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Build Your Own MMOG
yebb writes "CNet reports about a company called Multiverse that has just begun beta testing of its platform for creating and integrating online virtual worlds. They are allowing developers and companies to use their online framework to expedite development of online games. Their network is free to use as long as you don't make any money from it's usage, but they also provide open source client applications to use or modify as you see fit." From the article: "'The business model is long-term,' said Richard Bartle, one of the pioneers of online games and an editor of Terra Nova, a leading Web site about virtual worlds. 'Although Multiverse's software will help speed up the to-market time for companies, it's still going to take developers ages to create content.' While Bartle is cautious about Multiverse's business model, he's fascinated by its potential."
Sadly, I understood that and I've never played that game.
SWG = Star Wars Galaxies
CU = Combat Upgrade, which changed SWG in large ways, making it incompatible with previous versions. This led to pre-CU servers being made for people who preferred the old way
NGE = New Game Enchancements, which did much the same thing in terms of splitting the userbase.
I read too damn much gaming news.
- Give a man a fire and he's warm for a day, but set him on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
If you take a look a TomeNet, you get a MMORPG open engine. The sad thing is, you must go to the forums to learn anything about it because the website isn't updated often.
TomeNet is a roguelike multiplayer online rolepaying game based on Tolkien's work. The single player game is also getting closer to version 3.0, with a revamped game engine (open, with source code available). Great game and great community.
Animoog.org
Yeah, like for instance Planetarion, a small browser-based game with absolutely no advertising, which grew from 0 to 200 000 users in a couple of months.
Seriously, word of mouth is and remains the main way to recruit new customers.
Just make a good enough product and your customers are more than happy to do the advertising for you.
I'm a dreamer, the world is my playpen. But hey, I'm a serious person, I can't dream all the time.
I could be wrong, but doesn't Neverwinter Nights and Second Life already let you do this?
Second Life
You mean like so many text-based MUDs have done since forever?
I remember playing a MUD in the early 90s where when you hit the max level you could plant a dungeon somewhere (just connected your dungeon to an existing room node) and write object oriented code to implement monsters, puzzles and treasure. I always figured it would be a good way to teach OO design since it's a lot easier to think of a monster or a magical scepter as an object with attributes than it is to start with abstract data structures...
Anyway, like all games, MUDs have had a large drop in the ability for users to affect them as the graphics and detail went up. Back in the day everyone could easily make levels for Lode Runner or Wolf 3d without any training or learning curve. Nowdays you need a degree in 4th dimensional geometry and several days of free time to make a good FPS level, never mind a virtual world...
Obviously.
Scrolling through the comments, I see:
1. People who read about a similar universe in a book.
2. People who think this is a new great idea.
Seriously, guys, anyone interested in a collaborative freeform 3D world should have already registered an account at Second Life. It's been out there for a couple years already. The client *is* a 3D modeling tool, everything from clothes to massive Klingon spacecraft are built inworld. You can build anything you want in one of the sandbox areas if you don't own land. You can attach scripts to do almost anything to almost any object; everything from animating a sculpture to running a store or party game.
Second Life is now free. That is, you can register, have an avatar, get a weekly stipend, build anything you want, but you can't own land. No excuse not to try it out. One hint: turn off local lighting to speed up the framerate, Second Life is CPU-bound.