Editing Greg Fulton/Fanstratics Newsletters/9 (section)

== Behemoth Cave Interview (part 2 of 7) ==
This interview was conducted by Behemoth Cave (Webpage & Facebook) and originally published on November 10th, 2020. It’s another relatively long interview, comprised of 33 questions in 18 parts.  I’ll be posting around 5 questions per Newsletter, until we reach the end, after which we will roll into another interview.  Below are questions 3 to 4c, of 18.


'''3.  Obviously, the creator’s vision of the game often evolves while still developing the game.  [[Unused content|Some ideas are dropped out]], new ideas come up and are implemented in the game. Some press materials contained unit concepts like the "Demilich" (flying green skull with horns, appendix 1), Kenneth Thomson’s “Lobstrosity” (appendix 2) or an aristocratic elf (appendix 3).  Even after the release, we can find Fear spell icon or the Market of Time (the adventure map location) in the game files.  Can you tell us something more about these elements/features that didn’t make it into the game?  Also, Dendroids, Efreets, Zealots, Unicorns or Minotaurs and a couple of others - they all have additional animations and sounds which aren’t used by the game in any way.  Is there any particular reason behind them? Were those units supposed to cast a spell on the battlefield, like Ogre Magi for example?'''
# Demilich
#* As you call it, the Demilich was supposed to be a [[Will-o-the-Wisp]], for the [[Fortress]].  It was inspired by the Lost Soul monster from Doom, and was cut because we couldn’t get it to ‘glow’ properly.
# [[Lobstrosity]]
#* I didn’t see the Lobstrosity until long after I left [[NWC]].  It was a ‘secret’ Troop, and I had no knowledge it was in the game.
# Aristocratic Elf
#* I believe the Aristocratic Elf was an early draft version of the [[Grand Elf]].
# Fear Spell
#* The Fear spell was ‘cut’ because it was little more than ‘bad morale’ in another form.  Later, I thought it was better to convert the mechanic into the [[Fear]] ability for the [[Azure Dragon]].
# [[Market of Time]]
#* Originally, the Market of Time was called ‘Brigadoon’.  It would randomly appear after long periods of time, and for a Day, a Hero could purchase very high value artifacts and very cheap resources.  It was ‘cut’ because it required new programing functionality, we were running out of development time, and I was worried players would ‘park’ a Hero at the destination and simply wait for the Market.  Also, for the record, it was never a place where Heroes could unlearn Secondary Skills.
# Additional Animations and Sounds
#* There is no particular reason why certain characters didn’t get additional animations or sounds.  I suspect it was typical miscommunication or misunderstanding.


'''4a.  Heroes III in its bestiary has plenty of mythological beasts (like [[Minotaur]]s, [[Medusa]]s, [[Hydra]]s) or creatures that are popular in fantasy in general ([[Dwarves]], [[Dragon]]s). What were your sources of inspiration while creating Heroes III - not only for creatures but also for spells and locations?'''

Nothing is created in a vacuum, and is always derived from various sources of inspiration.  I looked at everything: paper and pencil RPG’s, table top games, card games, novels, comics, movies, and art books.  For the various troops and spells, anything and everything was a potential source of inspiration.


'''4b.  Can we find any direct reference to books and/or movies in the game?'''

Obviously the [[Cheats|cheat codes]] reference Star Wars the Phantom Menace, the Matrix, and Monty Python and the Holy Grail.  As for in game assets, [[Gelu]]’s appearance was clearly inspired by Elric of Melnibone, and the Behemoth was derived from the Rancor in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.


'''4c.  Are there any heroes that are based on real people (beside [[Sir Mullich]] - [[David Mullich]],  [[Inteus]] - [[George Almond]], [[Sir Christian]] - [[Christian Vanover]])?'''

To my knowledge, there are only four...

# Sir Mullich
#* It’s relatively well known, Sir Mullich shares the name and likeness of David Mullich.  While we were working on HoMM3, Might and Magic 6 was still in production, and needed people and costumes for various character portraits.  Of course... David had a Renaissance Fair costume... and volunteered.  When [[Phelan Sykes]] (Lead Artist) saw the final game asset, she couldn’t wait to tell me how goofy it looked.  Immediately, I said to her, “We should put it in the game.”  She told me she would clean up the portrait, get it game ready, and deliver it to [[John Bolton]] (Lead Programmer).  When David was away on vacation, for birth of his first son (if I correctly recall), we put it into the game.  Upon his return, we showed the ‘new’ Hero to him, and he got a chuckle out of it.  Since then, he’s become one of HoMM3’s most famous Heroes.
# Inteus
#* Inteus shares a likeness with George Almond.  George did all of the HoMM3 concept art, the manual cover, and the interface backgrounds.  He also painted all the Hero portraits, so I’m not surprised he slipped himself into the game.
# Sir Christian
#* Sir Christian is named after Christian Vanover, but doesn’t look like him in the slightest.  I don’t recall if Christian requested to be put into the game, or I did it as a goof.  The entire [[Foolhardy Waywardness|Sir Christian secret campaign]] was made to poke fun at Chris, who was a good sport about it.
# [[Luna]]
#* Luna is based on a young lady from [[New World Computing]] tech support, who’s name I do not recall.  After [[3DO]] finished its acquisition of New World Computing, her job was moved to 3DO corporate, in Redwood City.  I lost track of her after E3, in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1998.

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