VCMI

1.6.2

General

• Holding Alt while in town will now highlight all interactive buildings in town
• Fixed missing surrender video on battle results dialog
• Game will no longer show custom campaigns dialog for short period when selecting Heroes III campaign
• Added workaround for right mouse button being recognized as 'back' button on some Android devices
• Fixed regression that caused second and further upgrades that were not functioning correctly
• Fixed regression that sometime caused curved path that leads to a blocked monolith in random map generation
• Fixed regression that broke several mechanics, such as issues with Legion artifacts or with Gelu/Dracon specialties
• Fixed broken positioning for some images when selected scaling factor is different from prescaled texture factor

Stability

• Game will now show list of mods with critical issues that might cause crash after game start
• Fixed crash in map editor on attempt to copy wandering monster
• Fixed crash on having unsupported mod (e.g. Era mod) in a preset
• Fixed crash on attempt to update a mod that depends on unknown mod that is not installed or not available in repository
• Fixed possible crash on attempt to flip an empty image
• Fixed possible crash on attempt to remove old saves

Campaigns

• Game will now select correct scenario in campaigns with multiple available scenarios
• Added blink animation for campaign scenario selection

AI

• Nullkiller AI will now only upgrade units if this would increase their AI value. Fixes possible freeze on upgrading units in some mods that can be upgraded in both directions
• Nullkiller AI will no longer attempt to build Mage Guild of 4th or 5th levels in towns without such guild
• Battle AI now correctly estimates damage for spells that completely eliminate a unit
• Fixed bug preventing AI from casting damaging spells if his troops are unable to reach enemies, for example during siege

1.6.0 -> 1.6.1

General

• Right-click popup for Monoliths, Subterranean Gates and Whirlpools now shows location of all known entrances and exits.
• Added support for importing and exporting mod presets in the launcher.
• Added option to VCMI popup menu on Android to skip launcher and start game immediately.
• Fixed defeat music not stopping when skipping defeat movie playback.
• Launcher will now open start game tab instead of mods tab after initial setup if no mods were chosen for install

Performance

• xbrz is no longer auto-selected on mobile platforms, and only xbrz2 can be auto-selected on PC platforms. Manual selection is unaffected.
• Fixed a performance regression that more than doubled the time of random map generation.
• Improved performance of the Nullkiller AI, which should now take turns up to twice as fast.
• Minor xbrz performance improvements.

Stability

• Fixed application freeze when clicking buttons with popup message on some versions of iOS
• Fixed crash when trying to install a mod when no mod is selected
• Fixed possible crash when trying to load non-existing frame from .def file
• Fixed crash when right-clicking on modded market items, such as HotA's Junkman.
• Fixed crash when trying to activate mod with recursive dependencies
• Fixed crash when trying to activate Chronicles mod after failed import
• Fixed crash when attempting to access a non-installed mod when repository checkout is off.
• Show error message on failure to load filesystem instead of crashing in launcher
• Added workaround for crash on attempt to delete non-existent save/map

Adventure AI

• AI can now use all possible upgrades on Hill Fort, including alternative upgrades.
• AI will now correctly identify and use 8th creature dwelling (e.g. Factory)
• AI will now correctly identify 2nd level upgrades to dwellings (e.g. Cove) and score them accordingly.

Interface

• Fixed poor alignment of hero primary skill descriptions in the Thieves' Guild menu.
• Fixed missing description for spell school immunity in creature window
• Fixed bonuses such as OPENING_BATTLE_SPELL not appearing in creature window.

1.6.0

Major changes

• Greatly improved decision-making of NullkillerAI
• Implemented support for multiple mod presets allowing player to quickly switch between them in Launcher
• Implemented handicap system, with options to reduce income and growth in addition to starting resources restriction
• Game will now show statistics after scenario completion, such as resources or army strength over time
• Implemented spell quick selection panel in combat
• Implemented adventure map overlay accessible via Alt key that highlights all interactive objects on screen
• Implemented xBRZ upscaling filter
• Added support for high-resolution graphical assets
• It is now possible to import data from Heroes Chronicles (gog.com installer only) as custom campaigns
• Added simple support for spell research feature from HotA that can be enabled via mod or game configuration editing
• Implemented automatic selection of interface scaling. Selecting interface scaling manually will restore old behavior
• VCMI will now launch in fullscreen on desktop systems. Use F4 hotkey or toggle option in settings to restore old behavior

General

• Saved game size reduced by approximately 3 times, especially for large maps or games with a large number of mods.
• Mods that modify game texts, such as descriptions of secondary skills, will now correctly override translation mods
• Game will now correctly restore information such as hero path, order of heroes and towns, and list of sleeping heroes on loading a save game
• Added translation for missing texts, such as random map descriptions, quick exchange buttons, wog commander abilities, moat names
• When playing in non-English language using English Heroes III data files, game will now load all maps and campaigns using player language
• Added vcmiscrolls cheat code that gives spell scrolls for every possible spells

