Looking to build a team for browser-based MMORPG
by Bob Gumeny · in Jobs · 01/06/2005 (4:57 am) · 16 replies
I would like to put together a team to make a free browser-based MMORPG. I feel that these types of games are typically very enjoyable, but often the free ones lack quality and depth. I have been drawing up ideas for a game for quite a while, but I lack the skills and knowledge to put it into actioin. I need an artist, a web designer/webmaster, and a programmer. I dont expect to be making any profit, and all hosting will be handled by me. I would like to use this game to get my foot in the door, and gradually begin work on a larger project that could be sold for profit.
I currently do not have a website, but some of the ideas I have been thinking of are:
Setting: Present Day, 1 or more cities.
Basic Idea: Players start out with a small amount of cash and certain stats (Muscle, Stamina, Tenacity, Endurance, Intelligence, Marksmanship, etc). These stats can be worked on at a gym, school, library, firing range, and various other places throughout the game world.
A player would also have certain skills they picked when they created their character (Stealth, Driving, Assasination, Flying, Boating, Sales, Craftsmanship, etc.) These skills would provide a boost in certain stats, and allow a player to perform special jobs. (I.E. Driving skill would allow you to perform special driving missions, Assasination would allow you to perform expert hits on other players.)
I would like to have a fairly interactive and in-depth commerce system involving real-estate and giving the player the ability to run a business or businesses. (Gun Shop, Grocery Store, Restaurant, Shipping Company, Taxi Cab, Real Estate Agent). I think this would give the player something more to get involved with, rather than the usual train, battle, buy weapons and armor, battle more, train more that seems so common among online RPGs these days.
Rather than just clicking on a players name and saying "battle this player", I would like to have several different types of fights. There would be your basic Melee or Street Fight, taking into account any weapons a player might have as well as their stats. I would also like to implement some of the following-- street muggings, assasinations, stealth kills, drive-bys, hit and runs, and possibly even boxing (rather than killing the other player, they are simply knocked out).
I currently do not have a website, but some of the ideas I have been thinking of are:
Setting: Present Day, 1 or more cities.
Basic Idea: Players start out with a small amount of cash and certain stats (Muscle, Stamina, Tenacity, Endurance, Intelligence, Marksmanship, etc). These stats can be worked on at a gym, school, library, firing range, and various other places throughout the game world.
A player would also have certain skills they picked when they created their character (Stealth, Driving, Assasination, Flying, Boating, Sales, Craftsmanship, etc.) These skills would provide a boost in certain stats, and allow a player to perform special jobs. (I.E. Driving skill would allow you to perform special driving missions, Assasination would allow you to perform expert hits on other players.)
I would like to have a fairly interactive and in-depth commerce system involving real-estate and giving the player the ability to run a business or businesses. (Gun Shop, Grocery Store, Restaurant, Shipping Company, Taxi Cab, Real Estate Agent). I think this would give the player something more to get involved with, rather than the usual train, battle, buy weapons and armor, battle more, train more that seems so common among online RPGs these days.
Rather than just clicking on a players name and saying "battle this player", I would like to have several different types of fights. There would be your basic Melee or Street Fight, taking into account any weapons a player might have as well as their stats. I would also like to implement some of the following-- street muggings, assasinations, stealth kills, drive-bys, hit and runs, and possibly even boxing (rather than killing the other player, they are simply knocked out).
#2
01/06/2005 (7:57 am)
So what server side platform are you going to use?
#3
Why don't you try to find a smaller project led by someone else first, and work your way up?
01/08/2005 (2:54 pm)
OK, that's a start... But you're missing the most important ingredient. Experience. Don't expect to be making MMORPGs as your first game (ESPECIALLY as a designer, director, or producer). Of course its happened before, the house (or failure, in this case) will most likely win.Why don't you try to find a smaller project led by someone else first, and work your way up?
#4
Perhaps a post like "What should I think about if one day I want to make a free browser-based MMORPG" would probably get a bit of positive feedback, useful contacts, and valuable information.
Whether or not experience is the most valuable ingredient in creating an MMORPG is up for debate. I'd argue that preparation and a complete understanding of what one is getting himself into are much more vital than having done it before.
01/08/2005 (8:19 pm)
Hrm... it's not necessarily that starting with an MMORPG is a bad thing. It's just that you've gotta make sure you entirely understand what goes into making one before you decide to make one. ;}Perhaps a post like "What should I think about if one day I want to make a free browser-based MMORPG" would probably get a bit of positive feedback, useful contacts, and valuable information.
