Author:   James Moore
Subject:   Heroes V-a new begining
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The earliest information known about Heroes V was that NWC were thinking about reverting to the old Heroes I-III. Some people misinterpreted this as almost a sure reasoning as to why Heroes V will be a ‘trip down nostalgia lane’ as someone had said. It has also been rumoured by members of the community that Heroes IV was a ‘stepping stone’ to fully develop the greatness of Heroes V. Then there was the time of squabbling, people arguing about Heroes on the Battlefield, the Battlefield itself, and the uniqueness of castles. But all of that arguing has been put to rest by a few words, by Christian Vanover: “towns aren't going to return to what they were like in Heroes I-III” While I realise that this concerns only the towns aspect of the game, it would also make sense that NWC are going to start with a fresh slate, and remake everything for Heroes V. I am not saying, however, that this is set in stone, in fact, it is quite far from set in anything at the moment, but only time will tell what aspects are going to be taken from the previous series and ones which are completely new…..

There has been some Heroes V media circulating around the 3D0 Community, and with the untimely departure of Christian Vanover from the NWC team, there are likely to be some changes to the initial plan of Heroes V.
After the release of the two new screenshots, which can be found here: http://dynamic3.gamespy.com/~homm/images/heroes5/H5_Phoenix.jpg
And here: http://dynamic3.gamespy.com/~homm/images/heroes5/H5_Undead_Capital.jpg
It can be inferred that the adventure map will be using a similar engine to that of the Heroes IV engine, most likely with a few tweaks. The town appears to be very detailed, and looks a great deal larger and more unique (i.e, not a square) than its Heroes IV predecessor. The terrain, which happens to be the native one for Necropolis, looks very detailed, with not just one texture running throughout the whole screenshot. I am hoping this is also represented in the town screen.
The angle of the Phoenix in the screenshot suggests the horizontal chess-like view won’t be returning. Although, it doesn’t give too much away, since it is not represented with any other creatures, or on the battlefield. So the battlefield orientation is still up in the air. In my opinion though, it doesn’t seem exactly like Heroes IV, nor is it identical to III.

While NWC may only have a small development team at this point, it seems that already many aspects of Heroes IV are being changed and recreated. This thread’s purpose is to discuss ideas about the new changes (not to create lists for towns or make up creature ideas) to Heroes V. This includes Towns, Battlefield, Adventure Map, Adventure Map Objects, and others, if you so desire. How these features will be integrated into the current Heroes V can also be discussed, as can theorizing about levels, and town structures.

I will list 4 categories for each element, and comment on them respectively (You can use the same layout if you wish). These will be Perspective (Layout), Graphics, Engine, and Miscellaneous.

Towns

Perspective
It is quite obvious that a full 3D town map with interchangeable zoom options will not occur in Heroes V. What is certain, however, is that it will be different to anything we have seen in previous versions of the Heroes series. There are an infinite number of ways the town screen can be projected, and it is therefore difficult to predict which one will work best or will assimilate with Heroes V in an appropriate fashion. Some ideas which have occurred to me are:
=}Taken from a first person perspective where the hero visiting the castle (or a dweller if no hero is present) roams around the castle.
=}It is taken from a semi-3D perspective in which the whole castle can be see, and the camera swings from left to right along the front.
=}Basic Heroes IV layout with more interactivity.
Another aspect of towns concerning his topic are the positioning of creature dwellings and structures in the towns. The Heroes IV method was much too generic, as everything was placed in the same spot. And it seemed that each town had an equivalent structure. (The one in the same spot). This must change in Heroes V to Heroes III, for example where the town had its own unique setting, (Dungeon=subterranean, Fortress=swamp, Rampart=forest). I think this layout definitely needs to return in Heroes V for the town layouts to be somewhat pleasing to look at, not just copies of themselves with slight changes.

