Sergey “GrayFace” Rozhenko over on the Celestial Heaven forums has released version 2.0 of his unofficial patches for New World Computing’s Might and Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven, Might and Magic VII: For Blood and Honor, and Might and Magic VIII: Day of the Destroyer (you can find the whole set and other utilities on his Google site). Here’s a list of what’s fixed in the MM6 patch:
New in version 2.0:
[+] Custom LODs (for mods). For example, Data*.icons.lod archives would be loaded after icons.lod, possibly replacing its content. Same with every other archive.
[+] When switching from mouse look to ‘standard mode’ the mouse would start at screen center if over 10 seconds have passed since last switch. Otherwise it will return to its last position, as usual.
[+] Now you don’t have to specify AlwaysStrafe for mouse look. It will be on while in mouse look mode. If you don’t like this, you can specify NormalStrafe=1 to do turns even in mouse look mode.
[+] Now you can set FixStarburst=0, FixInfiniteScrolls=0 and/or FixInactivePlayersActing=0 options to disable corresponding fixes if you prefer using these bugs to your advantage.
[-] Movement rounding issues fixed properly. Strafes weren’t precise because of these issues.
[-] Save game failure on some computers. Actually caused by a bug of some system software, not the game itself.
[-] Games.lod archive required very special sorting.
[-] My bug: MouseLookUseAltMode wasn’t supported.
[-] My bug: “`” or “i” written in MMExtension console were causing character screen to open. Same thing with mouse movement when mouse look is on.
Other changes:
[+] Multiple Quick Saves. (see below for details)
[+] You can change controls. (see below for details)
[+] F2 toggles Double Speed mode. DoubleSpeedKey option controls the key.
[+] TurnSpeedNormal and TurnSpeedDouble options control speed of smooth turning. Default is 100% for normal speed and 120% for double speed. Turn Delta is set to Smooth by default.
[+] PlayMP3 option lets you play MP3 files instead of CDAudio. Default is 0 (disabled). (see below for details)
[+] MusicLoopsCount option controls loops count of music. Set it to 0 for infinite loop.
[+] Mouse look. (see below for details)
[+] MouseWheelFly option lets you fly up and down by scrolling your wheel.
[+] AlwaysStrafe option inverts the behavior of right/left arrows – strafing becomes the standard behavior and turning is done when Ctrl is pressed.
[+] AutorunKey (F3 by default) turns on/off autorun, like in MMORPGs.
[+] InventoryKey option lets you open character’s inventory screen by pressing ‘I’ instead of clicking a character portrait. Set it to 0 to disable.
[+] ToggleCharacterScreenKey opens or closes character screen. The default key is ‘~’. Set it to 0 to disable.
[+] FreeTabInInventory lets you select dead characters by Tab key while in character screen. Default is 1 (enabled).
[+] Recovery Time value is displayed in Attack and Shoot descriptions.
[+] No Death Movie option makes your death quicker by disabling the movie. Default is 0 (disabled).
[+] When you right click on character’s experience it shows level to which the character can train and experience needed to train to level after that. Just like in MM7 and MM8.
[+] ReputationNumber shows numerical reputation value together with category name. Default is 1 (enabled).
[+] NoCD option. Works only if “AnimsAnims2.vid” is present. Default is 1 (enabled). Note that it works only if Anims folder of the game contains both video files in it.
[+] HorsemanSpeakTime and BoatmanSpeakTime options control time needed for horseman or boatman to say “Let’s go” before new map starts loading.
[+] When run in 32 bits color mode automatically switches to 16 bits in Windowed mode.
[+] Extracted files from icons.lod (except pictures) are loaded from DataFiles folder. Useful for modders. (see below for details)
[+] Loads all .dll files from ExeMods directory (this is used by MMExtension and you can use it to add your patch).
[+] Improved errors reporting. (see below)
[+] BlasterRecovery option controls minimal blaster recovery time. Default is 5. Game default was 0.
[+] Now Delphi memory manager is used. The limit on amount of allocated memory is removed.
[+] Door state switching command extended. Now modders can pass 3 instead of 2 to switch door state even if it’s moving.
[-] MSS32.dll bugs fixed by using a newer version of it. The bugs are: With original version the game didn’t run on some systems producing SHRINKER.ERR file with “Pager initialisation error 2” in it. With version from Mok’s patch the game could hang when you enter lords’ castles or a movie show up.
[-] You could drink from fountains multiple times if all party members are inactive.
[-] You could attack with inactive party members. Setting FixInactivePlayersActing=0 option would disable this fix.
