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Might and Magic VIII: Day of the Destroyer

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Title Screen

Might & Magic VIII: Day of the Destroyer

Also known as: Might and Magic: Day of the Destroyer (Japan)
Developer: New World Computing
Publishers: 3DO Company (US/EU), Imagineer (JP)
Platforms: Windows, PlayStation 2
Released in JP: September 6, 2001
Released in US: February 29, 2000
Released in EU: February 29, 2000


AnimationsIcon.png This game has unused animations.
AreasIcon.png This game has unused areas.
CopyrightIcon.png This game has hidden developer credits.
DevTextIcon.png This game has hidden development-related text.
GraphicsIcon.png This game has unused graphics.
MovieIcon.png This game has unused cinematics.
ItemsIcon.png This game has unused items.
Sgf2-unusedicon1.png This game has unused abilities.
SoundIcon.png This game has unused sounds.
TextIcon.png This game has unused text.
DebugIcon.png This game has debugging material.
LevelSelectIcon.png This game has a hidden level select.
RegionIcon.png This game has regional differences.


PrereleaseIcon.png This game has a prerelease article

The eighth installment of the Might and Magic series.

Sub-Page

Read about prerelease information and/or media for this game.
Prerelease Info
M&M8 sprite obj064.png
Leftovers from Previous Games
At bottom M&M8 is just M&M6 with new graphics...

Debug Options

Debug configuration remained unchanged from the previous game. Instructions and available commands can be found here.

Unused Sound Effects

Hmmm...
To do:
Add more sounds.
Tip
Sound differs from sound from M&M6 and 7. It's very likely that tips were also planned for M&M8
title
Possibly part of the Arcomage game. Also present in M&M7, but unused.
victory
Possibly part of the Arcomage game. Also present in M&M7, but unused.
defeat
Possibly part of the Arcomage game. Also present in M&M7, but unused.
female scream
male scream
PanFlute
Possibly meant for the flute from Lord Brinne's Tomb.
wolf howl (distance)
Another wolf sound possibly meant for the Dire Wolves.
drip01
drip02
drip03
Event41_01a
Wererat Boat Greeting. Due to a bug it's not used and Wererat is just broodily looking at sunset.
Event41_01b
Wererat Boat Travel. Like above.
Event41_01c
Wererat Boat Not Enough Gold. Like above.
Event42_011
Regnan Boat Greeting
Event42_01b
Regnan Boat Travel
Event42_01c
Regnan Boat Not Enough Gold

Player Character 25

Dragons cannot be taught spells and their voices are not available for starting hero, so this is unused.

Player Character 26

Same deal with the other dragon's voice.

Unused Locations and Videos

Oracle (Indoors Cinematics)

Unused Used
Unused Used
M&M8 icons npc2165.png M&M8 icons Npc0878.png

Unused portrait of the Oracle from cinematic. Looks like a representative of a new, tiger-like race, previously unseen in the world of Enroth.

Regnan Spell Shop (Indoors Cinematics)

M&M8 icons npc2175.png
Regna does not have a spell shop, so this appears to be unused. The shop's name is "Protective Magic", the owners name is Quiana. Selling Elemental Spells at a master level. For some reason shopkeeper has a female voice.

Sub in a Pirate Outpost

Unused video of a sub. There are two copies of this cinematic, so it's very probable that it was going to be played in two places, when player attempted to get into the sub: in the Pirate Outpost on the Dagger Wound Island and in the Small Sub Pen on Regna Island. In a final release no video shows when player is asked about traveling between islands.

The Adventurer's Inn

The Adventurer's Inn has this unused cinematic, so it looks like menu for hiring new heroes had on some stage of development layout similar to the one known from the other locations.

Concepts of Locations

Sounds.txt contains these strings with description "unused", suggesting that there were plans for more locations in the game. Interestingly, there were no plans for Wererats shops. Regnan Captain has unused sound files that can be found above.

Lizardman Ship
Lizardman Stables
Minotaur Alchemist
Minotaur Ship
Minotaur Stables
Dragon Hunter Alchemist
Dragon Hunter Spell Shop
Dragon Hunter Bank
Dragon Hunter Ship
Dragon Hunter Stable
Necromancer Ship
Necromancer Stable
Wererat Trainer
Wererat Bank
Wererat Stable
Regnan Boat

Cut Videos

In .exe file there are mentioned these videos, that can't be found in the game files:

rrchss2  - alternative rich Regnan house
derchss2  - alternative rich Dark Elf house
nrchss2  - alternative rich Necromancer house
lmedhs2  - alternative medium Lizardman house
trporhs2  - alternative poor Troll house
lporhs2  - alternative poor Lizardman house

Unused NPC

Wandering NPCs

NPC Unused/Swapped Portrait In-Game Portrait Comment
Trolls Guards M&M8 Icons NPC0982.png M&M8 icons Npc1001.png The unused Troll portrait shall be a common portrait of a Trolls that guard a village on Ironsand Desert - however in .exe file it's swapped with unused friendly Ogre Warriors portrait that should guard Zog's Fortress (it's still possible to talk to them after casting "charm" spell). They will tell the player:
"Be gone!  We have no use for you here, unless we uses you to feed the wyverns!"
Unused Group of Ogres M&M8 icons Npc1008.png .Exe file is pointing to a second unused Ogre portrait. Might it be that there were plans for another group of friendly Ogre Peasants or maybe Ogre Shamans?
Alternative Ogre Peasants portrait from NPCdata.txt. M&M8 icons Npc1009.png M&M8 icons Npc1012.png NPCdata also has strings related to friendly wandering creatures, however they seem to be unused. One of such portraits is described just as "Ogre Peasant"
Alternative Minotaur Peasants portrait from NPCdata.txt. M&M8 icons NPC1044.png M&M8 icons NPC1045.png
Alternative Shadowspire Peasants portrait from NPCdata.txt. M&M8 icons Npc1183.png M&M8 icons NPC1141.png
Alternative Elven Guards portrait from NPCdata.txt. M&M8 icons Npc0860.png M&M8 icons Npc0890.png
Unused Murmurwoods Peasants M&M8 icons NPC1251.png NPCdata shows that this portrait was going to be commonly used by both peasants and Clerics of the Sun in Murmurwoods. There are no peasants in a final release and Clerics have different portrait. A two unused pieces of texts that were meant to be used by peasants remains in NPCNEWS.txt:
Glory to all who bathe in the cleansing light of the Sun! Do you walk in the path of its light?
There was a tremendous wind storm that devastated most of the forest to the north of here!  It has driven basilisks, will o' wisps and unicorns closer to the temple!
Unused Friendly Vampires M&M8 icons Npc1164.png Looks like developers were going to add more inhabitants to the city of Twilight?
Arion Hunter's Wererats M&M8 icons Npc1235.pngM&M8 icons Npc1238.png These portraits are coded in .exe as a graphics of friendly Wererats and Animalists that roam Smuggler's Cove, however they're noninteractive. NPCDATA.txt describes the right portrait as "Wererat Peasants". When interrogated, they would say
Please don't hurt us!  Arion Hunter says we are friends now!
Friendly Elementals M&M8 icons NPC1255.pngM&M8 icons NPC1263.pngM&M8 icons NPC1268.pngM&M8 icons NPC1270.png Exe file contains these NPCs images among the other interactable creatures; it looks like at some point developers were planning to add friendly elementals outside their homes.
Pirates M&M8 icons NPC1202.pngM&M8 icons NPC1207.pngM&M8 icons NPC1218.png The .exe file mentions also these portraits, so maybe some pirates were going to be non-agressive? NPCnews.txt has this piece of text alligned with pirates from Dagger Wound Island:
Argh!  Either get in the fight, or get out of our way!

Indoor NPCs

Unused Portraits from Indoor Cinematics

These portraits were clearly taken from existing and non-existent in the game files animations of merchants, instructors etc. Their ordinal numerals are 2000s.

