Inversed MMO?
by Ben Jones · 02/25/2006 (12:05 am) · 10 comments
Today I was thinking about MMO. Massive Multiplayer Online Games. Pretty much everyone knows that they are one of the most difficult things to make. So obviously the total opposite would be super easy to make right?
So lets just think this through.
What is the opposite of Massive? Well Miniature? Ok, next one.
What is the opposite of Multiplayer, well thats easy. Single player.
And what is the opposite of Online, again easy Offline.
So really if you wanted to make a game you just do the opposite of making an MMO, you make an MSO.
I dunno, I just thought it of it today.
So lets just think this through.
What is the opposite of Massive? Well Miniature? Ok, next one.
What is the opposite of Multiplayer, well thats easy. Single player.
And what is the opposite of Online, again easy Offline.
So really if you wanted to make a game you just do the opposite of making an MMO, you make an MSO.
I dunno, I just thought it of it today.
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#2
02/25/2006 (12:13 am)
A minature single player offline game. In my experience it would be very true.
#3
02/25/2006 (12:45 am)
I'd say online games are often smaller, you usually don't have to develop as much content, for example in a deathmatch shooter you just need a few weapons, a few multiplayer maps and voila! Compare that to a single player game and you generally need a storyline, AI, and lots more content in terms of single player levels.
#4
02/25/2006 (12:54 am)
I think you're overlooking the *miniature* part of it.
#5
That doesn't sound like a "miniature" game to me. Take a look at games that have a progressive algorithmic difficulty - like bubble poppers, puzzle games, and many old arcade games.
These are super easy to make, and ironically, probably will give you a better sales-to-time investment ratio than nearly any other genre.
02/25/2006 (12:55 am)
Quote:Compare that to a single player game and you generally need a storyline, AI, and lots more content in terms of single player levels.
That doesn't sound like a "miniature" game to me. Take a look at games that have a progressive algorithmic difficulty - like bubble poppers, puzzle games, and many old arcade games.
These are super easy to make, and ironically, probably will give you a better sales-to-time investment ratio than nearly any other genre.
#6
02/25/2006 (1:11 am)
Alex hit the nail on the head :) ... I was going to say pretty much what he did.
#7
02/25/2006 (3:28 am)
one of the greatest benifits to being online: you dont need an AI. you can be lazy with that and just have it pvp ;) 
#8
02/25/2006 (4:30 pm)
Perhaps then it could be named a SSSPLOG (Somewhat Smaller Single Player Local Offline Game).
#9
I guess essentially it comes down to a competition between how much code you have to write to enable multiplayer support and how much code you have to write in terms of AI, realistically there doesn't usually seem to be a lot in it, and certainly if you're basing off Torque then a lot is done for you.
Perhaps I shouldn't have mentioned storyline in my original comment and should've substituted multiplayer for online (because a game doesn't have to be online to be multiplayer of course), as indeed a lot of older games and puzzle games don't have them, but I still think that AI/Level content can often end up making a single player game more work, even games like bubble bobble had 100 odd levels and a plethora of different art content requirements in terms of monsters as simple as it was, and I think many people would've enjoyed it equally if you just had 10 levels and blew bubbles to try and pop each other instead however as I mention in my next paragraph there are other issues with multiplayer take up.
I do agree totally with Alex's comments on sales-to-time ratios however, mainly because multiplayer game takeup is generally slower due to the fact that quite simply, you can't really play them by yourself. This alone probably makes a simple single player game (even if it is potentially slightly more work) the best choice for sales-to-time investment.
02/25/2006 (7:50 pm)
I guess it depends what PoV you're coming from, if you're talking about developing with Torque then it's definetely easier to produce a multiplayer game, most of it's already done for you. I guess if you're talking about making a game from scratch then this idea is probably right, but even then if you look at 2 player pong, it's still about as simple as it gets yet not single player. I guess essentially it comes down to a competition between how much code you have to write to enable multiplayer support and how much code you have to write in terms of AI, realistically there doesn't usually seem to be a lot in it, and certainly if you're basing off Torque then a lot is done for you.
Perhaps I shouldn't have mentioned storyline in my original comment and should've substituted multiplayer for online (because a game doesn't have to be online to be multiplayer of course), as indeed a lot of older games and puzzle games don't have them, but I still think that AI/Level content can often end up making a single player game more work, even games like bubble bobble had 100 odd levels and a plethora of different art content requirements in terms of monsters as simple as it was, and I think many people would've enjoyed it equally if you just had 10 levels and blew bubbles to try and pop each other instead however as I mention in my next paragraph there are other issues with multiplayer take up.
I do agree totally with Alex's comments on sales-to-time ratios however, mainly because multiplayer game takeup is generally slower due to the fact that quite simply, you can't really play them by yourself. This alone probably makes a simple single player game (even if it is potentially slightly more work) the best choice for sales-to-time investment.
#10
02/25/2006 (11:47 pm)
Looks like it all sums up to how much content (code, art, sound, etc.) you need to put into the game. The easier to make a game, the less content you have to put into the game. So, the opposite of MMO is offline two-player pong. :D
Torque Owner Andrew Hull