Author: Liso1 December 12, 2023 0 Comments

VCMI release 1.4.1 is now available. This is a small hotfix that focuses on most critical issue from 1.4 release

VCMI 1.4.1 changelog:

General

• Fixed position for interaction with starting heroes
• Fixed smooth map scrolling when running at high framerate
• Fixed calculation of Fire Shield damage when caster has artifacts that increase its damage
• Fixed untranslated message when visiting signs with random text
• Fixed slider scrolling to maximum value when clicking on “scroll right” button
• Fixed events and seer huts not activating in some cases
• Fixed bug leading to Artifact Merchant selling Grails in loaded saved games
• Fixed placement of objects in random maps near the top border of the map
• Creatures under Slayer spell will no longer deal additional damage to creatures not affected by Slayer
• Description of a mod in Launcher will no longer be converted to lower-case
• Game will no longer fail to generate random map when AI-only players option is set to non-zero value
• Added option to mute audio when VCMI window is not active
• Added option to disable smooth map scrolling
• Reverted ban on U-turns in pathfinder

Stability

• Fixed crash on using mods made for VCMI 1.3
• Fixed crash on generating random map with large number of monoliths
• Fixed crash on losing mission-critical hero in battle
• Fixed crash on generating growth detalization in some localizations
• Fixed crash on loading of some user-made maps

VCMI 1.4.0 released

VCMI 1.4.0 changelog:

General

• Implemented High Score screen
• Implemented tracking of completed campaigns
• “Secret” Heroes 3 campaigns now require completion of prerequisite campaigns first
• Completing a campaign will now return player to campaign selection window instead of main menu
• Game will now play video on winning or losing a game
• Game will now correctly check for mod compatibility when loading saved games
• Game client will no longer load conflicting mods if player have both of them enabled
• If some mods fail to load due to missing dependencies or conflicts, game client will display message on opening main menu
• Game will no longer crash on loading save with different mod versions and will show error message instead
• Saved games are now 2-3 times smaller than before
• Added Vietnamese translation
• Failure to connect to a MP game will now show proper error message
• Added VSync support
• Implemented tutorial
• Implemented support for playback of audio from video files
• Windows Installer will now automatically add required firewall rules
• Game audio will now be disabled if game window is not focused
• Fixed formatting of date and time of a savegame on Android
• Added list of VCMI authors to credits screen
• Quick combat is now disabled by default
• Spectator mode in single player is now disabled

Multiplayer

• Implemented simultaneous turns
• Implemented turn timers, including chess timers version
• Game will now hide entire adventure map on hotseat turn transfer
• Added option to pause game timer while on system options window
• Implemented localization support for maps
• Game will now use texts from local player instead of host
• Multiple fixes to validation of player requests by server

Android

• Heroes 3 data import now accepts files in any case
• Fixed detection of Heroes 3 data presence when ‘data’ directory uses lower case

Touchscreen

• Added tutorial video clips that explain supported touch gestures
• Double tap will now be correctly interpreted as double click, e.g. to start scenario via double-click
• Implemented snapping to 100% scale for adventure map zooming
• Implemented smooth scrolling for adventure map
• Implemented radial wheel to reorder list of owned towns and heroes
• Implemented radial wheel for hero exchange in towns

Launcher

• When a mod is being downloaded, the launcher will now correctly show progress as well as its total size
• Double-clicking mod name will now perform expected action, e.g. install/update/enable or disable
• Launcher will now show mod extraction progress instead of freezing
• “Friendly AI” option will now correctly display current type of friendly AI
• Player can now correctly switch to global chat after disconnect
• “Resolve mods conflicts” button now attempts to fix all mods if nothing is selected
• Implemented support for mention in game lobby
• Implemented support for global and room channels in game lobby
• Added option to reconnect to game lobby

Editor

• It is now possible to configure rewards for Seer Hut, Pandora Boxes and Events
• It is now possible to configure quest (limiter) in Seer Hut and Quest Guards
• It is now possible to configure events and rumors in map editor
• Improved army configuration interface
• Added option to customize hero skills
• It is now possible to select object on map for win/loss conditions or for main town
• Random dwellings can now be linked to a random town
• Added map editor zoom
• Added objects lock functionality
• It is now possible to configure hero placeholders in map editor
• Fixed duplicate artifact image on mouse drag
• Lasso tool will no longer skip tiles
• Fixed layout of roads and rivers

Stability

• Fix possible crash on generating random map
• Fixed multiple memory leaks in game client
• Fixed crash on casting Hypnotize multiple times
• Fixed crash on attempting to move all artifacts from hero that has no artifacts
• Fixed crash on attempting to load corrupted .def file
• Fixed crash on clicking on empty Altar of Sacrifice slots

AI

• BattleAI should now see strong stacks even if blocked by weak stacks.
• BattleAI will now prefers targets slower than own stack even if they are not reachable this turn.
• Improved BattleAI performance when selecting spell to cast
• Improved BattleAI performance when selection unit action
• Improved BattleAI spell selection logic
• Nullkiller AI can now use Fly and Water Walk spells

Campaigns

• Implemented voice-over audio support for Heroes 3 campaigns
• Fixes victory condition on 1st scenario of “Long Live the King” campaign
• Fixed loading of defeat/victory icon and message for some campaign scenarios

