a Cyclops, people have a general idea as to their appearance. Working against these notions can often be counterproductive. So, when it came to the Cyclops Siege Breaker, I pointed Justin toward the Ray Harryhausen Cyclops and reiterated the Fanstratics mantra, “Something different, but familiar.” Some FST Troops are ‘more Justin’ than others, and this one, with the possible exception of the Medusa Vanguard, is definitely ‘more Justin’. Another gem. For those of you who want to see Justin actually create the drawing, you can always watch a VOD of his Twitch stream.
Chimeran军队势力的真正顶梁柱，强力的破城独眼有着能将巨石投掷到战场另一边的能力。这让其成为一支强力的远程部队，在破坏敌人城墙方面远胜过其他攻城器。随着时间的变迁，独眼巨人的形象也从神话中的一只眼巨人逐渐转变成了一只眼的怪物。其中影响最深远的莫过于Ray Harryhausen在电影《辛巴达七海冒险》中创造的形象。对于破城独眼，我让Justin参照Ray Harryhausen的设计，并提出“相似但又有所不同”的要求。

Fanstratics Feature: Quality of Life, HD , and HotA Efficiencies.
Fanstratics特性：Quality of Life，HD ，和HotA特性。
Games have come a long way since 1999, and while they are not necessarily easer... they are friendlier. To this end, Fanstratics will be modern in its approach to player/program interactions. This mean incorporating Quality of Life, HD , and HotA Efficiencies. For example...
- Using the mouse wheel.
- Replacing ‘right click’ with verbose tooltips.
- True ‘drag-and-drop’ functionality in place of ‘click to select, then click to move’.
- Eliminating confirmation windows with disappearing pop-ups (where it makes sense).
- Displaying Troop Division sizes both verbally and numerically.
- Seeing a Hero’s Excursion (movement) represented numerically.
- Easy Troop Division splitting/merging.
- Hero ‘costumes’.
- Ability to replay Battlefield Combat as desired (solo games).
- Simultaneous Turns for Multiplayer games (in one form or another).
- Spell Research or something similar.
- Etc.
Bottom line... I’m not ignoring HoMM3 in its current state. If I find a mod feature to be compelling, I’d be foolish to ignore it.
现在的游戏和1999年那会已经大为不同，所以FST也引入了一些更现代化的用户交互，包括Quality of Life，HD ，和HotA特性。例如使用鼠标滚轮；将“右击”换成了提示文本；真正的“拖拽”功能；弹窗功能；数字化显示部队人数；数字化显示英雄移动力；简易的部队拆分重组；纸娃娃系统；重新战斗；同步回合制；法术研发或类似系统等等。

Fanstratics News: Art Mock-up... and COVID (again).
Fanstratics新闻：美术建模与新冠
At the start of November, I began preliminary work with a couple of artists to produce an ‘artistic mock-up’ of the Fanstratics Adventure Map. For those who don’t know, an art ‘mock-up’ is an art test. Overall, the goal is to assemble a small collection of art assets, in the game engine, to prove or disprove basic assumptions about how the game will look. For Fanstratics, this is especially important, as we are attempting to utilize a forced perspective to replicate the HoMM3 look across three different environments: Adventure Map, Townscape, and Battlefield. About a week after we started, the artists realized they had been too optimistic in their work assessment, and were unable to take on the extra duties. A few days after they left the project, as I was about to reach out to other artists... I began to feel ill. Yep... COVID... again. While the symptoms haven’t been as severe as last year, they are eerily familiar. As of this writing, I am entering week three, and my productivity has suffered. Because of this setback, the ‘art mock-up’ I had planned for January 1st... has been delayed. At this point, my goal is to share the work sometime in the first quarter of next year (fingers crossed). Assuming we can nail it down, we will then move onto the Townscape and Battlefield. Once all three environments are complete, with some degree of program functionality, we can begin thinking about ‘next steps’.
简单说就是当期的进度到了美术建模部分。同时作者在出差工作的时候感染了新冠。

Fanstratics Fan Question: New creature designs look great and promising: carnivorous and alien medusa, wild and width mammoth bone crusher, hellish worm. But what about gator-caster? This unit looks weird. It’s not like anthropomorphic alligator can’t be caster, but this guy looks like brute, who ate wizard and took his stuff. Stereotypical wizard hat and tiny, well-crafted staff looks especially confusing. Is there any chance you will change this creature? Is there any chance you will redesign any other creatures? I know the common answer is ‘yes’, but I also know that developers really don't like such things.
Fanstratics粉丝提问：简单说就是对gator-caster的形象有疑问，觉得太野蛮了不像法师。所以问问会不会对一些已有兵种的形象进行重新设计。
There is always a possibility a Troop will undergo redesign or modification. This approach is not limited to art. If anything is not working as expected, it is typically modified or removed (assuming we have the time and budget to do the additional work). As for the Gatorkin Castor, I was specifically going ‘against type’. Every once in a while, it is good to do something unexpected, as making ‘everything’ stereotypical can be uninspired and boring. In fact, there are other unrevealed Troops which go also ‘against type’. So, I strongly doubt the Gatorkin Castor will be changed, as it is part of a ‘pair’.
已有兵种的形象都还有调整的可能性，但是gator-caster的设计本来就是有点“反传统”的类型，所以这个应该不会调整了。

HoMM3 Recollection: Half-Life: Day One.
H3拾遣: 半条命:第一天
点击展开长文

After Heroes 3 there were many failing Heroes game. But what features would you use from them in a similar Heroes-like game and what you would erase?
英雄无敌3之后有很多失败的英雄无敌游戏，这些游戏中有哪些特性你会保留，哪些会去掉？
I’m going to politely decline to answer this question. Addressing this subject is effectively discussing Fanstratics (FST), and there are specifics I would like to avoid until much later.
我礼貌地拒绝回答这个问题。

Overall, 3DO went into bankruptcy because it was poorly managed. Specifically, 3DO went into bankruptcy because it created a lot of low quality games no one wanted to buy.3DO thought all you had to do was create product, put it on the retail shelf, advertise it, and enough of it would sell. Givin the customer a good reason to buy the product, never seemed to be part of the formula.
总的来说，3DO的破产是由于经营不善，具体说就是制作了大量低质量没人买的游戏。
Not once did I ever hear any 3DO executive talk about making ‘fun’ games. Not once did I encounter any 3DO executive who asked, “What have you been playing?” All the people in 3DO upper management were not gamers. They were all widget salesmen who thought ‘franchise’ was the same thing as ‘fun’. Don’t misunderstand me, you don’t need to be a gamer to create and run a successful video game company, but you do need to understand when you are not a gamer... and staff accordingly.
我没听过3DO的执行官提过制作“有趣”的游戏，他们只是管理者，而不是玩家。当然我不是说非玩家不能管理公司，但是当你不是玩家的时候就更需要注意这一点。

It is my understanding, what happened with 3DO did not directly affect HoMM4, but keep this in mind, my knowledge of HoMM4’s development is second hand at best. Aside from the team losing three of the HoMM3 leads (myself, John Bolton, and Phelan Sykes), I have heard through the grapevine, the team did not get much needed resources, and there was persistent in fighting regarding a number of subjects.
我个人理解，3DO当时发生的事并没有直接影响到英雄无敌4，不过我对H4开发的信息都只是二手的。我听到的主要是H3设计团队的流失以及团队缺少足够资源。
How 3DO indirectly damaged HoMM, was in how it directly damaged New World Computing (NWC).Soon after acquiring NWC, 3DO began pushing a ‘franchise’ model of game development. This should not be a surprise to many, as most of 3DO was composed of former Electronic Arts (EA) personnel. EA, under Tripp Hawkins, created the ‘Madden model’. For those who don’t know, to this day, EA makes most of its money from yearly sports games. This all started when EA began making yearly Madden football games for consoles. For sports games, the Madden model makes sense. For non-sports games, the Madden model can quickly lead to franchise fatigue, and an emphasis on quantity over quality.
3DO对英雄无敌的伤害主要还是体现在其对NWC的伤害上。在收购NWC后，3DO也开始推行“年货”的开发理念。EA的特里普·霍金斯搞年货是因为他们那边以运动游戏为主，可以年货。但是对非运动游戏，年货极大地降低了游戏质量。

There were some concept arts about NWC’s Heroes 5 in 2003. Can you tell us something about it? (There were also a Nival Heroes 6 but it was stopped in 2008)
网上有些2003年的NWC时期英雄无敌5的美术设计。你能说说么？
Unfortunately, I know nothing about New World Computing’s attempt at making HoMM5.
我不知道NWC当时对英雄无敌5的设计内容。

What is your opinion and experience about Heroes 3 HOTA mod?
你对HotA有啥看法？
It’s wonderful. HotA and the HD Mod effectively introduced HoMM3 to several new generations of gamers.
很棒的mod，将英雄无敌3带给了新一代玩家。

Fanstratics月报#15#2021-11

Mon, 01 Nov 2021 08:31:00 GMT

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.
H3拾遣: 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。

Fanstratics月报#14#2021-10

Fri, 01 Oct 2021 07:57:00 GMT

来源：https://www.fanstratics.com/fstnewsletter14，以下由HeavenK翻译。

Fanstratics Troop: Gawker.
兵种介绍：邪眼
Where the Chimerans are believed to be the unfortunate remnants of archaic arcane experiments, the Zubhewens are a sub-human faction born from intentional evolutionary corruption. While there are clear evolutionary connections between Elves and Goblins, when it comes to the Gawker, there is one obvious question, “From what did the Gawker evolve, and what is its mysterious relationship to the other Zubhewen folk?”
In 1997, when I began building HoMM3’s various rosters, TSR’s original hard cover Monster Manual was a primary resource. To this day, it is still valuable. It is quite literally, a ‘manual of monsters’ gleaned from mythology, folklore, and fantasy fiction. To avoid extended creative research, any author can jumpstart their work by thumbing through TSR’s Monster Manual. Most of the depicted creatures couldn’t be copyrighted by TSR, but the Beholder was different, and I wanted something like a Beholder in HoMM3. While the idea of a ‘floating eye’ is not necessarily original, TSR’s stylistic conception could be copyrighted. In fact, to avoid any potential copyright issues, Ultima’s version of the Beholder was initially called Wandering Eyes, before it eventually became the Gazer. I had no idea Beholders were specifically copyrighted by TSR, and I should have avoided naming HoMM3’s Beholders/Evil Eyes as such. Perhaps TSR didn’t know, didn’t care, or didn’t think a ‘cease-and-desist’ letter was worth the turmoil. Perhaps we were on safe ground. I simply don’t know. Regardless, I am happy a Beholder-inspired Troop remained in the game. As for Fanstratics... we have a Gawker. For those of you who want to see Justin actually render the drawing, you can watch a VOD of his Twitch stream.
Chimerans据信是远古神秘实验的不幸受害者，而Zubhewens则是蓄意进化污染所诞生的亚人种族。对于精灵与地精等等种族，它们都有着明确的演化关系，但是对于Gawker，问题就来了，这玩意到底是由什么进化出来的，又和其他Zubhewens之间有哪些神秘的联系？
剧情外的部分：1997年我们还在制作英雄无敌3时，我们的一个主要参考来源就是TSR的怪物手册。但是当时也存在一个问题，尽管其他怪物TSR是没有版权的，但是眼魔不一样。所以当初英雄无敌3没有直接照搬名字，而是像创世纪把眼魔改名为徘徊之眼一样，用了邪眼这个名称。最终不知道TSR是不知道，不想管，还是懒得管。反正最后没被寄律师函。现在到了FST，我们就有了Gawker这玩意。

Fanstratics Feature: Artifact Upgrade System.
FST特性：宝物升级系统
When I was designing HoMM3, my primary guideline was, “If it is not in the spirit of HoMM... remove it.” When designing Fanstratics, I have a couple different primary guidelines. One is, “When possible, create competition for resources.” Anyone who has built a HoMM3 map, should know there is repetition in the various Artifact groups. For instance...
- Centaur’s Axe: Attack 2
- Greater Gnoll’s Flail: Attack 4
- Sword of Hellfire: Attack 6
At the time, this approach was derived from TSR’s Dungeons & Dragons, and was quite common. I couldn’t say when, but at some point, the concept of upgradable Artifacts (in one form or another), took root, began to spread, and eventually overtook unique Artifacts. With Fanstratics, I am modifying the Artifact system. As an example, consider the aforementioned ‘Attack’ Artifacts. While there will still be 3 individual Attack Artifacts, a player will have the option to spend resources (Common, Rare, and Gold), to upgrade an Artifact. For example...
Centaur’s Axe > Greater Gnoll’s Flail >> Sword of Hellfire.
Hopefully, with each turn, a player will be faced with the following budgetary decisions...
- Should I buy Troops?
- Should I buy a Town Structure?
- Should I upgrade an equipped Hero Artifact?
Hopefully, this ‘system adjustment’ will create some additional strategic avenues, which should create additional competition for a player’s resources.
简单说，在英雄无敌3里面有大量同类型宝物，比如攻击 2的人马战斧，攻击 4的狼人连枷，攻击 6的火神剑。当初这一设定也是学的龙与地下城。但是当前游戏设定中更偏向可升级的神器宝物。所以在FST里也会有类似设定，比如可以花费一定资源把低等级宝物升级成高等级的。

Will it be possible to add custom hero portraits in the Fanstratics map editor, or will it be possible to use only portraits of existing heroes, as in HoMM3?
地图编辑器会开放自定义头像么？
Hero Portraits will be limited, and the reasoning for this is simple. If we give the community the ability to import any picture they want... well... I think you can imagine someone will eventually import adult material. From a developer perspective, it’s best to keep this feature un-customizable.
不会，原因你懂的，一旦开放就会有大量R18要素出现。

Will Fanstratics have a campaign editor? Will Fanstratics use a campaign map where territories are highlighted where the scenario takes place, just like HoMM3? If so, will it be possible to load a custom campaign map and highlight territories on it?
FST会有战役编辑器么？
As to a Campaign Editor, I’m leaning against it, but it’s presently undecided. Why? Community Campaign tools simply aren’t used very much. If you look at Map4Heroes.com, there are over 2000 HoMM3 maps. Of these maps, ~30 entries are multi-map campaigns. This translates into ~1.5%. We’ll see what happens.
个人倾向不会，但目前未定。因为根据过去经验，做战役的玩家很少，比如在Map4Heroes.com上，地图有2000 ，但战役只有30左右，比例很低。所以后续再决定。

HoMM3 Recollection: Nick Ferrari.
H3拾遣: Nick Ferrari
点击展开长文

As you said in the earlier interviews, Angels are highly advanced technological (biotechnological?) constructs. What about Monks and Zealots? Are they human or maybe something else? One of the tavern rumor states: “Have you heard? Zealots are beings of pure energy.”
之前的采访中你提到，天使是高科技构造体。那么僧侣和祭司呢？它们是人类么。有一个酒馆传言说祭司是纯粹的能量体。
Monks are human, and Zealots are ‘ascended’ Monks; essentially higher-level Monks able to control and project energy. I wouldn’t say they are beings of pure energy, but they are luminous.
僧侣是人类，祭司是升华的僧侣。这些高级僧侣能控制并投射能量，但并不是纯能量生物，只是会发光而已。

What are your favorite computer games? Of course, excluding the games that you developed yourself :P
你最喜欢的电脑游戏是什么？
When people make lists like these, in my mind, there are three types: Best, Influential, and Favorite.
- Best: Best games are quite literally, the best games currently available to play. These lists are heavily weighted toward recent games... because recent games incorporate lessons learned from their predecessors. This is why it is difficult to compare one generation of games to the next. While Space Invaders is a favorite, and arguably the most influential video game ever made... does it belong on a ‘best of’ list? No. I love Space Invaders, but I can’t play it for more than five to ten minutes before I get bored. It’s antiquated.
- Influential: Influential games may not be the best games, or my favorite games, but they are ‘pioneering’ games. They lay the path on which subsequent games tread. In my opinion, Ultima is not the best RPG ever made, but it laid the groundwork for all of my favorite RPG’s. It’s difficult to underestimate its influence
- Favorites: Now to answer your question, “What are my favorite computer games?” Favorite games are not necessarily the best... or the most influential. These games hold a special place in my heart, because they affected me on a level, other games did not.
These games tend to be older, because when you are younger and inexperienced, it takes far less to ignite your imagination. For example, most people, when they see Fall Guys, they a Twitch driven success story. Me? I see a modern incarnation of Mario Party, which was released in 1998. Now... onto my list of favorites.
- Space Invaders: I heard the sounds of Space Invaders before I saw it. After I saw it... and played it... my life was different.
- Robotron 2084: In my mind, the legends of coin-operated arcade gaming were Space Invaders, Pac Man, Robotron, Dragon’s Lair, and Street Fighter 2. Robotron was true sensory overload, the birth of bullet hell, and the best implementation of the two-stick control scheme.
- Dragon’s Lair: Dragon’s Lair appeared in 1983, the same year the as the start of the Video Game Crash in the USA. I’d felt the crash coming, as arcades were diminishing, and the Atari 2600 was everywhere... to an almost sickening degree. Dragon’s Lair was a primitive, ‘learn by death’ collection of what we now call ‘quick time events’, but it was funny... dramatic... artistic. It showed what games could become, and the sound... wow... the sound was exhilarating.
- Legend of Zelda: Like many of my generation, with the video game crash of the early 1980’s, I began to think video games would end up little more than a wonderous fad. Then Nintendo produced the Nintendo Entertainment System... and Shigeru Miyamoto’s Legend of Zelda. I played Legend of Zelda, in 12-to-16-hour marathon sessions, until I finished the game. I would forget to eat, and because I would forget to eat, my mother would make sandwiches and lay the plates next to me.
- Might and Magic 3: Colorful. Complex. Vast. Deep. Open world. Surprise twist ending. I was hooked from beginning-to-end. Might and Magic 3 was the first non-arcade, non-console game, I ever played. It was overwhelming.
- Wolfenstein 3D: For most people, Doom was a revelation. For me, it was Doom’s predecessor... Wolfenstein 3D. I still remember starting the game, moving the joystick, and witnessing the smooth 3D rendering of a virtual world. I audibly uttered ‘Woah’.
- X-Com: I first played X-Com, as a game demo, taken from a 3.5 floppy disc, packaged with a copy of PC Gamer magazine. It, more than any other game, solidified my desire to become a video game developer. Creative. Mysterious. Creepy. Violent. It took disparate game mechanics, and blended them into a truly unique game for its time. X-Com is the perfect example of a game, where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
- Quake: While I enjoyed the Quake campaign, it was Quake multiplayer where the game became mythical: Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, Team Fortress, etc. I went into work on the weekends to play some form of Quake multiplayer via LAN. With my coworkers, we played, ordered in pizza, and played more. Suddenly, it was Sunday night, and we had to go back to work in the morning.
- Fallout: I bought Fallout as a ‘research project’ (because of my familiarity with the GURPS role-playing game system), and did not have the faintest clue as to the adventure I was about to undertake. I’ll never forget, the moment my character decided it was more beneficial to be evil instead of good. I’ll never forget, being denied re-entry into the vault. In my mind, it was the first truly ‘consequential’ RPG.
- Diablo: Dustin Browder and I played marathon sessions of co-op Diablo, with the shared goal to defeat the devil, on the hardest level of difficulty. We did it. Lots of randomly generated memories.
- Half-Life: While I played and finished the final release of Half-life, I re-played the demo numerous times. I even gave the demo to my friends, just so I could watch them play and react to it. Half-life was the birth of the cinematic, action-adventure shooter. It was the first game to begin delivering on the promises made by Dragon’s Lair.
I’m going to stop here. There are others, but these are the highlights.
太空入侵者，机器人2084，龙穴，塞尔达传说，魔法门3，德军总部3d，X-com，雷神之锤，辐射，暗黑破坏神，半条命。

How did you came up with names for Heroes towns and characters? Conflux names bear resemblance to Old French, Old German, Latin, Greek etc. words connected with the elements (Wazzar, Igne, Magmetin, Brissa, Lacus).
你是怎么给英雄无敌的城镇和角色起名字的？
With the emergence of the internet, crafting an original name is more difficult now than ever before. To arrive at something... somewhat original... I typically start with a basic word description, then work backward, digging into the etymological origins. For instance, the Conflux is an Elemental faction; air, earth, fire, and water. Water descends from the Old High German word of... wazzar. Sometimes I will push or pull a word’s spelling to arrive at something unique, or in the case of Fanstratics, amalgamate different syllables to arrive at a new word. Perhaps the best example of this approach is Darth Vader from Star Wars. ‘Darth’ is a spelling variation of ‘dark’, and ‘Vader’ is Dutch for ‘father’. Hence, Darth Vader means... Dark Father.
简单说就是把一些常见事物用其他语言或是近似发音代替。

The last but not least: David Mullich said that his favorite cheese is cheddar. Do you agree with him or do you prefer a different one?
David Mullich最喜欢的奶酪是切达干酪（一种英国干酪，产自英格兰西南部的切达村），你呢？
My grandfather was a dairy farmer, and when I was very young, he introduced me to ‘fresh cheese curd’. There’s nothing quite like it. ‘Fresh’ being the key.
略...

