[HELP wanted]AR_Completed

[Xeander]

This project began long before most people knew what a PC was. The main reason the PC wasn't. I am the oldest member of our team and the most experienced however, I do not claim the position of team leader.
I spent 6 years assisting my oldest son in acquiring the 3 degrees necessary
to properly control a MMO project. And it is he that leads this team.

Aaron aka Arn is our creative artist. His love and understanding of the roots of Good v/s Evil DnD type scenarios is of great value to us.
Along with gaming expertise he is a great artist and encourages us all to
refine our creative skills to highest possible level.

David aka Davox a name he took from my first FULL Corporation Davox Management Inc. Is a very quiet man and creative author. He masters all .NET languages and competes in 3DS modeling contents. When others were struggling to finish their first project in college he took the initiative to build a retail client and pre-sold it to an Idaho College.
At age 12 when I was busy teaching him the basics of Digital Techniques
I gave him control of my storefront called Video World of Phoenix a sub division of Davox Management Inc. In his first 3 weeks he doubled the daily average revenues. it is this fast thinking and fast action that is his strength. He only lacks the level of confidence shared by his father and teacher.

William .. aka Xeander in recent years with the EnB alpha phases the name was randomly created for my wife to use I was still using my pseudo Ryjak. After the major publish failure and collapse of the EnB project I adopted the name as my primary pseudo.
I am 52 years old and date my programming experience back to age 14
in Rodeo California where I worked with Mobil Oil employees on creating Boolean Algebra equivalents of the vacuum tube logic being used for the production of gasoline and other petroleum based products. The final output of those 2 years was the patent and production by Texas Instruments and Sylvania Corp of the 7400 TTL logic IC series. The very beginning of the modern computer.
I authored the final version of BBCS a home programmers tool for running a home BBS on Atari 8 home computers. My main memory of the whole project is having to de-compile all the assembler source from the install floppies and 14 patches that produced a product so bad that Antic Magazine the publisher was amidst a Federal lawsuit for fitness issues when I released my code changes at pre-internet CIS and the lawsuit was dismissed as a result. Anyone old enough to remember pre-internet
computer usage should recognize my Forum Admin pseudo Bartender.
I had developed a special Antic code list during the re-write and it was adopted for use in 2 major Atari projects.
1) Alternate Reality : the Dungeon sequel to the City. My display list was used to produce pop up 3D combat windows on a 6502 based PC and dramatically changed the computer world in the following years.
2) The same display list was used by a Japanese student at Berkley to produce an Air Traffic Controller simulation with TRUE speech by routing POKEY data thru the ANTIC prior to Wyhsync. Also another major impact on then immature computer technologies and applications.

My pen and paper project evolved in several directions thru sharing of whiteboard concepts and disclosure of hardware and software processes to implement them.

When I joined 2 Hamden trainers together with fibre optic threads from a Kmart damaged merchandise bin using 3 control ports and infra red diodes and transistors TWO major things happened in the next few months.
1) Wang produced Wang-net
2)Vcr's were produced using new sensors based on infra-red sensing instead of metal foil sensing leaders.

I began a project with several High School Student to produce the pre-release of "Starbase! 50/50" final release came in 2 titles
Spaceward Ho! completely destroyed by Broderbund on release version.
And Stars! which is still an active internet multiplayer PBEM game.
I find it funny that both of them kept the "!" in the name.

With pre-Neverax Ryzom alpha stages I spent hours in chat with 2 different developers debugging Lua scripts.
Altho my music concepts for SWG were superior to the ones finally used
they were not used because they offered so much performance freedom as to open the door to Copyright infringement by public performances.
With D.o. I worked as one of 12 GmH's thru the early alpha and beta stages. The splitting of the project and the renaming to EMH and lack of creativity by the final team caused me to surrender my posistion and leave the project.

Since then during my son's first degree in 3D game design I purchased Torque Graphic Engine and the RTS add-on and produced the final build solution of TGE and RTS version 1.4. It is clearly documented on the Garage Games private forums. The build was so successful it spawned version 1.5 in 82 days following my uploading of all materials to
both Garage Games and Synapse. I only built it to allow my son to use a better engine tool on his final project. The community and GG programmers had been struggling for 18 months to produce the successful build. It took me 19 days with a totally new and foreign piece of code the engine itself and the compiler was new to me I downloaded it just after the product from Microsoft.

-----THE PROJECT ITSELF-----

Now that basic background is delivered I want to discuss, as clearly as possible, the concepts and designs of this game.
From past experiences with TGE environment and the David Rosen and Lockpick publish of my publicly disclosed design, I will forego specifics
in public forum posting.

After careful examination of many engine solutions, I will list those that had the most promise for our publish goals.

Panda3D exceptional quality light on tools and rendering is low to medium quality for DX rendering.
DX Studio promises great things but has many undisclosed issues.
After pointing out some of these in public forum my posts were eased by the forum admin. Doesn't change the facts.
Elemental Engine II possesses great potential however the author and developer is a poor communicator and documenter. And has based his project on no longer available resources from version 8 ATL and MFC.
And fails to provide in his SVN what he claims to be public files.
Kaneva never saw the development phase it was announced I was one of the first 4 to enter the developer elite and it never became a viable engine for publish.
TGE - the best ever game produced with it is Minions of Mirth
that pretty sums up its potential and it was passed for that reason.