NPC Unused Portrait In-Game Portrait Comment
Lizardman Captain/Stableman M&M8 icons npc2117.png It's hard to tell where did he work. However, Sounds.txt hints that he was Captain or Stableman. There is no matching animation in the game files.
Magic Shop Elf Merchant M&M8 icons npc2122.png M&M8 icons npc2102.png This portrait is clearly a merchant from "Arcane Items" and "Caori's Curios". His portrait is too small to be displayed properly, so probably this is the reason why it was swapped with a portrait of Elf woman from Merchant Guildhouse in Alvar (where she would shows next to Bastian Loudrin portrait, but she was scrapped for some reason).
Necromancer's Instructor M&M8 icons npc2151.png M&M8 icons NPC1149.png This portrait resembles a necromancer at the back of Shadowspire training hall. However, he was kicked from his job by some Vampire girl.
Dragon Hunter's Priest M&M8 icons npc2143.png M&M8 icons NPC1138.png ...and fate of this dude is not so different from the guys above. He can be found in "Sacred Steel" in Garrote Gorge and "Sanctum" in Ravenshore.
Dragon Hunter's Innkeeper M&M8 icons npc2138.png M&M8 icons NPC1137.png Poor guy, he was kicked off from the business by some girl too! He owned "Dragon's Blood Inn" in Garrote Gorge. His portrait on the left was eventually used for Xanthor.
Edgar Fellmoon M&M8 icons npc2120.png M&M8 Icons Npc0884.png Hmmm, doesn't he use portrait of Xanthor from a cinematic?
Masul M&M8 Icons npc2106.png M&M8 Icons npc2922.png NPCtopic.txt shows that Minotaur Heard Leader was planned to be a hireable hero and probably because of that he has a portrait of playable Minotaur. However, game files also contains his portrait cut from a cinematic of his throne room.
Oscar Tyre M&M8 icons npc2144.png M&M8 Icons NPC1248.png Looks like the guy sitting in a throne room of the leader of the Temple of the Sun is nothing more than yellow-coloured necromancer. His portrait was probably changed to avoid confusion and to add him more character.

Unused NPCs

NPC Portrait Comment
Zanthora M&M8 Icons NPC1145.png Zanthora entry in 2DEvents.txt suggests, that she could be found in Mad Necromancer's Lab.
Alliane Frelsig M&M8 icons npc2102.png Elf merchant, that was scrapped from Merchant Guildhouse in Alvar. She was planned to be found there together with Bastian Loudrin as an NPC connected with a main plot. Her portrait was eventually used for Magic Shop shopkeeper.
Hirelings M&M8 Icons npchire.png These heroines can't join party and can be only chosen as a starting hero, thus their NPC portraits remain unused.
Zog the Jackal 2DEvents.txt entry contains one string with his name without further info, so we only know that he was planned to be an interactive NPC.
Dartin Dunewalker Troll, who shall give a clue to a player, that Ancient Troll Home is in Murmurwoods, not in Ravage Roaming; for unknown reason his bit of text is used by Volog Sandwind in Ironsand Desert, who is sending us to Ravage Roaming to look for Dartin. Of course there is no Dartin in Ravage Roaming. There are also two completely unused dialogues from GLOBAL scripts, that belongs to him:
"Thanks for your help!
Thanks again for your assistance with the Basilisk curse!  Hurry back to Alvar!  We must do what we can to save Jadame."

Why does he want to return to Alvar? Was Troll promotion quest primarily a part o the main quest instead of placing Vilebite's ashes in a Troll Tomb?

"Thanks for your help!
 Thanks for finding our Ancient Home, once the treat to Jadame has been handled we can begin to move there!"
Reginald Dorray Charles Quixote tells the party, that when he will leave to the leaders meeting, Reginald Dorray will step in for him. Garret Deverro will jump onto his place instead, so player will never meet him in the game. He can be found in NPCData, but even doesn't have assigned portrait.
Reginald Dorray - "(5) Dragon Hunters' Camp"

NPCs with nothing but names

From NPCdata.txt:

Aori Derrisai - "(3) Drk Elf Rch House, pc"
Icarus Dire - "(6) Necromancer Rich House, pc"
Helius
Harry Merit

Unused Texts

Unused Volog Sandwind's text, should be used before giving "Find Ancient Troll Home" quest:

Ancient Troll legends tell of a time when we did not live here in this desolate region.  They tell of a place that was quiet and tranquil.  We were driven from this place by the Curse of the Stone.  So for many hundred years we have dwelt here upon the Sand of Iron.  Now it seems we will be forced from this place as well.  The growing sea of fire has destroyed most of my village.  Many friends and family have perished.  This may indeed be the end of my Clan.
There is a saying amongst my people, ""a thing lives only as long as it is remembered.""  As long as I remember our homeland, then it will always be there for us to return too.  It just needs to be found."

And this one, once again pointing that Troll promotion quest was a part of the main plot:

"The Alliance must be completed, and a unified course of action decided upon.  Return to Alvar and consult the Merchant Council." TROLL PROMO

Unused Graphics

Random NPCs

Just like in two previous M&M games, M&MVIII came with a lot of unused portraits. Probably artists were told to prepare more of them to choose the best. They could also be a portraits of hireable companions.

Arcomage

Unused Menu Elements

M&M8 Arcomage1.png

Unused Wall Fragment

M&M8 Arcomage2.png

Unused Card

M&M8 ArcomageMino.png

Developers probably just forgot to add it.

Paperdolls

Paperdolls of Frederic Talimere and Dyson Leyland have older, unused graphics of right and left hand in both vanilla and unusual positions. Moreover Dyson Leyland has unused darker paperdoll and specific paperdoll's background - looks like he would use it after betraying the Church of Sun and string along Necromancers.

Unused Used
MM8 Icons pc06backDyson.png MM8 Icons pc06backDysoncomp.png

Unused Dyson's paperdoll with exemplary unused hands. Is he holding in his right hand some kind of wooden haft?

Miscellaneous

Loading Screen

M&M8 loading01.png

Lizardman alternative death

Sprites.lod contains last three frames of dying Lizardman from five perspectives. It's different from the final animation (it has tail!), but sadly it has broken palette.

Unused example Used
M&M8 sprites m400De3.png M&M8 sprites m400Dc2.png

Pirate with broken palette

Sprites.lod again contains full animation of Pirate, probably the same as final, but with broken palette.

M&M8 sprites m586Aa0.gif

Placeholders

MightAndMagic8 PlaceholderItem.png If the game can't load a sprite graphic, it will resort to using this placeholder graphic. It is named PENDING in the game files.
M&M8 NPC2200.png A placeholder NPC portrait.
M&M8 cursor.png
Possibly this was meant for a custom cursor graphic. But the final game uses the regular Windows cursor.

Unused Items

Name Graphic in equipment Graphic on adventure map Description and comment
Big Brass Ring M&M8 icon item299.png MM8 sprites obj279.png Quest Item: A large ring of polished brass. It seems to be part of a door knocker.
Arcane Key M&M8 icon item307.png MM8 sprites obj290.png Quest Item: A gem containing an unfocused magical energy.

Probably both Arcane and Ogre Keys were meant to be a normal keys using unused keys' graphics shown below; their placeholder graphics of a gems are rather Power Stones used for activating portals on Dagger Wound Island - in the game there are four portals (one doesn't need activation) and three Stones (two of them use the same graphic), so it's very likely these graphics are unused Power Stones.

Ogre Key M&M8 icon item309.png MM8 sprites obj312.png Quest Item: A gem containing an unfocused magical energy.

See above.

Pirate Hat M&M8 icon item310.png MM8 sprites obj275.png Quest Item: A sea raider captain's hat. Inside the band are stitched the words "D. P. Stanley."

Probably meant to be used as a proof of finding a treasure of Dread Pirate Stanley, that have to be brought to a questgiver?

Enchanted Amulet M&M8 icon item327.png MM8 sprites obj313.png A pretty bauble favored by the Pirates of Regna for it appearance, not for any magical enchantment it may have.

When used, it grants your hero +1 Might permanent.

Berserker Belt M&M8 icon item259.png M&M8 icon item259v1.png M&M8 icon item259v2.png An artifact called Berserker Belt uses some generic belt's icon, so probably this is it's true look.
Prophecies of the Sun M&M8 icon Item211.png In vanilla Prophecies graphic is generic 1st level spellbook; probably an author forgot to change graphic.M&M8 Icons item207.png
History of the Vault of Time M&M8 icon Item203.png In-game type of the History of the Vault of Time is "Scroll", so developers by mistake might have left placeholder image.M&M8 Icons item207.png
Amulet M&M8 icon item328.png MM8 sprites obj306.png The model can be seen in crate of Pirate Amulets, but icon itself remain unused.
Unused Keys M&M8 icon item222to231.png
Rose M&M8 icon item360.png M&M7 leftover, also unused in M&M VII.
Unused Ore M&M icon item359.png M&M8 sprite obj359.png M&M7 leftover, also unused in M&M VII.