[-] FixDualWeaponsRecovery option fixes wrong recovery time calculation for characters wielding a weapon in second hand. Dual-wielding was useless before the fix due to doubled recovery time. After the fix it works as in MM7 and MM8.
[-] Now all sounds are stopped when MM6 is deactivated.
[-] AlwaysRun effects turning in turn-based mode now.
[-] Town Portal pauses the game now.
[-] Now you can have gaps between save slots. Save and Load would target the same slot anyway.
[-] Walk Sound disappearing problem fixed.
[-] No need to set compatibility on Win XP anymore.
[-] Some scrolls were endless if you use them on paper doll in turn-based mode. Setting FixInfiniteScrolls=0 would disable this fix.
[-] Inactive characters could use scrolls. Setting FixInfiniteScrolls=0 would disable this fix.
[-] When using a scroll by right click on a character portrait target was chosen automatically. Thus, scrolls like Stone to Flash couldn’t be used that way.
[-] Now scrolls sets the game on pause when used on paper doll. This also disallows picking up items while choosing spell target.
[-] Improved Angel’s Bootlag Bay circus fix. It didn’t work in some circumstances.
[-] One of circus buildings in Bootlag Bay didn’t have an entrance texture.
[-] ‘Increases rate of Recovery’ enchantment now works. IncreaseRecoveryRateStrength controls how much it increases the rate. Default is 10%.
[-] Fixed a game bug which could cause a crash on game start.
[-] Turn-based turn used to take twice as much time as it should.
[-] Smack video volume used to be loud no metter what Sound Volume you set.
[-] Now items that didn’t fit into a chest appear in it when you free space for them and reopen the chest. (FixChests option)
[-] Removed buggy character switching among slots with Ctrl + click.
[-] Now Starburst and Meteor Shower can’t be used on monsters that are beyond the reach of arrows. Setting FixStarburst=0 would disable this fix.
[-] Party generation screen animation speed is now limited.
[-] Fixed a couple of index-out-of-bounds errors.
[-] When you move between locations sound buffers were freed while the sounds are playing. Also some resources weren’t freed.
[-] Autosave was done after the cost of transport is withdrawn.
[-] Weapon enchants don’t ignore resistances anymore.
[-] Fixed condition removal spells (they worked 3 hours/days per skill point instead of 1, also causing integer overflow on huge skill levels).
[-] My bug: Quick Save didn’t work in Hive after destroying the Reactor.
[-] Waiting (using Rest dialog) didn’t recover characters.
[-] Key strokes could potentially be ignored if some other programs run at the same time and use the same keyboard access method.
[-] Map crossing dialog was triggered while flying low, accepting it in that case did nothing.
[-] A rare case of “negative/0” caused a crash in stats screen.
[-] Lloyd Beacon used to autosave game after decreasing spell points and adding recovery delay.
[-] Town Portal used to autosave game after adding recovery delay.
[-] Town Portal triggered autosave even within when teleporting current location.
[-] Finger Of Death spell didn’t give experience for killed monsters.
[-] Although Prismatic Light beam bug wan’t reported in MM6, the thing that caused it was fixed here too.
[*] Added Smuggler’s Guild in Free Haven. Looks like it was planned by NWC, but not included in the map file.
[*] Newer versions of MSS32.dll and Smackw32.dll are used always.
Along with a list of what’s fixed in the MM7 patch:
New in version 2.0:
[+] Custom LODs (for mods). For example, Data*.icons.lod archives would be loaded after icons.lod, possibly replacing its content. Same with every other archive.
[+] When switching from mouse look to ‘standard mode’ the mouse would start at screen center if over 10 seconds have passed since last switch. Otherwise it will return to its last position, as usual.
[+] Now you don’t have to specify AlwaysStrafe for mouse look. It will be on while in mouse look mode. If you don’t like this, you can specify NormalStrafe=1 to do turns even in mouse look mode.
[+] Now you can set FixInactivePlayersActing=0 option to disable corresponding fix if you prefer using the bug to your advantage.
[+] HDWTRCount and HDWTRDelay options control number of water frames (up to 15) and delay between them in D3D.
[+] Smoother D3D water frames included.
[-] Movement rounding issues fixed properly. Walking and strafes weren’t precise because of these issues and jump height was lower than it should be.
[-] Save game failure on some computers. Actually caused by a bug of some system software, not the game itself.
[-] Games.lod archive required very special sorting.
[-] The door of a shop on an island in Tatalia didn’t react to mouse clicks.
[-] My bug: Unnecessary debug info was written to ErrorLog.txt
[-] My bug: MouseLookUseAltMode wasn’t supported.
