Disciples III - Tactical Map Interview @ RPGVault

RPVault posts a Q&A  complete with six new screenshots with the developers at .dat on their entry in the classic Disciples turn-based strategy series, Disciples III:Renaissance. Focus is on various aspects of the tactical map:

Jonric: How does the tactical map function, and why is it important? What activities and events take place on it, and how much of the total gameplay do they represent?

.dat: The strategic map plays a key role in Disciples III since the main part of gameplay takes place there. Traveling across it, you will find treasure chests, dungeons full of dangers and powerful monsters, and much more. You will be able to summon Earth Guardians in order to subjugate and protect territories. Most importantly though, you advance through the storyline during your travels on it, and many intrigues and unexpected events await you in your path.

Combat arena changes from the previous games are summed up in the conclusion:

.dat: The development process is now at the final stage, and we hope that not too much longer into the year, everyone will see the results of our work...

The most significant innovation, of course, is that the units no longer stand in place, but move around the battlefield as the player commands. We think this allows us to bring the tactical combat to an entirely new, higher level. We also introduced specific zones in combat arenas; they give specific bonuses to particular types of units, when they stand on them. For example, one will empower the spells of mages, another will enhance ranged strikes, a third would [make] foot soldiers' attacks more powerful, and so on. And since movement is possible, we also placed obstacles...

We also increased the number of the leader's abilities significantly. To complement the skills that can only be used on the global map, there are now others that only function in arenas, where we have also raised the number of items that are available. Instead of just two pre-selected ones, the player can now access all runes and elixirs in the leader's backpack.