Druid Circlet of Power

The item Druid Circlet of Power can be found in the Druid Circle in Murmurwoods, but it is of no use in the game. Possibly part of a second Druid promotion quest that was cut from the game when it was decided to replace Druid class with Dark Elf and after removal of second promotion.

Might&Magic8 DruidItem.png

Armors Unavailable for Trolls and Minotaurs

There are two artifacts that can be worn by only one specific class: Glomenmail, that can be worn only by Dark Elves and Supreme Plate, that can be worn only by Knights, but here is what can be found in icons.lod:

M&M8 Icons item252v4.png M&M8 Icons item252v3.png M&M8 Icons item253v3.png

Louis Henderson's old portfolio contained a Minotaur paperdoll with firbidden armor on it[1]:

M&M8 minotaur A paperdoll.png

Unused and Broken Objects

Cask

In "Global" script there is an event associated with cask similar (but with new items) to the one from M&MVII, however the game files don't contain it's sprite, thus it doesn't appear in the game. It looks like it would give a hero one of random items or make him drunk or poisoned.

event 288  -- "Empty Cask"
  0:  StatusText  {Str = 739}         -- "Empty Cask"
end

event 289  -- "Cask"
  0:  RandomGoTo  {jumpA = 1, jumpB = 1, jumpC = 1, jumpD = 8, jumpE = 8, jumpF = 8}
  1:  RandomGoTo  {jumpA = 2, jumpB = 2, jumpC = 2, jumpD = 5, jumpE = 5, jumpF = 5}
  2:  Set  {"PoisonedGreen", Value = 0}
  3:  StatusText  {Str = 728}         -- "Poisoned!"
  4:  GoTo  {jump = 17}

  5:  Set  {"Drunk", Value = 0}
  6:  StatusText  {Str = 738}         -- "Drunk!"
  7:  GoTo  {jump = 17}

  8:  RandomGoTo  {jumpA = 9, jumpB = 9, jumpC = 11, jumpD = 11, jumpE = 13, jumpF = 15}
  9:  Add  {"Inventory", Value = 202}         -- "Phial of Gog Blood"
  10: GoTo  {jump = 17}

  11: Add  {"Inventory", Value = 210}         -- "Poppy Pod"
  12: GoTo  {jump = 17}

  13: Add  {"Inventory", Value = 212}         -- "Sulfur"
  14: GoTo  {jump = 17}

  15: Add  {"Inventory", Value = 218}         -- "Mercury"
  16: GoTo  {jump = 17}

  17: ChangeEvent  {NewEvent = 288}         -- "Empty Cask"
end

"Thirsty Trees"

In Ravenshore, Regna and Dagger Wound Island there are secret "thirsty trees" that on a click empty a bottle in an active hero equipment. It's a bug however, because there are events explaining that these objects shall give random reagents, for example on Dagger Wound Island:

event 494
      Hint = str[41]  -- "Palm tree"
  0:  Cmp  {"QBits", Value = 270,   jump = 16}         -- Reagent spout area 1
  1:  Cmp  {"RepairSkill", Value = 3,   jump = 3}
  2:  GoTo  {jump = 16}

  3:  RandomGoTo  {jumpA = 5, jumpB = 7, jumpC = 9, jumpD = 11, jumpE = 13, jumpF = 0}
  4:  GoTo  {jump = 16}

  5:  SummonObject  {Item = 200, X = 3896, Y = 8080, Z = 544, Speed = 1000, Count = 1, RandomAngle = true}         -- "Widowsweep Berries" : "Widowsweep Berries"
  6:  GoTo  {jump = 15}

  7:  SummonObject  {Item = 205, X = 3896, Y = 8080, Z = 544, Speed = 1000, Count = 1, RandomAngle = true}         -- "Phima Root" : "Phima Root"
  8:  GoTo  {jump = 15}

  9:  SummonObject  {Item = 210, X = 3896, Y = 8080, Z = 544, Speed = 1000, Count = 1, RandomAngle = true}         -- "Poppy Pod" : "Poppy Pod"
  10: GoTo  {jump = 15}

  11: SummonObject  {Item = 215, X = 3896, Y = 8080, Z = 544, Speed = 1000, Count = 1, RandomAngle = true}         -- "Mushroom" : "Mushroom"
  12: GoTo  {jump = 15}

  13: SummonObject  {Item = 220, X = 3896, Y = 8080, Z = 544, Speed = 1000, Count = 1, RandomAngle = true}         -- "Potion Bottle" : "Potion Bottle"
  14: GoTo  {jump = 15}

  15: Add  {"QBits", Value = 270}         -- Reagent spout area 1
  16: Exit  {}
end

Unused Drunk Status Ailment

This status ailment was present in the previous game and the devs seem to have planned for this to be in Might & Magic VIII as well, but then scrapped it. There exist drunk finished portraits and voice lines for all the playable characters.