Whether or not experience is the most valuable ingredient in creating an MMORPG is up for debate. I'd argue that preparation and a complete understanding of what one is getting himself into are much more vital than having done it before.
#5
Persistance, knowledge of the road ahead, and preparation are useless without knowledge of how to do the thing you want to do. Even you had experience within your high school from your programming teacher.
@Bob Gumeny
You should at least read: Game Design by Bob Bates before you venture off into the MMORPG realm. It will really help you design the game.
01/09/2005 (8:25 pm)
I'm not sure about that, Justin.Persistance, knowledge of the road ahead, and preparation are useless without knowledge of how to do the thing you want to do. Even you had experience within your high school from your programming teacher.
@Bob Gumeny
You should at least read: Game Design by Bob Bates before you venture off into the MMORPG realm. It will really help you design the game.
#6
Agreed, wholeheartedly- experience is by far one of the most valuable methods of obtaining know-how, but certainly not the only method, and not a required method, either.
I've seen coders who've never done a game before jump into a project and be far more valuable, hard-working, and successful than coders who've been on several projects before. Same's true of artists, musicians, designers, writers...
It's a matter of skill, knowledge, dedication, leadership, and understanding. Whether or not you got those things from previous experience is irrelevant.
01/10/2005 (5:42 am)
*nods*Agreed, wholeheartedly- experience is by far one of the most valuable methods of obtaining know-how, but certainly not the only method, and not a required method, either.
I've seen coders who've never done a game before jump into a project and be far more valuable, hard-working, and successful than coders who've been on several projects before. Same's true of artists, musicians, designers, writers...
It's a matter of skill, knowledge, dedication, leadership, and understanding. Whether or not you got those things from previous experience is irrelevant.
#7
If you look at what he wants, he is not trying to create an entire fantasy universe, he is not looking to draw millions of customers, etc... He simply wants a web based RPG that will allow users to see and interact with one another.
No one needs to come down on this guy with the MMORPG slam that everyone seems to bring down on anyone who dares mention it here. Though I must say, the reaction this time has been the mildest I have ever seen.
I really dont see why everyone insists that people will fail just because the dreaded MMORPG letters come up. There IS experience from failing an attempt to make a game.
However, as Bob stated this BROWSER BASED! A much easier medium to make a game in, in this instance. There are no patches applied to end users, engine crashes (well, I am not including windows or anything like that). Browsers are (fairly) stable, using something like PHP or ASP is stable.
Give the guy a break. He posted here to look for a team, not to be told he is going to fail.
01/10/2005 (7:46 am)
Actually, seeing as how he wants this browser based, not torque based, I dont see this as a very hard project.If you look at what he wants, he is not trying to create an entire fantasy universe, he is not looking to draw millions of customers, etc... He simply wants a web based RPG that will allow users to see and interact with one another.
No one needs to come down on this guy with the MMORPG slam that everyone seems to bring down on anyone who dares mention it here. Though I must say, the reaction this time has been the mildest I have ever seen.
I really dont see why everyone insists that people will fail just because the dreaded MMORPG letters come up. There IS experience from failing an attempt to make a game.
However, as Bob stated this BROWSER BASED! A much easier medium to make a game in, in this instance. There are no patches applied to end users, engine crashes (well, I am not including windows or anything like that). Browsers are (fairly) stable, using something like PHP or ASP is stable.
Give the guy a break. He posted here to look for a team, not to be told he is going to fail.
#8
01/10/2005 (2:46 pm)
My thoughts were exactly that. I felt a browser based game would be a fairly easy way to get started. It wouldn't require any use of Torque or any difficult programming. The timeframe for the project from start to final release probably wouldn't be much more than half a year to a year, and it would be a good way to meet people and make connections. It would also be a great help as far as my writing and designing game worlds goes. I could see how people react to my ideas and learn from their feedback and reactions. Once I felt I had more experience, I would then venture into a project looking to turn some sort of profit, and probably utilizing Torque as well. However, this would most likely not be an MMORPG. It would probably be an arcade game, or a shooter. I'm still looking to put together a team for this, I think it could be a fun and worthwile project to continue.
#9
01/10/2005 (2:47 pm)
My thoughts were exactly that. I felt a browser based game would be a fairly easy way to get started. It wouldn't require any use of Torque or any difficult programming. The timeframe for the project from start to final release probably wouldn't be much more than half a year to a year, and it would be a good way to meet people and make connections. It would also be a great help as far as my writing and designing game worlds goes. I could see how people react to my ideas and learn from their feedback and reactions. Once I felt I had more experience, I would then venture into a project looking to turn some sort of profit, and probably utilizing Torque as well. However, this would most likely not be an MMORPG. It would probably be an arcade game, or a shooter. I'm still looking to put together a team for this, I think it could be a fun and worthwile project to continue.
