Brewed With Cider
Freeverse brought Heroes of Might and Magic V to the Mac with TransGaming Technologies’ Cider, which allowed the publisher to place a “wrapper” around the Windows version of the game and dynamically map Windows programming instructions to their Mac OS X equivalents. Games that use Cider run only on Intel-based Macs, but the time it takes to get a Windows title working in Mac OS X has been greatly reduced from the past, when developers needed several months to port games to PowerPC-based Macs.
Cider is a cousin of Cedega, a similar technology that TransGaming brought to Linux users. While Cedega is an end-user product, however, you don’t need to worry about obtaining Cider: it’s part of the game, so you simply install and play Heroes V the same way you would any other Mac application. You never see a difference.
“With Macs transitioning to Intel,” explains TransGaming president Vikas Gupta, “we knew Cider would revolutionize gaming on the Mac platform. This was TransGaming’s opportunity to transform Macs into mainstream gaming machines and satiate the Mac community’s appetite for games.”
He adds: “Mac gamers can certainly expect to see more content more quickly. With Cider, it becomes extremely easy to deploy video games on the Mac platform and, thus, we fully expect that not only will there be more content than ever before but also simultaneous releases of games on PC and Mac by some of the most influential publishers in the world.” Gupta promises: “We fully expect that Cider will change the face of Mac gaming in 2007.”
A Hellhound Waits. One of the demonic forces' minions spies on the unsuspecting humans.
“As we approached the franchise’s legacy,” recalls Cambounet, “taking the series to a new world was a difficult decision to make. We preferred creating something new, that we could control completely. We were able to correct elements we didn’t like in the different worlds used in the previous games, like the sci-fi background, and I think we succeeded in getting a more coherent universe.”
Heroes V takes place after the Sixth Eclipse in 969 YSD (Year of the Seventh Dragon), 18 years since Nicolai, at the age of six, ascended to the throne upon the death of Alexei, his father. Alexei fought the Demons during the Fifth Eclipse, also known as the War of the Gray Alliance, and died while battling them in their underground realm. His soul was rescued, however, and placed in an artifact known as the Heart of the Griffin.
Ashan’s three moons are responsible for the eclipses, during which the Demons typically run rampant. The Blind Brothers, a group devoted to Asha, the Dragon of Order, have tried in the centuries since their founding in 62 YSD to forecast those eclipses, but the sixth one that occurred in 969 YSD took them by surprise. The Demons marched on the Griffin Empire’s capital, the violence leading to what will be known as Queen Isabel’s War.
In the Beginning…
Asha and her twin, Urgash, the Dragon of Chaos, were hatched from the Primordial Egg that came from The Void at the beginning of time. Asha created Ashan, as well as the six Elemental Dragons, while Urgash begat the Demons, who soon started a war against the world’s various races.
Sar-Elam, who was the first wizard, learned how to reach Asha’s consciousness, and the Dragon in turn showed him how to attain greater power. Even though he wasn’t a Dragon, he became known as the Seventh Dragon, and the current Ashan calendar began with that event. Many years later, the Seventh Dragon sacrificed himself in a bid to lock the Demons in an underground prison.
In 3 YSD, the Falcon Empire, predecessor of the Griffin Empire, was founded. While the former worshipped Sylath, the Dragon of Air, the latter pays homage to Elrath, the Dragon of Light. During the intervening years, citizens who resented being forced to switch allegiances to another Dragon fled what had become the Holy Falcon Empire and founded the Free Cities of the East.
During the following centuries, the Blind Brothers successfully forecast several lunar eclipses, and the humans succeeded in holding back the Demons each time, although later incidents came with a price: the fourth eclipse in 843 YSD led to the massacre of all of the Holy Falcon Empire’s royals. In the ensuing power grab, Duke Ivan of Griffin assumed the crown and renamed the Empire after him.
On This Date in Ashan’s History
Heroes V also features six single-player scenarios that recreate pivotal events from Ashan’s history. “A Tear for Ossir” takes place in 952 YSD, after the Fifth Eclipse War. With the Griffin Empire’s border towns in ruins, the Elven king Alaron sends a ranger known as Ossir to the Eastern border, where he must find the Tear of Asha. The artifact will help those towns rise again from the rubble.
Just two years later, Dougal, who had served as a commander under Alexei Griffin, is tasked with flushing out a group of brigands while on the way to a tournament. Unfortunately, he uncovers more than he bargained for when he discovers the presence of Demons. “Hot Pursuit” tells that tale.
In “An Island For One’s Own,” the Necromancers have split from their wizard brethren during 751 YSD, hoping to create their own homeland. Unfortunately, vengeful wizards still pursue them, and their new neighbors aren’t very hospitable.
The Dark Elves also sought their own homeland after breaking away from their Sylvan cousins, a story recounted in “Defiance,” which is set in 568 YSD. Eruina, the Dark Elf hero, leads her people to Farwind Island, where she agrees to peace with the human Rutger, who betrays her and informs the Wood Elves of her location. Meanwhile, another Dark Elf named Sinitar has plans to wrest the leadership position from her.
In “Falcon’s Last Flight,” the Demon leader called Sovereign tries to fulfill a prophecy that calls for an end to humanity’s reign over Ashan if there are no more heirs to the Falcon throne. However, another prophecy says that humanity will survive as long as they control their capital city, Falcon’s Reach. Sovereign sends his top general, Jezebeth, to destroy the metropolis.
Finally, “Maahir’s Gambit” is set in 820 YSD, as the Academy wizard Maahir travels to Heresh, which lies under the control of the Necromancers. His goal is to not only defeat the Necromancer Zoltan but to also retrieve four artifacts stolen from the Academy wizards during the war between the two magic-based factions.
A Postcard-Perfect Image. Make improvements to your city through this screen.
For the Queen! A soldier prepares to attack.
A Bonus For You. Visit fairies, leprechauns, and other friendly creatures to get special treats.
Lopsided Odds. A mounted soldier prepares to quickly take out a lowly footman.