[-] My bug: “`” or “i” written in MMExtension console were causing character screen to open. Same thing with mouse movement when mouse look is on.
Other changes:
[+] Multiple Quick Saves. (see below for details)
[+] F2 toggles Double Speed mode. DoubleSpeedKey option controls the key.
[+] TurnSpeedNormal and TurnSpeedDouble options control speed of smooth turning. Default is 100% for normal speed and 120% for double speed. Turn Delta is set to Smooth by default.
[+] PlayMP3 option lets you play MP3 files instead of CDAudio. Default is 0 (disabled). (see below for details)
[+] MusicLoopsCount option controls loops count of music. Set it to 0 for infinite loop.
[+] Mouse look. (see below for details)
[+] MouseWheelFly option lets you fly up and down by scrolling your wheel.
[+] AlwaysStrafe option inverts the behavior of right/left arrows – strafing becomes the standard behavior and turning is done when Ctrl is pressed.
[+] AutorunKey (F3 by default) turns on/off autorun, like in MMORPGs.
[+] InventoryKey option lets you open character’s inventory screen by pressing ‘I’ instead of clicking a character portrait. Set it to 0 to disable.
[+] ToggleCharacterScreenKey opens or closes character screen. The default key is ‘~’. Set it to 0 to disable.
[+] FreeTabInInventory lets you select dead characters by Tab key while in character screen. Default is 1 (enabled).
[+] Recovery Time value is displayed in Attack and Shoot descriptions.
[+] No Death Movie option. Default is 0 (disabled).
[+] NoCD option. Works only if “AnimsMagic7.vid” is present. Default is 1 (enabled).
[+] NoIntro option disables logo movies and displays the intro when a new game starts. Default is 0 (disabled).
[+] HardenArtifacts options lets you use Harden Item on artifacts. Default is 1 (enabled).
[+] Harden Item, Recharge Item and other similar potions don’t disappear when you try to use them on improper items.
[+] NoVideoDelays disables delays before and after a video is shown. Default is 1 (enabled).
[+] ReputationNumber shows numerical reputation value together with category name. Default is 1 (enabled).
[+] PaletteSMul and PaletteVMul options let you change how bright or colorful the game looks. HSV representation of colors is used.
[+] Now monsters are colored properly in Direct3D, no more tinting. d3dsprite.hwl isn’t used anymore.
[+] Monster contours are taken into account in Direct3D when you click on them.
[+] “NoBitmapsHwl” enables textures to be taken from bitmaps.lod instead of d3dbitmap.hwl in Direct3D. This leads to better quality of textures, but too much sharpness in the distance. Default is 1 (enabled).
[+] HorsemanSpeakTime and BoatmanSpeakTime options control time needed for horseman or boatman to say “Let’s go” before new map starts loading.
[+] When run in 32 bits color mode automatically switches to 16 bits in Windowed mode.
[+] Identify Monster shows monster resistances numbers now.
[+] Extracted files from events.lod are loaded from DataFiles folder. Useful for modders. (see below for details)
[+] Loads all .dll files from ExeMods directory (this is used by MMExtension and you can use it to add your patch).
[+] Improved errors reporting. (see below)
[+] BlasterRecovery option controls minimal blaster recovery time. Default is 5. Game default was 0.
[+] Limit on sprites count is extended.
[+] Now Delphi memory manager is used. The limit on amount of allocated memory is removed.
[+] Door state switching command extended. Now modders can pass 3 instead of 2 to switch door state even if it’s moving.
[-] Mok’s patch bug: there were glitches of smack animation in houses and even crashes sometimes.
[-] You could drink from fountains multiple times if all party members are inactive.
[-] You could attack with inactive party members. Setting FixInactivePlayersActing=0 would disable this fix.
[-] Town Portal pauses the game now.
[-] Now you can have gaps between save slots. Save and Load would target the same slot anyway.
[-] Walk Sound disappearing problem fixed.
[-] No need to set compatibility on Win XP anymore.
[-] Inactive characters could use scrolls.
[-] Items bonuses to weapon skills were ignored in recovery time calculation (Ania Selving artifact is the only such item).
[-] Protection from Magic didn’t protect from Poison.
[-] ‘of Feather Falling’ enchantment didn’t work (and Hermes’ Sandals too).
[-] Dagger in second hand used to do triple damage even on Expert level.
[-] Daggers had 10% chance to do triple damage no matter what Dagger skill you have. ProgressiveDaggerTrippleDamage option makes daggers do triple damage with probability equal to skill. Default is 1 (enabled).
[-] Haste didn’t work when some members are dead and weak at the same time.
[-] Buggy autosave file name localization removed.
