There is a brilliant page, which is related to MM6's mechanics: https://sites.google.com/site/sergroj/mm/mechanics

I wonder if anything similar exists for MM 3-5 or if someone made some research on game mechanics in these older MMs? Like - damage calculation, chance to hit, chance to resist, etc.

One could think that MM6 should share nearly same mechanics as its predecessors, but there are such things in earlier MMs, in example. number of attacks per round, which are very different from MM6+.

Yeah, I remember that site, there were definitely some changes done after I last visited it there. it is mostly about databases, while game mechanics like damage algorithms are handled by executable (thus requires good knowledge of Assembler/Disassembler, which I am not proud of).

It seems like they are working on it though, I wish I could help, but for now need to wait. As you see - most of opcodes info is "TODO":
http://xeen.wikia.com/wiki/Opcode_0x16_-_Damage Yeah, I saw his editor - wonderful tool, big respect to their maker.. Still doesn't explain those "1 to Hit" modifiers, it's application to attacks per round, resistances, etc.

Speaking of game editors, I also saw some Might and Magic III modification tools by Jeff Ludwig here: http://www.jeffludwig.com/mm3/resources.php
It is of great value, because it fixes:
1. Warzone rewards overflow (+ it crashed on around 83th fight in original, not sure if it does with Ludwig's patch. Each new Arena fight adds new monster in specific order, and after around 80 fights all monsters have been used, Dragon Lord being the last, game goes crash-mode on next fight).
2. Damage resistance overflow (which also points at different way of handling resistances than MM6+).

Going a bit off-topic, I am on my way to replay MM3 soon and wanted to check on possibility to fix 2 other minor bugs:
1. Giant Spiders' lair. After it is destroyed, Giant Spiders still keep respawning (in all versions).
2. There was that one square on F2, which would freeze the game, it was in original version, but I think it was patched later on, I am yet to check it on GOG version.
If anyone knows if there are already fixes for them somewhere, would be cool to know (and to confirm/deny F2 square in GOG version).

Edit: Ok I checked F2 on GOG version by using cheated party, and freeze square is patched out in GOG version. Guess i will have to live with those Spiders respawning for now:)

That xeen wiki posted above gives incorrect info about Heroism. Contrary to the in-game description, It does NOT increase temporary level, all it does it directly increase the "to hit" of the character.

So, I've been searching the web about mechanics of the hidden "to-hit" bonus of the Knight and Barbarian.



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http://crpgaddict.blogspot.com/2021/05/darkside-of-xeen-here-today-to.html
On the CRPG Addict's blog, in the comments sections, two people make this claim:

RadiantMay 3, 2021 at 4:58 AM
According to ScummVM (which contains a reverse-engineered Might&Magic engine, among others), accuracy does impact melee attacks (but not linearly). Also, characters get a level-based to-hit bonus similar to THAC0 (i.e. warriors get +1 per level, clerics get +1 per two levels, and so forth).

asimpkinsMay 3, 2021 at 6:39 PM
That undocumented to-hit class bonus is interesting, and it's strange the manual doesn't mention it along with the other class stuff because it's pretty simple and very relevant.
I think I hunted down the right code for it, and Knights and Barbarians get +1 per level, Druids and Clerics get +1 per 3 levels, Sorcerers get +1 per 4 levels, and the other classes all get +1 per 2 levels.
Pure spell casters give up a lot for extra spell points. If I ever played this again, I'd like to try multiple Paladins and Archers instead of Clerics and Sorcerers.


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Is there a way to test or verify this claim?

I really wanna know. I'm obsessed with gaming combat mechanics.

(I suggest using the original engine, not ScummVM, for this.)

To test this, you'd need to do some statistical analysis.

One thing though: At high levels (50+), you should be able to find enemies that, if you keep stats and weapons the same, would be consistently hit by Knights and Barbarians, but would never be hit by any other class.

I should, however, point out that, at level 50:
* The difference between a Knight and a Paladin is 25. This may very well be bigger than the die size that the game uses, meaning that you can get the situation where Knight always hits and Paladin always misses.
* The difference between a Paladin and a Sorcerer, by contrast, is only 13 at that level.

I also like to study game mechanics. In particular, sometime ago I studied the hit chance in the original Wasteland, to try and figure out which stats are useful in that game. (Lately, I've been studying Shard of Spring and Demon's Winter. While I don't have the mechanics fully deciphered, I've found a few bugs in Demon's Winter, as well as a possible softlock situation.) I can think of a good reason to have a Cleric. (Late game SPOILERS)

In the Southern Sphinx, the dragon mummies will exclusively attack your Cleric. If you give all your best armor to your Cleric, they could dodge the enemy's attacks, and you wouldn't need to worry about this (although there might be a minimum hit chance, so save frequently). It is, however, worth noting that you need a lot of AC (like, over 200; don't know how much you actually need here) for it to be worthwhile; otherwise, it's not worth bothering and you'll just end up with a dead Cleric and all the armor being broken.