Games PC HEROES OF MIGHT AND MAGIC II User Manual

PMN 490-001

™

© 2001 The 3DO Company. All Rights Reserved. 3DO, Heroes, Heroes of Might and Magic, Might and Magic, New World Computing, and their respective logos, are trademarks or registered trademarks of The 3DO Company in the U.S. and other countries. All other trademarks belong to their respective owners. New World Computing is a division of The 3DO Company.

The software and related manual for this 3DO product are copyrighted. No portion of this product may be photocopied, scanned, translated, reproduced, copied or reduced to any tangible or electronic medium or machine-readable form, or publicly performed or displayed, without the prior written consent of The 3DO Company. The owner of this product is entitled to use the software and related manual for his or her own use, but is not entitled to reproduce and distribute any copies of the software or manual to any other individual or entity; nor to rent or lease this product or any copy thereof to any third party.

Credits

Designed and Directed: Jon Van Caneghem Programming and Design: Phil Steinmeyer Executive Producer: Mark Caldwell Producer: Walt Hochbrueckner Additional Design: Paul Rattner

Debbie Van Caneghem

Additional Programming: George Ruof

Todd Hendrix

Mark Caldwell Writing: Paul Rattner Art Director: Julia Ulano Assistant Art Director: Bonita Long-Hemsath Artists:

Julie Bateman Steve Jasper Rebecca Christel April Lee Shelly Garcia Lieu Pham Sam Hasson Phelan Sykes Louis Henderson Steve Wasaff Tracy Iwata Scott White

Musical Production:

Rob King

Music and Sound Design:

Rob King Steve Baca

Town Themes Composed and Conducted by:

Paul Romero

Vocalists:

Grant Youngblood Kareen Meshagan

Manual and Helpfile:

Bryan Farina Rozita Tolouey Bruce Shlickbernd

Scenarios:

Jon Van Caneghem Bryan Farina Debbie Van Caneghem Eric Heffron Clayton Retzer Mark Palczynski Christian Vanover Walt Hochbrueckner Paul Rattner Bruce Shlickbernd Benjamin Bent Craig Konas

QA Manager:

Peter Ryu

QA:

David Botan Kate McClelland David Fernandez Timothy Lang Bill Nesemeier Bryan Farina Walter Johnson

Packaging:

Scott McDaniel Erik Biondo Rozita Tolouey AKA Studios Eric Schumacher

Special Thanks to:

Scott McDaniel Ted Chapman Dean Frost Deane Rettig

iii

Table of Contents

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .v

What’s New . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .vi

Basic Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

Tutorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

Main Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18

Standard Game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18

Campaign Game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21

Multiplayer Game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21

Adventure Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

Adventure Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

Adventure Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25

Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26

Game Play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30

Town Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34

Castle Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35

Hero Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40

Movement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45

Secondary Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46

Skill Advancement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48

Hero Trading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50

Kingdom Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51

Combat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52

General Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53

Combat Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56

Siege Combat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57

Spells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59

Creatures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .72

Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .93

Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .114

Keyboard Shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .118

Customer Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .120

Hints and Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .121

EXPANSION MANUAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .128

Introduction

Heroes of Might and Magic II: The Succession Wars combines fantasy and strategy in a battle for territory and resources. Players must fight between one and five enemy warlords to conquer new lands, collect resources and artifacts, and capture towns. These towns need to be fortified and upgraded to produce and supply new armies. Strategic planning and tactical cunning need to be combined and balanced for victory.

What’s New

Heroes of Might and Magic II, the sequel to the first Heroes of Might and Magic, has many new features and improvements. If you have played the first Heroes, here is a list of the major changes in Heroes II. You can find more detailed information on each item in the appropriate section of the manual.

Spells: The spell system now uses a spell points instead of spell memorization. You permanently learn spells from the Mage Guilds, but have a finite number of spell points to cast those spells. Many new spells have been added, and the spells are now categorized in five levels, as opposed to four.

Combat: The battlefield has been enlarged, and new creatures have been added. Creatures can now be affected by more than one non-contradictory spell at the same time (Curse, Slow, and Protection can all be affecting a single creature).

