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| Thread: New feature Puzzle Hunt - post your pieces here! |  This thread is pages long: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 · «PREV / NEXT» |
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Elvin
Admirable
Omnipresent Hero
Endless Revival
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posted June 13, 2012 05:05 PM |
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You can, it was clarified in the Russian Q&A.
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LRN
Adventuring Hero
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posted June 13, 2012 05:43 PM |
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There's no moving camera and no camera that you can pan. Therefore it sucks compared to H5.
Bollocks to that, they added fly-throughs at the expense of proper architecture. Every town was either a pillar or a hole with buildings clustered around them, and all buildings looked nearly identical to another.
I don't agree with that, I think the pillarlike structure of the towns not only worked with the fly-through but also gave a very distincs monumental feeling to the towns.
I agree with you here
Just look at the frozen still of Necropolis shown above, even without the animation it still looks better than the H6 one (which is not that bad, but not as beautiful as the H5 ones).
but not here. The H5 town screen was way too spiky for me and gave an impression of trying too hard that even the "oh so spooky green" current trend has matched.
Then again, Necropolis screens have never been among my favourites in any HOMM incarnations so there you have it.
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LRN
Adventuring Hero
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posted June 13, 2012 05:44 PM |
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You can, it was clarified in the Russian Q&A.
Good to know 
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TheSpeaker
Tavern Dweller
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posted June 13, 2012 09:42 PM |
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Looking at design for a minute instead of the town-screen mechanisms themselves, I personally think the current art style and architecture of the Necropolis faction in Heroes VI makes complete sense.
In fact I think it makes more sense than it ever has. All of their buildings now look like tombs, which they should. They look like the dead are actually interred within, which is very different from the spires and needlepoint buildings of H5, or even the "Transylvanian Castle" of previous games. It suits the Necromancers more, as they're more a religious order or cult now than a tyrannical, bloodthirsty people.
Necropolis literally means City of the Dead, most of which were basically just really large burial grounds and mausoleums. So it fits, especially seeing as the factions Heroes VI also seem to have a much more "ancient civilization" feel about them now. Seeing as the events take place quite a while before Isabel and her war, the idea works quite well.
I admit the heavy, continuous green is a bit much at times though.
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alcibiades
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
of Gold Dragons
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posted June 13, 2012 11:04 PM |
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In fact I think it makes more sense than it ever has. All of their buildings now look like tombs, which they should. They look like the dead are actually interred within, which is very different from the spires and needlepoint buildings of H5, or even the "Transylvanian Castle" of previous games. It suits the Necromancers more, as they're more a religious order or cult now than a tyrannical, bloodthirsty people.
Necropolis literally means City of the Dead, most of which were basically just really large burial grounds and mausoleums. So it fits, especially seeing as the factions Heroes VI also seem to have a much more "ancient civilization" feel about them now. Seeing as the events take place quite a while before Isabel and her war, the idea works quite well.
It doesn't really look like a city, however, does it? It's more like, 10 or 12 buildings with a wall around it. Heroes 5 cities at least looked like some sort of greater community. Sure, it was cartoony and over the top, both literally and in the other sense, but it also looked pretty stunning in most cases (Academy, Sylvan and Necropolis in particular).
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blizzardboy
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Nerf Herder
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posted June 13, 2012 11:47 PM |
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The most loud-spoken fans honestly wanted to get rid of the 3D town screens? How is that even possible? HoMM fanboys truly are an odd bunch  I still think the silent majority liked them though because my feeble brain can't wrap around the idea that it couldn't be as such. I mean... they were just so damn awesome.
I <3 the in-game art and particularly the concept art in H6, but they do go a bit overboard when it comes to loyally sticking to a town's color scheme. The inferno army is all red, the Sanctuary army is all blue, and Necro's particle effects are all green. I like having a general color scheme to define a town, but they kind of went overboard to the point that some factions look almost monochromatic. Throw some eerie stain-glass windows on the vampire dwelling or something, or include a garden of blood red tulips. Nothing quite screams "undead" like flowers do. (In all honesty, the hyper-generic spooky town does make the game feel kind of adolescent. I really do think some tulips would do a world of good. Blood red tulips... and maybe some pink and purple ones thrown in here and there. Just because you're an undead doesn't mean you can't appreciate hot pink)
I'd also have liked to see a variation between night & day in the town screens. But again, I guess I'm decently satisfied that we're actually getting a town screen at all.
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"Folks, I don't trust children. They're here to replace us."
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DoubleDeck
Promising
Legendary Hero
Look into my eyes...
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posted June 14, 2012 08:08 AM |
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It doesn't really look like a city, however, does it? It's more like, 10 or 12 buildings with a wall around it. Heroes 5 cities at least looked like some sort of greater community.
Yeah, this is what I think too, the H5 screens are still the best....although I like the new H6 necro town screen, it looks more like the H4 townscreens (10 or 12 buildings with a wall around it) rather than the H3 ones....at least the H3 ones had variety and placement on the screen....
