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The Game Archaeologist: Six more MMOs that never made it to launch
It's always possible to be surprised with reveals of older MMOs, even after years of writing this column. For example, I had never heard that Valve was initially working on an MMO called Prospero in the late '90s before we posted on it a couple of weeks ago. It's crazy to me that parts of what could have been a groundbreaking online title were then repurposed for Half-Life and Portal. It's not necessarily bad how things turned out, mind you, but I do get lost wondering what might have been. From time to time here on The Game Archaeologist, I like to turn our attention to MMOs-that-never-were: titles that died before launch thanks to funding shortfalls, studio collapses, or corporate bungling. We've covered titles like Wish, Ultima X, and Middle-earth Online, but today I want to catch up on several titles that have been haunting my list for a while now. So strap in as you get a six-pack of MMOs that were never released!
Terrazas talks EverQuest F2P launch and anniversary celebration
March is definitely roaring in like a lion for EverQuest. It's launching its new free-to-play program, and it's also celebrating its 13th anniversary with a big bash in game. With all of the changes, players are sure to have more than a few questions about the free-to-play transition and the state of the game today. We recently sat down with SOE Producer Thom Terrazas at a roundtable to answer those questions, so read on for details on the new free-to-play plan as well as the Hero's Journey, revamped maps, birthday celebrations, and the announcement of a brand-new server!%Gallery-150850%
EverQuest's massive 13th anniversary and free-to-play celebration events revealed
In two days, EverQuest will not only be celebrating its 13th (!) anniversary and adding a sizable update to the game, but also will be making the jump to a free-to-play hybrid model. Since this is no small potatoes, SOE has planned a huge array of events to celebrate the occasion. The fun begins on the Plane of Knowledge, where players can enjoy 13 special quests that harken back to the greatest hits of EverQuest's history. There's also a new raid and the return of 40 events from previous anniversaries to keep everyone busy. The update has a new feature called the Hero's Journey, which is a guidebook that will lead players through a path in EverQuest. To make things even more user-friendly, EverQuest's map system will see a major overhaul that includes the ability to show you paths to your destination. Finally, SOE has an absolutely gigantic F2P conversion FAQ that covers nearly every conceivable question about the transition, including payment options and previous status in the game. EverQuest will go F2P starting at 3:01 am EDT on Friday, March 16th.
Pitchblack Games seeking testers for new HeroEngine MMO
Want to get in on the ground floor with a new HeroEngine sci-fi MMORPG? No, we're not talking about Star Wars: The Old Republic beta access but rather the opportunity to test an as-yet unnamed title from Pitchblack Games. The company's website has a suitably dystopian far future feel to it, but there's not a whole lot of info on the game itself beyond a piece of concept art. Pitchblack has informed Massively that anyone and everyone can sign up for testing, though, so jump in and see for yourself. The HeroEngine originally powered Simutronics' Hero's Journey MMORPG before being licensed by BioWare for its upcoming Star Wars opus. Head to the official Pitchblack website for more.
EA, Bethesda, and Sony Online vets form Second Star Interactive
Hero's Journey may be no more than a distant memory at this point, but Simutronics' HeroEngine -- the game engine currently being employed by BioWare to create Star Wars: The Old Republic, among other things -- is still going strong. After being quietly scooped up by Idea Fabrik in 2010, the HeroEngine is now being used to create a game in-house at a newly formed studio, Second Star Interactive. Formed by ex-Bethesda, EA, and Sony Online Entertainment devs and execs, SSI intends on creating an online game of some form that will launch "later this year." The release also notes that "a number of third-party developers who have licensed HeroEngine also plan to launch games featuring the technology before the end of 2011," which is especially interesting as the two main development houses working with the engine are BioWare and ZeniMax Online (parent company of Bethesda Softworks and id Software). We know about BioWare's big game, but we've yet to hear anything about what ZeniMax Online has planned.
GDC09: How HeroEngine revolutionizes MMORPG game design
Let's be frank, MMOs are a pain in the rear to design. You have large teams working collaboratively to build huge expanses of terrain, hundreds upon thousands of objects in the world that players can interact with, server architecture to worry about, and even more in-depth things that the standard player may not even notice or consider.But if you've been on the site recently and have been checking out our coverage of the GDC, then you may have heard us and developers talking excitedly about HeroEngine, the new MMO developing tool from Simutronics. HeroEngine is powering games like The World of Gatheryn and this funny Star Wars game from those BioWare people, as well as other companies that haven't announced their new projects as of yet.So why is HeroEngine so amazing? Well, we got the inside scoop straight from Simutronics as we visited their booth at the GDC.
