The Incredible Brilliance of Might & Magic (VI)

TheMadGamer

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Like probably many of you, from time to time I tend to get into a gaming rut. It doesn't even mean that there aren't any games to play. But whatever game I think of trying my brain will say, 'meh' I don't want to play that game for xyz reason.

Yesterday I was searching for something to play. Start a new Skyrim toon? Meh no thanks. Try to finish KoA: Reckoning… fired it up and was meh this game is boring. Try to get into Witcher 2 for the 18th time… too much of an 'on rails' feel for me, pass. I had some free time to play and just couldn't think of what to play.

But I can always fall back on the tried and true Might & Magic franchise. I replayed VII and VIII about a year and a half ago but I picked up 1-6 on GoG recently so I thought what the heck, let's play M&M 6.

What a masterpiece this game is. It's especially fun with the fan patches that allow mouse-look and let you reassign keyboard keys. But I digress.

M&M 6 does so many things right, you get addicted almost immediately. There is a constant stream of improvements whether its gear, skill, experience, or some other handy item. Plenty of quests that make you actually go search them out appeals to my completionist side of me to search out every little nook and cranny which almost always yields useful things.

It always amazes me how fun some of these games from yesteryear are and how rarely they are mimicked by contemporary developers too busy putting question marks and exclamation points over things to lead you by the nose, so that you can toss more gold on the gold pile you have nothing to spend it on and so that you can level up while every other living thing in the game world levels up with you.

Once again, I'm totally hooked on M&M. I hope the new M&M re-make will capture these addictive gameplay elements that keep you saying, 'just one more this' and 'just one more that' only to realize you've been playing hours longer than you should have.
 
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Hmmmmm…. need to play VI yet. Gah, just deciding on my next game to play will be difficult…

M&M 6 has sucked me in like a black hole. Beware.
 
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I'm lost in the World of Xeen at the moment, but I think this might show up on the list when I'm done with that.
 
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I've played 3, and 6-8 so many times. I don't know why Xeen doesn't grab me as much. I think I might give it a shot for my next game. I've probably played the Might and Magic Series more hours than any other series except TES.
 
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Glad your enjoying it. MM6 is still one of my favorite RPG's ever. Where did you get the fan patch? After all of these years, i didn't even know they existed.
 
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Yep, M&M 3-8 are never off my HD and I usually have several games in progress I can simply drop right back into!!
 
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In complete agreement with your MadGamer...I've finished 6/7 a number of times and it is usually always installed on my PC. Got a new PC with Win8 recently so I need to install it. If you want a slightly different gameplay for 6 you should try The Chaos Conspiracy...here is a list of mods and what not for M&M.

http://www.celestialheavens.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=10622

Been playing M&M 2 on Android phone last few weeks and I'm trying to finish it...after finishing Two Worlds 1/2 over the past few weeks I need something new on my PC. I'm thinking World of Xeen. Its been too recent since I finished M&M6(TCC mod) to do it again.
 
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Glad your enjoying it. MM6 is still one of my favorite RPG's ever. Where did you get the fan patch? After all of these years, i didn't even know they existed.

The link to grab the mouse-look patch (but the patch also includes a good number of other features and fixes too is here (GrayFace MM6 Patch v1.11.2).

For convenience sake, here is the full list of fixes/changes found in the above patch:

GrayFace MM6 Patch v1.10
By Sergey Rozhenko <mailto:sergroj@mail.ru>
https://sites.google.com/site/sergroj/

This patch includes official patches, Mok's patch, Angel's patch and makes its own improvements.

([+] - feature, [-] - fixed bug, [*] - other)

New in version 1.10:
[+] Mouse look. (see below for details)
[+] AlwaysStrafe option inverts the behavior of right/left arrows - strafing becomes the standard behavior and turning is done when Ctrl is pressed.