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TheSpeaker
Tavern Dweller
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posted June 14, 2012 08:48 AM |
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I have to admit, I am inclined to agree with you, despite enjoying the direction the art and design has taken. I was blown away by the a lot of the H5 town-screens and the music and the animation. If I think of the Haven faction, it actually felt like an empire, with numerous houses, streets and farms and walls and churches everywhere. The same with Academy and Sylvan.
I just hope that because the Necropolis does consist of primarily undead units, that they intentionally made it feel more like an overgrown mausoleum, and that the other town screens will look more like cities. Necropolis is probably the only faction that is marginally forgiveable in terms of not looking like a proper city. If they do mess it up, that's that. We'll have our town-screens and they won't want to change them because they've already given the majority what they've wanted, and it's taken long enough just for that. I don't know, maybe the actual Necropolis Town Screen will look better than the concept art. They said that Heroes 3 was their inspiration. So if I look at the Heroes 3 fully built Necropolis, it also didn't look too much like a city. There were just tombs and graves everywhere in addition to the dwellings, but the other towns did indeed look more like cities. Just not the grand cities we were treated to in H5. I guess time will tell.
They would have been better off modelling the town screens after the concept that was found in the game files. The Necromancers were big on symmetry, worshipping the goddess of order. That town screen also looked like much more like a city. This is a bit too "just place it wherever". I guess I'm just happy we have town screens at all at this point.
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Zenofex
Responsible
Legendary Hero
Kreegan-atheist
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posted June 14, 2012 09:35 AM |
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Some of the Heroes V town screens were nice but I find it quite exaggerated to praise them as the best thing that the series has ever seen or whatnot. The Inferno chimney and the Fortress lava pit were just lazy compared to the rest, Dungeon looked unimaginative with the vast majority of the dwellings being decorated stalactites and Sylvan's huge tree just screemed generic (it was nicely done though). A proper HoMM town screen is a combination of city-building immersion and atmospheric music and Heroes V lacked at least one of these (yes, the Haven town really looked like a big fortified settlement but could you distinguish between the buildings present there from the start and the ones that you actually build?; the music on the other hand was rather unspectacular in some towns, even though still much better than what we have in Heroes VI).
By the way this Necropolis town screen seems to be a combination between Heroes III and Heroes IV. The perspective is Heroes III-like but on the other hand it looks like we'll only add game-related buildings with the town growth like in HoMM IV. The growth of the HoMM III towns (particularly via the upgrade of the town hall) was shown by adding extra houses or other dwellings along the landscape so it really looked like the town is growing naturally.
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alcibiades
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
of Gold Dragons
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posted June 14, 2012 10:09 AM |
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A proper HoMM town screen is a combination of city-building immersion and atmospheric music and Heroes V lacked at least one of these (yes, the Haven town really looked like a big fortified settlement but could you distinguish between the buildings present there from the start and the ones that you actually build?; the music on the other hand was rather unspectacular in some towns, even though still much better than what we have in Heroes VI).
These town screens were designed with the directions that the fans wanted to be able to distinguish the individual dwellings in order to tell "what had been build" and to "recruit creatures from their individual dwelling". For me, that is a completely unnecesary restriction to put on the artwork, if I wanted to see what dweelings had been build all I had to do was to look at the unit overview in lower left corner, or if I wanted to see all buildings a single click on the build menu would give me a much faster overview than the individual dwellings of Heroes 3. And seriously, who even buys creatures from the individual dwellings anymore, when you can just hire them all in one place from the hire creatures menu?
But obviously, the fan base was very polarized with regard to this, and obviously they had to listen to one side and ignore the other, as these two art directions are pretty much mutually exclusive. Of course, being on the 'losing' side I think they made the wrong decision, but at least they made the decision, and lets see how these work in context of the game. But I would not put even a single penny on hopes that the other town screens will be less "blocky" than this Necropolis one - for better or worse.
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What will happen now?
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DoubleDeck
Promising
Legendary Hero
Look into my eyes...
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posted June 14, 2012 10:22 AM |
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Agreed, it's not that one needs to see the actual building being built, for me it's the immersion that you feel like you are in your faction's home base.....H5 dungeon buildings may have looked all similar but you got that underground warlock feeling when you entered your town....that's all Ubibic need to capture, that feeling, that's what most people missed in H6 town window.
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Avirosb
Promising
Legendary Hero
No longer on vacation
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posted June 14, 2012 10:29 AM |
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Edited by Avirosb at 10:29, 14 Jun 2012.
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H5 dungeon buildings may have looked all similar but you got that underground warlock feeling when you entered your town
I never got that feeling.
The only thoughts that came to my mind were "that's implausible", "say, that's a lot of purple" and "man, the ground sure is empty".
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dark-whisperer
Famous Hero
Darkness feels no mercy
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posted June 14, 2012 10:39 AM |
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I still can clearly remember that feeling when I first saw Heroes V townscreens. I was in awe. They were vivid, majestic, atmospheric and imaginative. I remember how satisfied I was when I saw Sylvan tree or Academy's cloud city. It was perfect for me.
