Author Topic: ExaGear Strategies (playable HoM&M 3, Disciples 2 and Civilization 3 on Android)  (Read 14101 times)

Drem (OP)

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Hello all,
There are great news for all adorers of Heroes of Might & Magic III and timeless PC games of 90's.
Moscow-based software company Eltechs (previously known for their Android ports of Doom & Heretic) released a fully working port of HoMM3 onto Google Play ten days ago.

Unlike VCMI and other previous methods of running this game on ARM devices under Android, this app (called Heroes 3 Runner) works surprisingly good! Yes, it's not perfect at all, there are some sound hiccups, occasional crashes and noticeable slowdown in scrolling/drawing, but it's more than playable - and everything works well (except of LAN/modem/Internet multiplayer, but hotseat is working, of course!). And Eltechs is keep updating this app (current version: 1.0.2).

<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190317113813/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jt_As9RKJ0E" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jt_As9RKJ0E</a>

Heroes 3 Runner (like similar Doom and Heretic ports from Eltechs based on Eltechs' ExaGear Mobile software:
Quote
This game is powered by Eltechs ExaGear engine. Eltechs ExaGear is a mixture of virtualization and binary translation technology that translates in run-time Intel x86 code to ARM one. Along with translation this engine applies sophisticated optimization algorithms to bring high performance experience to end-users.

By the end of the day we can bring desktop applications to mobile devices at no costs.
It requires a ~100 MB cache (downloaded with installation) and entire Windows folder of HoMM3 installed on your Win PC (works with GOG Complete version, by the way). Then all that you need is copy that directory in app's subfolder PUT_HEROES3_HERE and that's all. You may enjoy the game for free for 3 days before app will ask you to purchase a 30 days pass or "full version" to play forever. Cost of "full version" is about 150 rubles (~$4.25) which is blatantly FAIR PRICE for such treasure.

Unfortunately, Heroes 3 Runner was taken off from Google Play last night (probably because of some copyright's claim from UbiSoft), and while it unavailable there, you may use legit apk and cache from devs (they were released on popular Android Russian forum 4PDA.ru):

APK: http://yadi.sk/d/ISSKSvjkLojkW
Cache: http://yadi.sk/d/aARZVyhoLMjb5 (unzip it in sdcard/Android/obb)

Official site: http://eltechs.com/play-heroes-of-might-and-magic-iii-on-your-mobile-devices/
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.eltechs.heroes3 (taken off for now)

System requirements: Android 3.0+, 105 MB of free NAND. Device with 7"+ screen is highly recommended for playing, but this app works with smaller screens as well. Heroes 3 Runner currently doesn't support Intel-based devices and an exclusive for Android.

More games are expected to follow (for example, a preliminary build of Might & Magic 7 was also released on 4PDA.ru) - currently devs are discussing their next release with 4PDA's members. Diablo, Arcanum, Fallout, Elder Scrolls and Civilization games currently among most popular requests :D!
« Last Edit: May 21, 2014, 09:37:13 pm by Drem »

Rock27

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Did it work with a jostick?? like Nvidia Shield??
Or only touch for tablets??

Drem (OP)

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Did it work with a jostick?? like Nvidia Shield??
Or only touch for tablets??
I didn't tried it yet on Shield (playing it now on my Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7), but I think it will be hard to operate with low accessibility of Shield's screen.
And yes, currently it's supports only touch-screen controls:

Though devs mentioned that Samsung Pen is likely to be supported in future updates, maybe even some Bluetooth mices and keyboards (it was requested by some forum members on 4PDA.ru already).
To be honest, I can't see the way to control this game with joystick. But maybe mouse mode of Shield's right stick is applicable.

Rock27

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it doesnt matter, i have a tablet too, i only want to know in what device i must download it, thank you!!

horse

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hey

I've tried running this but it keeps prompting me to buy additional play time - with those links going to the google play store. any way around this please?

Drem (OP)

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Unfortunately, not at the moment :(.

Devs are trying to get an answer from Google. Looks like someone finked about "IP infringement" of this app (which is something like emulator by its nature, it doesn't contain any game files and because of that cannot harm anyone's copyright) or maybe UbiSoft is trying to deal with devs behind the scene.