Graphics

A feature, which has been at the back of my mind recently are the background and ‘eye candy’ aspects of the town. Heroes III implemented these two features extremely well. The Rampart was perhaps the most scenic of the towns, with its lush meadows and acres of trees. Its background was of clear, blue skies above a very forest-like setting. What I’d like to see improved is when the town (such as a Dungeon) is above ground, its setting and scenery change. In essence, there is one layout for above ground and one for below. (Provided there is a subterranean area)
The eye candy aspect I mentioned was the moving of creatures or inhabitants within the castle. In Heroes IV, the town were almost static, with the exception of a few moving structures. A perfect example of a dose of what I want to see in Heroes V is the Heroes IV Rampart town. Not only did the Dragons fly in and out of the cliffs, periodically, a Gold Dragon appeared among the sea of Green Dragons. That gave extra satisfaction for me. It also had the moving waterfall for the Pegasus dwelling. Not only the creature dwellings moving, but some of the town’s inhabitants in the pre-built villages, which are found in Heroes IV, near the level 1 dwellings.
As for 2D-3D graphics, I would prefer 2D, as it can look nicer, and it is easier to manipulate. (I do not want to get in a discussion about 2D-3D graphics, just thought I’d voice my opinion briefly.)

Engine

The town engines in both Heroes III and Heroes IV aren’t perfect. In fact, I’m leaning towards more Heroes II. But, with that said, I think the town engine needs to be new and unique in order for it to work.In my opinion, after much deliberating, the no-upgrades system in Heroes IV did not work. It was too simple, and too short, and also put a ‘tax’ on the structures, which lead to inflated prices. I much prefer the Heroes III upgrades, where each creature had one upgrade. The 6 levels that Christian mentioned are exactly what I agree on. 7 levels were too much, and they were uneven, while 4 levels were much too little. 6 levels is perfect, in my opinion. It is an even number, which means there is an even advancement of levels, and 6 levels (+ upgrades hopefully) is enough to have ample depth without going over the top and the town being centred upon creatures.
I believe that the number of structures in each town needs to be increased. While there were the additions of the prison and the caravan in Heroes IV, (they should stay) there need to be more buildings to do with the town, and more unique buildings that link directly to the town. The shipyard needs to be available in every town, and the marketplace needs to return as in Heroes III, as does the Thieves Guild. New buildings are a must. While I don’t believe there need to be many more (1 or 2) there still needs to be extra depth added, especially in the castle upgrades (fort, citadel, etc.)
I also want it to be made clear that the structures (especially mage guilds) need to have progressively higher cost, as they were too easy to build in Heroes IV.
While the Stronghold should have inferior magic abilities to the other towns, they still need a mage guild, be it that it reaches level 2. Having a town without magic is too much of a disadvantage. It has, however, been mentioned by Christian that the towns will not be built around magic, but instead have their own unique theme, which could be very interesting.

Miscellaneous

On a miscellaneous note, even though I believe the citadel to castle upgrade or fort to citadel upgrade needs to be made more prominent by increasing creature growth, etc. I am willing to go back to the Heroes II method of ‘fortifications’, which made the castle sturdier.
I also encourage that the Thieves Guilds tally the information up the more you have in any towns. So if you have 3, it will give more information than 1.

