Homm4 - the Good, the Bad, the Ugly

[thinkingamer]

1 thing about the patch: homm4 before the patch lasted about 2 hours then crashed, but with the patch it crashes every week! (7 turns), but then im playing a saved game before the patch, so maybe that can be the reason....

[Asher]

Actually by far the most popular warez HOMM4 is the UK version anyway.

[thinkingamer]

(note: i do admit that my PC is not a stable one)


I just downloaded the patch version 1.3. After and after 2 hours of play the results are:

No patch: it crashes every 20 min.
1.2: it makes the game crash every 10 min.
1.3: it makes the game crash every 30 min.

Conclusion: Homm 4 will never be stable as HOMM3 (crashed like 3 times in 4-5 years)

[chronocrator]

I have no problems with the unpatched version, it never crashed, I still want the patch though since it changes gameplay a bit. Patch 1.3 is out but no German patch has been released yet.

[moomin]

The UK patch is actually out, although it's difficult to download - 3DOs ftp servers are sloooowwwww and it weigths in at a whoppin' 16 MB. I let my home computer chew on it before I left for work. We'll see if things have improved tonight.

[chronocrator]

I am quite sure the German version of patch 1.2 isn't out yet.

[Standup]

16MB even with my shiny new ISDN line that could take me a while. Anyone seen it on any (UK) magazine CDs ?
Even if not i've got Morrowind arriving tomorrow so i'm sure that'll keep me amused. Collector's edition (£52 - well it was the only one left) so i'll need to make sure i get to the post before the girlfriend as i don't think she'll understand !

[OzzyMander]

I was all merry when i heard that my friend got it, i ofcourse went to see how it was like, it sucked alot. ill rather make new maps to 3 and play them than go buy 4 and play it.

Its a really shame how they make new and "better" games with more of 3D support nowadays. They end up being lousyest games ever came on the market..

[Standup]

I keep getting the address not available messge. I presume this is becuase of low bandwidth and lots of people wanting to download the patch ? Has anyone got the non-US patch installed ?

[chronocrator]

I actually prefer HoMM4 to any previous part concerning gameplay (have not played HoMM 1 though ). The new magic system is well done IMO and I prefer the new battles with heroes and instant defense, too.
I agree that the graphics aren't that good. BTW there are no 3d graphics in it, there are some prerendered graphics though, but no 3d card is needed.
What annoys me are the poorly designed campaigns. There's usually an exit-portal somewhere near your first town and whenever you move your main hero away from it a level 1 enemy comes through and threatens to take your town. Dividing your forces between your town and your moving hero makes the latter weak so it often isn't a good solution either. Each mission usually takes quite long because I always have to defend my colony from those coming through the one-way portals. Well at least I got the "Town Portal" spell when playing the order campaign, but that doesn't help much once I've got my second town. I wish they would hwould have gotten rid of the one-way portals but then the AI wouldn't be any danger I guess...

[moomin]

Originally posted by chronocrator
I actually prefer HoMM4 to any previous part concerning gameplay (have not played HoMM 1 though ).

I agree the overall system is the best yet. Magic and specialization is great. Remeber how your main hero always winded up looking just the same as every other main hero in H3? No more. But there are holes - AI, lack of TP - that get very annoying soon enough as you play.

[QUOTE]
The new magic system is well done IMO and I prefer the new battles with heroes and instant defense, too.
[/QUTOE]

The heroes in battle system will be _very_ difficult in MP. Very entertaining in SP, for sure.

What annoys me are the poorly designed campaigns. There's usually an exit-portal somewhere near your first town and whenever you move your main hero away from it a level 1 enemy comes through and threatens to take your town. Dividing your forces between your town and your moving hero makes the latter weak so it often isn't a good solution either. Each mission usually takes quite long because I always have to defend my colony from those coming through the one-way portals. Well at least I got the "Town Portal" spell when playing the order campaign, but that doesn't help much once I've got my second town. I wish they would hwould have gotten rid of the one-way portals but then the AI wouldn't be any danger I guess...

My main beef with gameplay is that they removed the TP spell. Caravans - the propsed solution to the hero chain - just plain suck. This renders games larger than normal virtually unplayable, I think.

The AI is just to lousy as is. And given the annoying layout of the campaigns, they will be very close to impossible if they ever fix it to H3 level.

[moomin]

Originally posted by Standup
I keep getting the address not available messge. I presume this is becuase of low bandwidth and lots of people wanting to download the patch ? Has anyone got the non-US patch installed ?

Got it installed here. It's nice - battle shadows and grid are finally in. Although the grid is close to useless, unfortunately. The battle shadowing just rocks. The memery leak seems plugged. The music now works without a hitch. But the AI still sucks.

[Sava]

In terms of the copy protection... go to http://www.gamecopyworld.com/ and you can get something to disable it.

[chronocrator]

Originally posted by moominparatrooper The heroes in battle system will be _very_ difficult in MP. Very entertaining in SP, for sure.

That could be true. Devils with their teleport ability could mean instant death to the enemy hero. Since the AI isn't using that strategy, combat is still fun but in MP many player will try to kill the enemy hero asap and there devils won't be much fun in that situation. It seems like the game needs to be reballanced for MP... on the other hand heroes can be freed again.

My main beef with gameplay is that they removed the TP spell. Caravans - the propsed solution to the hero chain - just plain suck. This renders games larger than normal virtually unplayable, I think.

Is TP townportal? Then it is still there, its an order-magic spell. I agre that caravans aren't perfect but they are useful especially for collecting all the creatures from the nearby dwellings. Of course it is really stupid when a few creatures appear at the beginning of the month and block the path between your towns but this didn't happen that often to me yet.

Perhaps a size limit (a hp limit might be best) for aries could make the game better. The way it is now you basically need to make one huge main army otherwise you don't stand a chance (which will be also true in MP). Yet one main army cannot effectively control a lot of territory and a divided army would be defeated one by one by the enemy, so IMO a hitpoint limit for armies makes sense and heroes would play a more important role in those armies, too.

[moomin]

A hitpoint limit would be very interesting. But I don't see it happening, unfortunately.

And TP is not in. The spell Order has now will just take you to your nearest castle, so it's impossble to jump around to defend you cities or to collect your critters. I really don't expect to play maps larger than Normal any more - I simply can't be bothered to run around like crazy retaking castels over and over again. I never finished most campaigns because this got old too quick.