Fanstratics月报#13#2021-09

Wed, 01 Sep 2021 07:42:23 GMT

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。

Fanstratics月报#12#2021-08

Sun, 01 Aug 2021 09:38:55 GMT

来源：https://www.fanstratics.com/fstnewsletter12，以下由HeavenK翻译。

Fanstratics Troop: Lich.
兵种介绍：巫妖
Filled with all-consuming ego, the Lich is a self-proclaimed ruler of the undead. Powerful and ruthless, this wicked skeletal mage feeds on the lifeforce of the living to prolong its existence. It is truly something between and beyond. One of the wonderful things about working with Justin, is seeing how he will ultimately render a familiar fantasy archetype. As always, he didn’t disappoint. I'm looking forward to seeing this one on the Battlefield. For those of you who want to see Justin actually render the drawing, you can watch a VOD of his Twitch stream.
自命不凡的巫妖认为自己是亡灵的主宰。这些强大而无情的邪恶骷髅法师以汲取生者的生命力来延长自己的寿命。它们半生半死却又非生非死。你可以在Twitch频道上看到Justin的作画过程。

Fanstratics Faction #9: Chimerans.
阵营9：Chimerans
An ancient cosmopolitan faction, the Chimerans are associated with the exotic Runic terrain. Believed to be the unfortunate remnants of archaic arcane experiments, their origins are directly tied to the establishment of the present cultures. Up to this point, each of the preceding 8 Fanstratics Factions had a familiar association with an existing HoMM3 Faction. Some will try to tie the Chimerans to the Conflux, but in truth, the Chimerans are a unique culture with no HoMM3 parallel. Representing the Chimerans is the Medusa Vanguard, which can be viewed in the Fanstratics Gallery.
Chimerans是一个远古的世界性阵营，其背景扎根于奇异的镌符之地。据说它们是一场庞大的魔法实验的不幸后裔，这种出身也塑造了它们如今的文化。到目前为止，前8个阵营都与英雄无敌3的已有阵营近似，因此可能有人会把Chimerans类比为元素族，但实际上Chimerans是与英雄无敌3不同的独特阵营。Chimerans的代表是Medusa Vanguard。

Fanstratics Feature: 9 Playable Factions.
Fanstratics特性：9个可选阵营
If you have been keeping track, you would know I had 9 Factions planned. In revealing the Chimerans, all 9 are now known. Here they are in alphabetical order...
- Allegiant
- Boggish
- Chimerans
- Infernals
- Krasadox
- Necrotics
- Stoutbluds
- Thornwood
- Zubhewen
Some of you may be wondering why 9... from the start? HoMM3 shipped with 8 Factions, with the 9th Faction, the Conflux, being added with the expansion. Truthfully, it all comes down to expanded cultural knowledge of the fantasy genre. Prior to 1999, the public’s ‘cultural knowledge of the fantasy genre’ was limited to classical architypes. Since 1999, due in large part to video games, the public’s ‘cultural knowledge of the fantasy genre’ has expanded. In 1999, if I had proposed a spell casting, anthropomorphic alligator (Gatorkin Caster), I’m relatively confident JVC would have given me a sour glare and shot it down. Today... most people wouldn’t blink. While Fanstratics will continue to adhere to classical fantasy architypes, there is more room to play around at the edges, and embracing this additional freedom goes an exceptionally long way to helping FST distinguish itself from HoMM3. So, from the start, I was able to construct a comfortable 9 Factions.
目前9个可选阵营已经全部公布。
- Allegiant - 忠义军 - 对应城堡
- Stoutbluds - 劲醇宗 - 对应塔楼
- Thornwood - 荆木集 - 对应壁垒
- Necrotics - 奈落窠 - 对应墓园
- Krasadox - 剋砂教 - 对应据点
- Zubhewen - 斫鄙窟 - 对应地下城
- Infernals - 炎焚狱 - 对应地狱
- Boggish - 泊蜥泽 - 对应要塞
- Chimerans - 奇魔廊 - 无，元素out
- 别问为什么翻译这么奇怪，解释过的，原文就很奇怪，所以翻译搞起事来就停不下来了，反正汉化又不是我们来负责，但是所以如果谁有正经合用还能让强迫症患者接受的统一格式的翻译欢迎塞过来。
你们可能会想知道为什么一开始就是9个阵营？英雄无敌3代开始是8个族，资料片里又加了第9族元素族。实话实说，这一切都可以归因于对传统奇幻文化的认知上。在99年，大众对传统奇幻文化的认知还局限于经典奇幻，而从那以后，各种电子游戏扩展了大众的认知。比如说，如果我在99年拿来一个会施法的人形短尾鳄设计，我很肯定JVC会用死亡凝视打消这个念头。但是现在绝大多数人对这种设计早已见怪不怪。尽管Fanstratics还将继续传统奇幻风格，但我们也有更多的机会来拓展传统奇幻的边界，同时也可以帮助FST走出自己的风格。所以，我决定游戏开始就设定为9个阵营。

Question: Hail from Poland! We love the series here! I was introduced to Heroes 3 as a kid, playing on a pirate version with my 3 brothers on a hot seat mode. It been a wild fun experience. We did eventually buy official copies of the game. I still have official cd-disk of the Shadow of Death and Armageddon Blade. Nowadays GoG version. Seriously, we all still play the game, we always have it installed. Heroes 3 for me is precious. A game that shaped my childhood. Something we always return to. There’s very few games like this I treasure and always come back to. Genuinely from my heart. Thank you for it.
来自波兰玩家，介绍了自己对英雄无敌3的感情。
Thank you very much for your story. Believe it or not, I actually enjoy the tales people tell me, regarding HoMM3, and how they discovered it. I suspect I would do something similar, if I ever met Tomohiro Nishikado, and could tell him my Space Invaders story. Speaking of Game Design legends...
非常感谢你的故事。不知道你们信不信，其实我很喜欢听别人讲述它们自己与英雄无敌3的故事。如果有一天我能遇到西角友宏，我也会向他讲述我当初玩到《太空入侵者》的故事。

HoMM3 Recollection: My HoMM3 Job Interview.
应聘英雄无敌3工作的经历。
点击展开长文
略。

以下是Behemoth Cave的采访问答，共18问。

Heroes III is not the only game in the series. Can you share with us your opinion on the Heroes’ games that came after the 3rd installment? How do you rate Heroes 4 and Ubisoft trilogy set in the world of Ashan?
你对英雄无敌3之后的系列有什么看法？
Regarding this question, I am going to respectfully decline to respond. Anything I say about the other HoMM game, positive or negative, will create controversy.
无可奉告。因为无论我说正面还是负面的意见，都会产生曲解。

Do you think Ubisoft will continue with Heroes 8?
你认为育碧还会出英雄无敌8么？
Unlikely. After three attempts, Ubisoft has been unable to replicate the success of HoMM3. From a business perspective, they have other franchises, in which they have more expertise, and better success (Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, Watch Dogs, Rainbow Six, etc.). Why pour resources into an underachieving franchise you don’t understand? This is how older game franchises are put out to pasture.
- Command & Conquer?
- Dungeon Keeper?
- Everquest?
- Legacy of Kain?
- Medal of Honor?
- Prince of Persia?
- Ultima?
- Virtua Fighter?
- Wizardry?
不太可能。育碧出的三部英雄无敌都没能复制英雄无敌3的成功。从商业角度来看，育碧自己有很多品牌并且取得了不错的成绩（刺客信条，孤岛惊魂，看门狗，彩虹六号等等）。所以为什么还要花费资源去搞不懂的品牌上。很多老品牌都已经吃灰了，比如命令与征服，地下城守护者，无尽的任务，凯恩的遗产，荣誉勋章，波斯王子，创世纪，VR战士，巫术等等。

This is a good moment to talk about your newest project: Fanstratics. Name of the game is composed of words: Fantasy, Strategy & Tactics and as you said yourself - it is a spiritual successor to Heroes of Might & Magic 3. Fanstratics status is currently pre-alpha and to this moment we haven’t seen any graphics or screenshots, excluding three concept artworks. In September’s newsletter you wrote that visually it will resemble Heroes 3. 3D models converted to 2D graphics, squares on adventure map, hexagonal battlegrounds and town interiors on a separate screen. Can you say a little bit more on the topic?
回到Fanstratics，关于图像部分还有什么消息？
Firstly, one correction. Fanstratics uses true 3D models with 2D interaction. 3D models are not converted into 2D sprites/graphics. For an example, I have pointed to Ori and the Blind Forest, which is a 2D platformer, rendered in 3D. I guess you could think of Fanstratics as a 2D TBS, rendered in 3D.
Fanstratics采用的是3d建模2d交互，而非3d转2d。举例而言，就像奥日和黑暗森林一样。你可以理解成Fanstratics是一个2d的TBS但是渲染成3d。

Will Fanstratics contain sci-fi/futuristic elements or will it be strictly set in fantasy canon?
Fanstratics会包含科幻/未来要素么？
While I want Fanstratics to be thought of as spiritual successor to HoMM3, I don’t want it to be viewed as a Might and Magic ‘rip off’. For this reason, I have chosen to avoid science fiction or futuristic elements. I have already laid the creative foundation upon which the Fanstratics world is based, I am happy with what I’ve done, and I look forward to its gradual reveal. While it is strictly fantasy... it is not stereotypical fantasy. Hopefully, you will like it, and enjoy it. :-)
尽管我把Fanstratics定义为英雄无敌3的精神续作，但又要剥离一些魔法门要素。所以Fanstratics会避免科幻和未来主义要素。目前Fanstratics的基石已定，在之前的文章中也展示出来了。不过，虽然Fanstratics属于奇幻，但也不是老一套的那种奇幻。希望你们喜欢。

