How to create a town mod

This page helps you to create from scratch a VCMI mod that adds a new town. The town mod structure is described here.

Questioning the town creation

Before creating a town, be aware that creating a town mod is lots of work. You can start creating creatures in a creature mod that can be converted into a town mod after. This way, you are sure to release something. The smallest contribution is a hero portrait that you can suggest on an existing mod.

Make a playable town mod

Before creating your content, retrieve the content of an existing town mod like Highlands town. To download the project, click on the Code button and click on Download ZIP. The first thing to do is to change all the town identifiers in the files following the town format and manage to play with the town and the original without any conflict. To play to a town, you have to add all the files in your Mods folder. When it works, you will be able to modify the content step by step.

Keep in mind that the most important part of a town mod, above the animations, the graphisms and the musics, is the concept because if you have to change it, you have to change everything else. All the remaining content can be improved by the community.

Town screen

Background

The easiest way to create the background is to use a text-to-image AI. The free most powerful AI at the moment is Stable Diffusion 3 Medium available here: https://huggingface.co/spaces/ameerazam08/SD-3-Medium-GPU

In the Advanced Options, set the width to 800px and set the height to 374px.

Buildings

To render a building upon the background, I recommend to use an inpainting AI like SDXL Inpaint: https://huggingface.co/spaces/diffusers/stable-diffusion-xl-inpainting

The idea is to select the area where you want to add the building. As a prompt, describe the new building. The advantage is a perfect match between the background and the building. Keep in mind that to correctly integrate a building image, it must contain the image of the background on its edges. It simulates the semi-transparency.

You can also animate the building or the background using Stable Video Diffusion: https://huggingface.co/spaces/multimodalart/stable-video-diffusion

Map dwellings

On the map, the colors are more satured. The AIs badly understand the sun direction and the perspective angles. To generate the buildings on the adventure map:

1. Open the HOMM3 map editor
2. Put items all around a big empty area
3. Make a screenshot
4. Go on an AI like SDXL Inpaint: https://huggingface.co/spaces/diffusers/stable-diffusion-xl-inpainting
5. Inpaint the (big) empty middle with the brush
6. Use a prompt like: A dark house, at the center of the image, map, isometric, parallel perspective, sunlight from the bottom right

But you may want to get the same render as in the town, so you have to change the angle and the shadows. To do so, you can use Zero 1-to-3: https://huggingface.co/spaces/cvlab/zero123-live

You can get higher resolution using this Video AI that can control the motion of the camera: https://huggingface.co/spaces/TencentARC/MotionCtrl_SVD

If you have to reduce the size of an image, do not use interpolation (LANCZOS, Bilinear...) to get more details, not a blurred image. If you need to increase the resolution or the quality of your template image, use SUPIR: https://huggingface.co/spaces/Fabrice-TIERCELIN/SUPIR

If you use a 3D model software like Blender, the map dwellings are not rendered on the map with vanishing points but in isometric. You can get an orthogonal render in Blender.

Creature animation

The AIs are not completely ready to animate the creature but you can:

1. Create the basic sprite with Stable Diffusion 3 Medium
2. Create idle animations with Stable Video Diffusion: https://huggingface.co/spaces/xi0v/Stable-Video-Diffusion-Img2Vid
3. Use poses with ControlNet or OpenPose
4. Animate using ToonCrafter: https://huggingface.co/spaces/Doubiiu/tooncrafter

Otherwise, use a 3D model software like Blender.

Music

Here are unused available themes:

• Synthetic Horizon
  • Prompt: Dystopy, Cinematic classical, Science fiction, 160 bpm, Best quality, Futuristic
  • Initially created for: Forge town

• Quantum Overture
  • Prompt: Clef shifting, Fantasy, Mystical, Overworldly, Cinematic classical
  • Initially created for: Asylum town

• Warrior s March
  • Prompt: Powerful percussions, Drums, Battle Anthem, Rythm, Warrior, 160 bpm, Celtic, New age, Instrumental, Accoustic, Medieval
  • Initially created for: Ruins town

• Clan of Echoes
  • Prompt: new age, medieval, celtic, warrior, battle, soundtrack, accoustic, drums, rythm
  • Initially created for: Ruins town

• Enchanted Reverie
  • Prompt: Classical music, Soundtrack, Score, Instrumental, 160 bpm, ((((fantasy)))), mystic
  • Initially created for: Grove town

• World Discovery
  • Prompt: Clef shifting, fantasy, mystical, overworldly, Cinematic classical
  • Initially created for: Asylum town

• Enchanted Ballad
  • Prompt: Females vocalize, Cinematic classical, Harp, Fairy tale, Princess, 160 bpm
  • Initially created for: Fairy town

• Baroque Resurgence
  • Prompt: Baroque, Instrumental, 160 bpm, Cinematic classical, Best quality
  • Initially created for: Courtyard town

• Harvest Parade
  • Prompt: Marching band, Best quality, Happy, Vegetables
  • Initially created for: Green town

Those themes have been generated using Udio.

Sound effect

To create the audio effects, I recommend to use Tango 2: https://huggingface.co/spaces/declare-lab/tango2

The quality is better than Stable Audio.

Recycle

Some mods contain neutral heroes or creatures. You can integrate them in your town mod. Don't forget to remove the content from the original mod.

Modding related articles

Main articles
Modding changelog	Modding guidelines	How to create a town mod	Mod Handler

Formats
	Mod file Format
Town Format	Creature Format	Hero Classes Format
Artifact Format	Animation Format	Hero Format
Bonus Format	Object Format	Spell Format

Work-in-progress formats
Building bonuses		Map format
	Bonus Type Format	Random map template

Outdated pages
	Mod system proposal