So you want to make an MMORPG?
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So you want to make a MMORPG? Or any type of game for that matter? I will let you in on a few secrets that will help you reach your goals.
1. Write down what you would REALLY like to achive with your goals.
2. Read what you wrote down and consider just how that goal is actually going to be fulfilled.
3. Write down your new goals you would like to achive. Read and repete process until you can no longer use a pen and paper to reach your goals.
The above example is extremely simple but it is effective. Now if your smart expand upon it into other areas. Some logical steps might be to start on a design document or doing some research. With a little digging you would be surprised at what has already been done. Take this and expand.
Set to work. Get to work. Make it happen, however possible, if that is what you want to do. Because your game will never become finshed with just a good idea.
Thank you for humoring me.
I''ve read somewhere (I think in some forum post from an industry professional) that MMO games are very tough to implement, and that its just not something for the spare-time game developer (like many of us here).
I suspect that it is true. How many MMORPGs and other MMO games have come from small bands of amateur developers?
It does seem a bit outrageous to announce intentions of making a MMORPG, without any experience in making even a simple single player design.
I suspect that it is true. How many MMORPGs and other MMO games have come from small bands of amateur developers?
It does seem a bit outrageous to announce intentions of making a MMORPG, without any experience in making even a simple single player design.
We used to laugh at the newbies who wanted to write a first person shooter like Quake, the game of the moment. We knew that maybe one in fifty or so would actually succeed, and by ''succeed'' we were being generous. The more design-biased newbies would want to write RPGs, and again we could laugh as RPGs are notoriously difficult to complete due to the masses of content required.
These days, the same type of newbie comes along and says that they want to make an MMORPG, which is the current flavour of the month. This is even more futile, as an MMORPG requires 90% of the graphical element of first person shooters like Quake, a more robust networking model than any shooter, all the complexity of RPGs, plus social issues that even the industry giants haven''t cracked yet. It''s even more laughable.
Now, I expect a very small minority of people will actually go on to succeed. But I really wouldn''t recommend trying it on that basis. The odds are against you, and failure is discouraging, so it''s always better to start small. Just look at the first games written by the likes of Richard Garriot or John Carmack to see what I mean by ''small''.
[ MSVC Fixes | STL | SDL | Game AI | Sockets | C++ Faq Lite | Boost | Asking Questions | Organising code files ]
These days, the same type of newbie comes along and says that they want to make an MMORPG, which is the current flavour of the month. This is even more futile, as an MMORPG requires 90% of the graphical element of first person shooters like Quake, a more robust networking model than any shooter, all the complexity of RPGs, plus social issues that even the industry giants haven''t cracked yet. It''s even more laughable.
Now, I expect a very small minority of people will actually go on to succeed. But I really wouldn''t recommend trying it on that basis. The odds are against you, and failure is discouraging, so it''s always better to start small. Just look at the first games written by the likes of Richard Garriot or John Carmack to see what I mean by ''small''.
[ MSVC Fixes | STL | SDL | Game AI | Sockets | C++ Faq Lite | Boost | Asking Questions | Organising code files ]
Talk about that... I''ve been creating my RPG for 6 years now.
Man it''s going to beat all games that were ever made
Man it''s going to beat all games that were ever made
quote:We used to laugh at the newbies who wanted to write a first person shooter
quote:The more design-biased newbies would want to write RPGs, and again we could laugh
quote:the same type of newbie comes along and says that they want to make an MMORPG... ...It''s even more laughable.
/me thinks that Kylotan spends too much time laughing at other people.
Good thing that you laughed at people wanting to make MMOGs, AC was done by a group of amateurs. DAoC was made in 18 months, including a rewrite of the skills.
While I think that these aren''t two of the best examples of the genre (actually I think that there aren''t any good examples right now, EQ was good when it came out, as was UO, but those seem to be the exceptions), DAoC is largely successful, with over 200k subscriptions, if their press release wasn''t misleading (stating total subscriptions, including cancelled) and AC was pretty much rather blah, but it had/has a very loyal following. I''m pretty sure that Microsoft is happy enough with what they achieved that they are having them make a much more powerful game that will be the centerpiece of their online gaming offerings for the X-Box.
I''m suprised that you are a moderator in the forums for a game development site that is (95%) compromised of amateurs and ''newbies'' (at least to the gaming industry) and you spend most of your time laughing at them. Maybe you should resign your position if all you do is laugh at the ''newbie'' developers, or maybe qualify your statements a little better.
quote:Maybe you should resign your position if all you do is laugh at the ''newbie'' developers, or maybe qualify your statements a little better.
I''d rather hear laughter when I propose an idea, even ridiculing laughter, than lies (''sure, go ahead, make that MMORPG. You can do it!''). There''s something refreshing about someone saying ''you can''t do that''. Of course, a statement like that goes in better when it comes paired with ''but, you do this much easier thing and then perhaps one day move on to more difficult things.''
Dreaming can be nice... but it can also be a waste of time. I''ve banged my head enough times by now, but I still dream too much. Good thing we have people like Kylotan around
Of course I would assume that Kylotan is a very successful game developer himself...right...?
The problem for newbies is they see "MMORPG" when that isn''t the case. There''s "MMO" and "RPG." Once you see it at two seperate concepts and can visualize multiplayer when writing code, turing any game to a MMO game is cake.
Gang Wars (MMORPG) was written in 10 days from design to release (see site for source code). Newbies can do it and in a reasonable amount of time (6 months to a year I''d guess). I''m not exactly new at this genre so I can do it significantly faster.
When designing an MMORPG you don''t consider what the MMO part can and cannot do. Forget MMO. Focus only on the RPG part. Once you have a working RPG (graphics, sound, input) then worry about MMO.
It took a week to turn Tombstone from single player to MMO having never done an MMO before simply because the code was designed like an MMO even though it was single player.
Also there''s a huge difference between amature and newbie. A newbie is new and uneducated. An amature just isn''t paid. Amature doesn''t define skill. Newbie does. A newbie could not create Gang Wars in 10 days. An experienced amature could. And no, a newbie should not attempt an MMO of any genre they have never done as a single player first. Do the RPG first. Then add MMO.
Ben
IcarusIndie.com [ The Rabbit Hole | The Labyrinth | DevZone | Gang Wars | The Wall | Hosting ]
Gang Wars (MMORPG) was written in 10 days from design to release (see site for source code). Newbies can do it and in a reasonable amount of time (6 months to a year I''d guess). I''m not exactly new at this genre so I can do it significantly faster.
When designing an MMORPG you don''t consider what the MMO part can and cannot do. Forget MMO. Focus only on the RPG part. Once you have a working RPG (graphics, sound, input) then worry about MMO.
It took a week to turn Tombstone from single player to MMO having never done an MMO before simply because the code was designed like an MMO even though it was single player.
Also there''s a huge difference between amature and newbie. A newbie is new and uneducated. An amature just isn''t paid. Amature doesn''t define skill. Newbie does. A newbie could not create Gang Wars in 10 days. An experienced amature could. And no, a newbie should not attempt an MMO of any genre they have never done as a single player first. Do the RPG first. Then add MMO.
Ben
IcarusIndie.com [ The Rabbit Hole | The Labyrinth | DevZone | Gang Wars | The Wall | Hosting ]
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