Might and Magic VIII: Day of the Destroyer

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 This game has unused areas. This game has hidden developer credits. This game has hidden development-related text. This game has unused graphics. This game has unused cinematics. This game has unused items. This game has unused abilities. This game has unused sounds. This game has unused text. This game has debugging material. This game has a hidden level select. This game has regional differences. This game has a prerelease article

The eighth installment of the Might and Magic series.

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Prerelease Info

Debug Options

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

Unused Sound Effects

To do: Add more sounds.

Miscellaneous

Death		Possibly meant for when all your party members die. (from MM6)
Pending		A placeholder sound. (from MM6)
Tip
title		Possibly part of the Arcomage game.
victory		Possibly part of the Arcomage game.
defeat		Possibly part of the Arcomage game.
female scream
male scream
flute		Possibly meant for the flute from Lord Brinne's Tomb. (from MM6)
PanFlute		Possibly meant for the flute from Lord Brinne's Tomb.
HesGone		(from MM6)
WOLFHowl		Possibly meant for the Dire Wolves in Ravenshore.
wolf howl (distance)		Another wolf sound possibly meant for the Dire Wolves.
shoot_blaster01		Meant for the Blaster item which has gone unused.
drip01
drip02
drip03
Going Down		(from MM7)
Going Downb		(from MM7)
Going Up		(from MM7)
Going Upb		(from MM7)
door01_open		(from MM7)
door02_open		(from MM7)
locked_door01		(from MM7)
locked_door02		(from MM7)

Player Character 25

Dragons cannot be taught spells, so this is unused.

Player Character 26

Same deal with the other dragon's voice.

To do: add voice lines

Unused Cinematics

Oracle (Indoors Cinematics)

Unused	Used

Regna Spell Shop (Indoors Cinematics)

Regna does not have a spell shop, so this appears to be unused.

Unused Graphics

Most of the unused graphics are basicly leftovers imported from the previous game Might & Magic VII.

Placeholders

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.

A placeholder NPC portrait.

Possibly this was meant for a custom cursor graphic. But the final game uses the regular Windows cursor.

Treasure Chest Backgrounds

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Loading Screen

Unused Items

These guns would possibly have been used for the Blaster, a type of item that has gone unused.

Genie's Lamp

Jars

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Unused Ore

Medallion

Gem

Scroll 1

Scroll 2

Spell Book

Leftovers from Previous Games

Leftovers from Previous Games

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  The signature of Jon Van Caneghen (the creator of the series) from the fourth and fifth games.

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  What appears to be the end screen from a demo version of the seventh game.

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  The Load Game screen from the same game.

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  The background for the bad ending of the sixth game.

Might & Magic VI Intro

INTRO.txt contains this introductory text of the previous game.

Having cheated death during the Night of Shooting Stars, you find yourself as far from your village of 
Sweetwater as old Falagar’s magic could take you.
 
Three years have passed while Falagar imparted what knowledge he could to train you in your chosen professions.
 
But the time came at last when he could teach you no more, and you have ventured into the world to seek your fame 
and fortune.
 
Now, a world away from your lost home, you have stumbled across evidence of a terrible conspiracy involving a new 
religious cult.
 
Five letters from King Roland to his wife Catherine, and a letter from the King of the Devils to a wicked traitor 
named Sulman, have turned up in an abandoned Goblin camp.
 
Your fate seems inextricably bound to these letters and that awful Night, and your role in the events to come may 
be larger than anyone could imagine.
 
The tools you have are but a small sum of gold, your wits, and a lot of potential. The roads ahead are infinite, 
and all the choices are yours to make, so choose wisely.
 
Good Luck!

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

To do: Add more portraits and voices.

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 Concepts

Global.txt contains this string, which hints that the concept of followers might have been planned for Might & Magic 8.

You found %lu gold (followers take %lu)!

Apparently it was planned that you could get imprisoned.

For your numerous crimes and evil deeds,
you have been sentenced to one year in prison.

You have an outstanding fine of %lu gold.
Pay your fine now or be sentenced to jail for 1 year?