Global.txt:

Drunk
Hic...
Have a Drink first...
Portrait Voice Lines
M&M8 icon PC01-06.png

M&M8 icon pc02-06.png

M&M8 icon pc03-06.png



M&M8 Icons pc04-06.png

M&M8 Icons PC05-06.png

M&M8 Icons pc06-06.png

M&M8 Icons pc07-06.png

M&M8 Icons PC08-06.png

M&M8 Icons pc09-06.png

M&M8 Icons pc10-06.png

M&M8 Icons Pc11-06.png

M&M8 Icons pc12-06.png

M&M8 Icons pc13-06.png

M&M8 Icons pc14-06.png

M&M8 Icons pc15-06.png

M&M8 Icons PC16-06.png

M&M8 Icons pc17-06.png

M&M8 Icons PC18-06.png

M&M8 Icons pc19-06.png

M&M8 Icons pc20-06.png

M&M8 Icons PC21-06.png

M&M8 Icons pc22-06.png

M&M8 Icons PC23-06.png

M&M8 Icons PC24-06.png

M&M8 Icons PC25-06.png

M&M8 Icons pc26-06.png

M&M8 Icons pc27-06.png The same as male Necromancer.
M&M8 Icons pc28-06.png The same as female Necromancer.

Miscellaneous

Path Leftovers

MightAndMagic8 GarroteGorgePath.png When northwest in Garrote Gorge, a small piece of path can be seen out of bounds on the minimap. It can also be seen in the field of view after increasing one's z-Position by memory editing. Possibly the developers intended for there to be a path coming from the West (which leads to Ravage Roaming).
MM8 Leftover GarroteG.png Second path as seen in Grayface's M&MEditor. It can be found out of northern bonds of Garrote Gorge, it's also visible on a minimap.
MM8 Leftover DaggerWI.png Similar piece of path can be found near the western bound of Dagger Wound Island map. It's purpose is uknown, as it definitely can't lead to any other map. Here shown thanks to Grayface high resolution patch.

Places Removed from the Maps

M&M8 Screenshot GorgeUnknown1.png West of the small piece of path in Garrote Gorge a zoomed in minimap shows a blue pixels pointing out a removed river.
M&M8 Screenshot IronsandUnknown1.png Northwest corner of the minimap hides probably automatically generated building plan. The building itself was completely removed from the game and the minimap corner can't be seen during normal gameplay.
M&M8 Screenshot IronsandUnknown2.png Southeast corner overwent the same way, but the builiding was much smaller or placed behind the world's borders.

Leftover Demo Text

Global.txt:

This copy of Might and Magic VIII is unregistered.  
Please call Peter Ryu at New World Computing: 818-889-5600 ext: 219

Unused Tutorial Level

Placeholder tutorial level.

"mapstats.txt" contains information about each area and dungeon, including this entry:

Tutorial     Out15.odm

You can edit the game's files and access Out15.odm in-game, but it seems to be just a copy of the Plane of Water - although there are no buildings, objects nor monsters and ground is of dirt type instead of sand. Southern edge leads to a non existent map "out10.odm", three others go to Garrote Gorge.

A proper tutorial level has been added in the PlayStation 2 version - see the Version Differences section.

Unused Weather Conditions

M&M VIII was going to have rain and snow falls in some lands - rain was even shown on some of prerelease images and used in preview version of the game that was present to reviewers. Plane of Fire has also active RedFog condition - however it does nothing in-game, but it looks like it was going to be similar to underwater "fog" known from the Plane of Water.

Monsters

Unused Monster Spawns

Mapstats.txt reveals some additional monsters spawns in some lands and dungeons:

  1. Dagger Wound Island was going to have a spawn of Couatls
  2. Ravenshore was going to have a spawn of Human Mercenaries
  3. Alvar was going to have a spawn of Dark Elf Warriors
  4. Pirate Outpost has set of Pirate Crossbowman (Female), Pirate Warrior Male and Wimpy Pirate Mage Male spawns, while in vanilla all the pirates are wimpy versions.

