The following article provides an overview of the phases for developing your MMO. It's a proven method, but maybe you have a better idea? Let me know!
http://blog.forsakenlabs.com/2009/08/05 ... ng-an-mmo/
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[READ] Guide to developing an MMO
Mmm... I have a theory about MMO games. They're just normal games, but with the posibility that the input for the players comes from a network, not only from keyboards or controllers.
If you manage to make a game, and you can extend the input to the network, you have an MMO game. Other thing is the context of the game, databases, if it uses items, and stuff, etc, etc, etc, what a massive multiplayer online game has, essentially, is many players, whose input comes from the network, and whose status updates simultaneously to all of them, that is all.
Less WoW freaks, and more imaginative ideas! please?
If you manage to make a game, and you can extend the input to the network, you have an MMO game. Other thing is the context of the game, databases, if it uses items, and stuff, etc, etc, etc, what a massive multiplayer online game has, essentially, is many players, whose input comes from the network, and whose status updates simultaneously to all of them, that is all.
Less WoW freaks, and more imaginative ideas! please?
"There is nothing truly useless, it always serves as a bad example". Arthur A. Schmitt
In my opinion your theory is totally wrong. Your theory is okay for a MOG but not for a MASSIV MOG. Ever worked with threading/critical section/network? Im working with such things and in my opinion its a hard piece of work because you have to seperate the different parts hermetically and make the communication between them every infrequent and simple. For me thats not easy at all and i guess for everybody else too.
@ariejan reading your article was a short "wtf" moment for me. I sounds like "how to build a house? Well, buy a piece of land, build the house and move into it". But maybe i missed something
@ariejan reading your article was a short "wtf" moment for me. I sounds like "how to build a house? Well, buy a piece of land, build the house and move into it". But maybe i missed something
I never said it was "easy". Sorry, i guess my interpretation is too simplistic, but what i wanted to do is to remove the mist that surrounds MMO games.
I mean, They have a lot of work, for sure, and are a huge piece of software. But what i wanted to express by "abstracting" the task to that extreme is my feeling of "annoyance" (not in the meaning of hostility, but better in the sense of "apathy") towards all the people who sees an engine which can render a terrain, and start thinking Hey, i want to do an MMORPG with it, can someone explain me how?
But i'd like that people who wants to make an MMO game start by that small, simple fact, remove the mistery, and see the huge task they have in front, and, if they can overcome the troubles that fact carries on, then, they're done. The problems are not easy, though, but i think it is a start.
What do you think? What would you tell a guy who comes and starts asking how to do a MMO game?
I mean, They have a lot of work, for sure, and are a huge piece of software. But what i wanted to express by "abstracting" the task to that extreme is my feeling of "annoyance" (not in the meaning of hostility, but better in the sense of "apathy") towards all the people who sees an engine which can render a terrain, and start thinking Hey, i want to do an MMORPG with it, can someone explain me how?
But i'd like that people who wants to make an MMO game start by that small, simple fact, remove the mistery, and see the huge task they have in front, and, if they can overcome the troubles that fact carries on, then, they're done. The problems are not easy, though, but i think it is a start.
What do you think? What would you tell a guy who comes and starts asking how to do a MMO game?
"There is nothing truly useless, it always serves as a bad example". Arthur A. Schmitt
@mel: An MMO is by no means 'adding network input' to an existing game. MMO's game mechanics are very different from those used in single player games. Also, the needs of the player are very different.
I use World of Warcraft often as an example a) because it's widely known b) Blizzard did everything right to make "it work". Let's all learn from it.
@Nox: yes, it's that easy. Buy a computer, install the IrrLicht SDK, write your game. The problem is, neither of us has any knowledge of building a house. And most people on these forums are (pro) programmers, not (pro) game designers.
I use World of Warcraft often as an example a) because it's widely known b) Blizzard did everything right to make "it work". Let's all learn from it.
@Nox: yes, it's that easy. Buy a computer, install the IrrLicht SDK, write your game. The problem is, neither of us has any knowledge of building a house. And most people on these forums are (pro) programmers, not (pro) game designers.
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Lil Margin
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i would say: "thats a hard thing and you will mostlikely never finish it. But if you have time and really want to do this just try it. Anyway you will gain a lot of experience."Mel wrote:What do you think? What would you tell a guy who comes and starts asking how to do a MMO game?
wow, sounds really easy! "write your game" - god damnit i must be really untalented as a programmer if buying a PC und building the SDK takes me less than a day but writing a game more than 2 yearsariejan wrote:[...]Buy a computer, install the IrrLicht SDK, write your game[...]
. By the way, building a house isnt too hard it is just a long way to go.What is an MMOG then?An MMO is by no means 'adding network input' to an existing game.
thinking of this matter The conclussion i get is that an MMO game is a game where you find other players whose input data comes from the network. All of them share this, with their differences, of course. I understand where you come from, but what i try to point out is that, even if the underneath mechanisms are totally different, an MMO game is pretty much what i've said, leaving architectures aside, leaving all what makes an MMO game so complex, in fact, any MMO game starts from that basic premise. It is a game where many players meet each other, where the input from a network is a must.
But i start from the concept of a game. A simple game, with its rules, i won't name any example to avoid biasing the mechanics. A game where you can have data from other players in a network can become an MMO game. What i try is to conceptualize, to abstract what an MMO game is.
