VCMI 1.6.6 released + full changelog

Author: Liso1 February 24, 2025 0 Comments

VCMI 1.6.6 is now available. This small update brings some AI improvements, some minor features and fixes for reported bugs. Update via Heroes Launcher.

Notable changes:

• The game no longer requires a local network connection in singleplayer mode. This should fix an issue where a game in progress would stop after switching to another app on iOS, and in some cases on Android.
• Upscaling filter xbrz x2 is now enabled by default on mobile systems. Manual selection is not affected.
• Reduced size of obstacle-filled junction zones in Coldshadow Fantasy template
• Added support for importing Chronicles using the old All-in-One installer from gog.com
• On mobile systems, clicking on a blocked tile of a visitable object on the quest map will now build a path to that object.
• It is now possible to activate the adventure map overlay using the two-finger tap gesture on mobile systems.
• Added a right-click context menu for mods in the launcher.

• Fixed possible crash on opening unit description with unavailable upgrades
• Fixed crash on winning game after last player loses the game due to not controlling a town for 7 days

• Pressing Q during hero exchange will now swap both army and artifacts and will no longer trigger a quest log
• Spellbook search is no longer enabled by default, allowing standard h3 shortcuts to work. Search can now be activated by pressing Tab
• Ctrl/Shift + click on arrow buttons below creature slots during hero exchange now works in the familiar way from hd mod
• On mobile systems, clicking on a blocked tile of a visitable object on the adventure map will now build a path to it
• It is now possible to activate the adventure map overlay on the mobile system using the two-finger tap gesture
• Fixed incorrect pinch event calculation that caused problems when zooming with touchscreen gestures
• Game now displays both total cost in movement points and estimated time to arrive in turns when hovering over an accessible location
• Artifact sort buttons in the Hero Backpack window now have correct text describing the sort order
• Fixed non-standard color handling for shadows under selection highlight in creature animations from mods such as HotA’s Iron Golem
• Effects such as Bloodlust, Clone, and Petrify will now display correctly when xbrz is in use
• Fixed broken Chronicles campaign screen available with new main menu themes mod
• Fixed empty bonus shown in unit info window when unit is in Necropolis with Cover of Darkness built
• Right-clicking on the difficulty button will now display the difficulty description popup
• Fixed regression causing two minus signs in Fountain of Fortune description
• Added option to upgrade all creatures in the radial menu when in town
• Added option to display remaining unit health in the form of a health bar
• Fixed regression that caused unavailable tiles to be displayed on the left and right sides of the battlefield when hovering with the mouse
• Fixed regression that caused all spells to be displayed as having a duration of 16 rounds
• Scrolling in the lobby window now only happens when hovering over the appropriate item, instead of scrolling all scrollable widgets at once
• Fixed regression that caused black pixels on some hero portraits in mods that use 8-bit palette images
• Fixed memory leak when upscaling images with xbrz filter
• Fixed creature windows text align and buttons background

• It is no longer possible to attack heroes standing on a visitable object from blocked tiles or from water when the attacker uses Fly
• Fixed regression from 1.6 that caused multiple taverns in towns of the same faction to not be counted towards the level of information available for the thieves’ guild
• Fixed regression that caused Cove towns placed on map to be replaced with Castles on HotA maps
• The amount of gold a player can receive from a bonfire is now always equal to the amount of rare resources received multiplied by 100
• Disabled default victory conditions on all Elixir of Life campaign maps that require an artifact to be found, in line with H3

• Improved scoring of town buildings by the AI
• AI will now prefer to give faster units to its scout heroes to optimize their movement points in future turns
• Fixed AI not constructing prerequisites for town buildings in some cases, like not building Stables when attempting to build Training Grounds
• AI will now avoid recruiting heroes if AI is low on gold or if the town is threatened by an enemy hero
• AI will no longer attempt to use more than one hero to defend a town
• AI will now devalue non-flying units when attacking towns with fortifications to prevent suicides against castles
• Increased the priority of building unupgraded dwellings, as they provide units that can be hired immediately, rather than next week like citadels and castles
• When multiple cities are threatened, the AI will now prefer to defend the one that takes the least number of turns to reach
• Fixed AI attempting to restore mana points in town without a mage guild built
• Reduced AI prioritization of army merging to the same level as general gathering
• AI will now prioritize army merging before attacking enemies
• Increased AI defense prioritization
• AI will no longer leave the defense of a threatened town in order to bring the army to another hero
• AI will no longer send heroes to die outside of towns that already have a garrisoning hero inside, if there’s a stronger enemy hero lurking around the town
• AI will no longer focus excessively on reaching Keymaster tents
• AI will no longer rush towns that don’t have a citadel or better if there is a strong enemy hero in the area
• AI will no longer try to maximize defenses by using the strongest defender possible, but will instead try to use the most appropriate defender
• Heroes that are currently threatened will be braver and not worry about attacking things that are also threatened if nothing safe is in range

• Added context menu for mod lists that allows disabling, enabling, installing, uninstalling, updating, opening installed mod location, and opening mod repository