… that you will be spending more money soon. For today in the official forums Fabrice the Wonder Producer struck a thunderous chord with the announcement of Hammers of Fate, the first (of many?) HOMM5 expansion packs. And somewhat surprisingly, the software is slated for a release as early as November 2006.

Frankly, my magic 8-ball of Mac HOMM is getting exhausted! The Freeverse port was promised by December, but now the first PC expansion will be shipping prior. Could this mean Mac gamers will get a double-whammy super release of the core and expansion game as separate products? Probably not! The expansion is said to include extra software such as the much ballyhooed Random Map Generator, which would require additional porting. Then again, we don’t know if Freeverse is going to go with Cider for the port, in which case it might be trivial to make a Mac version available. At this point, it is just impossible to tell and all this speculation is getting out of hand. Perhaps its time for Colin at Freeverse to grant us Interview #3?

Anyway, here is what Fabrice revealed about the expansion:

• 15 campaign missions, new solo and new MP maps, new buildings, artefacts, neutrals, etc.
• Random map generator
• Simultaneous turn in multi-player
• An enhanced version of the map editor set to be released in 1.3, but which will also be delivered online for free
• A caravan system for the automated delivery of troops to distant heroes

Pretty hot stuff actually, with the random map generator probably the biggest surprise. When HOMM5 made the leap to full 3D, the common wisdom was that it would be impossible to create a map generator of the type found in 2D, tile-based games because the geometry and context is too complicated. So much for that theory.

I also like the theme of the expansion: dwarves. Wouldn’t be high fantasy without those grizzled mini-Scottsmen wandering around spreading cynicism and folksy wisdom and jokes about big dark holes. The new character designs are full of character and truly outstanding.

More pics are available at PC.IGN.com.

Colin Smith over at Freeverse was kind enough to let us know in a recent email that the Cider announcement will have no effect on the HOMMV port:

Cider sounds very interesting… and I’ll be very curious to see how well it works. It wont have any impact on HOMMV though since that port is already underway.

For more on Cider, read my previous post below.

Freeverse has really been through a lot with this port. First BootCamp comes out and threatens to cannibalize their sales with Mac fans opting with a dual-booting solution. Then Cider comes out and completely alters the economics of porting a game for the Mac. In the mean time, virtualization solutions like Parallels and Crossover offer the very real near-term possibility that PC games will play in OSX seamlessly, and without any porting or wrapping at all. Some gamers over at the IMG forums report running Half-Life (1? 2?) in OSX with no problems using the alpha version of Crossover.

Oh unworthy peasants! Our noble lords and ladies at Freeverse have heard your braying and bleating and have given you what you want — a big fat port update!

Earlier today Vice President of Awesomeness Colin Smith let HOMMV for OSX! know that “it’s still looking like around Christmas for Mac HOMM” and that “we’ll be working-in all the updates along the way so when it ships it should have nine months of Nival patches and content tweaks in there.” This is great news given that Ubi intends to regularly update the engine and content over the coming months, and should make for a very compelling gift under a Mac gamers Christmas tree.

Colin also mentioned that Freeverse intends to keep parity with whatever updates Ubi might release after the Christmas release, and sincerely hopes that the Map Editor will also get a Mac release. However, the difficult realities of Mac market mean that no amount of Mac-love can make difficult financial decisions easier. Mac gamers will remember that expense of long-term support is what killed a near-complete Half-Life port, and that editors were never ported for even games like Neverwinter Nights where they are central to the D&D experience. Said Colin:

It’s a no brainer for them [Ubi] to keep a coder or two working on it if it will sell a half million copies. It’s a different story when selling ten thousand Mac copies isn’t a total disaster… When we’re done with the game itself we’ll look at the Map Editor and then make a decision. If it’s easy to do we’ll certainly do it, we want to do it! But if it’s a difficult job we’ll have to make a hard call. What percentage of players will actually use the editor? How many of those people are the hardcore that have already been playing via BootCamp, how much is it worth delaying our release to include it? How much more dev money will it take?

I know a lot of gamers don’t understand how this business works and think publishers make decisions because we don’t care. But the Mac market is so fragile right now that we’re honestly often talking about the difference between making and losing money.

Hopefully Colin and we HOMM-fanatics won’t have much to worry about by Christmas. Apple’s products are selling better than ever in terms of absolute numbers, and given their consumer focus the Mac gaming market could well be expanding. At any rate, you know your duty: spread the HOMMV for OSX love!

