The year of peak might and magic
33 comments
·July 18, 2025GeekyBear
I keep a Windows 2000 virtual machine with no network access around just to occasionally play HOMM 3.
There aren't many games from that era that are as infinitely replayable. Command and Conquer: Yuri's Revenge and Starcraft come to mind.
Mars008
> I keep a Windows 2000 virtual machine with no network access around just to occasionally play HOMM 3.
according to wiki there should be an easier way:
Platform(s) Windows, Macintosh, Linux (PowerPC/x86), iOS, Android
Release March 3, 1999
GeekyBear
The Windows version is no longer compatible with modern Windows versions.
The Mac version (I own both) was for PowerPC Macs.
I've already paid for it a third time, as part of a HOMM box set for Windows.
Good Old Games has produced a fixed version, so I could pay for it a fourth time, but running it in the VM still works.
ktallett
There is also a great remake with a new engine, that of course requires the original assets.
0cf8612b2e1e
I would be quite surprised if a modern Linux could run the original binary without gymnastics. Windows is the only OS which prioritizes backwards compatibility.
morsch
You're probably right about the native version, but the Windows version works fine: https://www.protondb.com/app/297000?device=pc
yownie
there's a linux version off archive.org I managed to get running last year. this is a perfect problem for a flatpak to solve however.
GeekyBear
The game isn't stable under modern versions of Windows.
dekhn
I remember, as a kid, seeing the first ad for M&M in a computer journal I read. At the time I was happy playing Ultima and it looked like it was going to be a better ultima, and ordered it. Waiting for the floppy disk to arrive seemed like an eternity and at some point I literally dreamed I was playing the game. The game itself, I barely remember- it wasn't that great, kind of like ultima and wizardry but didn't really improve on either of them significantly.
rikthevik
Love to see some Might and Magic articles.
Earlier this year I found a boxed copy of Might and Magic IV: Clouds of Xeen on Marketplace. Everything is in the box and it's all pristine. It goes very nicely with my boxed copy of Might and Magic III that I bought (used!) to play on my first computer, my 386.
I think I'm going to get these maps framed.
ferguess_k
As a side (but arguably related) topic:
Is there any webpage or book or any media that analyzes the technical aspects of a game? Take HOMM3 as an example -- what are the most difficult technical problems and how did the developers solve them? What are the algorithms that run aspects of the game (e.g. how is path-finding implemented? How is AI implemented?)? What is the architecture of the engine? Does it have a scripting engine and if so how is it implemented?
I like post-mortems but mostly are given by designers, directors, not programmers -- and even by programmers they did not go very deep like "John Carmack" type deep. The "Black books" by Fabien came into mind but these are few and far between.
hcs
Warren Robinett wrote an interesting one on Atari VCS Adventure http://www.warrenrobinett.com/inventing_adventure/
It doesn't go super deep, he had a more technical book in the works but I haven't heard any updates about it for a while: http://www.warrenrobinett.com/ecv/annotated_adventure_toc/in...
nottorp
I don't think anything in the Might and Magic series was ever a serious technological advancement on par with id software's early work.
They're some of the greatest games ever made, but it's the design, not the code.
Come to think of it, same thing goes for most games that make the greatest game lists.
TrackerFF
Me and my friends had really been playing M&M 6&7 in 98/99, such fond memories. We had really high hopes for Ultima 9 - which came out in 99, as it looked so much more modern than the M&M games...nope, a total turd. Think I still have the box somewhere in the attic though, that was probably the most impressive thing about the game.
M&M8 which came out the year after, was good enough though. That's around the time I stopped playing the M&M series.
pavlov
Ultima IX was so bad that I stopped playing computer games entirely. 3D worlds just never worked for me. All the story immersion and imagination that I’d loved in the games of my childhood seemed to be gone. (I never cared for Doom either, and then all games somehow became Doom.)
The next time I bought a high-end 3D game was over 15 years later. That was Fallout 4. I played 30 minutes and then never returned to it. Uncanny valley graphics and boring first person action — nothing like the original Fallouts 1 and 2 of my memories.
I guess I’ll have to try another AAA PC game in 2030 just to stick to the schedule.
autoexec
One thing I loved about HOMM 3 was that even with just one computer you could take turns and get a game going with friends. Not many games offered that unless they were based on board games
asboans
I keep seeing might and magic related content, despite never having played it, or even having heard of it until recently! But in the last few months I have been getting the odd YouTube recommendation, or see the occasional Reddit (and now HN) thread.
Why?
shadowpho
They’ve been increasing in popularity on twitch recently
egypturnash
Possibly it is the Baader-Meinhof Effect.
Possibly this is a game you will love playing and should check it out. Whether by emulating an ancient DOS machine or by picking up one of the eleven games in the series available on Steam. (https://store.steampowered.com/sale/might-magic/)
If it is the latter case then I am sure some enthusiastic fans of this series will reply to this comment or yours with detailed opinions on which option is the best :)
artemonster
Astrologers proclaim a week of HOMM3 appreciation posts.
vunderba
What I wouldn't give for a new Heroes of Might and Magic game with the pixel art style of HOMM2 and the gameplay mechanics of HOMM3...
vanderZwan
Aren't there mods out there for HOMM3 to make it look like HOMM2?
edit: found one called "The Succession Wars"
tdrgabi
Not exactly what you asked for but https://store.steampowered.com/app/867210/Songs_of_Conquest/ is somewhat close.
I played the campaign and it scratched the itch
selimthegrim
The SsethTzeentach review is something else
wtf242
One of my favorite games of all time. It's so simple yet can be so complex. You can legit spend 8+ hours playing the first couple levels easily.
incanus77
I played the shit out of HOMM3. I bought it, though, only after sneaking plays in between customers while working at Radio Shack. We had some ~300MHz Compaq machines that Radio Shack had recently partnered with to sell and on slow days, it was a good way to pass the time.
HOMM3 is a perfect game. I've gotten people hooked on it in the 2020's. I still have an original CD of the linux port, a lot of nostalgia there