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Heroes of Might & Magic 3 FAQ
Last Updated on: 2000-09-16 01:43:00

This is where you will find useful information about Heroes of Might & Magic 3. The following are answers to some frequently asked questions about this game. Please read these before e-mailing Loki Technical Support - Chances are your question is answered here too!

1. Introduction

• 1.1 How to use this FAQ
• 1.2 Authors

2. Requirements

• 2.1 What are the system requirements for the game?
• 2.2 Does the game use 3D acceleration?
• 2.3 What environment does the game run? Does it run in X or from the console with SVGALIB?
• 2.4 Can the game be played on all distributions of Linux?
• 2.5 Will you be offering support for the PowerPC?
• 2.6 Does the game support Esound?
• 2.7 Does the game run from CD?

3. Interoperability

• 3.1 Are the Windows and Linux versions save-game compatible? Are my Windows saved games playable on the Linux version, and vice versa?
• 3.2 Can I play multiplayer under Linux against users playing Heroes 3 for Windows?

4. Demo

• 4.1 Where can I get the Heroes3 demo?
• 4.2 What are the system requirements? Any different from the requirements for the full commercial version?
• 4.3 How do I install the demo? Any tricks?
• 4.4 Is the demo supported at all?
• 4.5 The demo scenario is HARD! Is the game this hard?

5. Installation

• 5.1 How do I install the game?
• 5.2 Do I have to be logged in as root to install the game?
• 5.3 How do I set my path so that it can access the game directory?

6. Updates

• 6.1 Any updates to Heroes3? If so, where can I download the patch(es)?
• 6.2 What issues are addressed in the patch?
• 6.3 How do I apply the 1.3.1 update?
• 6.4 Are there plans for adding Armageddon's Blade and Shadow of Death to your Heroes 3 support?

7. Display

• 7.1 How do I keep Window Manager Task Bars from getting in my way when playing the game?
• 7.2 Does the game have GNOME or KDE support (adding itself to task bars, etc)?
• 7.3 How can I iconify the game and have it run in the background?
• 7.4 How do I set my path so that it can access the game directory?
• 7.5 How can I change my screen size? Is it possible to run Heroes 3 in a window rather than at full screen size?
• 7.6 How can I maximize graphics speed when running the game?

8. Sound

• 8.1 Why I don't hear any sound?

9. Networking

• 9.1 How do I chat in a network game?
• 9.2 How do I play a network/internet game through a Linux Masquerading firewall?
• 9.3 Do the computers have to be on the same subnet to play networked games of Heroes 3?
• 9.4 Are there no internet servers to connect to? How are connections made?
• 9.5 Can you join a game once it's in progress?
• 9.6 On a multihomed host, how do I tell the game which interface to use?

10. Gameplay

• 10.1 Do I need to play the campaigns in one series, or can I start a new game for each of the first three campaigns?

11. Miscellaneous

• 11.1 The mouse cursor doesn't change during really large battles as I move it around on the field!
• 11.2 It's not detecting my CD!

12. Contact

• 12.1 How do I report a bug?
• 12.2 How can I receive technical support?

1. Introduction

• 1.1 How to use this FAQ
  
  
  This FAQ allows you to navigate through the answers by category, or individually, or to view the entire FAQ at once. The full view is also suitable for printing.

  This FAQ is modelled on the Linux HOWTO documents for consistency and ease of navigation.

  
  
• 1.2 Authors
  
  
  The maintainers of the FAQ can be reached by e-mailing faqs@lokigames.com. Please send all correspondance directly related to the FAQlist tool to that address.
  
  

2. Requirements

• 2.1 What are the system requirements for the game?
  
  
  The listed system requirements are the same. That said, we think Linux users will enjoy all the benefits of Linux while running the game. It's not emulated at all, but a fully native Linux application running under X11.