Battlefield

Perspective

Perhaps one of the most pressing issues striking the Heroes world at the moment. The only ‘solid’ piece of information we have at this point in time is the famous screenshot of that magnificent Phoenix, which can be found earlier in the thread. At closer inspection of this screenshot, I can gather that the battlefield will not be exactly like Heroes IV, nor will it be exactly like the previous versions. A recent ‘Picture of the Day’ at Celestialheavens.com has strengthened my belief. (http://dynamic3.gamespy.com/~homm/potd_images/big/karyll_phoenix.jpg) It represents the Phoenix in both circumstances, and one can immediately decipher which one fits better. However, having said it fits better isn’t the same as saying it fits the best. While the Phoenix blends in with the Heroes IV background better, it is apparent that the Heroes V battlefield will start on a fresh slate, and not referring to the previous instances.
This would probably suit most people, because their preference of battlefield layout is very divided. While it is true that Christian made mention of a possibility that the battlefield will be returning to the left-right perspective: “We want to put the armies on the left and right sides of the screen.” The screenshot points in another direction. I myself am hoping for a rejuvenated battlefield, with greater practicality. My main problem with the Heroes IV battlefield was the grid and passibility. The grid was, in my opinion, to small and did not provide much aid. While the passibility factor was questionable. It seemed as though my creature could fit through the gap, but in actuality, could not. It took a HC member a while to interpret the grid and passibility, and posted it in the Lands of Axeoth for all to see.
Another characteristic changing in Heroes V is the size of the battlefield. The “nearly 50% larger” comment by Christian refers to the Phoenix’s actual size on the battlefield. As one can see from the screenshot in brackets above, it dwarfs both the Heroes III and Heroes IV creatures. This could also mean that the battlefield itself will be smaller than it was in Heroes I-IV.

Graphics

It is quite obvious now that the graphics for the battlefield will not be 3D. And why should they? They look better than any 3D picture that I’ve ever seen. The screenshots look glorious. While we have seen the front of the phoenix, ‘I don’t like seeing the back of my creatures’ activists are maybe hoping that the creature been rendered in 3D. This is because the phoenix still looks quite isometric, which could lead to having an army not facing us. This doesn’t bother me greatly, since I think that seeing the creatures from the back gives you the feel that you actually commanding them.

Engine

I would find it difficult to believe that it would stray too much from the original engine used in Heroes games. But the one that will have the greatest influence is Heroes IV, in my opinion. The line of sight was a great feature implemented in Heroes IV, but I think it can be extended further. Objects on the battlefield, such as trees, should not only halt progress, but act as a guard for ranged attacks as well. I think it is a bit illogical having only creatures as guards for LoS. While it may be too much of a benefit for one side, both sides will have the same problem, so it really depends in the way one uses it, thus adding more strategy.
The basic, turn based system should still be utilised, as should speed determining the creature/hero? Order, while movement determines the distance. The grid does need to be reworked in a way that one block would represent the smallest creature, 2x2 represents a large creature, and 2x1 represents long or wide creatures. Having larger grid squares allows for a more chess-like representation, which can still be used in an isometric screen. Realistic retaliation is another sizeable issue that was introduced in Heroes IV. In my opinion, this was another masterful idea. It made no-retaliation and first-strike more important, and at the same time, made battles more strategic and realistic. In terms of the ranged realistic retaliation, (RRR) it was not as good an idea as its counterpart. Ranged attacks are meant to be a surprise, and the sheer distance should be enough to put them off who to attack, let alone load the arrow.
For the Heroes V battlefield engine to be perfect, I think it needs to expand slightly and come up with new ideas to suit the changes NWC are going to make in other areas. And since I don’t know what those changes are going to be, I can’t make a worthy comment on it.

Miscellaneous

A miscellaneous feature that could be important to some fans is the background of the battlefield. This was present in Heroes I, II and III, and showed a receding view of the landscape. One I can distinctly remember was from Heroes II, where, in the lava terrain, you would see many volcanoes, erupting and bubbling, as well as the liquid hot magma. The only problem is implementing it in Heroes V, with the non-left to right battlefield.
The aspect of the hero only cheering when the enemy troops were defeated was not enough in Heroes I, II and III. In Heroes V, it is really dependant on what is to become of heroes in combat, but at the moment, it is not looking good. If the hero is to just play a passive role in the battle, he/she should have more of a role, even if it is not in the combat itself. Maybe the hero could ride around to the other side of the battlefield and jeer the opposing hero, and possibly, if one of its creatures kills an enemy stack, that creature receives a bonus. Things like these may make the hero being on the sidelines not so bad, especially if there were more of them.

