Hi everybody, we have some big news today: the next major update is out, with the Map Editor & Workshop, a beta version of the much requested Random Map Generator, new maps, units and features!
To address the elephant in the room first though, your eyes are not misleading you - after carefully considering this step for months, we decided to change the name of the game from Silence of the Siren to the long-term working title, Heroes of Science and Fiction. You're no doubt curious why, so here are the main reasons:
It was really easy to mix up the name with other games in the genre, and we saw too many cases of for example Youtubers struggling to remember the name
The new name should make it much more obvious to HoMM fans that this game is in the same genre as the beloved classic, which is really important when players see it on any list on Steam and decide whether to have a closer look.
And what happens to 'Silence of the Siren'? The name lives on as the name of the campaign/storyline of Heroes of Science and Fiction!
Now, back to the update itself - let's have a look at all that's included!
Map Editor
The Map Editor we used to create all the maps in the game (there's an official Steam Guide)!
A powerful Event/Scripting Editor battle-tested by creating the different campaigns (there's also a Steam Guide for this part of the editor)
A simple Steam Workshop integration so you can share your maps directly from the Editor
Content
A new planet with a 6-phase day-night cycle
7 new maps (plus some older maps can now be found on the new planet). New maps are marked with a 'new' icon for your convenience! :) This includes the map from the Next Fest Demo 2024 and an even older demo map uploaded as an example to the Workshop!
New neutral units: Luminovores, self-destructing F1-Crackers and Slugtors and Malarions as a vanguard of the Tumori Tribes faction.
More new features and improvements
BETA version of the Map Generator that can create simple maps for up to 4 players (you can find it under Custom Scenarios -> Generate Map)
Random commander selection for scenarios and skirmish
Statistics for the victory screen with army strength graph
Eyeball tower building with exploration statistics
New commander list UI
Added error messages to main menu in case of errors after map load
Neutral armies from other factions will sometimes offer to join the commander
Tooltip for datascrolls shows the details of the skill you can learn from them
Added custom tooltip text for friendly buildings that can't be taken over, fixed friendly bases showing the eye cursor
Commander action selector now shows usable consumables first
Limited-range (run-and-gun) units now also show a specific icon above their portraits in the unit order panel in battles
Added a 'dismiss units' button also to dialog panel with armies used for outposts and defended mines
Game balance tweaks
UNSS balancing pass (lowered trooper AoE damage, lowered chain lightning damage for consecutive hits, shield is more expensive)
Bloodlust skill can now only be used once per round and 1-3 times per battle
Engineer skill replenishes more EP (+10 +20 +30 instead of +5 +10 +15)
Scout skill replenishes +10 +20 +30 MP according to skill level instead of always +30
Fixes
Fixed cancelling special attacks of units didn't play a smooth transition back to idle
Fixed only one of the not-selected skills in level up dialog could be shown again during the next level up
Fixed hero 'can move' property and movement bar in right panel not refreshed after activation from events
Disabled handling of submit events from gamepads as they might have caused random errors at bases
Fix AI cannot go through building zone if it can't afford to build anything
Fix day/night cycle doesn't affect units in garrisons and bases
Fix Casting exploration ability near map border causes error
Fix field promoted units switch to not-dead basic version when killed
Fixed war machine hire custom panel was showing animated unit even when its building wasn't built yet
Fixed Schließen in German localization not shown correctly as SCHLIESSEN when rendered in uppercase
Fixed camera not following moving AI commanders to their map layer
Added black cover behind neutral army join panel so the player can't open hero card behind it and break the armies and UI
Fixed slots of the neutral army in neutral army join dialog could get a activated for unit placement by splitting one of your stacks or dropping a unit by right clicking twice to one of your army slots
Fixed difficulty of previous campaign level applied to next campaign level before selecting difficulty in the UI, causing wrong neutral unit numbers; the UI now automatically selects difficulty from previous map
Fixed dismissing units from their info panel opened from hero card wasn't updating armies in hero list
Fixed Plant Mammas could spawn multiple babies on the same hex at start of the battle
We hope you will enjoy this new version and as always, let us know if you come across any issues or have any feedback to share. Also, we'll be looking forward to see all the different ideas you will come up with in your own maps!
And, last but not least, here's an updated roadmap for the road to full release:
