March 24th 1999 Build

This is a sub-page of Proto:Might and Magic VII: For Blood and Honor.

To do: Most of the trees in Bitmaps.lod is completely different from final. Screenshots of most notable places from proto and vanilla for comparison.

A prototype of the game released as part of Project Eclipse. Internally dated November 24th, 1999, it predates the final release by two and a half months.

General Differences#

• Starts with alternative intro without sound; some other movies are missing.

• There are only 5 music tracks, 4 known from the final release and a new one; each one has it's unique name:
  • Forgotten christmas gift
  • Monsters
  • The ear revolution
  • Where dreams go
  • In a bag under the sea

Watch on YouTube

• Main menu has no music
• Default party is different
• Starting intro on Emerald Island plays "The Sabres of Paradise - R.S.D." music track
• Almost all Guilds, Shops and NPCs uses placeholder text, audio and portraits. Most of cinematics have no audio. Goblin Armorer from the Pit cinematic is in much higher quality than in vanilla.
• Interface is a mix of old and vanilla infoboxes, also game files contain a few alternative versions of UI
• Maps are sterile, contain only a few decorations and much less monsters and there are a few bigger differences when compared with final release listed below
• Game can be played from start to finish although at the end it will just keep playing a placeholder cutscene instead of sending the player to the end screen

Graphics#

Loading Screen

Loading screen shows interesting mashup of Knight, Barbarian and Warlock buildings from HoMM2, trees from HoMM3 and an unidentified tower.

The oldest interface

Never seen on promo screenshots, in down right corner there are weapons from M&M6 in place of buttons. The game files also contains the rest of it's borders, not shown here.

Second interface variant

Interface in this prototype is partially the same as final, but for a part of infoboxes uses borders and backgrounds known from very early promo screenshots and previews:

Release	Prototype

There are also parts of this older interface that were completely unused in this prototype:

Part of an interface for a minimap .

An animation of "Torch Light" spell.

An animation of "Wizard's Eye" spell.

Release	Prototype

Resting Screen

Release	Prototype

Topic Box Backgrounds

Only the second one is actually in use in March prototype; all of them have "good" and "evil" versions. The fourth graphic is an evil alternative to version that can be found both in vanilla game files and in this proto (but in proto is in all three version).

Final for comparison:

More Veins and Vines

Trees

Release	Prototype

Items

Scroll as seen when lying on the ground with a broken palette.

An apple is red in vanilla. Reused in M&M8

Heroes 3 Battlefield Obstacles

These objects are earlier versions of underground obstacles, they can be found in vanilla HoMM3.

Enemies

Release	Prototype

Release	Prototype

Minimaps#

Prototype doesn't have Shoals minimap, the minimap window is going red on this map.

Emerald Island

This map is an upscaled version of an unused variant of Emerald Island map that can be found in the game files of the final version of the game, but with one difference - a ship that is placed in the vanilla North from the island, here is present next to the Docks.

Harmondale

Minimap in proto doesn't show roads, but it clearly reveals placement of chests. White Cliff Caves are present in the same place as in the final release, but minimap shows that an entrance was planned to be further to the east.

Release	Prototype

Barrow Downs

Minimap shows entrances to almost all of the 13 dwarven barrows (Zokkar's Tomb was probably meant to be inaccessible from beginning), however not all of the entrances do really exist. Also even if building is placed on map it doesn't mean that is has door nor that the party can interact with the door and enter the tomb. Inside barrows there is a normal system of travelling between Catacombs known from vanilla.

Release	Prototype

Tularean Forest

Release	Prototype

Deyja

Minimap differs in the northern part. Nor this build, nor final release have green heights around the lake.

Release	Prototype

Erathia

Road signs are present on a minimap, as well as roofs of porches of some houses. Far to the south-west there is a small object on a minimap, but there is nothing in a proto version.

Release	Prototype

Tatalia

Marshes in the southern part of the map are replaced by water. Relevant tiles on a minimap are also represented by water rather than rotten green terrain.

Release	Prototype

Bracada Desert

Release	Prototype

Avlee

Release	Prototype

Mount Nighon

Release	Prototype

Land of the Giants

Release	Prototype

Maps Differences#

Dragon Cave on Emerald Island

Cave is more complex than in the final release and consists of several smaller caves and tunnels filled with rats and equipment that is better than generally found on Emerald Isle.

Release	Prototype

Tularean Forest

Treants are bugged and are minimized. Their faces can be seen only during attack.

Dwarven Barrows

Some of Barrows are guarded by mini-Trolls, however they tend to stuck in many places e.g. on a dwarven resting place. The small trolls animation can be also found in a files of final version of the game, however they don't appear on any map.

Tatalia

In the prototype swamps are simply trenches filled with water.

Island with entrance to the Tidewater Caverns is pretty empty.

Items Names#

There are two different "items.txt" files: the one, older, from Icons.lod and the second from Events.lod. The second is very similar to the final release; the first contains a lot of placeholders and leftovers from M&M6, different names for standard and special items; the first two names below are most notable, there are much more, but less interesting: