HoMM: Olden Era – From Prototype to Production
King’s Bounty: The Legend (2008) stood out as both a commercial and artistic success, largely due to its lush and whimsical visual style. This approach earned the game lasting affection from players, leading to multiple expansions and securing its place among fans of turn-based strategy games. Even today, it remains visually appealing thanks to its strong art direction.
In contrast, Disciples III, a darker and more “realistic” fantasy title released about a year later, demonstrated how easily readability and system performance can suffer when pursuing gritty photorealism, particularly in 3D strategy games. At the same time, its raw and brutal aesthetic succeeded in evoking strong emotional responses from its audience.
Drawing from these experiences, the team at Unfrozen recognized a key lesson: while artistic cohesion is essential, readability is even more critical within this genre.
Summarizing insights gained from the visual evolution of Heroes of Might and Magic and other defining titles in the genre, Unfrozen highlights several core principles:
- Visual evolution has always been part of the Heroes series.
- Their stylistic preferences are inspired by the nostalgic look of Heroes II and King’s Bounty.
- Change and progress are inevitable, but must be approached with care.
- Readability and performance remain fundamental to the genre.
- Factions should feature a leading color palette, but it should not dominate every element.
- Stylization is a key factor in long-term visual appeal and overall game longevity.
With these principles in mind, Unfrozen explored a wide range of visual directions during the prototyping phase. They experimented with saturation, contrast, silhouettes, scale, background detail, and more. Each iteration brought the team closer to a visual identity that successfully balances personality, clarity, and performance.
Very early concept of the visuals, showing how Art Team experimented with lighting, shadows and saturation
Early stage prototype. Objects are easier to see and have a clearer shape, colours are not as intense as before
Next prototype. Adjusted saturation, objects and decorations are closer to a unified style. Some purchased models are used here as placeholders
The current development build. The artstyle for both objects and decorations forms a unified blend of familiar and brand new visuals
WoG Folder – All HoMM mods in one place
