Smileload

We're really sorry for the inconvenience, but please would you disable your ad-blocker? Our adverts are relevant and non-intrusive, they appear only at the top and the sides, never in the content. They don't include auto-playing audio either, they really won't spoil your enjoyment of the site. Thank you in advance!

Want to see this appeal go away forever? Support us on Patreon and we'll make that happen! Click the button on the left to find out more.

Might & Magic Heroes Online (MMHO) is a free-to-play browser-based Strategy MMORPG by Bluebyte and Ubisoft in which you control powerful Heroes and their armies as they do battle throughout the fantasy. Playing Might & Magic Heroes Online is a lot more fun when playing together with friends! There are plenty of ways to keep in touch, such as our Facebook page, our forums or by following us on Twitter.

'I'm not running an ad-blocker!' -Refresh/reload the page, if you still see the panda or have other problems then click here to contact us immediately, thanks.

'Why are you doing this?' - Frankly we're struggling to make ends meet here especially since the site got more popular. The only way we can think to cover our costs is to run ads, but if so many of you keep blocking them...

'But I never click ads!' - Doesn't matter, you should only click them if they interest you. We get paid based on the number of views AND the number of clicks.

'You ruined the site!!!1! I want to send you hate mail!!' - Sure, click here.

Another fact - We have the software and the power to completely block adblock users from our site, but we're not going to, at least for now. We figure most of you would like to support us and you only installed Adblock because of other sites that aren't so considerate with their ad placement. Please, don't punish us because of them, in the seven or so years I've been a blogger/webmaster I've ALWAYS considered the need to balance monetisation with reader experience. I want to build an audience not send them away.

So go on, whitelist us and any other site you love. If it wasn't for ads, the internet would lose a whole chunk of really great niche content like this, which would be a real shame in our opinion.

Now, go ahead and read the page if you want to, but wouldn't it be much more convenient if you just whitelisted us? :)

Heroes of Might and Magic is, as you might expect, a game about commanding heroes, who use both might and magic to fight against other heroes. These other heroes look the same as your heroes but crucially they prefer a different coloured flag. Actually, despite the games title, when it comes to the actual fighting, your heroes are nowhere to be seen on the battlefield and it’s left to you to command the rank and file soldiers to victory instead. I suppose “cowards of hiding in a tent and occasionally casting spells” didn’t have the same ring to it. Not that the heroes notable absence from the battlefield makes the game any less fun. Make no mistake, this easy to learn strategy game is compelling and engrossing and was a huge hit back in 1995, kick-starting a series that now has no less than seven instalments.

A note about different versions of the game

Heroes of Might and Magic was a very successful game and was re-released several times over the years. The very first edition, launched in 1995, ran on the old DOS operating system. If this is the version of the game you have, you will need to follow our DOSBox tutorials to get it working.

The following year, there was a re-release of the game for the then-new Windows 95 operating system. This version of the game also included an enhanced CD audio soundtrack, so it can be considered the better version of the game. The original Windows 95 edition of the game has a 16 bit installer and because of this it won’t install on more modern, 64 bit versions of Windows.

The Windows version of the game was re-released several times, as part of several box sets. Specifically, we tested the version included in the “Heroes of Might and Magic – Complete Edition” box set, which is available as a large collectors set with various goodies. Obviously there are other compilations released over the years that include the game too and we’ve no way of checking them all, but it’s likely that most sets include the Windows 95 version since it’s considerably easier to get working on a modern PC.

There’s also a re-release of the game by our friends over at GoG.com. However, while we’d usually recommend the GoG version without hesitation, it turns out that the GoG.com version of Heroes of Might and Magic is actually a re-packaging of the original DOS version which runs through a bundled version of DOSBox. This is disappointing, given that the Windows 95 version with its CD quality soundtrack is unquestionably the better version of the game.

Installation

Unfortunately, the earliest versions of this game used a 16 bit installer and won’t install on more modern versions of Windows. If you have one of these early releases, you could try installing it on an older PC then simply moving it over to your new PC on a USB stick. The game doesn’t seem to create any registry keys, so this will probably work. An easier method is to simply obtain a more recent re-release of the game. The “Heroes of Might and Magic collection”, still available on Amazon at time of publication, features the game with a more modern installer that will work on more recent PCs. Don’t discard your original CD-ROM just yet though, there’s an important difference between the original and the later re-releases that we’ll come to in a moment.

During installation you may be asked if you wish to install DirectX. Obviously the version on the CD/DVD is out of date, so you should decline. You may also be greeted by a “System Requirements Tool” that thinks you do not have an OS or that you don’t have the correct version of DirectX, or enough memory to run the game. All of these errors can be ignored. Finally, the installer might offer to install a tool called “Gameupdate”. This tool was designed to automatically check for a new version of the game, however it hasn’t worked in many years so can safely be skipped.

