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France's homegrown open source online office suite

https://github.com/suitenumerique
45•nar001•1h ago•21 comments

Start all of your commands with a comma (2009)

https://rhodesmill.org/brandon/2009/commands-with-comma/
318•theblazehen•2d ago•106 comments

Hoot: Scheme on WebAssembly

https://www.spritely.institute/hoot/
43•AlexeyBrin•2h ago•8 comments

Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback

https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.12501
23•onurkanbkrc•1h ago•1 comments

Software Engineering Is Back

https://blog.alaindichiappari.dev/p/software-engineering-is-back
47•alainrk•1h ago•44 comments

OpenCiv3: Open-source, cross-platform reimagining of Civilization III

https://openciv3.org/
723•klaussilveira•16h ago•224 comments

The Waymo World Model

https://waymo.com/blog/2026/02/the-waymo-world-model-a-new-frontier-for-autonomous-driving-simula...
986•xnx•22h ago•562 comments

Vocal Guide – belt sing without killing yourself

https://jesperordrup.github.io/vocal-guide/
109•jesperordrup•7h ago•39 comments

Ga68, a GNU Algol 68 Compiler

https://fosdem.org/2026/schedule/event/PEXRTN-ga68-intro/
22•matt_d•3d ago•4 comments

Unseen Footage of Atari Battlezone Arcade Cabinet Production

https://arcadeblogger.com/2026/02/02/unseen-footage-of-atari-battlezone-cabinet-production/
79•videotopia•4d ago•12 comments

Making geo joins faster with H3 indexes

https://floedb.ai/blog/how-we-made-geo-joins-400-faster-with-h3-indexes
143•matheusalmeida•2d ago•37 comments

Show HN: Look Ma, No Linux: Shell, App Installer, Vi, Cc on ESP32-S3 / BreezyBox

https://github.com/valdanylchuk/breezydemo
245•isitcontent•17h ago•27 comments

Monty: A minimal, secure Python interpreter written in Rust for use by AI

https://github.com/pydantic/monty
251•dmpetrov•17h ago•129 comments

Cross-Region MSK Replication: K2K vs. MirrorMaker2

https://medium.com/lensesio/cross-region-msk-replication-a-comprehensive-performance-comparison-o...
5•andmarios•4d ago•1 comments

Show HN: I spent 4 years building a UI design tool with only the features I use

https://vecti.com
347•vecti•19h ago•153 comments

Hackers (1995) Animated Experience

https://hackers-1995.vercel.app/
514•todsacerdoti•1d ago•249 comments

Sheldon Brown's Bicycle Technical Info

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/
397•ostacke•22h ago•102 comments

What Is Ruliology?

https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2026/01/what-is-ruliology/
49•helloplanets•4d ago•50 comments

Show HN: Kappal – CLI to Run Docker Compose YML on Kubernetes for Local Dev

https://github.com/sandys/kappal
4•sandGorgon•2d ago•1 comments

Show HN: If you lose your memory, how to regain access to your computer?

https://eljojo.github.io/rememory/
312•eljojo•19h ago•193 comments

Microsoft open-sources LiteBox, a security-focused library OS

https://github.com/microsoft/litebox
363•aktau•23h ago•189 comments

An Update on Heroku

https://www.heroku.com/blog/an-update-on-heroku/
442•lstoll•23h ago•291 comments

PC Floppy Copy Protection: Vault Prolok

https://martypc.blogspot.com/2024/09/pc-floppy-copy-protection-vault-prolok.html
78•kmm•5d ago•11 comments

Dark Alley Mathematics

https://blog.szczepan.org/blog/three-points/
98•quibono•4d ago•24 comments

Was Benoit Mandelbrot a hedgehog or a fox?

https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.01122
26•bikenaga•3d ago•14 comments

How to effectively write quality code with AI

https://heidenstedt.org/posts/2026/how-to-effectively-write-quality-code-with-ai/
281•i5heu•19h ago•232 comments

Female Asian Elephant Calf Born at the Smithsonian National Zoo

https://www.si.edu/newsdesk/releases/female-asian-elephant-calf-born-smithsonians-national-zoo-an...
48•gmays•12h ago•19 comments

I now assume that all ads on Apple news are scams

https://kirkville.com/i-now-assume-that-all-ads-on-apple-news-are-scams/
1093•cdrnsf•1d ago•474 comments

Understanding Neural Network, Visually

https://visualrambling.space/neural-network/
313•surprisetalk•3d ago•45 comments

I spent 5 years in DevOps – Solutions engineering gave me what I was missing

https://infisical.com/blog/devops-to-solutions-engineering
160•vmatsiiako•21h ago•73 comments
Open in hackernews

The year of peak might and magic

https://www.filfre.net/2025/07/the-year-of-peak-might-and-magic/
127•cybersoyuz•6mo ago

Comments

artemonster•6mo ago
Astrologers proclaim a week of HOMM3 appreciation posts.
vunderba•6mo ago
What I wouldn't give for a new Heroes of Might and Magic game with the pixel art style of HOMM2 and the gameplay mechanics of HOMM3...
tdrgabi•6mo ago
Not exactly what you asked for but https://store.steampowered.com/app/867210/Songs_of_Conquest/ is somewhat close.

