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Simutronics: Update on Hero Engine and Hero's Journey
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”.
We’ll start with a little bit of short-term history: Hero Engine was originally developed by Simutronics as their in-house engine for their MMO-in-development (more on this later), Hero’s Journey. As they started demoing the game and its engine at shows like GDC, developers started showing an interest in the mechanics behind the game. It wasn’t long before the powers that be realized that, although it hadn’t been their intention from the beginning, it would probably be in the company’s best interest to get into the business of selling their unique engine full time.
;)
The decision to move away from being a development-only studio and into being both a game maker and engine provider ended up putting a strain on the development of Hero’s Journey which has taken a back seat to the other project.
With that in mind, I was specifically told that Hero’s Journey is still a game in development and that they are now beginning to work as two separate teams: The engine development team and the game development team. Previously, everyone had been wearing two hats resulting in the slower development of HJ.
Now, with that update out of the way, let’s get to talking a little bit about the engine itself:
I think that the thing that blew me away most about the engine was the fact that the developers were able to actually make and alter the game world in real time. Basically, the engine lays out the world and the developers “populate” it the same way they would if they were in the game. The difference is that the developers in question have full ability to alter the world around them in collaboration with the others on their team.
Now again, my experience with engines is fairly limited, but I can remember from my brief time working on an MMO, that the time it takes for people to make specific changes in most other engines is much longer and the collaborative process is much more difficult to pull off, both in implementation and coordination and is certainly more time consuming.
This technology, we were told, actually has the ability to carry over not just into development, but into the live game. So, if you can imagine being a part of a live event where some of the monsters or NPCs are inhabited by developers, or where the developers can literally change the landscape based on the actions of the players… Hero Engine actually makes that easy.
;)
It should also be noted that Hero Engine is 100% built to service MMOs. While some other engines have to be altered (taking up time and resources) to fit the MMO mould, Hero Engine accommodates it all “out of the box” and while we’ve only ever seen Hero Engine demoed using a fantasy setting, the developers assured me that it could be easily adapted for other genres as well.
There are lots of ways to tell that the folks over at Simutronics have built a great engine. First and probably foremost to a lot of people is the fact that their highest profile announced client are the folks over at Bioware Austin making Star Wars: The Old Republic. In fact, they even use a quote from co-studio director Gordon Walton in their promotional material:
"At BioWare we selected HeroEngine because it had the most sophisticated and complete development tools available for building an amazing online experience. Our team wanted a great rapid prototyping environment and to work with experienced MMO developers. HeroEngine from Simutronics is a perfect fit for BioWare Austin's requirements."
Personally, I’m looking forward to seeing this engine in action. The first MMo scheduled to be released using the engine? That would be the upcoming steampunk-themed “advanced casual” MMO, The World of Gatheryn.
So, that’s a quick look at the Hero Engine, at least from a layman’s perspective, and on a game note, the mystery of Hero’s Journey would seem to have been solved… for now.
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:
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.
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...
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.
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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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.
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??
Yes i was referring to Schilling sorry for that,i often post in the middle of the night and not half awake lol.But yes it is the 38 studios and the Dc comics guy involved game.
Thank you for this.
I know a lot of people [my self included] would be very happy if HJ got back into full time development.
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??
Yes i was referring to Schilling sorry for that,i often post in the middle of the night and not half awake lol.But yes it is the 38 studios and the Dc comics guy involved game.
I think you're actually thinking about his 'ties' to EverQuest II, considering they used a virtual model of him in EQII for a special event, and when someone ever beat him, he would donate $5 to ALS research. His only ties to World of Warcraft is that he is a known avid player of it, and showed up on The Instance podcast because of it, that's all.
I really hope HJ gets going, it is quite honestly the only game on the horizon that I was really even remotely interested in...
From their licencing page:
Designed for AAA teams and major publishers, this license includes everything – client, server, toolset, complete source code, a reference copy of Hero's Journey for sample code, and documentation. This license structure gives you the right to release a title in any region of the world royalty-free.
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You only do this with Tech Demo. You don't give your full game in so called development you tend to release to licencees as sample code.
This game will never be released.
But ofcourse it's good publicity for their engine to start the hype again for Hero's Journey. In a desperate attempt to find new developers to licence their engine.
As you see. It's not going so well with Simutronics and the current Economic situation isn't really helping them either.
I too once hoped this game to be released, till I noticed that line on their licencing page and learned about the situation with Simutronics itself (massive lay offs that had happened and such).
Cheers
Whether Hero's Journey ever comes out or not, Simu still did a hell of a job with the game engine. They deserve a lot of credit for developing an engine that no one else would. Even if HJ doesn't come out, Simu will still be a major reason as to why the entire MMORPG genre takes a huge step forward. I look forward to SWTOR coming out and when it does I will think about Simu and the amazing work that they did with their engine. Yes Bioware is the one developing the game but it never would have been what it is if not for Simu. Heck it may not even exist at all if Bioware had to develop their own engine or license a lesser engine to make the game. So instead of criticizing Simu for what they haven't been able to do(yet at least) let's give them credit for what they have been able to do which is develop the best MMORPG engine by far.
I started following HJ in 1998 , they are going into there 12th year of developing this game ...
I dont think it will ever realese .. Time to put this 1 to sleep.
For those interest what is going on. See the news section of the Idea Fabrik Plc website:
Idea Fabrik Plc purchases HeroEngine technologie from Simutronics
The game Hero´s Journey came with the package. Check out the site frequently about news.