Unused 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, more or less. One of the edges leads to a non existent map "out10.odm", others go to Garrote Gorge.

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

Unused Skills

Stealing

Skilldes.txt:

Stealing allows you to take items that don't belong to you from shops, or to steal money or items from 
people.  Being caught, however, can lead to severe fines - and outstanding debt is a punishable offense in 
castles.

Normal : Skill gives chance to steal
Expert : Double effect of skill
Master : Triple effect of skill
Grand : Quintuple effect of skill

MERCHANT.txt:

I don't buy stolen merchandise; 
it's against the policies 
of the merchant guild.

I don't repair stolen items.  
Why don't you try kidnapping 
someone to repair it?

I don't identify stolen items.  
Why don't you try kidnapping 
someone to identify it?

Global.txt:

Stolen

%s stole %d gold!

%s was caught stealing!

%s failed to steal anything!

You've been banned from this shop!

Thievery

Steal %24

Steal item

Autonote.txt contains text detailing the whereabouts of each skill's teacher. But only this placeholder text can be found for this and the other skills. gm means Grand Master.

stealing expert unused
stealing master unused
stealing gm unused

Dodging

Skilldes.txt:

Dodging skill can be used only when you are not wearing armor or using a shield.  Additional ranks of dodging 
will increase your armor class while not wearing armor. 

Normal : Skill added to Armor Class
Expert : Skill added to Armor Class (double effect)
Master : Skill added to Armor Class (triple effect)
Grand : Skill is usable while wearing leather armor

Autonote.txt. gm means Grand Master.

dodging expert unused
dodging master unused
dodging gm unused

Unarmed

Skilldes.txt:

Unarmed skill is your ability to use only your hands and feet in combat, no weapons.  This skill only works with
your hands empty.  Additional ranks of unarmed skill will increase your chance to hit.

Normal : Skill added to Attack Bonus
Expert : Skill added to damage.
Master : Skill added to Attack Bonus and damage (double effect)
Grand : Chance to evade an incoming attack equal to skill

Autonote.txt. gm means Grand Master.

unarmed expert unused
unarmed master unused
unarmed gm unused

Blaster

Autonote.txt. gm means Grand Master.

blaster expert unused
blaster master unused
blaster gm unused	

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).

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
PARKINGLOT
PLAIN
QUARRY
MOUNTAINS
CITY
FOREST
ALLEY
STONECORRIDOR
HALLWAY
CARPETEDHALLWAY
HANGAR
ARENA
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!

NPCDATA.txt shows that all placeholder NPCs have this odd name:

Boob

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 Item Entries

To do: Placeholder entries occur all over the place in the game's files, so this is nothing special. Change this section to sum up placeholder names in general, moving the focus away from items. The Boob NPC text (and any other placeholder strings that might be elsewhere on the page) should then be moved here.

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.

Miscellaneous

Garrote Gorge Path Leftover

A piece of path that can barely be seen.

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).

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 quest that was cut from the game before it was released.

The Tomb of Lord Brinne

This dungeon is a tribute by the developers to the Guild of the Wooden Flute, a group of fans who formed in celebration of the wooden flute item in Might & Magic VI which didn't have any in-game use. The guild, as well as a fan by the name Lord Brinne, who had passed away, are name-dropped. The flute in Might & Magic VIII has the secret use of allowing players to enter the hidden developer dungeon.

(Source: http://mightandmagic.wikia.com/wiki/The_Tomb_of_Lord_Brinne)

Reputation

When clicking on the magnifying glass icon at the top while playing, you are presented a summary screen for all the characters in your party. The screen will also show your reputation (which is "Neutral") but it is completely useless as it will not change at all during gameplay. It is a remnant of the older games in the series and judging from the information above, it was possibly going to be used if the concept of stealing had been implemented.

(Source: https://www.portailsmm.com/comm/MM8-FAQ-Characters.html#CharactersReputation)

Developer Dungeon

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.

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.

HUD Differences

All of the HUD elements have been overhauled.

Windows	PlayStation 2

Music Changes

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