There have been many more that just don't need to be mentioned.
With one exception. The engine used by Gas Powered Games to produce Dungeon Siege would be PERFECT however GPG has a trash on receipt policy for any email contact concerning that product. Microsoft will drag you round in circles for weeks avoiding any discussion of resurrecting their ABANDONED software engine. So on we move.

Irrlicht..exception FPS rendering options and great texture mappings and rendering. Easily used and modified and a large wealth of public resources. And its free to produce a commercial product with.

This brings me to the games intentions regarding audience.

----The Expected Audience----

Free to Play publisher with revenue sharing thru Cash Shop .
Initial purchase price by publisher targeting $600,000 USD

Use by Nvidia FX series PCI and AGP video cards as not a minimum
but optimal minimum for the final production.
500 M Ram compatibility and 200-400k minimum D/L bandwidth.
Basically anything from a Cricket wireless connection UP.

Audience will be from multitudes of players who currently play MMORPG's
either on a Retail client and no fees basis or F2P with cash shop games
or Client and Account both carry expenses. Why?? the game isn't about
pretty armors and fancy sounds its about the game itself. The rest is eye candy or ear candy if you will. We expect to draw thousands into a real
Alternate Reality Universe by offering FUN instead of Grind and Boredom.

---Reality of ANY project-----
4 out of 5 MMO projects fail before a closed beta client is released.
One of the prime reasons so much time has been invested into finding
the right engine for the market audience.

No matter how much expertise a team has there will be production hurdles to overcome. Never believe everything will go smoothly and they usually do as a result of detailed attention.

Even with so much time invested in creating the game mechanisms and
character structure and inventories and so forth producing a DEMO of the game concepts and game play will not be easy to do.
The demo must show all of the final products strengths while withholding
99% of the final content from viewing. This version will be the sales flyer to secure the initial publisher's purchase and commitments.

----Now for what the Team could use most----

A person with a desire to SUCCEED !! . Someone with above average ability in some skill used to produce a MMO project.

My son models but try and get him to do it right now!!
I model, but not as fast as my son but I model when needed.
A 3DS modeler or Maya with export modeler would be very welcome
for AVATAR and NPC modeling, I can more than handle all of the environment needs. BTW NPC 's are not as expected in this design
if you and I begin working together on this project you will clearly see
how this game is different on NPC issues and LOVE the design.

Texturing.. I produce the best seamless textures you will ever see
I do not request any Texturing help of any kind. However if you are
well above average in Texturing come teach me:) more.

Music and Effects.. I have produced music for retail releases already.
I love my music and so do many others. I would always welcome another musician as music is the most creative demanding portion of any MMO.

C++ coding regarding networking and security. This is by far the weak link in our team. I have very good knowledge in how to transfer data
between engine server and game client.. Stopping hackers and unwanted actions.. I am not so good it is most likely the first time I will ever say
my ability is below average in anything.

----How To Join Us----

email me for a private chat to start things off
xeander@davox.net

Do NOT send me a resume I will not read it or consider
any piece of paper valid for the things I seek in a team member.

After we talk for a bit I will know better than you know yourself
and I will let you know if I think you will mature into a productive
team member.
This is not about producing a game its about building a future
with promise instead of hope.
My time left in this world is shortening, grade 9 cancer, due next in
my bone marrow and that will be that.
I need to insure the future of concepts and designs that began in the early 1960's. And be certain the future for my children and spouse
have a revenue income after I pass. I am determined to achieve this
in he time I have left. I am the hardest working person you will ever meet. Amount of output is not as important as the quality of the work.

I started with a DBA JOTMON Jack of All Trades Master of None
its actually my ICQ pseudo 21627998
I am gifted in mathematics. I excel in electronics and digital applications.
I am a musician however cancer has removed 50% of my left hand abilities.
I formed in 1992 from a DBA of 3 Rivers Electronics a FULL Corporation called Davox Management Inc.
I closed it down one summer and returned to my DBA of JOTMON in my new home state of Washington.
My daughters and sons followed me here and my oldest son lives a few blocks away.
We formed Davox Products my son David's software entity.
and our network Registered domain.

I have built and operate a Win 2003 server and several development stations including one dedicated to 5.1 surround production.

I prefer to think in terms of machine code write with C++
and script under jscript LUA and Python.
My favorite picture editor is JASC Paintshop Pro.
GIMP is second Photoshop is 3rd.

Audacity beta 1.3 is my favorite tool for pre-final mixing.
I use many tools in producing music.