Adventure Map

Perspective

This issue may not be as hard-pressed as the previous matters, due to the commendations the Heroes IV adventure map perspective received, but it is an important issue nonetheless. Judging from the earlier screenshot of the adventure map it seems as though NWC have decided to stick with the diagonal or isometric view, where all objects are diagonal instead of straight like Heroes II. However, what does appear to be changing, is the individuality of the towns. This corresponds with the uniqueness that the towns will most likely possess on the town screen. They will no longer be pictured as boxes, all resembling the same basic plan of four corners and a large centrepiece, instead, they will have their own character and feel, this means different shapes, and dissimilar layouts. It will certainly be a step forward from the ‘toy boxes’ that we saw in Heroes IV, which is certainly an advantage. However, the diagonal adventure does pose a problem in my mind, but it can be easily fixed. All buildings and structures are diagonal either facing left or right, and there is no way to rotate it. Therefore, if one is making a map, one must build the area around a different way, and that may not assimilate with the remaining sections of the map. The way this quandary can be solved is by making objects rotatable to both left and right sides.
While the perspective of the adventure map may be quite similar to Heroes IV, one can be assured of more detail and the reliability of the old layout.

Graphics

It is quite apparent that the graphics engine will be fairly similar to the one utilised in Heroes IV. This is primarily because of the reduced team numbers at NWC. However, the engine will most likely be modified, so that the graphics can be updated into a new level of complexity and rendering. We’ve seen the battlefield graphics change immensely, but the adventure map is slightly behind. I believe that is acceptable, since the graphics of the adventure map were the least of our problems in Heroes IV. I would love to see the objects appear more realistic, and Heroes IV was a step toward this. From the Necropolis town screenshot, it gives the impression that the hero will actually be able to ‘fit into’ the town itself. This is what I am hoping for, as it gives the game a more realistic feel. The graphics of the adventure map objects and landscape objects themselves were rendered nicely, and the numbers of these objects were plentiful. One aspect that did not surpass my expectations was the water, and its effects. In Heroes V, I would like to see the water actually move in waves, to make it seem like water, not part of the terrain. Also what is needed is the swell of a ship that is sailing through, again adding towards the realistic approach.
Concerning the landscape objects, I would like to see them integrate into the terrain well, similar to the towns. This was a major problem with previous Heroes series, and was fixed to an extent in Heroes IV, but it needs to be improved upon more by having the structures ground base change colour and texture. I think going any further than that would be too challenging.

Engine

Scripting was one of the best features introduced to Heroes IV (I think) and should certainly be carried on to Heroes V. Another advancement of scripting should be that everything with a script in the game can be modified by the player. This means artifacts, spell descriptions, anything that normally would pop up onto the screen.
Unfortunately, not much is known about the adventure map’s engine yet, since it is impossible to tell just by peering at screenshots. Aspects that I would like for NWC to improve upon are:
Fog of War
I remember myself, Tristan, Djive and Linkki talking about this more than a year ago, and speculating upon its possibilities. What we had perceived was that the elevations in terrain would make town have a larger fog of war removal radius due to its high level. As it actuates, this was not the case. I would much rather see a higher level of coexistence with the terrain, fog of war, and the castle than the Fog of War being taken away at all.
Caravan
I would like to see the caravans (literally), as then you would know how far they travel and exactly what creatures are blocking the path (if there any), without you having to search for them. It would be appreciated if the caravans could actually be sent to another inter-actable place on the adventure map, such as a garrison or some other area where troops could be stationed. To portray this, the troops could be placed in the ranks automatically, or left outside if there all slots are filled.