Multiplayer

• Added option to start vcmi server on randomly selected TCP port
• Fixed potential desynchronization between server and clients on randomization of map objects if client and server run on different operating systems
• Fixed possible freeze on receiving turn in multiplayer when player has town window opened
• Fixed possible freeze if player is attacked by another player on first day of the week
• If player disconnects from a multiplayer game, all other players will now receive notification in form of popup message instead of chat message
• Fixed potentially missing disconnection notification in multiplayer if player disconnects due to connection loss
• Game will now correctly show turn timers and simultaneous turns state on loading game

Stability

• Fixed possible crash on connecting bluetooth mouse during gameplay on Android
• VCMI will now write more detailed information to log file on crash due to uncaught exception
• Fixed crash on transfer of multiple artifacts in a backpack to another hero on starting next campaign scenario without hero that held these artifacts before
• Fixed crash on dismissing hero after picking up an artifact from hero doll
• Fixed possible crash if creature with spell before attack bonus kills unit it was attacking with spell

Mechanics

• Arrow tower will now prefer to attack more units that are viewed most dangerous instead of simply attacking top-most unit
• Score in campaigns will now be correctly tracked for games loaded from a save
• Fixed incorrect direction of Dragon Breath attack in some cases if wide creature attacks another wide creature
• Map events and town events are now triggered on start of turn of player affected by event, in line with H3 instead of triggering on start of new day for all players
• Neutral towns should now have initial garrison and weekly growth of garrison identical to H3
• It is now possible to buy a new war machine in town if hero has different war machine in the slot
• Fixed possible integer overflow if hero has unit with total AI value of over 2^31
• Unicorn Glade in Rampart now correctly requires Dendroid Arches and not Homestead
• Game will no longer place obstacles on ship-to-ship battles, in line with H3
• Game will now place obstacles in battles in villages (towns without forts)
• Battles in villages (towns without forts) now always occur on battlefield of native terrain
• Fixed pathfinding through subterranean gates located on right edge of the map or next to terra incognita
• Chain Lightning will now skip over creatures that are immune to this spell instead of targeting them but dealing no damage
• Commanders spell resistance now uses golem-like logic which reduces damage instead of using dwarf-style change to block spell
• It is now possible to target empty hex for shooters with area attack, such as Magog or Lich
• View Earth will no longer reveal position of enemy heroes and towns
• It is now possible to sell Grail, in line with Heroes III
• Jeddite is no longer female
• Mutare and Mutare Drake are now Overlord and not Warlock
• Elixir of Life no longer affects siege machines
• Banned skills known by hero now have minimal chance (1) instead of 0 to appear on levelup
• The Transport Artifact victory condition fulfilled by the enemy AI will no longer trigger a victory for human players if "standard victory" is enabled on the map

Video / Audio

• Fixed playback of audio stream with different formats from video files in some Heroes 3 versions
• Video playback will not be replaced by a black square when another dialogue box is on top of the video.
• When resuming video playback, the video will now be continued instead of being restarted.
• Reduced video decompression artefacts for video formats that store RGB rather than YUV data.
• Intro videos are now played inside a frame on resolutions higher than 800x600 instead of filling entire screen
• Re-enabled idle animations for Conflux creatures in battles
• .webm video with vp8 / vp9 codec are now supported on every platform
• It is now possible to provide external audio stream for a video file (e.g. for translations)
• It is now possible to provide external subtitles for a video file
• Game will now correctly resume playback of terrain music on closing scenario information window in campaigns instead of playing main theme
• Background music theme will now play at lower volume while intro speech in campaign intro / outro is playing
• Added workaround for playback of corrupted BladeFWCampaign.mp3 music file
• Fixed computation of audio length for formats other than .wav. This fixes incorrect text scrolling speed in campaign intro/outro
• Game will now use Noto family true type font to display characters not preset in Heroes III fonts
• Added option to scale all in-game fonts when scalable true type fonts are in use
• Some of the assets provided by VCMI are now available in higher resolution
• Implemented support for semi-transparent spell effects, such as Life Drain or Resurrection (and many others)

