IT Territory is sending word that it's managed to acquire a license enabling it to use Simutronics' HeroEngine for an undisclosed MMORPG project. No details are out regarding the new game, though we note that BioWare's also using the same engine for their own mystery MMORPG. More info is available in the full article.

 

After being licensed by BioWare for an undisclosed MMO title in the works, Simutronic's MMO development platform, HeroEngine, is licensed by three more companies, all working on MMO titles slated to come in the near future. Virgin Games UK, together with Trianit, is developing a new virtual island portal A World of My Own using HeroEngine.

Announced at the 2007 Game Developers Conference, the list of licensees grow as Stray Bullet Games and Colony Studios also snag the engine for their own MMO titles. Although they have been open with the fact of using HeroEngine, they weren't keen to spill details on their projects.

Simutronics provides HeroEngine as a decked-out MMO development tool, to creating an entire MMO title from the ground up - interfaces, content, sub-systems - while allowing developers to view the world visually and in real time. They can test elements created for the game through the same view a player would be seeing their online world.

Simutronics' precious MMO creation, Hero's Journey, will be hitting stores next year. But with their announcement of new GameMaster positions, it seems that the people behind the MMO are already done with the engine and are now shifting their attention to amping the game's actual content. They have added two new GameMaster types - Content Writers and Level Builders.

Content Writers are part of the game's story team. Their main job is to help write and design quests, magic items, heroes, and other in-game storylines. Basically, a vast imagination bank would be an advantage for content writers as their words and concocted events would be the lifeline of the game.

Level Builders, on the other hand, are part of the World team. They would have the HeroBlade tool at their disposal to sculpt, paint, and assemble the landscape of Hero's Journey. Imagination could still be your ticket in but you should also have a keen eye for shapes, space and color. Looks like a perfect job for an obsessive-compulsive.

Interested? Well, you can click on the link below to know more about it.

 

Simutronics, creator of the HeroEngine, announced recently its very first licensee for the HeroEngine - BioWare Austin. Well, as they say, you have to start somewhere, and this is a good start. In case you think HeroEngine is a car, well, let us fill you in. HeroEngine is a complete integrated platform for development of MMORPGs. BioWare Austin will be using this for the development of their new MMO venture. BioWare, in case you didn't know, has developed a lot of games including Jade Empire, Neverwinter Nights, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.

When asked why they chose to take their chances on Simutronics and its creation, BioWare Co-Studio Director Gordon Walton said "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. The HeroEngine from Simutronics is a perfect fit for BioWare Austin's requirements." Well, Simutronics' five years of slaving over this platform certainly paid off now that the big time is knocking on their door. Let's wait and see how this development turns out.

Hero's Journey is the new 3D MMO game designed by Simutronics, with a projected release by 2007. This game is rather flexible, as quests and gameplay shape how a particular character's story will turn out. It promises "more fun" and more flexible character customization than other MMORPGs.

Speaking of character customization, there are nifty things in this MMO called Wyr. Wyr are sort of relics that you could attach to your armor to boost your character stats. Found a "haute couture" breastplate that's perfect for your get-up, but thinking of keeping your old breastplate that gives you +20 defense instead? Don't worry, you could just get your trusty Wyr from your old armor, and place it in the new one.

In this game, skills and attribute boosts are not tied to your character's equipment. Just shove your Wyr in that new armor of yours and you're to ready rumble with a cool get-up, without sacrificing your character's abilities. But that doesn't mean that they're throwing upgrades in the trash bin. It's like this: the more powerful your armor/equipment is, the more Wyr slots it has. And more Wyr slots mean more Wyr; thus, more power.

More than that though, Wyrs are sort of memoirs to Elanthia's past, specifically, the tragic Sundering event. It was when Elanthia became desolate, bereft of her fine heroes and inhabitants.

So now that you know what the Wyrs are, you might want to check those out, right? Below are some examples you might find interesting:

• Lynch's Spark - an uncommon item that adds Fire component to a Wizard's Elemental Helix Ability, but is susceptible to Ice damage.
• Ashog's Frozen Heart - a rare one, it adds Ice component to a Wizard's Elemental Helix Ability, and is susceptible to Fire damage.
• Val Zeair's Luck - a Wyr labelled as scarce, it adds +X% Dodge and +Y% Block, but deals -X% to Accuracy.
• Val Zeair's Strength - a common item, it gives +X% Damage and +Y% Protection, as well as Minor Heal (per potion) once over 30 minutes. However, it also deals -X% Mind Accuracy.

Erik Roggeveen is one of the designers working hard on the eagerly anticipated new MMORPG by Simutronics, Hero's Journey. Today, Erik talks a little about what his job is like:

"Ya ever sit up late when you were a little kid, under the tent of your sheets with a flashlight so your parents didn't see it shining beneath your door, munching stolen cookies that grandma had made earlier that day (she had it comin'!), and plotting the viscera-slopping disembowelment of a few of your pals' innocent characters?

Designing modern MMORPGs is a lot like designing tabletop campaigns, Erik says. Capture the players' interest, then step back and let them set their own course - but  be ready for anything they throw at you! One needs to be able to bring players  back into the stories when their interest wanes.  Most important, however, is "customer service" - everyone wants some personal attention.

The creation of a fantastic, deeply layered game world demands meticulous preparation, according to Erik. This is where the team is at the moment. Now that the HeroBlade Engine works, the GameMasters are working toward crafting the game to fit.

"Everyone not involved with the engine had been working on the development of the lore, quests, intrigue, and interactions for years ahead of time, and now we've finally got a place to really assemble it all. It felt like we had an actual-size model of the universe, and nowhere big enough to put it together!" Erik adds.

Right now, the designers are focusing on Nomgar, which makes up almost a third of the game world, while preparing for the actual construction. The continent will be broken into 8-10 huge level-based regions based on the history centered of Elanthia.

"There will be more than just passing feelings of familiarity for the previously indoctrinated players, but they more than anyone will recognize that we have taken Elanthia for another full turn around the wheel, as is only proper when refurbishing a masterpiece,"  says Erik.

Each of Nomgar's region has a separate team of GameMasters working on the details, with lots of support from the Development, Onsite, and the Art teams. With huge areas covering scale miles of explorable terrain loaded with quests, combat, and treasure, these teams have their work cut out for them. The World team lays out the basic geography, including common dungeons and crannies. Meanwhile, the Quest team adds instances wherever possible, connecting the story strands.

Erik's next topics will (hopefully) be the Region he's been developing: the battlegrounds where the worst acts of the Sundering took place. Of his own Region, he says: "It is a seriously chaotic and demented place - strongly befitting my own leanings - where greed, violent and unpredictable machines, corrupted magic, and the power plays of wealthy and craven alike play out in a harshly unforgiving wasteland."