Absolutely you can. That is actually a part of our clientele. We have licensed the HeroEngine for both stand alone and on the Cloud for things like interactive educational tools, military simulations and even to architects for working directly with their clients in real time.

HeroCloud lets you build games that look any way you want.  The art direction of our existing assets more “realistic”, but you could create a cartoony style, or build art for a game set in the modern world or the future.  We have hundreds of teams developing dozens of different types of games from MMO’s to mobas to RTS to social to FPS to space simulation, and every type of hybrid in between.

There are many alternatives that we can offer on a case by case basis. Contact sales to get a HeroEngine source license to transfer your game from the HeroCloud to your own servers.

Is there documentation and training?  How about sample code and assets?

Once you sign up we will give you access to the HeroEngine documentation Wiki that covers everything you should need to know about HeroEngine.  There is also an robust community forums so you can share questions, answers, tips & tricks with other HeroCloud developers.  You also get full access to reference worlds of example games: SpaceShooter, MMO, FPS, Social Farm Game, all of which include art and scripts so you can see how we’ve used it ourselves.

The short answer: HeroEngine is the tech that let’s you develop an online game. HeroCloud is the out-of-the-box solution that includes HeroEngine and everything else you need to launch your game online.

HeroCloud is a service that includes HeroEngine, hosting, and billing.  It is designed primarily for independent developers as well as educators, corporate and government simulation builders, and other projects.  By licensing HeroCloud your team accesses a full implementation of HeroEngine running somewhere in the Internet “cloud” so your team can access it anywhere and so you don’t need to worry about hosting, configuration management, or other annoying distractions from developing your game.

Really fast.  We’ve seen small teams build playable demos in 30 days and playable prototypes in 90 days.  In today’s economic environment we recommend building just enough game to make things interesting, then letting players in.  HeroEngine allows you to keep building content and game play after the game ships and then stream it to your players.  This way you can build your MMO the most efficient way – by focusing design and development on what your players are actually using and enjoying.  With HeroCloud you can build a rich 3D game using the low cost agile methodology of people building Facebook or iPhone games.  In fact you soon will be able to build Facebook and iPhone games with HeroEngine!

It generally takes up to two (2) business days to set up your world. Though sometimes it can be as little as one (1) day. You will receive an email once your world is built and ready for you to log in and start building your game.

HeroEngine provides a web based system that allows you to manage all aspects of your account. It provides you the ability to add new accounts, existing HE accounts as well as disabling or removing accounts that are no longer needed. You can also use the base permission system we provide as well for account and access levels. For more advanced users, this is also customization in engine to fit your teams and projects needs.

All active user accounts have access to our Account Management System (AMS) which is located at account.heroengine.com

For more information about HeroEngine's AMS

We realize sometimes things happen in life and you might not be able to renew right away, or you just want to take a break. All accounts are kept on our system and are not removed from our system if you do not renew your subscription. We keep all worlds for up to 36 months, so you can return any time.

Legacy accounts, we do not at this time. We believe that it should be up to each person when and if they want to renew.

As of any accounts from 2018 up we do auto renew. However, you have the ability and are free to cancle that renewal though the paypal subscription optoin. That will update our records and we will not renew your account.

If you cancle your renewal, your world will remain for up to two years if yuo wish to renew again within that time.

Yes you can. This works like an upgrade where you only pay the difference for the extra seat based on the tier you are currently on. Example: You have a 2 seat license (Starter)  and want to add one more, the difference will cost you only $49.99.

Yes you can. You can upgrade any time you like. If you would like to upgrade, you pay the difference between your current tier and the next level tier. You do not pay the full amount, we take into account what you had paid for your current subscription. Your next billing will reflect the new subscription tier you are on automatically.

The HeroEngine client is fully scalable, supporting a wide range of client computer specification. The minumum specs required are as follows:

We have purchased licenses from Awesomium, RAD Game Tools, SpeedTree, DPVS Umbra, FMOD and FaceGen for you.  You can use these tools in HeroCloud only.  More details in the wiki or via this press release.

It depends on what you are doing. If you are an artist, 3ds max or Maya is required. If you are a programmer or scripter, then Visual Studios is helpful. Beyond that, we take care of everything else, from Maya/Max plugins, SpeedTree Modeler and Compiler, and more.

Yes you can. HeroEngine includes a basic Lobby system that allows you to use and modify it as you wish. As with all of our prebuilt systems, you can customize it or build your own to fit your game or applications need.

Information about HeroEngine's Lobby System

Yes, HeroEngine does support instancing and instanced areas. This can be done easily though our Area Instance and Travel system.

Information on basic Instances and instance types.

Yes HeroEngine does. Our Seamless 2 technology allows you to create seamless open world environments. With HeroEngine there is no world size limits. Instead of how other engines handle open worlds, we limit area (zone/levels/chunks) size instead with upto 1200 square meters. Your game design and scope will termin the restrictions for area size. Most MMO's area size range between 250 to 512 square.

More information about HeroEngine's Seamless 2.0

HeroEngine is built on C++ and C# depending on if it is client or server side. HeroScript Language (HSL) is built ontop of these to bridge the gap between the two so you do not have to learn multiple languages and use multiple to communicate between client and server.

View more information about HSL here.

Standard formats for Hero Granny Models (HGM) format has a few guidelines to follow as most engines do for their format. Using the 3DS Max or Maya plugins do most of the work for you. All models must be exported as HGM's. Model textures must be DDS, and for GUI you can use DDS or PNG.

Information about the Hero Export Guide

Information about Hero Textures and DDS format

We provide you with plugins pre-built for both 3ds Max and Maya. You just install using our install tool or set them up manually in your application, then export with a few simple clicks, then simply upload them to your repository. They will be available in the engine for anyone to use right away.

Information on 3ds Max and Maya plugins and manual installation: 3Ds Max Setup or Maya Setup

Information about our Repository Browser

At this time we only support Maya and Max for our export tools. FBX is not currently supported at this time, but will change over the next year. Please note that Maya LT is not supported due to Autodesk not allowing 3rd party binary plugins for use in Maya LT. Click here for more information.

Yes, there are sample assets from Hero's Journey in all builds that you can use for prototyping and white boxing. We include several of the following categories:

• Dynamic Female Character
• Basic hair and style sets
• Basic armour sets
• Basic Weapon
• Rock set
• Basic architecture set
• Trees (Speed Trees)
• Terrain Dynamic Detail (grass and plants)
• Terrain Dynamic Mesh Detail (Meshes)
• Basic terrain tiling textures
• Miscellaneous assets
• White Box set (Box, tube, cone, arch, etc)

Servers and hosting are provided with your subscription.

    When you are ready to go live with your game (Alpha, beta or release) we pay for all the base operating costs, but beyond the initial testing and launch window for your game if you wish to grow your game or keep your game at a distribution level beyond what our share of the revenue can cover, then you would either need to scale your game back, or cover the costs yourself. Basically, if you want to have 1 million players, but not charge them any money, then you will have to cover those costs, or work with us to figure out how to generate revenue from your player base.

The game you are developing is yours. Therefore you select when it is ready for release. We do have some stipulations on basic game content, however even that we work with you. It is your game, and ultimately it is your choice to decide when you are ready to go live!

No you do not. This has always been part of our business model. When you have a vertical slice and are ready for small scale testing, we work with you to get set up in both limited number of added tester seats as well as begin preparations for your next phase of development and testing moving into closed bet. When you are ready for a public best or early access, we will also work with you to get set up without having to cost you anything additional.