Fanstratics, "Наследник духа Героев от ведущего дизайнера трешки" Опции

[hommer]

Червь очень крутой. Скорее всего представляет чернокнижников.
Оплот как Оплот, ожидаемо.
Остальное - опять вода.
Напрягает, что число подписчиков растёт всё медленнее от месяца к месяцу. А ведь по его расчётам для успешного Кикстартера надо минимум 50000.

[WarZealot]

Гремлины были более привычны, поэтому они сделали разрез.

Что гремлины сделали?
Идиома "to make the cut" означает соответствие требованием, выбор чего-то из списка кандитатов, никто никого не резал.)

[feanor]

Червь очень крутой. Скорее всего представляет чернокнижников.

Хрен знает
Если фракции постятся по элайнментам, то у нас щас три злых, и если с гулем из *Некрополя все понятно, то для *Чернокнижников и гнолл, и червь равновероятны.
Плюс еще немного на то, что их вообще не будет как таковых, попилят на две фракции злых магов.

[Slavic boy]

Ну что вы гадаете то? Всё вполне очевидно. Червь из фабрики же

[Mefista]

Червь очень крутой. Скорее всего представляет чернокнижников.

Ну, кроме подземной расы, он ни у кого быть и не может, зачем иначе почва разрытая вокруг)))

Плюс еще немного на то, что их вообще не будет как таковых, попилят на две фракции злых магов.

Но да, при всем при этом, это могут быть и не чернокнижники. Может, подземные демоны какие.

[tolich]

Желчный червь... Не то какая-то хрень из глубин, не то гельминт.

[Mefista]

Желчный червь... Не то какая-то хрень из глубин, не то гельминт.

Паразитный червь из дракона)
Но, скорее всего, он просто кислотою рыгается.

[hippocamus]

Ну, кроме подземной расы, он ни у кого быть и не может, зачем иначе почва разрытая вокруг)))

А почему в ХотЕ - может?

[Mefista]

Ну, кроме подземной расы, он ни у кого быть и не может, зачем иначе почва разрытая вокруг)))

А почему в ХотЕ - может?

Немного перепутал, на чтоя делаю акцент :Р

[hommer]

Очередные новости. На сей раз инфы побольше.

(Раскрыть)

Hey, All.



Welcome. Hope each of you is doing relatively well.



With this Newsletter, I’m making a couple changes. First, this will be last update on subscriber numbers. As to the reason why, see Questions, Answers & Comments.



Last Newsletter: ~2725.

This Newsletter: ~2900.



Second, I’m going to begin talking ‘features’.



As for this month's Troop concept sketch, I give you the Medusa Vanguard. For those of you who want to see Justin actually render the drawing, you can watch a VOD of his Twitch stream here... https://tinyurl.com/v2t8p9de



Also, a quick shoutout to Tim Lang and Aeolwyn’s Legacy. Tim and I both worked at New World Computing (NWC), but our paths rarely crossed. However, I do have one story.



HoMM3 was winding down. HoMM3 Armageddon’s Blade and Might and Magic 7 were both ramping up. Frequently, when a project needed additional staff, the first place we looked was Quality Assurance (QA). Jennifer Bullard and a couple of HoMM3 Map Makers asked me to try and bring Tim onto the team. Subsequently, I went into a meeting with Paul Rattner (MM7 Design Lead) where we talked personnel. At the time, we had already solidified our teams, with a couple exceptions. Tim was one of those exceptions. When I told Paul, I wanted Tim on the HoMM3 team, he flatly said, ”I talked to Tim. He doesn’t want to work on Heroes. He wants to work on Might and Magic.” I must admit to feeling oddly rejected. Tim was the first person I’d encountered who didn’t want to work on HoMM3. Regardless, Tim went on to work on MM7, MM9, and more. Ironically, Tim and I have chatted more in the past few months, than the entirety of my time at NWC.



As always, ‘thank you’ to everyone who wrote, especially those with positive sentiments. If you have any questions or comments, regarding Fanstratics (FST) or Heroes of Might and Magic 3 (HoMM3), feel free to send them along, and I’ll try to answer them in future newsletters (newsletter@fanstratics.com). Please keep in mind, it may take at least 7 days before I reply.



