HeroBlade

All-in-one Development Environment 

Nearly every aspect of any object, particle, emitter, character, or asset in the world can be changed directly from the Properties Sheet Panel.

HeroBlade features an unprecedented toolset fully integrated into a massive, collaborative, real-time development environment. World building, particle effects, lighting, audio, animation wiring, and even game mechanics and core systems can all be collaboratively worked on within the robust HeroBlade client.

Massively Collaborative

Imagine entire teams from many geographical locations with the ability to simultaneously work on nearly any aspect of your game’s development. Built from the ground up with collaborative development as its goal, HeroBlade makes this dream a reality. This revolutionary paradigm makes building huge MMO worlds lightning fast!

  • Work from any geographic location.
  • Outsource any aspect of the project and remotely monitor its progress in real-time.
  • Easily localize the project working in tandem with regional partners and offsite teams.
  • Integrated project management and whiteboarding linked to 3D environment and game scripts.

Some of HeroBlade’s Integrated Features

  • World-Class Terrain Editing Tool
  • Intelligent Asset Library
  • Environmental Schemes
  • Dynamic Lighting
  • Dynamic Audio
  • Sophisticated Dynamic Characters
  • Sequence-based Animation System
  • Animation Monitor
  • Motion Paths and Trigger Volumes
  • Custom HeroScript MMO Scripting
  • Script Debugging and Profiling
  • Dynamic Data Object Model
  • Performance and Metrics
  • Scene and Resource Analysis
  • DreamManager Project Management
  • Project Management and Organization
  • Graphical User Interface Editor
  • Designer Notes and Collaborative Whiteboarding

Scripting

HeroScript is engineered as the perfect language for MMO development. Combining object-oriented and procedural features with swift execution, rapid debugging and performance tools, HeroScript gives the game design and scripting teams the ultimate tools for building and growing a large scale MMO.

Character and Animation System

Complete control over your 3D assets. Build characters intelligently and control each part’s appearance and animation dynamically. Add rules governing how items are layered together.

Project Management Tools

Manage your development process with our HeroEngine Notes tool a real-time whiteboard tool. Mark up areas and send notes to your team connecting them to the area that needs work. Keep track of your team’s completed tasks and continue to delegate, streamlining the process. Tasks are linked to the 3D world and game scripts so your team knows where to work.

Asset Library

The Asset Library contains and organizes all the tools you need to build quickly. Create an asset in 3D Studio Max or Maya, then import to the HeroEngine Asset Library. Any change to the original asset can be immediately reflected to any or all parts of the game world. Assets are organized both globally and individually, so members of the team can choose the view that works best for them.

Scalable Servers

HeroEngine’s server architecture is highly adaptable, allowing you to configure it to take advantage of the balancing solution most appropriate for your game. Use HeroScript to dynamically control distribution of engine components across an entire server-cluster on the fly. Combine these features with our Master Control Console monitoring system and HeroEngine delivers a powerful, fast server solution.

Environment Schemes

HeroEngine’s powerful new Environmental Schemes allow developers complete control of their game environment.

  • Dynamic weather including rain
  • Environmental effects including lightning
  • Atmospheric effects including clouds, stars, and moonlight

Terrain Sculpting

HeroEngine’s new terrain sculpting tools bring an unprecedented level of precision and realism to world and area building with a number of new heightmap-editing filter tools.

  • Hybrid Erosion filter combines Hydraulic Erosion and an edge-softening filter.
  • Mean Leveler filter moves affected vertices toward the mean of their heights.
  • Canyon Cutter filter lowers can create complex canyons and ridges, reminiscent of riverbeds cutting through stone.

9Slice and Universal Glyph Rendering

HeroEngine’s extensive GUI design and building system adds two new major features.

  • 9Slice control simplifies the authoring of compound controls, buttons and windows.
  • Significant memory and performance optimizations by eliminating the need for edge and spacer controls.
  • GUI controls can now render any language character set supported by Windows, including Asian fonts.

New UI controls

 

 

 

 

 

New and intuitive UI controls have been introduced for value, vector and color timelines.

Emitter Mesh

Emitter Meshs are are a powerful new addition to HeroEngine’s particle system.

  • Emit particles at any vertex, along any edge, or the surface of any polygon.

Region Nodes

Region nodes allow developers to delineate specific 3D shapes in the world.

  • Create arbitrarily shaped bounding volumes.
  • Lightweight and flexible for any generic use.
  • Color codeable and easy to shape.
  • Built in HeroScript function to return a random point inside the node, or determine if a given point is or is not within a given region.

Path Editing

The Path Editing process has been improved in version 1.20 of HeroEngine.

  • Visual, real-time, interactive, spline manipulation.
  • Easily add and remove path waypoints.
  • Waypoints can now have orientation.

HeroSense

HeroSense brings intelligent, adaptive, script assistance to the HeroScript editor.

  • Automatic minor syntax correction.
  • Intelligent list boxes help guide script creation.
  • Tooltips with definitions, parameters, and return types.
  • Real-time collaborative updates to all HeroSense contextual information.

 Ribbon Water

HeroEngine’s Ribbon Water feature allows world builders to quickly and intuitively create flowing rivers.

  • Collision detection for cameras, characters, and objects.
  • Manipulate altitude, width, and depth in real-time.
  • Create spline-based water shapes.
  • Animated “flow” of water along spline direction.

Vortex Nodes

The Vortex Node is a powerful new screen space based visual effects system.

  • Extensive parameters, limitless customization options.
  • Create powerful parameter driven effects in tandem with the effects system.
  • Visual processing is conducted in the frame buffer for a lightweight powerful effect.