For example what factions and magic schools are planned? Please, share with us everything you can! We are Fanstratics news-hungry :).
阵营和法术学派是怎么设计的？
Nine factions are planned, and starting with the December Newsletter, I plan to start a slow trickle of details. Currently, the landing page gallery showcases concept sketches for four Troop types, each from a different faction. A draft of Adventure and Battlefield Spells has been completed, but not finalized. So, at this time, I would say ‘no comment’ regarding Magic Schools. Please believe me when I say, I want to reveal everything I have designed and everything currently in development, but we have a very long way to go before launching a crowd funding effort. Were I to divulge everything I have planned... there would be nothing to discuss for months. I know it’s a lot to ask, but please be patient. We’ll get there. Hopefully, you will find it worth the wait.
目前关于冒险和战斗法术的设计草图已基本完成，但还欠缺打磨。所以当前还属于“无可奉告”未来时机成熟会公布。

Fanstratics月报#11#2021-07

Wed, 30 Jun 2021 07:56:12 GMT

来源：https://www.fanstratics.com/fstnewsletter11，以下由HeavenK翻译。

Fanstratics Troop: Forest Dragon.
兵种介绍：森林龙。
When I began searching for a concept artist, Justin stood out for many reasons. Variety of characters and creatures were a large part of it. Justin has rendered numerous Dragons, along with some wonderful Treefolk, but he has never rendered a Forest Dragon. Until now.This month, I emailed to him a list of conceptual candidates, and asked which Troop jumped out at him. His enthusiastic reply was, “Forest Dragon!” What more can I say... he nailed it.
介绍了一下制作组想到森林龙的缘由，简单说就是他们开始先想到各种龙和其他森林生物，直到本月，他们灵光一现，把二者结合想到了森林龙。

Fanstratics Faction #8: Boggish.
Fanstratics阵营8：Boggish
From deep in the Swamp lands, lurk the cold-blooded Reptilian Boggish. Secretive and isolationist, they typically foist their influence on other civilizations, from the shadowy cracks and corners, via bribery, blackmail, and sabotage. While they rarely venture forth from their homelands, when they do, they are a truly frustrating foe. Anyone following the monthly Troop reveals will be unsurprised by this Faction’s inclusion, and will immediately recognize its similarity to HoMM3’s ‘Fortress’. Representing the Boggish is the Gatorkin Caster, which can be viewed in the Fanstratics Gallery.
在沼泽地的深处，潜藏着冷血蜥蜴人种族Boggish。这个隐秘而独立的派系最具代表性的一点，就是暗中利用各种手段，比如贿赂、绑架、破坏等，从而潜在地影响其他种族。尽管他们很少离开自己的家园，但作为对手还是相当难缠的。该派系很接近英雄无敌3的要塞族，其代表兵种是Gatorkin Caster。

Fanstratics Feature: Community Map Editor & Random Map Generator.
Fanstratics特性：社区地图编辑器和随机地图生成器。
Some of you may be a little surprised by my listing ‘Community Map Editor & Random Map Generator’ amongst the ‘new’ features for Fanstratics. Why? Simple. People keep asking, “Will there be a Map Editor?” Obviously, “Yes.” I will do what I can to make an easy to use community Map Editor, very similar to the HoMM3 editor. As for the Random Map Generator, there have been numerous advances in algorithmic content manipulation since 1999, and I really want to do some deep research before I finalize my plan. So, at this stage, I cannot say how the RMG will operate.
地图编辑器很类似英雄无敌3的。随机地图生成器则会比99年的更强大，不过具体内容还没完全确定。

When will the Map Editor and Random Map Generator be released?
地图编辑器和随机地图生成器什么时候发售？
Before I answer this question, I must first tip my hat to ‘Timothy’ (you know who you are), who wrote and pointed out a mistake I made in an earlier Newsletter. Specifically, I said, “HoMM3’s map editor and random map generator were released with its first expansion pack ‘Armageddon’s Blade’. For Fanstratics, I expect to rollout both a Community Map Editor and a Random Map Generator, well after the game’s official public release.” This was incorrect. HoMM3’s Map Editor was initially released with Restoration of Erathia. HoMM3’s Random Map Generator was released with Armageddon’s Blade. My goal for Fanstratics is the same. Release the Map Editor with the base game, followed by the Random Map Generator sometime thereafter.
当前目标是游戏本体时发售地图编辑器，而随机地图生成器后续发布。

It may be too early to ask, but still, “Will HoMM3 have a limit of 8 players with more than 8 factions? Will there be a similar limit in Fanstratics?”
Fanstratics的玩家数量和阵营数量会和英雄无敌3代一样都是8个么？
Yes. In Fanstratics the maximum number of players will be eight, and the maximum number of Adventure Heroes on the Adventure Map will be eight. As for Factions, nine are being developed, but one, two, or three more could be added with DLC, assuming the game is successful.
Fanstratics的最大玩家数量是8人。阵营数量目前确定9个，但是未来的DLC有可能推出1~3个新阵营。

HoMM3 Recollection: The Day the Coke Machine Caught Fire.
英雄无敌3：可乐机器着火事件。
Some of you may remember this story, but three weeks from finishing the game... the New World Computing (NWC) Coca-Cola machine... caught fire. Once ‘crunch’ was declared, at 7:00pm each night, Mark Caldwell would unlock the company Coke machine. No need to feed the machine money, just pull open the front half of the appliance, reach inside, and pull out a cold can of... whatever. If you have ever purchased a can or bottle of soda pop from a vending machine, you will know these machines are big and made to endure all sorts of vandalism. I vaguely remember grinding away, at my desk, with my office door open. Prior to NWC’s growth and expansion, my room was sandwiched between the offices of David Mullich and Benjamin Bent (NWC Office Manager and part time Producer (Vegas Games)). Outside my office, the hallway diverged, leading to the Tester’s Room and the Break Room. As my office wasn’t too far from the Break Room, I remember sitting there... smelling smoke... thinking, “Is that smoke?” A moment later, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a young man dart into Ben’s office. I heard a muffled, hurried exchanged, followed by the same young man rushing out of Ben’s office... followed by Ben. Now, I could definitely smell smoke. Down the hall, I heard an additional, brief conversation, after which I saw Ben calmly returning to his office. I caught Ben’s attention and he took a detour to my doorway. Me, “What’s going on?” Ben rolled his eyes, “The Coke machine caught fire.” “It caught fire?” “Well, it looks like opening and closing the machine sheared some electrical wires, and they caught fire.” Ben shook his head, “This idiot tester just stood there with a soda can in one hand, pointing at the fire.” Me, “Do we have a fire extinguisher?” “Yeah, but just unplugged the machine.” “So, we have warm Cokes now?” Ben chuckled, “We will. Get ‘em while they’re cold.” A moment after Ben returned to his office, David Mullich appeared outside my office door, “Do I smell smoke?” I remember this event rather well for a couple of reasons. First, its absurdity fit within the general absurdity of game development. Second, in many ways, it was an apt analogy for game development... something goes wrong, someone panics, someone else calmly solves the problem, and work continues. In game development, the Coke machine is always catching fire.
就是当年h3快要完成时，NWC发生过一次可乐机器着火的故事。

以下是Behemoth Cave的采访问答，共18问。

While developing the game, did you anticipate that Heroes III will be a competitive title with many tournaments such as overwhelmingly popular Polish Championships which have gathered a four-digit number of contestants?
当年开发游戏时有没有预料到h3现在成为了竞技游戏?
Not in the slightest. Network play in HoMM3 was an afterthought. In 1999, the idea anyone would be playing the game, competitively, twenty years later... was unimaginable. I still have a difficult time wrapping my head around it.
完全没有。99年那会联机对战还不是很常见。

A breath of new life - the modding of games. What is your opinion on modding?
对mod的看法？
I think most game developers consider modding to be a good thing. It extends the life of the game, and provides an avenue for potential game developers to learn the nuts-and-bolts of game development. Quake mods probably exhibited the best of this. More recently, are the jaw dropping mods for Fallout and Skyrim.
我想大多数制作者都认为Mod是件好事，能延长游戏寿命。

Is modding a chance for a game to have a second life, or is it rather an unnecessary interference in the designers’ original product?
Mod是给游戏带来了第二次生命，还是给制作者的产品引入了无谓的干扰？
In my opinion, mods tend to give a game a second life. If a mod goes ‘too far’, this is more a reflection on the modder, not the original game developer, and I’m confident fans know and understand the difference.
我倾向于认为是前者。即使mod越界了，那也是mod制作者的问题，而不是对游戏制作者的问题，我相信粉丝能看出二者之间的区别。

Have you played any Heroes III mods?
你玩过h3的mod么？
When I was doing my research for Fanstratics, I went out of my way to try every mod I could find: WoG, VCMI, HD, HotA, and the numerous smaller mods changing specific game aspects. Like some fans, I have a unique install for each ‘version’ of HoMM3.
当然，各种版本都玩过。

Do you follow the progress of Horn of the Abyss? The dev team behind it came up with the idea of a brand new faction - Regnan pirates (Cove). Also there is a new faction just around the corner which blends in steampunk and the Wild West - the Factory, which might be recognized as the spiritual successor to the technological Forge with original additions.
你玩过HotA么？那个mod里有几个新阵营，海盗族和工厂族，你有什么看法？
Yes, I do follow HotA. Many of the technical and gameplay changes were very logical, and overall, the art is equal, or better, than many of the original HoMM3 assets. The Factory was something of a surprise. Is it a ‘spiritual successor’ to the Forge? To a degree. There were two potential approaches to the Forge. My conception was a more horrifying World War 2 approach, where David Mullich wanted a more Jules Verne ‘glass and brass’ approach. The Factory has a ‘glass and brass’ theme, with an American Western twist. It’s very unique.
是的，我玩过。他们的一些设计很符合逻辑，美术也很棒。他们的工厂族有点接近当初的铸造族，我当初设计的铸造族是一种恐怖的二战风格，而David Mullich想要一个更有儒勒·凡尔纳的“玻璃与黄铜”风格。工厂族其实就属于这种风格，并杂糅了一些美国西部风格，非常独特。

征服之歌 - Songs of Conquest

Mon, 14 Jun 2021 10:36:00 GMT

这个游戏其实两年前的E3就公布了，之前FST的更新里就有被提过，不过最近才上STEAM，公布了大致的发行日期。开发商的网站上2017年就开始了写开发日志，虽然2019年才开始有实质更新。

这是款像素风的回合制策略游戏，从介绍上看有单机有多人，有四个种族，有地图编辑器，那么应该更像英雄无敌。从官网来看，这个开发组并没有多少人，大概开始时主要就四个人的样子，啧……

点击图片查看2021年E3宣传视频

游戏名：征服之歌（Songs of Conquest）；
发行日期：预计2022年第一季度；
购买链接：STEAM，GOG.com，Epic；定价还没出，STEAM上看来暂时还没确定有中文支持；
开发商：Lavapotion，这是它开发的第一款游戏，发行商Coffee Stain Publishing；
开发日志，2019年E3公布视频；更多图片；

