WinterLeaf Entertainment and OMNI
by Paul Yoskowitz · 09/12/2011 (10:12 pm) · 8 comments
Man.... where to begin.
WinterLeaf Entertainment (WLE) and the OMNI Software Suite is the most exciting project that I have ever worked on. Ive been a programmer for over 20yrs now and I have yet to be part of anything that has kept me as busy and as interested as this.
I know that there are always the "Dont do a MMO as the first project with T3D" talks. I see them, and then promptly ignore them. Im know that its sound advice. Diving into the project that WLE is doin has taught me that. However, making a MMO would be too easy.
In the last few years the MMO software industry has started to take off. Big World, Hero and others have started to make themselves more affordable to the masses. Colleges are offering classes and game programming degrees. This industry isnt going away.
Some years ago, there was a MMOKit that was written for TGE. It was based off Minions of Mirth (an earlier version i believe) and it was supported by a community of people - a certain few inparticular - but it has since died and the community i believe has disappeared.
This gave us the idea.
We could be like others that builds our own MMO. Or..... do something different and build a development suite that utilizes the T3D technology to make creating a MMO "easier". Hence, the OMNI Suite was born.
Now, Ill have to say, this isnt going to make creating a MMO "CREATE" button easy. What this will do is take out some of the repetitive stuff that all MMOs need to be created, and add in a few more toys. Chat servers, mail servers, dynamic weather, a modifiable GUI system, auto-updaters, the database backend and a data entry system and more will all be a part of this.
Now the NEXT question could be - where are you at in this process? Well, we are creating the parts and pieces - a bunch of different programs that will need to be brought together for all this to happen.
The other question could be - But how do we know this will work? Well, to PROVE that our software will work, we are also creating a MMO. No better way to prove that your stuff works than to make one yourself right? So as parts are completed, we create that part of the game, go back and fix stuff as needed and move on.
We are making good progress on this. Im not unhappy with where we are at. Once the database re-write is complete, we will start blogging more often and putting up videos as to what our progress looks like.
I said it earlier and Ill say it again. This is an exciting project. I love it. If anyone has questions, comments, anything.... feel free to email me at pyoskowitz@winterleafentertainment.com
WinterLeaf Entertainment (WLE) and the OMNI Software Suite is the most exciting project that I have ever worked on. Ive been a programmer for over 20yrs now and I have yet to be part of anything that has kept me as busy and as interested as this.
I know that there are always the "Dont do a MMO as the first project with T3D" talks. I see them, and then promptly ignore them. Im know that its sound advice. Diving into the project that WLE is doin has taught me that. However, making a MMO would be too easy.
In the last few years the MMO software industry has started to take off. Big World, Hero and others have started to make themselves more affordable to the masses. Colleges are offering classes and game programming degrees. This industry isnt going away.
Some years ago, there was a MMOKit that was written for TGE. It was based off Minions of Mirth (an earlier version i believe) and it was supported by a community of people - a certain few inparticular - but it has since died and the community i believe has disappeared.
This gave us the idea.
We could be like others that builds our own MMO. Or..... do something different and build a development suite that utilizes the T3D technology to make creating a MMO "easier". Hence, the OMNI Suite was born.
Now, Ill have to say, this isnt going to make creating a MMO "CREATE" button easy. What this will do is take out some of the repetitive stuff that all MMOs need to be created, and add in a few more toys. Chat servers, mail servers, dynamic weather, a modifiable GUI system, auto-updaters, the database backend and a data entry system and more will all be a part of this.
Now the NEXT question could be - where are you at in this process? Well, we are creating the parts and pieces - a bunch of different programs that will need to be brought together for all this to happen.
The other question could be - But how do we know this will work? Well, to PROVE that our software will work, we are also creating a MMO. No better way to prove that your stuff works than to make one yourself right? So as parts are completed, we create that part of the game, go back and fix stuff as needed and move on.
We are making good progress on this. Im not unhappy with where we are at. Once the database re-write is complete, we will start blogging more often and putting up videos as to what our progress looks like.
