| Medium: PC CD-ROM
Type: Hero System Utility
Programmer: Dave Feldman
Publisher: Dex Card
Reviewer: Tony L. Page, Jr.
Price: $35.00 plus shipping from Herosphere.com System Requirements: (Taken from the website)
IBM-compatible PC
Intel Pentium II 233 MHz
Windows 95 or higher
64 MB RAM
12x CD-ROM
Windows compatible sound card
16-bit color monitor capable of 800x600 resolution Herosphere 1.0.1 is the newest version of the official simulator for Hero Games. This release is a basic combat simulator, while future versions look to expand beyond just combat.
Installation of Herosphere is fairly simple, although I was surprised that the CD didn't have an autorun feature. You simply copy the program files to your hard drive and load them using the CD.
After installing and loading Herosphere, you come to the Character Module. From here you can modify existing characters or create new ones. The character creation, at this point, focuses on basic characteristics and combat powers and skills. You can also choose a skin for the character from a set of pre-existing skins. Hero Games is also starting to release skins for characters on their official webpage. (www.herogames.com)
The next option, after character creation, is the Battle Map. From here, you can create maps and position characters on the board. The floor and wall texture sets are pretty limited at this point, as are the objects you can place on the map, but you can still put together a decent battlefield.
Next on the list would be the Options tab. This menu allows you enable and disable various options, as the name would suggest.
And finally, you come to the actual meat of the program: the Combat Simulator. This is where the characters you selected do battle on the map you created. After everything is set-up, the combat begins. The combat simulation is functional, if not visually appealing. It certainly speeds up the combat in some aspects by automatically calculating modifiers and figuring up damage and knock-back. Pressing the spacebar while in combat brings up the GM menu, which pauses the combat and allows you to change placement of characters or take them out of play. You can also toggle the hex grid by pressing the "G" key.
In closing, I'd recommend buying Herosphere if you have the money to spare and want to try out something new for your Hero System games. It's not quite an essential tool just yet, but I'm sure it will be in time. (This software was tested on an Athlon 900, 320 MB RAM, a Radeon 9000 Pro, and Windows 98 SE.) Usability: 
Versatility:
Character Creation:
GUI (Presentation):
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