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Explore the mysterious realm of Solumvale and uncover its ancient secrets. On your journey, you will encounter unique and lively characters, original and immersive quests, gain experience to heighten your natural talents, and use everything at your disposal to vanquish evil and unlock your true potential.
Do you have what it takes to rise to the status of Hero?
Shine Your Light
Whether you seek the knowledge of the Ancient Texts, the hidden treasures of extinct civilizations, or simply to defend the innocent from lurking evils, it is your destinynay, your birthrightto heed the call and venture forth to earn the title: Hero.
HeroBound relies on heavily-scripted quests with immersive dialogue, unique choices, stimulating puzzles, and impactful resolutions. The story drives the game world, so there is no need for the tiresome filler quests you may see in other games, such as “Slay 100 monsters and return for a reward.” Your inventory of powerful items and the talents you have mastered should serve to aid your adventures and discovery of the realm; not vise-versa.Additionally, as the name implies, the story will always emphasize the heroic qualities that are increasingly rare in this age of moral ambiguity. The post-modern protagonists can make an interesting story here and there, but will these stories stand the test of time like those classic fables and Myths where Good always conquers evil? We think not!
Relax And Enjoy
Blow off some steam after completing that challenging quest by playing dice at a nearby Inn, enriching your coffers by trading with fellow adventurers, or simply enjoy the zen of fishing in the countryside. We all enjoy a good challenge, but it's important to find time to relax.
Everyone has different play styles and skill levels, and it's our aim to make sure you have a great experience by providing balance between them. We don't want a game so difficult that a casual player is unable to experience the bulk of it, nor so easy as to make milestones feel pointless. The mark of a good game is one where the time spent playing never feels wasted; to the contrary, we want our players to feel like they gained something of value every time they play.The reason the Web was chosen as the platform for HeroBound was to ensure it would be easily accessible. No downloads, no installations. Play it anytime, anywhere, for whatever length of time best suits you. It's this same philosophy that drives the overall game design. And while we may be partial to more challenging and competitive elements, we're always mindful of the more casual environment that has been crafted for the game.At the end of the day, we're confident that even a “browser game” can deliver a rich and exciting MMORPG experience.
Be Your Own Master
There is always room for improvement for the aspiring Hero. Master your abilities by raising your natural talents for combat and craftsmanship. Specialize in one attribute or maintain a perfect balance of Body, Mind and Spirit. The choice is yours!
HeroBound offers an intricate, yet approachable skill system (called Talents) based on the three primary attributes of the human constitution, viz., Body, Mind, and Spirit. Each talent is associated with one or more attribute, whether it serves the purpose of combat (Combat Talent) and is limited by the overall attribute score(s), or for trade (Artisan Talent) and serves to raise the overall attribute score(s). There are a total of 21 Talents, 15 Artisan, 6 Combat, which does not include the meta-abilities that are not raised directly, such as your Combat Level and Life Level.More details will be provided in the near future on the game's wiki page.
Misers Be Damned!
Never worry about pay walls, exploitative micro-transactions, or other dishonest tactics that plague today's video game market.
HeroBound will NEVER include pay-to-win or so-called “freemium” revenue models. There will only ever be one subscription tier that brings with it all of the same benefits for every subscribed player, without any options to purchase additional in-game benefits, such as “gems” or other repulsive gimmicks. We believe in holding at least a small amount of integrity and will rely on the game to sell itself without cheap marketing tactics or engagement ploys. This includes “daily tasks” and other features designed to take advantage of the player's fear of missing out to keep them in the game and drive up engagement stats.This must suffice for this topic, lest it digresses into a long-winded rant ridiculing developers and studios that use these models (even if such ridicule is well-deserved).Development Progress
HeroBound is currently in its alpha stage, implementing the core mechanics and game features that will be needed for the upcoming closed beta. We are working hard to get everything done quickly and move up the timeline, but as with any development project, precise time estimates are extremely difficult.