Interface

• It is now possible to search for a map object using Ctrl+F hotkey
• Holding Alt while using move unit button on Exchange screen will now move entire army except for single unit in this slot
• Added option to drag map with right-click
• Added hotkeys to reorder list of owned towns or heroes
• The number of units resurrected using the Life Drain ability is now written to the combat log.
• Fixed order of popup dialogs after battle.
• Creature window now displays source of all bonuses that creature has, such as creature ability, hero skill, hero artifact, etc.
• Reduced font used for creature abilities description to reduce text clipping
• Right-click on wandering monster on adventure map will now also show creature level and faction it belongs to
• Added additional information to map right-click popup dialog: map author, map creation date, map version
• Added scrollbars for selection of starting town, starting hero, and tavern invite if number of objects is too large to fit into the screen
• Fixed incorrect battle turn queue displaying incorrect turn order when all units have waited
• Semi-transparent shadows now correctly update their transparency during fading effects, such as resource pickups
• Fixed swapped Overlord and Warlock models on adventure map
• Fixed Heroes III bug - swapped icons of View Earth and View Air
• Game will now save all names for human player in hotseat mode
• Added unassigned by default shortcuts for toggling visibility of visitable and blocked tiles
• Spellbook button in battle is now blocked if hero has no spellbook
• Adventure map will no longer scroll if window is not in focus
• Removed second info window when player loses his last town
• Fixed hero path not updating correctly after hiring or dismissing creatures
• Fixed missing description of a stack artifact when accessed through unit window
• Fixed text overflow on campaign scenario window if campaign name is too long
• Recruiting hero in town will now play "new construction" sound
• Game will now correctly update displayed hero path when hiring or dismissing creatures that give movement penalty
• Game will now show level, faction and attack range of wandering monsters in right-click popup window
• Hovering over owned hero will now show movement points information in status bar
• Quick backpack window is now also accessible via Shift+mouse click, similar to HD Mod
• It is now possible to sort artifacts in backpack by cost, slot, or rarity class
• Fixed incorrect display of names of VCMI maps in scenario selection if multiple VCMI map are present in list
• Fixed bug leading to inability to select larger number of "CPU only players" in random map generation menu
• It is now possible to delete saved games
• Game will now promt to delete saves from no longer supported versions of VCMI
• It is now possible to use scroll in touch popup windows
• Name of spell provided by Shrine is now displayed in yellow color
• Fixed right-click popup on hero in town placed outside of screen boundaries on low resolutions
• Fixed misaligned button in 2-player alliance selector in random map generation menu
• Damage range of Ballista in unit window now accounts for hero attack skill, in line with Heroes III
• Changed format of automatic autosave to more human-readable version
• Names of autosave folders are now left-aligned in save game list

Random Maps Generator

• Implemented connection option 'forcePortal'
• It is now possible to connect zone to itself using pair of portals
• It is now possible for a random map template to change game settings
• Road settings will now be correctly loaded when opening random map setup tab
• Roads placed on the maps will now be curved a little bit to improve the look of the maps.
• Added support for banning objects per zones
• Added support for customizing objects frequency, value, and count per zone
• Fixed values of Pandora Boxes with creatures to be in line with H3:SoD
• Added sealed zone types, for entirely unpassable zones.
• It is now possible to connect two zones with multiple connections of same or different types

Campaigns

• It is now possible to use .zip archive for VCMI campaigns instead of raw gzip stream
• Fixed handling of hero placeholders in VCMI map format (.vmap)
• Fixed not functioning hero carryover in VCMI campaigns
• Added support for campaign outro videos, such as outro in "Song for the Father" campaign
• Added support for rim image for intro video, such as opening videos in Heroes Chronicles
• Added support for custom loading screen in campaigns
• Added support for custom region definitions (such as background images) for VCMI campaigns

Adventure AI

• Greatly improved decision-making of NullkillerAI
• NullkillerAI will now act differently based on difficulty level
• Fixed several cases where Nullkiller AI can count same dangerous object twice, doubling expected army loss.
• Nullkiller is now capable of visiting configurable objects from mods
• Nullkiller now uses whirlpools for map movement
• Fixed possible crash on AI attempting to visit town that is already being visited by this hero
• It is now possible to configure NullkillerAI parameters separately for each game difficulty
• Extended hardcoded logic of AI not taking creatures from Garrisons to all Heroes III: Restoration of Erathia campaigns, in line with original game

Combat AI

• VCMI will now use BattleAI for battles with neutral enemies by default
• Fixed bug where BattleAI attempts to move double-wide unit to an unreachable hex
• Fixed a bug causing BattleAI to focus on unreachable targets and ignoring reachable enemies
• AI can now correctly estimate effect of Dragon Breath and other similar abilities
• Battle AI should now avoid ending turn on the moat
• Fixed case where BattleAI will go around the map to attack ranged units if direct path is blocked by another unit
• Fixed evaluation of effects of waiting if unit is under haste effect by Battle AI
• Battle AI can now use location spells
• Battle AI will now correctly avoid moving flying units into dangerous obstacles such as moat

Launcher

• Implemented support for multiple mod presets allowing player to quickly switch between them
• Added new Start Game page to Launcher which is now used when starting the game
• Added option to create empty mod preset to quickly disable all mods
• Added button to update all installed mods to Start Game page
• Added diagnostics to detect common issues with Heroes III data files
• Added built-in help descriptions for functionalities such as data files import to better explain them to players
• It is now always possible to disable or uninstall a mod. Any mods that depend on this mod will be automatically disabled
• It is now always possible to update a mod, even if there are mods that depend on this mod.
• It is now possible to enable mod that conflicts with already active mod. Conflicting mods will be automatically disabled
• If main mod is disabled, all its submods will have their active or inactive status shown as greyed-out for clarity
• If mod depends or conflicts with a submod, Launcher will now also show name of parent mod in list of dependencies / conflicts
• Game will now cache result of mod repository checkout and restore it immediately on next start. This removes flickering when game fills list of available mods.
• Screenshot and Changelog tabs in mod description are now disabled for mods that do not have them.
• Launcher will now correctly show conflicts on both sides - if mod A is marked as conflicting with B, then information on this conflict will be shown in description of both mod A and mod B (instead of only in mod B)
• Added Swedish translation
• Added better diagnostics for gog installer extraction errors
• It is no longer possible to start installation or update for a mod that is already being downloaded
• Fixed detection of existing Heroes III Complete or Shadow of Death data files during import