Other changes:
[+] Multiple Quick Saves. (see below for details)
[+] You can change controls. (see below for details)
[+] F2 toggles Double Speed mode. DoubleSpeedKey option controls the key.
[+] TurnSpeedNormal and TurnSpeedDouble options control speed of smooth turning. Default is 100% for normal speed and 120% for double speed.
[+] PlayMP3 option lets you play MP3 files instead of CDAudio. Default is 0 (disabled). (see below for details)
[+] MusicLoopsCount option controls loops count of music. Set it to 0 for infinite loop.
[+] InventoryKey option lets you open character's inventory screen by pressing 'I' instead of clicking a character portrait. Set it to 0 to disable.
[+] ToggleCharacterScreenKey opens or closes character screen. The default key is '~'. Set it to 0 to disable.
[+] FreeTabInInventory lets you select dead characters by Tab key while in character screen. Default is 1 (enabled).
[+] Recovery Time value is displayed in Attack and Shoot descriptions.
[+] No Death Movie option makes your death quicker by disabling the movie. Default is 0 (disabled).
[+] When you right click on character's experience it shows level to which the character can train and experience needed to train to level after that. Just like in MM7 and MM8.
[+] ReputationNumber shows numerical reputation value together with category name. Default is 1 (enabled).
[+] NoCD option. Works only if "Anims\Anims2.vid" is present. Default is 1 (enabled). Note that it works only if Anims folder of the game contains both video files in it.
[+] HorsemanSpeakTime and BoatmanSpeakTime options control time needed for horseman or boatman to say "Let's go" before new map starts loading.
[+] Extracted files from icons.lod (except pictures) are loaded from DataFiles folder. Useful for modders. (see below for details)
[+] Loads all .dll files from ExeMods directory (this is used by MMExtension and you can use it to add your patch).
[+] Improved errors reporting. (see below)
[+] BlasterRecovery option controls minimal blaster recovery time. Default is 5. Game default was 0.
[+] Now Delphi memory manager is used. The limit on amount of allocated memory is removed.
[+] Door state switching command extended. Now modders can pass 3 instead of 2 to switch door state even if it's moving.
[-] MSS32.dll bugs fixed by using a newer version of it. The bugs are: With original version the game didn't run on some systems producing SHRINKER.ERR file with "Pager initialisation error 2" in it. With version from Mok's patch the game could hang when you enter lords' castles or a movie show up.
[-] You could drink from fountains multiple times if all party members are inactive.
[-] You could attack with inactive party members.
[-] FixDualWeaponsRecovery fixes wrong recovery time calculation for characters wielding a weapon in second hand. Dual-wielding was useless before the fix due to doubled recovery time. After the fix it works as in MM7 and MM8.
[-] Now all sounds are stopped when MM6 is deactivated.
[-] AlwaysRun effects turning in turn-based mode now.
[-] Town Portal pauses the game now.
[-] Now you can have gaps between save slots. Save and Load would target the same slot anyway.
[-] Walk Sound disappearing problem fixed.
[-] No need to set compatibility on Win XP anymore.
[-] Some scrolls were endless if you use them on paper doll in turn-based mode.
[-] Inactive characters could use scrolls.
[-] When using a scroll by right click on a character portrait target was chosen automatically. Thus, scrolls like Stone to Flash couldn't be used that way.
[-] Now scrolls sets the game on pause when used on paper doll. This also disallows picking up items while choosing spell target.
[-] Improved Angel's Bootlag Bay circus fix. It didn't work in some circumstances.
[-] One of circus buildings in Bootlag Bay didn't have an entrance texture.
[-] 'Increases rate of Recovery' enchantment now works. IncreaseRecoveryRateStrength controls how much it increases the rate. Default is 10%.
[-] Fixed a game bug which could cause a crash on game start.
[-] Turn-based turn used to take twice as much time as it should.
[-] Smack video volume used to be loud no metter what Sound Volume you set.
[-] Now items that didn't fit into a chest appear in it when you free space for them and reopen the chest. (FixChests option)
[-] Removed buggy character switching amoung slots with Ctrl + click.
[-] Now Starburst and Meteor Shower can't be used on monsters that are beyond the reach of arrows.
[-] Party generation screen animation speed is now limited.
[-] Fixed a couple of index-out-of-bounds errors.
[-] When you move between locations sound buffers were freed while the sounds are playing. Also some resources weren't freed.
[*] Added Smuggler's Guild in Free Haven. It was planned by MM6 developers, but not included in the map file.
[*] Newer versions of MSS32.dll and Smackw32.dll are used always.

