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Heroes of Might and Magic 3 Complete Guide

Discussion in 'Guides' started by Daerandin, Dec 1, 2013.

  • by Daerandin, Dec 1, 2013 at 4:11 PM
  • Daerandin

    Daerandin Well-Known Member

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    Many regard the third game in the Heroes of Might and Magic series to be the best of them all. It is certainly an excellent turn based strategy game with almost endless replayability. There are a lot of single player campaigns, and more single scenarios than I have ever played. Add to that a map editor which let you create your own custom maps and campaigns.

    h3_title.png

    This guide will explain how to install the digital edition of the game availble on GOG.com

    Tips & Specs

    To learn more about PlayOnLinux and Wine configuration, see the online manual: PlayOnLinux explained

    Arch Linux 64-bit
    PlayOnLinux 4.2.1
    Wine 1.7.6

    Downloading from GOG

    GOG games can be downloaded on Linux by using a web browser, just make sure the "GOG.com Downloader mode" is OFF

    h3_gog1.png

    Note: At the time of writing this guide, there is a universal update for the game, as can be seen in my screenshot. Be sure to download this update as well

    Or you can use the lgogdownloader, which is my personal preferred choice. It is a very useful program for downloading GOG games. There is no graphical interface for it, but it is very fast and provides error free downloads.

    For some Linux distros it may be found in community repositories or similar community provided packages. Installation and usage instructions are located here: lgogdownloader

    On first use, you must log in by opening a terminal and using the command:

    lgogdownloader --login

    You will be prompted for your gog.com account email and password, which you must type in correctly before you can use lgogdownloader to download games.

    To list all games you own, type:

    lgogdownloader --list

    If you only want to see specific games you own, for example any games with 'heroes' in the name, then type:

    lgogdownloader --list | grep heroes

    h3_gog2.png

    To download Heroes of Might and Magic 3 with no extras and no cover artwork, just the actual installer:

    lgogdownloader --download --game heroes_of_might_and_magic_3_complete_edition --no-extras --no-cover --directory /path/to/folder

    You have to type the game name exactly as it appears from the --list command. The game name you type in will be compared to all games you own, and lgogdownloader will download every game that includes the name you typed in.

    Note: This will also download the update for the game.

    Setup PlayOnLinux

    Launch PlayOnLinux and select 'Tools' and 'Manage Wine versions'

    In the new window that appears, scroll through the 'Available Wine versions' box to find '1.7.6' and click on the right pointing arrow to install it, now it will be visible under 'Installed Wine versions' on the right side
    If you have a 64-bits system, make sure you have selected the 'Wine versions (x86)' tab above

    h3_01.png

    Just close the window. Back at the main PlayOnLinux window, select 'Install'

    Click on 'Install a non-listed program'

    h3_02.png

    Select 'Install a program in a new virtual drive' and click next

    h3_03.png

    Name the the virtual drive "Heroes3" and click next

    h3_04.png

    Select "Use another version of Wine", "Configure Wine" and "Install some libraries" before you click next

    h3_05.png

    On the wine selection window, select 1.7.6 and click next. Make sure you select '32-bits window installation' if you are on a 64-bit system.

    h3_06.png

    When the wine configuration window appear, select the 'Graphics' tab, and click the checkbox for all four options, just like in my screenshot. The resolution is not that important is it will change to the game resolution when you start it. However, if you plan on using the Map editor and campaign editor, then you should set it to your desktop resolution.

    h3_07.png

    Note: Even though the language is Norwegian in my screenshot, the layout will look the same for you

    When you come to the selection of libraries to install, select all the following:

    POL_Install_directplay
    POL_Install_gdiplus

    h3_08.png

    The gdiplus library will allow the GOG installer to display correctly while the directplay library is required for multiplayer

    Then click 'Next'

    When you are asked for the install file to run, navigate to the GOG installer and select it. Then click 'Next'

    h3_09.png

    Installing the Game

    h3_10.png

    Click on options, then you can uncheck the Foxit reader install as it is not required and will just take space. Then click to accept the UELA and click 'Install'

    h3_11.png
    When the installation comes to the end, you may see this error.

    h3_12.png

    This seems to be different on different systems, some get this error and other's don't. If you do get it, you can safely click Ok to close it. The error is completely inconsequential.

    Note: The PlayOnLinux install script for the game includes a workaround to hide this error

    When the installation is complete, 'Exit' the installer

    h3_13.png

    You will be asked to create a shortcut, select 'Heroes3.exe'

    h3_14.png

    If you want to use the map editor for the game, you must also create a shortcut for 'h3maped.exe', and for the campaign editor, you need a shortcut to 'h3ccmped.exe'

    Now click 'I don't want to make another shortcut'

    Installing the update

    Have your game shortcut selected in PlayOnLinux, then click on 'Configure'

    h3_upd01.png

    Select the 'Miscellaneous' tab, and click 'Run a .exe file in this virtual drive'

    h3_upd02.png

    Navigate to the update and select it, then click 'Next'

    Click on 'Update'

    h3_upd03.png

    After the update, click 'Exit', now the game is ready to play

    h3_upd04.png

    Note on game resolution

    This game runs in 800*600 resolution, so the game window will appear very small if you run a high resolution on your desktop. One way to work around this is to lower your desktop resolution to make the game window appear larger. Some window managers have the option to display a window full screen so that it will appear over everything else without window borders. If your window manager supports this, then you can set your desktop resolution to 800*600, launch the game and make the game window fullscreen.

    If you have a desktop zoom feature available, that also offers a possibility for making the window appear larger.

    Lastly, there is a HD mod for this game which will let you play in higher resolutions, it is available here: HD mod

    If you want to use the HD mod, simply select your game shortcut in PlayOnLinux, then click on 'Configure' select the 'Miscellaneous' tab, and click 'Run a .exe file in this virtual drive'

    Screenshots

    h3_15.png h3_16.png
    h3_17.png h3_18.png
    h3_19.png h3_20.png

Comments

Discussion in 'Guides' started by Daerandin, Dec 1, 2013.

  1. booman
    Very nice! I have been playing HM&M with my 5 yr old daughter for a while and though its slow, we like it.
    One thing I never figured out was why its soo dang hard?!!
    I almost always loose the first battle against anything or anyone.
  2. Daerandin
    I completely agree, these games are difficult! Whenever I play single scenarios, I always play on easiest difficulty. Campaigns.... I have to resort to cheating now and then.

    The difficulty of these games decrease with each game. Heroes 3 is much easier than the first two. Heroes 4 is also easier than 3.
  3. booman
    Good to know... how exactly would I go about cheating?
    I'm only resorting to this because after hours and hours of not progressing I would like to finally discover the whole map.

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