HeroEngine's powerful Dynamic Character System simplifies the creation of sophisticated, highly customizable characters and creatures required for MMOs. A flexible Slots and Parts system allows characters and creatures to be quickly composited.

• Slots and Parts System
• Expressive Parts and Texture Rules System
• Completely customizable textures with tinting regions, specular control, and layers.
• All features are available to use on any player, creature, or object you designate as a dynamic character
• Slots and Parts System
• Expressive Parts and Texture Rules System
• Completely customizable textures with tinting regions, specular control, and layers.
• All features are available to use on any player, creature, or object you designate as a dynamic character

Morphing Technology

Full Body morphing technology allows you to set morph targets that can be adjusted by any mechanism you desire. Using these simple morph targets, HeroEngine automatically morphs the rest of the character -- even its skeletal system if need be.

Use the Facial morphing controls to let players customize their appearance. Hundreds of facial controls are included, and adding more is simple. To top it all off, everything is integrated into the facial expressions and lip synching tools contained in the HeroBlade client.

• Reduced diskspace and bandwidth needed for patches.
• Hundreds of included facial controls and the ability to easily add your own.
• Create entirely nonhuman facial controls.
• Controllable anisotropic sheen and translucent effects for hair.
• Every feature can also be used for creatures!

Node-Based Animation

Great characters need to be driven by a rich and dynamic animation system. HeroEngine supports a node-based sequencer with dynamic decision trees for selecting and augmenting animations in real-time. The output of one sequence can be the input of another, creating a node-tree based approach. Each sequence can be manipulated at run-time by virtual knobs adjusted from scripts and other sources.

Embed logic in your animations with an expressive note syntax: drive audio, effects and other events, and script callbacks from the animation tracks themselves. A macro substitution system changes notes dynamically at run-time as well -- for example, you can specify a sound when a sword swings but let a script define the macro for what sound it is based on the weapon type.

HeroBlade features a sequence tree GUI for easy wiring of animations, and tools for real-time analysis of animation data, sequence debugging, and optimization.

Observe how real-time animation inputs are affecting sequence choices, and over-ride anything from these panels for debugging.

Wire sequences together in HeroEngine, expressing randomness, additive blends, multiple channels, etc.

A rich expression syntax helps select animations, holds times, playback rates, priorities, and more.

Flexible Bone Tracking

HeroEngine's flexible bone tracking system allows you to attach nearly anything to a character or animation "bone". Need a specific "hit location" and a fire spell to burn someone's arm? Not a problem! Add a burn emitter to a particle effect and target it to the "arm bone" of your victim. Need an easy way to temporarily enhance the visual of any asset? Simply attach a glowing particle to any bone in the item. The sheer number of options and customization is simply staggering.

• Weapons
• Particle Effects
• Animated Meshes
• Attractors
• And virtually anything else....