Heroes: Two new hero types are available, the Wizard and the Necromancer. The Wizard is a powerful spellcaster with an army of magical creatures, and the Necromancer is a spellcaster that commands the undead.

Heroes now learn secondary skills, such as Archery and Leadership. Some of these skills duplicate the innate abilities of the hero types in the first Heroes (Pathfinding for the Barbarian, Navigation for the Sorceress). Heroes can know a maximum of eight secondary skills, and there are 14 skills to choose from. These skills are learned when a hero advances in level.

Towns: Towns have new defensive improvements, and some completely brand new buildings, like the statue and the marketplace. Some creature dwellings can be upgraded to produce new, upgraded creatures.

Creatures: Certain creatures can be upgraded, generally becoming faster and tougher, though some creatures aquire special abilities when upgraded. Two new groups of creatures have been added, one for the Wizard and one for the Necromancer.

Adventure: The size of the maps can be smaller or larger than before (up to 1/4 the area to 4 times the area). Many scenarios will now have different victory or loss conditions instead of the standard ‘Kill ‘em all.’ These special circumstances will be explained when you start the scenario. Two new terrain types, cracked wasteland and beach, and many new adventure objects have been added.

Campaign: The primary campaign of Heroes II allows you to choose which of Lord Ironfist’s sons you will aid in succeeding to the throne, Roland or Archibald. Each side has a different set of elaborate and interesting scenarios, so be sure to try them both.

If you are not sure what something does, R-clicking on it will give quick information. This works on buttons, skills, artifacts, creatures, spells, buildings, heroes, objects on the map– almost anything you can find.

Have fun, and watch out for the Black Dragons!

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Basic Operations

Mouse

When you are instructed to click on something, point to the object and click with the left mouse button (or the only button on a Macintosh mouse). ‘R-click’ means click with the

right mouse button (Macintosh users need to hold down the ‘ ’ and click with the mouse button).

You can get information on most things in the game by R-clicking on them. Most Rclick information requires that you hold down the mouse key to read the information.

File Selector

When loading or saving a games, you will be presented with a standard File Selectir window. To select a file, click on the name to highlight it. The name will now appear in the red bar at the botton of the list. Click on OKAY. Click on the CANCEL to exit the menu without making a selection, or press the ESC key.

If the list is longer than the display, you can scroll through the list in two ways. Along the right side of the list is the slider bar and two arrow buttons. Click on either arrow button to scroll in the direction indicated by the arrow. To get to a selection quickly on a long list, drag the slider bar in the direction you want.

Tutorial

Don't have the patience to explore rulebooks? Want to learn the basics quickly so you can dive into the game? This is where you want to start. This tutorial will walk you through a few turns of the Tutorial scenario.

From the Main Menu, click on Load. Then click on Standard Game from the next menu. That menu will be replaced by the File Selector. Click on the file name, Tutorial, to highlight it. The name of the file will also appear in the dark brown bar just above the two buttons at the bottom of the File Selector. Click on Okay.

After the game loads, you will find yourself on the Adventure Screen. The big window on the left is the Adventure Map. That's your castle in the middle with your starting hero sitting astride a horse at its entrance. On the right are a variety of controls and indicators. Let's explore these for a moment.

In the upper right is the World Map. There's a pink box around the area of the map that is displayed in the Adventure Map window. You start off only knowing a short distance beyond your own castle. As you move your heroes about, more of the map becomes visible. Yo u can scroll the Adventure Map in a number of ways. Move the cursor to the extreme edge of the screen and the Adventure Map will

scroll in that direction. Give it a try. If you scroll too far and can no longer tell where you are, look up in the World Map. Place the cursor over the green blob that represents known terrain and click. The castle and the surrounding environs are displayed again in the Adventure Map window.

Below the World Map is a display showing your heroes and castles. This is the hero and castle locator. The blue-eyed woman is the hero you happened to start with. There is a light blue outline around her box, indicating she is the "active" hero. Place the cursor over her picture and R-click and hold the button down. A window will come up displaying her name, stats, and the type and number of troops that are accompanying her. Release the mouse button and the display disappears (you can R-click on many things in the game to get this kind of quick information). The blank boxes below Gwenneth (your hero) and your castle are for future heroes and castles.

