VCMI 1.7.0 released

A new major release just arrived: VCMI 1.7.0! This time we focused on combat experience, quality-of-life improvements, big editor & modding upgrades, and smoother multiplayer.

Battle-only mode and smoother combat

Want to jump straight into tactics? A new battle-only mode lets you play combat between heroes without the adventure map phase. We’ve also improved the combat UI with a new unit action panel for quick access to alternative actions, plus many refinements like a more compact battle window and extra options during tactics.

Configurable keybindings and UI polish

Keybindings can now be viewed and configured in-game, making it much easier to tailor controls to your playstyle. On top of that, the UI got a long list of usability upgrades: better sorting and tooltips, improved dialogs and sliders, more consistent menu backgrounds, and small touches that make daily play smoother. It's also possible to import HD graphics from Steam version now.

Better adventure gameplay and AI

The default adventure map AI is now the improved Nullkiller2, bringing stronger decision-making and better overall flow (while the deprecated VCAI was removed). The experimental machine learning based battle AI MMAI was added. Gameplay mechanics received plenty of attention as well, including HotA 1.7 map features (like scroll-related Seer Hut / Pandora rewards), improved handling of quests and events, and a steady stream of “works like H3” fixes.

Multiplayer: lag compensation and simultaneous turns

Multiplayer got a significant boost with network lag compensation for actions like hero movement and troop rearrangement. Simultaneous turns were refined too, reducing awkward edge cases and making online games feel more responsive and fair.

Map Editor and modding toolkit upgrades

The editor is much more pleasant on large projects now, with major performance and memory fixes for huge maps, new keyboard shortcuts, visible shortcuts in menus, and undo/redo for terrain/river/road changes. There’s also a new random map template editor, plus an initial campaign editor.

For modders, 1.7 adds more flexibility across the board: custom magic schools, custom resource types and mines, better validation to catch invalid content early, more powerful JSON merge options (including list entry replacement/appending), and many new possibilities for configuring objects, bonuses, artifacts, and campaigns.

Full changelog

There are hundreds of other improvements under the hood, from stability fixes to interface tweaks and modding extensions. Check the complete changelog for all details. Grab the latest build from our downloads and have fun exploring the world of VCMI!