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Revision as of 20:00, 13 October 2023
This page is for the original game. For the 2015 remake, see Heroes of Might and Magic III HD.
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|
Developers | |
---|---|
New World Computing | |
Linux | Loki Software |
Publishers | |
1999-2003 | 3DO |
2003-present | Ubisoft |
Re-release | Sold Out Software |
Linux | Loki Software |
Release dates | |
Windows | March 3, 1999 |
Mac OS (Classic) | December 21, 1999 |
Linux | December 20, 1999 |
Taxonomy | |
Monetization | One-time game purchase, Expansion pack, Subscription gaming service |
Modes | Singleplayer, Multiplayer |
Pacing | Turn-based |
Perspectives | Bird's-eye view, Isometric |
Controls | Point and select |
Genres | TBS |
Themes | Fantasy |
Series | Heroes of Might and Magic |
Heroes of Might and Magic III is a singleplayer and multiplayer bird's-eye view and isometric TBS game in the Heroes of Might and Magic series.
In October 1999, the game received the Armageddon's Blade expansion, featuring new creatures, heroes, campaigns and the Conflux town. It was followed by The Shadow of Death in March 2000, with its own set of new creatures, heroes and campaigns. The Shadow of Death is a standalone release by default and includes Armageddon's Blade content, but can only access it if that expansion is installed as well. Official patches maintained feature and balancing parity between all aforementioned releases.
The Complete Edition, which contains the base game and both expansions, was released in November 2000 with a custom 4.0 build (compatible online with The Shadow of Death patched to version 3.2). It is the most widely available version of the game, and is the one which is sold on digital stores.
The game requires the GL wrapper by Verok to resolve compatibility issues. The HD mod is highly recommended and frequently used by the community, as it includes quality-of-life improvements such as high resolution support, a variety of custom graphics renderers, and an in-built modification manager.
General information
- GOG.com Community Discussions for game series
- GOG.com Support Page
- HoMM III section on Age of Heroes
- Celestial Heavens forums for game series
Availability
Source | DRM | Notes | Keys | OS |
---|---|---|---|---|
Retail | DRM depends on release location, usually SafeDisc v1.50.020 DRM[Note 1]. Disc check only applies for singleplayer and multiplayer hosting. | |||
Epic Games Store | Complete Edition. | |||
GOG.com | Complete Edition. | |||
Ubisoft Store | Complete Edition. Included with Ubisoft+. |
- SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows Vista and later (see above for affected versions).
- A free demo version of Restoration of Erathia is available from GameFront: English, German.
- A free demo version of the Complete Edition for Mac OS is available from Archive.org.
Mac OS and Linux
The Mac OS and Linux versions of the game are no longer sold, and existing copies of those are hard to run on modern systems. The easiest solution for running the game on Linux or OS X is buying the Windows version and running it under Wine. Further information on how to do that can be found on AppDB. Alternatively, VCMI can be used to run the game.
Monetization
Type | Notes |
---|---|
Expansion pack | The expansion packs include a new town, new units, campaigns, maps, and artifacts. |
One-time game purchase | The game requires an upfront purchase to access. |
Subscription gaming service | Available via Ubisoft+. |
DLC and expansion packs
Name | Notes | |
---|---|---|
Armageddon's Blade | On Mac OS only available in Complete Edition. | |
The Shadow of Death | On Mac OS only available in Complete Edition. Stand-alone release, but Conflux town is only available if Armageddon's Blade is found installed, or as part of the Complete Edition. |
Essential improvements
Official patches
- All official patches include balance changes and bug fixes on par with each other.
- The latest official version of Restoration of Erathia is 1.4, with mirrors available here.
- The latest official version of Armageddon's Blade is 2.2, with mirrors available here.
- The latest official version of The Shadow of Death is 3.2, with mirrors available here. This version is compatible online with the Complete Edition (v4.0), the HD mod, and other modifications.
- Unfortunately, the Polish version still uses patch 3.2, instead of 3.3 or 4.0, but there is unofficial patch, that updates it to the newest version.
Skip intro videos
Modify registry settings[3] |
---|
|
HoMM3 High Resolution Project (HD mod)
- Requires Shadow of Death patched to v3.2 or the Complete Edition.
- Allows higher resolutions along with 32-bit color support, multiple renderers and upscaling methods, bug fixes, new multiplayer lobby, and other features.
- Bypasses compatibility issues faced by the unmodified game version.
- Includes Verok's GL Wrapper as one of the renderer options.
- Compatible with several mods, most notably Horn of the Abyss for which it has a special multiplayer lobby and shares some developers.
Game data
Configuration file(s) location
System | Location |
---|---|
Windows | HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Wow6432Node\New World Computing\Heroes of Might and Magic® III\1.0[Note 2] |
Mac OS (Classic) | |
Linux |
- It's unknown whether this game follows the XDG Base Directory Specification on Linux. Please fill in this information.
