HI I'm fairly new to the game design world, and I'm wondering what the general consensus is regarding the best engine to use for MMOs? I need one with its out GUI editing suite, but also be open enough to use C++ rather than just scripting. I was going to go with Kaneva, but it seems to not have the freeform editing I'm looking for. Torque seems to have a good community, and it's certainly freeform enough, but I'm a little wary of it's licensing issues. It DOES seem the best way to go at the moment, however. Are there any I'm missing out on in your expert opinions? Thanks in advance for your advice.

Well, there are two ways to go. You can use opengl to make your game. Opengl is cheaper and a little more compatiple than torque. If you plan on making a very complex game (one that will take 6+ months to complete) go with torque. It makes things alot better. Just know that these languages require you to be efficient in C++ and a little win 32 programming

BKBen7, thanks but I'd prefer an answer to my question.

I'm not really interested in the 'start with tic-tac-toe' pep talk. I know my programming already. I just want to know what commercially viable game engine is best suited for MMOs with a decent amount of modability vs. ease of use.


vrok137, thanks I'll stick with torque then :-)

Well, I have bought 4 game engines before: Torque, DarkBASIC Pro, Blitz3d, and 3D game studio. DarkBASIC Pro is not the way to go, since they use both peer-to-peer and client server, both of which are not good for MMOs. Blitz3d is the same, but only uses DX7 making it less powerful on the graphics, sound, and all that stuff end. 3d game studio is a great product just as DarkBASIC Pro is, but it is not built for MMOs. If you have read the book, 3D Game Programming, it is all about using Torque and making fully functional games. Torque has the ability of using the zone system, much like c/s. Zone uses more than one server making it having the ablility of having unlimited players. Torque is your best bet, but they do not have a standard place for compilation. I do like their world editor, and you should probably use CShop or Quark for interiors. Torque is the only one that I have used that is built for Online games.

You should probably start with something simpler, like using DBP or something to make a basic FPS, or start with a small peer-to-peer game.

Mistro, thanks or the advice, but I think I'd rather use an existing engine for my first game, and go into creating my own if this one is successful. I'll keep an eye out for the book though.

Gamdev, thanks for confirming Torque for me! :-)