Docent Picolan

The driving force and coordinator of Horn of the Abyss. He also did much of the artwork and music in the project. Sadly, he passed away before the Factory was released.

Trivia

Todd's inspiration, D.P., is an homage to Docent.

Interviews

AcidCave interview by BanBreaker [1]

Note: This interview is quite old and originally made for a now-defunct site, ZGOP.net. Information about future plans is no longer relevant.

BanBreaker: How did HotA Crew start? Who hit on idea to start such big project? How did you all gathered together?

Docent Picolan: It’s been a long time and I don’t remember in details, but it was something like this: in 2008 there were a lot of unrelated 'new town’ projects on DF2 forums (some kind of main Russian Heroes Community, as you know). Except me (and Cove) there were two or three teams, who tried to create gothic-themed town (Cathedral), Kronwerk etc. Many people were in two or three projects at the same time and we often talked among each other. so one day I (with Hippocamus and Alex-ander) came with the idea to unite all that stuff to one big team. Obviously everyone was happy to do it, because together we could make much more than a group of different teams.

BanBreaker: Title is quite important when it’s about huge mod. Why was it named 'Horn of the Abyss’? Who originated it and when? Is there an interesting story behind it?

Picolan: There is a story, but I’m afraid it’s not very interesting :) In those days, I thought a lot about all this sea and pirate stuff, I read several books and articles on the Internet, watched couple of movies… So the name and the image of Horn of the Abyss appeared in my head, as I remember, at night – in a dream. so it’s pretty trivial story :) Next day I woke up and already knew that I’ll start this project in near future and call it HotA :)

BanBreaker: Planned release date was moved several times since 2008. It was explained by "technical difficulties". Can you give an example of such difficulty?

Picolan: In those days:

1. There were no programmers/coders in HotA Crew.
2. We were trying to make HotA on WoG engine (and that was a mistake, probably).
3. Cove graphical content was not ready. Few times it changed almost completely.

BanBreaker: HotA v1.0 was released on the 31 December 2011. I assume it was not a coincidence. How is that day symbolic?

Picolan: It is hard to believe but it’s a truly coincidence. We planned to release the first version in the mid-December, but did not have time. And up to 31 December we worked at full capacity to make it in 2011 :) In Russia (Moscow time), the President has already started talking New Year speech (two or three minutes before the new year), and we just started uploading version 1.0. So it was fun :)

BanBreaker: It is said, that HotA compatibility with WoG/ERA is planned. Is there any progress with this matter?

Picolan: Yes, there is, but […] don’t expect it in the near future.

BanBreaker: Did you expect (in the beginnings), that your mod will become so popular?

Picolan: Well, the project was originally conceived with a rather serious and big plans :) So maybe yes, we did, at least, we’re happy that it has found it’s audience.

BanBreaker: Is it truth, that Forge town is going to be one of HotA new factions?

Picolan: Yes, it is, but it will be (as I see it, I’m not speaking on whole HotA Crew behalf) quite different from the original NWC works. Not too much in the concept way, but in graphical and atmospheric, I think.

At least – it will not be worse (or some kind of 'unnatural’ in Heroes III style) than the Cove. Don_Komandorr (HotA crew member) sometimes informs about development in HC’s Forge topic, so for now it is the only way to communicate with english-speaking audience :) Maybe in future HotA webpage will be making things a little bit simpler.

BanBreaker: Is Forge going to be mentioned in HotA plot (campaign) or will it be only playable in single scenarios?

Picolan: Both.

BanBreaker: I heard, that there were changes applied by HotA Crew to original Forge concept. What’s the reason of taking such a step? Can you say something more about these changes?

Picolan: Sadly, I cannot (only the same thing that I have already said – about graphical way, not conceptual). Product looks better when it is ready… and if it’s ready :)

BanBreaker: What is your personal attitude to this faction?

Picolan: I am, like many others in the crew, interested in working on challenging tasks :) And Forge is very unusual and complicated.

BanBreaker: What’s your and your Team opinion about using units made by HotA Crew in other mods (like for example 'Hero of Light’ mod)? Do you mind?

Picolan: NWC didn’t mind their graphical resources being used, so why we should? :) So yes, we didn’t give a specific permit or something, but we don’t mind.

BanBreaker: How do you imagine final version of HotA? How much of it do you consider real (possible to create/apply)?

Picolan: I would like to believe that there will be no final version for me – this is an interesting and enjoyable hobby, so even if in five or ten years I’ll be working with the same people on the same stuff – I’ll be fully satisfied :)

BanBreaker: Can you encourage people, who read this to create their own modifications to HoMM3? Can you share some tips how to start it?

Picolan: If these people speak Russian or they are ready to read my really really really bad English – I’m happy to share any knowledge :) Years go by, but people are still playing Heroes III. It’s a brilliant game and it’s never getting old, so I respect and I am ready to help anyone who is engaged in modding.

Edit: Hobbit

Interview by MIRF [2]

This interview, published in February 2019, is in Russian language and machine-translated here.

MIRF: So, a new city is coming. Why Factory? What is its fundamental difference from other cities in terms of gameplay, place in the game universe, design?

Picolan: The Factory is a city of inventors. Engineering, mechanics, technology. The default territory for the Factory will be the new landscape of the "Wasteland", the visual solutions of which are familiar to players from Heroes of Might and Magic II: The Succession Wars . Where other factions are superior in the number of troops, the development of magic or brute force, the Factory responds with slightly more advanced development of weapons.