This month, I have seven initial questions, followed by the final part of my lengthy interview with Tavern of Might and Magic.



Until next time.





Greg

Fanstratics Game Director & Designer





*****

(Questions, Answers & Comments)





Fanstratics Faction #4: Necrotics.

Lifeforce drained from the living, is most sweet when consumed at the moment of their inevitable death. To this end, tyrannical Necromancers create and control vast hordes of undead, directing them to consume all... to feed their immortality addiction. Decayed on the outside, dead on the inside, the diseased Necrotic exist on the vacillating Dead Lands. Forever they creep forward... unrelenting... unforgiving... unbowed. Playing the undead can be a lot of fun, so... did anyone really think there wouldn’t be a faction in the spirit of HoMM3’s ‘Necropolis’? Representing the Necrotic is the Feral Vampire, which can be viewed in the Fanstratics Gallery.





The HOMM series has a storied history but doesn't really have consistency since it has been remade and its previous canon thrown away every time. Are you planning for the longevity of what you're attempting to make? Are you planning to keep the great writing that made HoMM3 so great going in your successor?



My goal for Fanstratics (FST) is ‘longevity’. There may be other stories, involving different characters from different continents, but I would prefer to stick with one world and one line of characters. Truthfully, I didn’t have a lot of time to work on HoMM3s’s story elements, and map makers were given relative freedom to work within established guidelines. With FST, I want to lay a strong foundation and put a considerable amount of effort into the story. We’ll see what happens. There are many hurdles to overcome.



For its time, the graphics for HoMM3 were insanely good, and the method of producing sprites from 3d models made it age like fine wine - it still looks good to this very day (if somewhat small/low res). Something very typical and important in H3 spirit, imo, is the photo-realistic environment. And overall, I think the "realistic" side is an important point, 'cause it makes me feel like going for a true adventure back in old times, not playing a random video game inspired by Japanese anime. For example, for me the undead has to be kind of "sober", not as colorful and distorted as in H5 or Warcraft3, where it feels like Halloween in Disneyland.

Your point regarding sprites from 3D models is well taken, but keep in mind, HoMM4 also produced sprites from 3D models. In my opinion, it really comes down to the people involved: Phelan Sykes, Scott White, Adam McCarthy, George Almond, and David Mullich. Phelan and Scott were not involved in HoMM4... and it showed.



Fanstratics’ art will be 3D, but with a forced perspective mimicking an old school 2D presentation (sometimes called 2.5D). This type of interaction is habitual for every HoMM3 player, and I believe it is important to stick with what is familiar. As for the art style, we are attempting to fashion a ‘realistic fairy tale’ or ‘creative caricature’, which I believe Justin Gerard is accomplishing. Just as the game play will be a spiritual successor to HoMM3, I want to art style to also be a spiritual successor.



How soon can we get some map pictures, town screens, or some tiny video?

Unfortunately, images or video are a long way off. For a couple of reasons, my approach to development has been ‘design and programming first’. This means art and audio will be fashioned only after most of the design and programming are in place. While this method is more efficient and cost effective, the approach is uncommon as it requires ‘vision’.



Most people have a difficult time ‘seeing’ anything unless it is shown to them. One of the reasons developers produce ‘fake demos’ for publishers, management, media, and gamers, is to ‘show’ them the ‘vision’ for the game they are attempting to make.



In 1998, at E3 in Atlanta, I sat on a chair for eight hours a day, showcasing HoMM3 to numerous industry people. Our HoMM3 E3 demo was effectively fake, but it got HoMM3 the mainstream press coverage it needed. It also helped the team ‘see’ what we were building.



Remember the ‘No Man’s Sky’ demos from 2013 and 2014? Heavily scripted. If Sean Murray didn’t have a scripted demo, how many people could have ‘seen’ what he was talking about? Remember Cyberpunk 2077’s demo from 2018? Heavily scripted. I’m not excusing what Hello Games and CDPR did, but I understand how and why it happened.