[-] Now items that didn’t fit into a chest appear in it when you free space for them and reopen the chest. (FixChests option)
[-] Return button in game menu didn’t work correctly.
[-] DirectDraw errors reporting is disabled. It was leading to numerous problems on some computers.
[-] Attacking big monsters in melee in Direct3D was a problem before. Players tended to shoot in them.
[-] Lich jars not appearing in The Walls of Mist bug fixed.
[-] Credits speed is now limited.
[-] Party generation screen animation speed is now limited.
[-] ‘Invalid ID reached!’ that was spamming the ErrorLog.txt is now ignored.
[-] Fixed a couple of index-out-of-bounds errors.
[-] Spear skill wasn’t added to damage on expert level, it required master level.
[-] Autosave was done after the cost of transport is withdrawn.
[-] Waiting (using Rest dialog) used to recover characters twice as fast.
[-] Key strokes could potentially be ignored if some other programs run at the same time and use the same keyboard access method.
[-] A rare case of “negative/0” caused a crash in stats screen.
[-] Setup for keys like R (Rest) wasn’t loaded properly.
[-] Lloyd Beacon used to autosave game after decreasing spell points and adding recovery delay.
[-] Town Portal used to autosave game after adding recovery delay.
[-] Town Portal triggered autosave even when teleporting within current location.
[-] Some players experienced a beam of Prismatic Light that doesn’t disappear.
And, finally, what’s fixed in the MM8 patch:
New in version 2.0:
[+] Custom LODs (for mods). For example, Data*.icons.lod archives would be loaded after icons.lod, possibly replacing its content. Same with every other archive.
[+] When switching from mouse look to ‘standard mode’ the mouse would start at screen center if over 10 seconds have passed since last switch. Otherwise it will return to its last position, as usual.
[+] Now you don’t have to specify AlwaysStrafe for mouse look. It will be on while in mouse look mode. If you don’t like this, you can specify NormalStrafe=1 to do turns even in mouse look mode.
[+] Now you can set FixInactivePlayersActing=0 option to disable corresponding fix if you prefer using the bug to your advantage.
[+] HDWTRCount and HDWTRDelay options control number of water frames (up to 15) and delay between them in D3D.
[+] Smoother D3D water frames included.
[-] Movement rounding issues fixed properly. Walking and strafes weren’t precise because of these issues and jump height was lower than it should be. JumpSpeed option has been removed.
[-] Save game failure on some computers. Actually caused by a bug of some system software, not the game itself.
[-] Games.lod archive required very special sorting.
[-] My bug: Unnecessary debug info was written to ErrorLog.txt
[-] My bug: The checkbox for disabling original mouse look during setup didn’t work
[-] My bug: MouseLookUseAltMode wasn’t supported.
[-] My bug: “`” or “i” written in MMExtension console were causing character screen to open. Same thing with mouse movement when mouse look is on.
Other Changes:
[+] Multiple Quick Saves. (see below for details)
[+] F2 toggles Double Speed mode. DoubleSpeedKey option controls the key.
[+] TurnSpeedNormal and TurnSpeedDouble options control speed of smooth turning. Default is 100% for normal speed and 120% for double speed. Turn Delta is set to Smooth by default.
[+] Mouse look. (see below for details)
[+] MouseWheelFly option lets you fly up and down by scrolling your wheel.
[+] AlwaysStrafe option inverts the behavior of right/left arrows – strafing becomes the standard behavior and turning is done when Ctrl is pressed.
[+] AutorunKey (F3 by default) turns on/off autorun, like in MMORPGs.
[+] InventoryKey option lets you open character’s inventory screen by pressing ‘I’ instead of clicking a character portrait. Set it to 0 to disable.
[+] ToggleCharacterScreenKey opens or closes character screen. The default key is ‘~’. Set it to 0 to disable.
[+] FreeTabInInventory lets you select dead characters by Tab key while in character screen. Default is 1 (enabled).
[+] Recovery Time value is displayed in Attack and Shoot descriptions.
[+] PlayMP3 option lets you play MP3 files instead of CDAudio. Default is 0 (disabled). (see below for details)
[+] MusicLoopsCount option controls loops count of music. Set it to 0 for infinite loop.
[+] No Death Movie option. Default is 0 (disabled).
[+] NoCD option. Works only if “AnimsMagicdod.vid” is present. Default is 1 (enabled).
[+] NoIntro option disables starting movies. Default is 0 (disabled).
[+] HardenArtifacts options lets you use Harden Item on artifacts. Default is 1 (enabled).
[+] Harden Item, Recharge Item and other similar potions don’t disappear when you try to use them on improper items.
