question about what program to use for.....

[BQM]

I am making an MMORPG and well dont know what to use. Does anyone know what I can use that is the easiest and can get the job done?

btw my forum is Buddha Quest (http://buddhaquest.proboards32.com)

[whackaxe]

i'll first assuming your talking MMORPG as in Everquest in full 3D. for that you'll need to learn C++, (that will take you quite a while for a start) then you'll have to learn how to use either openGL or directX. you'll have to have good knowledge in physics too. now that only took up 2 lines and 1/2 to write, but i don't think you realise how much work that is

if you're talking MMORPG like www.starkingdoms.com / www.medievalbattles.com then you're going to have to learn a serverside languge (probably PHP, no comments on PHPvs.ASP please folks :D) this scenario would be much easier but it's still going to be alot of work(i know, i've tried)

now for the material problem: Bandwidth. scenario 1 will mean you have t have a very phat set f servers to maintain the MMORPG. i'm not shure how much it would cost. but the servers would probably a couple of 1000$ a month and the bandwidth per month would be something around that figure too(i never play MMORPGS like everquest so i'm just geussing here). in the second scenario you will still be needing a well stocked webserver which still with bandwidth might cost up to 500$ per month(depending on how many users you get)

this post on your board seems to idicate how little you realise to work that goes into these things. this sounds like the typical vague idea that most programmers have, and which most probably finish abandoned (no point denying it, everyone's done it at least once to an extent :D)


The actual game will probably be only about $2-$5 at most $5. It will have great graphics and will be better than all other mmorpg games.


So, what i've said sounds very discouraging, but if you persevere anyway you'll quickly realise i'm (just about) right

good luck anyway

[shmoove]

Here's a little encouragement (kinda) then:
If you're really dedicated, and you manage to get a good group of people together (an MMORPG isn't exactly work for one person), and you never give up, you'll make your MMORPG.
Estimated time of completion for someone that doesn't know where to start: 5 years (I'm not kidding).

shmoove

PS: And some advice - get a few good books, plenty of coffee and start with a few smaller projects until you get your feet wet.

[BQM]

I have a team aleady set and well I know that a LOT of work is involved. The prices you stated above are not right. Those are for the BEST ones. I will start small first with smaller servers. Soon when I have a lot of ppl playing the game I will jack up the price to maybe $8 per person and tell everyone its for better servers that don't lag or anything. I already am learning c++ and am quite used to how it is. The only thing is I never made a game using c++ and was wondering what to use that would not make things complicating.

I am aware of all the work involved and anyway, thanks!

P.S. Have you looked at the pics I have? If not check it out atBuddha Quest (http://buddhaquest.proboards32.com)
You can also play the demo I made.

[Mhtml]

Come on be realistic. You can achieve this but I'd be willing to put an infinite amount of money against it..

The amount of work to write something like this is absolutely impressive. You will need to know a lot about physics and high level mathematics. If you want the graphics to be decent you'll need radeon 9800+ on your development machines, I'd explain why but it won't make sense to you yet.

You can just say, "alright let's make a big game!" and go and code it. You shouldn't write a single line of code for most of a year if not more while you draw up all the required project planning and development material.

And you don't use a single program, you'll use dozens of programs in development. There is no such thing as a point and click MMORPG creator.

And as for the servers they'll need to be hard and fast...and of course you'll need to write the game server software.

Sorry to be negative but I think 5 years would be a minimum for you to get a beta working. By the time it's out it will be worth $5 and the market will laugh at the outdated graphics. Currently game development is moving so fast that ammatures can't just break in with something that will wow people..

[BQM]

Well thanks......

I doubt it will take me 5 years! Maybe 2 tops! I'm not making this alone either. I have a team of 3 including myself and am looking for maybe like 2 more people. I am not a beginner in making games. I made games before and know that even if your graphics are outdated I have had some tips on how to make it look good without doing much. FYI I have radeon 9800+.


btw have you played the demo? or looked at the pics? let me know what you think of them.

[Serex]

1. Can i suggest you get some hosting and a decent website up first.
2. You will need more than 5 if you are wanting to complete this within 2 years
3. Do you have diagrams, flowcharts or even pseudocode done up?

some things just arent as simple as drag and drop

The actual game will probably be only about $2-$5 at most $5. It will have great graphics and will be better than all other mmorpg games.

what exactly will make yours better? the only thing that makes something good, is something different.

example being XIII, completely different style of game.

[BQM]

I won't make the site until later because I might end up changing the name. Has anyone heard of Steel Age Basic? How would that be to use to make an MMORPG? To make something look better you don't need to chage it entirely. You can change the sizes a little and darken things to make the illusion that it has a lot of detail. Also I've seen a 2d MMORPG game thats doing pretty well.

Has anyone here made a 3d rpg game before? What program(s) did you use?

