On the fence, help me choose?

[Agilaz]

So, I'm a big fan of the HoMM series. I played HoMM 1-3 to death back in the day, skipped over 4 due to "old man syndrome", and today I decided to try the HoMM VI demo.

I enjoyed it, though the amount streamlining (aka "dumbing down") is really obvious. Still, it was a good experience and before I knew it, almost two hours had passed.

But now I keep hearing about how the game is still littered with bugs, how the online component sucks and how HoMM 5 is just flat-out the better game, despite HoMM 6 being prettier. But then, HoMM 6 has no map editor and not a large selection of maps. Also, no random map generation?

So I'm kinda torn between getting HoMM 6 (w/ the upcoming expansion) or getting HoMM 5 (w/ Tribes of the East). Which would you guys recommend based on unit/hero/city variety, map variety, online component and community activity? Graphics are not a big issue for me, nor is the AI since I intend to play mostly against people.

I might also crosspost this in the HoMM 5 hub, to get a broader range or replies. Thanks in advance!

[Darkchicken]

For not playing Heroes 4, you didnt miss anything, worst HoMM i have ever played. The only redeeming quality was the music.

I keep hearing about bugs in HoMM6 but ive done some campaign quests and played with friend (i think im close to 50 hours) and the only thing that happened to me was a disconnect (but the game autosave quite often even in multiplayer so i lost a turn). People say nvidia got problem but i run a gtx670 and i ran a gtx470 before and everything is good , i got no trouble with the game so perhaps im lucky. It had tons of bugs in the beta though but it was a beta.

Both 5 and 6 are really fun. I find the strategic aspect in 6 funner though since all creatures got alot of abilities to keep track of but in both 5-6 AI is got bad habits.

I think in the expension they intend to put a map editor or i saw an interview where they talked about it, cant wait for it! :D

I mostly say play 5 because i love dungeons and the dwarves but been playing 6 the past few days and its winning me over, mostly because of the leveling system, legacy , new heroes look etc. Love that

[mccloud]

Originally posted by Darkchicken:

For not playing Heroes 4, you didnt miss anything, worst HoMM i have ever played. The only redeeming quality was the music.

+1

Originally posted by Darkchicken:

Both 5 and 6 are really fun. I find the strategic aspect in 6 funner though since all creatures got alot of abilities to keep track of but in both 5-6 AI is got bad habits.

This man speaks the truth :) As far as unit/city/hero variety goes, both are pretty equal, difference is H6 has less factions, but on the other hand you have large amount of heroes plus you can create your own from scratch, which is an enormous plus for me.

Can't comment on online multi coz I don't play it. But I am a HOMM fan and can make your choice easier :

- If you want a HOMM3-type of game, flawless, deep, etc. - get Heroes 5 plus Tribes of the East expansion at least - it fixes a lot of stuff and balances the game pretty nice. The other expansion adds Dwarves faction, which I didn't like and ... that's pretty much it.

- If you want a slightly dumbed down version of H3 (it is easier but still not broken and bland) with great graphics, sound, cool campaign (if you like that stuff) and addictive gameplay, get the upcoming expansion of Heroes 6 - Shades of Darkness - it will be standalone so you won't need the original game and you get 1 extra faction for the same price.

If I had to choose a game for multi, it will probably be H5, but overall H6 is better imho.

[Agilaz]

Thanks for your input. So far, I'm leaning towards HoMM V, but I still have some time to decide. I'm kinda worried about V's balance though, I heard certain factions/units are clearly imba compared to others.

[mccloud]

That could be true in multiplayer, I don't know as I only play single and occasionally hotseat against AI.
When H5 launched, some factions were indeed more powerful than others but that was not such a big deal in single player. Nevertheless, as time passed they fixed pretty much all of it and the final version of Tribes of the East was very well balanced.

Of course, in multiplayer things could be different as people always find new and exciting ways of screwing the other players lol. Plus, hero skills are somewhat random and even if you wanted to, it might not be possible to build the perfect killing machine hero with all the perfect skills you want. It will be close but not entirely. That helps avoid situations like "oh no, he's faction A, I am faction B, I have no chance", because you might get all perfect skills on your hero, while half of the other player's skills may end up being rubbish and break his "cookie cutter" build.

[Agilaz]

I actually kinda liked that random factor. I remember in Heroes 3, especially with WoG, you could be dealt a really good or a really ♥♥♥♥♥♥ hand at the start of the game. Up to you to make it work, nevertheless. :p

[mccloud]

Yea, random is bad in my book but it adds diversity so it's OK in a Heroes game. Flagging a sharpshooter building in first week or getting an utopia right next to your castle brings nice o-sh*t moments later on :)

[Ghostangel]

Frankly speaking, I wouldn't recommend H6.
H5 is far more balanced (well, assuming you got the expansion), has more variety, a nice multiplayer aspect (fast paced with sim turns, or filling the waiting time with the ghost mode) and is not utterly bugged on nvidia gpu (well, it seems that some people can play normally even with nvidia gpu and the latest driver, lucky guys~, in my case, I'm forced to play with the Intel HD graphics 3000 integrated in my CPU, or downgrade my drivers)

IMHO, H3 and H5 are the best titles of the series, and now H4 and H6 are fighting for the position of being the worse (well, H4 is probably still winning for that position though).