[+] NoVideoDelays disables delays before and after a video is shown. Default is 1 (enabled).
[+] ReputationNumber shows numerical reputation value together with category name. Default is 1 (enabled).
[+] HorsemanSpeakTime and BoatmanSpeakTime options control time needed for horseman or boatman to say “Let’s go” before new map starts loading.
[+] MouseLookBorder option lets you can change size of area used to rotate by pressing right mouse button. Set it to -1 to return MM6 and MM7 behavior with right button pausing the game.
[+] PaletteSMul and PaletteVMul options let you change how bright or colorful the game looks. HSV representation of colors is used.
[+] Now monsters are colored properly in Direct3D, no more tinting. d3dsprite.hwl isn’t used anymore.
[+] Monster contours are taken into account in Direct3D when you click on them.
[+] “NoBitmapsHwl” enables textures to be taken from bitmaps.lod instead of d3dbitmap.hwl in Direct3D. This leads to better quality of textures, but too much sharpness in the distance. Default is 1 (enabled).
[+] You can rest on shipyards.
[+] When run in 32 bits color mode automatically switches to 16 bits in Windowed mode.
[+] Identify Monster shows monster resistances numbers now.
[+] StartupCopyrightDelay option lets you change the time for which the copyright window is shown when the game starts.
[+] Extracted files from EnglishT.lod are loaded from DataFiles folder. Useful for modders. (see below for details)
[+] Loads all .dll files from ExeMods directory (this is used by MMExtension and you can use it to add your patch).
[+] Improved errors reporting. (see below)
[+] Limit on sprites count is extended.
[+] Now Delphi memory manager is used. The limit on amount of allocated memory is removed.
[+] Door state switching command extended. Now modders can pass 3 instead of 2 to switch door state even if it’s moving.
[-] There were glitches of smack animation in houses and even crashes sometimes.
[-] Events were executed incorrectly if all party members are inactive.
[-] You could attack with inactive party members. Setting FixInactivePlayersActing=0 would disable this fix.
[-] Now save/load slot is preserved.
[-] No need to set compatibility on Win XP anymore.
[-] Inactive characters could use scrolls.
[-] Items bonuses to weapon skills were ignored in recovery time calculation.
[-] Protection from Magic didn’t protect from Poison.
[-] ‘of Feather Falling’ enchantment didn’t work (and Archangel Wings too).
[-] Dagger in second hand used to do triple damage even on Expert level.
[-] Daggers had 10% chance to do triple damage no matter what Dagger skill you have. ProgressiveDaggerTrippleDamage option makes daggers do triple damage with probability equal to skill. Default is 1 (enabled).
[-] Haste didn’t work when some members are dead and weak at the same time.
[-] Buggy autosave/quicksave filenames localization removed.
[-] Temporary resistance bonuses didn’t work. (they are actually never given in the game, but this fix may be useful for mods)
[-] Added code to suppress a strange bug leading to crash in the Temple Of The Sun.
[-] Mok’s delay before showing video is replaced with a better solution.
[-] There were wrong artifacts bonus damage ranges (4-9 instead of 4-10 and so on).
[-] Elderaxe had wrong damage type: Fire instead of Water.
[-] Herald’s Boots swiftness didn’t work.
[-] Now items that didn’t fit into a chest appear in it when you free space for them and reopen the chest. (FixChests option)
[-] DirectDraw errors reporting is disabled.
[-] Attacking big monsters in melee in Direct3D was a problem before. Players tended to shoot in them.
[-] Credits speed is now limited.
[-] Party generation screen animation speed is now limited.
[-] Uncompressed sounds weren’t loaded correctly.
[-] ‘Invalid ID reached!’ that was spamming the ErrorLog.txt is now ignored.
[-] In Plane of Air FPS was very low and ErrorLog.txt was spammed with ‘Too many stationary lights!’ messages.
[-] Fixed a couple of index-out-of-bounds errors.
[-] Death on arena no longer causes a crash.
[-] Autosave was done after the cost of transport is withdrawn.
[-] Waiting (using Rest dialog) used to recover characters twise as fast.
[-] Key strokes could potentially be ignored if some other programs run at the same time and use the same keyboard access method.
[-] Town Portal and Lloyd Beacon dialogs used to react spell book click in mouse look mode.
[-] A rare case of “negative/0” caused a crash in stats screen.
[-] Lloyd Beacon used to autosave game after decreasing spell points and adding recovery delay.
[-] Town Portal used to autosave game after adding recovery delay.
[-] Some players experienced a beam of Prismatic Light that doesn’t disappear. Now the real cause is fixed.
Thanks, RPGWatch.
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