[oracleguy]

You are going to need to use something DirectX to generate 3d graphics. You can get the SDK for C++ for it off Microsoft's website for free. But I have to agree with everyone else in saying it seems like you don't realize how much work is involved. I'm not saying quit, you'll learn a lot by realizing how much work has to be done. I've done 3d graphics with DirectX before and it isn't exactly easy.

Like it was mentioned before you'll need high level math and phyics. We are talking Vector Calculus here. I can remember having to spend a lot of time working out math problems and models on paper first before I could code it just so I could figure it all out.

Besides the programming, you'll need project management skills and resources. You'll need to setup a method for people to communication collectively and work on the different parts of the code. Ideally get your hands on some version managment software, it will help A LOT. Next you'll need to draw up story boards for every feature in the game so the programmer knows what it is supposed to look like and what it is supposed to do. Next thing is, you need to write out all the rules for the game so people when programming know what the player can and can't do.

Then you'll need resources to backup your code often onto a safe storage device. If you're using version management software, it will keep backups of each revision of a given file but you still need to back that up.

You'll need to hold project status meetings on a regular basis, at least once a week where everyone can talk together and discuss issues and their status. I recommend you use like Microsoft Project and write up a timeline and then you can assign tasks to people. This will help keep your project on track, and make sure everyone can view the file. That way when someone finishes an assignment they don't have to wait around for another one, they just go to the next one on the list for them. Or can assign something to themselves.

Once you get later into development you'll need a variety of computers to test the software on in house. So varying speeds, OSes, graphics cards, etc. You can outsource to people on the net if you have to but you'll need some in house no matter what.

This is just stuff I could think of right now, there is a lot more involved. I suggest you get a couple of project management books while your at it and read those.

[BQM]

Well I've been doing some research and found a really nice engine thats brand new and free. Right now they are testing and I can't wait till it come out. It will make it really easy (or easier) to make my game.........

here is the site and some pics.....

Steel Age Basic site at http://sab.loradon.com

http://s92241480.onlinehome.us/sab/images/screenshots/screenshot2.gif



ITS NICE ISNT IT! :cool:

The only thing is its not out yet because its still testing but will be out in a few weeks or so!

[obiwanjabroni]

Not to discourage or anything, but if you plan on writing a game, even with this free engine, you need to carefully read the license agreement. If the license agreement is GNU GPL or even LGPL, you'll need to include the source code with your software. And if you want people to be paying for this, you may violate some parts of the license.

Writing a game is definitely not as easy as you think. An MMORPG in 2 years? I'm sorry if I may sound a bit harsh, but be realistic. The most important part about an MMORPG isn't simply graphics (which the Engine seems to handle as flat graphics protocol with no shader extensions to really take advantage of hardware). You also need to deal with sound, like others have said, servers. You'll need to develop two applications, one of which doesn't involve graphics at all, but pure networking code. In addition, you need more people to manage content on your servers, etc.

I'd estimate a year's worth of time before you get good enough in C++ to really understand the graphics that you're programming (not discrediting ability, but simply stating that this is the average time it takes) and then you'll need to learn how to manipulate sound (.wavs, mp3s), assuming you're ready to learn OpenAL or DirectSound. Then, the networking code of an MMORPG is made easier with DirectPlay, although management of the code is also an enormous challenge.

For $8/month, your game still needs to be a polished product, which means, at this stage in technology, you'll probably need to include, at a minimum, bump-mapped surfaces, sub-division surfaces, light-mapping, and cube-mapping. In addition, since MMORPG involve massive worlds, you'll need to learn some Assembly to optimize code and data transactions.

All of what I've mentioned previously are enormous tasks, and difficult. If you're just learning C++, 2 years just won't cut it, even with a graphics engine. But C++ is the way to go, and learning the DirectX package will be the easiest in adding the layer of polish to your game, as well as the inclusive package of network, audio, and input components.

[BQM]

I think I might make the game free because I have someone paying for everything

[DoubtlessOne]

Being able to code a full game in 2 years with only a team of 3-5
you'll basically need to be a coding Christ.
Yes... it takes VERY long to code a game
take example of "eAthena" as it had a team of over 20-30 people, it's an emulation of "Aegis" as some might know and it started in the 90's
and finished well before the 21st century kicked in
imagine that... almost 10 years for a team of over 30 people
now 2 years with only 5 people...it seems unreasonable
5 years I too would agree is the minimum, Coding isn't easy
I don't mean to be harsh but really... to be able to compile
C/H Headers, Data resources, Backup resources, engines, server infos, client infos (XML, models, textures. etc.)
To be reasonable about WoW taking only a few years to develop because they have what? 100 people developing it?
I would join you, but I have to be working on a game of my own which most likely wouldn't use just C++/C#