Thunder Lizards

In several places in the game files Basilisks are called "Thunder Lizards" - it's the name of a similar hostile creatures in Might and Magic VI. Where there plans to make these reptiles roam deserts of Jadame just like their cousins?

Lizardmen Casting Spells

"MONSTERS.txt" has "spell attack use%" cell filled with number "40" next to the strongest Lizardmen variant - Lizardman Captain. It means that he had 40% chance to cast some unknown spell.

Development Text

Developers' Hard Drive

These strings can be found in MM8-Rel.exe.

F:\MM8src\MM8\Code\am_nw.cpp                F:\MM8src\MM8\Code\Bitmap16.cpp
F:\MM8src\MM8\Code\Core3D.cpp               F:\MM8src\MM8\Code\Damage.cpp
F:\MM8src\MM8\Code\DirectInputKeyboard.cpp  F:\MM8src\MM8\Code\DirectInputMouse.cpp
F:\MM8src\MM8\Code\Events.cpp               F:\MM8src\MM8\Code\Font.cpp
F:\MM8src\MM8\Code\Game.cpp                 F:\MM8src\MM8\Code\GammaControl.cpp
F:\MM8src\MM8\Code\Generate.cpp             F:\MM8src\MM8\Code\itemdata.cpp
F:\MM8src\MM8\Code\KeyboardAsync.cpp        F:\MM8src\MM8\Code\Light.cpp
F:\MM8src\MM8\Code\LoadSave.cpp             F:\MM8src\MM8\Code\MobileLightStack.cpp
F:\MM8src\MM8\Code\Mouse.cpp                F:\MM8src\MM8\Code\MouseAsync.cpp
F:\MM8src\MM8\Code\Odbuild.cpp              F:\MM8src\MM8\Code\Odmap.cpp
F:\MM8src\MM8\Code\Odspan.cpp               F:\MM8src\MM8\Code\Party.cpp
F:\MM8src\MM8\Code\Polydata.cpp             F:\MM8src\MM8\Code\PolyProjector.cpp
F:\MM8src\MM8\Code\Screen16.cpp             F:\MM8src\MM8\Code\screen16_3d.cpp
F:\MM8src\MM8\Code\screen16blt.cpp          F:\MM8src\MM8\Code\seffects.cpp
F:\MM8src\MM8\Code\Show.cpp                 F:\MM8src\MM8\Code\StationaryLightStack.cpp
F:\MM8src\MM8\Code\Town.cpp                 F:\MM8src\MM8\Code\Video.cpp
F:\MM8src\MM8\Code\Vis.cpp                  F:\MM8src\MM8\Code\Weather.cpp

Error Handler

These are some error messages possible to receive, especially when doing certain variations of the Spell Scroll glitch (using a spell scroll when indoors or when trying to enter a dungeon).

M&M8 Font Error.pngM&M8 transition text Error.pngM&M8 evt Error.png

Miscellaneous

MM8-Rel.exe contains these strings, they are the names of the standard EAX/OpenAL reverb effect presets. Possibly for communicating with EAX enabled audio cards for real-time reverb effects:

PSYCHOTIC  DIZZY  DRUGGED  UNDERWATER  SEWERPIPE  CITY  CARPETEDHALLWAY  ARENA
PARKINGLOT  PLAIN  QUARRY  MOUNTAINS  FOREST  ALLEY  STONECORRIDOR  HALLWAY HANGAR
CAVE  CONCERTHALL  AUDITORIUM STONEROOM  LIVINGROOM  BATHROOM  ROOM  PADDEDCELL  GENERIC

NPCNEWS.txt contains this string in the 0th entry. The Lead Level Designer by the name Riki Corredera might have written this, seeing as how placeholder strings in some files read for riki and Misc Group for Riki. The message probably refers to Designer James Dickinson.

If you see this text tell James.         Ooops text

NPCGROUP.txt contains this string as the 0th entry. Might also have been written by Riki.

I don’t work!  Tell James!

pcnames.txt (meaning Player Character Names) contains this peculiar string in the last column.