A new feature that could be implemented could be a line of sight-on the adventure map. This incorporates the neutral creatures on the map not being able to see down a depression and therefore not spotting you going by. The same would happen to other computer players, and possibly even human players. This can also function with trees and mountains (Not able to see the hero behind them), and the game not making the object transparent so you are able to see. As always, a new skill could be attached to this, Line of Sight (Adventure Map)

Miscellaneous

I would actually like to see a greater array of objects, even though Heroes IV had the most in the series, they are hardly enough to fill an extra large, or even a densly structured large map. I find myself reusing the same objects time and time again. This can be achieved by objects such as mercenary camps returning, and other classic places such as the Gazebo and the Oracle, which shows all.
On the subject of oracles and such, marketplaces, taverns and thieves guilds need to be placed on the adventure map. It was too bland not having an adventure map marketplace or thieves guild and are (In my opinion) vital to have to work for, rather than being at the click of a button as they previously were.

Congratulations! You have received a ‘ThE_HyDrA prize’, for you were able to read up to this point without stopping.
While I realise I have not written about every aspect of the game, I can say that I have covered a fair amount. For those who wish not to get involved, don’t. But to those who would like to speculate about the new future of a new game, go ahead. All ideas are welcome, and nothing is too late as of yet. This thread replaces my earlier “Heroes V, The Future is Upon Us” thread.