圣战群英传：解放

Sun, 13 Jun 2021 09:50:54 GMT

这东西呢，其实2月份就公布了，我都不知道，虽然我肯定大概应该不会玩，毕竟对我来说现在啥游戏都不好玩，玩游戏都是习惯而已，之所以还在写更新是因为写代码比游戏的乐趣还大点。

然后这游戏呢，不管是名字上还是模式上还是画风上甚至是开发继承上来说都不算是四代吧，名字Disciples: Liberation不带四，游戏模式更像是国王的恩赐那样的RPG了，这游戏我以前虽然不玩但是最馋的画风也不存在了。

Every choice has a cost
点击图片查看公布动画

8分钟实机演示视频；
游戏官网，现在能登记封闭测试（测试时间为6月17到7月11）；
STEAM购买链接，9折144块中；
预计今年秋季发行，会有简中；同时有PC / PS4 / XBOX1版本，这大概也是游戏模式有变的原因之一；
游戏开发商：Frima Studio，这公司以前做过的游戏我一个都没听过。发行商Kalypso Media，德国公司，以前曾经是3代的欧洲地区发行商；
Frima Studio这公司即不是一代二代的开发组Strategy First，也不是三代的开发组.dat / Akella，Akella好像虽然没有正式破产，不过应该在2012年就已经GG了，.dat是Akella的员工创办的公司，估计也挂了，反正圣战群英传3之后就没见过这公司的消息。
Strategy First虽然网站还在，不过已经不知道多少年没做过新游戏了。我不太清楚这游戏2代到3代的版权过渡是咋回事。不过Kalypso手上的Disciples商标是在2019年重新注册的，以前Disciples的商标是啥情况查不到，不过可以查到2代的商标是2015年转到Kalypso手上的，想来Akella都资不抵债了，不管是长期未续导致失效还是卖给了Kalypso也不奇怪，实际上是哪种没来源确定不了，说不定商标都不一定在Akella手上呢。
总之这让人感觉不是一个血统很纯正的续作。

Fanstratics月报#10#2021-06

Tue, 01 Jun 2021 08:08:32 GMT

来源：https://www.fanstratics.com/fstnewsletter10，以下由Heavenk翻译。

Fanstratics Troop: Clockwork Gremlin.
兵种介绍：机械精怪
This month’s Troop took a mildly interesting road from idea to concept art. For story, lore, and world reasons, I wanted at least one clockwork Troop. Stoutbluds were the logical Faction, but there are only so many Troop slots. Initially, I cut the Gremlin and replaced it with a Clockwork Warrior. About a week later, I was looking over the roster, and... well... I was missing the Gremlin. They are cheesy, endearing, surprisingly fun, and great for trolling an Enemy Player. I thought about it and eventually asked myself, “Why not merge the two?” Thus... the Clockwork Gremlin. On the art side of things, this was one of those instances where I gave Justin a good amount of background detail to digest. Upon seeing the initial thumbnails, I quickly realized I was getting in his way, and told him, “Don’t worry about the lore. You know what I’m after. Just make something cool. I’ll make adjustments on my end if necessary.” Ultimately, I think it turned out rather well. ;-) For those of you who want to see Justin actually render the drawing, you can watch a VOD of his Twitch stream.
简单说就是又想搞个机械怪物以配合Stoutbluds阵营富有逻辑性的一面，又怀念当初H3的精怪，于是整个二合一。

Fanstratics Faction #7: Infernals.
Fanstratics阵营7：Infernals
Residing in Volcanic lands with persistent lava flows, this Demonic faction exists only to slake its unquenchable thirst for fire. Burn the world... scorch it all... until the self is destroyed... and the thirst no more. To ask ‘why’ shows an absence of understanding. Most will immediately recognize this Faction’s similarity to HoMM3’s ‘Inferno’. Representing the Infernals is the Bile Worm, which can be viewed in the Fanstratics Gallery.
这个恶魔阵营之所以选择定居在熔岩不停流动的火山地带，只为消除它们对于火焰的无比渴望。烧尽世界，点燃一切，直至毁灭，饥渴不止。而这样做的原因？问这种问题未免太不识风趣了。大多数人一眼就能看出，这个阵营与h3的地狱城一脉相承。该阵营的代表生物是胆汁蠕虫。

Fanstratics Feature: Player Determined Weekly Events.
Fanstratics特色：由玩家选择的每周事件
HoMM3’s Weekly and Monthly Astrological Events were... oddly enough... one of its more iconic elements. For Fanstratics, I’m expanding this specific mechanic. It is no longer a passive event. Instead, on Day 1 of each Week, one Player is randomly selected. This Player is then given the option to choose one of two random ‘Decrees’, with a third ‘Gamble’ option. A Decree can affect Town Construction, Merchants, Resources, Troop Recruits, etc. If a Player chooses the Gamble option, there is chance to enact both presented Decrees... or neither.
简单说，每周第一天开始时，随机选择一个玩家，该玩家有两种选择，一是从系统随机生成的两个“敕令”中选择一个，这些敕令的效果包括城镇建设、商人、资源、部队招募等；二是选择“赌博”，这样有可能两个敕令同时生效，也有可能同时不生效。

Question: “I also wanted to say some things about the Forge. I don’t know about the rest, but I think it’s a good idea to diversify the fantasy world with mechanical factions, and to be honest, it’s sad for me what happened to the Forge in HOMM3, I personally think it was a good idea, at least with regard to the faction itself, so I join the number of those who are waiting for the Forge (or something similar to it).”
还是关于铸造族，有的人决定这个设计很好，能够给奇幻世界增加一些机械派系。
I understand your sentiments. I too was disappointed with the Forge’s cancelation, but I also understand the opinions generated by the opposition. Rudimentary clockwork technology has a place in the Fanstratics universe, so a clockwork faction isn’t out of the question, but we first need to publish the initial game.
Fanstratics未来可能会推出以发条科技为主题的阵营。当然前提得把初始版本做好还要卖的好……

HoMM3 Recollection: Dave Botan.
太长的旧事对话不列了；
总之是在怀念年初去世的H3制作组成员Dave Botan。

以下是Behemoth Cave的采访问答，共18问。

Let’s talk about balance. What methods did you use to make decisions about creature statistics, AI value, faction balance and schools of magic? Was every single value chosen on a whim and then verified or rather were there more complicated mathematical calculations involved?
关于平衡性，你们打算怎么进行平衡，有没有什么赋值和计算的公式之类的？
Balance was determined using a process of opinion and verification, via abstract simulation. JVC and I hashed out the statistics for the various troops, based on our personal opinion of which was more or less powerful, in relation to one another. Using these preliminary numbers, I put each Troop through a Battle Simulator I constructed in Microsoft Excel. This Battle Simulator produced a relative number, which I then used to verify our assumptions. If something appeared to be out of whack... an adjustment was made. Using these base ai values, Gus Smedstad further modified the numbers, to account for special abilities, creating adjusted ai values, which were again verified using the Battle Simulator. If something appeared to be out of whack... an adjustment was made. Faction balance was less complicated. I did an analysis of Troop Power versus costs over time. If something appeared to be out of whack... an adjustment was made. Spells and spell schools were largely opinion.
首先是JVC和我给部队赋值，基于我们个人的判断，然后我用Excel编了个战斗模拟器。Ai部分，Gus Smedstad进一步选定数值，然后一样进行战斗模拟，有超标的就进行调整。阵营部队则稍微简单一些，我先对不同时期的部队战斗力进行分析，然后有超标的就调整。法术和法术派系也大体是这样。

Were you aware of earth magic or logistics supremacy, or how useless eagle eye or learning are?
你们当时注意到土系魔法和后勤术过强，而鹰眼术与学习能力无用了么？
Keep in mind, at the time, HoMM3 was considered, first and foremost, a single player game. If a skill or spell proved to be overpowered, it wasn’t a big concern, because the overwhelming number of games were human versus ai. If we had known, twenty years later, HoMM3 would be a competitive multiplayer game, we would have given ‘balance’ extra attention. This being said, at the time, we did not know Earth Magic or Logistics would be considered overpowered. Learning could have used a buff, but we were worried about it becoming a ‘required skill’, so we errored on the side of ‘underpowered’. Eagle Eye was a hold over from HoMM2, and within NWC it wasn’t considered ‘useless’. Regardless, in hindsight, it could have been cut.
你要知道，当初h3设计时还是以单机为目标，所以单机游戏里，平衡性没那么重要，毕竟都是欺负ai。如果我们当初预见到二十年后玩家会主打多人竞技，那我们当时肯定会在平衡性上多下些功夫了。不过要说的话，我们当初并没有注意到土系魔法和后勤术过强，学习能力当初设计的是一个增益效果，但是后来我们担心该技能可能会成为一个必选技能，于是错误的削弱了它。而鹰眼术是从h2保留下来的，NWC内部不认为这个技能没用，不过事后来看，这个技能是可以砍掉。

Were there dedicated testers and balance designers in the dev team of Heroes III?
h3制作组内部有专门的平衡测试和平衡设计师么？
Short answer... no. Please keep in mind, at the time, network play was a relatively new thing, and the thought of competitive HoMM3 was inconceivable. Also, dedicated balance designers and testers didn’t really become a thing until Starcraft became an esport in South Korea. Today, it is standard practice for any pure multiplayer game.
没有。还是那句话，那个时候对战还是新鲜事物。

How did you react when you realized that after 20 years Heroes have a huge fanbase (which still grows) in the central-eastern Europe (especially in Poland and Russia) and Asia?
你怎么看20年后的今天，h3在中东欧（波兰和俄罗斯）和亚洲有着巨大的玩家群体？
In the USA, immediately after its release in 1999, HoMM3 stayed at #3 on the sales charts, for 3 weeks, before declining. HoMM3 was respected, but never showcased. At the time, it felt like a cult hit, not a commercial success. Around 2016, to my genuine surprise, I saw thousands of people regularly playing HoMM3 on Twitch.tv. After speaking with David Mullich, and doing a little digging, all of the hints I had seen over the years... suddenly made sense. Whenever I mentioned HoMM3, to my surprise, most people knew of the game. HoMM3 SoD? HoMM3 Chronicles (x3)? HoMM4? HoMM3 WoG? HoMM5? HoMM6? HoMM7? HoMM3 VCMI? HoMM3 HotA? HoMM3 HD? Thousands of user made maps? Persistent GOG.com bestseller? In the 3DO bankruptcy, when Ubisoft bought the Might & Magic intellectual property, I thought they were going after the RPG and the TBS games for their long history and built in fan base. In truth, they were specifically after HoMM. Ubisoft distributed HoMM3 outside of North America, and it sold millions of copies across Europe, Russia, and Asia. I was stunned. I had really had no idea.
很惊讶。99年h3上市之后，在美国曾有过一段销量不错的时候，不过3周以后也就慢慢下滑了。实话实说，h3并不是那种爆款游戏，当时也只是小众游戏，并没商业上的大热门。2016年前后，当我知道还有上千人在twitch上直播h3时挺吃惊的。后来育碧说h3在北美以外有着百万销量时，我相当震惊。

