I just found out the Heroes of Might and Magic V open beta started today, although the first 3 days are for gameSpy subscribers only. :(

I heard the open beta is for multiplayer only and no AI is included.

Is anyone playing the open beta?

Some Links:

New preview on GameSpy:
http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/heroes-of-might-magic-5/682899p1.html

Open Beta FAQ:
http://forums.ubi.com/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/1851065692/m/6981061204

GameSpy Heroes V Beta Forum:
http://www.forumplanet.com/hmmv/index.asp

That seems strane to me, was Homm a big time MP game? I would not have thought it was all that big.

Maybe they just want to get it to work better than CivIII PTW did when it came out.

I would have figured SP was the key and the editor.

It was mainly a SP game like Civ.

They said their goal with the open beta is to test for MP and game balance.

http://www.fileplanet.com/promotions/hmmv/

i'm in line over here (63 minutes waiting for the download to start :))
í haven't seen that you posted this thread yet, and was thinking about opening one :)

edit: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, finally done with the waiting part, my internet protection turns on and asks if i want to dl the file. clickin on yes resolved into refreshing the download manager, resulting in putting me at the back of the line again :( which means i need to wait for another hour :(

It's supposed to be MP test only, but someone figure out an easy way to enable single player. :)

http://forums.ubi.com/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/1851065692/m/9871051404

(COPY) bind show_console '`'
(OPEN) Input.cfg (PASTE)(SAVE)
(IN GAME - PRESS) `
(TYPE) advmap m1 (ENTER)
OR
(TYPE) advmap s4 (ENTER)

The AI doesn't seem to be enabled though so you will be just playing on the map yourself... Still good for getting used to the graphics and interface...

As for the SP vs MP thing, even Homm1 had a good hotseat playability. Wasn't ever too big on the internet though.

I'm installing it, but I don't like looking at the scantly clad statues and elves... :s (based on the screenshots)

(you know, when game demos start approaching 1 gig.... I think they've spent a little too much time on 3D graphics...)

:eek: Not enough space on my C drive!? (I have 19.6 Gigs free!)

Must be some majorly compressed files there...


EDIT: Meh, now that I found where to get the key, it's closed....

Oh well, I'll just go entertain myself and make a HOMM3 clone. (I have the demo of that game, but I can't even beat the demo!)