MMORPG.com Managing Editor Jon Wood recently sat down with the folks at Simutronics to talk about their Hero Engine (currently being used by Bioware for Star Wars: the Old Republic) and the game that started it all... Hero's Journey

While at GDC this year, we were bombarded by new and exciting pieces of technology, games, and other miscellaneous items for developers to drool over. Normally, I’m a games and neat shiny gadgets kind of person, so when I was asked to stop by the Hero Engine booth for a chat about the MMO development tool, I was a little bit daunted. I’ve never been the most technically minded person and often long talks about coding, implementation and the like leave me confused and befuddled. Needless to say, looking at an engine, the very heart of a game and being asked to write about it was an interesting concept. Fortunately, Hero Engine presents an interesting premise that even a technical moron can understand: It’s an engine that provides a toolset that covers many aspects of game development and is meant to dramatically reduce the amount of time that it takes to create the virtual worlds that we so love. Their slogan? “MMO Development at Light Speed”.

Read Update on Hero Engine and Hero's Journey

Nice article, and thanks for the update on Hero's Journey, I'm glad to hear that they still are working on it. Hopefully we'll see more updates on this title in the coming months.

I guess SW: Tor will suffice until heroes journey gets released.

Finally! I think I've been waiting and waiting . HJ was one of the games that I've been looking forward too. I still hope that they can deliver.

I have not found enough information on this engine to agree or give them much credit.On the surface from what i have read,it still seems to be decent enough.

I do remember checking this project out awhile back,i can't remember why i left it off my list,perhaps because it seemed like a project that would never come about.

Looking at the screenshots i can see it looks pretty good,i can say it is at least worth a watch .The problem i have is anytime i hear about a developer bragging about speeding up or how fast they can put the game together i realize,the effort/heart and soul will not be in the game.

I am still as an example very interested in Roger Clemens game because he is a true gamer and had a vision of what he wanted to make in a game,the scary part is that he has some ties to WOW ,,bleh.

I guess i need to find out more about who the creator is,who is the guy that came up with the game concept and what kind of game was he/she looking to build?

The guys at GT interactive did while designing the UE engine,they made a great series in the Unreal series.SO perhaps these guys can build a great game,especially since they know their own engine,that has got to help.

Since no link was provided and I hadn't heard of this title yet:

• The World of Gatheryn

Definitely very different but sounds intriguing nonetheless.

Screenshots look great.  It's just background though.  Will be nice to see how the avitars look and move. 

Originally posted by Wizardry

I have not found enough information on this engine to agree or give them much credit.On the surface from what i have read,it still seems to be decent enough.

I do remember checking this project out awhile back,i can't remember why i left it off my list,perhaps because it seemed like a project that would never come about.

Looking at the screenshots i can see it looks pretty good,i can say it is at least worth a watch .The problem i have is anytime i hear about a developer bragging about speeding up or how fast they can put the game together i realize,the effort/heart and soul will not be in the game.

I am still as an example very interested in Roger Clemens game because he is a true gamer and had a vision of what he wanted to make in a game,the scary part is that he has some ties to WOW ,,bleh.

I guess i need to find out more about who the creator is,who is the guy that came up with the game concept and what kind of game was he/she looking to build?

The guys at GT interactive did while designing the UE engine,they made a great series in the Unreal series.SO perhaps these guys can build a great game,especially since they know their own engine,that has got to help.

You sure you're not thinking of Curt Shilling and 38 Studios? Link is here . Also for information about the engine, it's here. I would say that's plenty of information about what the engine can do.

There is a really nice interview with Curt Schilling on G4TV about 38 Studios, his MMO project, gaming life and why he's making an MMO.   Should watch it, as it quite informative and nice to know things.  I'm greatly looking forward to this MMO now too...

Originally posted by mackdawg19

Originally posted by Wizardry

I have not found enough information on this engine to agree or give them much credit.On the surface from what i have read,it still seems to be decent enough.