Anyway, devs told on 4PDA.ru that if this dispute wouldn't be resolved with Google, they will re-arrange the app and release it with different name and with more clear description to avoid any possible further accusation. I will keep an eye on that and will bring latest available information here. You can also try to contact the devs on Google+: https://plus.google.com/communities/110534941573117414057

Drem (OP)

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UPDATE:
Devs released new version 1.0.4: http://yadi.sk/d/L6g6-bKTLrPd8
It has "trial counter" zeroed (so you have another 3 days of free trial) and significant improvement in speed. No more "ripples" with scrolling and stretching graphical option was added.

But please abstain from purchasing anything in this version! It's intermediate version and devs has no responsibility for any possible problem with purchases until Heroes 3 Runner returned in Google Play.

Drem (OP)

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2 DLLs to fix game's freezes because of music:
http://yadi.sk/d/Fgbde90CLtT9t
Put them on HoMM3 directory to fix that.

Drem (OP)

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Good news! It was finally re-released in Google Play as "ExaGear Strategies"!:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.eltechs.es
Current version: 1.0.5.

Rock27

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now i want System Shock 2 !! lol

and i think it is possible play Fallout 1 and 2 too :/

Drem (OP)

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Actually, devs mentioned on 4PDA.ru that next release will be ExaGear RPG with virtualization of Fallout 2 at start (and Fallout 1, Diablo & Arcanum will be supported later). But first they want to concentrate on perfecting ExaGear Strategies and add support of Heroes 2 & Civilization 3 (and Heroes 4, maybe).

By the way, there's 50% discount on Heroes 1, Heroes 2 and Heroes 3 Complete on GOG.com today.

Rock27

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Civ3 will be awesome!!

Thats rpg are touch too, i want something to play with controls in the shield :(

Iam still hoping the port of Half Life and System shock2 or Morrowind or something to play with jostick :(

lemmywinks

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Eagerly awaiting some news on Fallout! I got it running with Qemu but it wasn't exactly speedy to load which wasn't great as I tend to play in quite short bursts these days. The first two games ran ok though.

A proper port would be amazing!
Handhelds:
GPD Win, GPD XD 64gb, Pap KIII-Plus, RS-97, RS-90, New Bittboy, 3DS XL, DSi XL, GBA SP, GBBC Clone, Gameboy Pocket, PSP Go,
PC:
HP Envy M6, Acer 522, Dell Mini 9
Psion 5 & 5MX
Tons of other old laptops and tablets.....

Rock27

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Which two first games??

lemmywinks

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Fallout 1 & 2, they run on Android under Qemu. Not ideal as you have to load the WIn95 frontend first and load times in general are pretty long.

Seeing as I can't even get these games to install on my EeePC I'm pretty stuck for portable mutant slaying at the moment!
Handhelds:
GPD Win, GPD XD 64gb, Pap KIII-Plus, RS-97, RS-90, New Bittboy, 3DS XL, DSi XL, GBA SP, GBBC Clone, Gameboy Pocket, PSP Go,
PC:
HP Envy M6, Acer 522, Dell Mini 9
Psion 5 & 5MX
Tons of other old laptops and tablets.....

Drem (OP)

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    • Russian Android/Dingo/GCW/gaming gadgets blog
I was bit out of touch with the news on this project lately, but I've noticed that ExaGear Strategies was updated yesterday. Now it supports Disciples 2 and Civilization 3, mouse/stylus controls, have inbuilt file manager and some bugs were fixed. App's performance was improved as well.

Rock27

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Disciples 2 is a resource-intensive game, someone has tested how well run it ??

Rock27

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there is a new game like this previous in google play, is a port from Steam

Conquest of Elysium 3

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=illwinter.CoE3.game&referrer=utm_source%3D42matters.com%26utm_medium%3DWidgetWeb

Drem (OP)

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Regarding Disciples 2: sorry, I was unable to test it at the moment.
there is a new game like this previous in google play, is a port from Steam

Conquest of Elysium 3

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=illwinter.CoE3.game&referrer=utm_source%3D42matters.com%26utm_medium%3DWidgetWeb
For a $10 it's looking too much amateurish...


 

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