#10
'Nuff said.
01/10/2005 (4:03 pm)
Quote:If you have any questions, think it is too much/can't be done, or have any other comments let me know.
'Nuff said.
#11
There wouldn't actually be a downloadable, .exe, do-render-loop, "video game" to speak of- it would simply be a browser-driven RPG community with graphics.
Yeah- that would definitely be very doable, and appropriate for a beginning project, as well.
Of course, the whole server issue will probably come up one day, but until then, you could easily just run testing using a mySQL database on a webserver. It'll probably run you ~$10/mo. Not bad, really.
So what you would need are web coders (PHP, Flash), and artists (webdesign and illustrations), right?
Just making sure I've got this down.
01/11/2005 (6:34 am)
Aaaaaaah... so the thought isn't leaning as much towards a browser-based game like Runescape, but towards a browser-based community like Neopets, right?There wouldn't actually be a downloadable, .exe, do-render-loop, "video game" to speak of- it would simply be a browser-driven RPG community with graphics.
Yeah- that would definitely be very doable, and appropriate for a beginning project, as well.
Of course, the whole server issue will probably come up one day, but until then, you could easily just run testing using a mySQL database on a webserver. It'll probably run you ~$10/mo. Not bad, really.
So what you would need are web coders (PHP, Flash), and artists (webdesign and illustrations), right?
Just making sure I've got this down.
#12
01/11/2005 (1:08 pm)
That is exactly what I was thinking, not a game like runescape but more like a neopets type thing, and yes that is the sort of team I was looking for. Small, but able to get the job done.
#13
01/11/2005 (2:13 pm)
Perfect. An excellent way to start. You may also be able to get some great feedback on GameDev.net (web coders, database coders) and deviantART.com (artists, illustrators). If you've never recruited on those two communities before, though, I'd like to talk with you, and give you a handful of tips as to what works and what doesn't. ;)
#14
Anyway, good luck!
I'm curious though, what will you contribute to the project? Your profile says that you are a writer.
01/11/2005 (6:47 pm)
Wow! I had a totally different thought, too. I was thinking of a Runescape as well.Anyway, good luck!
I'm curious though, what will you contribute to the project? Your profile says that you are a writer.
#16
I will write and design everything that will be used in the project. The names of the cities, anything that will be found there, any characters controlled by the computer (NPCs I guess). I will research all the weapons and cars and such used in the game, and try to make it as realistic as possible while still making it fun to play. I am working on writing up a design document containing everything the game will be based on. Although this will obviously change and evolve as time goes on, it should provide a very good idea as to what the game will be like.
@ Cameron
I was thinking the exact same thing, and that is definetly what I'm aiming for.
01/11/2005 (9:07 pm)
@ GeorgeI will write and design everything that will be used in the project. The names of the cities, anything that will be found there, any characters controlled by the computer (NPCs I guess). I will research all the weapons and cars and such used in the game, and try to make it as realistic as possible while still making it fun to play. I am working on writing up a design document containing everything the game will be based on. Although this will obviously change and evolve as time goes on, it should provide a very good idea as to what the game will be like.
@ Cameron
I was thinking the exact same thing, and that is definetly what I'm aiming for.
Bob Gumeny
Gang Wars could be initiated when one Gang Leader declares war on another's gang. The Gang War would be over when the Leaders declare a truce, or one gang takes control of all of the other gang's territory. During a gang war, the number of enemy gang members each player kills will be logged. For every enemy gang member killed during a gang war the gang will earn an increase in power rating. A higher power rating will also give a player an advantage when fighting someone from a weaker gang.
I also want to have a number of vehicles (trucks, vans, cars, boats, airplanes) that can be used to transport items. (Each type of vehicle can hold a certain number of units, and each item has a certain unit value. I.E. A grenade is 1 unit, an M16 is 4 units) Houses, apartments, warehouses, and stores will also have a certain number of units they can hold. You must guard your items with a lock, alarm system, or perhaps even a guard dog, or other players can potentially break into your house and steal whatever they can carry.
I will draw up a list of weapons, vehicles, and a full list of stats and such in the near future. If you have any questions, think it is too much/can't be done, or have any other comments let me know. If you want to help you can email me at bgumeny528@yahoo.com or post here. You can also contact me on AIM at bgumeny2375.