Freeverse VP Colin Smith dialed the HOMM•V for OSX! hotline yesterday with an update on the OSX port:

We now have the GM Source and have started work. It won’t be an easy port, it’s looking like there are a few complicated issues, (most of which go over my head since I’m not a coder), but we’ll get it done! No time estimate yet it’s still too early in the process.

Colin also mentioned that their working relationship with Ubi has been smooth sailing, and describes the HOMM•V producer / mastermind Fabrice as “very pleasant and accommodating to work with.” Hopefully this will mean that there will be no trouble keeping the OSX version in lock-step with developments on the PC-side.

Speaking of which, Fabrice recently promised in this thread over at CelestialHeavens.com (as his alter-ego MuadDib) that HOMM•V would be getting regular content updates. The first patch is scheduled to be released within the next week or two, and will be including both a random map generator for single-map open-ended playing and a new easy AI difficulty setting in response to complaints that some campaign scenarios are too difficult. Another content patch in the coming months will include the map and scenario editor as well as additional maps designed by Ubi. Hopefully by the time the OSX port is near release it will beable to incorporate all these additions and patches into one seamlessly lovely product.

Fabrice also responded to some early complaints about the lacking “intelligence” aspect of the computer “Artificial Intelligence”. He noted that AI was “developed late in the process” (not very intelligent if you ask me) but that “the result is quite good… It’s a pretty efficient attacker”. He then went on to assure HOMM•V gamers that any deficiencies in the AI would be addressed in future content patches. This is reassuring given that HOMMV gamers were pretty much abandoned by 3DO when the AI in HOMM4 proved mostly useless.

I sadly still don’t have my copy yet (should have pre-ordered >.< ) but hope to provide some serious play impressions over the weekend. In the mean time, you can read why Gamespot game HOMMV an 8.2 in its mostly glossy, fatuous, descriptive and air-headed review.

Praise be to Nival! The PC version of HOMMV has gone gold and will be in stores May 23rd, according to the official sites.

Hopefully Freeverse can get a look at the source code within the next week or so and give us some of their thoughts on topics as diverse as “coding elegance”, “stupid XP tricks that have to be reinvented for OSX” and that other small issue, “estimated port release date”.

Seriously, whoever runs the marketing plan for HOMMV at Ubi should have an honorary Dungeon creature created in their likeness just so we can all beat on it. Everyone is confused about what is in each of the three different collectors editions and where they are being sold. Not only that, but it seems that either European or North American gamers are getting screwed depending on whether they want a free copy of HOMM2 or copies of HOMM3 and HOMM4! This last aspect means a lot to Mac gamers in particular because HOMM2 is hard to find and impossible to get working under OSX, while no one really likes HOMM4 and could care less. The potential for a new port of HOMM2 is also quite seductive because the original port was always buggy and had some unimplemented features.

The confusion began when the Super Collectors Edition was announced before the lesser Deluxe Edition, even though the later seemed to have more stuff in it. Then we heard that the Super version wasn’t going to be released in North America though a Limited Edition would be. Then it wasn’t clear if the Limited version was the same as the Super or Deluxe version, or if different, if it would also be available in Europe. In addition to all that, the announcement of the Deluxe edition on the official Ubi HOMM site used the terms “limited” and “special” to describe it, which was probably the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen since these are also the titles of the other promo packages!

The marketing department finally had to make a series of posts in the Ubi forums to clarify the utterly ridiculous situation they have created through seeming total incompetence. However, when you compare it to the North American press release, there are still a lot of unanswered questions, especially as regards the particular interest of Mac gamers in what older game sequels are included.

Deluxe Edition
The Deluxe Edition is being sold in Europe only, and presumably is not supposed to be shipped to North America by mail-order retailers. It contains the following:

• HOMM•V (congrats Ubi! You remembered to include it)

• unique in-game content including three additional single scenario maps and a unique Hero “Aura”
• a printed map of Ashan
• sixteen page artbook by heroic fantasy artist Olivier Ledroit
• a faction document summarising all creatures’ skills
• Heroes of Might and Magic II complete game

Note how this version includes a copy of HOMM2. This makes it really worth it to Mac gamers for reasons I explained above. The rest of the package looks great too, though the art book is probably fairly tiny. A picture of the whole shebang shows quality. I think this version is worth the price.