Beneath the hero and castle selectors are eight buttons that will aid in playing the game. We'll discuss these as we go through the tutorial.

The bottom display is the Information Window. It currently shows the active hero’s army. Place the cursor over this window and click. It now shows the amount of resources, towns, and castles you control. It will automatically return to the army display after a few seconds. Click on it again a couple of times. It will now show you the month, week, and day. New recruits become available at the start of each week, so it's wise to keep track of the time. This tutorial begins a few days into the week so that several buildings could be added to your castle to get you into the thick of things faster.

Place the cursor over the castle next to your hero's icon in the castle selector and click (but not on the monochromatic castle in the group of eight buttons). The castle now has the blue box around it, indicating it is active. The Status Window also changes to display your resources, since your hero is no longer active. Click on the castle a second time to bring up the castle display.

Along the top of the castle window are the dwelling places of your potential recruits and the exterior of the castle. Place the cursor over any of the structures and R-click (holding

the button down) to see a description of it. Three of the s t r u c t u res are dwellings where you can recruit troops. The troop type, cost per unit, and the number available are listed. You will notice that nobody seems to be home at the moment (we already hired them into your army).

Along the bottom of the screen is your hero's portrait, indicating she is in the castle. Her accompanying tro o p s are displayed in the row of boxes to her right. You can have up to five different troop types in any hero's army. Note that there are two spaces available in Gwenneth's army, indicated by the horse's head. Let's fill those up.

Click on the castle near the top of the screen. The entire display now shows the various dwellings that can be purchased. You already have the Thatched Hut, Archery Range, Blacksmith, Tavern and Well structures (marked by the yellow check). The Archery Range and Blacksmith each have a red X. Though you have the dwellings, you have not as yet purchased the upgrades, nor can you until specific prerequisites are met. Upgrades improve the quality of troops these dwellings normally provide. The Shipyard, Jousting Arena, and Cathedral have prerequisites you don't currently have and are also marked with a red X. The two portraits near the right side of the screen are the heroes that are available for hire this week. You can only have one hero in a castle at a time, so these heroes are also marked with an X. You can R-click on any on the buildings to get more information about them. For now, place the cursor over the Armory and click.

A window comes up telling you that the Armory produces Swordsmen. It also re q u i res the Tavern and Thatched Hut to be present in the town (which we built for you already). It will take 10 ore, 10 wood, and 2000 gold to build. A quick glance to the re s o u rc e s that are displayed on the lower right of the screen reveals you have the necessities. Click on Okay.

The display shows the castle exterior again, and the Armory is the red-roofed building near the middle of your screen. Let's recruit some Swordsmen to fill out our army. Click on the Armory and a window entitled Recruit Swordsman comes up. There are four available at 250 gold each. You can click on the up and down arrows to select the number of troops you want to recruit, but in this case, it is easier to just click on the Max button. That will automatically choose the maximum that you can afford, up the limits of how many are available. Click on Max if you haven't already done so, and then click on Okay.

Four Swordsmen have been added to your castle garrison. The garrison occupies the five boxes above the hero's army. They will defend your castle if a hero isn't there, but might not be involved if a hero and accompanying army is in the castle. To transfer the troops from the garrison to your army, first click on the Swordsmen. This highlights them with a red outline. Now place the cursor over the empty space of the hero's army at the lower right and click. The Swordsmen are now part of Gwenneth's army. You can transfer troops from box to box by clicking on one troop, and then clicking on the troop that you want them to exchange places with. You may also do partial troop transfers if the need should

arise by holding down the Shift key when transferring troops. There are no more troops available for now, and you can only make one improvement in

your castle per turn– it's time for Gwenneth to go adventuring. Click on the Exit button on the lower right.

