Whippets Posted January 30, 2014 Posted January 30, 2014 Hi guys, I'm writing an MMORPG, or to be more honest, an MORPG. To be Massive(ly) would require a similar sized budget It's not going to be the next WoW or GW2 - I'd be kidding myself if I thought that - though I hope to create a small community of enthusiastic players who enjoy playing, and feel that their input and feedback is listened to, and helps steer the development direction. It's a multi-race fantasy setting, with all the usual elements; crafting, exploring, combat (open world PvP), etc - but also with nudity, sex, and above all socialising. RolePlay will be an important part, often (I find) missed out of the usual large MMOs. For me, it's the small things that matter when socialising - little animations and visual emotes that make a more believable experience. I'd rather skimp on the big things, to ensure that the social aspects are best I can make them, without losing sight of it being an RPG, and not just another 3D sex/chat. Why am I not even including a link? There's really not much to see yet. I've been working full time on the project for a year now, making sure that the client patching system works, and that the server code is solid - all that tedious but necessary backend stuff. I'm at a point now where I can start to concentrate more on the artistic style of the characters and world - Age of Conan is the sort of style I'm aiming for - a balance between beautiful terrain and quality avatars, a stylized realism hopefully avoiding the pitfalls of the uncanny valley. As to the game itself, I've set out to have a large number of professions letting the player choose the things that interest them most for their character. Professions themselves have few levels (6 or 12) - it's more about socialising and RolePlay, than grinding through levels - for this reason too, there is no "end-game" or "max level". The goals are how you interact with other characters, and making a name for yourself (what others think of your character). As a brief taste of the professions you can choose from, and there are over 40 so far, I have Guard, Mercenary, Prostitute, Thief, Mugger, Assassin - all designed to be skills that invlove interaction with others (good or bad). I already have an author onboard writing backstories to various families, and the world itself, and a composer writing original scores for the game and each of the zones; but as yet no artists or animators. All artistic assets I'm purchasing over time as I need them. Not an ideal solution, but one that will at least get me to the Alpha stage. Anyway, thank you for reading, and if you have any comments, ideas, feedback; dismissive or enthusiastic, I'd love to hear it Whippets.
windpl Posted January 30, 2014 Posted January 30, 2014 Good luck with that, if It was me I would go for php/mysql web based game first to gather interest and support. A lot less "artistic" assets needed.
Guest airdance Posted January 30, 2014 Posted January 30, 2014 Are you going to have it as a "sandbox" allowing players to contribute mods?
Whippets Posted January 30, 2014 Author Posted January 30, 2014 @Windpl Thank you I'm good to go as a stand-alone for PC/Mac, working in a 3D environment is no problem (though the simplicity of a php/mysl game would involve less head banging and programming frustration XD ) @Airdance The game has ingame sandbox elements, in that all items are player crafted, and quests are player generated. As for modding, it's not built specifically with modding in mind, but I'm open to the inclusion of community generated content. Whilst as the developer, I need to keep the final say to ensure quality and focus, if the community wants something in particular, or offers content for inclusion, I'll be more than happy to add things in. It's not a new Second Life where players can add things for sale - but I hope will be a community lead game, and will deliver what the community want (within reason). Whippets.
Lusty Housecarl Posted January 30, 2014 Posted January 30, 2014 Seems like a interesting game/project and if it ever goes anywhere it would probably be the first (M)MORPG i actually play for more than 15 minutes -The goals are how you interact with other characters, and making a name for yourself (what others think of your character). As a brief taste of the professions you can choose from, and there are over 40 so far, I have Guard, Mercenary, Prostitute, Thief, Mugger, Assassin - all designed to be skills that invlove interaction with others (good or bad). I like the sound of this.
Whippets Posted January 30, 2014 Author Posted January 30, 2014 @Lusty Thank you for that - I'm hoping that the lack of grindy, gear-centric, levelling will encourage a smaller, more mature RP community - though probably also discourage large swathes of gamers. Let me add a few more of my professions as tasters; Magician, Healer, Slaver, Merchant, Dominant, Submissive, Politician, Governor. For those that don't want to kill a single thing, there are professions and progression routes available. Likewise for harvesters and crafters, there's no need to kill to become among the best at your chosen profession. For the crafting system, I have 5 harvesting professions, and 8 crafting professions - all of which produce useful items (right from the first level) that other characters will need. Whippets.
Guest Posted February 2, 2014 Posted February 2, 2014 This actually sounds very good, I'm excited to see more about it. I'm bored of most rpg's these days because all you do is kill monsters and maybe get a new ability. This sounds like it could do good in the target market. On that note, I am a fairly decent artist, and I'm learning digital art techniques at the moment, so maybe in the near future I could do some concept art for your game. For free of course, I don't consider myself good enough to get money out of it.