Super Collectors Edition
The Super Collectors Edition can be shipped world-wide and must be ordered directly from the Online Ubi Store. It contains everything that the European Deluxe Edition does, and the following extra stuff:

• A numbered “black chest” as your packaging

• A numbered certificate of authenticity
• A purse with one collectors coin. If you get the Gold collectors coin, you’ve won a PC worth about $2500.
• Only 4000 copies will be produced

This edition is not worth the extra price. The extra-pretty packaging is not becoming of a heroic warrior like you, and coin is silly. Not to mention that the contest to win a PC is limited to European buyers only. And not to mention that we are still unclear about the differences between the Deluxe and Limited editions, as you are about to see.

Limited Edition
This is the edition that will be released in North America. This is where things get really stupid because according to the Ubi press release on Gamespot this version contains:

• Heroes of Might and Magic V on DVD

• Unique in-game content, including three additional single scenario maps and a unique Hero “Aura”
• Official soundtrack
• Exclusive Screens
• Official artwork and illustrations
• Full versions of Heroes of Might and Magic III and IV (XP compliant)

So check this: if you want the free copy of HOMM2, you can only get it in the Deluxe version that is trapped in Europe unless you pay a king’s bounty (haha — get it?) and order the Super version that can be shipped world-wide! Also, the language on this press release is very vague. Does the “official artwork and illustrations” refer to a creature fold-out, map and book as in the Deluxe version? What are “exclusive screens” exactly? Does the Deluxe edition include the sounds track? These are important questions for those trying to decide what version to buy, and for European gamers who might prefer a copy of HOMM3 and 4 instead of HOMM2.

This must be causing headaches for Freeverse in trying to manage Mac gamer expectations and figure out what they can and can’t do for us. It would be wonderful if they could put together their own “special” package since they seem to have far more common sense than Ubi does, but I wouldn’t blame them at all if they just decided to release a “Standard” version of HOMMV without all the goodies. Hopefully they will be able to clear some of this up later in the week for us.

Why must HOMM be cursed with an interesting history?

Oh those wacky kids in Ubisoft marketing are up to their antics again, but they may have inadvertently given every Mac HOMM gamer a huge gift without even realizing it.

Gamers now have a choice between purchasing a “regular” version of the game, the previously analyzed Super Collectors Edition set, and the just announced Deluxe Edition. Having to differentiate between the Super Collectors and Deluxe Editions seems like a pointlessly confusing attempt to fracture what has to be a relatively small market, but there is one amazing addition to the two special sets that could potentially delight Mac gamers. The Deluxe edition will contain:

… the original game, unique in-game content including three additional single scenario maps and a unique Hero “Aura”, a printed map of Ashan, sixteen page artbook by Heroic Fantasy artist Olivier Ledroit, a faction document summarising all creatures’ skills and Heroes of Might and Magic II complete game.

Yeah, you read that right — a complete copy of HOMM2! A new port of HOMM2 to the Mac would be absolutely incredible! As covered in the HOMM Lore article, the original HOMM2 Mac port was full of bugs and broken features and hasn’t been playable since Mac OS Classic went the way of 3DO (that is to say, extinct). But does this mean that Freeverse will actually be porting HOMM2 as part of their contract with Ubi? Would this also include a HOMM2 map editor? I’ve contacted Ian Lynch Smith for clarification, and will report my findings as soon as he gets back to me. It would be wonderful to see HOMM2 running on a Mac again, but I’m also afraid that nostalgia is a powerful force; it would be unfortunate for Freeverse to lose sales of the port in favor of a PC Deluxe Edition that allows BootCamping MacIntel gamers to enjoy one of the best installments in the series once again. [EDIT: Freeverse already got back to me that they are working on these very issues right now, and hope to provide some answers later this week! Stay tuned for more info.]

Two other interesting things emerged from the announcement. First was that HOMMV is confirmed for a May release on the PC, which ought to ensure that the OSX port arrives sometime in 2006. Second is that a picture of the map included with the Deluxe Edition shows how the new HOMM world of Ashan will be laid out. Personally I would have preferred that Ubi stuck with Erathia and the old HOMM universe of characters. Many nights I cry myself to sleep because I miss Sandro and Crag Hack so.

Not.

In other news…
The front page of the official HOMM site (why don’t these jokers allow direct linking to their stories? Bizzare…) has a few more songs for you to listen to, this time the combat themes. And Ubi has introduced a playable HOMM Mini-game that runs great on my Mac (OSX 10.4.6). The game isn’t much more than a paper-rock-scissors marketing device to familiarize you with the new troops and towns, but it does include stat tracking and a leader board. Why the hell not, eh?