Indeed, but that belongs more to the domain of how to do an MMOG, not of what it is. Understanding what an MMOG is can make the task of creating one a bit easier.MMO's game mechanics are very different from those used in single player games
Hehe... That is also true, you can't go and make an MMOG in the garage of your houselol you guys...the mmo problem isn't about coding or how to code it but rather about resource and lack of interest in like 3 months.
Is simply a problem too complex for easy or fast solutions."There is nothing truly useless, it always serves as a bad example". Arthur A. Schmitt
An MMO is more than a game with networking capabilities. That's what I call ProgrammerThink™. It is true that in an MMO there's interaction between players over a network, of course. But it doesn't make it a good game.
E.g. what would an MMO be without the ability to organise yourself in groups or guilds? It would suck. This is by no means part of a 'single player game', but it's not created by adding network support.
Because there *is* network interaction, you can make groups. But having groups would change your overall game play. Where's the fun in having a group with all the same kind of characters in them? Having different classes or races etc is not something you'd normally add to a single player game.
Then again, MMO's require you to put a lot of logic on the server side to prevent cheating and hacking. Actually, you can't trust anything your client sends to the server. So simply wiring the clients together through some server won't do it at all.
.. playing a lot of games and being a good programmer does not qualify you as an expert on MMO development. You need to understand all the underlying concepts of game design and what drives people to play a game in the first place. Only when you can provide a fun game to play, you're MMO has a chance at becoming successful.
Honestly, read books on game design and MMO design. I know it's boring and you want to start coding that killer-game right-the-freck-now, but that's just not how it works.
Like building a house, you need to make a plan, make sure your house doesn't collapse on you after two months.
Also, if you're serious about your MMO. Start a company and dedicate time to it. You *will* be working long hours to make it happen. It's not a simple website you're hacking together here.
Not only will starting a company give you a motivation to continue work at the moments when you start to lose interest, it is also necessary to protect your intellectual properties and to generate revenue when your game is released.
Maybe I'll do a write up about how to start MMO development and the common pit falls. Say 'aye' if you want that post!
E.g. what would an MMO be without the ability to organise yourself in groups or guilds? It would suck. This is by no means part of a 'single player game', but it's not created by adding network support.
Because there *is* network interaction, you can make groups. But having groups would change your overall game play. Where's the fun in having a group with all the same kind of characters in them? Having different classes or races etc is not something you'd normally add to a single player game.
Then again, MMO's require you to put a lot of logic on the server side to prevent cheating and hacking. Actually, you can't trust anything your client sends to the server. So simply wiring the clients together through some server won't do it at all.
I won't say "don't do it!". Go right ahead! But...What would you tell someone who wants to start an MMO
.. playing a lot of games and being a good programmer does not qualify you as an expert on MMO development. You need to understand all the underlying concepts of game design and what drives people to play a game in the first place. Only when you can provide a fun game to play, you're MMO has a chance at becoming successful.
Honestly, read books on game design and MMO design. I know it's boring and you want to start coding that killer-game right-the-freck-now, but that's just not how it works.
Like building a house, you need to make a plan, make sure your house doesn't collapse on you after two months.
Also, if you're serious about your MMO. Start a company and dedicate time to it. You *will* be working long hours to make it happen. It's not a simple website you're hacking together here.
Not only will starting a company give you a motivation to continue work at the moments when you start to lose interest, it is also necessary to protect your intellectual properties and to generate revenue when your game is released.
Maybe I'll do a write up about how to start MMO development and the common pit falls. Say 'aye' if you want that post!
We are starting to get a common point. An MMOG is a game where players intereact using a network. That is what i wanted people to understand. That's the base.
Of course, over that point you build all the others features you have mentioned. And that is indeed what defines the real quality of a MMOG. And what makes them so different. Those aren't easy to create, because the interaction between many player is not a trivial problem at all. Synchronization, thousands of concurrent queries, multiple servers all of them interconnected. That is not a simple task at all, they require lots of efforts and planification.
If you wanna go and write a document about MMOG creation, go ahead. I bet it will be interesting to read
Of course, over that point you build all the others features you have mentioned. And that is indeed what defines the real quality of a MMOG. And what makes them so different. Those aren't easy to create, because the interaction between many player is not a trivial problem at all. Synchronization, thousands of concurrent queries, multiple servers all of them interconnected. That is not a simple task at all, they require lots of efforts and planification.
If you wanna go and write a document about MMOG creation, go ahead. I bet it will be interesting to read
"There is nothing truly useless, it always serves as a bad example". Arthur A. Schmitt
Your definition only suffice for an MOG, aka, a multiplayer online game. In fact, it's the sum of each of their definition and/or name. As far as the first M is concerned, Massive, it's the word that causes the most debate in the industry and can obviously not be included in that simple definition. You'll need something bigger.
For me the definition of MMO is this: It's a persistent virtual world where (hundreds of) thousands of players can co-exist at the same time.
The game mechanics and technical setup can differ from project-to-project, but I think that every MMO has a persisted virtual world and a lot of people able to live in it.
The game mechanics and technical setup can differ from project-to-project, but I think that every MMO has a persisted virtual world and a lot of people able to live in it.