Overall, fake demos are a deceptive practice, but without it, most developers cannot get the external or internal support they need. As for myself, I know asking people to wait is asking a lot, but I want to avoid producing a ‘scripted demo’. So... as I mentioned... images or video are a long way off. Which leads me into the next question...



To successfully crowd fund the game, you say you need 50,000 subscribers, yet you have less than 3,000. Are you concerned? When do you see a possible release happening?

Truthfully, I’m satisfied to see we’re closing in on 3,000. I do sincerely wish I was emailing 50,000 people each month, but I don’t expect to see subscriber numbers accelerate until I reach out to the mainstream media. I can only reach out to the mainstream media when I have a collection of screenshots, clips, and a video. Anything short of this will simply be ignored (as for the reasons detailed above). Until I have more to show, I’m content to fly under the radar, communicating specifically with the hardcore fans. So, to avoid any concerns, miscommunication, or misunderstanding, I’m removing the ongoing subscriber count.



As for the game’s release, I have a very, very loose timeline for Fanstratics. This year’s goal is to program, program, and program, while finalizing the game’s design. If things go reasonably well, I want to crowd fund sometime in 2022, with an Early Access release sometime in 2023. I know it’s a long time to wait, but it’s the eternal dilemma of ‘good-fast-cheap (pick two)’. At this stage, I can only afford good and cheap, so development will be slow.



For some perspective, consider Valheim, which sold over 3,000,000 copies in February, and is still in Early Access. Most people don’t know the game’s Steam page has been live since October of 2018. In January of 2020, they had ~5,100 Steam followers, with ~50,000 wish lists. Prior to February of 2021, they had ~1,700 Twitter followers, but now have over ~58,000.



What changed? A couple mid-tier Twitch streamers played the game. Soon thereafter, larger Twitch streamers liked what they saw and joined in. Add in some Youtubers and the game took off like a rocket. I’d surprised if there weren’t some complimentary Steam keys handed out, but the point is this... at this stage, ~3,000 non-Steam newsletter subscribers isn’t bad.



Fanstratics Feature List.

Why am I now revealing a list of features? Since June of 2020, I have sent a Fanstratics Game Proposal to different publishers, venture capitalists, game investments firms, and government grant programs. At this point, what I am attempting to do is not really a secret, so I thought... why not publish the features list and expand upon each one every month?



Keep in mind, these are ‘new’ features, in addition to those commonly expected from a HoMM inspired game. Also, this list avoids detailing the real core of the game: heroes, troops, spells, skills, destinations, structures, etc. Some items have been purposely omitted as they have been mentioned before (fully 3D game, 6 resources not 7, etc.), and others have been purposely omitted (i.e. spells, skills, etc.) as they are currently unresolved. In the end, I suspect most fans will find the proposed items to be relatively logical and evolutionary. Please remember, if a feature does not work as envisioned... it will be cut. Nothing is set in stone.



9 Playable Factions

Base and Alternate Troop Types

Troop Rally Ability (this month’s feature)

Ether Gate Structure

Player Determined Weekly Events

Battlefield Artifacts

Artifact Upgrade System

Legendary ‘Boss’ Battles

Experience Potions

Quality of Life & HotA Efficiencies

2 or 3 Campaigns and ~45 Solo Maps

Hardcore Mode

Community Map Editor & Random Map Generator



As for this month’s feature, I’m going to start with... Troop Rally Ability.



Feature: Troop Rally Ability.

For those of you who haven’t already figured it out, this feature is clearly inspired by Street Fighter, and was actually an old idea I had back in 1997, when I was working on HoMM3. I didn’t push for it in HoMM3 for a couple of reasons. First, I was already asking for a lot of new features, and the programmers had their hands full. Second, I thought it was foisting upon the fanbase, too much complication too quickly.



Now, as to the feature... on the Battlefield, in the course of basic attack and defense, a Troop Division will accumulate ‘Energy’. When a Troop Division acquires 100% Energy, it earns the option to activate a Rally Ability (aka. a Super or an Ultimate). Each Rally Ability is relatively unique to each Troop Type, and largely amplifies a Troop’s unique attributes for one action. Conceptually, the purpose of the Rally Ability is to add an extra layer of strategy to Battlefield Combat. Specifically, ‘focusing down’ a Troop Division may not be the best or most obvious tactic.