Map Editor

• It is now possible to remove any map object as part of timed event
• Implemented tracking of building requirements for Building Dialog
• Added build/demolish/enable/disable all buildings options to Building Dialog in town properties
• Added support for customization of heroes artifacts
• Implemented configuration of patrol radius for heroes
• It is now possible to set spells allowed or required to be present in Mages Guild
• It is now possible to add timed events to a town
• Fixed editor not marking mod as dependency if spells from mod are used in town Mages Guild or in hero starting spells
• It is now possible to choose road types for random map generation in editor
• Validator will now warn in case if map has players with no heroes or towns
• Fixed broken transparency handling on some adventure map objects from mods
• Fixed duplicated list of spells in Mage Guild in copy-pasted towns
• Removed separate versioning of map editor. Map editor now has same version as VCMI
• Timed events interfaces now counts days from 1, instead of from 0
• Added Recent Files to File Menu and Toolbar
• Fixed crash on attempting to save map with random dwelling

Modding

• Json configuration files from different mods no longer can override each other to reduce possibility of a file name clash
• Game will now load high-resolution assets when xbrz upscaler is in use from Data2x, Data3x, Data4x, or Sprites2x, Sprites3x, Sprites4x directories.
• Game will now load high-resolution movies when xbrz upscaler is in use from Video2x, Video3x, Video4x directories
• Added support for configurable flaggable objects that can provide bonuses or daily income to owning player
• Added support for soft dependencies for mods, that only affect mod loading order (and as result - override order), without requiring dependent mod or allowing access to its identifiers
• It is now possible to provide translations for mods that modify strings from original game, such as secondary skill descriptions
• It is now possible to embed json data directly into mod.json instead of using list of files
• Implemented detection of potential conflicts between mods. To enable, open Launcher and set "Mod Validation" option to "Full"
• Fixed multiple issues with configurable town buildings
• Added documentation for configurable town buildings. See docs/Moddders/Entities_Format/Town_Buildings_Format.md
• Replaced some of hardcoded town buildings with configurable buildings. These building types are now deprecated and will be removed in future.
• Added support for explicitly visitable town buildings that will activate only on click and not on construction or on hero visit (Mana Vortex from HotA)
• It is now possible to add guards to a configurable objects. All H3 creature banks are now implemented as configurable object.
• It is now possible to define starting position of units in a guarded configurable object
• It is now possible to add description to an object with "market" handler
• Added canCastWithoutSkip parameter to a spell. If such spell is cast by a creature, its turn will not end after a spellcast
• Added castOnlyOnSelf parameter to a spell. Creature that can cast this spell can only cast it on themselves
• Mod can now provide pregenerated assets in place of autogenerated, such as large spellbook.
• Added support for 'fused' artifacts, as alternative to combined artifacts
• Added support for custom music and opening sound for a battlefield
• Added support for multiple music tracks for towns
• Added support for multiple music tracks for terrains on adventure map
• Fixed several cases where vcmi will report errors in json without specifying filename of invalid file
• Fixed selection of gendered sprites for heroes on adventure map
• It is now possible to change minimal values of primary skills for heroes
• Added support for HotA Bank building from Factory
• Added support for HotA Grotto buiding from Cove
• Added support for HotA-style 8th creature in town
• Town building can now define war machine produced in this building (Blacksmith or Ballista Yard)
• Town building can now define provided fortifications - health of walls, towers, presence of moat, identifier of creature shooter on tower
• War Machines Factory no longer unconditionally contain war machines from the original game, allowing mods to define list of war machines from scratch
• Added MECHANICAL bonus
• Added DISINTEGRATE bonus
• Added INVINCIBLE bonus
• Added PRISM_HEX_ATTACK_BREATH bonus
• Added THIEVES_GUILD_ACCESS bonus that changes amount of information available in thieves guild
• TimesStackLevelUpdater now supports commanders
• Black market restock period setting now correctly restocks on specified date instead of restocking on all dates other than specified one
• Json Validator will now attempt to detect typos when encountering unknown property in Json
• Added translate missing command that will export only untranslated strings into translationsMissing directory, separated per mod
• Added support for text subtitiles for video files
• Added validation of objects with "market" and "flaggable" handlers
• Added "special" property for secondary skills