As it stands, the following features are complete:
- Core (ECS) Game Engine
- BabylonJS Rendering Implementation
- Client HUD & Interface
- Scalable Client/Server Architecture
- Persistent Storage
- Questing System
- NPC Dialogue
- Talent Framework
- Interaction System
- Inventory & Equipment
- Item Storage
- Chat & Game Log
- Notifications
- Pathfinding
- Crafting Framework
- World Editor
- Day/Night Cycle
- Client Movement Interpolation
- Animation Baking
The following are functional but need more content or polish:
- User Accounts
- Melee Combat & Talents
- Forestry Talent
- Mining Talent
- Blacksmithing Talent
- Loot Drops
- Factions
- Chat Commands & Emotes
- Direct Messaging
- Story Content
In addition to completing the above features, the following are planned for the open beta:
- Survival, Fishing, Cooking, Crafting & Woodworking Talents
- Scripted Dialogue, Quests, Scenery & Music
- More Items
- Trading
- Automated Deployment
- Friends List
- Parental Controls
- Game Wiki
- Payment Processing
More detailed information will be available in the near future, including a proper development roadmap for the open beta and beyond. In the meantime, stay connected to stay up to date with the game's development, and check the footage and screenshots from the tech demo below.
Frequently Asked Questions
When will HeroBound be released?
The closed beta is scheduled to begin on November 1st of this year. The anticipated open beta release should closely follow in Q1, 2025.
The registration is currently OPEN for the upcoming beta test.
How much will it cost?
We have not made any decisions concerning subscription costs yet. Ideally, we would have a free tier for players to be able to play a certain portion of the game, and then subscribe to the paid tier if they are enjoying the game.
More info regarding price will appear following the closed beta.
How do I join the closed beta?
Start by filling out the registration form. If selected, you will be notified at the email provided before October 31st. You can also stay connected for the latest updates and development blog posts.
Will it be child-friendly?
We do not have an official content rating, nor do we have any plans for obtaining one, but when it comes to the elements of the game, 13+ would be a conservative rating. The most “adult” themes planned are fantasy violence, alcohol consumption, drug references, and PG romance. However, even with moderation (which can never be perfect), online interactions can vary widely. Communication in HeroBound is currently limited to text-chat, with an optional profanity filter (for players 18+), and visual, G-rated emotes coming in the future.
Very basic parental controls are planned for players under 16 that will hide all public chat channels, and require parental approval (via separate mobile app or email) for adding friends. In this mode, only approved friends will be able to communicate with the player (excluding the visual emote system). In the end, young players will always require parental supervision for any online game, but HeroBound will be geared towards a general audience.
Who is developing HeroBound?
HeroBound™ is independently owned and developed by Zimmed, LLC. As of now, there is only one full-time contributor who is both the creator and sole developer of HeroBound. He is, however, teamed with a few part-time contributors who help with various elements such as 3D graphics, UI design, music, etc. Hopefully the team will continue to grow as time goes on (and revenue comes in).
How long has HeroBound been in development?
The creator began development of HeroBound in late September / early October of 2023.
With all of its limitations, why target web browsers?
As mentioned previously, our goal is to make HeroBound easily accessible to both hardcore and casual players. We believe the best way to do this is to make the game available without requiring any downloads or installations. As far as limitations go, the gap between native applications and web browsers is continually closing, and with it, those limitations. Even one of the biggest limitations, requiring all client-server communication to use TCP/IP, is disappearing with the introduction of the Web Transport API which allows UDP-like communication. Sure, WebGL will most likely never be as performant as OpenGL or DirectX, but we believe for our game that the benefits of an accessible web game outweigh those of native applications.
We may, in the future, offer native clients in addition to the web client, but currently have no plans to do so.
What browsers are comptaible?
We prefer Brave Browser, which uses Google's Chromium (except on iOS), but is built for user privacy.
Additionally, HeroBound works well in Chrome, FireFox, Edge, and Safari > 16.4.
Will I be able to play it on my mobile device?
The answer to this is... potentially.
HeroBound is not currently optimized for mobile devices, although it will, technically, run on them. For the initial release, HeroBound will only be playable from desktop/laptop computers and most tablet devices, but we plan to get the client working on phones in the future.
Are you hiring?
No. As this is an independent project, our funds are extemremely limited and we can't afford to bring anyone else on at this time.
That said, if you want to contribute in other ways, feel free to reach out to us.