In lieu of any official releases, the Might and Magic community has created a variety of unofficial mods over the last few years with the Merge Mod, Reimagined Mod, and Monsters, Art, and Wonders Mod being among the most popular.
Today we want to highlight the most recent addition to the MM mod universe: Neutonm’s Amber Island Mod which is truly a beautiful (unofficial) addition to the Might and Magic universe!
We talked to Neutonm about the mod and you can read our interview below. If you are interested in the mod check out the details here https://mightandmagicmod.com.
We played the current mod which features a custom dungeon that takes about an hour to complete. We had a fantastic time in the beautiful hand crafted and detailed dungeon.
The player starts with an empty inventory so you have to rely on what you find in the dungeon. The mod grants you a few grand master skills to make things a bit more manageable, but the mod starts off very tough and you’ll be running back to the healer so as to not get wiped out. You will quickly become powerful as you clear out the dungeon though. Some encounters had me on the edge of seat.
The demo is a very promising preview that is sure to entice Might and Magic fans.
The mod is about to go into a closed beta as the development team feverishly fixes bugs, so if you are interested check out the Discord on how to get access.
Q: General overview of the mod?
The mod I’m developing for Might and Magic 7 is called “Amber Island.” It is set in the same universe as the original game, but on a different world. The name “Amber Island” is derived from the location where the story takes place – a wealthy island situated in the center of the vast sea, which is currently undergoing a minor crisis. If the mod keeps evolving, the name will change to “Echoes of the Ancients.” This is because the plot will focus on the “Ancients” theme.
Q: How long have you been working on this?
I’ve been working on this mod for about two years now. It began as a weekend hobby project, but over the last few months, I’ve moved to almost full-time development.
Q: What tools do you use?
I use MMExtension/MMEditor, created by the famous GrayFace, along with his other tools like MMArchive and TXTEdit. For editing Lua scripts, I utilize VSCodium. Blender is the main application for all the work – the work mostly consists of level design. In ancient times, long before the Amber Island mod, i fooled around with Cinema4D. For image editing, I primarily use GIMP and sometimes Photoshop. Additionally, the whole dev process happens on Linux Manjaro.
Q: Any big inspirations for the mod?
Well.. My main inspiration for the mod is the original game series. I’m a huge fan of the original Might and Magic games, especially MM 6, 7, and 8, which I’ve replayed numerous times. Given the franchise is no longer being updated and there’s a lack of similar games in the current market, I decided to create this mod to help fill that void.
Q: How big is your dev team? Any details, shoutouts you’d like to give?
This mod is mainly a solo project, but I’ve received valuable support along the way. A big thank you to my Patreon supporters. Their help has been crucial in overcoming the challenges of game development. Without them, completing this mod wouldn’t have been possible. I’m also very grateful to Sergey Rozhenko, also known as “GrayFace,” the creator of the famous patches for Might and Magic games, as well as the tools (MMExtention/MMEditor) that enabled me to materialize my ideas for the mod. We’ve had numerous discussions, and he helped a lot navigating through the tools and API. I’ve received great support from the community as well – apart from numerous insightful discussions on the server, I also got help from eksekk for technical help, Bademus Octavian Juvenal for concept art, and DMStaley for help with text reviews.
Q: Any ETA on next big release / demo?
The current iteration of the mod, “Amber Island,” is technically finished. It’s now in the beta testing phase and, if everything goes as planned, the full version should be released in the second half of April. Regarding the full game, the “Echoes of the Ancients” iteration, it’s a bit uncertain at the moment. It will likely take at least another year to develop.
Q: Full release details you want to share at this time?
The mod will introduce two new outdoor areas that are part of Amber Island, along with seven dungeons scattered across the island. Players can embark on approximately 10 side quests and a main story quest, which is divided into several parts. I anticipate that players will gain about 10 levels, achieve expertise in most skills, and complete the adventure within 4-8 hours. This iteration of the mod serves as a homage to “Emerald Island” from MM7, acting as a starting area or what could be termed as a “Demo Game.”
A few unique features of this mod include:
- Unique and densely packed levels that follow the philosophy of “extra content in a small space, no fillers” serving as the mod’s primary attraction.
- A focus on “boss creatures,” which are much more powerful versions of the standard monsters found in the dungeons, adding a level of challenge not present in the original games.
- A mercenary mechanic that allows players to hire special “monsters”, operating similarly to “summoned units”.
Overall, I believe that the new areas, dungeons, and quests are what truly define this mod.
Q: Future plans for the mod, new mods or a game?
In addition to continuing work on this mod, I have plans for the (far) future to remake all the dungeons from the original games, especially Might and Magic 6, where the levels appear bland and boring by today’s standards. If everything goes well, I also intend to develop a completely new game based on Might and Magic 6/7/8. It’s a project I’ve dreamt about and planned for a long time, but currently I have no time nor resources as well as public support to afford such project. I do, however, have knowledge and experience to materialize such idea.
Q: Instructions on setting up the mod?
The setup instructions for the mod are quite simple and can be found on the mod’s website: http://mightandmagicmod.com/. Here’s a brief overview:
- Install a fresh copy of Might and Magic 7, preferably from GOG.
- Install the GrayFace patch.
- Extract the mod files into the game folder, allowing it to overwrite any necessary files.
Q: Plans for after the mod?
I plan to continue developing the full version, with the goal to offer an experience akin to the original games in both playtime and gameplay. This full version will feature a huge world with 12 outdoor maps and lots of dungeons. Additionally, I’m likely to pursue a long-planned goal of mine: creating a series of video tutorials on YouTube which would show the whole process process of creating a similar mod from scratch, sharing the insights and techniques I’ve learned during my own modding adventure.
Q: Any exclusive things you want to share for the site? (reword this maybe ricky?)
While it’s not a secret, I haven’t announced this elsewhere yet: I’m involved in the development of an upcoming game inspired by the original Might and Magic series, known as ‘Wardens of Chaos.’ I contribute to the project mainly as level designer (for now). I’ve helped with couple of programmer issues as well as took part in lot of dev meetings.
Links
https://discord.gg/MhmZGrGxV4 – come and say hello at our Discord Server.
https://www.patreon.com/HenrikChukhran – My Patreon page. This mod keeps evolving because of the Patreon supporters.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeQOZxnhEo6yRP8XrD94LIg – Youtube channel dedicated to the mod.
https://www.celestialheavens.com/forum/10/17442 – Celestial Heavens Forum Thread, good old forum, dedicated to all that is Might and Magic, has a thread specially created for this project. After major updates on Discord, this comes second in priority.
https://twitter.com/neutonmouse – my personal Twitter account dedicated to gamedev topics including this mod.
https://www.reddit.com/r/MightAndMagic – Might and Magic subreddit, once in a blue moon I publish something juicy there!
https://discord.gg/GKD3WncVTu – Might And Magic Fan Discord server, A must-have for any mm fan!
We plan on doing a review of the mod when it’s fully released so make sure to subscribe to our newsletter to know when it goes live!
