i need tons of help

[Dilan W.]

hey,

I am new at this and dont know how to start, i want to make a rpg for the internet. I already know what I want it to be about and i have played many rpg's before for example ultima Online, Horizons, Ever Quest, and Star Wars. I need help making everything, what i mean is how do i make the world and all the objects, people, setting. Plus i want it to be pretty big world. I have a friend how beta tested horizons and he is pretty smart, but he is out of town and i cant wait so, what programs do i need. so please help me and tell me any info that can help me. I have looked aroud the forums but most of it doesnt make any sense to me.

thanks, Dilan

[Jack Aidley]

Hi Dilan, and welcome to the Forge.

I have two pieces of bad news for you:

The first is that we don't really deal with computer based RPGs, or MMORPGs here - this site is focused on table top games.

The second (and I used to be a game programmer so I know something about this) is that the effort and investment required to make a MMORPG like the ones you mention is collosal. These things are created by teams of thirty, forty individuals working for two or three years. And the amount of capital involved in setting up the requisite servers is far from trivial. I've seen figures in the three to four million pound mark bandied about.

But, anyway, good luck.

[Justin Marx]

Hi Dilan,

I'm not much of an expert on this, but a few years ago (just after Everquest 1 came to Australia) I was invited to be a creative designer by a small group of gamers who had some business skills and wanted to get a MMORPG off the ground. The guy who organised it had about 10 people, including 2 programmers, a whole bunch of artists and some writers (myself included). This guy was very motivated and had done his homework, but he needed two things to get it off the ground (which it never did do):

Big Money and Serious Programming Know-How.

The programmers we had had never designed games before, despite knowing (I think it was) C++ inside and out, and were working in various government and pharmaceutical jobs. His idea for the money was to pitch his idea at Sony and hope they gave him some cash if we had done the conceptual and structural work. We did the work, but after a few weeks it fizzled out. The more we learned about the process, the more we realised how virtually impossible it would be for us to make it with our limited skills and resources (not to mention our day jobs - thats a lot of manhours there).

MMORPGs are huge projects. Ridiculously huge and expensive. There is a reason why games like WoW spend over a year in Beta - and the bigger the world, the more complex it gets. Just debugging them must be a nightmare, and I'm guessing for teams and teams of programmers. That said, there are a whole bunch of free MMORPGs out there, that are trialled for subscriptions, basically mini-VR worlds with a limited game engine. There is a really good website index for them..... but the link was on my old computer, I'm sorry, I can't remember the website name. Maybe some of the experts here would know about it the website I'm talking about. They were set up by small groups of programmers, in-house jobs basically. If you can find that darn website, you may find some inspiration there, as well as more specific advice about how MMORPGs actually work. The Forge is more pen-and-paper then computer design methinks.

Good luck whatever you do. I hope this doesn't discourage you too much, if you are determined and have a great idea then I hope you make it. And one day, I'd love to get an MMORPG made for my game as well..... in ten thousand years when they pull me out of cryogenic freezing like Fry from Futurama and VR technology is quick and easy.....

[Sifolis]

wow dude...um.

1- you know how to write code? i mean cimputer code? if not..good luck with finding a coder to spend over a year's worth of labor on such a game for you.

2- you want a 3D computer world? wow..good luck...if your confused as to how to begin, im pretty sure youll be amazed at what it takes to actually start this sort of thing....some games take 4-8 years with over 30 well-paid and talented super-coders, renderers and artists...not to mention alot of money.

3- a adventure (cus thats what making a game is) like making an online RPG is a huge task...id reccomend you read up on code, and go to school for computer design.


if you just wanted to make an online rpg that looks and feels like an old 1990 nintedo ultima gaem (top view, bad graphics, simply format, 6 bit) then u can download or buy the program "rpg-marker" it still will take along time to make a game even that simple, but it will at least be easyer.

[Dilan W.]

hey

thanks for the info i knew it would be hard work but not this much.

[Adam Dray]

If you want a place to start, try poking around a bookstore for books on developing solo PC games. They're not multiplayer, generally, but you can get your feet wet learning C/C++ and game programming that way. Many of the skills you'll need to do a MMORPG start with basic graphics programming.

Then, to learn the online component, consider building a MUD. You can download the source code for LPMUD or Diku or one of the other free MUD servers. Some of them may compile on a PC, but most of them ought to be running on a Linux box. You can get a Linux shell account designed for this kind of thing from a number of MUD hosting companies for $20-30 a month. It's a good way to learn how to design games for a few hundred players.

Another way to go is to purchase Neverwinter Nights. It's a Dungeons & Dragons game for the PC, but it includes a world builder, graphics library, and a powerful scripting language. It supports multiple players, but is by no means massively multiplayer. It's a good way to learn game scripting skills and have fun with your friends.

Hope this helps.

[Sifolis]

or..perhaps...

since u are so ready to make a game , so inspired and filled with ideas....perhaps you should consider making a table-top? you may have a great idea for computer-style games, but you may not have the resources or skills that are so demanding to do such a thing.

a table-top rpg , is more flexible, more vivid and grand in respect to freedom of play...and costs almost nothing to construct but a good understanding of numbers and creative story build.

perhaps you should look into the many games out there for this genre of RPG. alls u need to do is start typeing and the your on your way to making a fully working rpg....if your serious.