1.5.6 -> 1.5.7

• Fixed game freeze if player is attacked in online multiplayer game by another player when he has unread dialogs, such as new week notification
• Fixed possible game crash after being attacked by enemy with artifact that blocks spellcasting
• Fixed heroes on map limit game setting not respected when moving hero from town garrison.
• Add workaround to fix possible crash on attempt to start previously generated random map that has players without owned heroes or towns
• Fixed crash on right-clicking spell icon when receiving unlearnable spells from Pandora
• Fixed possible text overflow in match information box in online lobby
• Fixed overlapping text in lobby login window
• Fixed excessive removal of open dialogs such as new week or map events on new turn
• Fixed objects like Mystical Gardens not resetting their state on new week correctly

1.5.5 -> 1.5.6

Stability

• Fixed possible crash on transferring hero to next campaign scenario if hero has combined artifact some components of which can be transferred
• Fixed possible crash on transferring hero to next campaign scenario that has creature with faction limiter in his army
• Fixed possible crash on application shutdown due to incorrect destruction order of UI entities

Multiplayer

• Mod compatibility issues when joining a lobby room now use color coding to make them less easy to miss.
• Incompatible mods are now placed before compatible mods when joining lobby room.
• Fixed text overflow in online lobby interface
• Fixed jittering simultaneous turns slider after moving it twice over short period
• Fixed non-functioning slider in invite to game room dialog

Interface

• Fixed some shortcuts that were not active during the enemy's turn, such as Thieves' Guild.
• Game now correctly uses melee damage calculation when forcing a melee attack with a shooter.
• Game will now close all open dialogs on start of our turn, to avoid bugs like locked right-click popups

Map Objects

• Spells the hero can't learn are no longer hidden when received from a rewardable object, such as the Pandora Box
• Spells that cannot be learned are now displayed with gray text in the name of the spell.
• Configurable objects with scouted state such as Witch Hut in HotA now correctly show their reward on right click after vising them but refusing to accept reward
• Right-click tooltip on map dwelling now always shows produced creatures. Player that owns the dwelling can also see number of creatures available for recruit

Modding

• Fixed possible crash on invalid SPELL_LIKE_ATTACK bonus
• Added compatibility check when loading maps with old names for boats

1.5.4 -> 1.5.5

• Fixed crash when advancing to the next scenario in campaigns when the hero not transferring has a combination artefact that can be transferred to the next scenario.
• Fixed game not updating information such as hero path and current music on new day
• Changed default battle queue hotkey from Q to Z to match HD Mod / HotA
• Changed default hotkey for finishing battle with quick combat from E to Z to match HD Mod / HotA
• Creature casting now uses both F and G keyboard hotkeys
• Shift+left click now directly opens the hero window when two heroes are in town
• Fixed handling of alternative actions for creatures that have more than two potential actions, such as move, shoot, and cast spells.

1.5.3 -> 1.5.4

Stability

• Fixed a possible crash when clicking on an adventure map when another player is taking a turn in multiplayer mode.
• Failure to extract a mod will now display an error message instead of a silent crash.
• Fixed crash on opening town hall screen of a town from a mod with invalid building identifier
• Fixed crash when faerie dragons die after casting Ice Ring on themselves.

Mechanics

• The scholar will now correctly upgrade a skill if the visiting hero has offered a skill at either the basic or advanced level.
• Hero now reveals Fog of War when receiving new or upgraded secondary skills (such as scouting).
• AI will now always act after all human players during simturns instead of acting after host player

Interface

• Pressing the up and down keys on the town screen will now move to the next or previous town instead of scrolling through the list of towns.
• Long text in scenario name and highscore screen now shortened to fit the interface
• Game now moves cursor to tap event position when using software cursor with touch screen input
• Right-click popup on spell scroll campaign bonus now shows spell name instead of artefact name
• Damage estimation tooltip will no longer show damage greater than the targeted unit's health.

Random Maps Generator

• Generator will try to place roads even further away from zone borders
• Fixed rare crash when placing two quest artefacts in the same location at the same time

AI

• Improved performance of Nullkiller AI
• Stupid AI no longer overestimates damage when killing entire unit
• Fixed a bug leading to Battle AI not using spells when sieging town with Citadel or Castle built
• Fixed an unsigned integer overflow that caused the Nullkiller AI to overestimate the total army strength after merging two armies.

Launcher

• Added button to reset touchscreen tutorial on mobile systems
• Launcher will now warn if player selects Gog Galaxy installer instead of offline installer
• Launcher will now ask for the .bin file first as it is usually listed first in the file system view
• Extraction failure now displays error message instead of crashing
• Launcher will now use the header signature to check the file type instead of the extension when using the gog.com installer.
• Fixed broken controller sensitivity configuration options
• Fixed manual file installation on Android

Map Editor

• Icons and translations now embedded in executable file

Modding

• Improved bonus format validation
• Validator now reports valid values for enumeration fields
• Fixed missing addInfo field for bonuses that use the BONUS_OWNER_UPDATER propagation updater.