After installation you may find that the desktop shortcut is not created correctly. You can easily re-create this yourself if necessary, simply create a new shortcut and point it to the games installation directory, by default that is “C:Program Files (x86)3DOHeroes of Might and MagicHEROES.EXE”

Patching

During our research we found two patches for the game. The first was an official patch while the other was simply labelled “unofficial”. The official patch would not install due to it being a 16 bit installer program. The unofficial patch had almost no documentation with it, but seems to install and work just fine. If you want to try it, you can download it here.

Fixing the games soundtrack

You might recall at the start of the article we told you that the Windows 95 edition of the game had a CD soundtrack. If you happen to pick this game up as part of a compilation, it is likely that it has been placed on a DVD disc and the CD soundtrack simply discarded. That’s a shame as the high quality soundtrack definitely adds to the game. Fortunately we can do something about that. First of all, we need to download and install the _inmm.dll compatibility tool, if it’s not on your system already. Click here to learn all about this tool and what it does for old games with CD soundtracks.

Secondly, you will need the missing CD audio tracks. You can grab those here. Copy them to the games installation directory (C:Program Files (x86)3DOHeroes of Might and Magic by default) in the sub-folder “Music”.

Now, follow our _inmm.dll tutorial from step 2 onwards, to patch the games executable and create your _inmm.ini file that points to the music files you downloaded above.

If you did everything correctly, you should now be able to start the game and enjoy the full CD soundtrack too. There are a few settings you may need to tweak in-game, but we’ll come to those in a moment.

Configuring the game

Before leading your armies into battle, there are a small number of in-game settings you may wish to tweak. Start Heroes of Might and Magic from the Start menu or desktop shortcut and then start a new game, any kind of game will do. If the game is running in full screen mode, press F4 to toggle it into windowed mode.

At the top of the games window you will notice several menus. First of all, on the “Display” menu, set the games resolution to the highest setting available, that is 1280×1024. This will make the game easier to see on a modern display. Heroes Of Might and Magic uses hand drawn graphics (sprites) rather than 3D polygons, so actually increasing the games resolution makes scant difference to the graphical quality. If you play the game in full screen mode, the screen resolution will reset to 640×480.

The Control Panel menu has some further options you may wish to configure. The picture below shows the available options.

Music and Sound menus – In these menus you can set the volume of both the music and the sound effects. If the game’s not making any sounds, check this menu and make sure that the sounds/music are not set to off. If you turn music on and the soundtrack does not play, try choosing another volume setting. Note that the volume setting for the CD soundtrack does not work correctly when using _inmm.dll.

CD Stereo – With the game successfully patched to use _inmm.dll, you should be able to turn this option on.

Troubleshooting and known issues

CD audio soundtrack not playing – If the CD soundtrack does not play, you need to access the Control Panel menu and then choose “Music” and change the volume. If this doesn’t work immediately, try changing the volume again.

CD audio soundtrack volume sometimes goes quiet – The CD soundtrack has a habit of changing volume while you play. This is probably not intentional and just a side effect of the _inmm.dll patching process. We do not have a workaround for this bug at present.

Full screen mode causes the game to crash – If putting the game into full screen mode causes it to crash, try installing the dgVoodoo2 tool into the games directory.

Game becomes sluggish when a prompt window appears – Sometimes the game gets stuck momentarily after a message appears and requires you to click “OK” to continue. Usually this problem goes away after a minute or two so don’t panic.

Game opens in a very tiny window – If the game opens in a absurdly small window, try pressing the F4 key to put the game into full screen. You can then either play in full screen or press F4 again to return to a (hopefully sensibly sized) window.

Screenshots

Click on any screenshot to enlarge it.

Quick, while the dragon isn’t looking!

Heroes Of Might And Magic Online Game

Heroes of Might and Magic Online was a 2.5DMMORPG for the Chinese market and developed by Netdragon.^[1] It was part of the Heroes of Might and Magic franchise.^[1]

Contents

Originally scheduled for release in late 2005,^[2] the final release was delayed for three years, and the game launched in May 2008.^[1]

Heroes Of Might And Magic Online Cheating

The game was free of charge.^[3]

Heroes of Might and Magic Online finally went offline on 31 March 2014.^[4]

Story

The background story was set in the same world as Heroes III (most notably the kingdom of Erathia)^[3] although Ubisoft—the Might and Magic brand rights licensor—introduced a new universe for the whole Might and Magic series after having acquired the rights from The 3DO Company. The game did not appear to have an actual story, however, and any events that took place in it would not be considered canon.