And remember that a lot of things will probably never be fixed or improved in the original game engine even with expansion dlc, since the original dev studio (Black Hole Entertainement) went bankrupt and stopped its activities. The current dev studio, Virtuos, just don't have the required knowledges on the H6 game engine that would allow them to properly fix the bugs and add new features. They will mostly just add new content (faction, unit, skills, ...), unless someone gives them the money to actually take the time to look into the game engine (well, it would probably be better to just make a new game instead).

Oh and H6 already includes a map editor (you cannot launch it from the game itself, but its a separate program included in the game files), but it's known to be uselessly complex and they don't have plan to improve it anytime soon.

A few questions answered there by a Ubisoft team member: http://heroescommunity.com/viewthread.php3?TID=38375&pagenumber=1

Originally posted by some Ubisoft guy:

- Overall, will you improve anything from the actual game? Or just add content?

Our main goal is to add content for sure, meaning 2 new campaigns but also 1 new faction (Dungeon). Other than that, we¢re also fixing issues and bugs still present in the game, but won¢t improve existing features or add new ones. We know that many players asked us for more improvements but we couldn¢t do it for a reason that the current engine is not flexible enough to let us changing features, or add new ones (especially Sim Turns and Battle Replays). Indeed, we would have to change the engine architecture to implement such features.

- Will we get an improved map editor (with possibilities to put bosses/Dynasty weapons on our map)?

Unfortunately, as stated by Limbic and Ubisoft during Heroes VI Support, it is not possible to improve the Map Editor. Indeed, we would have to create a new Map Editor from scratch in order to provide you an user friendly and accessible tool, which would take a lot of time and resources. We then decided to focus on the expansion content, as our goal is to provide you a brand new faction (with new skills and units) and quality content for the Dungeon faction.

[Vexov]

Ubisoft gave the game a low budget, they spent cheap... and so we got a cheap game. The game is beautiful, visualy and music.. but thats really all.
After over 2 years they game is still hardly at a point were it should have been released, Ubi has no plans other then making content (like 3 maps, some items, a few heros). H6 should have been as good as H5 (aside from H5's large lack of maps, and comps taking 5-10min turns).
I honestly dislike most of the creatures in H6, not that i dislike having females in games but seems like they were forced in... too many spirit creatures >.<

Ubisoft never gave a damn about the game, it shows greatly. I would play H5 if it wasn't for the lack of maps(could play custom maps, but thoes don't tend to be that great as a well made and balanced map).

[Mondo]

Sins HOMM 6 came out have there been 2 dlc which have fixed som bugs and now are getting a 3rd dlc which is a true expancen where we will get 3 new towns. The Dark elfs, The Dwarfs and the Acadamy.
In the new dlc there will be alot of fixes but i do not know if there will be a map maker
it's also impornet to say that they have made a lot of patch one which had the 3D town screens

While we don't have a map make we have a hero make so we can make a personal hero
it is not a redeeming factor it is a nice touch

sorry if there any mistakes in the spelling i have dyslexia

[Agilaz]

♥♥♥♥ it, I'll get both. I'll start with the HoMM V bundle off of GOG (15 euros for the base game and BOTH expansions), and then get VI here on Steam next time it goes on sale. There, solved. :d

[HoboTed]

just get the expansion for 29.00 or how ever many euros shades of darkness will be cheaper and will have the dungeion faction

[Mondo]

true
and the dwarfs and the acdamy

[Justice]

As far as I know new Shades of Darkness stand alone does not feature any other new faction besides Dungeon. It does features 2 new campaigns (Probably Realag and Sandro story continues). As for the my opinion of the game well... I am long time Heroes fan like most of you people here and as for most of you nothing will be as good as our memories of homm 1-3, but i think Heroes 6 is a game that is worth your time. Since the release they fixed and balanced out game alot. That is promising in my opinion and even though there is no typical mage guild/spellbook like you are used to new skill system leaves alot to mix and try out. I was suprised when thru my campaign playtrus i tried different builds on main hero how it was fun and different experience. I hope my insight helps.

[Mondo]

Dwarf and Acdamy should be in it too
but i might be wrong

[Agilaz]

So let me get this straight - if I buy Shades of Darkness, will have everything the base game offers plus the new factions and campaigns? If so, doesn't that screw over all the people who bought the base game and now have to pay full price for less content?