When I saw first few pieces of the puzzle together my first thought was "This must be some amateur artwork/teaser" and when I saw complete picture its just "meh".
Its clearly better than damn windows but I just cant shake the feeling that they could do so much better then this. I hope it will improve when its animated with fog, clouds and flickering lights.
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Avirosb
Promising
Legendary Hero
No longer on vacation
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posted June 14, 2012 10:51 AM |
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The only thing "captivating" about the H5 town screens (IMO) is the fact that they're moving.
Because human eyes are attracted to motion.
Check out the ending to Half-Life: Full Life Consequences, when the camera is spinning around the golden John Freeman statue.
Noticing how strangely epic it is?
Maybe it's because I'm a mythology nerd, but I'd like for my fantastic creatures to have dwellings that makes somewhat sense, instead of tower #5 or stalactite #2.
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dark-whisperer
Famous Hero
Darkness feels no mercy
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posted June 14, 2012 11:02 AM |
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I have no problem because this townscreen does not rotate. I have problem with lack of epicness. This screen leaves amateurish bland taste.
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Naze
Known Hero
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posted June 14, 2012 11:11 AM |
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I still can clearly remember that feeling when I first saw Heroes V townscreens. I was in awe. They were vivid, majestic, atmospheric and imaginative. I remember how satisfied I was when I saw Sylvan tree or Academy's cloud city. It was perfect for me.
When I saw first few pieces of the puzzle together my first thought was "This must be some amateur artwork/teaser" and when I saw complete picture its just "meh".
Its clearly better than damn windows but I just cant shake the feeling that they could do so much better then this. I hope it will improve when its animated with fog, clouds and flickering lights.
I totally agree. The H6 Necropolis artwork/town screen is no (that) bad... but it is faaar from the magnificent H5 cities. Haven, Sylvan and Academy were especially beautiful, but also the other cities had a lot to offer. I really don't get all the hatred for Inferno. Yes, it was just a giant pillar thrown into a volcano. However, if you watched the fly-through, leading the camera through the hallway with black columns, then passing by all the flying statues spitting fire and lava, and finally reached the top building, it looked really like the classical medieval hell - and it was awesome.
And even though not all the cities were equally good, they were still much better than the Necro artwork (which is much better, than the town window  ).
To put it on a scale:
(The worst thing ever × infinity) <--- H6 Town Windows --- Total Crap --- H4 Screens (And H6 Necro Screen) --- Neutral Art --- Nice Art --- H3 Screens --- H5 Towns ------> (Something indescribably awesome × infinity)
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alcibiades
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
of Gold Dragons
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posted June 14, 2012 11:55 AM |
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H5 dungeon buildings may have looked all similar but you got that underground warlock feeling when you entered your town
I never got that feeling.
The only thoughts that came to my mind were "that's implausible", "say, that's a lot of purple" and "man, the ground sure is empty".
I think H5 Dungeon was actually very well conceived, and I think the idea of having the buildings hanging on the stalactites was pretty innovative. One could question the choice of purple as this factions colour, or perhaps the issue would have been less severe with a simple decrease of colour saturation, just like the recent Necropolis - perhaps something like below.
Compared to:
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Avirosb
Promising
Legendary Hero
No longer on vacation
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posted June 14, 2012 12:16 PM |
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Edited by Avirosb at 12:18, 14 Jun 2012.
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Eh, you'd still have weird glowing pentagram-thingies on the ground for some inexplicable reason, and it's too empty below.
EDIT: Not to mention that the main building looks like a grail. Who'd want to live inside the Ashan equivalent of the Liberty statue?
It's not the towns screen as a whole that bothers me the most;
the buildings and dwellings are fairly unimaginative.
One stalactite building is cool, five isn't.
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esvath
Known Hero
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posted June 14, 2012 12:23 PM |
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@Alcibiades : now, if you create a HoMM V mod with lower saturated-town screen, I'll be very glad 
The problem with current Necro town screen is just what Alcibiades has stated : it does not show an integral community, but only several buildings inside a wall. I prefer the old unfinished Necro townscreen since it has a sense of unity AND it captured the ideology of Necro nicely (strict cubicles, orderly street, bland ornaments).
For me, the ideal townscreen is HoMM III's Rampart. Combined with its music, the townscreen able to invoke a sense of tranquility whenever I entered it. With the dragons flying near the cliff, it become majestic! This townscreen is one of the reasons why I love Rampart so (beside Grand Elves )
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alcibiades
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
of Gold Dragons
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posted June 14, 2012 01:18 PM |
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It's not the towns screen as a whole that bothers me the most;
the buildings and dwellings are fairly unimaginative.
One stalactite building is cool, five isn't.
I don't know, one stalactite building is cool, five create a coherent theme. But I guess it depends on the eyes that behold.
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@Alcibiades : now, if you create a HoMM V mod with lower saturated-town screen, I'll be very glad
If only I knew how to ...
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