We are back to the Adventure Window. Note that Gwenneth has the blue border around her box indicating she is the active hero. Move the cursor around a bit in the Adventure Map. The cursor will change depending on what it is over. Move the cursor over the treasure chest that is sparkling just below and to the left of the castle entrance. As you move the cursor it will change from either a spear or a horse to a rearing horse as it is placed over the chest. The rearing horse indicates that there is an event there that the hero can interact with. Once the horse is in the rearing position, click. A green path of arrows is now displayed. This indicates the path the hero will take. She'll avoid all events, encounters and obstacles to get to the destination you clicked on, now marked by a green X. Your hero can reach anywhere along the path this turn where it is green. When the path or destination turns red, the hero won't reach there until subsequent turns. Once the path is set, click on the destination a second time and the hero will move along the path towards the destination. Do that now.

You found some gold! You can either keep the gold or distribute it to the peasants for experience. At the start of each turn, you accumulate 1000 gold for each castle you own, 250 for each town, and 1000 for each gold mine. Building up your castle and army is an expensive proposition, so the gold is needed there. At the same time, if you take the experience, your hero's stats will eventually improve, becoming better in combat or spellcasting, and will also gain new skills. For the purposes of this tutorial, click on Yes, but learning when to choose one or the other is something your own experience and style will dictate.

Look next to your hero's portrait and you'll see a yellow bar indicating the amount of movement she has left this turn. Be aware that it doesn't start at the top of the bar– there are items that can improve her movement beyond the normal. Gwenneth still has some movement left, so let's set a new destination. Click on the sparkling fountain below and

slightly to the right of your castle, making sure you have the rearing horse symbol. Note the numeral 2 on the right of the horse. That means it will take all of Gwenneth's movement this turn, and at least part of her movement next turn to reach there. Click to set the path. The destination is marked with a red X this time, indicating you can't reach there this turn. Move the cursor over to the button with the horse icon near the right side of the screen and click. This is the Move button, an alternate command that tells your hero to move along the path once it is set.

That's all for this turn. Click on the hourglass button. The Status Window will show the computer players thinking and the cursor will become a sundial. Once the cursor changes back and the Status Window reverts to Gwenneth's army, you can continue.

The red X is now green. Click on the Move button and Gwenneth continues along the path you set last turn. A message box pops up and informs you that by drinking from the fountain you will gain luck for your next battle. Good luck allows your troops to do double damage for an attack in combat– watch the rainbow arch towards your warriors when it happens.

Click on the pile of wood neatly stacked to the left of the road leading towards the bottom of the screen and move your hero there. Roads are easier to move along than other types of terrain. Don't worry about trying to precisely move along the road; your hero will do that automatically if it is to your advantage. A message will appear briefly in the Status Window saying that you have found a small amount of wood and will give the exact amount.

As you moved towards the woodpile, more of the Adventure Map was revealed to you. The hero unveils the map a set distance away as she moves about. Just to the left of where the woodpile used to be is a wooden shack and wagon. R-click on it and you can see that it is a sawmill. The sawmill produces two units of wood each turn as long as you own it. Place the cursor over the front of the sawmill (be sure you have the rearing horse cursor icon) and click twice. Read the text then click on Okay. Note that there is now a blue flag flying over the sawmill, indicating that you own it. It will continue to add two units of wood

to your resources at the start of each turn until some other faction's hero captures it. Below the sawmill and to the right there's a wooden signpost. Move to that. You'll run out

of movement before you get there. Click on the hour glass and when it is your turn again, click on the move icon. Read the message and than click on Okay. Messages may give important clues and it might be wise to stop and read them along the way.

The putrid green zombies on the right side of the map are guarding a small treasure cache, daring Gwenneth to try and defeat them. No self-respecting hero can pass up the challenge like that, so place the cursor over the zombies. Note that the cursor becomes a sword. This indicates if you move there, a battle will take place. Go ahead and move to the zombies.

The combat screen shows terrain similar to the type the combat started on in the Adventure Map. On the left side of the screen is the moving player's troops (the Attacker), and on the right is the encountered group (the Defender). Thus, your troops will be lined up on the left in any combat during your turn, and on the right in any combat during another player's turn. Your troops are lined up from top to bottom in the same order that they were lined up from left to right in your hero's display back at the castle.

Combat is fought in a series of rounds, with each unit getting to move and possibly attack once each round. The faster the unit's Speed, the sooner it moves in the combat round. The computer will determine which unit gets to move first. Your Pikemen are your fastest unit and will have a glowing yellow outline when they are ready to be moved. R-click on them to see their statistics. Now move the cursor around the field. You can move the Pikemen to any position on the field where you see the Running Man icon. All you need to do is click on the spot you want them to move to. An X with a circle behind it indicates a spot they can't move to. Some terrain may be impassable (usually marked by a tree, pit, bush, the odd flow of lava, etc.).

On the extreme left is your hero, mounted on a horse with your banner waving in the breeze. Place the cursor over the hero– when the cursor changes to a helmet, click. A window will pop up with Gwenneth's picture, her stats, and a group of four buttons.

These are the General's Options. Starting on the left is the Cast Spell button (the gesturing hand). The Cast Spell button is darkened and can't be selected because Gwenneth doesn't have any spells. The next button to the right is the Retreat button (the running knight). Retreating loses all of your hero's troops, but she'll make her way back to any of your castles with her experience and artifacts intact and can be recruited again. The next button is the Surrender option (the white flag). This is similar to the Retreat option except all your troops stay with your hero , but you must pay a penalty to the opposing General. The more troops, the bigger the payment. To surrender, there must be an opposing player's General to surrender to, and these zombies don't have one. Heroes are your commanders: they direct your units (through you) on the battlefield, add their offensive and defensive bonuses, and cast spells, but do not move about like their troops. Click on the last button (four arrows) to exit the General's Options.

Your Pikemen are still waiting patiently for orders. Move the cursor straight to the right of the Pikemen until you get the X symbol. Now back it up just a little until you get the Running Man back. That's the limit of how far they can move. Go ahead and click. One of the zombie groups will come charging forward, but won't be able to reach you. Your Swordsmen's turn is next– move them forward the same as you did the Pikemen (you might have to move the cursor up or down a bit to get around a big rock). Time to soften them up a bit. After some more zombies shamble up, your archers should be glowing. They are armed with arrows that can strike at a distance. Place the cursor

over the nearest zombie. The cursor becomes an arrow, indicating you can fire at the group without moving. Go ahead and click. The arrow is fired (R-click on the archer to see how many shots she has left) and the zombie group is greatly diminished or wiped out. Troops with distance weapons have their attack damage halved if an enemy group is next to them, so it is best to guard them and not advance. Your Peasant group is the slowest, and can't get close enough to attack. Have them timidly creep forward as best they can.

Just to throw a monkey wrench into this tutorial some of your troops may, due to high morale, get another move (it'll be obvious: a big golden bird appears above the inspired troop's head). Just click the Skip button in the lower right for now, but normally this is a great time to sneak in an extra attack.

All the units have moved and a new round starts. Your Pikemen will move first. There should be one or more zombie groups within range of your Pikemen. Place the cursor near the closest zombie pack. It should change to a sword. The direction the sword is pointing from indicates where the Pikemen will be when they attack. There's definite tactical considerations, but for the purposes of this tutorial, it doesn't matter which direction. Choose one and click. Your Pikemen will lower their weapon and attack. Any zombies that survive will then strike back.

Be aware that a group only gets a strike back against a unit next to them, and will only do so against the first unit to attack them that round. Ganging up on one target can save wear and tear on your army.

With the basics of combat under your belt, this tutorial now abandons you to your fate (no whining- you should be able to obliterate those zombies with Gwenneth's army). Feel free to continue on with the scenario, referring to the manual as questions arise. New recruits will be available at your castle next turn. It might be wise to recruit a second hero, build up another army (while staying put to guard the castle), while Gwenneth explores the countryside. Don't forget to build up the structures in your castle to get new types of units. Happy adventuring!

Main Menu

Five options are presented in the Main Menu, each of these in detail are:

New Game

This option begins a new game of Heroes II. After selecting New Game, a second window will appear offering three different types of game to play:

Standard Game: A single scenario played by a single player. Campaign Game: Multiple scenarios played by a single player. Multiplayer Game: A single scenario played by multiple players.

Standard Game: After selecting Standard Game, you must choose which scenario you wish to play. Clicking on the red bar labeled Scenario opens the scenario selection window. The buttons at the top of the scenario selection window will show only the scenarios of the size you select e.g. Clicking the S button shows only the small maps.

Each scenario is labeled by:

Size: The dimensions of the map: Small, Medium, Large, and Extra-Large. Number of Players:From two through six. Win Conditions:How you win the scenario.

Standard: Capture all opposing castles and defeat all opposing heroes. Capture Castle: Capture a specific castle. Defeat Hero: Defeat a particular enemy hero. Find Artifact: Find a particular artifact. Wealth: Accumulate a specific amount of gold in your treasury.

Team: Your team must defeat the opposing team (1 to 5 other players).

Loss Conditions:How you lose the scenario.

Standard: Lose all your heroes and castles. Lose Castle: Lose a particular castle. Lose Hero: Lose a particular hero. Time Limit: Fail to complete objectives before time runs out.

Each scenario has a small description displayed at the bottom of the scenario selection window. Included in this section is the difficulty rating of the map, harder difficulties generally indicate the human player is penalized– either by fewer resources, tougher creatures near the starting castle, or the computer players starting with a distinct advantage.

Size Selector

Scenario Name

# Players and

Map Size

Selected

Scenario

Description

Victory & Loss

Conditions

Map Difficulty

Scenario

Name

Game

Difficulty

Players

Starting

Hero

Chat

(multplayer)

After selecting the scenario, you must choose which game difficulty level to play at. The difficulty is changed by selecting from the ratings at the top of the screen– Easy, Normal, Hard, Expert, or Impossible. Game difficulty affects the resources you begin with, the resources the computer players begin with, and the intelligence of the computer opponents.

Next, you need to determine which color you will be. The color you select determines where you start on the map– if you select the same color on the same scenario, you will always begin in the same place. To change colors, click on the color you wish to be. If the color you wish to switch to is grayed out, then that color cannot be chosen by a human player.

Handicap

(multiplayer)

Rating

If the hero picture below your color has a blue background, then you are able to select which hero type you wish to begin the scenario with. Click on the picture to cycle through the hero types. If the background is gray, then that color is always that hero type– it can never change. If the picture is a silhouette of multiple people, then that position begins with different types of heroes and towns.

Campaign Game: Selecting this option begins the Campaign Game. After the introduction, you must choose which lord to serve– the noble Roland or the treacherous Archibald. This is the only option you have in the Campaign Game.

Multiplayer Game: This option allows you to play Heroes II with other humans. Selecting this option brings up a second window which allows you to determine which communications device you will use to play multiplayer. In each multiplayer mode, you must select a Player Name, which is used to identify you throughout the game.

Hotseat:In the Hotseat Window you need to select the number of players and whether you wish to enter the players’ names.

Network:In the Network Window you select the type of network you will be playing over. You can play over IPX and NetBios networks, or over the Internet using TCP/IP. IPX and TCP/IP are only available in the Windows 95 version. After selecting the type of network, you need to select whether you are the host or the guest. Each game has only one Host, and the Host sets up the game. All other players are Guests in the game. If the game was set up using TCP/IP, then each Guest must input the Host’s IP address to connect.

Note: To use TCP/IP you must have Internet access, usually through an Internet Service Provider (ISP). All guests must know the host’s IP address. For some ISP’s, your IP address is always the same, otherwise it changes each time you access the Internet. To determine your IP address, type WINIPCFG at a DOS prompt.

Modem:In the Modem Window, you select whether you are the Host (Dials) or Guest (Answers). Both players must then select the Modem Config button (only the first time you play a modem game) to select the COM port their modem is located at and the desired speed of the connection. The Host then inputs the phone number of the Guest.

Direct Connect: In the Direct Connect Window, you select whether you are Host

or Guest. Select the COM port you are connecting from, and the desired speed of the connection.

