lol, I''d better listen to the Iron Chef as I respect them!

I''m just bewildered at the number of "people" that appear saying "we''re writing an MMPOG". Yet when you look at their site, you see zero indication that these people are anything but 11 year olds who have more than 0% chance of completing their game. I laughed because they''re asking questions like "should we use Torque" and they''re already specifying how much the game will cost.

So constructive criticism/advice:

1) Start small. Learn to program using C/C++/VB/Dark Basic/Blitz Basic. Whatever turns your crank.
2) Start smaller. Program a small arcade game, or something like Tetris.
3) Pick an existing engine/SDK/language, such as Dark Basic, Blitz Basic, Truevision 3D, Revolution 3D, Torque, Auran Jet, Power Render, Crystal Space to fit your requirements and abilities.
4) Slowly grow. Make sure you understand the technology you are going to be using enough to know how to develop what you want, and to know how to develop it. See 1).
5) Create a design document that fully describes the game.
6) Prototype the core tech concepts in your game one at a time. For example, prototype a core renderer.
7) Throw the prototypes away and produce some more.
8) Start plugging things together to see that they interact.
9) Keep throwing the prototypes away until you''re happy with them.
10) Slowly pull the game together piece by piece.
11) Testing, testing and more testing. Prove the technology works as you described in your design document.
12) Recruit people to create artwork.
13) Recruit people to create sound effects and music.
14) Create a website and show off some screenshots and technical descriptions.
15) Testing, testing and more testing. Prove the technology works as you described in your design document. Fix outstanding bugs.
16) Create an alpha demo, and recruit an inner circle of trusted people to test it.
17) Go back and implement any bug fixes or feature requests generated through testing.
18) Go back to step 15, many times. Proceed if you''re confident the software is relatively bug free.
19) Release a beta version and recruit more people into testing.
20) Go back to step 17. Proceed when you''re happy.
21) etc. etc.
22) Release game, while dropping kids off at school. Remember to buy groceries!

Disclaimer - I wrote that in 30 seconds, so I make no guarantees as to it''s validity or usability. I wrote it to give those people with no formal S/W Engineering experience a heads up as to what lies ahead. I''m sure it''s full of mistakes, but it''s just a general indication.

quote:

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Original post by stodge
However, if you''re eleven years old and/or English isn''t your primary language then I take that comment back.

[edited by - stodge on January 30, 2003 11:10:23 AM]

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I was able to speak english without making mistakes when I was eleven, and my native language is not english... Seriously this is really worthless... I''m sorry to say but it is. A few things come to mind when I see your site:

1. You want to "make" a MMORPG, but you do not want to do too much about it yourself. You make the idea, other ppl do the hard work (making the game)
2. You haven''t really thought about this, you just wrote down what came to mind, and this isn''t all too clear. Not 1% of the needed info is given. The plan for my CLAN for a MMORPG was about 10 pages, so how can the plan for a MMORPG consist out of just 20 lines?
3. You do not even take the time to present everything clearly. Make a professional looking website, get a domain and present a clear plan in doc files. If you can''t do this yourself, hire someone. Yes, this costs money but you''ll get loads of money since you want people to pay 10-15 bucks for your game per month. This is also my next point. And do you think programmers, artists, etc will work for free while you want to earn money with the game? It won''t work.
4. You already make an estimate of how much money you want to ask. When this was stated in the topic you replied with saying it''s based on the price of other MMORPGs. A PRICE ISN''T BASED ON OTHER PRICES (well you won''t put it 3 times as high ok) but it''s based on the expenses you have (earn them back, with a little bit of profit)

Well I think you''re asking too much from just putting up a simple idea that most people get a few times a day (hey it''s never hard to get ideas, it''s hard to code them out)

But I might be wrong about your plans/ideas/etc. I''m not trying to offend you, but I''ve seen things like this just a little too often

Not to be harsh or something, but these people are correct. Most game designers wannbes who recruit people fail to provide a very detailed game concept. Your game concept is....I must say, not well thought. It''s a very very very general concept, and you start recruiting people and set the price?

I take a Theatre Art class right now, and luckily the teacher has this idea of making a production based on a provided script. The students are divided into groups, designers, directors, producers, etc..and each group is assigned tasks, what they should do. I am very amazed at the details of the task. Even though the production is only a short play, the details are amazing, far more detailed than every help-wanted post I have ever read. How the set, theme, the costume (what it feels!), price, everything. At first, I was pessimistic about this. However, after I look and get involved in the process, it''s far more than interesting. If we had a real budget and actors, we could turn this to a real play. If you had real programmers, artists, producers, right now...do you think you can make a game based on the concept you provide?

If you think you are a game designer, you must provide a detailed concept and design of your game. Every single element that your game wants. 5 cities, what are they, what do they look like (conceptually), population, size, location, etc. What is major, what can a major do, how to become a major, how not to become a major, how to kill a major, what is he wearing! What about non-major players, what can they do, outfit, skills? Markets, what do they provide, don''t just say "weapons, guns", put names, price, and location in each city. Building army, does it affect population, what are the army look like, how powerful are they, how to win battles, what factors decide winning or losing a battle. etc etc etc
Do what stodge and Expendable said, they are correct. You need to know how to design a game properly and how to present it to your prospective team mates.

Don''t start recruiting until you have detailed concepts. Otherwise, you will get negative feedback, like right now.

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return 0;

I''m not the Doctor and your making ME wanna go home and just drop everything I''m working on...man do you guys rip into people with high ambitions lol

I say go for it! Prove every single one of these people wrong. And if you don''t...so what...your now that much smarter and more experienced compared to when you started.

Happy Programming,
Synth0id

Having high ambitions isn´t bad - losing sight of your capabilities is what is.

I have no problem with beginners starting their MMORPG projects, as long as it´s clear to them from the beginning that they´re not going to get very far...
I´ve done projects like that where the goal was not to make a game but just to prove that you can do a certain aspect... working engine, a part of the logic, a design feature, etc.. if you set a goal and reach it you´ve gained much more than just starting out into the blue and being all puzzled when nothing seems to work out.