Devlog #1: Everything Everywhere All At Once: Game Modes
People play strategy games in all kinds of ways. Sometimes you want a hot seat match with a friend. Or a huge map to explore for several days solo against AI. Or a tough multiplayer battle against a pro. Or a dive into the story, focusing more on the world and characters. People are different — that’s one of the awesome things about the HoMM community.
The good news is, we can do it all. Strategies in general and HoMM specifically are very mechanically robust. They have a lot of interlocking systems for players to experiment with. So if the developer hits the spot with the game’s core, it becomes a solid foundation for all modes. While both matchmaking and campaign require unique features (like an online lobby or an overworld hub), they don’t need different mechanics — the game's core remains the same, and it’s there for all modes.
Simply put, we don’t have to choose between a single- and multiplayer focus. We intend to ensure that all kinds of players find what they’re looking for in Olden Era.
Still, let us sum up what modes the Olden Era will feature.
[h2]Singleplayer[/h2]
[h3]Campaign[/h3]
Olden Era will feature a full-fledged single-player campaign. Note the singular: unlike the previous installments, we will incorporate all factions’ stories into a single campaign, structured somewhat differently than before. We’ll tell you more in our future narrative updates! For now, let’s just say it will be non-linear with player choices.
Early Access will feature the first act of the campaign, with more to follow during the development.
[h3]Random Maps[/h3]
The bread and butter of HoMM single-player experience are random maps. You can create an endless number of unique maps to play against the AI by clicking a couple of buttons!
The Random Map Generator and the AI are already fully functional. This feature will obviously be available in Early Access, as well as to closed beta users.
[h3]Custom Maps[/h3]
Another way to play the game against the AI are custom maps that are not linked to a campaign. Olden Era will launch during Early Access with several made by our team. More importantly though, we will share our map editor with the community and make sure you have an easy way to find player-made maps and share your creations.
[h2]Multiplayer[/h2]
The Heroes of Might and Magic multiplayer is an interesting beast. We’ll dive deeper into it in later devlogs, but the gist of it is that the community has developed ways to play the game that were not necessarily envisioned by the developers, and this competitive approach has a very dedicated playerbase. We analyzed this scene, conducted a number of interviews with professional players, and want to provide an experience that would fulfill the demands of the competitive community, as well as support it officially.
The game will be released in Early Access with three fully functional online multiplayer modes: Classic, Single-Hero, and Arena. We will dedicate upcoming devlogs to them.
For the first time in the series’ history, online multiplayer will feature matchmaking (just press a button and clash with an opponent online), player profiles, ladder — all the QoL features that make it a smooth experience.
[h2]Hot Seat[/h2]
…But it’s not a Heroes game without hot seat, is it? This classic mode allows one to play against a friend from one computer — some people really enjoy clashing against their family members (the loser does the chores!) or just looking the opponent in the eye. Who are we to deny this? Olden Era will, of course, feature hot seat as well.
[h2]Is There a Catch?[/h2]
Nope — we can have it all! As we said from the start, we feel that HoMM games are so robust and customizable, we can make all modes work equally well if we have a strong core. However, we did have to keep some concerns in mind during the development to ensure that one mode doesn’t compromise the rest.
[h3]Strong Random Map Generator[/h3]
The RMG is the core for both single-, online, and hot seat random maps. We feel that it’s crucial for the game. So we began its development as early as 2021 and poured significant resources into it. It’s still being polished, of course, but overall we are happy with how it works.
[h3]How to Balance for Both Single- and Multiplayer?[/h3]
Here is a concern: in singleplayer, a lot of people enjoy developing “broken” builds and finding ways to “beat the system.” The game will become stale if a certain build is objectively better than the rest, but generally speaking, there’s nothing wrong with some things being unbalanced for PvE. It makes games fun!
For multiplayer, however, we need to ensure that most strategies have a place, so there is a concern that the game’s balance might become too “even” because of the multiplayer, with everything feeling too similar in power level and no rush of discovering an awesome build.
The short answer here is, it won’t. We don’t believe in “even” balancing and prefer the meta to have a bunch of different broken builds instead. We would rather buff things than nerf them. Hopefully this makes both the single- and multiplayer experience fun.
And just in case: some skills and objects are already balanced differently in the Campaign. If we feel that it’s required, we might extrapolate this principle further. As long as structure or unit identity remains intact, we feel that this is an acceptable solution as well.
[h3]Is Your AI Fun to Play Against?[/h3]
When developing the AI, we analyzed how actual people play the game. For example, our AI separates its heroes into “main(s)” and “couriers”, with the latter collecting troops and resources instead of fighting — just like real players do. We hope this provides a genuinely fun experience in singleplayer and makes it challenging enough.
[h3]Editor Tools[/h3]
What if there’s a biome that you particularly dislike? Or a specific template that you saw in your dreams and now want to try out? Fret not — we’ll provide the community with both Map Editor and Template Editor. The first is very approachable, and the second is rather advanced. So if there is something we missed or didn’t experiment with enough, you’ll be able to do it — and we will have this opportunity to learn from you as well!
***
Some people on Team Unfrozen play Heroes of Might and Magic competitively. Some enjoy exploring an XL map for a week. Others still are campaign fans. We’re all different — just like you. So when we set out to make this game, we made sure to listen to everyone on the team and give everyone an opportunity to help build the mode they play the most.