Multiplayer Scenario Select Window: From this window, the Host of the game selects the scenario that will be played. Each player selects what color they will play, and which hero type they will be (if that option is available). The game Difficulty for all players is set by the Host, but any player may opt to take a mild or severe handicap. Severe handicap, represented by the chained hands, means that you start with 30% fewer resources and you generate 30% less gold and resources per turn. Mild handicap, represented by roped hands, is 15% fewer resources. The area at the bottom is a chat window, just type in your message and hit the enter key.

Load Game

This option loads a previously saved game, either Standard, Campaign, or Multiplayer. Select the type of saved game you wish to load. All options will bring up a standard File Select window. Simply click on the name of the scenario you wish to load, then click Okay to load the game.

Credits

This option brings up the names of all the people who contributed to the creation of Heroes of Might and Magic II: The Succession Wars.

High Scores

This option brings up the list of the High Scores achieved in Heroes II. The Campaign button displays the best Campaign scores.

Quit

This option closes the program and returns you to your operating system.

Adventure Screen

World Map

Locator

Adventure

Screen

Adventure Window

All game actions take place on the Adventure Window. From here you can examine the surrounding countryside and move your heroes. The black areas on the Adventure Window are the areas that you have not explored. Each town and hero you control will “light up” the black areas of the map around them. To scroll the Adventure Window, move the cursor to an edge of the screen– the cursor will change to an arrow, indicating the direction of the scrolling.

Buttons

Adventure

Buttons

Information

Window

World Map

The upper right section of the Adventure Screen is the World Map, which shows the world as you know it. Explored sections are lit up, and unexplored areas are blacked out.

The pink rectangle within this map shows the portion of the world currently visible in the Adventure Window. Clicking within this rectangle and dragging it around the World Map will scroll the view in the Adventure Window. Clicking in the World Map, but outside the pink rectangle, will instantly reposition the view in the Adventure Window to correspond to the point clicked in the World Map.

Locator Buttons

These buttons represent the heroes and castles you own. The left section is reserved for heroes, and the right section is reserved for castles and towns. Both sections display only four heroes or castles at a time, but have scroll bars to scroll through all the heroes or castles you own.

Hero Locators: Portraits of your heroes are located in the left column. On either side of the portrait are two vertical bars. The yellow bar on the left of the portrait represents how much movement your hero has remaining. The green bar on the right represents how many spell points your hero has remaining. One or more “+” symbols appear on the bar if you have a large number of spell points or movement.

Clicking on the portrait will make that hero active and center the Adventure Window on that hero. A light blue border surrounds the portrait of the active hero. By R-clicking on the hero’s portrait you receive quick information on that hero. By double-clicking on the portrait, or pressing the ENTER key, you receive more detailed information on the hero (see also- Hero Screen). You can change the active hero and scroll through the hero locators by pressing the “H” key.

Town Locators: Towns and castles you own are represented in the right column of buttons. The activated town is highlighted by a light blue border. Clicking on a town locator button will activate that town and center the Adventure Window on that town. R-clicking on a town locator you receive quick information on the town. By double clicking on a town button or pressing the ENTER key, you enter the Town Screen. After building a structure in a town, a symbol will appear in the upper right corner of that town’s button. You can scroll through the town locators by pressing the “T” key.

Adventure Buttons

Move

Next Hero

End Turn

Adventure Options

Next Hero: Activates the next hero you have with movement points remaining, centering the Adventure Window on that hero.

Move: Moves the active hero if that hero has a movement path plotted (represented by green arrows on the Adventure Window).

Kingdom Overview: Displays the Kingdom Overview Screen. This screen lists everything you own, towns, heroes, mines, and resources as well as showing your income per day (see also– Kingdom Overview Screen).

Cast Spell: Brings up the active hero’s spellbook (if he has one) and displays the Adventure spells known by that hero. The number below each spell is the cost in spell points to cast the spell. Clicking on the upper right and left corners of the spellbook turn the pages in the book. Clicking on a spell icon casts that spell and R-clicking on a spell icon gives quick information about that spell. The bookmark on the lower left shows how many spell points the hero has remaining, and the EXIT bookmark exits the spellbook without casting any spells

Kingdom Overview

Cast Spell

System Options

Disk Options

End Turn: Ends your current turn and allows the next player to begin his turn.

Adventure Options: Brings up a menu of actions for the Adventure Window.

View World:Shows the world as you know it, with only explored areas visible. This view shows all towns, mines, and heroes (color coded to indicate which player owns them), as well as showing visible resources and artifacts still unclaimed.

View Puzzle: Displays the puzzle map that leads your hero to the Ultimate Artifact. As you uncover pieces of the puzzle, more of the map is represented on this screen. When you have uncovered enough pieces, the exact location of the Ultimate Artifact is shown by an “X.” To uncover pieces of the puzzle, you must find obelisks. Click on the EXIT in the upper right corner to return to the Adventure Screen.

Dig/Search: The active hero spends his entire movement to search the position he is at for the Ultimate Artifact. This action requires all the hero’s movement, so he cannot move prior to attempting this.

Info: Shows the scenario information window. In Standard and Multiplayer games, this gives the scenario’s name, description, difficulty, and victory and loss conditions.

Disk Options: Brings up menu options for saving and loading games.

New Game:Exits your current game and returns you to the New Game menu. Load Game:Allows you to load a previously saved game. Click on the name of

the game you wish to load, then click OKAY. Save Game:Allows you to save your current game. Click on the colored bar to

enter in a name of your choice for the saved game, or click on a previously saved game and click OKAY.

Quit: Ends your game and returns you to your operating system. All previously unsaved actions are lost.

System Options: Brings up the System Options menu.

Music: Adjusts the music volume level. Effects: Adjusts the effects volume level. Sound Type:Changes the quality of the sound from MIDI to CD Stereo (Redbook). Speed: Allows you to set your hero’s movement speed to Walk, Trot, Canter,

Gallop, or Jump.

Enemy Speed: Allows you to set the movement speed of the enemy heroes. Show Path: Toggles the Show Path feature on and off. When Show Path is

turned off, your hero’s path is not shown. Clicking on an area of the Adventure Window immediately moves the hero to that location. If the hero does not have enough points to get there he will move as far as possible, leaving a path shown in red for the following turn’s movement. If the Show Path feature is turned off,

you can still see the path a hero will take by holding down the CTRL key and clicking on a location. If you like the path shown, release the CTRL key and click again, or use the Move Button.

Borders: Toggles the interface borders between Good, Evil, and Dynamic (good border when you start with a good hero, evil border when you start with an evil hero).

Cursors:Toggles black and white or color mouse cursors. On some systems, black and white cursors can speed up game play.

Information Box

The Information Box is located in the lower right corner. Clicking on this will toggle between the active hero’s army, your resource summary, and the date.

Game Play

Hero Movement

Clicking on any area of the Adventure Window causes a path to appear for the active hero. Green arrows show the path the hero will take with longer arrows representing terrain that requires more movement points (snow, desert, swamp, etc.). A green “X” shows a location that can be reached this turn. Red arrows indicate destinations that will be reached in subsequent turns, with a red “X” appearing at the final destination, but not necessarily meaning that the hero will have used all his movement points when he reaches the end of his path.

Once a path has been marked, click on the destination again, or click the Move button, to cause the hero to begin moving along the path. If the destination is not reached that turn, then on subsequent turns the hero’s path will be shown. To clear a hero’s path, click on the hero. The hero will automatically take the most direct route to the destination you select, bypassing all obstacles and monsters during movement. If you want to capture a mine, visit a location, fight an enemy, or anything else, you need to make that your destination.

As your hero moves about, the cursor can change to any one of ten different icons on the Adventure Window. If a number appears next to any of these icons, that is how many turns it will take to reach the location.

Horse:This icon appears when the cursor is over terrain that the active hero can move to. Clicking causes a movement path to be plotted to the location of the click.

Rearing Horse:This icon appears when the cursor is over an event location that the active hero can move to. Clicking will cause a path to be plotted to the location of the click. Moving the hero to this location will activate the event.

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