Here is sample not my best work by any means but the one I am most proud of.
http://www.davox.net/Tears.mp3

If and when you listen to that consider this.
I sampled notes from an Epiphone long neck guitar
with 1972 Les Paul pickups Graphite NUT and Titianium Bridge.
I built that guitar for my son's High School Graduation present.
I then produced triplets and chords by hand editing.
Intoned and wave shaped the results.
And mixed the track you will hear in a total of 2 hours
one night around 3 AM.
That single piece of music became the theme of all music you will
hear in the final release of Empire of Martial Heroes.

So think that was guitar plugged into a onboard AC 97 mic jack
when you hear that. And then you will see the power of the creative mind.


I am rarely brief when ever I speak or write
if that bothers you do not email me.

If you want to demonstrate your abilities and be part of a success
and like me realize learning is an everyday occurrence ,drop me a note
and I'll set up a voice chat either by phone or thru my servers ventrillo host service.

This project will complete with out without assistance.
This is more of an offer to speed its path than a request to
fill a empty slot.

[rogerborg]

I built my first space station out of baling twine and empty pie cases.

The pies were tasty.

[Xeander]

I built my first space station out of baling twine and empty pie cases.

The pies were tasty.

Ever notice the less a person has to be proud of
the more likely they are to criticize others?

As I write this the first level of the Chapter 1 dungeon is
almost completed at 589,824 sq meters

[rogerborg]

Oh, it's about dungeons? I'd wondered, casually.

[Dorth]

Couldn't it be about pie dungeons?

[pera]

what is the name of your son?

[rogerborg]

I'll bet my entire Alyson Hannigan poster collection that it's X Junior.

[Dorth]

I'll take you on that bet with my personal collection!

[Dark_Kilauea]

I would be interested in joining this project if:

1. I wasn't already with an MMO project
2. There was a design doc somewhere in that post.

Still, good luck, you seem to have a group of dedicated developers. Let's hope keeping them through the long run does not become an issue for you.

[hybrid]

Could some of the poster in this thread please come back to the OT or continue in a new off-topic forum thread We went through this jsut a few month ago, I don't think we need to warm it up again.
So please keep replies to project announcements constructive, or just STFU.

[Xeander]

Could some of the poster in this thread please come back to the OT or continue in a new off-topic forum thread We went through this jsut a few month ago, I don't think we need to warm it up again.
So please keep replies to project announcements constructive, or just STFU.

ya know they are posting here thinking how clever they are

while some of us are busy actually building a game that is going to make
us some real cash...


anyways nothing said here matters in the end they make what they feel
to be intelligent remarks to hide their inability to pass a simple
bullSHIRT test by an old man

[drac_gd]

I also wanted to make a MMORG but soon found out that although I could probably finish the engine and networking and tools etc the problem is the massive amount of content required. I suggest playing WOW for a month.. youll see what I mean. I would guess about 30+ man years of content work went into WOW.
That said I still wish you the best if you are trying to make a WOW killer.
On the other hand you may want to consider a niche or smaller scale game.
Here is my idea of a diable style game that might be commercialy viable.Feel free to use my idea if you like it.

1.)Staging area of game is a large medival town etc with areas to train your character.. buy/sell etc.
2.) within the game you can right click another player and voice chat etc.
this is to emphasize social aspects.
3.) you get a group together and go to a dungeon. Each dungeon is randomly generatated for your instance using code similar to the old rougelike ascii games.

In any case here is the code to past stuff I have worked on based on irrspintz ( a fork of irrlitch )
It is all under irrlicht style licenses and not GPL.
http://www.slytron.com
https://tronacom.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/tronacom

[xDan]

Xeander, reading your post, I really hope you succeed. Sadly I lack the skills and time to help. Good luck

[dlangdev]

Nice post, I'm intrigued already.

Anyway, I'm not really sure if my skills are up to your requirements. As for myself, I wouldn't hire myself to do a high-quality game at the moment, as I still need at least two more years of studying shaders with tons of coding along the way.

Though I would like to see some artwork your team has made. It would give me an indication of how much effort and quality your team have put into the project.

If you can convince people here to drop what they're doing and instead donate their hours to your project then you probably have something going really good.

For me, your announcement is just too much for me to handle as I work during the day, I write lots of maintenance server code and do a lot of data analysis making sure the data coming from clients (10K of them) are sane enough not to melt the databases. The cool part is I get to code 3D programs for viewing the data which is waaayyy awesome for this kind of job.

So, yeah, goodluck on your project. I wish your team the best.

[kingdutch]

Wow a long post, very nice writing though. I'm currently 14 with about 6 years of programming behind my belt (You know "Hello world" and then trying to get a user to talk back to you ^^ slowly progressing from there)

I've been looking at doing graphics programming (2D or 3D) for a while and I've found Irrlicht somewhere last week so I'll probably not be a good candidate for you yet.

You've certainly struck a chord with me because you made me consider going into advanced networks programming ^^ (Since I'll need that for the game I'm working to into tiny mouse steps (First get that camera moving around your black box before you draw something pretty and colide with it ))

Sounds like you're already well on your way, I wish you and your team the best of luck and maybe if you aren't finished in 2-3 years I'll be able to help you a bit?

Good luck,
Kingdutch