Wired's vaporware column adds Hero's Journey next to Duke Nukem Forever
And everyone at the Massively offices scratched their heads at the same time and said, "Huh?" All right, so Hero's Journey has been in production for, well, forever, but just because the game isn't coming out anytime soon doesn't exactly warrant it on the vaporware list at position number 8.Especially as the game's engine, the now well-known HeroEngine, has been licensed by BioWare for this Star Wars game you might have heard about. The HeroEngine development has caught on like wildfire, and even Simutronics's own Neil Harris has said to Massively that the game is on the back burner while the engine development is in the forefront.But, they still haven't left the game entirely in the dust. They've said that the game still has a long way to come in terms of content and polishing, but they're still letting people log in and play -- even when they're not around. The website even features in-game footage and screenshots, a bit more than Duke blowing some smoke at the camera and uttering a classic Duke-ism.With all that said, Hero's Journey hasn't been pressing for release or gaining undue hype. It's a game that has been sitting in the corner, lurking, waiting for the right moment to strike. Plus, with most vaporware, we're usually left hanging -- wondering what exactly those developers have been doing with their time when they should have been developing. With Simutronics, we know exactly what they've been doing -- making a great engine. So that leaves the question, is it still vaporware if we know we shouldn't expect it?
Massively interviews the makers of The Old Republic's game engine
Earlier this week, the official announcement went out that BioWare has spent the last two years making Star Wars: The Old Republic aided by the middleware MMO development toolkit HeroEngine. Certainly interesting, but a bit faceless. Why was the respected developer using this toolkit? What are the benefits, and how did HeroEngine get hooked up with SWTOR in the first place? We had the chance to answer all of these questions by speaking with Neil Harris. Neil is an Executive Vice President for Simutronics, the creators of HeroEngine, and shared with us an overview of their collaboration with BioWare. Join us as we talk about the fateful meeting between Simutronics and Gordon Walton that lead to their collaboration, BioWare's reliance on the software, and some encouraging news for players who may still be looking forward to their demo game Hero's Journey! Read on to the full interview >> %Gallery-35034%
BioWare chooses HeroEngine for SWTOR development
It was announced today that BioWare has chosen the HeroEngine from Simutronics to develop Star Wars: The Old Republic. We're already hearing the unasked question: What is the HeroEngine, James, and why should I care? The name 'HeroEngine' may ring a bell with some Massively readers, as it's often associated with the Hero's Journey MMO. Hero's Journey is a title created by Simutronics that demoes the capabilities of their development platform and tools. The HeroEngine is a collaborative platform that allows for development in real-time, where teams in different locations can build the world while simultaneously playing the game live, with changes that take effect instantaneously. That is to say, no nightly builds are required with the HeroEngine. For us, the players, BioWare's use of the HeroEngine means Star Wars: The Old Republic may come to market sooner.
Hero's Journey, WRU?
We love the signs of spring; the green leaves on the trees; the children playing on the new grass; the annual news from long-in-development MMO, Hero's Journey. We have five new screenshots from the game, and we have to admit, they look absolutely fantastic. Like Darkfall Online, Hero's Journey is perennially on the verge of going into some sort of beta. And like Darkfall, they have promised the stove, refrigerator, cupboards AND kitchen sink to eager players.Hero's Journey features complete character customization, similar to Chronicles of Spellborn; a dual-class adventure progression similar to those seen in Final Fantasy XI and Guild Wars; and a reactive combat system, similar to that seen in Vanguard. We do hope to see Hero's Journey at some point, and look forward to hearing more about its progress next year.[Via Gamebunny]%Gallery-23631%
Why Fantasy, and not Science Fiction, Part Eleventy-Billion
As my compadre Eli writes here, there is reasoning available that Fantasy MMOs have flourished due to there being a greater preponderance of Fantasy titles, in various media, upon which to draw inspiration to sustain an MMO. The lack of substantive Science Fiction titles of the time, therefore, leads to the correlating dearth of such MMOs. However, this argument only mentions in passing what I think is the more crucial element, which is this:Fantasy titles are about the Hero's Journey, or the Epic. Science Fiction titles are about exploration of ideas. One of these story types makes for better adaptation to immersive gameplay. Guess which?Now, I will back up a bit and acknowledge that as a blanket statement, what I said does not (and should not be considered to) cover every Fantasy or Science Fiction title everywhere. Clearly, Star Wars is the most well-known Epic SF story, but then again, Lucas based the plot almost entirely on Joseph Campbell's monomyth, which was itself formulated around the epic myths and stories of history. And perhaps one of the finest Fantasy titles ever written, John Crowley's Little, Big, uses Fantasy tropes to examine the idea of the complexity of human relationships, rather than one character's journey to overcome evil. But having made those concessions, let me make my case.