To make excel work right

quests.txt contains certain debugging messages. Some of them are interesting:

You have Pissed off the Necros
You have Pissed off the clerics
You have Pissed of the Dragons
You have Pissed of the Dragon hunters

Placeholder Entries

File Placeholder
"NPCDATA.txt" shows that all placeholder NPCs have this odd name: Boob
Playable characters placeholders in "NPCDATA.txt" are simply names of races: troll minotaur darkelf vampire dragon necromancer cleric knight
"class.txt" contains descriptions of all the races and their promotions. Placeholders here are simply: Delete me
All empty messages in "scroll.txt" have number 739:
Missing Scroll Text 739      Empty Message Scroll
"Spells.txt" placeholder: Unused!!!
"Sounds.txt" placeholder: /Unused
Placeholder dungeon transition descriptions in "trans.txt": Placeholder text

Items

IDs for items are sorted by item type. For some item types, these placeholders have been inserted until the next hundred.

_misc190
_misc191
_misc192
(...)
_misc197
_misc198
_misc199
_potion/reagent272
_potion/reagent273
_potion/reagent274
(...)
_potion/reagent297
_potion/reagent298
_potion/reagent299
artifact 543
artifact 544
artifact 545
(...)
artifact 597
artifact 598
artifact 599
quest item 663
quest item 664
quest item 665
(... 686~691 is occupied by ores ...)
quest item 697
quest item 698
quest item 699
message scroll 751
message scroll 752
message scroll 753
(...)
message scroll 797
message scroll 798
message scroll 799
A placeholder item on the inventory screen.

If any of these is edited into the game, it will show up with the placeholder graphic and occupy 2x2 space in the inventory. Right-clicking on such an item crashes the game for the _misc items, but seems to work fine for all the other ones. Though it will only show an item description that matches the item's name, and it will say the item's value is 0. Some, but not all of the items can be sold. If thrown away, a placeholder item will show up as a sword.

Developer Credits

The Tomb of Lord Brinne

Lord Brinne was an online name of Bill Iburg, a Might and Magic fan who was active on the 3DO forums. When he died during the development of Might and Magic VIII, the dungeon was created as a tribute to him and Guild of the Wooden Flute, a group of fans who formed in celebration of the wooden flute item in Might & Magic VI. It didn't have any in-game use, what lead to many speculations and debates on the purpose of existence of this item. The flute in Might & Magic VIII has the secret use of allowing players to enter the hidden developer dungeon. Lord Brinne received similar tributes in other RPGs developed at the time. His ashes can be found in Morrowind, his tombstone in Deus Ex, and his grave in Ultima IX: Ascension. The guild, as well as Lord Brinne are name-dropped.

Name of guard of the Tomb Occupation
Cool Jerk, Chlala, Elara, Gamegurl, HodgePodge, Just-A-Brain, King Louise, Kyberkisu, Lord Kilburn, TenErnieFord Guild of the Wooden Flute member
Guthwulf Board moderator of old 3DO website
DaveO Owner of Guild of the Wooden Flute website
Steve Jaqvaar Helped moderating Guild of the Wooden Flute website
Ribannah Owner of Castle Gobs website, cocreator of Might and Magic Tribute; Guild of the Wooden Flute member
(Source: http://mightandmagic.wikia.com/wiki/The_Tomb_of_Lord_Brinne)

Developer Dungeon

Might&Magic8 NWCdungeon.png
Hmmm...
To do:
Show more screenshots, or a video.

There is a hidden dungeon named NWC and New World Computing (the company who developed the game). It can be accessed by having the flute from Lord Brinne's Tomb in Ravenshore in your possession and then clicking at the Giant's Sword in the Plane between the Planes. Inside, you mostly find large hallways and small rooms that have allied pirate characters in them that are named after the developers.

Version Differences

The game was released for Windows in the US and in Europe and later got ported to the PlayStation 2 for a release in Japan.

Windows PlayStation 2
Might&Magic8 Outdoors English.png Might&Magic8 Outdoors JP.png
Might&Magic8 Shop English.png Might&Magic8 Shop JP.png

All of the HUD elements have been overhauled.

Tutorial Level

The Japanese PS2 version added a small dungeon where you are taught the basics of the game. After clearing the dungeon, you can then take a ship to Dagger Wound Island. The Windows version started you off in Dagger Wound Island right away.

Music Changes

The background music has been swapped for most if not all areas.


References