Whippets Posted February 2, 2014 Author Posted February 2, 2014 This actually sounds very good, I'm excited to see more about it. I'm bored of most rpg's these days because all you do is kill monsters and maybe get a new ability. This sounds like it could do good in the target market. On that note, I am a fairly decent artist, and I'm learning digital art techniques at the moment, so maybe in the near future I could do some concept art for your game. For free of course, I don't consider myself good enough to get money out of it. Hey DoritoMan, that's one of the things I'm after most of all... Would you mind if I PM'd you directly for a chat? Whippets
Guest Posted February 2, 2014 Posted February 2, 2014 This actually sounds very good, I'm excited to see more about it. I'm bored of most rpg's these days because all you do is kill monsters and maybe get a new ability. This sounds like it could do good in the target market. On that note, I am a fairly decent artist, and I'm learning digital art techniques at the moment, so maybe in the near future I could do some concept art for your game. For free of course, I don't consider myself good enough to get money out of it. Hey DoritoMan, that's one of the things I'm after most of all... Would you mind if I PM'd you directly for a chat? Whippets I don't mind.
gaggedgirl123 Posted February 2, 2014 Posted February 2, 2014 I'm really interrested in this! If there's anything I can help with that doesn't require a very specific set of skills, don't hesitate to PM me!
Gumihoyah Posted February 2, 2014 Posted February 2, 2014 the idea sounds awesum and certainly the kind of (m)mo that I would enjoy playing! because all I ever really do in them is do content for outfits then stand around, take screenies and chatter all day XD I guess the most important thing for me in games is character creation and fashion
gaggedgirl123 Posted February 2, 2014 Posted February 2, 2014 the idea sounds awesum and certainly the kind of (m)mo that I would enjoy playing! because all I ever really do in them is do content for outfits then stand around, take screenies and chatter all day XD I guess the most important thing for me in games is character creation and fashion Well that might make you laugh but sometimes, art direction is really what drives me away from a game. That, or lack of customization. This is why I hate most popular MMOs but can stand to grind for hundreds of hours on Monster Hunter: most popular MMOs have very specific leveled gear, and don't offer an aesthetic customization of any kind. I loved playing LOTRO for that: you had a visual outfit option
Whippets Posted February 3, 2014 Author Posted February 3, 2014 Yes, art direction is very important, as is the ability to customize avatars, so that you can look unique, and get your style just as you want it. May I PM you gaggedgirl123? I can give you more info on the project and answer any questions.
gaggedgirl123 Posted February 3, 2014 Posted February 3, 2014 Yes, like I said in my earlier post, don't hesitate to PM me!
Thulas Posted February 3, 2014 Posted February 3, 2014 I second that, by the way; I am not sure how I could be off any help, but maybe there still is something I could be of assistance anyway.
Guest Mogie56 Posted February 3, 2014 Posted February 3, 2014 Sounds very interesting and ambitious, what engine and tools are being used if you don't mind my asking?
Whippets Posted February 3, 2014 Author Posted February 3, 2014 Thank you all for the encouraging words. It is an ambitious project, I much prefer running before learning to walk I'm using Unity as the engine. Not the most uber engine out there, but accessible and with a great community. It also uses C#, and my knowledge of C goes back 30 years. The Unity assetstore is a real bonus too, bit by bit I'm able to bring in more assets. I've also been working on the beta team for an extensible, morphable avatar system, which is already integrated into the project, using mid-range poly models for outside, and high poly models for inside scenes (where there is less load on the client). As for tools, pretty much none outside of Unity assets - my 3D skills are zero, and for 2D I couldn't even draw a circle. I did fire Blender up once, and quickly learnt that 3D content creation, rigging, and skinning are very highly skilled jobs. I'll stick to what I know best, which is coding Inside of Unity, I'm using the new UMA avatar system, a state of the art new IK system, a completely new set of high quality terrain and vegetation shaders, and all sorts of smaller extras to improve the overall look of things. Things I know I'm short of are skinned clothing and hair for avatars, animations (especially transitions between poses), and bedroom scene animations, 2D concept art, 3D models and textures for game items, interior building blocks (walls, stairs, walls with doors, etc), and furniture, media skills to put together a trailer video with the little content that I have already. Basically, I won't turn down any offers of help however big or small. If anyone wants to contact me directly for more info, I'm on skype at sparkymarcus1968 Coming to LoversLab has been a very positive experience for me so far, I'd like to say thank you again
Gumihoyah Posted February 3, 2014 Posted February 3, 2014 Its sounds like a really fun project! Wish I had the skills u needed so I could be of assistance but sadly I lack skill in anything :3 that being said my pm box is also open for you if u need anything ^-^
Whippets Posted February 3, 2014 Author Posted February 3, 2014 Its sounds like a really fun project! Wish I had the skills u needed so I could be of assistance but sadly I lack skill in anything :3 that being said my pm box is also open for you if u need anything ^-^ That doesn't matter at all The idea is for the direction and new ideas to come from the community, so you're most welcome to come and help be part of that. The url is www.dawnofterranae.com
Pkatt Posted February 3, 2014 Posted February 3, 2014 Just wanted to say that this looks cool, and I hope the best for you. One of the things missing from MMORPGs I think is the RPG. Some of the most enjoyable experiences I have had in MMOs were back in the Everquest I days, on the Fennin Ro server, where people actually roleplayed their character all the time, while in game, and had priority on that, instead of leveling or killing mobs or getting loot. I remember each city had its own player run and roleplayed government and character, both good and bad. Sometimes you would log in and something epic would happen, and sometimes you would just roleplay your character running around doing every day things. What was missing was a sense of true danger, since there was no PVP. I read the opening lines on your website, and would love to play something like what those lines describe. I saw mention of forums, but didn't see any. Do they appear after you register, or was I just missing them?
