If you want to try it out:

Get a HOMM2 directory (preferably PoL) and extract all the files and folders from the fheroes2 zip into it (you can skip or rename the readme.txt if you want since HOMM2 probably already has a readme.txt).  If you want customized stats (including from the HOMM2 Mod, changes listed here - I have also made a few tweaks of the power of various spells so they are worth using, and blocked all the Anduran artifacts, and some of the more useless spells like Haunt, View Resources and View Artifacts, from appearing randomly ) put my latest "files\stats" folder, based on r2263 (latest win32 version as of 14 February 2011) into the "files\stats" directory, overwriting the default files if you want.  Otherwise for earlier versions there is the stevenaus-01.7z file (7-zip format, see www.7-zip.org) from the fheroes2 zip's "files\stats" directory.  Then open the fheroes2.cfg file in the HOMM2 base directory, search for the line

"# use alternative resource" and put

alt resource = on

on the next line (making sure there is no "#" at the start of the line, because that comments things out).  My fheroes2.cfg file is here, however it requires the HOMM2 music as .ogg or .mp3 files in the "files\music" directory with the right filenames.  HOMM2 Soundtrack (in mp3 format) is an extra which you can download if you buy HOMM2 Gold at GoG.com, and includes all the music tracks, and both original HOMM2 and HOMM2:Price of Loyalty Castle Music.

Once you have the files in place, you can run fheroes2.exe, start a new game (single player or hotseat) edit the config (after you choose New Game there's a Config button) and choose the options you like.  Then play!

It sounds a bit complicated, but it isn't really.  People can let me know if they need any more clarification on various aspects.

Have fun!

Best regards,
Steven.

EDIT: Updated my latest "files\stats" directory zip, and the version supported by it.

The new win32 version is up - there is an experimental Battle Only mode where you can set up two combatants with their armies and fight a once-off battle.

Best regards,
Steven.

Well, there is the changelog, although that's rather wordy, and lists all new features and all bug reports wayyyyy back.  A lot of the new features are as options, so you can find a lot of the new features by looking at the config options which you set before starting a new game.  Some features are global, like the garrison and visiting hero change I think, although probably this could be made an option if there is enough demand for it.  You can edit pretty much all the games stats by going into files\stats and editing the .xml files, and putting "alt resources = on" in the fheroes2.cfg file in the main H2 directory, so that capacity to edit is a feature too.  Updating the project has been very iterative, at one stage there were not many features and more bugs, now a good percentage of H2 features (and many new ones) are in, and the game is on the whole quite stable and many of the old bugs have been squashed.

Anyway, ask me any questions you have, and I'll do my best to answer them.   I have been the main tester for a while, and Andrey Afletdinov has been the main programmer.

Best regards,
Steven.

It's made using SDL and other libraries, see http://dl.dropbox.com/u/8710134/readme.txt

I think it uses files and libraries that are available on Windows and Linux.  Anyway, there are Win32 and Linux versions, although the Linux version is not quite as updated.  But I think it's possible to compile yourself if you have skill in that, but the files needed require a fair bit of configuring and tweaking to get the right build environment for the compiling (at least on a Windows system).

It's a great little project.  And the effect simple changes have on the fun, gameplay and balance are really substantial.

Do you have a Windows system?  I don't think HOMM2 was ever made for Linux, but if you can extract the files or run the setup program from a HOMM 2 Gold purchase (US$9.99) at GoG.com, you can get all the files you need to run fheroes2.  You need the files from the DATA subdirectory.

Best regards,
Steven.

• Much higher resolution.  I think the resolution defaults to the best fit to the screen you have, at least it does on my computer.  You can see much more of the map at once, and it is kind of neat to have the town screen/battle screen fit "inside" the fantasy map/world.

• Total customization of keys and stats.  With HOMM 2 Mod balance tweaks and other tweaks allowed by fheroes2, almost all creatures, castle buildings, spells and skills are useful for their cost and characteristics.  Global characteristics such as number of turns players can live without a town, and maximum number of heroes per player are also customizable too.

• Wait function in battles.  It's amazing what this simple change does to the flow of battle.  No longer do fast units have to charge in at the start of battle and be made into mincemeat.  Fast units can have the last turn in a round then the first turn in the next round.  The AI doesn't use wait yet, and some rules are not quite like H3 (such as favouring slot closest to 1 in the wait part of the round, and swapping sides if the attacker makes the last action in the round and the defender has an equal fastest speed unit) but the core rules are there.  Phoenix and Champions are much more useful when wait is on.

• All sorts of interface improvements.  No longer do you need to worry about writing down Traveller's Tent codes - once you've visited it, all Barriers of that type will open automatically when you attempt to open the Barrier.  Well screen, where you can buy all the troops you want, and you also a "max" button where you can buy all the troops you can afford from highest level downwards, info about whether you've visited each Windmill/Watermill in the current week, info about what Shrines and Witch Huts teach after you've visited them (like in H3 and later) and how many troops are left in map dwellings and remember last focus (last town or hero selected) instead of always defaulting to the first hero.

• Many features from later HOMM games, such as wait and defend (skip adds +2 defense) functions in battle, garrison and visiting heroes in the one settlement, space bar revisit, placing a guardian stack for mines, remembering movement points after rehiring a hero, not rehiring with full basic creatures, no intrinsic skill/resource/defeat creature/s requirements for picking up artifacts on the map (no more not being able to pick up quest artifacts because you need leadership and you only have necromancers), buying from the Well (like buying from the Castle in H3), abandoned mine random resource, scholar ability (with H2 Eagle Eye skill) and flash building outline when clicking on buildings in settlements.