Do you have any idea what could be the reason behind the popularity in those regions?
你认为h3在这些国家的流行背后有什么原因么？
I’ve chatted with David Mullich about this, and thought about it at length. In my opinion, it is a unique combination of elements.
- Easily accessible genre: Fantasy is a universal genre. Around the world, most people understand the concepts of knights, wizards, and dragons. It doesn’t hurt this genre was also birthed in Europe.
- Beauty: HoMM3 is a beautiful game, and continues to hold its own after all these years. Phelan Sykes, Scott White, Adam McCarthy, George Almond, and David Mullich, don’t get anywhere near enough credit for what they pulled out of the New World Computing art staff.
- Exceptional Value: There’s plenty to see, experience, discover, and play within HoMM3. It’s unusual for a game to be both deep and wide. This creates an exceptionally large amount of gameplay for your money. With all the expansions, mods, user made maps, and the random map generator, you can literally play the game for 100’s if not 1000’s of hours.
- Accessibility: While HoMM3 isn’t the easiest game to get into, you don’t need to be a guru to enjoy it. Also, being turn based, there is no pressure to immediately engage the game, and you can explore it at your leisure.
- System Requirements: You don’t need to be a member of the PCMR to play the game. Any office computer or laptop should suffice, and this makes almost anyone with a computer, a potential fan.
- Piracy: Most game developers don’t like talking about this, but at some point in their lifespan, all of PC’s biggest franchises were heavily pirated. This effectively got the game into the hands of people who wouldn’t pay-to-play the game. This ‘unofficial’ demo uncovered a lot of fans who didn’t know they were fans, and hopefully purchased a legitimate copy, at a later date.
我和David Mullich聊过。在我看来，有几个原因导致了这样的结果。
- 世界观平易近人：一提起奇幻大家都知道骑士、巫师、巨龙这些。
- 额外预期高：h3有着两个资料片，各种mod，玩家自制地图，随机地图生成器。
- 画面优美：h3有很多出众的美术设计。
- 易于上手：h3上手还是比较容易的，而且回合制让玩家没那么紧张。
- 配置需求低：任何pc和平板都可以游玩。
- 盗版：虽然很多游戏开发者不愿意谈这一点，但是所有的大型pc游戏系列都少不了盗版，这些盗版玩家虽然没付钱，但是当他们转化成粉丝之后，就有可能成为未来的潜在买家。

Kings Bounty II — Unite Them or Fall

Sun, 23 May 2021 19:08:36 GMT

黑暗笼罩着诺斯特里亚，阴谋，破坏，还有死灵法术遮天蔽日。地方要求独立，路上盗匪横行，暗中传出的谣言有着压倒性的破坏力。

Darkness descends over the world of Nostria. Conspiracies, sabotage, and necromancy are overshadowing the country. Counties are demanding independence, bandits prowl the roads, and rumors about the overwhelming power of Blight emerge from a whisper in the dark.

老克劳迪乌斯王被下毒，无法再领导这个王国，他的阿德里安王子现在必需团结这片土地上的抗争力量来挽救他的权力和信仰。不过或者有个救世主 - 王国最后的希望 - 已经在这里，为了诺斯特里亚的和平和秩序而战！

The old king Claudius was poisoned and cannot lead the kingdom and so his son, Prince Adrian, must now unite the struggling lands while his power and faith fall under attack. But maybe a saviour – the kingdom's last hope – is already here, to fight back and finally restore peace and order in Nostria.

视频链接：youtube，B站

Fanstratics月报#9#2021-05

Sat, 01 May 2021 08:13:17 GMT

来源：https://www.fanstratics.com/fstnewsletter09，以下由Heavenk翻译。

Fanstratics Troop: Archangel.
兵种设定：大天使
点击显示过长的英文原文；
When word first broke concerning the development of Fanstratics, I quickly needed a ‘signature image’ for the game. For me, it came down to the Archangel or the Human Cavalier. After giving it some thought, I settled on the Human Cavalier, as I thought it embodied the entirety of the game, where the Archangel was more representative of one faction (Allegiant). For HoMM3, the Archangel has arguably become its signature Troop. I remember George Almond’s color picture of the Archangel, when David Mullich and Phelan Sykes first showed it to me. I don’t recall why Phelan had George create the picture. It may have been for the box art, but Scott McDaniel (Marketing) shot it down as he wanted ‘3D’ rendered armies on the box front. I suggested, “Let’s use it for the Main Menu.” Both David and Phelan liked the idea, with Phelan recommending we animate the flames on the sword. In hindsight, I wish I’d advocated for the option to customize the Main Menu background. When Armageddon’s Blade was released, the Archangel disappeared. With subsequent releases, accompanied by Paul Romero’s wonderful Main Menu score, some people never saw the Archangel in all its Main Menu glory. In the years since, I have seen two different sculptures of the Archangel. One on Kickstarter (canceled) and a second on YouTube (you can also see a bust of Solymyr in the background). One last story about the Archangel as it relates to the Main Menu... At one point in development, David Mullich asked I talk to Mark Caldwell (Executive Producer).
- David, “He doesn’t like the Main Menu.”
- Me, “What’s wrong with it?”
- “He wouldn’t say.”
- “He wouldn’t say?”
- “More like he couldn’t say. I couldn’t get anything out him. You try talking to him.”
Scott White (Artist, GUI, Castle town, Tower town, etc.) and I had been working on the game’s interface for weeks, and Scott’s office just happened to be adjacent to Mark’s. Before I stopped in to see Mark, I took a detour to give Scott fair warning. I mentioned I was going to see Mark, because he had an issue with the Main Menu GUI. I remember Scott’s puzzled expression and shoulder shrug. In response, I shrugged my shoulders as well. After giving Scott a head’s up, I walked into Mark’s office, and got right to it, “You don’t like the interface?”
- Mark replied, “It’s ugly.”
- Me, “It’s not ugly.”
- “Yes it is.”
- “You think the Archangel is ugly?”
- “No, the Archangel is great.”
- “Then how can you say it’s ugly?”
- “Everything but the Archangel is ugly.”
- “Everything? Can you show me specifically what you think is ugly?”
Mark exhaled, rolled his eyes, and started the game. We were looking at the Main Menu splash screen, I said, “Okay. You think the Archangel is fine... but you think the icons are ugly?”Mark, “No, the icons are fine. It’s the other stuff.
- Mark navigates to Scenario Selection, “This stuff.”
- Me, “You don’t like the layout?”
- “No.”
- “Font?”
- “No.”
- “Then what?”
- “It’s... it’s... BROWN.”
- “You don’t like that its brown.”
- “Right. It’s ugly.”
- “What colors would you like?”
- “Not brown.”
- I looked at Mark and exhaled, “Alright. Let me talk to Scott.”
I literally went next door, walked into Scott’s office, who was bracing for me to deliver bad news. Something like, “Throw out all the hard work you’ve already done.” Instead, I looked at him and said, “Well, I tired to pin him down on what he didn’t like. It’s the color. He doesn’t like the interface being brown.” The look on Scott’s face said it all, “Really?”At the time, we had followed the precedent set by HoMM2, which had a ‘tan’ interface. In fact, if you want an idea of the Main Menu’s original color scheme, just look at the Adventure Map interface, which is, for the most part, ‘brown’.So, I said to Scott, “What if we used the Archangel’s color scheme for the other parts of Main Menu? Blue, gold, and white.”
- Scott seemed to like the idea and nodded, “Okay.”
- “How long will it take to re-color all the GUI pieces?”
- “Day or two.”
- “Okay.”
The following day, I dropped in on Scott for a quick update. He already had a mock-up ready in Photoshop. I asked him what he thought. He liked it better. So did I. I told him, to clear it with Phelan and David, and put it in the game.
- Scott asked, “What about Mark?”
- I replied, “If Mark doesn’t like this, I don’t know what we’ll do.”
A couple of days later, after not hearing any feedback, I did manage to catch Mark, with the game running, with the updated Main Menu GUI. I asked, “Do you like the colors?” With a slight smirk, Mark nodded. Most people don’t understand, an important part of being a game designer, is figuring out what people want, or what a person wants, when they can’t properly communicate it... specify it... or put it into words. If you can do it well, it’s a big benefit, as you become something akin to a mind reader... at least where video games are concerned. If you can do it well, it can also be a big headache, as you may find yourself spending most of your time solving other people’s problems... in addition to your own. Returning to the present, this month's Troop concept sketch, is the Archangel. I’ve been champing at the bit for Justin to render this Troop, and its finally here. For those of you who want to see Justin actually render the drawing, you can watch a VOD of his Twitch stream.
这里讲了一个关于当初h3原版的主界面中的大天使的故事，简单说就是当初他们最开始搞了个大天使的设计图，市场部的人觉得不错，应该放主界面上，然后他把设计方案拿去给执行制作人Mark看，结果Mark不太满意，但是又说不上哪里不满意，反正最后一顿交流，结果就是换了个配色，由h2时代的褐色换成了更适合大天使的蓝色、白色和金色，就这么一故事......

Fanstratics Faction #6: Zubhewen.
Fanstratics阵营6：Zubhewen
Largely of Goblin descent, this sub-human faction lives in an underground, Subterranean world. Terror, chaos, and fear are their allies, leading to an amorphous ‘might-makes-right’ form of self-rule. Representing the Zubhewen in the Troll Witch, who can be viewed in the Fanstratics Gallery. For most, the Zubhewen will be remarkably similar to HoMM3’s ‘Dungeon’, but keep in mind... as I mentioned in the last Newsletter... some troops have been shuffled off to other factions. So, some hallmark ‘Dungeon’ troops may have found new homes with other, more thematically consistent cultures.
由一大批地精后裔组成的阵营，这些亚人居住在一个地底世界中。恐怖、混乱与畏惧是它们的盟友，这让它们形成了一种“力量就是正确”的自我信条。Zubhewen阵营的代表角色是巨魔婆巫。Zubhewen阵营大体上与h3的地下城类似，不过就像我之前的文章中提过的，其中一些部队被换到了其他阵营里。

Fanstratics Feature: Hardcore Mode.
新要素：硬核模式
Similar to the previous two features (Rally Attack & Boss Battles), a Hardcore Mode is not a new idea. Anyone familiar with late 70’s, early 80’s, coin-operated arcade games, have experienced video game ‘permadeath’. While this design choice has a long history, in my personal experience, it wasn’t formalized as a mainstream feature until Diablo 2’s ‘hardcore mode’ in 2000. There is something masochistically romantic about risking your precious time attempting to conquer an intentionally difficult video game. While I personally don’t have the time to grind out repeated hardcore wins, hardcore play has been responsible for some of the most memorable video game streams I’ve ever seen: Diablo 3, Fallout: New Vegas (hardcore mode), XCOM (ironman), Darkest Dungeon (86 or 100 Weeks), etc. Most recently, Moonmoon played Doom Eternal in a pseudo-permadeath mode... and failed during the final fight. While I suspect only a minority of players will utilize this feature, I would like to see hardcore streams of Fanstratics. So, a hardcore mode is planned; one persistent save for your current game, with the difficulty settings of your choice. There may also be other ‘hardcore’ wrinkles, such as ‘permadeath’ for Heroes. If you lose a Hero in battle, they no longer appear in your Kingdom’s Hero Pool. Bottom line... if you lose... you lose. Personally, I want to see people play and stream Fanstratics in hardcore mode, on the toughest difficulty, against multiple AI opponents, with an in-game time limit. It could make for some gripping entertainment.
前半部分主要是说了一下硬核模式源远流长，从雅达利时代就有类似的模式等等。后面具体来说，在本作中的硬核模式主要是：不能sl，只有唯一存档，英雄战死就彻底从英雄池里消失了。

Will there be a map editor and random map generator in Fanstratics?
会有地图编辑器或是随机地图生成器么？
HoMM3’s map editor and random map generator were released with its first expansion pack ‘Armageddon’s Blade’. For Fanstratics, I expect to rollout both a Community Map Editor and a Random Map Generator, well after the game’s official public release. When? I cannot say at this stage.
H3的地图编辑器和地图生成器是在第一个资料片“末日之刃”中引入的。Fanstratics的话，我预期能在游戏正式发售时引入。不过具体时间现在还不能保证。

If there will be a random map generator, how will it be configured?
随机地图生成器会怎样运作？
It’s been a very long time since I crafted HoMM3’s original RMG templates (using Microsoft Excel). Since then, different methods to random map generation have been developed, and I would like to research a number of them, before I decide on a final design direction. So, details regarding the internal logic and implementation of the Random Map Generator are currently unresolved.
目前的具体细节还没确定，会考虑当前流行的各种随机地图生成方法。

以下是Behemoth Cave的采访问答，共18问。

Obviously, the creator’s vision of the game often evolves while still developing the game. Some ideas are dropped out, new ideas come up and are implemented in the game. Some press materials contained unit concepts like the "Demilich" (flying green skull with horns, appendix 1), Kenneth Thomson’s “Lobstrosity” (appendix 2) or an aristocratic elf (appendix 3). Even after the release, we can find Fear spell icon or the Market of Time (the adventure map location) in the game files. Can you tell us something more about these elements/features that didn’t make it into the game? Also, Dendroids, Efreets, Zealots, Unicorns or Minotaurs and a couple of others - they all have additional animations and sounds which aren’t used by the game in any way. Is there any particular reason behind them? Were those units supposed to cast a spell on the battlefield, like Ogre Magi for example?
H3当初的设计者版本中存在一些设计废案，比如半巫妖（飞行的绿色有角骷髅头）、Kenneth Thomson的Lobstrosity，以及精灵贵族。甚至在游戏发售后还有恐惧法术的图标，以及时间市场（冒险地图上的特殊地点）这些内容在游戏文档中出现。你能介绍一下这些当初是怎么设计的么？以及还有部分怪物有一些未实装的额外动画和音效等等。
- Demilich: As you call it, the Demilich was supposed to be a Will-o-the-Wisp, for the Fortress. It was inspired by the Lost Soul monster from Doom, and was cut because we couldn’t get it to ‘glow’ properly.
- Lobstrosity: I didn’t see the Lobstrosity until long after I left NWC. It was a ‘secret’ Troop, and I had no knowledge it was in the game.
- Aristocratic Elf: I believe the Aristocratic Elf was an early draft version of the Grand Elf.
- Fear Spell: The Fear spell was ‘cut’ because it was little more than ‘bad morale’ in another form. Later, I thought it was better to convert the mechanic into the Fear ability for the Azure Dragon.
- Market of Time: Originally, the Market of Time was called ‘Brigadoon’. It would randomly appear after long periods of time, and for a Day, a Hero could purchase very high value artifacts and very cheap resources. It was ‘cut’ because it required new programing functionality, we were running out of development time, and I was worried players would ‘park’ a Hero at the destination and simply wait for the Market. Also, for the record, it was never a place where Heroes could unlearn Secondary Skills.
- Additional Animations and Sounds: There is no particular reason why certain characters didn’t get additional animations or sounds. I suspect it was typical miscommunication or misunderstanding.
半巫妖最初设计的是要塞族的鬼火，其灵感来自于Doom里的失落之魂，后来因为它没法正确的“发光”于是就删掉了。Lobstrosity这个在我离开NWC之前也没见过。精灵贵族我想应该就是早期版本的大精灵。恐惧法术这个被删掉是因为它和“士气低落”效果重复了，不过后来我给它安到了圣龙身上。时间市场最初设计是Brigadoon，其作用是在游戏后期出现，可以进去以高价购买强大的神器，或是低价购买资源，后来因为开发时间紧张就删掉了。其他的额外动画和音效这些没什么特殊原因，我猜可能是一些打字错误造成的。

Heroes III in its bestiary has plenty of mythological beasts (like Minotaurs, Medusas, Hydras) or creatures that are popular in fantasy in general (Dwarves, Dragons). What were your sources of inspiration while creating Heroes III - not only for creatures but also for spells and locations?
H3里面有各种各样神话怪物和生物。这些的原型是什么？
Nothing is created in a vacuum, and is always derived from various sources of inspiration. I looked at everything: paper and pencil RPG’s, table top games, card games, novels, comics, movies, and art books. For the various troops and spells, anything and everything was a potential source of inspiration.
原型来自于各种跑团游戏、卡牌游戏、小说、漫画、电影等等。

Can we find any direct reference to books and/or movies in the game?
有某些特定的小说或电影的梗么？
Obviously the cheat codes reference Star Wars the Phantom Menace, the Matrix, and Monty Python and the Holy Grail. As for in game assets, Gelu’s appearance was clearly inspired by Elric of Melnibone, and the Behemoth was derived from the Rancor in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.
例如秘籍主要来自于星战1幽灵的威胁、黑客帝国、巨蟒与圣杯。游戏内容的话，格鲁的外表来自于艾尔瑞克（麦克·摩考克1927年的奇幻小说中塑造的反英雄形象），比蒙则来自于星战3绝地归来里的兰苛。

Are there any heroes that are based on real people (beside Sir Mullich - David Mullich, Inteus - George Almond, Sir Christian - Christian Vanover)?
英雄的形象有来自于现实人物的么？
To my knowledge, there are only four...
- Sir Mullich: It’s relatively well known, Sir Mullich shares the name and likeness of David Mullich. While we were working on HoMM3, Might and Magic 6 was still in production, and needed people and costumes for various character portraits. Of course... David had a Renaissance Fair costume... and volunteered. When Phelan Sykes (Lead Artist) saw the final game asset, she couldn’t wait to tell me how goofy it looked. Immediately, I said to her, “We should put it in the game.” She told me she would clean up the portrait, get it game ready, and deliver it to John Bolton (Lead Programmer). When David was away on vacation, for birth of his first son (if I correctly recall), we put it into the game. Upon his return, we showed the ‘new’ Hero to him, and he got a chuckle out of it. Since then, he’s become one of HoMM3’s most famous Heroes.
- Inteus: Inteus shares a likeness with George Almond. George did all of the HoMM3 concept art, the manual cover, and the interface backgrounds. He also painted all the Hero portraits, so I’m not surprised he slipped himself into the game.
- Sir Christian: Sir Christian is named after Christian Vanover, but doesn’t look like him in the slightest. I don’t recall if Christian requested to be put into the game, or I did it as a goof. The entire Sir Christian secret campaign was made to poke fun at Chris, who was a good sport about it.
- Luna: Luna is based on a young lady from New World Computing tech support, who’s name I do not recall. After 3DO finished its acquisition of New World Computing, her job was moved to 3DO corporate, in Redwood City. I lost track of her after E3, in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1998.
据我所知有四个。
- Sir Mullich，这个众所周知，就是来自于David Mullich。当时我们正在制作H3和MM6，需要有志愿者来做人物头像的模特，Mullich自愿前来，而且做出来的效果不错。后来等他休假归来，我们就把他放进游戏里了。
- Inteus，基于George Almond，当时负责h3的主美，手册封面等等，他也负责人物头像绘制，所以自然把自己也画进去了。
- Sir Christian，基于Christian Vanover，不过不是很像。整个Sir Christian的隐藏战役都是开的一个小玩笑，他也很大度的接受了。
- Luna，应该是基于NWC技术支援组的一位女士，不过我想不起她的名字了。后来她就去3DO工作了。