1.5.2 -> 1.5.3

Stability

• Fixed possible crash when hero class has no valid commander.
• Fixed crash when pressing spacebar or enter during combat when hero has no tactics skill.
• Fixed crash when receiving a commander level-up after winning a battle in a garrison owned by an enemy player.
• Fixed possible crash when exiting a multiplayer game.
• Game will now display an error message and exit after loading instead of crashing silently if a creature's combat animation is missing.
• Game should now generate crash dump on uncaught c++ exception throw
• Fixed crash when player finishes game with negative score
• Fixed crash when opening tavern window in some localisations
• Fixed crash on loading previously generated random map when mods that add object with same name are used
• Game will now display an error message instead of silent crash if game data directory is not accessible

Mechanics

• Transport Artefact victory condition will no longer trigger if another player has completed it.
• Fixed wandering monster combat not triggering when landing in its zone of control when flying from above the monster using the Fly spell.
• Fixed potentially infinite movement loop when the hero has Admiral's Hat whirlpool immunity and the hero tries to enter and exit the same whirlpool.
• If game picks gold for a random resource pile that has predetermined by map amount, its amount will be correctly multiplied by 100
• Fixed hero not being able to learn spells from a mod in some cases, even if they are available from the town's mage guild.
• The game will now actually take resources from seers' huts with the Gather Resources mission instead of awarding them.
• Heroes with double spell points will no longer trigger the Mana Vortex.
• If turn timer runs out during pve battle game will end player turn after a battle instead of forcing retreat

Interface

• Fixed reversed button functions in Exchange Window
• Fixed allied towns being missing from the list when using the advanced or expert Town Portal spell.
• Fixed corrupted UI that could appear for a frame under certain conditions
• The '*' symbol and non-printable characters can no longer be used in savegames due to Windows file system restrictions.
• Pressing Ctrl while hovering over the adventure map will now display tile coordinates in the status bar.
• Selection of another hero while hero is selected now requires Shift press instead of Ctrl
• Fixed hero troops in the info box view flashing briefly during hero movement.
• Reduced excessive memory usage on adventure map by several hundreds of megabytes (most noticeable on systems with large screen resolution)
• Haptic feedback is now enabled by default on Android and on iOS
• It is now possible to scroll through artifacts backpack using mouse wheel or swipe

Launcher

• Android now uses the same Qt-based launcher as other systems
• Fixed attempt to install a submod when installing new mod that depends on a submod of another mod
• Fixed wrong order of activating mods in chain when installing multiple mods at once
• Mod list no longer shows mod version column. Version is now only shown in the mod description.
• Launcher will now skip the Heroes 3 data import step if data has been found automatically
• Fixed inport of existing data files on iOS. This option now requires iOS 13 or later
• Fixed import using offline installer on iOS.
• Buttons to open data directories in the Help tab are now hidden on mobile systems if they can't be opened with file browser
• Added the configuration files directory to the Help tab as it is located separately on Linux systems
• Removed H3 data language selection during setup in favor of auto-detection
• Replaced checkboxes with toggle buttons for easier of access on touchscreens.
• Icons and translations now embedded in executable file
• Added interface for configuring several previously existing but inaccessible options in Launcher:
  • Selection of input tolerance precision for all input types
  • Relative cursor mode for mobile systems (was only available on Android)
  • Haptic feedback toggle for mobile systems (was only available on Android)
  • Sound and music volume (was only available in game)
  • Selection of long touch interval (was only available in game)
  • Selection of upscaling filter used by SDL
  • Controller input sensitivity and acceleration.

AI

• Fixed crash when Nullkiller AI tries to explore after losing the hero in combat.
• Fixed rare crash when Nullkiller AI tries to use portals
• Fixed potential crash when Nullkiller AI has access to Town Portal spell
• Fixed potential crash when Battle AI selects a spell to cast from a hero with summon spells.
• Several fixes to Nullkiller AI exploration logic
• Fixed bug leading to Battle AI doing nothing if targeted unit is unreachable

Random Maps Generator

• Fixed crash when player selects a random number of players and selects a different colour to play, resulting in a non-continuous list of players.
• Fixed rare crash when generating maps with water

Map Editor

• Fixed crash on closing map editor

Modding

• Added new building type 'thievesGuild' which implements HotA building in Cove.
• Creature terrain limiter now actually accepts terrain as parameter

1.5.1 -> 1.5.2

Stability

• Fixed crash on closing game while combat or map animations are playing
• Fixed crash on closing game while network thread is waiting for dialog to be closed
• Fixed random crash on starting random map with 'random' number of players
• Fixed crash caused by thread races on loading map list
• Failure to read data from network connection will show up as 'disconnection' and not as a crash
• Fixed a possible crash when replaying a manually played battle with the 'unlimited battle replay' option set
• Fixed crash when loading save made on a 64-bit system or connecting to multiplayer game with a 64-bit host on a 32-bit system (and vice versa)
• Fixed crash when ending a battle in a draw when a hero has the Necromancy skill
• Fixed crash when having SPELL_LIKE_ATTACK bonus with invalid spell ID
• Fixed transfer of non-first artefacts in backpack if hero does not transfer as well
• Game will now abort loading if a corrupt mod is detected instead of crashing without explanation later

Multiplayer

• Contact between allied players will no longer break simturns
• Having hero in range of object owned by another player will now be registered as contact
• Multiplayer saves are now visible when starting a single player game
• Added chat command '!vote' to initiate a vote to change the duration of simultaneous turns or to change turn timers
• Added chat command '!help' to list all available chat commands
• All multiplayer chat commands now use a leading exclamation mark

Campaigns

• If the hero attacks an enemy player and is defeated, he will be correctly registered as defeated by the defending player.
• Allow standard victory condition on 'To kill a hero' campaign mission in line with H3
• Fixes Adrienne starting without Inferno spell in campaign

Interface

• For artefacts that are part of a combined artefact, the game will now show which component of that artefact your hero has.
• Fixed broken in 1.5.1 shortcut for artifact sets saving
• Fixed full screen toggle (F4) not applying changes immediately
• Retaliation preview now accounts for creatures that don't receive retaliations (Sprites, Archdevils, etc)
• Fixed not visible retaliation preview if damage estimation string is longer than battle log line due to long creature name
• Game will now select last save on loading screen
• High Scores screen and Campaign Epilogue screen are now displayed with background on resolutions higher than 800x600
• Fixed non-functioning shortcut 'P' to access Puzzle Map from adventure map
• Added keyboard shortcuts to markets and altars. 'Space' to confirm deal and 'M' to trade maximum possible amount
• Pressing 'Escape' in main menu will now trigger 'Back' and 'Quit' buttons
• Added keyboard shortcuts to hero exchange window:
•  
  • 'F10' will now swap armies
•  
  • 'F11' will now swap artifacts. Additionally, 'Ctrl+F11' will swap equipped artifacts, and 'Shift+F11' will swap backpacks
•  
  • Added unassigned shortcuts to move armies or artifacts to left or right side
• Added keyboard shortcuts to access buildings from town interface:
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  • 'F' will now open Fort window
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  • 'B' will now open Town Hall window
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  • 'G' will now open Mage Guild window
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  • 'M' will now open Marketplace
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  • 'R' will now open recruitment interface
•  
  • 'T' will now open Tavern window
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  • 'G' will now open Thieves Guild
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  • 'E' will now open hero exchange screen, if both heroes are present in town
•  
  • 'H' will now open hero screen. Additionally, 'Shift+H' will open garrisoned hero screen, and 'Ctrl+H' will open visiting hero screen
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  • 'Space' will now swap visiting and garrisoned heroes
• Added keyboard shortcuts to switch between tabs in Scenario Selection window:
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  • 'E' will open Extra Options tab
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  • 'T' will open Turn Options tab
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  • 'I' will open Invite Players window (only for lobby games)
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  • 'R' will now replay video in campaigns
• Added keyboard shortcuts to Adventure map:
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  • 'Ctrl+L' will now prompt to open Load Game screen
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  • 'Ctrl+M' will now prompt to go to main menu
•  
  • 'Ctrl+N' will now prompt to go to New Game screen
•  
  • 'Ctrl+Q' will now prompt to quit game
•  
  • Page Up, Page Down, Home and End keys will now move hero on adventure map similar to numpad equivalents
•  
  • Fixed non-functioning shortcuts '+' and '-' on numpad to zoom adventure map
• Added keyboard shortcuts to Battle interface:
•  
  • 'V' now allows to view information of hovered unit
•  
  • 'I' now allows to view information of active unit

Mechanics

• Game will no longer pick creatures exclusive to AB campaigns for random creatures or for Refugee Camp, in line with H3
• If original movement rules are on, it is not possible to attack guards from visitable object directly, only from free tile
• Fixed bug leading that allowed picking up objects while flying on top of water
• Hero can now land when flying from guarded tile to accessible guarded tile irregardless of original movement rules switch
• Interface will now use same arrow for U-turns in path as H3

AI

• Nullkiller AI can now explore the map
• Nullkiller AI will no longer use the map reveal cheat when allied with a human or when playing on low difficulty
• Nullkiller AI is now used by default for allied players

Launcher

• When extracting data from gog.com offline installer game will extract files directly into used data directory instead of temporary directory

Map Editor

• Fixed victory / loss conditions widget initialization

Modding

• Hero specialties with multiple bonuses that have TIMES_HERO_LEVEL updater now work as expected
• Spells that apply multiple bonuses with same type and subtype but different value type now work as expected
• Added option to toggle layout of guards in creature banks

1.5.0 -> 1.5.1

Stability

• Fixed possible crash on accessing faction description
• Fixed possible thread race on exit to main menu
• Game will now show error message instead of silent crash on corrupted H3 data
• Fixed possible crash on double-deletion of quest artifacts placed by RMG
• Fixed crash on loading save made in version 1.4 with removed from map Quest Guards
• Added workaround for crash on accessing Altar of Sacrifice on saves made in 1.4
• Fixed possible crash on map restart request
• Fixed crash on attempt to open scenario list with no save or map selected
• Fixed crash on host resolving error when connecting to online lobby
• If json file specified in mod.json is missing, vcmi will now only log an error instead of crashing

