7 replies to this topic

[gillvane]

We're on pins and needles to see what the price will be, and what features will be included in the Indie version of the Hero Engine.

It could release as early as 6/11/2010 as hinted in some emails, but you know how developers are, and it may take a while longer.

This video is why people are excited:

http://mmorpgmaker.c...p?f=121&t=10485

But will it be 10K? 5K? less than 2K?

No one knows just yet.

Also, lots of people hope it includes the Heroe's Journey MMORPG as a reference, however we don't know how complete HJ is, or if it will be included for sure.

An amazing year for engine releases if you want to tackle making your own MMORPG. Ryzom is open source, Big World Tech has a 300 dollar license, and now you may be able to buy the Hero Engine, the same engine used to make The Old Republic.

Things are moving right along.

[Nerd_Skywalker]

That looks so cool!

[gillvane]

Update. The indie version released today.

The license will be 5,000 bucks, plus 15% royalties. The engine is hosted on a cloud, and they provide the server for you to work on, and for the first year of hosting your game when it goes live.

[alphadog]

Hmm. For the pro indie then. Not going to be an entry-level engine at that price.

[Nerd_Skywalker]

alphadog said:

Hmm. For the pro indie then. Not going to be an entry-level engine at that price.

Hopefully it will keep the "OMG I WANNA MAEK A WoW KILLER!!111!11!" kids at bay.

[alphadog]

No, those guys think that everyone else will use their OMGWTFBBQ ideas and develop their game, and host it, and support it, and manage it, and...

There's a much smaller market that is serious, but dipping their toes into the indie market. Those guys don't have $5K to throw around.

But, that's okay. Someone else will fill the void.

[gillvane]

alphadog said:

No, those guys think that everyone else will use their OMGWTFBBQ ideas and develop their game, and host it, and support it, and manage it, and...

There's a much smaller market that is serious, but dipping their toes into the indie market. Those guys don't have $5K to throw around.

But, that's okay. Someone else will fill the void.

Yes, this is for the serious developer at 5K. Also, the tools look awesome, and reportedly they are, but the people that have purchased the engine report that the wiki is hundreds and hundreds of pages, and you're not going to make much progress with the engine unless you study and understand the wiki, at the very least, PLUS learn the proprietary scripting language.

Big World Technology is a good alternative, with a 300 dollar license.

The problem with BWT for some people is there is no reference to work from, so you have to script all your own game logic from scratch.

However, I feel confident that eventually someone will release a reference, similar to the Torque MMOkit, for BWT, and that will make it much easier for indie dev teams to dip their toes in the water, so to speak.

[WorldKi]

I got a chance to use the engine a bit at GDC and know a few of the guys that work at their St. Louis office.

It's a pretty sharp editor, no doubt. Very dynamic, great graphics engine. The $5000 price point is tricky, though, as it puts it out of the reach of the hobbyist and the license might not be attractive enough for professionals. We'll see, though, it's cool that more engines are targeting indies.