Changes by Angel <mailto:angeldeath29@mail.ru> (http://sites.google.com/site/angelddeath/#TOC-MM6-)
[-] Bootlag Bay circus fixed.

Changes of Mok's patch:
[+] AlwaysRun option enables running. If you press Shift you'll walk. Default is 1 (enabled). Always disabled before the patch.
[+] Caps Lock key will toggle running/walking if CapsLockToggleRun option is 1. Default is 0 (disabled). (the option to control this was added in GrayFace Patch).
[+] FlipOnExit option turns your party when you exit a building. Default is 0 (disabled). Always enabled before the patch.
[+] LoudMusic option sets the maximum volume of in-game CD Music to maximum of your normal Windows CD Audio Volume Slider. Normally the game sets it to half the volume which is too quiet for some setups. Default is 0 (disabled). Always disabled before the patch.
[-] Fixed broken doors in Shadow Guild and Kriegspire Castle.
[-] Fixed shield and armor recovery (Thanks to Mike Kienenberger for the fix).
[-] Fixed CD Audio initialization. Music will play even if CD2 isn't in the first CD-ROM drive in your system.
[-] Buggy harddrive free space check removed.

Changes of official patches 1.1 and 1.2 are listed in Readme.txt

All options are controlled by mm6.ini. It is created when the game is run the first time.
Some localization options are kept in mm6lang.ini. You can change them or translate to your language. If you create the same options in mm6.ini they will override those from mm6lang.ini.

————————————————————————————————————————
Quick Saves:
Press F11 to use quick save. You will see "Game saved!" message. "QuickSaveKeyCode" option in mm6.ini controls the key used to save the game.
Option QuickSavesCount controls the number of quick saves.
Option QuickSavesName controls names of quick saves. Default is "Quicksave".
SpaceBeforeQuicksaveDigit controls whether there should be a space between "Quicksave" and the number of quick save.

————————————————————————————————————————
How To Use MP3 Music:
Create "Music" folder in the game directory and place there files from "2.mp3" to "16.mp3" corresponding to CD tracks. Set "PlayMP3" to 1. Unlike CD music, MP3 music volume is affected by Sound Volume you set in Settings menu, so it's a good idea to keep it at maximum.

————————————————————————————————————————
No Starting Movies:
To turn off starting videos add -nomovie switch to the game command line. This is not a feature of the patch, it's provided by the game itself.

————————————————————————————————————————
Changing Controls:
Use https://sites.google.com/site/sergroj/mm/MM6Controls.rar to change controls.

————————————————————————————————————————
DataFiles:
Create "DataFiles" folder in the game directory. To modify a file in icons.lod extract it and place into the "DataFiles" folder. It will be used by the game instead of original file. So, you don't need to insert files into icons.lod each time you modify them. Doesn't work with pictures except *.pcx ones.
"DataFiles" option controls this. Default is 1 (enabled).

————————————————————————————————————————
Mouse Look
To enable mouse look (like in 3D actions) set MouseLook option to 1.
If it's enabled, you can also change these options:
If CapsLockToggleMouseLook is 1, you can switch between mouse look and normal mode by pressing Caps Lock.
MouseLookChangeKey is the key that you can hold to switch to normal mode. When you release it, the mode goes back to mouse look (or vice versa if Caps Lock is on). The default key is middle mouse button.
MouseSensitivityX and MouseSensitivityY control mouse sensitivity.