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Author:   ScarlettP
Subject:   re: Heroes V-a new begining
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James, I enjoyed your detailed analysis of Heroes of Might and Magic II through IV and hopes for V. It's nice to know that I may not be the only adult addicted to this game. I just joined the HOMM Guild @ $10 a year in hopes of finding a forum to speak to other players. The tiny bits of information given was very disappointing. The site only mentioned that players should look for other sites that currently run forums, but did not provide links. The most disappointing thing was learning that I missed a Map building competition. Honestly, I didn't even know there WAS a map editor on HOMM4, which was my #1 complaint with that edition. The "Contest Winner" maps on HOMM4 Winds of War were my first indication that my personal favorite part of the game was actually there and I just didn't load the game from the Start Menu to find it. Oh well, that's why I'm out cruising the web looking for forums and people to discuss my favorite game in a reasonably intelligent manner.
First, please indulge me while I address the map building contest. I haven't actually PLAYED any of the contest winners, but I did open the maps on the newly found editor and found them to be apparently rather dull and uninteresting. Naturally, I believe the maps I build are much better. (Naturally, my husband is also the sexiest guy in the world, my son is the smartest kid in school and my dog is the cutest in town. People tend to be bias in these matters.) If anyone knows of a forum which would allow trading of custom built maps, I would be most interested in finding them.
As to Mr. Moore's commentaries on the current and prior incarnations of the game, I support some and would like to agree to disagree on other points. As we all know, there is no way to make every player completely happy and it is counter productive to try. As the old adage reminds us, the Camel is a Horse designed by a committee. On the whole, I've been extremely happy with all my Heroes games from 2-4 and always grabbed the expansion packs as soon as I saw them. Of course, since HOMM has never been as popular as Ever Crack or WarCraft, my local Electronic's Boutique only stocks one or two copies at a time and I feel that I HAVE to buy them when I see them or they may never show up again.
My personal favorite parts of the games have been the story lines from HOMM 2, the creature renderings from version 3 and the battle formations, including using my heroes to fight, from v.4. As with anything, I've always considered upgrades to be a give and take situation. In order to make the game work, I'm willing to live with the loss of some of the things that I like in order to get the newer things.
For v5, I would like to see the return of the humorous storylines found in HOMM2. Not just a funny name like Dogwoggle that pops up from time to time, but an ongoing thread throughout the map or campaign. My personal old favorites were Ajax the Jerk, which had a reoccurring message complaining about a stench wafting over the mountain from your neighbor's castle. The other was one that I can't remember the name of the map, but it was hilarious. Your hero was some jerk who got spirited away to the land of Heroes and kept running into a bartender with a third hand growing out of the top of his head and when the Ents arrived to offer their services, he chopped them into fire wood. The entire map was filled with silly little things that kept popping up as you 'stepped' on event messages. I like a good Dungeon crawl as much as anyone, in fact the map I'm currently working on is very much a "kill everything" type, but I enjoy a lighter mood to the game from time to time.
Speaking of the ents, I miss them. (Ok, I don't remember what HOMM called the walking trees. Was it Dryads?) They were always unbelievably slow on the open battlefield, but made excellent castle defense. And why aren't the dwarves immune to lightning anymore? That was annoying when you were attacking them, but it gave them something special when you were using them. Now they are just slow, weak and not very useful at all. As with the dwarves loosing the lightning immunity, I was very unhappy to see the ghosts loose the best part of their strategy of turning fallen opponents into more ghosts. Any good player figured out that if you could manage to get just 4 or 5 ghosts, you could use them to attack weaker units and turn them into ghosts, making a stronger attack force. Then, if your hero's Necromancy powers were good enough, you could bring back their skeletons as well getting TWO troops for every one weaker enemy defeated. Clobbering dragons with thousands of skeleton and ghost troops was just plain fun. For v5, I hope to see some of the older troop specialties return.
Personally, I want to be able to upgrade my units. I'm not overly happy with the "select this over that" building situation. It is difficult to figure out which units are the best for your individual fighting style. (Of course, I'm sure that others would argue in favor of that feature because after extended game play, each player does figure out which units work best for them.) I would happily give that up to get back the upgrades. My favorite was the 3rd upgrade of the Elf Bowmen. Those kicked ass! (Hmm... are you starting to figure out that I AM female and prefer to play the "Good" alignments?) In HOMM 3, there were getting to be WAY TO MANY castle and creature options. I do sort of prefer the trimmed down version in v.4 to keep with alignments. The Swamp castle was just annoying and the only really good thing about the Subterranean castle was the Black Dragon. The "Conflux" castle was a waste of time as most of the Elementals were never designed to have 1st through 4th level abilities. The only good thing about it was the return of the Phoenix. Elementals are best acquired through portals and summoning as in v4. Although, I did prefer to have the demons and the undead separated. The v3 demon castle with the Grail structure of the giant devil spreading his arms over it was just amazing to see! I kept a screen shot of it to use as wallpaper.
And WHO approved the renderings of the angels and devils for v4? They stink! The angel's arms are to skinny and what's up with that pitchfork for a hand on the devil? It just looks silly. Although some of the newer renderings do sort of 'grow on you', over all, the art work in v3 was far superior and hope that v5 gets a new art director. I agree with Mr. Moore that the castle's interior shots were just a joy to look at, even the "evil" ones. However, I DO like having all the corresponding buildings in the same place. It makes it SO much faster to find the Caravan and the Tavern when you don't have to remember what they look like and where they are in each town. I also side with the group that likes the "back of the head" view of the 3D images on the battle field. It takes a bit of getting used to after so many years of the Left to Right battle arrangement, but it also grows on you. Although, I do occasionally catch myself pressing the Space bar to "drop the castle wall" to see creature positions, which only works in Stronghold, not Heroes!
