Our Unusual Story
Ludovick here is from Chulainn X, and he loves metals. Can you tell?
Unlike many futuristic RPGs, Ship of Heroes has a bright, positive setting that is worth protecting. Despite all the potential threats, civilians aboard the FHS Justice have prosperous, exciting, and surprisingly safe lives. This is reflected in the bright, beautiful, clean city you’ll explore; it’s the kind of place many of us would like to visit in real life! Anyone can rise to greatness through hard work and determination aboard the Justice. And you can be confident that other good guys will have your back, no matter what invasions and attacks you may experience.
Tiny nanites keep the streets of Apotheosis City perfectly clean.
The 25th century is the most interesting time to be alive. People have more options than ever before to rise to greatness: hero powers unlocked by Dust exposure, magic learned and honed over decades, advanced weapons and armor, cybernetic implants, genetic augmentation, interactions with alien species, and more. And different people are taking these options in very different directions. But no matter how much our abilities may change, our shared humanity and common enemies keep most people united aboard the ship – and you’ll have chances to help maintain that common culture in missions. You can create characters with an immense variety of motives and goals while still fitting into the broader story.
Cyborgs use their fashion sense to fit in. At least they think they do…
But not all stories are told with words. Just walking around Apotheosis City, or visiting planets can give you a sense of what kind of place they are. In the same way, SoH gives you unprecedented freedom to customize your character with a look that is uniquely yours. Are you serious, or silly? Quiet, or the center of attention? Your appearance and backstory are great ways to answer those questions in a game that’s all about creating epic tales!
We at SoH already have detailed plans for how the current storylines will expand over hundreds of future missions, with twists and reactions that make sense given each of the main NPC character’s beliefs. The things you learn about the NPCs and factions at level one will often be relevant much later on, and a mission or comment in one arc can shed light on a completely different mission elsewhere. It’ll take more than one character – or some dedicated searching – to uncover all of the galaxy’s secrets, This complexity will only grow as we expand the game. Luckily, there are many ways to level up your characters and become powerful.
“Maybe I should buy a hooded robe to blend in…” – Cyborg in the Magic Bazaar
Ship of Heroes is designed from the ground up to immerse you in the feeling of being super, in cutscenes and combat alike. A hero with good augments and a clever attack chain can fight a small army and win, even at the middle levels of experience; only similarly exceptional foes are a deadly threat. You’ll find that many people aboard the FHS Justice already understand this… and a few villains need to see it firsthand.
The story and gameplay are woven together in other ways, too. What’s the difference between hero powers and magic? How can different heroes return with rare loot after doing the same mission, or from doing one mission several times? Why is the FHS Justice so wealthy, on average? We’re not going to spoil the story with answers here, but you’ll find them while playing, if you look carefully enough.
The FHS Justice’s mages are known to be wealthy from magic item sales.
You can dive deep into these subtle details… or learn them at your own pace. Cutscenes are generally skippable. Dialog can be read, or listened to with automated voiceovers like an audiobook, or even ignored entirely… though doing so is risky. Many challenges are hinted at, and your choices affect how NPCs will behave in future missions, for good or ill. You could play SoH for the challenging combat, or just to tell your own heroic story, and only get excited about the lore much later on. It’ll still be there, and it’ll still be fun and engaging.
Help others discover Ship of Heroes
Our innovative story is one of the big reasons why Ship of Heroes is worth playing. In addition to challenging combat, and pretty graphics, it’s an awesome setting in which you can be the hero of your own story, directed by you. And that’s not always possible in this age of curated “content.” To see some of the story, as well as cool explosions and shiny loot, keep an eye out for our upcoming summer event! We’ll be there with something you won’t want to miss.
Ship of Heroes has had 9 public events
2017
Login Test
Character Creator Alpha
2018
Combat Alpha
2019
Character Creator Beta
2020
Community Event
Invasion Combat Beta
2021
Mission Beta
2022
Player Housing 1st Beta
Player Housing 2nd Beta
Technical Notes
1. In the last few years, Ship of Heroes has had some major upgrades in graphics quality. We’ve added virtual texturing, and eliminated all of the low-resolution textures from the game. We’ve implemented a series of engine upgrades from Epic. We’ve extended and improved our own internal system of graphical balancing called CROM. We’ve had a major effort to upgrade and add to the costume selection, along with preset heads and faces for the CCT. The FX are vastly better, and there’s an awesome day/night cycle now. And our migration to scalable servers is helping, too.
2. Missions in Ship of Heroes are available at different difficulty levels, and there is more than one way to manage difficulty. For those looking to be challenged, you will find challenge. For those looking to enjoy a social team event, you will also find what you are looking for.
3. One of the other little changes that players may notice, particularly if they participated in our early Betas, is the substantial increase in numbers and variety of NPCs. Civilian NPCs in the city have had a makeover, with new characters, costumes, and faces, as well as improved appearances and animations, compared to the placeholder civilians used in early testing. The looks and powers of the enemy factions have expanded, as well; in keeping with the story of the game, you’ll see just how dangerous they really are.
The SoH Villains
In SoH, the bad guys don’t just react to the heroes, they react to each other. It’s a real, immersive, and engaging story. The enemy groups in SoH are all unique; there are no zombies or Nazis here. They look very different, they have different – and competing – goals, and they have different methods of achieving their goals. Their motives are different, and their powers are different. We’re constantly making small changes and additions to these factions to expand and improve the lore of SoH; we’ve defined four already, and you can expect more enemy groups in the future.
The Attuned and the Red Sigil:
While superhero mages tend to fall into a few general categories, there are countless types of magic in the galaxy, including some odd outliers that are difficult to classify. A few theorists even claim that there are as many types of magic as there are mages, because no two mages’ spells are exactly alike. The Justice‘s meritocratic culture has meshed well with these various magical traditions over the centuries, spawning numerous organizations of mages ranging from groups of a few friends to massive institutions.
Yekus Mercenary Clan
By the 23rd century, humans had burst out of their home system and were colonizing and exploring. The galaxy was a busy place – many species, many worlds, many technologies – and the incredible and inexplicable became almost routine. One thing that surprised no one was that we had entered a galaxy with hundreds, perhaps thousands of organizations that would, under various circumstances, act as military muscle for hire; mercenaries were everywhere. It did not take even one generation before human mercenary groups joined the fray, and human and mixed human/alien mercenary groups now regularly compete for contracts.