Юнит - медуза:

Судя по трезубцу, да и по логике, отталкиваясь от ранее представленных юнитов, представляет морскую фракцию.

[hommer]

По списку фич:
9 Playable Factions
Круто, если так. Надеюсь, он соберёт достаточный бюджет, и урезать не придётся.
Base and Alternate Troop Types
Тут не совсем понятно - речь о полноценных альтернативах по типу четвёрки или альтернативных формах юнита как в пятёрке. Я надёюсь на первое, но и второе неплохо. Вообще, интересно какой формат лайнапа, сколько тиров и юнитов у каждой фракции.
Troop Rally Ability (this month’s feature)
Заряжаемая супер-абилка у каждого юнита. Ну, не знаю... Я бы прям поголовно всем подобное не раздавал. Должны быть и юниты с мощными абилками, и просто мясо. Особенно, если ориентироваться именно на тройку. Избыток абилок, как по мне, излишне перегружает боевую механику и часто снижает динамику, что очень критично.
Ether Gate Structure
Не понятно.
Player Determined Weekly Events
Тоже не ясно. Тип следующей недели будет как-то зависеть от действий игроков? В общем, требует раскрытия.
Battlefield Artifacts
Тоже нет ясности. Артефакты, подбираемые прямо в бою и не сохраняющиеся после его окончания? Контрольные точки с бонусами? Но, в любом случае, это скорее всего опять усложнение структуры боёвки. Я лично против такого.
Artifact Upgrade System
Такое себе... Фишка геройского геймплея в исследовании карты с целью нахождения всё более крутых ништячков, в том числе и артефактов. И в планировании в зависимости от того, что нашёл. А тут, получается, нашёл самый примитивный щит, и качаешь его.
Legendary ‘Boss’ Battles
ИМХО, нецелесообразное расходование ресурсов разработки. Лучше побольше монстров, в том числе имбовых нейтралов, которые при необходимости как раз и могут выполнять роль боссов.
Experience Potions
Ну, есть и есть.
Quality of Life & HotA Efficiencies
Тут не понял. Ориентирование на "эффективную игру", как в Хоте?
2 or 3 Campaigns and ~45 Solo Maps
45 карт для базовой сборки - норм. Что касается кампаний, то количество само по себе мало что говорит, важно количество миссий в них и ориентировочное количество часов на прохождение.
Hardcore Mode
Это хорошо.
Community Map Editor & Random Map Generator
Собственно, самое главное для героеподобной игры.

[tolich]

8/9

[Haart of the Aby...]

Quality of Life & HotA Efficiencies
Тут не понял. Ориентирование на "эффективную игру", как в Хоте?

Имеется в виду "эффективность" интерфейсная. Не в плане удобства как такового (оно входит в первую часть, quality of life — "удобство интерфейса" на современном сленге), а именно в плане возможности совершать действия максимально быстро (тем, кому это надо). Хота и ХД в этом плане многое сделали — нет паузы в начале боя, доп. 2 супербыстрых скорости, посещение объектов/ресурсов без необходимости жать "ок" в окошке, быстрая скупка войск и обмены… Поэтому он такого рода вещи с ней и ассоциирует.

А медуза милишник, похоже.

[tolich]

Ну, или швыряет головы во врагов...

[Mefista]

А сиськи шея у нее где?

[tolich]

Прячет где-то под причёской.

Как Лючия крылья.

[Mefista]

Понятия не имею, кто это. Я имела в виду, она непонятно, где начинается, да и сиськи, собственно, тоже неизвестно где. Ну и голова маленькая...эх,чувствую,наш ожидает полумультяшная варкрафтощина Т_Т

[feanor]

Судя по тому, куда уходят плечи - хорошо, что она прячет её под прической.

[WarZealot]

Скорее небеса упадут на землю, а хотакрю релизнет фордж, чем мефиста перестанет везде видеть варкрафт.

[Macron1]

Верните медузе достоинства!