The Caravans and the creature's ability to move around by themselves are my absolute favorite improvements for v4. I agree with Mr. Moore that we need to SEE the exact route, even if it is just arrows like hero movement and only seen though the "View" option of the Caravan structure, so that we can more easily find the obstructing enemy units and eliminate them. If we actually SAW our caravan's moving across the field, it would be nice if we had an option to stop and fight the unit which is blocking the path as they are normally just the "random event month of the *blank*" units that pop up in the way. Why should a handful of level 1 or 2 creatures block my caravan of level 3 & 4 units from moving into a heavy combat area? That forces my units to WALK at a greatly reduced rate of travel so that they can remove the obstacle along the way with a "quick battle" before moving on. I would even be happy to loose a day's travel to stop and fight as a trade off.
Overall, my hopes for Heroes of Might and Magic V are that we will see a game that is a upgraded version of v4 with the best parts of 2 & 3 brought back. I would like to see a continuation of the 3D creature effects and map as it makes the game look more modern and more appealing to our jaded masses of younger players who play other war games, keeping a broader appeal and more marketable product than the 2D left to right battles and flat playing map.  
I prefer to keep my heroes on the battle field as this allows a strong adventurer to continue farther into the field after all his troop units are exhausted. Honestly, after you achieve a Grandmaster level in any magic or combat, troops can become a more of a hindrance than an asset. The ability to team up heroes is more than enough to compensate for any "mage frailty" issues. I have found that if you run a team of one magic user with one fighter, they go together very well. Since they share in all experience points, you can train one to be strong in magic use and the other in combat abilities. The function of the magic user is to stand back and cast spells. The fighter does the hand to hand or ranged actions and your creatures can block. It's all just a strategy that is easily and quickly learned so there is no since in whining about it. When in need, I love the ability to have my creatures walk across the field to meet the hero half way. Caravanning them over would be nice, but I can live without it, as long as I can collect creatures from dwellings without having a BORING hero dedicated to just running around in circles collecting creatures and windmill proffits!
At first, I did NOT like the specialization of hero magic use. It does make it difficult to achieve those level 5 spells, but once you get there, man is it worth the effort! I only wish that more of the maps and campaigns would be LONG enough to let you build up a killer hero and then actually USE him or her. It seems that frequently the enemy uses up all it's troops attacking early on when you can barely keep your side alive that when you finally achieve a strong hero and build up a huge army, there is no one left to fight. That is disappointingly anticlimactic. I'm a big fan of building up a killer army then going in to "finish off" that last hugely strong castle and then TA DA! you win! That "hold your castle for three days" when there is nothing left to fight or trying to track down one last creature running around in the dark just sucks.
And yes, barbarians need magic! Even if it is only crude shield and magic arrow. It takes too long to build up a barbarian's ranged attack or decent troops. I feel that they are far more vulnerable to magic users and ranged attack creatures than magic users are to physical attack. I do not understand the argument on the HOMM Guild website that they want to take heroes off the field because Mages are frail. I personally find the opposite to be true. Low level Necromancers and Barbarians are far more likely to die in combat than their Mage or Druid counterparts. Naturally, I prefer to play Chaos Sorcerers because they wield a better balance of magical might. (Fire Spells Rule!) I could better support the argument that magic users are at a disadvantage at the Arena to get a level up from fighting Black Dragons because they are immune to magic.
As for the actual game engine, by all means, the turn based play MUST stay! That is the major component that makes HOMM different from (and in my opinion superior to) any other major fighting/role playing/adventure game. I'm sure that it makes game play long and tedious on the internet against other human players, but I don't play on the internet. If I wanted to do that, I'd play Diablo. As a wife and mother, I enjoy a game that lets me get up and tend to interruptions and comeback to a game that is still waiting on me to take my turn. While others may think it is cheating to reload the game repeatedly from "this turn" or "last turn" I enjoy the ability to learn from my mistakes and fight a given battle over again and again until I get it correct. I feel that this ability quickens the learning process and makes the game more enjoyable.
In a nutshell, my hopes for Heroes 5 would be the continuation of 3D maps and battles, continued heroes on the battlefield as active participants. Bring back creature upgrades and species specialties that were lost from 3 to 4. Keep the number of castles low, but give the Demons and Undead separate castles if not separate alignments. Although I'm not sure how that would be done with the magic divisions the way they are in version 4. Keep the division of magical skills IF the spells continue to get stronger as the hero gains experience. Oh, and one other thing, I'd like to see the return of species hatred, such as Angels & Devils hate each other, do extra damage against each other and get horrid moral if you try to put them together in the same army. If you want to ad more, stronger creatures, just make them available from out of castle dwellings. It's really not that big a deal to go claim one. I've always liked HOMM and have played it for many years. While I enjoy upgrades, new artifacts and more powerful creatures and whatnot, I really don't want the general idea of the game to change. I like it the way it is and would not have purchased versions 2, 3, 4 and all the expansion packs if I didn't.

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