What Do I need for an MMO? Help :)

#1 1) When you purchase Torque 3D, you download it directly from the website.

2) You will receive all updates to Torque 3D for free, however if a new product comes out, you will have to purchase it. Though usually they offer a discount for previous owners.

A MMO is the most difficult project you can create. There are a few MMOs made with Torque 3D but they are usually made by industry veterans with a large knowledge base.

#2 www.garagegames.com/community/forums/viewthread/84535

#3 1: You need several years to learn to program.
- I suggest taking C++ programming classes.
- I suggest getting torque and making small changes to it to get familiar with programming.

2: You can't make a MMO by yourself unless you have also mastered 3D Modeling, Rigging, Animation, Level Design, Sound Design, Game Design, Game Philosophy, Game History, Game Theory, Gaming Trends, Creative Writing and many other skills I have not listed here.
- I suggest taking classes on all of these
- I suggest learning to draw
- I suggest playing every MMO out there to get a feel for trends, what players like and don't like

3: Congratulations, now you are a game genius and you can start working by yourself on your very own MMO game! There are only a few things to do now.
- Write game documents. You can probably skip this since you are a genius who knows everything that will make your game successful, down to loot charts, mob spawns, etc. Also if you don't plan on bringing anybody into the project or pitching the project to investors or game publishers you can probably do without this pesky step.
- Separate the client from the Server - With this step you will need to go through many many lines of code and/or script to separate the server and client code (unless of course you want your hardcore MMO gamers to be able to run servers of their own, it's not like they will use the code they have on their machine to hack your servers or anything, right)
- Create server to server networking code - You can skip this if you are going to run one gigantic server on a multi-billion dollar supercomputer.
- Install a database and fill it up with content - You know, stuff like every single inventory item you can think of, loot, crafting objects, mob tables, quest dialogue, art assets, support database, account information, payment information, etc.

4: I am impressed you have made it this far! Now you have a playable game! Only a few more things to do!
- Buy lots of expensive bladeservers (unless of course you opted for the multibillion dollar supercomputer and high-tech instant unlimited bandwidth for a single gigantic server!)
- Set up a website with automatic recurring billing, credit card and/or paypal orders
- Make time to give customer support to millions of players (in-game support, billing as well as tech support. Whew! You're going to be busy!)
- Come out with frequent bug fixes and patches. Of course you have to keep track of the forums and bug reports that players submit.
- Work to keep your game, database and game servers fully secure and unhackable. I am sure you can do this easily, after all Sony Online did too!
- Work on updates - players will always want expansions and i am sure you want their money too! (back to step 3)

Be sure to send me a post card when you are rich! I can't wait for your game to come out.

#4 @ Entr0py - Most epic response ever!

#5 @Entropy: Did that guy really have that coming to him? It's true he's got a long way to go- mostly along the lines of what you wrote out- but I think the best thing is to get people the help they need and if they don't succeed, then fine, because most people need to fail to understand things. If he decides once he starts leaning game development that he wants to create puzzle games instead, then that's a win.

I don't think that mocking someone who needs to learn more about the process is particularly helpful, especially in this community that is supposed to help get people into game development ;)

#6 Somewhat off topic:

Allow me to play the the moderator role. Entr0py actually posted some really great tips in his post. There are suggestions in his post that are often overlooked, like writing, people should consider when creating a large scoped game.

That being said, I don't think anyone should attempt to discourage another person our site via condescending language. I'm not saying Entr0py was out of bounds according to our forum policies, but I don't want anyone to go down the path of beating up new users. I have seen that become the trend on Unity's forums, which used to be a shining example of how to treat new users. Now it is a race to see who can belittle a new users the fastest, which always results in a civil flame war between old users and new users.

We used to have that, but I think everyone who stayed after our shutdown wants to see our community grow again and become the best engine dev community on the web. Just keep that in mind.

#7 Honest advice: If you haven't even learned C++ yet, put your MMO plans on the back burner for now. Build a bunch of smaller, easier games first - they're learning exercises that will help you develop the various skills you'll need for the Big Kahuna. Think of it like NASA in the 50s - their long range plans were to go to the moon, but first they had to learn how to launch a rocket that didn't blow up. :-)

#8 If you start off trying to make an MMO you will most likely fail. If you have a team of people working with you (artists and programmers) you might get a shot and all will be learning as you go, but I would 100% recommend you start with a single player game and go that direction first. You will learn a lot of what you need to move forward from the engine side and then can start looking into what it takes and what the differences are in creating a MMO. If you get to release it and make a few extra $$$ it will help with making an MMO as well.

What Sherman posted is pretty true, it is best to build up your skills on something that you will complete. Build a foundation so to say before you start working on the attic.

#9 @Ted - I was not mocking him, I was showing tough love. The MMO industry is tougher on everybody than I was in that post, and in trying to make one he will learn even harder lessons than the ones I expressed here.

Gamers can be very very nasty to game developers.

#10 I'll agree that the majority of your post was tough love (and good information), and everyone needs that. But some parts of it come across as mocking regardless of intent, and while you're correct in both that the post isn't as bad as the potential of the MMO industry chewing him up and spitting him out, or the responses he'll get from displeased 15yo spoiled brats playing his game, it doesn't mean that any information given needs to be laced with low levels of it in order for him to learn.

Besides, putting it into a post won't prepare him for either eventuality- he'll either do what he wants while disregarding you (whether or not he succeeds), or he'll take it as mocking and walk away from the site. That won't hurt either one of us (and probably not even him), but I think the sense of community could change if every time a new member's question is answered it's laced with sarcasm for the reason that at some point, someone else related to this industry with treat them the same or worse.

#11 And now you can find the answers to your MMO quanderies on the products page! Huzzar!

linkage

#12 Wow, that's a nice link... :-O