bear_head: I was thinking about getting MM8, but I read quite a few reviews of it having stability issues - do you all think it is worth picking up? I'm not really interested in trying to find 3rd party fixes, so if it isn't stable "out of the box" I'll probably skip it. I'd be running it on a windows 10 machine. I'd prefer not to get it and then deal with the hassle of trying to get a refund... thanks for your input!
I just ran the vanilla game and it started fine on my Windows 10 machine. Turn speed was too fast initially, but that was easily fixed in the in-game options. I'm not sure how stable it would be overall as I've always played this game using the fantastic "Grayface" patch. Which does bug fixes as well as allows for a modern mouselook control scheme if desired.
Additionally, if you install the patch and run both the main game and the setup program in XP SP3 compatibility mode you can actually enable the hardware accelerated graphics mode in widescreen as opposed to using the much inferior software engine.
I've probably played about half way through the game on my longest run. Alas, I tend to lose interest in a game if I haven't finished it in 2-3 weeks, which often means I restart when I decide to pick it up again. It was, however, generally stable for my patched play through.
As far as being worth it for you grabbing it without patching that's a difficult one. I'd personally only play it patched. Have you played any of the other Might and Magic games? Xeen (4+5), 6 and 7 are generally thought of as the most polished of the series. (7 is my personal favorite) Those games may be the better "out of the box" experiences.
On the off chance you or another decides to try MM8 with the grayface patch, here's how I like to set it up.
(Can also do this with MM7, using the correct version files)
First install MM8
Download the latest MM8 Grayface patch
https://grayface.github.io/mm/
Install to your MM8 GOG directory. Keep default install settings.
Set "Launch Might and Magic 8 - Day of the Destroyer" AND "MM8Setup.Exe" to XP SP3 compatibility mode.
Run MM8 once. Start a new game, make a save and quit.
Run mm8Setup.exe And make sure Hardware Accelerated 3D is selected (Must be using compatibility mode)
Keep 3D accelerated Audio off.
That's all you need. However, if you decide you'd like to use a more modern mouselook type control scheme do the following....
Edit mm8.ini (notepad) make the following changes:
QuickSavesKey=116
QuickLoadKey=119
MusicLoopsCount=0
MouseLook=1
This sets Quicksave and Quickload to F5/F8, enables Mouselook (capslock or holding the right mouse button toggles it) and allows music to loop endlessly (instead of once)
When you next start your game, go into the options and rebind the controls like so:
WASD - Movement (default keys: arrows)
Q - Attack (default key: A)
E - Quick Spell (default key: S)
F - Jump (default key: X)
V - Land (default key: Home)
X - Quests (default key: Q)
*You may also want to turn off tinting in the video options as that will do a full color code tint on NPC's according to their threat level
