Is this the best engine for massively multiplayer online game?
by Mohammed Hasan · in Technical Issues · 01/13/2009 (9:48 am) · 5 replies
Friends,
I've an original idea of a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMO). The idea itself has never been implemented before, and i truly believe it is going to make a hit in the MMO industry. Thats the happy part of my question.
The second part, which is the sad one, i know like 25% of what i actually need to know to make this game come true. So basically, i am now in the phase of reading all over the web about all kind of stuff, and i've came across to this site, as it seems to be offering one of the best engines on the web.
My question is, does this engine offer the utilities to implement MMO games? in other words, is it the best game engine to use or is there any other packages that can give a hand into this?
Thanks in advance!
Moh'd
I've an original idea of a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMO). The idea itself has never been implemented before, and i truly believe it is going to make a hit in the MMO industry. Thats the happy part of my question.
The second part, which is the sad one, i know like 25% of what i actually need to know to make this game come true. So basically, i am now in the phase of reading all over the web about all kind of stuff, and i've came across to this site, as it seems to be offering one of the best engines on the web.
My question is, does this engine offer the utilities to implement MMO games? in other words, is it the best game engine to use or is there any other packages that can give a hand into this?
Thanks in advance!
Moh'd
#2
For you to use TGEA (TGE is going away in the near future, I think), you need to know about networking and read up on this engine's use of networking, because the network portion will require tweaking. You'll also need to implement the ODBC resource, as I'm sure you'll be accessing a database for your information. That means you need to run off and get a book on SQL. It's not hard to learn, and being able to beat up a development database every day as you test gameplay is essential. Also, working with this engine requires some good C++ knowledge, and you'll want to implement a lot of your gameplay through script at first, to save the time it would normally take to recompile the engine.
List your features, line up your resources to take them down, and get gameplay done before you go after the audio/visual part of your team. If it plays fun with programmer art, it will play fun with high quality art. Once you have a demo-like area for people to play with, use that to attract team members. You'll find it easier than just trying to use an idea to do it. Don't hoard your information- your team needs to know about the project, and those who believe in secrecy will only hurt themselves. It sounds counter-intuitive, but in all honesty, I have ten ideas lined up in my head, so I don't care enough to steal yours. That of course does not mean that you post everything normally considered "work product" online, because that's just as bad ;)
All of the above is generic info. You can also google for the Multiverse engine and check them out. It does a few things that TGEA doesn't, and doesn't do a few things this does. Consider carefully, and don't make the mistake of trying to port from one engine to the other unless you do it before asset production begins, because it's an easy way to lose control of your project (I've seen it happen). Remember, you can always do Version 2.0 with another engine, and it does not have to be perfect, just consistent with itself (pay attention to this, it's what makes Blizzard kick so much ass).
Hope that helps.
01/13/2009 (11:31 am)
I would say that this engine is neither the best, nor the worst, for an MMO. Other MMOs have been created with it, and I'm working on one myself. Timothy is right in that it's a beast of a project to take on, but if you're confident and have the skills, then you'll learn things, at a minimum, and succeed at a maximum. For you to use TGEA (TGE is going away in the near future, I think), you need to know about networking and read up on this engine's use of networking, because the network portion will require tweaking. You'll also need to implement the ODBC resource, as I'm sure you'll be accessing a database for your information. That means you need to run off and get a book on SQL. It's not hard to learn, and being able to beat up a development database every day as you test gameplay is essential. Also, working with this engine requires some good C++ knowledge, and you'll want to implement a lot of your gameplay through script at first, to save the time it would normally take to recompile the engine.
List your features, line up your resources to take them down, and get gameplay done before you go after the audio/visual part of your team. If it plays fun with programmer art, it will play fun with high quality art. Once you have a demo-like area for people to play with, use that to attract team members. You'll find it easier than just trying to use an idea to do it. Don't hoard your information- your team needs to know about the project, and those who believe in secrecy will only hurt themselves. It sounds counter-intuitive, but in all honesty, I have ten ideas lined up in my head, so I don't care enough to steal yours. That of course does not mean that you post everything normally considered "work product" online, because that's just as bad ;)
All of the above is generic info. You can also google for the Multiverse engine and check them out. It does a few things that TGEA doesn't, and doesn't do a few things this does. Consider carefully, and don't make the mistake of trying to port from one engine to the other unless you do it before asset production begins, because it's an easy way to lose control of your project (I've seen it happen). Remember, you can always do Version 2.0 with another engine, and it does not have to be perfect, just consistent with itself (pay attention to this, it's what makes Blizzard kick so much ass).
Hope that helps.
#3
Can someone explain, can you (relatively easily) do Seamless terrains in TGEA, and server clusters to handle things that an MMOG would require?
If so how does the seamless stuff work, can you stitch together missions, use one big atlas terrain??
Any info would be great thanks.
01/15/2009 (12:16 am)
Can someone explain, can you (relatively easily) do Seamless terrains in TGEA, and server clusters to handle things that an MMOG would require?
If so how does the seamless stuff work, can you stitch together missions, use one big atlas terrain??
Any info would be great thanks.
#4
Basically, seamless terrains can be made using Atlas in TGEA, HOWEVER, there is no easy way to create seamless zoning or server clusters. It's just not easy no matter which way you slice it.
If you do a search on the site you should be able to turn up multiple threads on these issues and the issues that make these things complicated. Hope that helps.
01/17/2009 (3:59 pm)
@Staples: Those questions should be asked in their own thread, but since Mohammed might get something out of it, I'll respond to it here.Basically, seamless terrains can be made using Atlas in TGEA, HOWEVER, there is no easy way to create seamless zoning or server clusters. It's just not easy no matter which way you slice it.
If you do a search on the site you should be able to turn up multiple threads on these issues and the issues that make these things complicated. Hope that helps.
Torque Owner Timothy Castagna
TK Games LLC
http://www.mmoworkshop.com/trac/mom/phpbb