I played the campaign and it scratched the itch

selimthegrim•6mo ago
The SsethTzeentach review is something else
vanderZwan•6mo ago
Aren't there mods out there for HOMM3 to make it look like HOMM2?

edit: found one called "The Succession Wars"

https://heroes3wog.net/the-succession-wars/

northhnbesthn•6mo ago
Forget AI. Get in here this is our thread.
jaza•6mo ago
Amen!
GeekyBear•6mo ago
I keep a Windows 2000 virtual machine with no network access around just to occasionally play HOMM 3.

There aren't many games from that era that are as infinitely replayable. Command and Conquer: Yuri's Revenge and Starcraft come to mind.

Mars008•6mo ago
> I keep a Windows 2000 virtual machine with no network access around just to occasionally play HOMM 3.

according to wiki there should be an easier way:

Platform(s) Windows, Macintosh, Linux (PowerPC/x86), iOS, Android

Release March 3, 1999

0cf8612b2e1e•6mo ago
I would be quite surprised if a modern Linux could run the original binary without gymnastics. Windows is the only OS which prioritizes backwards compatibility.
GeekyBear•6mo ago
The game isn't stable under modern versions of Windows.
morsch•6mo ago
You're probably right about the native version, but the Windows version works fine: https://www.protondb.com/app/297000?device=pc
0cf8612b2e1e•6mo ago
Heh. Which is why the only stable Linux ABI is Win32.
bigstrat2003•6mo ago
And even then not always. For example, Rome 2 Total War crashes in Proton, but works just fine on actual Windows.
GeekyBear•6mo ago
That report is for the fixed version of HOMM 3 from GOG, not the original version of the game.
yownie•6mo ago
there's a linux version off archive.org I managed to get running last year. this is a perfect problem for a flatpak to solve however.
GeekyBear•6mo ago
The Windows version is no longer compatible with modern Windows versions.

The Mac version (I own both) was for PowerPC Macs.

I've already paid for it a third time, as part of a HOMM box set for Windows.

Good Old Games has produced a fixed version, so I could pay for it a fourth time, but running it in the VM still works.

thaumasiotes•6mo ago
> Good Old Games has produced a fixed version, so I could pay for it a fourth time

It probably wouldn't cost more than $1, given that you're clearly willing to wait for a sale.

Advertised price right now is $5 with "lowest price in the last 30 days" of $2.50. The bundle of all 8 expansion campaigns shows the same current and recent pricing.

ktallett•6mo ago
https://vcmi.eu/

There is also a great remake with a new engine, that of course requires the original assets.

IG_Semmelweiss•6mo ago
Try playing the HD add-on with the HotA (horn of the abyss) espansion! There are 2 new factions now which are well balanced.

And, they look beautiful.

Its wonderful what a dedicated community can achieve. Kudos to all of them!

TIP: if you get the game on GOG. It will run just fine in any modern Windows setup (even MAC OS i believe)

ptero•6mo ago
Another vote for the Horn of the Abyss! It is a community pack that keeps the HOMM3 gameplay spirit but adds a lot of minor UI enhancements fixing various pain points.

And if you like insanely complex scenarios, check out HotA user maps on maps4heroes.

dfex•6mo ago
Yuri's Revenge never gets old - it's just the right balance of RTS with a bit more of an arcadey feel. Sadly I missed the original Starcraft train (finished Starcraft II), but one of these days I'm going to sit down and work my way through it.
ktallett•6mo ago
The story still holds up really well. Plus if you can't deal with the classic graphics there is StarCraft remastered.
ferguess_k•6mo ago
Back then I was crazy about the story of Starcraft and I thought that was the best of the RTS games. I used to dip into the level editor too but it was kinda limited, missing some of the scripts Blizzard used in the expansion.

By pure coincidence, both Starcraft 2's writers and /me believed that Kerrigan should be brought back to her human form in Starcraft 2 :)

ksec•6mo ago
>There aren't many games from that era that are as infinitely replayable.

I think A lot of games from that era were infinitely replayable. Diablo, Sim City. It really is the case we dont made them like that any more. The amount of small details that goes into it. Not just the games itself, but also the packaging, manual and things surrounding.