We sincerely hope you enjoy them too!
Follow news and updates:
The good news is, we can do it all. Strategies in general and HoMM specifically are very mechanically robust. They have a lot of interlocking systems for players to experiment with. So if the developer hits the spot with the game’s core, it becomes a solid foundation for all modes. While both matchmaking and campaign require unique features (like an online lobby or an overworld hub), they don’t need different mechanics — the game's core remains the same, and it’s there for all modes.
Simply put, we don’t have to choose between a single- and multiplayer focus. We intend to ensure that all kinds of players find what they’re looking for in Olden Era.
Still, let us sum up what modes the Olden Era will feature.
[h2]Singleplayer[/h2]
[h3]Campaign[/h3]
Olden Era will feature a full-fledged single-player campaign. Note the singular: unlike the previous installments, we will incorporate all factions’ stories into a single campaign, structured somewhat differently than before. We’ll tell you more in our future narrative updates! For now, let’s just say it will be non-linear with player choices.
Early Access will feature the first act of the campaign, with more to follow during the development.
[h3]Random Maps[/h3]
The bread and butter of HoMM single-player experience are random maps. You can create an endless number of unique maps to play against the AI by clicking a couple of buttons!
The Random Map Generator and the AI are already fully functional. This feature will obviously be available in Early Access, as well as to closed beta users.
[h3]Custom Maps[/h3]
Another way to play the game against the AI are custom maps that are not linked to a campaign. Olden Era will launch during Early Access with several made by our team. More importantly though, we will share our map editor with the community and make sure you have an easy way to find player-made maps and share your creations.
[h2]Multiplayer[/h2]
The Heroes of Might and Magic multiplayer is an interesting beast. We’ll dive deeper into it in later devlogs, but the gist of it is that the community has developed ways to play the game that were not necessarily envisioned by the developers, and this competitive approach has a very dedicated playerbase. We analyzed this scene, conducted a number of interviews with professional players, and want to provide an experience that would fulfill the demands of the competitive community, as well as support it officially.
The game will be released in Early Access with three fully functional online multiplayer modes: Classic, Single-Hero, and Arena. We will dedicate upcoming devlogs to them.
For the first time in the series’ history, online multiplayer will feature matchmaking (just press a button and clash with an opponent online), player profiles, ladder — all the QoL features that make it a smooth experience.
[h2]Hot Seat[/h2]
…But it’s not a Heroes game without hot seat, is it? This classic mode allows one to play against a friend from one computer — some people really enjoy clashing against their family members (the loser does the chores!) or just looking the opponent in the eye. Who are we to deny this? Olden Era will, of course, feature hot seat as well.
[h2]Is There a Catch?[/h2]
Nope — we can have it all! As we said from the start, we feel that HoMM games are so robust and customizable, we can make all modes work equally well if we have a strong core. However, we did have to keep some concerns in mind during the development to ensure that one mode doesn’t compromise the rest.
[h3]Strong Random Map Generator[/h3]
The RMG is the core for both single-, online, and hot seat random maps. We feel that it’s crucial for the game. So we began its development as early as 2021 and poured significant resources into it. It’s still being polished, of course, but overall we are happy with how it works.
[h3]How to Balance for Both Single- and Multiplayer?[/h3]
Here is a concern: in singleplayer, a lot of people enjoy developing “broken” builds and finding ways to “beat the system.” The game will become stale if a certain build is objectively better than the rest, but generally speaking, there’s nothing wrong with some things being unbalanced for PvE. It makes games fun!
For multiplayer, however, we need to ensure that most strategies have a place, so there is a concern that the game’s balance might become too “even” because of the multiplayer, with everything feeling too similar in power level and no rush of discovering an awesome build.
The short answer here is, it won’t. We don’t believe in “even” balancing and prefer the meta to have a bunch of different broken builds instead. We would rather buff things than nerf them. Hopefully this makes both the single- and multiplayer experience fun.
And just in case: some skills and objects are already balanced differently in the Campaign. If we feel that it’s required, we might extrapolate this principle further. As long as structure or unit identity remains intact, we feel that this is an acceptable solution as well.
[h3]Is Your AI Fun to Play Against?[/h3]
When developing the AI, we analyzed how actual people play the game. For example, our AI separates its heroes into “main(s)” and “couriers”, with the latter collecting troops and resources instead of fighting — just like real players do. We hope this provides a genuinely fun experience in singleplayer and makes it challenging enough.
[h3]Editor Tools[/h3]
What if there’s a biome that you particularly dislike? Or a specific template that you saw in your dreams and now want to try out? Fret not — we’ll provide the community with both Map Editor and Template Editor. The first is very approachable, and the second is rather advanced. So if there is something we missed or didn’t experiment with enough, you’ll be able to do it — and we will have this opportunity to learn from you as well!
***
Some people on Team Unfrozen play Heroes of Might and Magic competitively. Some enjoy exploring an XL map for a week. Others still are campaign fans. We’re all different — just like you. So when we set out to make this game, we made sure to listen to everyone on the team and give everyone an opportunity to help build the mode they play the most.
We sincerely hope you enjoy them too!
Follow news and updates:
