MMORPG Crash Course

[GoodVillain]

UPDATE: Read my game developer crash course too. http://truevision3d.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=7377

This is something you should read before you announce a MMORPG that may never happen. Its a simple check list of things you should know.

1. Know how to program. What ever language your using be sure you know it well.

2. Have time. This isnt something you can whip up in a matter of days or weeks. You should be ready to be working for a year or more on it.

3. Know how to use TV3D. Making a MMORPG you will use a lot out of TV3D. Be sure you know how to use all of TV3Ds features.

4. The TV3D community will bash you for it. Before announcing be sure you have some  screenys to wow them with. This is to show some proof that the project wont die in a week.

5. Have a team. This isnt something you can do by your self unless you will want to take a few years to work on the whole project by your self. Get some artists, music composers, the works.

6. Have a knowledge of networking. If you dont your games networking will suck and this will take your game down with it.

7. Be original. No one cares about another hack and slash that goes online except you. All projects need creativity.

8.Have experince. Yes this requires you to code the little things first. These are things like pong and tic tac toe. Your first games wont be the best games ever.

9. Make small online applications first. Maybe online pong or something. This lets you get an idea of how much network programming can be a pain in the ass.

10. Dont have high hopes. You gotta have some hopes or your project dies. But dont expect to be making the next SWG, EQ, UO, UT, CS, HL, ect. Just because you made an online game doesnt make it good.

11. Get a project manager or some project manager software. Oh boy will you need it.

12. Design your game before making it. This way you dont screw up in the middle of development and have to start over.

13. Make as many things server side as possible. If you dont your going to get F'ed in the A hole by a kiddie scriptor, cracker, or hacker. If its on the client side then it can be cracked and modded against you.

14. Encrypt everything. Theres some pretty clever people that know how to use packets to there advantage. Make sure they are encrypted.

15. Be prepared for the worst. sh** happens. You will understand this when your game is running.

[tweakbox]

where'd this come from all of a sudden?  Did I miss a bunch of people talking about their MMORPG's?

[newborn]

amen amen amen...

can we have that as a stickie !?

[darqSHADOW]

Stickied.  =)

DS

[JohnnyC]

[tweakbox]

well, it's not all about graphics.  Gameplay is more important than the best graphics.  Heck, look at runescape.com.  There's a lot of people that play that, and pay for it,  (not a great game exactly though IMHO) and the graphcis suck

[newborn]

well, it's not all about graphics.  Gameplay is more important than the best graphics.  Heck, look at runescape.com.  There's a lot of people that play that, and pay for it,  (not a great game exactly though IMHO) and the graphcis suck

Yes, you're absolutely right... For example, if I'm not mistaken, the EQ1 engine has been re-coded 4 times since it got out on DirectX6/7. The proof that gameplay is more important than graphics.

[Anti-Gremlin]

When it comes to MMORPG's it is ONLY about gameplay... graphics has NO involvement what so ever....


look at all MUD (text based) games... UO lasted a good 8 years? and that was 2D.


I say if you plan to make an MMORPG.. use everything that is stated above, and am your game having a lot of involvement by the players..dont just make it look nice, you will find out that people will get bored VERY quickly....

[GoodVillain]

On Loradon 2D we update the game several times a week. Most of the updates contain new graphics but players love the new features more then just the art. The game has stuck together in one piece not just because graphics but for the features and the community.

Some times graphics have to do with it. A lot of our players are playing because they have a slow network to download big games or there computer isnt powerful enough to run a lot of the 3d games out there. So to get around this they pick a light weight game such as Loradon 2D.

Loradon 2D is getting a 3D version released at the end of this year. But I still expect the 2D version to be pretty populated.

Sure you could make a game with godly graphics yet crappy features. Just no ones going to want play that.

[BYTE-Smasher]

Anti-gremlin: UO is still around!!!!! ...........
............
.........
...... that is all....

[Anti-Gremlin]

UO has died on its arse though...

I classed it as dead when EA bought it.

[GoodVillain]

Still alive and kicking. The free shard thing is doing really well. I used to script free shards until I lost interest in UO.

[polygone]

oh...then artists arent needed anymore...hehe

anyway, most graphics for mmorpgs are very bad...

[Anti-Gremlin]

I still code some UO shards from time to time...

but now and days the people that run shards are crap and want so much stuff that is useless it aint funny...

[GoodVillain]

I still code some UO shards from time to time...

but now and days the people that run shards are crap and want so much stuff that is useless it aint funny...

Yeah. I was with RunUO since its very early development. It was cool seeing what you could script then but it got old. Feels really player worldsish now because they are all pretty much the same. Same features, same mean communitys, same poor staff members on ever shard. Everynow and then you find one with EVERYTHING custom and those are pretty cool. Its amazing how the worlds most customized online game can get old so fast.

[Anti-Gremlin]

I started making UO Shards back when only Fuse existed (First UO Emulator to ever exist)

Then i went to Sphere, then POL, then RunUO, even coded my own at one stage for Abyss (Colour Faction Wars aka OSI style back in the days)

[JeT]

Hmmm about the packets, I think most games also now keep some kinda temp cache of previous values, so the client can't intercept the packets before they get to the game and give himself an advantage.

I dunno... the whole networking thing is never gonna be 100% cheat free, but a good side of being an indie developer is that you're not targeted much/at all by the big cheating groups around.

[GoodVillain]

http://www.devmaster.net/articles/building-mmorpg/ Very good article on starting an MMORPG. If your still wanting to make one you should check this out.

[nitro]

yes i agree
gameplay and fun , diversity of actions or things to do are the more important !

for example i play conker's bad fur day on an N64 mulator :
I know this isn't an mmorpg but :
the graphics is cool not with shaders and all taht stuff , but very cool
and this is a very fun game with great gameplay!
there aren't a lot of games that have a great gameplay and a lot of fun !

the graphic is not the essential thing !

[LegendBreath]

Ok, I'm gonna tell u more of my game... it will be full 3d, we are 9 peoples working on it (we are currently searching for more), i have ALOT of time (beside school), and I will use VB.net because I have 4 years of experience with vb, and I've been coding for 1 and a half year with TV3D (remember WhiteShadow (or WhiteShadowX i dont rembember lol) ?), u can check our website www.legendbreath.tk (dont wanna pay for a real hosting until game is finished!)

If anyone have some spare time and could help us, we need programmers (VB.NET), 3d modelers, and 2d artworks.

Current Team:
Programmer: 1 (me)
3D Modelers: 3
2D Artwork: 5