It is possible to write WoW in machine language?

Wouldn't it depend on how long it takes? If, by the time you are finished no such machine exists...

15000 hours.

I know, technology advances rapidly and it would probably take a long time, although I don't know how long exactly.

All I know about machine code is that it's below Assembly. I read somewhere that Assembly gets translated to machine code instructions (or something like that).

Open the executable in a hex editor and ask yourself if you could write that code.
It may be possible and if it is, it takes exactly 42 years, 11 months, 4 days and 12 seconds, no more and no less.

Ah I see. So that's why people don't write games using machine language or Assembly :P

Time is definately a big factor. You also have to think maintainability and optimization. Just because you write machine language by hand, does not make it better than a higher level language by any means. We have compilers today that in general, do a better job optimizing code than most programmers can.

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Original post by Ntvu Out of curiosity, would it be possible to write World of Warcraft in machine language?

Of course it's possible. What do you think the compiler does?

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And if so, how long would it take?

How long is a very long piece of string?

Or, as one might ask, how long is a long dog? How hard is a hard cat? These are questions of the universe that may remain a mystery for all time.

People used to (and sometimes still do) write entire games in assembly language in a matter of months or single figure years. I guess machine code would be a step harder than assembly (you'd have to be very good at it, and keep reams of paper notes as you're no longer writing code in anything even resembling English), and WoW is a complexity step or two above most of the games that have been written in pure assembly. Think from decades to a lifetime for a human, or a few minutes for a compiler. Easy choice really!

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how long is a long dog?

3.2 metres. I'd say that's a very long dog in anyone's book.

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How hard is a hard cat?

Harder than Bruce Lee. ;)

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Original post by Mike.Popoloski Or, as one might ask, how long is a long dog? How hard is a hard cat? These are questions of the universe that may remain a mystery for all time.

Maybe not... I think the cat is that *showing with arms* long ;)

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Original post by Ntvu Out of curiosity, would it be possible to write World of Warcraft in machine language? And if so, how long would it take?

a) yes
b) a while

you question is about as sensible as, would it be possible to translate every book in your local library to klingon. the answer would be, of course, yes, but your more likely to get bored and do something thats actually useful, and/or productive.

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Original post by Ntvu Ah I see. So that's why people don't write games using machine language or Assembly :P

This is not entirely true... In developing games, you learn where to better focus your time and efforts. There are bigger gains to be had from designing better algorithms than coding a routine in assembly language. That being said, there are places in games where a small assembly language routine can improve performance.

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Original post by Zahlman How long is a very long piece of string?

Hm, std::numeric_limits::max() maybe?

I ran some numbers based on the data that's available in public on how long WoW's been in development and how many people are involved. I also took a rough estimate of assembly coding productivity and took a guess at how that would extend to machine code.

Based on my math, you're looking at probably about eleventy bajillion man hours, plus or minus twenty percent.

How's it been going so far? Got a demo we can check out?

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Original post by Ntvu Out of curiosity, would it be possible to write World of Warcraft in machine language? And if so, how long would it take?

Just when I read your question, this happened to me. Shame on you!

In theory it should be possible, but I doubt anyone who try to do it will ever succeed. They will probably ended up with frustration and never get it done.

Technically speaking it's possible. And it's being done - but you just don't write the machine code directly. You give that to your compiler/toolset/whatever. If you really had to build things from the ground up, you'd build your own tools and high-level language anyway, for practical reasons.

So you'd end up with WoW's development time, plus your own compiler-suite, including all the debugging that goes into that, and then add 20+% to all that because you're working with brand new technology instead of a well-known language and platform. That's likely still a very, very optimistic estimate.

Quoting Brett Sperry:

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When you add one fundamental new technology to a project, it can cause slippage up to 90 days. When you add two fundamental new technologies it can add a year to the anticipated release date. When you add three or more new technologies it becomes impossible to predict the release date of the project accurately.

So yeah, that gazillion man-hour estimate isn't as crazy as it sounds. ;)

May as well say it's impossible. Even if you were dedicated enough to write that much machine code in your lifetime, you'd probably end up blowing your brains out from the stress once you started trying to debug.