The Dark Eye: Herokon Online

The Dark Eye: Herokon Online
Studio	Silver Style Studios
Publisher	Silver Style Studios
Erstveröffent- lichung	August 30, 2012 (open beta)
platform	Web browser
Game engine	Lightstream engine
genre	Browser game , MMORPG
Game mode	Multiplayer
control	Mouse , keyboard
medium	Digital distribution
language	German English

The Dark Eye: Herokon online was a browser - MMORPG from the German developer Silver Style Entertainment in the game world Aventurien of RPG rules The Dark Eye (DSA).

The development studio filed for bankruptcy in June 2014. In February 2015 the game servers were switched off.

Gameplay

The free-to-play - the browser game starts genre common with the character creation. Herokon Online uses the DSA rules 4.1. The player has the choice between different races and can then choose a so-called archetype, i. H. Select a pre-generated hero type. Alternatively, the player can also use extensive character creation menus to create a character according to their own ideas and in accordance with the rules.

The game is presented from a rigid, isometric overview perspective . The game character is navigated indirectly through the game world with the help of a point-and-click control. The game itself is endless and offers the user game incentives on different levels. On the one hand, he can accept role-playing tasks . Typically, these missions require combative confrontation with hostile creatures. For killing the opponent, the character receives adventure points, which can be used to develop skills with the help of trainers and depending on the character level of the character. However, not all missions can be completed by one character alone. In these cases, the player must team up with other players in order to take action against the enemy creatures. Furthermore there is the possibility to compete against the characters of other players in arenas.

development

Emergence

Herokon Online is the first title from Silver Style Studios. These emerged in 2010 when some employees of the insolvent German publisher The Games Company and its internal developer studio Silver Style Entertainment were founded . He had previously worked on the action role-playing game Das Schwarze Auge: Demonicon , which was taken over by the German publisher Kalypso Media with part of the workforce after the bankruptcy . The basis for Herokon Online was Silver Style's self- developed LightStream engine based on Adobe Flash . The game was officially announced in November 2011.

The game was created with the support of several DSA authors and artists. Long-time editors-in-chief Thomas Römer and Florian Don-Schauen contributed to the drafting, as did Jan Ulrich Lindner and Anton Weste . In the course also were Hadmar von Wieser , Mark Wachholz , Chris Gosse, Matthias friend and Lena Kalupner involved. The long-time DSA draftsman Uğurcan Yüce and the illustrator and former artistic director Melanie Maier were able to be won over for the artwork . The music was composed by the fantasy music formation Erdenstern .

Open beta and activation of the business model

After the game went into closed beta testing on January 10, 2012 , the so-called open beta started on August 30, 2012 . The online shop was activated at the same time. At the time of the Open Beta, a total of three regions around the Aventurian settlements "Greifenfurt", "Baliho" and "Trallop" were available, with three races and a total of nine professions to choose from.

In October 2012, Silver Style Studios announced the release of a map, quest and character editor, which should have the same scope as the developer tools and should enable players to expand the game world according to their own ideas. Silver Style Studios hoped to expand the scope of the game world, which would one day encompass the entire continent of Aventuria, with the help of players and fans of the role-playing game.

On January 13, 2014, Silver Style Studios expanded the game world to include the Thorwal region . In addition, the content of the Schicksalsklingen campaign from 1992 was continued. The authors of the new story are Thomas Römer, Matthias Freund and Lena Kalupner.

reception

Rating mirror

publication	Rating
Buffed	8 of 10
GamingXP	82%
IGN DE	8.5 out of 10

Sascha Penzhorn from Buffed praised the atmospheric staging, which is reflected in the richly detailed game world and the well-written, but without soundtrack dialogues. Compared to other games, the player is not bogged down by excessive limitation of the free game content. The DSA set of rules is very well implemented, but its complexity forces the player to work intensively with the character system. He criticized the real-time combat system as "moderately animated" and the performance of the artificial intelligence was inadequate.