gaggedgirl123 Posted February 3, 2014 Posted February 3, 2014 I definitely agree with Pkatt: what's missing in most MMOs is the actual roleplaying. Hell, even in a lot of newer single-player RPGs, it's become more of a "tank VS DPS VS heaer VS...". You always have to be one of those. I like playing TES because I can just be an adventurer, and live adventures. That's what I love in fantasy RPGs. I don't care much for stats. Anyways, sorry if that seemed like ranting, actually I was noticing that your MMORPG seems to be a step in the direction of the stuff I like, and away from just the "hardcore" roles.
Whippets Posted February 3, 2014 Author Posted February 3, 2014 Just wanted to say that this looks cool, and I hope the best for you. One of the things missing from MMORPGs I think is the RPG. Some of the most enjoyable experiences I have had in MMOs were back in the Everquest I days, on the Fennin Ro server, where people actually roleplayed their character all the time, while in game, and had priority on that, instead of leveling or killing mobs or getting loot. I remember each city had its own player run and roleplayed government and character, both good and bad. Sometimes you would log in and something epic would happen, and sometimes you would just roleplay your character running around doing every day things. What was missing was a sense of true danger, since there was no PVP. I read the opening lines on your website, and would love to play something like what those lines describe. I saw mention of forums, but didn't see any. Do they appear after you register, or was I just missing them? I agree totally. RP is sorely missing in most games, along with the little touches that make RP more engaging. Facial expressions, better and more emotes, even things like eating and drinking when in a group sat round a table. Certainly I am already working with my new IK system to try to make avatars pick mugs up from the table to drink. Looking at someone when talking to them is another little thing. The more of these little things that I can add, hopefully will help create an evironment that encourages and rewards RPers. Yes I have forums. Due to the possible adult nature of posts, I'm keeping them visible only behind a login wall.
Whippets Posted February 3, 2014 Author Posted February 3, 2014 I definitely agree with Pkatt: what's missing in most MMOs is the actual roleplaying. Hell, even in a lot of newer single-player RPGs, it's become more of a "tank VS DPS VS heaer VS...". You always have to be one of those. I like playing TES because I can just be an adventurer, and live adventures. That's what I love in fantasy RPGs. I don't care much for stats. Anyways, sorry if that seemed like ranting, actually I was noticing that your MMORPG seems to be a step in the direction of the stuff I like, and away from just the "hardcore" roles. I don't like the fixed roles of the holy trinity tank, dps, healer. I'll be trying to stay as clear of that as possible. Combat will need a lot of testing to get right - and probably constant tweaking. I like rants - especially when I can see that my project is heading in the other direction As a harvester and adventurer you should be able to reach the same level of worth and status as any other chosen professions.
Lusty Housecarl Posted February 3, 2014 Posted February 3, 2014 I must say i like the sound of this more and more, a game based on RP and social interaction between players is something i could probably enjoy. When it comes to games the role playing element and immersion matters a lot to me, i have never been much of a "Kill X for loot and don't talk to anyone!" sort of person. After all if i play a multiplayer RPG type game i would like to actually talk to people. The adult elements is also a bonus
Pkatt Posted February 3, 2014 Posted February 3, 2014 Yes I have forums. Due to the possible adult nature of posts, I'm keeping them visible only behind a login wall. Completely understandable. I've found them now. I love play single player rpg's like Skyrim because you can mod them to make them into the game that you actually want. You want to experience the danger that anything can happen to you on that open road. (or in the inn for that matter, lol) But in single player, no matter how good the AI is, its not the unexpected and on the fly stuff you'd get from other people playing. I think you will have a good market. It may not be massive, but for this, I would rather see dedicated people that want to be there for the same reasons, instead of every tom dick and harry that just want to reach level 80. hey, might want to move that url to your website up to the first post, in case some don't read that far down.
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