It is somewhat strange that group of people grow up and start producing in the 90s still have the attention to detail mind set. This is mostly gone in modern Gen Z generation.

jajko•6mo ago
The market has evolved, thats true but you have whole indie scene which is close to those values. Ie for management strategies there is Factorio.
asboans•6mo ago
I keep seeing might and magic related content, despite never having played it, or even having heard of it until recently! But in the last few months I have been getting the odd YouTube recommendation, or see the occasional Reddit (and now HN) thread.

Why?

egypturnash•6mo ago
Possibly it is the Baader-Meinhof Effect.

Possibly this is a game you will love playing and should check it out. Whether by emulating an ancient DOS machine or by picking up one of the eleven games in the series available on Steam. (https://store.steampowered.com/sale/might-magic/)

If it is the latter case then I am sure some enthusiastic fans of this series will reply to this comment or yours with detailed opinions on which option is the best :)

shadowpho•6mo ago
They’ve been increasing in popularity on twitch recently
ferguess_k•6mo ago
As a side (but arguably related) topic:

Is there any webpage or book or any media that analyzes the technical aspects of a game? Take HOMM3 as an example -- what are the most difficult technical problems and how did the developers solve them? What are the algorithms that run aspects of the game (e.g. how is path-finding implemented? How is AI implemented?)? What is the architecture of the engine? Does it have a scripting engine and if so how is it implemented?

I like post-mortems but mostly are given by designers, directors, not programmers -- and even by programmers they did not go very deep like "John Carmack" type deep. The "Black books" by Fabien came into mind but these are few and far between.

nottorp•6mo ago
I don't think anything in the Might and Magic series was ever a serious technological advancement on par with id software's early work.

They're some of the greatest games ever made, but it's the design, not the code.

Come to think of it, same thing goes for most games that make the greatest game lists.

pennomi•6mo ago
That being said there are a couple technological marvels out there (maybe just not on greatest game lists). Teardown, for instance, has an unfathomable number of voxels that make everything in the world simulated.
ferguess_k•6mo ago
I don't disagree, but usually there are some interesting technical problems, e.g. for Starcraft: https://www.codeofhonor.com/blog/tough-times-on-the-road-to-...
hcs•6mo ago
Warren Robinett wrote an interesting one on Atari VCS Adventure http://www.warrenrobinett.com/inventing_adventure/

It doesn't go super deep, he had a more technical book in the works but I haven't heard any updates about it for a while: http://www.warrenrobinett.com/ecv/annotated_adventure_toc/in...

ferguess_k•6mo ago
Thanks! This looks really interesting from retro-programming perspective.
ruricolist•6mo ago
Tim Cain on YouTube has been posting some technical details of the original Fallout implementation.
saithound•6mo ago
You're probably looking for something more detailed and implementation-focused, but Ars Technica had a series of 10 minute videos where they interviewed developers about technical challenges. E.g. they had one on pathfinding and CD video in second generation Westwood RTS games [1]

[1] https://youtube.com/watch?v=S-VAL7Epn3o

ethan_smith•6mo ago
Check out "Game Programming Patterns" by Robert Nystrom and the GDC Vault for technical deep-dives. For HOMM specifically, the VCMI project (open-source HOMM3 engine) has source code that reveals implementation details like their A* pathfinding and combat AI systems.
ferguess_k•6mo ago
Thanks. I recalled a series of books called "Game Programming Gems", guess those are good too.

BTW absolutely love VCMI although I never managed to run it without error :/

rikthevik•6mo ago
Love to see some Might and Magic articles.

Earlier this year I found a boxed copy of Might and Magic IV: Clouds of Xeen on Marketplace. Everything is in the box and it's all pristine. It goes very nicely with my boxed copy of Might and Magic III that I bought (used!) to play on my first computer, my 386.

I think I'm going to get these maps framed.

incanus77•6mo ago
I played the shit out of HOMM3. I bought it, though, only after sneaking plays in between customers while working at Radio Shack. We had some ~300MHz Compaq machines that Radio Shack had recently partnered with to sell and on slow days, it was a good way to pass the time.
wtf242•6mo ago
One of my favorite games of all time. It's so simple yet can be so complex. You can legit spend 8+ hours playing the first couple levels easily.
dekhn•6mo ago
I remember, as a kid, seeing the first ad for M&M in a computer journal I read. At the time I was happy playing Ultima and it looked like it was going to be a better ultima, and ordered it. Waiting for the floppy disk to arrive seemed like an eternity and at some point I literally dreamed I was playing the game. The game itself, I barely remember- it wasn't that great, kind of like ultima and wizardry but didn't really improve on either of them significantly.
ModernMech•6mo ago
"By the seventh go-round, this was no longer quite the shock it once was, but series tradition must be served."