I said it earlier and Ill say it again. This is an exciting project. I love it. If anyone has questions, comments, anything.... feel free to email me at pyoskowitz@winterleafentertainment.com
About the author
http://winterleafentertainment.com/
#2
The community mmo kit for tge was not based on Minions of Mirth. The mmokit for tge 1.4, 1.5, and TGEA was made by a small group with Dreamer, Dave Young, Ashtara, and a handfull of other folks. (man I miss those days). It died off because GG made their bet on Minions of Mirth tech. That MMOKit was designed by Josh Ritter & Co, and amongst things it was based on Pyton. That also died off after Josh left the MoM scene.
The mmo 'core' varies so much that it will be really hard to do a 'barebones' skeleton, but GL with the project.
09/12/2011 (11:52 pm)
nice read, and interesting project, but!The community mmo kit for tge was not based on Minions of Mirth. The mmokit for tge 1.4, 1.5, and TGEA was made by a small group with Dreamer, Dave Young, Ashtara, and a handfull of other folks. (man I miss those days). It died off because GG made their bet on Minions of Mirth tech. That MMOKit was designed by Josh Ritter & Co, and amongst things it was based on Pyton. That also died off after Josh left the MoM scene.
The mmo 'core' varies so much that it will be really hard to do a 'barebones' skeleton, but GL with the project.
#3
As far as the core goes, I dont expect this to be a 100% fit for everyone. I expect that some may have to get dirty and do some code modification or even a bit of a rewrite. Thats expected. HOWEVER, what we ARE aiming for is a general good starting place for most people.
If it helps put GG on the MMO map, then imo, we've succeeded.
09/13/2011 (5:49 am)
I never used the community effort mmo kit so honestly, it slipped my mind all together. i apologize now if my exclusion of the community kit offends anyone. The Kit i was refering to was the one by Josh.As far as the core goes, I dont expect this to be a 100% fit for everyone. I expect that some may have to get dirty and do some code modification or even a bit of a rewrite. Thats expected. HOWEVER, what we ARE aiming for is a general good starting place for most people.
If it helps put GG on the MMO map, then imo, we've succeeded.
#4
This way you'd get paid for your work, it would be tested by more people, and the technology would not just gather dust until your demo game is done.
Good luck with your project, I'll definitely keep an eye on this!
09/13/2011 (11:09 am)
This sounds exciting. What I (and I'm sure many others) would like to see and what would keep us more interested would be if you'd actually publish and support pieces of the big picture - ie. the chat solution, your inventory system, your GUI framework, etc.. - before they build up a whole.This way you'd get paid for your work, it would be tested by more people, and the technology would not just gather dust until your demo game is done.
Good luck with your project, I'll definitely keep an eye on this!
#5
09/13/2011 (11:17 am)
@Konrad - thats being discussed. We are wanting to do some preliminary testing of our own before we release anything to the public however.
#6
That said, I have read of such projects before but never see results. Often they start out MMO and eventually move on to an FPS with multi-player capabilities rather than something useful for an MMORPG. I do look forward to following your project and will be sure to point our programmers to this blog.
09/13/2011 (11:41 am)
Paul, we would definitely be interested in purchasing parts of your technology as you develop it. Even though our programmers are already putting together what we need, it would be nice to save time purchasing completed components. That frees us up to work on the technology that makes our game special without having to waste time on the generic things like inventory, chat, etc.That said, I have read of such projects before but never see results. Often they start out MMO and eventually move on to an FPS with multi-player capabilities rather than something useful for an MMORPG. I do look forward to following your project and will be sure to point our programmers to this blog.
#7
09/13/2011 (7:34 pm)
I agree, bits of it been released is an interest to me, because i properly would one a few pieces of the pie and get it all and have to cut it apart myself is annoying and as mentioned you'd be getting money along the way. 
#8
09/14/2011 (10:55 pm)
Count me in if you complete it and sell it...or pieces of it (especially the database stuff). 
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