• New features and options: Remember last focus, buy a spellbook from shrines, extended content info from scouting skill, Visions and Identify Hero spell from Crystal Ball, recalculate movement point after creatures movement (basically, scouts can move a fast creature into their army and slow creatures out, and when transferring creatures that are slower or have already moved somewhat during the turn the receiving hero has movement reduced), recruit cost to be dependent on hero level, surrendering gives experience for killed creatures, after battle move to target cell if free, all sorts of alliance options - view maps, share troops, castle and mage guild visiting, high objects in battle act as obstacles to archers, archmagi have magic resistance, and unicorns and other "spell casting after attack" troops have limited spell immunity.

• Miscellaneous improvements: like in the original text of Dimension Door, you can only teleport to explored territory.  If you come out of a lith, or teleport next to a monster stack, they attack immediately.  That allows the benefit of being able to space bar visit a lith system, but there it is no longer no risk for great reward if monsters are next to any liths.  Monsters won't just play dumb just because you came out of a lith or teleport next to them rather than move next to them.   Every artifact now only counts once.  You can't have three flails of dominion any more and get benefits for each one - like with leadership and luck artifacts, each artifact of one type always give just the one bonus.

• New Battle Only mode, where the first player can set up a battle with creatures, base Attack/Defense/Knowledge/Spell Power, spells and artifacts, and two players can duke it out via local AI or human, or network or internet connection.  Regular games don't have non-local MP support, but that will come.

• Upcoming features: moddable AI, much bigger maps (bigger than H3 max size two level map), possibly with multiple levels and diplomacy, in-built and custom campaign support and possible support for multiplayer campaigns.  Lots of stuff to look forward to!

• Well now we're up to 10 points.   Hope you've got a good idea of the kind of things fheroes2 has, and will have as time goes on.  (There could potentially be a quite neat Battle Only competition where you use experience to buy various characteristics, and you could lose artifacts if you lose a battle outright.  But that's only an idea at the moment. )  Because the H2 foundation was extremely solid, adding some later features, interface improvements, balancing existing elements better, and adding other new features, makes for a very fun game, much better than the original.   And you are very welcome to take part on the forums and report bugs, suggest improvements etc.

When the fheroes2 editor is ready to go, there will be all sorts of map-making, campaign-making and AI customizing opportunities.

Heavenfall, I hope the above gives you a good idea of the scope and features of fheroes2.   Look forward to seeing you on the fheroes2 web-site!  And most importantly, have fun!

Best regards,
Steven.

PS: Sorry the list isn't short, but I think it is still understandable. <grin>

You need to have the HOMM2 Data files (from DATA subdirectory).  But you can get them with HOMM 2 Gold for $US9.99 at GoG.com.  So far, you can play scenarios in single player or hotseat, and Battle Only mode in single player, hotseat or network/internet.  But campaign support, expanded maps and map editor capabilities are coming, and in the future the AI will be able to be customized too (maybe through Lua).   Lots of cool stuff!

Best regards,
Steven.

Thanks, StevenAus. Will enjoy exploring this world again!

I always loved the tactical combat in this game, although as you say there were quite a few imbalanced units end-game. The combat has a surprising amount of depth, and with the changes it sounds even better.

This was one of my first strategy games, and I STILL get a kick out of finding that little pile of gold just waiting to get picked up. Yes, it's silly, yes it's conditioned, yes it's awesome.

Hopefully I still have the CD for this kicking around somewhere....

When the fheroes2 AI becomes moddable, there shouldn't be a problem with AI challenge, as I expect there will be a number of people who will work on making the AI really good.  And the AI already does things that it didn't in H2 - Mass Shield when its got it (which can be really annoying against a powerful AI hero) and if you use Shield on one of your ranged stacks, the AI will frequently target the troop that *doesn't* have the Shield protection with its own archers.

Best regards,
Steven.

Well, spells that were not very useful before can be made more useful - for example I recently gave Hypnotise 100 HP that can be controlled per Spell Power Point (SPP), for a cost of 18 Spell Points.  Cure for one stack gives 15 HP back on the top creature for every SPP, so it has more use now on big stacks.  Mass Cure gives 10 HP per SPP to all creatures that are not immune to it.  Resurrect resurrects 75 HP for the battle per SPP, to still give it a use when Resurrect True resurrects 50 HP permanently per SPP.  Fireball and Fireblast do 17 damage per SPP instead of 10, and Cold Ring does 15 damage per SPP to all hexes surrounding the centre.  You can change practically any of the stats in the game by editing the .xml files in files\stats and putting "alt resource = on" into your fheroes2.cfg.  My latest files\stats files (all edits including the HOMM II Mod tweaks) are here.

A simple listing of all the HOMM II Mod changes, including building cost tweaking, creature costs/stat tweaking, and hero level-up primary skill point percentage tweaking, is here.

fheroes2 allows editing of many things.  The special HOMM II Mod executable hard coded all its tweaks (apart from the above changes, the HOMM II Mod executable was exactly the same as the original HOMM II Expansion Windows executable).  Pretty much all the stats in fheroes2 are editable from the files\stats directory.

What did you like about H5 that wasn't in H2?  Was it the graphics, was it the one off feats, or was it something else?

Best regards,
Steven.

I'm not sure how to compile it for Linux.  You might want to try asking a question on the forums.  I could maybe ask afletdinov (the programmer) if he could release a linux version more often.

Best regards,
Steven.

Thanks for your thoughts!   The gameplay aspects will be improved in fheroes2 as time goes on, from all sorts of sources, including later HOMM games. I very much like H2's classic stylized fantasy, as it really suits the game, as it doesn't have to be "realistic" or 3D for me, personally.

Best regards,
Steven.