Heroes of Might & Magic III - HD Edition

Heroes of Might & Magic III - HD Edition

68 ratings
How to get the missing content on Steam
By CelestialAfroJungle
Maybe it's a bit late to make this guide but is it really? Honestly, it's better late than never.

This guide is pretty simple, even if you're not a computer tech, there is no way you'll screw up everything, if you do, well, you didn't follow the guide, you can always verify the cache of the game if you screwed up but really, you shouldn't.

What you'll need is the original version that contains everything, either CD, the GoG edition or if you got it from somewhere else.
Just be sure that it has the content to begin with, otherwise it won't really be worth it.

I've tried multiple things to come at this point, but in the end, only something this simple was required, i tried using multiple parameters, playing around and i've end up thinking, maybe something this simple would actually work? And it sure do.

It still is sad that Ubisoft are too incompetent and greedy to do anything right but anyway, if you are interested in playing it on Steam so you can count the hours you've played while having the complete experience, this is the only way i could find so far.
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What you'll get by doing this
You'll get 7x (random number since i'm actually very bad with numbers) content as the Steam edition.

So here is some of what you'll get:


• Restoration of Erathia, Armagedons blade, and Shadow of Death, Armagedon and Shadow of Death campaigns.
• Greater map pool.
• Random Generated/Randomized maps.
• More campaign options.
• More items.
• Conflux Town
• More creatures.
• HD mod
• Lot, lot, and lot of mods.
• Other stuff.
How to
Now, what you need to do is simple, since i own the GoG version, i'll do it with the GoG version, the files from the place you got it may be different but it should be similar.

Take everything that's in the folder of the game that has everything, for example, mine is located here: \GalaxyClient\Games\HoMM 3 Complete , if you got the GoG version installed using the Galaxy Client, it should be at the same place.
You'll place all of the files inside that folder where your Heroes of Might & Magic III HD/Steam edition is at.
Should look like this: SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\Heroes of Might & Magic III - HD Edition.
Once that is done, rename HOMM3 2.0.exe to HOMM3 2.0.exe.bak or whatever you want, you can even remove it if you want but i'd keep a copy in case you want to return to the HD edition which i honestly wouldn't so i have personally removed it but it's up to you.
Copy the name "HOMM3 2.0", make a copy of Heroes3.exe which is the executable name for the GoG edition.
Rename that copy to HOMM3 2.0 and that's it.
Do not touch the launcher or else it won't work.


Important notice: The only problem i encounter is that the Steam overlay doesn't work, perhaps i'll be looking into it at some date later, the HD mod and the factions mods seems works flawlessly for me.

If interested in mods, come here
For the mods, look here: https://wiki.vcmi.eu/Mod_list and here: http://heroes3wog.net
Steam overlay doesn't work by default
And i'll be looking for a fix later.
If you find out how to make it work before i even try to look, then feel free to share your fix/workaround with us.
31 Comments
🆉🅰🅸🅶 10 Apr @ 11:38am 
@DireWölfY oh ok ,thanks for the reply :D
DireWölfY 3 Apr @ 1:11pm 
🆉🅰🅸🅶, achievements don't work

Stanis, no problem!
🆉🅰🅸🅶 3 Apr @ 8:51am 
Curious if the achievements still work this way on steam
🆉🅰🅸🅶 3 Apr @ 8:51am 
Hahaha imagine ubisoft reading this, edit whatever it takes for the original full complete version , and next day is in stores ,making douzens of cocos XD
Stanis 3 Apr @ 12:16am 
DireWölfY, thank you! :steamthumbsup:
DireWölfY 1 Mar @ 6:26am 
Phoenix, thanks! I'll also try this. Especially important is the last note about duplicate files. It will help people to fix problems without looking for a new guide
Phoenix 1 Mar @ 4:26am 
For crashing/texture issues make sure you delete any duplicate files with capital letters that appear during the file merge. I only noticed this fix because of my experience modding.
Phoenix 1 Mar @ 4:20am 
Just wanted to add to this thread and direwolf's advice. Completing authors steps, then direwolf's; If you rename the mod launcher exe file you created whilst running the mod launcher (HOMM HD.exe) to 'HOMM3Launcher.exe' (obviously moving the HOMM3Launcher elsewhere so this can be done) it will trick steam into instantly launching the replacement hd exe file, making you load straight into the complete edition of the game, steam overlay and all, rather than having to always use the launcher. I recommend creating backups of the mod launcher and original launcher along with the HOMM3 2.0.exe in a separate folder/s just in case. (setup mod launcher the way you need it; ie full screen enabled before tricking the steam client through file renaming.) If done correctly when launching the game through steam it should load straight into the game complete edition in its entirety.
DireWölfY 27 Feb @ 12:41pm 
DEAR AUTHOR! I found a way to make Steam overlay work!
Here's what we do:
1) Download "HoMM3 HD" mod.
2) Install the mod in the game folder (on top of "Heroes III: Complete").
3) Delete original "HOMM3Launcher" and rename mod launcher to "HOMM3Launcher".
4) Run the game through Steam (HoMM3 HD mod launcher will start).
4) In the launcher settings select:
● Mode: (stretchable) 32-bit OpenGL by Verok.

P.S. This should work for 16-bit as well. The main condition is "OpenGL", as I understand it. Other settings of the launcher can be changed to suit yourself as you like.
It's time to play true "Heroes" via Steam!
Soban 25 Feb @ 2:59pm 
it works with HotA 1.7 HD :) tahnx!