“Herokon Online is full of fantastic stories, looks great with its lovingly detailed 2D graphics and impresses with the best soundtrack a browser game has ever had. As a DSA fan, I think the game is twice as great. Anyone who loves good role-playing games and deals a little with the rules will also get by without any prior knowledge. "

- Sascha Penzhorn : Test report Buffed.de

In the test of the online game magazine GamingXP, the author davevader also criticized the wobbly control and the rigid camera perspective. Overall, however, the tester was satisfied:

“What one person is happy is another person’s suffering, because the good atmosphere of“ Herokon Online ”only arises if one is familiar with the world and has the necessary background knowledge. For players who do not have this knowledge, there are probably better free-2-play games such as " The Lord of the Rings Online ", as the gameplay is simply easier there and everything is a bit more interactive. But if you know what you're doing, "Herokon Online" is exactly what DSA fans want. "

- davevader : Test report GamingXP

Awards

• Role Play Convention 2012: Most Promising Product
• MMO of the Year Awards 2013: Jury award for best browser MMORPG

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Julian Dasgupta: Silver Style (newly) founded. In: 4Players - The game magazine. September 17, 2010, accessed October 21, 2019 . 
2. ↑ Marcel Kleffmann: Kalypso Media takes over DSA: Demonicon. In: 4Players - The game magazine. September 21, 2010, accessed October 21, 2019 . 
3. ^ Silver Style Studios: Light Stream. ( Memento from December 27, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) In: LightStream-Engine.com . Retrieved October 21, 2019.
4. ↑ Anja Gellesch: New Free2Play browser MMORPG announced in the universe of "Das Schwarze Auge". ( Memento from November 3, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) In: Onlinewelten.com . November 1, 2011, accessed October 21, 2019.
5. ↑ Who is Who of DSA writes for Herokon Online. ( Memento from April 11, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ) In: Herokon Online . February 9, 2012, accessed October 21, 2019.
6. ↑ Ugurcan Yüce draws for Herokon Online. ( Memento from April 11, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ) In: Herokon Online . March 27, 2012, accessed October 21, 2019.
7. ↑ Former DSA Art Director working on Herokon Online. ( Memento from December 25, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) In: Herokon Online . February 29, 2012, accessed October 21, 2019.
8. ↑ Tobias Simon: The Black Eye: Herokon Online. Soundtrack CD on the approach. In: Gameswelt . October 16, 2012, accessed October 21, 2019 . 
9. ↑ Herokon Online closed beta started. ( Memento of May 4, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) In: Herokon Online . January 10, 2012, accessed October 21, 2019.
10. ↑ Open Beta started! ( Memento from January 19, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) In: Herokon Online . August 30, 2012, accessed October 21, 2019.
11. ↑ Open Beta Start on August 30, 2012. ( Memento from November 18, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) In: Herokon Online . August 27, 2012, accessed October 21, 2019.
12. ↑ Manuel Bauer: DSA - Herokon Online: Browser game comes with editor. In: Computer Bild . October 31, 2012, accessed October 21, 2019 . 
13. ↑ Masterful editor for Herokon Online. ( Memento from April 11, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ) In: Herokon Online . November 1, 2012, accessed October 21, 2019.
14. ↑ Lukas Dünnbier: Herokon Online: New Thorwal expansion. buffed.de , January 13, 2014, accessed October 21, 2019 . 
15. ↑ Andreas Bertits: Herokon Online continues the Saga of Destiny Blade . mmorpg.de, January 13, 2014, accessed October 21, 2019 . 
16. ↑ ^{a b c} Sascha Penzhorn: Herokon Online: The DSA browser MMORPG in the buffed test. In: buffed.de. December 8, 2012, accessed October 21, 2019 . 
17. ↑ ^{a b} davevader: Herokon Online. ( Memento from March 14, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) In: GamingXP . January 7, 2013, accessed October 21, 2019.
18. ↑ Robert Hähnel: Test for Herokon Online. ( Memento from December 11, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) In: IGN Entertainment . January 14, 2013, accessed October 21, 2019.
19. ^ Rae Grimm: Herokon Online on the RPC. ( Memento from July 17, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) In: IGN Germany. May 11, 2012, accessed October 21, 2019.
20. ↑ MMO of the Year 2013 Winners. Retrieved October 21, 2019 .