To be fair, MM7 was the first time for some of us, and it was quite a shock. What do you mean all the points I put into might and magic are now moot, as the only endgame weapons worth using are blasters?!

TrackerFF•6mo ago
Me and my friends had really been playing M&M 6&7 in 98/99, such fond memories. We had really high hopes for Ultima 9 - which came out in 99, as it looked so much more modern than the M&M games...nope, a total turd. Think I still have the box somewhere in the attic though, that was probably the most impressive thing about the game.

M&M8 which came out the year after, was good enough though. That's around the time I stopped playing the M&M series.

pavlov•6mo ago
Ultima IX was so bad that I stopped playing computer games entirely. 3D worlds just never worked for me. All the story immersion and imagination that I’d loved in the games of my childhood seemed to be gone. (I never cared for Doom either, and then all games somehow became Doom.)

The next time I bought a high-end 3D game was over 15 years later. That was Fallout 4. I played 30 minutes and then never returned to it. Uncanny valley graphics and boring first person action — nothing like the original Fallouts 1 and 2 of my memories.

I guess I’ll have to try another AAA PC game in 2030 just to stick to the schedule.

electroglyph•6mo ago
when you try again in 2030, make sure to get Baldur's Gate 3
autoexec•6mo ago
One thing I loved about HOMM 3 was that even with just one computer you could take turns and get a game going with friends. Not many games offered that unless they were based on board games
mrgordon•6mo ago
Hotseat was more common back then I think with turn-based games
inasio•6mo ago
HOMM3 is a perfect game. I've gotten people hooked on it in the 2020's. I still have an original CD of the linux port, a lot of nostalgia there
DarkNova6•6mo ago
Always happy to share MM nostalgia. The RPG titles had a big impact on me but they seemed too niche without people to share it with.
wyldfire•6mo ago
This title would be clearer if the case were reflected in the title. And significantly clearer still if the name of the game was shown with quotes. What's HN's beef with quotes in the title about? Is it so prone to misuse that we have to lose out on legitimate uses?
ranprieur•6mo ago
I agree with the author: Heroes II is my favorite of the series, just for the innocent vibe. Also, Heroes IV is underrated. It got bad reviews because it came out buggy, but the bugs were fixed in updates, and of all the HOMM games, it has the best soundtrack.
hakunin•6mo ago
100% agree, esp. on the soundtrack. I thought I was going crazy when in Witcher 3's Skellige island it started playing the soundtrack from HOMM4. (See Track 14 here: https://youtu.be/F9sG0r_9f4M?t=4400).
nurettin•6mo ago
> the best soundtrack.

Really hard to say, homm3 soundtrack was a true masterpiece.

IG_Semmelweiss•6mo ago
I don't know. HoMM2 has some incredible tracks too. And that's despite taking some risks with opera music.
nurettin•6mo ago
And I fully agree with that! I still listen to HOMM2,3,4 for mood altering. Oh and AOE1,2 and SC1,2
randomNumber7•6mo ago
Heroes IV has a bad design. Your hero can be attacked, so you are forced to pick the warrior class to not get oneshot. You can only have 2 classes and one slot is kinda fixed.
aulisius•6mo ago
I remember coming across HoMM around 2008, but the published game was nowhere available near where I lived, so I ended up playing a web based clone[0].

Been playing it for around 17 years, and it is still quite fun.

[0] https://www.lordswm.com/

lr4444lr•6mo ago
World of Xeen was an enchanting experience. The interlocking quests in an open exploration world with a party of characters you could custom select with different attribute strengths, the large spells and weapons compendium, and the music just all came together in a way that no other RPG before or since engrossed me.
nine_k•6mo ago
I don't even play the game. But I value very highly the artwork, the music, the sounds, the whole atmosphere. The endless autumn forests, the castles, the fairy dragons—they all rightfully belong to a museum of baroque art. A game can be a work of art in itself; HoMM III definitely is.
yurimo•6mo ago
I believe there is new one coming out closer to HOMM3, called Olden Era. https://unfrozen.studio/games/olden-era/

I did try Songs of Conquest, it was decent

pjmlp•6mo ago
I played many of those games, lots of amusing hours around them.
mrgordon•6mo ago
My favorite game of all time. I still have the CD-ROM even though I don't have any CD-ROM drives :)
ramses0•6mo ago
Just gotta throw some shine to "Battle for Wesnoth" - https://www.wesnoth.org/

Not exactly the same, but a well-deserving open source cousin.

Turn based, strategy, lightweight RPG (a-la X-Com with unit leveling, unit permadeath, campaigns, multiplayer, etc)