Might and Magic Wiki
  • This page was created from official VCMI wiki.

VCMI is a fan-made rewrite of the Heroes of Might and Magic III engine. The purpose of VCMI project is to rewrite entire HOMM 3: WoG engine from scratch, giving it new and extended possibilities. The team hopes to support mods and new towns already made by fans but abandoned because of game code limitations. 19 towns are available in VCMI and others can be installed manually.

VCMI is an active fan-made open-source project. VCMI already allows support for maps of any sizes, higher resolutions and extended engine limits. The game is finished but new features are still added.

As yet VCMI is not standalone program, it uses Heroes 3 Complete Edition files and graphics. You need to install Heroes 3 Complete Edition before running VCMI.

VCMI also features a map editor that allows to create maps that uses the VCMI mods.

What VCMI is NOT[]

It does not aim to add new content or modify original mechanics. However, in the future it will be a base for other projects which do so.

Progress[]

Below are listed major features that are (not) implemented. For exact list of implemented objects, artifacts, spells and so on, please check VCMI Item Implementation Status Spreadsheet.

What is done[]

  • Support for HoMM 3 graphics and maps
  • Choosing scenario options
  • Adventure map and interactions with all objects
  • Support for non-standard screen resolutions
  • Complete Town interface
  • Hero and Hero Meeting windows
  • Kingdom overview window
  • Battle interface, handling most of spells
  • Basic battle AI
  • Basic adventure AI
  • Campaigns
  • Hot-seat mode
  • Victory and loss conditions
  • Alliances
  • Stack Experience, Commanders
  • Mod support, including new towns, creatures and artifacts and spells
  • Random map generator
  • Network game (How much that works is a little unkown but two-players should work)

What has been added[]

  • New resolutions (1024x600, 1024x768, 1280x800, 1280x960, 1280x1024, 1366x768, 1440x900, 1600x1200, 1680x1080 and 1920x1080). This resolutions work only while in-game, not in map choosing screen. Resolution can be selected from in-game system settings menu
  • Stack queue - queue of stacks similar to this from Heroes V (although it doesn't follow its initiative mechanism). To toggle it on/off just press Q while in battle.

What is still missing[]

  • Possibly cheat-proof multiplayer mode
  • Many of WoG features, like Mithril
  • Scripting engine
  • Lots of minor features

Timeline[]

Timeline
Date Event
2007 May 14 Project started
2007 June 08 VCMI 0.1 released
2007 August 06 VCMI 0.2 released
2007 October 24 VCMI 0.3 released
2007 December 29 VCMI 0.4 released
2008 February 01 VCMI forum set up
2008 February 02 VCMI 0.5 released
2008 February 23 Project has been publicly announced, VCMI 0.54 released
2008 June 01 VCMI 0.6 released
2009 February 01 Project becomes open-source, VCMI 0.7 released
2009 October 01 VCMI bugtracker set up
2010 March 01 VCMI 0.8 released
2010 April 01 VCMI wiki opened
2012 October 01 VCMI 0.9 released
2014 November 01 VCMI 0.97 released
2015 March 12 VCMI 0.98 released
2023 April 14 VCMI available in 17 languages including German and Chinese

External links[]

The Might and Magic community
English-speaking sites Age of Heroes (Heroes Community - Tournament of Honor) - Castle Gobs - Celestial Heavens (The Heroes Round Table) - Flamestryke - Maps4Heroes.com - Might & Magic Taverns - The Genie's Lamp
International fansites Acidcave - Archangel Castle - Behemoth's Lair - Drachenwald - Heroes Centrum - Heroes.fr - Heroic Corner - The Ivory Tower
Defunct fansites Astral Wizard - Elrath - Guardian's Grove - Nether Gods
Notable works Heroes of Might and Magic III: Horn of The AbyssMight and Magic: Swords of XeenHeroes of Might and Magic III: In the Wake of GodsVCMIHeroes of Might and Magic IV: EquilibrisMight and Magic Tribute: Book of CethHeroes of Might and Magic V fan manualSkill wheelGhosts of the PastHeroes of Might and Magic V: Legends of the AncientsNew Creature FrameworkMight and Magic VI: The Chaos Conspiracy
Related Guild of the Wooden Flute - SaveHeroes.org - The Tomb of Lord Brinne