Interface

• Implemented adventure map dimming on opening windows
• Clicking town hall icon on town screen will now open town hall
• Clicking buildings in town hall will now show which resources are missing (if any)
• Fixed incorrect positioning of total experience text on Altar of Sacrifice
• Game will now show correct video file on battle end
• Game will now correctly loop battle end animation video
• Implemented larger version of spellbooks that displays up to 24 spells at once
• Spell scrolls in hero inventory now show icon of contained spell
• Fixed incorrect hero morale tooltip after visiting adventure map objects
• Fixed incorrect information for skills in hero exchange window
• Confirmation button will now be disabled on automatic server connect dialog
• Attempting to recruit creature in town with no free slots in garrisons will now correctly show error message

Main Menu

• Implemented window for quick selection of starting hero, town and bonus
• Implemented map preview in scenario selection and game load screen accessible via right click on map
• Show exact map size in map selection
• Added support for folders in scenario selection and save/load screens
• Added support for “Show Random Maps” button in random map setup screen
• Added starting hero preview screen
• Added option to change name of player while in map setup screen
• Implemented loading screen with progress bar
• Game will now stay on loading screen while random map generation is in process
• Team Alignments popup in scenario options will no longer show empty teams
• Fixed missing borders on team alignments configuration window in random maps
• Fixed map difficulty icon on save/load screen
• Main menu animation will no longer appear on top of new game / load game text

Adventure Map Interface

• Picking up an artifact on adventure map will now show artifact assembly dialog if such option exists
• Minimap will now preserve correct aspect ratio on rectangular maps
• Fixed slot highlighting when an artifact is being assembled
• Ctrl-click on hero will now select him instead of changing path of active hero
• In selection windows (level up window, treasure chest pickup, etc) it is now possible to select reward via double-click
• Attacking wandering monsters with preconfigured message will now correctly show the message
• Revisit object button will now be blocked if there is no object to revisit
• Fixed missing tooltip for “revisit object” button
• Fixed calculation of fow reveal range for all objects
• Attempt to close game will now ask for confirmation
• Right-clicking previously visited Seer Huts or Quest Guards will show icon with preview of quest goal
• Right-clicking owned dwellings will show amount of creatures available to for recruitment
• Right-clicking previously visited creature banks will show exact guards composition with their portraits
• Right-clicking artifacts on map will show artifact description
• Right-clicking objects that give bonus to hero will show object description

Mechanics

• Heroes in tavern will correctly lose effects from spells or visited objects on new day
• Fixed multiple bugs in offering of Wisdom and Spell Schools on levelup. Mechanic should now work identically to Heroes 3
• Retreated heroes will no longer restore their entire mana pool on new day
• Fixed Grail in Crypt on some custom maps
• Added support for repeatable quests in Seer Huts
• Using “Sacrifice All” on Altar will now correctly place all creatures but one on altar
• Fixed probabilities of luck and morale
• Blinded stack no longer can get morale
• Creature that attacks while standing in moat will now correctly receive moat damage
• Player resources are now limited to 1 000 000 000 to prevent overflow
• It is no longer possible to escape from town without fort
• Pathfinder will no longer make U-turns when moving onto visitable objects while flying
• Pathfinder will no longer make paths that go over teleporters without actually using them
• Game will now correctly update guard status of tiles that are guarded by multiple wandering monsters
• Moving onto Garrisons and Border Guards entrance tiles that are guarded by wandering monsters will now correctly trigger battle
• It is no longer possible to build second boat in shipyard when shipyard should be blocked by boat with hero
• Gundula is now Offense specialist and not Sorcery, as in H3

Random Maps Generator

• Increased tolerance for placement of Subterranean Gates
• Game will now select random object template out of available options instead of picking first one
• It is no longer possible to create map with a single team
• Game will no longer route roads through non-removable treasure objects, such as Corpse
• Fixed placement of treasure piles with non-removable objects, such as Corpse
• Fixed interface no displaying correct random map settings in some cases
• Fixed misleading error “no info for player X found”
• Fixed bug leading to AI players defeated on day one.

Modding

• All bonuses now require string as a subtype. See documentation for exact list of possible strings for each bonus.
• Changes to existing objects parameters in mods will now be applied to ongoing saves
• Fixed handling of engine version compatibility check
• Added support for giving arbitrary bonuses to AI players
• Most mods of type “Translation” are now hidden in Launcher
• Added new mod type: “Compatibility”. Mods of this type are hidden in Launcher and are always active if they are compatible.
• Added new mod type: “Maps”
• Added new TERRAIN_NATIVE bonus that makes any terrain native to affected units
• SPELL_DURATION now allows subtypes. If set to spell, bonus will only affect specified spell
• Both game client and launcher will now correctly handle dependencies that are not in lower case
• Implemented support for refusable Witch Hut and Scholar
• Added “variables” to configurable objects that are shared between all rewards
• Added visit mode “limiter” for configurable objects. Hero will be considered as “visited this object” if he fulfills provided condition
• Added option to customize text displayed for visited objects, e.g. show “Already learned” instead of “Visited”
• Added option to define custom description of configurable object, accessible via right-click
• Added option to show object content icons on right-click
• Object now allows checking whether hero can learn spell
• Object limiter now allows checking whether hero can learn skill
• Object reward may now reveal terrain around visiting hero (e.g. Redwood Observatory)