No, Zen 5 is a simple 2D top down game. I play(ed) it until the micro-transations got ridiculous. It's a tile map and sprites. But that's beyodn the point, because he was talking about the look and style, not the code-base, which I know is something this community has a very hard time grasping.

are we on the same game here, because that game while probably having a tile engine system, does not appear to be a simple "top-down" 2D game. it has alot of depth for it's 2D images, the movement ontop of that grid is very fluid and smooth, and gives a great sense of depth. it is by no means a "simple" tile engine. for example, skip to 2:00 into the game, the player moves across the bridge like it's 3D, but i'm very doubtful they went full 3D environments, and more than likely uses a system similar to older final fantasy series.

But with an attitude with yours, I'm sure it's more than impossible in ten years. It happens in every creative community. Those who want to create, create, and those who can't just hang around those that can and talk about it every day for years, producing nothing. But it's fun to throw those buzz words around!

also, i'm sorry ApochPiQ, but are you being serious right now. I've spent years dedicating to my craft(as have many others on this forum), and in a single instant you've insulted pretty much everyone on these forums. Every person here whom posts is working toward some goal, very few posts on this forum are about coding in general, but are more about how to achieve a certain "effect", or how to do something in a game yet for some reason you have a belief that people are just hanging around, doing nothing.

also, i'm sorry ApochPiQ, but are you being serious right now.

You mean MrDaark right....?

Yes, the nay-sayer's point is very far from "Sit down, shut up, you will never make it in a million years so don't even bother trying", but rather "You have a lot to learn, so prepare to slow way down and take this one step at a time."

First step will be learning to program. No matter what tool you try to use, if you understand a programming language and can solve problems, you will have a vastly easier time creating a video game.

So, can someone build a decent little RPG in 6 months with good tools? Absolutely!

Should a full fledged RPG be the first thing they try to create? Oh Hell No!

You want to take things slowly, build your understanding, and work toward being able to handle a project of the scale of an RPG. You need to learn how to chop problems up in to smaller bits so that each can be tackled in turn, and if you start off with "I'm going to do this huge massive thing!", then you are going to get yourself bogged down and waste far more time flailing around uselessly.

Good luck, have fun, enjoy the ride, and learn all that you can along the way.

Typical useless, bullshit, GDNet knee jerk post.

This is the epitome of why this forum blows. If you're not going to leave a thread better off than how you found it, why bother posting?

The OP says that he has about 18 months to finish a MMORPG and basis it on Zenomia 5. On top of that, he admits that he is a beginner. Also, he's going to present this to some judges. You really think this is possible to do, in that time frame, with the needed polish, and testing....? It's one thing if he wants to make a game. A simple game. I've post the list later (I've done it 10 times now). That's cool. But designing even Zelda --offline-- is not something you can just design in a month and code in a couple of months. There are play mechanics, artwork, level design, sound, storyline, and character design. And that's before you even figure out in what way are you going to make this online.

So telling the OP that he's biting off a bit more than he can chew is doing him a service. Especially if he isn't proficient in Java yet. Based on what he's said, he's still learning that as well.

Zenonia 5 is an simple android top down action RPG. It's 90% design and 10% programming. It's not some big, insurmountable goal.

Maybe simple for you, but I doubt it would be for him. The deadline makes the goal even harder than it should be.

For android you'll want Java (read a book and learn it all first, if you jump ahead, you'll spend your entire year stuck on trivial things) + libGDX (don't touch until you complete a java book) will cover your programming needs.

So he's gonna learn from a book --all of the book-- and ask questions here. Be proficient in Java (well proficient enough) to then go straight into game development and create this game. All in 18 months?

RPG Maker (now available on steam) is a much better choice, but they don't seem to have android support. The developer says they have been working on Android support, but that doesn't mean it's coming any time soon, or that it will even work well.

I've used Game Maker before. And if RPG Maker is anything like it, then he is still going to have to learn that API inside and out to do non-trivial things. Not everything is going to be drag-and-drop. And even drag-and-drop is not 100% straightforward.

Character design is not a technical thing. Get a pencil and a notepad and start creating. Figure out what your game is going to be about first, and then design characters that will take on the roles needed. When your design is finished, you'll know exactly what you need and an start working on them in a paint program.

Character, game, or level design is time-consuming. You can spend months --not weeks-- doing it. And for a MMORPG, you'll be doing a lot of it.

Keep your game small, simple, and focused. If you want to finish it in a year and a half starting from scratch you'll have to dial it back to something small, like 1 town and one randomly generated dungeon. If you can finish that, you can use it as a nice base to keep working on another game after that.

I agree with this advice. But this advice doesn't help the OP with his initial goal of a Zenonia 5 MMORPG. If anything, it just reinforces what I and others have said: "Lower the bar, keep small".

also, i'm sorry ApochPiQ, but are you being serious right now.

You mean MrDaark right....?

yes, everything after "I'm sorry ApochPiQ" bit is directed at MrDarrk, i was apologizing to ApochPiQ that i wasn't going to heed his words for keeping things civil, or at least what i said was potentially escalating this thread even further.

Now I'm curious if the OP has actually changed his goals for his project.