Here are keys settings that I came up with: http://sites.google.com/site/sergroj/mm/MM6MouseLook.rar?attredirects=0&d=1

————————————————————————————————————————
Errors Reporting
If an error occurs, send me a report, describing how and when it happened. Attach a savegame if possible. In case of a crash attach ErrorLog.txt file which which would be created in the game directory.

Below the patch information/download for the above patch is another header entitled, 'MM6 Controls v1.1' which allows you to remap keys for the game.

I was able to do a fairly simple key assignment making MM6 controls play like modern games using WASD. By default the game uses the A key for Attack so I remapped A to E. The game uses S to fire off spells (if you've selected a default spell for a character) and I remapped S to F. I also remapped X (Jump) to Spacebar. By default Spacebar is what you press to interact with intractable items in the game (i.e. a chest). But you can also left-click to do the same so I just left-click on things as I prefer Spacebar to be Jump.

Just below that patch, on the same web page, is a link to download the MM6 Controls patch which lets you change the key mappings. Here's what I did:

W - Forward
S - Backward
A - Turn Left
D - Turn Right
E - Attack (A By Default)
F - Attack Using Specified Default Spell (S By Default)
Spacebar - Jump (I use mouse left-click to interact with objects instead of Spacebar which I prefer to jump with)


That's a great link, thank you!
 
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Many of the links provided by those sites don't work, or require you to 'upgrade' to a pro version of media fire in order to download.
 
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My main problem with MM6 (and the later games as well, pretending that MM9 doesn't exist) is the lack of variety in quests: they're basically all fetch quests. Aside from that, though, I do agree that the game is great and highly addictive. I'm pretty sure you're going to love MM7, if you haven't played it already.
 
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Just fired this up last night for old times sake, thanks for the great idea. I remember playing this right before EQ 1 came out and I got in the beta for that, and that was the end of MM 6 for me. Now I can finish it!!



-Carn
 
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What do you guys think of MM9? I haven't had a chance to play that. IIRC, it wasn't that well received when it came out.
 
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TheMadGamer, have you tried King's Bounty? The remake is a really fun game in a similar vein to MM (since the gameplay of the original was the predecessor to MM).
 
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What do you guys think of MM9? I haven't had a chance to play that. IIRC, it wasn't that well received when it came out.

Above all it was extremely buggy. While some of them were kind of amusing to me (the map showing upside down in cities, people dying in one part of the game world, while at the same time staying healthy in other parts), others were much more serious and could completely stop you from proceeding in the game - if you didn't know about them beforehand.

In general the game should not be mentioned in polite and educated societies like the watch (outside the politics subforum, that is).

pibbur who actually finished the game and got some fun out of it. But you didn't hear that from me.
 
My main problem with MM6 (and the later games as well, pretending that MM9 doesn't exist) is the lack of variety in quests: they're basically all fetch quests.

I agree with that... the quests and even the story aren't great (they aren't terrible either). But M&M games excel at gameplay and the formula is very addicting. There is just this steady trickle of improvements you make to your toons at it never seems to stop.

Just fired this up last night for old times sake, thanks for the great idea. I remember playing this right before EQ 1 came out and I got in the beta for that, and that was the end of MM 6 for me. Now I can finish it!!

I was caught in that same boat Carn. EQ1 stole a number of single player games from me at the time... though eventually I played them including M&M6.

TheMadGamer, have you tried King's Bounty? The remake is a really fun game in a similar vein to MM (since the gameplay of the original was the predecessor to MM).

I haven't. But I will definitely check it out, thanks for the link!
 
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Kings Bounty is similar to Heroes of Might & Magic!

We are talking about the Might & Magic CRPG series here.
 
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What do you guys think of MM9?
Go wash your mouth out with soap. Potty mouth. You're lucky we don't hit you with an insta-ban.
 
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MM9 is like buying your favorite chocolate bar and discovering they've switched the tasty delicious brown with an entirely different kind of brown.
 
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