Interface

• Added retaliation damage and kills preview when hovering over units that can be attacked in melee during combat
• Clicking on combat log would now open a window with full combat log history
• Removed message length limit in text input fields, such as global lobby chat
• Tapping on already active text input field will display on-screen keyboard on systems with one
• Fixed possible freeze when trying to move hero if hero has non-zero movement points but not enough to reach first tile in path
• Fixed selection of the wrong reward in dialogs such as the level-up window when double-clicking on it
• Fixed launch of wrong map or save when double-clicking in scenario list screen
• Right-clicking on a hero in a tavern will now select that hero as well, in line with H3
• Fixed slow map list parsing when hota map format is enabled
• MacOS and iOS can now use either Ctrl or Cmd key for all keyboard shortcuts
• Small windows no longer dim the entire screen by default

Mechanics

• Recruiting a hero will now immediately reveal the fog of war around him
• When both a visiting hero and a garrisoned hero are in town, the garrisoned hero will visit town buildings first.

Multiplayer

• Fixed in-game chat text not being visible after switching from achannel with a long history
• Fixed lag when switching to channel with long history
• Game now automatically scrolls in-game chat on new messages
• Game will now only plays chat sound for active channel and for private channels
• Cheats are now disabled by default in multiplayer
• Game will now show status of cheats and battle replays on map start
• It is possible to change cheats or battle replay on game loading
• It is now possible to join rooms hosted by different hotfix versions, e.g. 1.5.1 can join 1.5.0 games
• Fixed game rooms remaining visible in the lobby even after they have been closed
• Fixed possible lag when there is a player in lobby with a very slow (or dying) connection
• Game will show correctly if player has been invited into a room
• Fixed overflow in invite window when there are more than 8 players in the lobby

Random Maps Generator

• Generator will now prefer to place roads away from zone borders

AI

• Fixed possible crash when Nullkiller AI tries to upgrade army
• Nullkiller AI will now recruit new heroes if he left with 0 heroes
• AI in combat now knows when an enemy unit has used all of its retaliations.

Map Editor

• Fixed setting up hero types of heroes in Prisons placed in map editor
• Fixed crash on setting up Seer Hut in map editor
• Added text auto-completion hints for army widget
• Editor will now automatically add .vmap extensions when saving map
• Fixed text size in map validation window

VCMI 1.5.0 released

A new major release has been published. VCMI 1.5.0 sees the light of day. The main focus this time was on the online lobby. But also many other features were integrated and many bugs were fixed.

Online multiplayer support

VCMI now has an online lobby that can be used to set up multiplayer sessions. But you can also interact with other players. The lobby works on all platforms and regardless of firewall restrictions. It can be opened at any time on desktop systems with CTRL + Tab and on mobile platforms with a three-finger touch.

Additionally it is now possible to check towns/heroes during opponent player turn and bypass hero movement latency for non-host players by picking maximum hero speed in game options.

Better random maps

A new biome system for random maps has been integrated. This makes created maps look much more natural.

Also there are many different optimizations like properly random-looking zone edges, treasure/obstacle density tweaks and underground generation content tweaks leading to better zones.

AI optimizations

Nullkiller AI got notable speedup improvements, better handling of heroes with "patrol" set in map editor and some other fixes.

Most remaining campaign issues fixed

Many different problems and bugs related to campaigns have been fixed.

Basic game controllers support added

It is now possible to play VCMI with a game controller. Both on PC-based platforms and on mobile platforms.

Easier installation of game files from gog.com

We have now integrated innoextract into the launcher. This makes it very easy to extract the offline installer from gog.com (.exe and .bin file) for vcmi.

This function is currently available on all platforms except android. With the integration of the launcher in the next few weeks, the function will also be available there.

Artifact improvements

It is now possible to group several artifacts into sets. This feature is based on the costumes of the HD mod. With CTRL + [1]...[9] an artifact set can be saved, which can then be called with [1]...[9].

There are now also new shortcuts. ALT + Click on artifact slot moves artifact from/to backpack. CTRL + Click on artifact slot moves artifact to 2nd hero we are trading with.

Configurable keyboard shortcuts

Keyboard shourtcuts are now configurable. However, currently only via the configuration file config/shortcutsConfig.json.

New homepage

With version 1.5.0 we have also published our new homepage. Apart from the newer, more modern design, it also offers useful functions for players, modders and developers.

Documents such as instructions and technical documentation are now available directly on the website. You can also find informations and pictures of the individual mods in our mod repository.

And much more

In addition, many other features and fixes have been integrated, which were requested by the community. For example: tavern hero inviting (requires mod to enable), optional unlimited replay, option to disable cheats, immediate end of the battle, dimension door & summoning mechanics fixes. See the complete changelog

We are delighted that you are entering the world of Enroth via VCMI. The journey has been a long one, but we are far from finished and will continue to improve VCMI.