Mirror Template

Introduction

Heroes 3 HD mod introduces handling of the Mirror Template. It is a special type of map, where ground and underground are nearly exactly the same. They can be easily distinguished from the other templates by their specific name, starting with mt_ or h3, f.e. mt_Jebus, h3dm1.

Map generated from the mirror template contain identical features on the surface and the underground level:

• Terrain
• Objects, with the exception of:
  • Monoliths
  • Heroes in prisons are different, but have the same class. They have the same army, with the exception of some unit specialists, f.e. Wystan
• Towns, with exception of the ownership
• Classes of the heroes in taverns and their starting troops roll
• Artifacts, resources, mines, spells, spell research order in mirrored towns
• Monsters and their count
• Rewards in creature banks

Mirror template forces a specific player setup. When the Red player town is selected, the Blue player's town is automatically chosen as the same faction. Blue player's town will be generated at exactly same position as Red one, but in the underground layer. The pattern follows, so Tan town will be generated on the surface, Green town will be mirrored underground - with the same faction.

Therefore, if the first player picks Red and the second player picks Blue, their starting position will be identical. However, only one instance of a hero can exist in the game. Therefore, starting heroes are different. If they have different class, also their starting army will differ. Buying heroes in the tavern will reveal heroes of the same classes for both players, with same starting troops roll.

Monoliths will be created in a special manner. Normal connections between zones will contain monoliths of the identical color. However, they will not be connected and players will not be able to travel between surface / underground. Template author will introduce special connections, that will allow to travel between the map layers.

Creation of a Mirror template

Right now mirror templates are not handled by the HotA Template Editor. It is possible however, to create a base template with this tool and then transform it into the mirror template. Edition of the template file can be performed with any csv or text editor (f.e. Txt Edit by GrayFace).

• Change the name of the folder containg rmg.txt, to mt_YourTemplateName or h3YourTemplateName. Folder name must begin with mt_ or h3.
• Edit the rmg.txt:
  • Col 12: Put a single x under Mirror column
  • Col 15: Change the Map name so that is starts with mt_ or h3. If there are multiple templates in a template pack, make sure that they all follow this rule.
  • Col 16-17: Make sure that the size of the template will accept map with underground. F.e. for mirror template M (Medium size), use Minimum size = 4 and Maximum size = 8.
  • Col 29, 38: Confirm, that the number of players zones is less than 4 (it will be duplicated to 8). Check columns Zone -> Type -> human start and Zone -> Player towns -> Ownership
  • Col 117-118: Create connections with the underground, to allow players to meet. Add normal zone number in the column 117 and -1 in column 118. F.e. 5 -1 will create connection from the zone number 5 to the exact same zone underground.
  • Col 121: Set connection as a Border Guard. Insert the value as follows:
    • First you may put x. If you do, this monolith will be connected with a road. Put a space after x.
    • Choose the Monolith that will be present on the surface:
      • t1 - Two Way Monolith or Portal. Choose any number between 0-20 (without 8), to select the monolith color and type. Be careful, road is connected the the portal on surface. When using a different type (1 squared monolith / 2 squared portal), the underground guard can be misplaced.
      • o1 - Monolith One Way Entrance. Choose any number between 0-11, to select the monolith color and type.
      • e1 - Monolith One Way Exit. Choose any number between 0-11, to select the monolith color and type.
      • s - Subterranean Gate. Impossible to select a variant.
      • r - Unknown
    • Follow up with a space and type the monolith type that will be present in the underground, in the mirrored zone. Follow the same rules as above. F.e. x t0 t1 will create a green monolith on the surface and a brown monolith in the underground and both will be connected to the road (it will be necessary to create at least one t0 monolith in the underground and one t1 monolith on the surface to allow players to meet).