Features

Heroes Of Might And Magic Online Game

Heroes of Might and Magic Online featured four magic systems and allowed the player to choose heroes from eight factions comprising a total of 56 unit types.^[3] It was staged on three different levels:

• A global, randomly generated level, where players moved and interacted in a typical MMORPG fashion (in realtime)
• A strategic level, similar to a Heroes III map, where the heroes moved within a certain amount of time
• A turn-based 3D combat level using a tactical grid, similar to the combat mode in Heroes III

English version

A closed beta test for the English version was held from May 7 to June 9, 2010. Two days later, on June 11, the game went live.

The English version only allowed users with Asian IP addresses to play, since TQ's license from Ubisoft was for Asia only.

Related Research Articles

EverQuest is a 3D fantasy-themed massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) originally developed by Verant Interactive and 989 Studios for Windows PCs. It was released by Sony Online Entertainment in March 1999 in North America, and by Ubisoft in Europe in April 2000. A dedicated version for macOS was released in June 2003, which operated for ten years before being shut down in November 2013. In June 2000, Verant Interactive was absorbed into Sony Online Entertainment, who took over full development and publishing duties of the title. Later, in February 2015, SOE's parent corporation, Sony Computer Entertainment, sold the studio to investment company Inception Acquisitions and was rebranded as Daybreak Game Company, who develops and publishes EverQuest to this day.

Might and Magic is a series of role-playing video games from New World Computing, which in 1996 became a subsidiary of The 3DO Company. The original Might and Magic series ended with the closure of the 3DO Company. The rights to the Might and Magic name were purchased for US$1.3 million by Ubisoft, who 'rebooted' the franchise with a new series with no apparent connection to the previous continuity, starting with the games Heroes of Might and Magic V and Dark Messiah of Might and Magic.

Heroes of Might and Magic, known as Might & Magic Heroes since 2011, is a series of video games originally created and developed by Jon Van Caneghem through New World Computing.

World of Warcraft (WoW) is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) released in 2004 by Blizzard Entertainment. It is the fourth released game set in the Warcraft fantasy universe. World of Warcraft takes place within the Warcraft world of Azeroth, approximately four years after the events at the conclusion of Blizzard's previous Warcraft release, Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne. The game was announced in 2001, and was released for the 10th anniversary of the Warcraft franchise on November 23, 2004. Since launch, World of Warcraft has had eight major expansion packs produced for it: The Burning Crusade, Wrath of the Lich King, Cataclysm, Mists of Pandaria, Warlords of Draenor, Legion and Battle for Azeroth, and Shadowlands.

Shadowbane was a free-to-play fantasy role-playing video game (MMORPG) created by Wolfpack Studios and published on March 25, 2003 by Ubi Soft for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X platforms. Originally commercial and subscription-driven, Shadowbane was launched in March 2003, and was the creation of text-MUD veterans J. Todd Coleman, James Nance, Josef Hall, Patrick Blanton and Robert Marsa and a team of 45 programmers, designers and artists. It closed on July 1, 2009.

Cryptic Studios is an American video game developer specializing in massively multiplayer online role-playing games. It is headquartered in Los Gatos, California and is a wholly owned Perfect World subsidiary.

Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning was a massively multiplayer online role-playing game based on Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy setting, developed by Mythic Entertainment and published by Electronic Arts in 2008. The game revolved around the continual worldwide conflict that the Warhammer Fantasy setting is known for, and the game is geared toward ongoing, constant war laced with dark humour. Age of Reckoning ended up selling over a million copies and peaking at 800,000 subscribers, but dropped to 300,000 subscribers several months later. The game received generally positive reviews from critics and shut down in 2013. As of 4 June, 2014, there is an active private server called Return of Reckoning.

Heroes of Might and Magic III: The Restoration of Erathia is a turn-based strategy game developed by Jon Van Caneghem through New World Computing originally released for Microsoft Windows by the 3DO Company in 1999. Its ports to several computer and console systems followed in 1999-2000. It is the third installment of the Heroes of Might and Magic series. The game's story is first referenced throughout Might and Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven and serves as a prequel to Might and Magic VII: For Blood and Honor. The player can choose to play through seven different campaigns telling the story, or play in a scenario against computer or human opponents.

New World Computing, Inc. was an American video game developer and publisher founded in 1984 by Jon Van Caneghem, his wife, Michaela Van Caneghem, and Mark Caldwell. It was best known for its work on the Might and Magic role-playing video game series and its spin-offs, especially Heroes of Might and Magic. The company was purchased by and became a division of The 3DO Company on July 10, 1996 from NTN Communications, after NTN purchased New World Computing for $10 million in stock.