  Minimum system requirements:
  Linux kernel 2.2.x GNU C Libraries (glibc) 2.x Pentium 133 (P166 or better recommended) 4-speed CD-ROM drive 32 MB RAM 150+ MB free disk space XFree86 3.3.x or newer		16-bit color Video card capable of 800x600 resolution SVGA monitor OSS-compatible sound device Multiplayer: LAN, Internet, or 28.8 (or faster) modem with PPP connection for networking

  
  
• 2.2 Does the game use 3D acceleration?
  
  
  No.
  
  
• 2.3 What environment does the game run? Does it run in X or from the console with SVGALIB?
  
  
  Heroes of Might & Magic 3 for Linux ships with support for X11R6.

  The 1.3.1 patch does include a dynamic version, which allows you to use a different version of SDL (the Simple DirectMedia Layer), including one you compile yourself. As of this writing, SDL includes support for SVGAlib, the frame buffer, and AAlib.

  Use of the dynamic version is not a supported configuration.

  
  
• 2.4 Can the game be played on all distributions of Linux?
  
  
  We spent a significant amount of development time ensuring that Heroes of Might & Magic 3 works properly with all major distributions.

  Because the game is designed for glibc, libc5 users may need to upgrade.

  
  
• 2.5 Will you be offering support for the PowerPC?
  
  
  The release CD contains i386 binaries and data files. We want to bring our games to Linux users running on various platforms, and are supporting them as resources permit.

  The current patches include a patch for the PPC architecture.

  
  
• 2.6 Does the game support Esound?
  
  
  Heroes3 has native support for esound.
  
  
• 2.7 Does the game run from CD?
  
  
  The game can be installed with a minimal install, which requires that the CD is mounted for access to the graphics, sounds, movies, campaigns, and scenarios. Loading time is increased significantly, depending on which data is on the hard drive, and which data is on the CD. During the installation, you have the option of placing any (or all) of the data on the hard drive for better performance.
  
  

3. Interoperability

• 3.1 Are the Windows and Linux versions save-game compatible? Are my Windows saved games playable on the Linux version, and vice versa?
  
  
  Saved games are compatible between the two platforms.
  
  
• 3.2 Can I play multiplayer under Linux against users playing Heroes 3 for Windows?
  
  
  Heroes3 is not network compatible because the Windows version uses DirectPlay for networking. Since DirectPlay is a Microsoft product and uses proprietary calls which Microsoft has not documented, there is currently no way for us (or for Mac users) to write a game with compatible calls.
  
  

4. Demo

• 4.1 Where can I get the Heroes3 demo?
  
  
  The Heroes of Might & Magic 3 demo is available through our Demo Launcher (http://www.lokigames.com/products/demos.php3).
  
  
• 4.2 What are the system requirements? Any different from the requirements for the full commercial version?
  
  
  The requirements listed for the full commercial version of the game are the same as those for the demo, except that the demo requires only 105+ MB of hard disk space, as opposed to 150+ for the full commercial version.

  Minimum system requirements:
  Linux kernel 2.2.x GNU C Libraries (glibc) 2.x Pentium 133 (P166 or better recommended) 4-speed CD-ROM drive 32 MB RAM 105 MB free disk space XFree86 3.3.x or newer		16-bit color Video card capable of 800x600 resolution SVGA monitor OSS-compatible sound device Multiplayer: LAN, Internet, or 28.8 (or faster) modem with PPP connection for networking

  
  
• 4.3 How do I install the demo? Any tricks?
  
  
  1. Pull down the heroes3-demo.run archive from one of our mirrors
  2. Go to the directory in which you would like to install the demo. Make sure that you have write permissions to the directory. (ex. cd /usr/local/games)
  3. Run the script with "sh heroes3-demo.run". A new "heroes3_demo" directory should have been created.
  4. To run the game, just go to the new game directory and type "./heroes3_demo" (or create symbolic links, or add the heroes3_demo directory to your path).
  
  
• 4.4 Is the demo supported at all?
  