Fanstratics月报#8#2021-04

Thu, 01 Apr 2021 08:45:12 GMT

来源：https://www.fanstratics.com/fstnewsletter08，以下由Heavenk翻译。

Fanstratics Faction #5: Krasadox.
Fanstratics阵营5：Krasadox
In the craggy, Arid desert, dwell the vulgar Krasadox. Unkind to the weak, their crass culture, like their environment, elevates the strong and debases the delicate. While most would consider them to be crude and barbaric, they consider confrontation to the purest form of respect and honesty. Nature is not cute. Nature is cruel and uncompromising. Why untie the knot, when you can hack through it? Why solve the puzzle box, when you can simply crush it? Krasadox believe in brutal efficiency. This faction will be familiar to anyone acquainted with HoMM3’s ‘Stronghold’. Representing the Krasadox is the Gnoll Spear Thrower, which can be viewed in the Fanstratics Gallery. This inclusion may surprise some, as the Gnoll was originally in HoMM3’s ‘Fortress’. When building the troop rosters for the various factions, relative themes were adjusted, and in the end... the Gnoll was a better fit with the Krasadox. So, a modification was made.
在崎岖干旱的大漠当中，居住着粗野的Krasadox一族。他们的文化就犹如沙漠环境一样对弱者极为苛刻，膜拜力量而鄙视柔弱。尽管大多数人认为他们粗鲁而野蛮，但他们自己却认为对抗才是最纯粹的尊敬与诚实的表现。自然并不可爱，自然残酷而强硬。既然能砍断绳结，又何苦费力去解开它；既然能摧毁魔盒，自然不比花时间去解谜。Krasadox一族信奉效率至上。这个派系会让人联想到英雄无敌3的据点族。Krasadox派系的代表是豺狼人投矛手，可以在Fanstratics Gallery看到设定图。这可能会让有些人震惊，毕竟英雄无敌3里豺狼人是要塞族的。当我们给各个派系组建军队时，相关的主题也发生了调整，因此最后，豺狼人会更适合Krasadox这个派系。

Fanstratics Feature: Legendary ‘Boss’ Battles.
Fanstratics特性：传奇的Boss战。
In last month’s ‘feature highlight’, I described the Troop Rally Ability as an old idea which never made it past the conceptual stage. Legendary Boss Battles is another such idea... and another logical one. If you look at HoMM3, it is clear where I wanted to have these events, specifically the ‘creature banks’. Why were full boss battles not implemented in HoMM3? Time. We simply didn’t have the time. Like the Troop Rally Ability, it was a new feature and would require new programming and more unique art. So, I quickly discarded the idea, and instead settled for battles where the Hero’s Army was ‘surrounded’ by the Enemy Army (versus the typical Left against Right arrangement). Later, with the Armageddon’s Blade expansion, we implemented the four neutral dragons (Faerie, Rust, Crystal, and Azure), which were arguably the game’s first boss creatures. While these dragons were more powerful, they were not what I ultimately wanted. Almost 10 years later, I specifically remember playing ‘King’s Bounty: The Legend’, encountering the ‘giant turtle’, and thinking to myself, “Yep. There it is.” There were other such encounters in ‘King’s Bounty: The Legend’: a giant spider, a giant lizardman, a giant demon, a giant mech, etc. My favorite was the Kraken. Regardless, for Fanstratics, the plan is to have one ‘boss’ loosely associated with each of the nine Factions.
传奇的Boss战是Fanstratics的另一个特性。在英3里我们就有类似的想法，不过最后由于开发时间问题没能实现。后来调整成了一些特定地点的战斗，也就是英雄的部队开场就被敌军包围的战斗（比如龙城）。到了末日之刃里，我们又引入了四种中立龙族，它们就属于游戏中最初的boss生物。后来，“国王的恩赐：传奇”里出现的巨龟让我又想到这个问题。总而言之，在Fanstratics中，九大派系都会有一个Boss与它们松散的对应起来。

It is very interesting to know if you are familiar with the gameplay and game mechanics of the subsequent games of Heroes of Might and Magic (IV — VII), and King’s Bounty Legends? Will you take ideas for the most successful game elements from there?
Fanstratics会不会采用一些英雄无敌后续作品或是国王的恩赐系列作品中的一些游戏要素？
Speaking of ‘King’s Bounty: The Legend’... While it is more difficult than ever before, due to the sheer quantity of games being published today, I do try to stay market informed. All of the HoMM’s, and HoMM related games, are typically on my radar, and if there is an idea or mechanic I find inspiring... yes... I try to incorporate it. I’d be a fool to ignore a good idea. Keep in mind, for all the people who love a unique element from a specific game, there are always others who hate it. Obviously, as a game designer, this results in a ‘no win’ situation. For myself, this leads to what I find so interesting about this question. It gets to the inherent conflict of any creative endeavor... audience expectations versus author aspirations. Game development is a production triathlon. It requires focused attention, one day after the next, over the course of years. If I’m not in love with the product I’m creating... my desire will evaporate and the production will falter. I must create the game I long to play. With this in mind, for Fanstratics, I have two general design guidelines. First... do I find ‘it’ inspiring (author)? Second... is ‘it’ in the spirit of the original HoMM games (audience)? If I believe the answer to both questions is ‘yes’... I work to integrate ‘it’ into the game (time and budget permitting).
废话了一大堆，不过核心就是有参照这些作品中他觉得有趣的地方，有优点不吸收不是傻么。

In my humble opinion, you should definitely consider making the game cross platform. Many users are switching to Apple and Linux.
游戏有没有跨平台的打算，特别是iOS和Linux平台？
HoMM3 was eventually ported to Linux, so a part of me wants to continue this tradition. Unity makes compiling the game for Linux relatively easy, Steam encourages developers to port their games to Linux, and there’s always Wine. It’s testing, with different distros, with different hardware configurations, where things become complicated. In the end, it’s a cost/benefit issue, with the ultimate question being, “Will we sell enough copies on Linux to reap the costs spent converting and testing the game?” All I can say is, “We will look into it.”
未来会考虑。归根结底这是个投入产出比的问题。

以下是Behemoth Cave的采访问答，共18问。

Let's begin with a topic that always raises a lot of controversy among the community: The Heavenly Forge. Story about the futuristic town and the negative reaction of the Heroes’ fandom which lead to cancelation of the project is well known. The whole criticism was mainly based on materials for the press containing the pictures and information about infamous Naga Tanks, Zombies with chainsaws and Minotaurs with jetpacks. Was this really the actual, up-to-date vision on Heavenly Forge at the time?
关于天堂铸造厂的问题。当初E3上放出的铸造族信息，是当时实际准备推出的内容么？
Yes. Everything now known, was planned, with some obvious exceptions (i.e. the Naga Tanks were not going to be partly nude).
是的，目前所有已知的信息都是当时计划推出的内容，只有部分有所调整，比如娜迦坦克当时并没打算设计成半裸的。

Have you considered “mitigating the design”, “toning it down”?
当初有没有考虑过对铸造族进行适当的调整？
We did go back-and-forth, to a minor degree, about how we might ‘adapt’ the concept, but after the controversy... we were basically unmotivated. We soured on the concept after the negative reaction and the subsequent rift with a portion of the fandom. In the end, it was easier, and more comfortable, to move onto the Conflux, which was waiting in the wings.
考虑过，也尝试过，不过最后发现最轻松的方式还是直接换成当时已经准备好的元素族。

What other ideas for this faction came up among the Heroes 3 developers team?
当初英3制作组还有哪些打算推出的种族？
Jennifer Bullard and the map making team proposed the idea of a Clockwork Town, but I shot it down. New World Computing’s (NWC) art staff was struggling with the Forge, and I had lost confidence in their ability to craft anything not fantasy related.
Jennifer Bullard和地图制作组当时提议出一个齿轮族，不过我否决了这一建议。NWC的美术组当时正在发愁于铸造族的事情，我对于他们还有没有精力搞出另一个非奇幻相关种族实在没有信心。

After all these years, can you shed some new light on the technology present in the world of M&M?
这么多年过去了，你对于魔法门世界中的科技要素有什么新的看法？
When it comes to deep Might and Magic lore, Paul Rattner is really the best person to ask, but I will do my best. To start, I’m not sure what you mean by ‘new light’, as what is publicly known is relatively accurate. Regardless, from my understanding, at its most basic, the idea was simple. ‘Ancient’ high technology machines, typically hidden, could be accessed and manipulated to produce ‘magical’ events, via ‘physical and mental ritual’. This excluded high tech machines, such as the Heavenly Forge, which made magical artifacts via simple instruction.
我不是这块的行家，不过在我看来，内容其实很简单。远古神民的高科技机器早已隐藏在历史当中，如果能获得它们，则可以制造一些“魔法”事件，比如某些肉体或精神的仪式。这样可以排除像天堂铸造厂一类只需简单指令就可以生产魔法神器的高科技机械。

Abandoning the idea of Forge also left an empty slot for a new town in expansion, the Armageddon’s Blade. In the end, Conflux made it into the game - a mix of elemental forces. How do you feel about this decision?
你对元素族替代铸造族的决定有什么看法？
In the end, I was satisfied with how it transpired. In general, I like the Conflux town, but I do wish there had been more time to flesh it out.
最终我是认可这个决定的，而且我也喜欢元素族，只是希望能有更多的时间打磨一下。

Have you considered any alternatives for the 9th faction? If so, can you name any of them?
你对第9种族有什么其他的设想么？
As I mentioned, Jennifer Bullard and the map making team came up with the idea for a Clockwork Town, which I liked, but as I mentioned, I had strong doubts the NWC art staff could deliver. Personally, at the time, I didn’t have any further factions in reserve. This doesn’t mean more couldn’t be done, but the overall plan was two new towns (Forge and Conflux), followed by a pure map pack. In the end, it became two expansions: 1 new town (AB) and 1 pure map pack (SoD). Later, the Chronicles were added, which collectively could be considered a third expansion, but this was long after I left NWC.
就像刚才提到的，Jennifer Bullard他们提出了一个齿轮族的想法，我挺喜欢，但是我怀疑当时NWC有能力做出来。就我自己而言，并没有什么特定的想法。

	Lawful	Neutral	Chaotic
Good	Castle	Tower	Rampart
Neutral	Fortress	Conflux	Stronghold
Evil	Necropolis	Dungeon	Inferno

	守序	中立	混乱
善良	城堡	塔楼	壁垒
中立	要塞	元素	据点
邪恶	墓园	地下城	地狱

英雄世界 - 游戏人的家英雄无敌专题站

挖坑

征服之歌提前体验开启

Fanstratics月报#21#2022-05

Fanstratics月报#20#2022-04

Fanstratics月报#19#2022-03

Fanstratics月报#18#2022-02

3AMM

Fanstratics月报#17#2022-01

Fanstratics月报#16#2021-12

Fanstratics月报#15#2021-11

Fanstratics月报#14#2021-10

Fanstratics月报#13#2021-09

Fanstratics月报#12#2021-08

Fanstratics月报#11#2021-07

征服之歌 - Songs of Conquest

点击图片查看2021年E3宣传视频

圣战群英传：解放

Every choice has a cost点击图片查看公布动画

Fanstratics月报#10#2021-06

Kings Bounty II — Unite Them or Fall

Fanstratics月报#9#2021-05

Fanstratics月报#8#2021-04

Every choice has a cost
点击图片查看公布动画