Even the developers of the original (New World Computing, NWC) at the stage of creating the first add-on planned the city of Forge, built around the idea of ​​technological superiority. In the RPG series Might & Magic, the sci-fi elements of the universe are reflected much brighter than in the strategy one - in "Heroes". On the wave of success of the third part, the developers decided that it was time to highlight sci-fi in the HoMM series more noticeably. However, for a number of reasons, the city was canceled, and the niche remained vacant.

It is worth noting that, in addition to the illustrations that have come down to us in a rather outrageous, "template-breaking" design (blasters, zombies with chainsaws, naga tanks), the developers from NWC also considered a fundamentally different concept of a city of technologies - in the spirit of steampunk and the novels of Jules Verne. In essence, there were two main directions: either the city would argue with the environment as much as possible, or would fit into it as harmoniously as possible. Our Factory is following the second path - an appropriate and natural level of technology.

The Wild West theme also plays an important role in the city design. The canyon landscape with crevices, cacti and wind-eroded rocks refers to Westerns. Of course, the visual solutions of the Wild West will be used in a simplified version in the design of units and the architecture of the Factory. Roughly speaking, sent back a couple of centuries, since the classic 19th century for a Western is too far from the conventional 13th-15th centuries of the main game. Similarly, with steampunk elements - we will designate only individual recognizable details, keeping the overall style quite medieval.

MIRF: How long should we wait for the new city and what will it give to players?

Picolan: The development of the Cove took four years with breaks. We began actively working on the Factory about a year ago, announced it in January, and plan to finish it by the end of the year. If events develop according to plan, the city will take about two years. At the same time, development is also underway in many other areas of the project.

Through the new faction and landscape, it is possible to implement, first of all, gameplay and stylistic diversity. New strategies and tactics, new visual solutions. The semantic tasks are the most elementary - expansion of the game world.

MIRF: How many more cities can be created in principle?

Picolan: There is hardly an optimal number. Well, if we want to preserve the originality of the factions, more than 13-15 will hardly fit into the game without complaints. After all, most of the classic niches are already occupied. In any case, we are not looking into such a distant future yet.

MIRF: How did you come to the project and what do you do in it?

Picolan: In 2007, the concept of a pirate city appeared, in 2008 the HotA project was organized, the first team was assembled. The task was immediately set to make the same high-quality game content as in the original. To create not a mod for the game, but a global addition that will look and feel like a product from NWC. In HotA Crew, I am the leader, lead artist and composer. Most of the time is spent working with graphics and managing the project, including public relations. I can prove myself in my profession in those rare cases when the content requires it (musical themes of the Cove and the Highlands terrain). I also cannot help but mention the lead programmer Sav, who devotes a lot of time to coordinating the project.

MIRF: Why a modification for Heroes and not for any other game?

Picolan: Because our goal is not to create a modification for something (I don't quite understand what the developer's motivation could be in this case - well, probably to gain experience or to occupy free time), but the deliberate development of a specific game. Not only understandable and close at the level of personal preferences, but also objectively requiring development. The original had a lot of errors, including critical ones (with a crash), and a number of free niches, a wide field for possible expansion.

As an example, the city of Cove was already suggested at the plot level. The "pirate empire" of Regna was one of the main locations in Might and Magic VIII: Day of the Destroyer (the RPG-ancestor of the HoM&M series), and a significant part of the world as such, but in "Heroes 3" it is not presented even as a single unit, as, for example, in Heroes of Might and Magic IV. Moreover, entire campaigns in the original ("Foolhardy Waywardness" from Armageddon's Blade) are dedicated to the theme of piracy directly, but the pirates had to be played by other game elements: barbarians from the Stronghold, knights from the Castle, lizards from the Fortress.

MIRF: Why has your interest in Heroes not faded over the past 20 years?

Picolan: For the same reasons as players. As I have already noted, the third "Heroes" are in a unique position, not having recognized analogues and sequels. They have a high level of replayability. Each game is different from the previous one, each game mode has distinct features. In HotA, we pay a lot of attention to improving the random map generator, a template editor was created, the possibilities for variety continue to grow. I can’t call myself an active player, but I see a stable interest among users - and I am certainly interested in continuing development.

HotA has no clearly defined end. The project is supposed to develop as long as the team physically has the opportunity to do so. It is possible that at some point the activity will decrease to only occasional bug fixes and communication with the audience, but there are no such plans at the moment.

MIRF: How willing is the heroic community to play HotA, how common are tournaments?

Picolan: Over the past few years, HotA has become the main version for the online community. I can't say that we are trying to displace the original "Shadow of Death" from the online gaming space, but, of course, we support the transition of players to HotA and create all the conditions for the development of tournament activity on our version. And the efforts are justified. A lot of attention during development is paid to game balance, interface improvement, the random map generator has been largely improved, and a template editor has been released for it. Well, one of the most notable events of the last two years is the opening of the online lobby created by the developer of the HD mod (Alexander "baratorch" Barinov). No more "dancing with a tambourine" and painfully setting up VPN clients, now online connection and finding opponents for the game are available to everyone.

MIRF: We all have moments when we want to give up. What helps us get through them?

Picolan: Breaks :) Development is not done every day, there are gaps of a month or more, when we essentially only answer messages. Of course, a reboot is needed periodically, otherwise the moral strength would quickly run out.

MIRF: The game is full of useless spells. How do you think this problem can be solved?

Picolan: Make them useful. We are currently discussing and developing a comprehensive rebalancing of magic and secondary skills.

MIRF: And the last question. If you had the opportunity to live in one of the game castles, which one would you choose and why?

Picolan: Taking HotA into account — in the Cove, most likely. As a Petersburger, I feel natural surrounded by seas, rocks and swamps. Of the original cities, probably Fortress, although the mosquitoes there will give odds even to Leningrad :)

See also:

• Credits