  
  We don't offer telephone or e-mail support for the demo version, but we do want to take care of any problems/bugs that might exist, so we would be grateful if anyone experiencing problems would report those on our bug server/database. And, of course, our on-line resources (including this one) are available on our support page.
  
  
• 4.5 The demo scenario is HARD! Is the game this hard?
  
  
  No, the demo scenario has a time limitation (4 weeks), which makes it significantly harder to beat. The scenarios included with the game range in difficulty, but there are a large number that are significantly easier to play.

  However, if you are determined to beat the scenario as it stands, you are welcome to try the following strategy (posted to our Heroes3 newsgroup by Bjarne Petersen:

  What seems work for me was this:
  
  Day 1: Buy 2 other heroes (WITH forces), transfer/recruit all available
  forces into on one hero. Recruit griffins and take the coal-mine. If
  your army is large enough the foes will run away and you got an intact
  army. Now you got the coal-mine.
  
  Transfer the army to another hero move him/her as far as possible toward
  the sawmill and transfer the army to the last hero and let him take the
  sawmill.
  
  Buy CityHall-improvement.
  
  Day 2: Take the 2 artifacts in the NW-corner and start moving the army
  back to town. buy archers tower.
  
  Day 3: Upgrade archers tower. Upgrade your archers. If you are
  impatient, you could try taking the goldmine... with heavy loses. Or
  move you heroes around a bit, exploring.
  
  Day 4: Upgrade guardhouse and upgrade guards OR (better) buy
  griffin-tower and recruit griffins. Try taking the goldmine now, and
  order you army in larger-groups (small groups doesn't do much damage and
  perish pretty quickly).
  
  Day 5,6,7: Buy Citadel, buy griffin-tower, buy blacksmith (don't
  remember whether you're able to buy barracks before blacksmith, if so,
  buy barracks). Before day 7 ends, recruit EVERYTHING.
  
  *Week 2*
  
  Day 1: Green force lands on you isle. DON'T confront him in the open. Go
  to the Griffin-tower, recruit and return to town. Upgrade Griffin-tower,
  recruit/upgrade griffins, recruit archers. Move heroes not in town away
  from town. Leave all army in town.
  
  Day 2: Upgrade citadel and brace yourself. Mr. Green should attack your
  town. DON'T move you army outside your town, but let the enimy come to
  you. Take out his long-range units first, then the sceletons and so on.
  When long-range unit's, and large units have been taken out/weakened you
  could bring your army outside to end the battle more quickly.
  
  Day 3+: Buy barracks. Equip a hero with an attacking force (Griffin
  (most), archers (most), some guardsmen) and take the boat to Greens
  isle, move around there a bit to improve your hero before taking the
  Tower, and don't take it while a hero is in town. Move Griffins inside
  and take out long range units. Move griffins outside when done. Or if
  the wall have been breached, move rest of your shortrange units inside.
  Greens tower should be pretty easy to take.
  
  Equip a 2nd hero with a smaller army, and let him/her go exploring
  outside you Isle.
  
  Your homeisle are now pretty open for attackers, so pray to that you
  wont get any vistor for the rest of the week.
  
  Upgrade cityhall, upgrade barracks, upgrade citadel, upgrade
  guardhouse.... the rest you don't need in this scenario.
  
  * Week 3 *
  
  RECRUIT, RECRUIT, RECRUIT (don't forget the griffin-tower). You propably
  have a visitor by now. Again, let him come to you.
  
  Now, Green should be dead. Now, go kill red! ;-)
  

  
  

5. Installation

• 5.1 How do I install the game?
  
