Indie-Resource.com

I was an early adopter but just upgraded my world to the faster servers. Not really getting back into 3d mmo development but want to toy around a bit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... ZA9JCbVnzY

Whoa, I thought at first this was about a second, more advanced version of Hero Engine

Very cool, though!

I am concerned about Hero Cloud and Hero Engine. The engine never was as successful as they Stimutronics (sp) intended. They sold the engine business and went back to making Hero's Journey. Hall you said it was the hardest engine you have used. I know its billed as a tool for making tools for making tools for making your mmo. Do you feel like with the complexity there is more freedom? Or maybe the complexity was why Big World and Unreal have had more commercial MMO success?

"HEROENGINE 2 EMPOWERS INDIE GAME DEVELOPERS’ TO FOCUS ON CREATIVITY AND GAME DESIGN
Posted on Wednesday November 28th, 2012 by ideaFabrik
IDEA FABRIK UNVEILS NEW CUTTING-EDGE FEATURES TO ITS POPULAR ALL-IN-ONE ONLINE GAME DEVELOPMENT PLATFORM

LONDON – November 28, 2012 – Idea Fabrik (Boerse Berlin GB00B61CVK31, TI4.BE) today announced the launch of HeroEngine 2. The new Engine will offer developers state-of-the-art graphics, high spec development tools and integrated middleware.

“We are very excited about the new features and expanded tools available in HeroEngine 2 “ said Alex Shalash, Idea Fabrik’s co-Founder and Chairman. “The release of HeroEngine 2 proves our continued commitment to empowering any game developer to create – faster and easier than ever before – powerful online games across all genres.”

HeroEngine 2 provides all the necessary tools to build online games; it streamlines the entire process and allows teams to create and update their game faster and in real-time. “We are providing development tools without restrictions, code crunching and time constraints; games can now be designed with fun and creativity at heart. HeroEngine is leveling the playing field and opening game development to everyone” concluded Shalash.

HeroEngine 2 includes the following keys features and updates:

Graphics:

Powerful changes to graphics engine including several new tools that make it easier for game developers to create and re-create realistic scenes such as custom shaders, shadows and HDR rendering.

Development Tools:

New Foundation Framework components have been added including game matchmaking lobbies, multi-area and group chat, and an item and social system. The Foundation Framework are customizable core system building blocks that are able to be used in any online game, By adding these new core game systems, HeroEngine allows developers instead to focus on innovative gameplay features.

HeroEngine 2 also includes a more intuitive new user interface for the engine’s editor and repository browser.

Overall engine performance improvements have also been made.Middleware:

In addition to the existing middleware providers, HeroEngine 2 now integrates two new key middleware solutions:
SpeedTree® for Games 6, a professional solution for adding animated trees and foliage seamlessly into games
Awesomium® Web UI Browser Framework, which allows for seamless integration of critical in-game systems such as micro transactions and subscriptions, and also provides an easy and flexible way to create immersive UI and web content.

HeroEngine 2 is immediately available on HeroCloud through various licensing options starting from $99 per year. HeroCloud is Idea Fabrik’s cloud-hosted development and live game service, offering affordable access to HeroEngine. For more information on source code licenses, please visit heroengine.com."

Seems like they are starting to get it in terms of making their engine more approachable with their core building blocks system.

I think Hero Engine has had at least moderate success, and would not say it has performed under their expectations (or at least I can't say for sure it has performed under what they wanted). They have Star Wars: The Old Republic, which is a pretty huge deal. On the indie side, they have The Repopulation. Due to the costs of production, most MMORPG engines aren't going to have more than a handful of MMOs made with them, and HE definitely has at least that

Jackolantern wrote:I think Hero Engine has had at least moderate success, and would not say it has performed under their expectations (or at least I can't say for sure it has performed under what they wanted). They have Star Wars: The Old Republic, which is a pretty huge deal. On the indie side, they have The Repopulation. Due to the costs of production, most MMORPG engines aren't going to have more than a handful of MMOs made with them, and HE definitely has at least that

You say that but Bigworld and Unreal have a ton more than Hero Engine.

tboxx wrote:

Jackolantern wrote:I think Hero Engine has had at least moderate success, and would not say it has performed under their expectations (or at least I can't say for sure it has performed under what they wanted). They have Star Wars: The Old Republic, which is a pretty huge deal. On the indie side, they have The Repopulation. Due to the costs of production, most MMORPG engines aren't going to have more than a handful of MMOs made with them, and HE definitely has at least that

You say that but Bigworld and Unreal have a ton more than Hero Engine.

What impact does that really have on anything? Star Wars' license fees likely have paid for all of HE's development to date and for the foreseeable future, considering it is the largest, highest-budget MMORPG ever made with a non-proprietary engine (and the highest budget MMO period).

Plus, Unreal is not a fair comparison, since it is a general-purpose 3D engine. The vast majority of Unreal games are not MMORPGs, whereas Big World Tech and Hero Engine are both solely MMO engines.

I have used all three. Unreal is the best engine to date hands down but the worst of the three when it comes to more players than 32. Big World is a joke. The documentation is lacking beyond belief. They give little to no support to indies and it is VERY costly for large studios.

Hero is not a tool to make tools to build a MMORPG. A small indie studio can build a MMORPG with it within a short amount of time. The engine is hard to use because it is so expansive. It really is a start to finish solution and trust me I have tried them all.

hallsofvallhalla wrote:I have used all three. Unreal is the best engine to date hands down but the worst of the three when it comes to more players than 32. Big World is a joke. The documentation is lacking beyond belief. They give little to no support to indies and it is VERY costly for large studios.

Hero is not a tool to make tools to build a MMORPG. A small indie studio can build a MMORPG with it within a short amount of time. The engine is hard to use because it is so expansive. It really is a start to finish solution and trust me I have tried them all.

I appreciate your insight and experiences with the engines. I swear that tool to make a tools to build your mmo was a direct quote from someone from Hero Engine. I am thinking it was a post on Mmorpgmaker way back in the day or something. I think they mean something a little different but its hard to comment on how they meant it when I have not used the engine extensively and don't have as much experience in engines and game making as you do.

If it was from the MMORPGMaker.com days, it is very likely it was speculation. The vast majority of the time when mmorpgmaker was open, Hero Engine was that huge, shiny engine we knew we could never touch (the minimum license was around $250,000). Later the indie version was created, and suddenly we started seeing how it actually worked, which cleared up a lot