I do remember checking this project out awhile back,i can't remember why i left it off my list,perhaps because it seemed like a project that would never come about.

Looking at the screenshots i can see it looks pretty good,i can say it is at least worth a watch .The problem i have is anytime i hear about a developer bragging about speeding up or how fast they can put the game together i realize,the effort/heart and soul will not be in the game.

I am still as an example very interested in Roger Clemens game because he is a true gamer and had a vision of what he wanted to make in a game,the scary part is that he has some ties to WOW ,,bleh.

I guess i need to find out more about who the creator is,who is the guy that came up with the game concept and what kind of game was he/she looking to build?

The guys at GT interactive did while designing the UE engine,they made a great series in the Unreal series.SO perhaps these guys can build a great game,especially since they know their own engine,that has got to help.

 

You sure you're not thinking of Curt Shilling and 38 Studios? Link is here . Also for information about the engine, it's here. I would say that's plenty of information about what the engine can do.

Yeah I am realkly looking forward to Curt Schillings big MMO also - now he is retired and will focus on it. But 38 Studios looks to be using some combination of Unreal (http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/51627) and Bigworld (http://bigworldtech.blogspot.com/2008/03/38-studios-dominates-through-bigworld.html) for the MMO part - nothing to do with Hero's Journey - or am I missing something??

This game engine looked great, 4 years ago (estimated) when they first put pictures up. 

Though Bioware certainly gets your attention as a customer, as well as some other experienced MMO teams, 'developement at light speed' is just lip service until someone actually develops a game quickly using it.  It hasn't happened yet.

If Bioware gives the engine two thumbs up, it's safe to say it's pretty much rock solid.

about HJ though, there's still much more to a MMO than just the engine.

 I wonder if this engine can deliver a game that does not look cartoony?

I think for that fantasy setting the engine is perfect, but for a sci-fi setting like SWTOR... I am not yet fully convinced.

This situation sounds very similar to what happened with Microforte.  They developed their own MMO engine called bigworld. Which they were using to make their MMOG citizen zero. After years of developement they (Microforte) decided that it was better to sell the engine rather than another MMOG sci-fi title. Citizen zero ended up becoming a tech demo used to promote the engine.

Hero's Journey looks like it's headed the same way as citizen-zero.

Originally posted by _Seeker

This situation sounds very similar to what happened with Microforte.  They developed their own MMO engine called bigworld. Which they were using to make their MMOG citizen zero. After years of developement they (Microforte) decided that it was better to sell the engine rather than another MMOG sci-fi title. Citizen zero ended up becoming a tech demo used to promote the engine.

Hero's Journey looks like it's headed the same way as citizen-zero.

Same what I heard. Shame. *sigh*

   Ill give simutronics the benefit of the doubt in this particular case. I've actually seen the product in action, quite awhile ago, they were actually quite a long ways along in the development cycle when they put it on the backburner. Id suspect around 3 months before we here anything concrete though about how developments going. Getting back on tracks a pain in the arse. Been there done that hehe.

I will NOT get excited about Hero's Journey again.

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OMG I WANNA PLAY IT

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Originally posted by Valkyrie

Originally posted by _Seeker

This situation sounds very similar to what happened with Microforte.  They developed their own MMO engine called bigworld. Which they were using to make their MMOG citizen zero. After years of developement they (Microforte) decided that it was better to sell the engine rather than another MMOG sci-fi title. Citizen zero ended up becoming a tech demo used to promote the engine.

Hero's Journey looks like it's headed the same way as citizen-zero.

 

Same what I heard. Shame. *sigh*

Except for one thing. Microforte never actually had an MMO before, and didn't know they could run one. Simu has and does, and they also have customers who they KNOW will spend ridiculous amounts of money to play their games.

Simutronics are the unnoficial 'Kings of Content', so I have faith that when their game -eventually- releases, it will be quite complete and very fun.  Sure, the engine isn't everything, but they are a small company who like to get involved with their player base and provide a LOT of content for their players.  Their text-based games have more content than any MMO on the market, I would wager.