  
  1. Mount the CD-ROM using the "mount" command. If you are unsure how this works, please check the documentation for your Linux distribution. Generally, the format for mounting a CD-ROM under Linux is similar to:

         mount -t iso9660 -r /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom
     

  2. Under X11, enter the command "sh [Mounted CD-ROM Path]/setup.sh". Be sure to replace the [Mounted CD-ROM Path] portion of this command with the correct path for the mounted CD-ROM. In the example above, the command would be:

         sh /mnt/cdrom/setup.sh
     

  3. Under "Global Options":
     • Enter the directory into which the game should be installed in the Install path: box. In the box labeled Binary directory, enter a directory in your $PATH where a symbolic link for the binary should be set up. Make sure you have write permissions in both of these directories.
  4. Under "Install Options":
     • You must install "Base Install" (the basic game files). You may choose to leave the Scenarios, Sounds and Graphics, Music, and Videos (or any combination thereof) on the CD. If you wish to write these files to your hard drive, click in the corresponding boxes.
     • Below the Install Options, the installer will display how much space is left on your partition, and how much the game will use per the options selected (5 MB just for the most minimal, 195 MB for everything except the movies).
     • Check in the box for KDE/Gnome menu items if you would like them installed.
  5. You may view the game README at this point if you wish, by clicking on "View Readme". Otherwise, click on "Begin Install" to begin the copying of files.
  6. When the game has finished installing, you may choose either to launch it directly (click on "Play!") or to simply exit and run the game from the console.
  7. To run the game generally, just type "heroes3" from the console (you shouldn't have to enter the complete path).
  
  
• 5.2 Do I have to be logged in as root to install the game?
  
  
  No, but you do have to have write privileges to /usr/local/games (or wherever you want to install the game).
  
  
• 5.3 How do I set my path so that it can access the game directory?
  
  
  export PATH=$PATH:[installation directory] (replacing [installation directory] with the actual path to the installation, of course)
  
  

6. Updates

• 6.1 Any updates to Heroes3? If so, where can I download the patch(es)?
  
  
  We have released a 1.3.1 patch which addresses a few small issues in the release version. The patches are available here on our website. The 1.3.1 patch includes PPC support.
  
  
• 6.2 What issues are addressed in the patch?
  
  
  1.3.1:

  • Many game-related bugfixes from the Windows version
  • Defaults to fullscreen by default; the new fullscreen code does not require root privileges anymore, and should work on any XFree86 and compatible X11 server with at least the 800x600 video mode defined in the XF86Config file. Use the Alt-Enter hotkey at any time to switch between fullscreen and windowed modes.
  • Y2K bugfix
  • Fixed minor bug in the tavern videos
  • Proper CDROM detection on systems using supermount (Mandrake)
  • New command-line option: -x. Enables the X11 mouse cursor in the game, instead of the fancy colorful software cursor. This may improve drastically the game performance on some systems, but it makes it look much less pretty too.
  • AAlib target (play Heroes III in ASCII art!). Use it on the console, or enable it explicitly by setting the SDL_VIDEODRIVER environment variable to "aalib".
  • DMA sound from the latest SDL (better performance). If your card supports this (most SB compatible cards do), you can enable it by setting the SDL_AUDIODRIVER environment variable to "dma", i.e. :

        export SDL_AUDIODRIVER=dma
    

  • Initial PPC port (available in a separate archive). This port does not support network compatibility with other versions of the game, and saved games are also incompatible.
  
  
• 6.3 How do I apply the 1.3.1 update?
  
  
  Just run the script. It will autodetect your installation if it's in the default directory (or prompt you for the path to your install), and modify/add the files it needs to. It doesn't matter where the script is in your filesystem when you run it. It doesn't have to be in the game directory.

      sh heroes3-1.3.1-x86.sh
  

  NOTE: You don't have to be logged in as root to run the upgrade, but you do need to have write permissions to the game directory and files. (It's a good idea to run the upgrade script logged in as the same user under which you installed the game.)

  
  
• 6.4 Are there plans for adding Armageddon's Blade and Shadow of Death to your Heroes 3 support?
  
  
  There are currently no announcements regarding a port of these additional titles. Should this situation change, an announcement will be posted to our web page (http://www.lokigames.com/) and our announcement newsgroup (news://news.lokigames.com/loki.announce).
  