Save game data location
System | Location |
---|---|
Windows | <path-to-game>\Games[Note 3] |
Mac OS (Classic) | |
Linux |
Save game cloud syncing
System | Native | Notes |
---|---|---|
Epic Games Launcher | ||
GOG Galaxy | As of GOG Galaxy version 1.2, and special HoMM III Complete patch 4.0 (CS) | |
Ubisoft Connect | List of exceptions from Cloud save support on Ubisoft+ |
Video
Graphics feature | State | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|
Widescreen resolution | 800x600 only. Use the HD mod for resolutions up to 4000x4000. | ||
Multi-monitor | |||
Ultra-widescreen | Use the HD mod | ||
4K Ultra HD | Use the HD mod. | ||
Field of view (FOV) | |||
Windowed | Desktop must be in 16-bit colour mode (press F4) or use the HD mod. | ||
Borderless fullscreen windowed | Use the HD mod. Fullscreen toggle on launcher = Borderless window. | ||
Anisotropic filtering (AF) | |||
Anti-aliasing (AA) | |||
High-fidelity upscaling | Use the HD mod for better scaling, although it doesn't have FSR or NIS. | ||
Vertical sync (Vsync) | Use Verok's GL Wrapper (part of newer releases of the HD mod). | ||
60 FPS and 120+ FPS | Framerate is capped at 33 FPS. | ||
High dynamic range display (HDR) | See the glossary page for potential alternatives. |
Input
Keyboard and mouse | State | Notes |
---|---|---|
Remapping | See the glossary page for potential workarounds. | |
Mouse acceleration | ||
Mouse sensitivity | ||
Mouse input in menus | ||
Mouse Y-axis inversion | ||
Controller | ||
Controller support |
Controller types |
---|
Audio
Audio feature | State | Notes |
---|---|---|
Separate volume controls | Music, Effects | |
Surround sound | ||
Subtitles | Cutscenes only. | |
Closed captions | ||
Mute on focus lost | Not applicable to Simplified Chinese version. | |
Royalty free audio |
Localizations
Language | UI | Audio | Sub | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
English | ||||
Simplified Chinese | Retail only. Mandarin audio only applies for The Restoration of Erathia and Armageddon's Blade. Installation of The Shadow of Death will overwrite the audio files to English audio. | |||
Czech | Retail only. | |||
French | ||||
German | Retail only. Armageddon's Blade wasn't localized. | |||
Japanese | Retail only. | |||
Polish | Retail and GOG.com only. Download for other releases here. | |||
Russian | Retail and GOG.com only. Official localization by Buka Entertainment. Patch for other digital release here. | |||
Spanish | Fan translation, download (From Clan Dlan archives). |
Network
- Unmodified, the game requires DirectPlay to be enabled for multiplayer to work. The HD mod bypasses this requirement.
Multiplayer types
Type | Native | Players | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Local play | 8 | Hot seat |
||
LAN play | 8 | |||
Online play | 8 | The official MPlayer.com service has been shut down; the HD mod includes a community lobby. |
Connection types
Type | Native | Notes |
---|---|---|
Peer-to-peer | ||
Dedicated | ||
Self-hosting | ||
Direct IP |
Issues fixed
Game crashes unexpectedly after some time
- This is caused by a bug in the game, experienced only on multi-core or hyper-threaded processors. Newer GOG.com versions do not have this issue.
Use the HD mod |
---|
Modify exe files[4] |
---|
Notes
|
Turn off in-game music[citation needed] |
---|
Set CPU affinity[4] |
---|
Notes
|
Other information
API
Technical specs | Supported | Notes |
---|---|---|
DirectDraw | 1 | |
OpenGL | v1, v2 or v3 | User selectable only in the HD mod |
Executable | PPC | 16-bit | 32-bit | 64-bit | ARM | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Windows | ||||||
Linux | 64-bit and ARM require VCMI | |||||
Mac OS (Classic) |
Middleware
Middleware | Notes | |
---|---|---|
Audio | Miles Sound System | |
Interface | SDL | Linux only |
Cutscenes | Smacker Video Technology, Bink Video |
Mods
- In the Wake of Gods - an unofficial expansion pack adding new units, mechanics, resources and easier modding possibilities.
- Horn of the Abyss - popular unofficial expansion pack adding the Cove town, new neutral units, resources, campaign missions and map objects. Use this patch for compatibility with Polish version.
- VCMI - an attempt at rewriting the whole engine to make it customizable, portable and fully cross-platform.
System requirements
Windows | ||
---|---|---|
Minimum | ||
Operating system (OS) | 95 | |
Processor (CPU) | Intel Pentium 133 MHz | |
System memory (RAM) | 32 MB | |
Hard disk drive (HDD) | 425 MB | |
Video card (GPU) | DirectX 7.0a compatible |
Mac OS | ||
---|---|---|
Minimum | ||
Operating system (OS) | 8.1 | |
Processor (CPU) | PowerPC 603e 180 MHz | |
System memory (RAM) | 64 MB | |
Hard disk drive (HDD) | 425 MB |
Linux | ||
---|---|---|
Minimum | ||
Operating system (OS) | Kernel 2.2.x | |
Processor (CPU) | Intel Pentium | |
System memory (RAM) | 32 MB | |
Hard disk drive (HDD) | 425 MB | |
Sound (audio device) | OSS Compatible |
Notes
- ↑ SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows 10[1] or Windows 11 and is disabled by default on Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 when the KB3086255 update is installed.[2]
- ↑ Applications writing to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE
will be redirected to other locations based on various criterias, see the glossary page for more details. - ↑ When running this game without elevated privileges (Run as administrator option), write operations against a location below
%PROGRAMFILES%
,%PROGRAMDATA%
, or%WINDIR%
might be redirected to%LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore
on Windows Vista and later (more details).
References
- ↑ Not Loading in Windows 10; this will break thousands of - Microsoft Community - last accessed on 2017-01-16
- ↑ Microsoft - MS15-097: Description of the security update for the graphics component in Windows: September 8, 2015 - last accessed on 2018-02-16
- ↑ Verified by User:Expack3 on 2019-05-28
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 HoMM 3 crashing quite a lot; Windows Vista - GOG.com