I've noticed that the Data/VIDEO.VID file as present in the Horn of the Abyss installed from GOG is only 20 MB, whereas it should be around 600 MB. This results in the game having black screen instead of cutscenes in campaigns (other than Horn of the Abyss cutscenes which are in a separate file).

I guess this is a bug in the GOG's install?

Hi!

This was done intentionally to avoid unnecessary bloat, since HotA doesn't actually use any of the removed cutscenes. Could you clarify what exactly you were trying to do?

- Were you trying to run Complete Edition from the same folder as HotA?
- Were you trying to play custom campaigns/create your own?

In the former scenario, while it is technically possible to play both versions form the same folder, this isn't how GOG Galaxy is designed to work. I advise installing Complete Edition in a separate folder, otherwise you won't have access to GOG Galaxy features for that version of the game (e.g. cloud saves, playtime tracking, updates, etc.).

The latter scenario is currently too niche to justify forcing all players to download extra 600 MB of data. However, this may change if enough players show interest in this. Furthermore, the cutscenes will definitely be re-introduced in the future, once the original campaigns are fully integrated in HotA.

Either way, you can resolve this manually simply by copying the full VIDEO.VID file from any installation of Complete Edition to your HotA folder.

Hope this helps.

Hi, thanks for the answer.

It's the second reason for me. I have extracted and adjusted original H3 campaigns to be playable in HotA (for the time being, until they are properly reintegrated in HotA itself - I had to work around various hardcoded campaign mechanics, but they work) and shared them in another thread for download (https://www.gog.com/forum/heroes_of_might_and_magic_series/original_h3_campaigns_for_hota_download) and then noticed that in the new install the videos are missing. Everything works after copying the file over from HoMM3.

I understand your reasons for cutting this file out, but the campaign editor is still a HotA feature, so I think players should be able to have access to all these cutscenes.

Understood. While I see your point, the unfortunate truth is that too few people are making or playing custom campaigns at the moment, and the .VID file is about as big as the game itself. All this considered, for now it's simply more practical to tell the people who are interested in custom campaigns to copy the file manually.

However, like I said, this will be amended at some point in the future.

Got it. Thanks for the info.

but why? As you said its meant to be like that. Only normal way is provide this file separately to download in same posts where campaigns files shared. And not prepacked with campaigns either. Someone got Heroes 3 to be installed and wanted just original campaigns separately. And as you mention HotA itself originally never meant to be compatible with original campaigns.

Hi! Like I said in my first reply in this thread, the file will only be added once the original campaigns are fully integrated in HotA (since the cutscenes would be needed for those campaigns), and most likely not before that. Hope this answers your question.