  

7. Display

• 7.1 How do I keep Window Manager Task Bars from getting in my way when playing the game?
  
  
  The power and flexibility of the Linux window managers makes them very nice for the user. Unfortunately they make the user interface completely non-standard. There's no way to tell beforehand what keys are remapped, no way to tell whether or not your window has decorations, etc.

  Here are suggestions for some of the major window managers:

  • In KDE, open the panel-setup with:
    K -> panel -> configure
    then, select the panel tab, set taskbar to hidden, click ok. Now the taskbar is gone, only the panel is on top of the game. It can be minimized, by clicking on the small black triangle on the left (or top) side of the panel. You can also open the configuration screen by right-clicking the panel bar and selecting "configure" from the pop-up menu.
  • If you're running an FVWM based window manager and running the game at your full screen size, but the title bars don't disappear, add the line MWMDecorHints to your window manager initialization file. This is known to work with AfterStep and FVWM.
  • In GNOME, set the panel to autohide.
  • With some distributions, you can also start X with "xinit" rather than "startx", so that you're not using a window manager at all. Or you can run the X server in a different resolution so that the game won't run full screen. (See this answer.)
  
  
• 7.2 Does the game have GNOME or KDE support (adding itself to task bars, etc)?
  
  
  Just make sure the box next to "Desktop menu items (KDE/Gnome)" in the setup screen is selected, and the game will add itself to the KDE/Gnome menu during the installation.
  
  
• 7.3 How can I iconify the game and have it run in the background?
  
  
  Typing CNTL-z iconifies the game. When the game is iconified, it is paused and uses very little CPU time.
  
  
• 7.4 How do I set my path so that it can access the game directory?
  
  
  export PATH=$PATH:[installation directory] (replacing [installation directory] with the actual path to the installation, of course)
  
  
• 7.5 How can I change my screen size? Is it possible to run Heroes 3 in a window rather than at full screen size?
  
  
  Heroes 3 always runs at 800x600. If you want it to display in a window (and be able to see the whole window at once), you need to be running X at a higher resolution, such as 1024x768, 1152x864, 1280x1024, or 1600x1200.

  Alternatively, you can run Heroes 3 with the command-line

      heroes3 -w
  

  to force it into windowed mode.
  
  
• 7.6 How can I maximize graphics speed when running the game?
  
  
  There are a couple of tricks that will speed things up for you:

  • X should be run in 16-bit color for those who wish to speed up graphics. Using 24- or 32-bit color forces X to convert 16-bit images to 32-bit before it displays them -- a severe penalty for MHz challenged machines. You can make sure you're running in 16-bit color by starting x with "startx -- -bpp 16".
  • Run it without a window manager or desktop environment (if you aren't already). Basically replace what is in your .xinitrc with this one line: /usr/local/games/Heroes3/heroes3 (or whatever path you put heroes3 in). You might want to back up your old .xinitrc just in case.
  • Later on in the game it can help a lot to play with some of the game settings. Click on the "Control Panel" icon on the left side of the screen, then click "Graphics", and turn some of the settings down. It will also help to make sure that "Color Mouse Cursor" and "Grid Lines" are turned off on the main control panel screen.
  • Some video cards (e.g. the nVidia cards, such as the GeForce) only have optimized 2D drivers under some versions of X. The GeForce cards in particular are very, very slow with XFree86 3.3.6, and with XFree86 4.0 and 4.0.1. You should either use XFree86 4.0.x with the binary nVidia drivers, or you should use XFree86 4.0.2 and the newer "nv" driver.
  
  

8. Sound

• 8.1 Why I don't hear any sound?
  
  
  First be sure that you have sound support compiled into your kernel and that you have installed an OSS supported sound card. Next, make sure that you have read/write permissions to /dev/dsp (chmod a+rw /dev/dsp). If sound still doesn't work, contact your Linux distributor for more assistance. Once sound is properly installed on your system Heroes 3 will use it automatically. There is no need to do any sound configuration within the game itself.
  