Heroes of Might and Magic V is the fifth installment of the Heroes of Might and Magic fantasy turn-based strategy video game series. The game was released by Ubisoft in Europe on May 16, and then in the United States and Canada on May 24, 2006, with the publisher guiding Russian studio Nival Interactive in its development. Following the closure of The 3DO Company, Ubisoft bought the rights to the Might and Magic franchise, and used Heroes V as a means to reboot the series with a brand-new setting, called Ashan, and no continuity to previous titles.

Soul of the Ultimate Nation was a fantasy-based massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) produced by Webzen, a Korean-based company. It is operated in South Korea by Webzen and in mainland China by The9. The game was launched in Taiwan on April 19, and in China on May 24, 2007 as a paid online service and closed on July 3, 2013.

The history of massively multiplayer online games spans over thirty years and hundreds of massively multiplayer online games (MMOG) titles. The origin and influence on MMO games stems from MUDs, Dungeons & Dragons and earlier social games.

Might and Magic: Heroes Kingdoms was a real-time strategy massively multiplayer online game based on the Heroes of Might and Magic series. The game was announced in 2007 with closed betas running until 2009. It was released in France on 3 November 2009. It closed its servers on 1 September 2014.

Atlantica Online is a free-to-play (F2P) 3D tactical massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed by NDOORS Corporation. The game is currently published by Valofe. The game's primary setting is a fantasy-themed alternate history Earth composed of a diverse blend of historical, cultural, allegorical, and mythological elements. The game world is primarily modeled after real-world geography with accessible locations on six of the seven continents as well as the mythical floating continent of Atlantis from which the game's name is derived.

Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes is a puzzle role-playing adventure video game in the Might and Magic franchise, developed for the Nintendo DS by Capybara Games and published by Ubisoft. It was first announced in May 2009, and released on December 1, 2009. In 2011, a downloadable high definition version was developed for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows. Android and iOS ports were developed in 2013.

Perfect World Entertainment is a Chinese-owned and leading online publisher of live service games in North America and Europe. Founded in 2008, Perfect World Entertainment is known for creating and publishing titles based on well-known global entertainment franchises, such as Star Trek and Dungeons & Dragons. The company’s popular live service MMO games, including Neverwinter, Star Trek Online and PWI, have cumulatively grossed over $500M in their lifetimes. Perfect World Entertainment also partners with third-party development studios, including Gunfire Games, developer of Remnant: From the Ashes, and Unknown Worlds, developer of Subnautica, to help bring their games to market on a global scale. Perfect World Entertainment is a subsidiary of Perfect World Group, and is headquartered in Redwood City California.

Might & Magic Heroes VI is a turn-based strategy video game for Microsoft Windows developed by Black Hole Entertainment and published by Ubisoft. Some patches and downloadable content were developed by Limbic Entertainment, while the standalone expansion Shades of Darkness was developed by Virtuos. It is the sixth installment in the Heroes of Might and Magic series, and was released on October 13, 2011, coinciding with the 25th anniversary of the Might and Magic franchise. Heroes VI acts as a prequel to Heroes of Might and Magic V, occurring almost five centuries earlier, and is set in the fictional world of Ashan. The story follows the five heirs to the Griffin dynasty in their quests to repel a demon invasion and assist or impede Michael, a legendary Archangel general plotting to revive an ancient war.

Age of Wushu is a free-to-play 3D martial arts action MMORPG, developed by Chinese company Snail. The game revolves around the Wuxia-inspired lore surrounding martial arts and adventures in Ming Dynasty China. The European version, Age of Wulin, which had been published by Webzen, closed in July 2017, with players being given the option of transferring to a new European server established as part of Age of Wushu, the version of the game published by Snail USA.

Might & Magic Heroes VII is a turn-based strategy game in the Heroes of Might and Magic series. Like the other games in the series, players control leaders with magical abilities termed as 'heroes', who recruit a variety of forces from strongholds. The heroes and their armies battle the opponents, who also use heroes to lead their forces. It features a campaign series of levels, standalone and multiplayer scenarios.

References

1. 'NetDragon Launches 'Heroes of Might and Magic Online' on May 30th 2008'. PR Newswire. Jun 1, 2008. Retrieved June 8, 2012.
2. ↑ 'TQDigital's Plans for Heroes Online'. Archived from the original on December 2, 2009. Retrieved December 1, 2009.
3. 'Heroes of Might and Magic Online'. Archived from the original on December 2, 2009. Retrieved December 1, 2009.
4. ↑ '单机玩家不买账 《英雄无敌在线》宣布月底停运'. March 18, 2014. Retrieved August 28, 2015.

External links