  

9. Networking

• 9.1 How do I chat in a network game?
  
  
  Hit the TAB key and a type what you want to say. The text should appear along the bottom of the screen as you type it, and disappear when you hit Enter.
  
  
• 9.2 How do I play a network/internet game through a Linux Masquerading firewall?
  
  
  Heroes 3 for Linux uses a peer-to-peer networking configuration, so all machines need to be able to communicate directly to all other machines. If only two players are playing, then it is possible for one of the two to be firewalled in an ordinary setup, but with three or more all hosts need to either be outside firewalls or have port-forwarding configured at the firewall to allow inbound connections to the specific host.

  For reference, Heroes 3 for Linux uses port 4269 for TCP connections.

  
  
• 9.3 Do the computers have to be on the same subnet to play networked games of Heroes 3?
  
  
  No. All players just need to know the IP address of the machine acting as the server. The game doesn't rely on broadcasts, so machines needn't be on the same subnet to play.
  
  
• 9.4 Are there no internet servers to connect to? How are connections made?
  
  
  There are no public internet servers to connect to for Heroes 3. Basically, you will just have to set up times with friends to start games, and agree on one machine to host. One machine acts as server, and all of the other machines enter its IP address to connect.
  
  
• 9.5 Can you join a game once it's in progress?
  
  
  No. Games are closed once they're started.

  All players start off in a lobby, and the host has a change to alter the settings. Once the game is launched, no new players can join.

  
  
• 9.6 On a multihomed host, how do I tell the game which interface to use?
  
  
  Create a file ~/.loki/heroes3/userprofile.txt, and give it a line:

      ipaddress=aaa.bbb.ccc.ddd
  

  where aaa.bbb.ccc.ddd should be the IP address you want Heroes 3 to use.
  
  

10. Gameplay

• 10.1 Do I need to play the campaigns in one series, or can I start a new game for each of the first three campaigns?
  
  
  If you want to access the later campaigns, you will need a save game which includes successfully playing through all three of the first campaigns at three scenarios each. At the end of each specific campaign, you will be offered the chance to save your game. Do so, and continue playing from that game (or re-load the game later to continue), and then choose a new first-tier campaign to play.

  If you do not play all three first-tier campaigns (Long Live the Queen, Dungeons and Devils, and Spoils of War) in the same game, you will not unlock the later campaigns! Unfortunately, it is not possible to combine the saved campaigns if they have been played separately.

  
  

11. Miscellaneous

• 11.1 The mouse cursor doesn't change during really large battles as I move it around on the field!
  
  
  There are some situations where a combination of heavy load on the system, the amount of data being pushed to handle the animations and the cursor, and the processor all combine to cause a noticeable sluggishness in combat.

  The likelihood can be addressed by disabling background processes (in particular, other sound applications such as xmms, running through a sound multiplexer like esound), disabling the graphical cursor (running heroes3 with -x on the command-line), and optimizing the display as much as possible (see also [speeding up]).

  
  
• 11.2 It's not detecting my CD!
  
  
  It's possible that SuperMount or a similar feature is interfering with the CD detection. This typically only occurs when some data files are left on the CD, so a full installation should not experience this.

  Usually, setting the HEROES3_DATA environment variable can be used to work around this. For instance:

      export HEROES3_DATA=/mnt/cdrom
      heroes3
  

  
  

12. Contact

• 12.1 How do I report a bug?
  
  
  Please visit our publicly accessible bug database (http://fenris.lokigames.com/) and post a bug report. Be sure to first check the list of known bugs and fixes/patches.
  
  
• 12.2 How can I receive technical support?
  
  
  We support our products by e-mail (preferred) and phone. Phone support is available by calling (714) 508-2140 between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. (Pacific Standard Time) Monday through Friday, except holidays.