Time for a quick overview of what the project will need:
1) Database server: I think MYSQL will work great for this project, quick to implement, fast, open standard, lots of interfaces, php support, cfm support, xml support and FREE!!! I am setting it up in the background on one of my servers for this project and will have it up and online shortly.
2) Web server: Obviously we need a site, artwork as well as the backend scripting support for the site. I think the user forums, user creation, etc can be setup using php on apache/windows. I have servers with both. I am thinking during this development time, I am going to implement this on the same server running the DB.
3) Database schema: We need to start to lay out what our game will need as persistent objects in the game world as well as what we need to maintain about the character states, login info, etc.
4) Artwork, Music, Voice Overs: The assessment flow has to be determined. 3dsmax to panda, x to panda, blender to panda, gimp, phototshop, etc. Music, voice overs, etc. I want to use as much free open source software for this project so that more people can participate so I am obviously leaning towards a work flow that is conducive to that.
5) Game Style and mechanics: UI, physics, etc. Would be great if we could allow for skinning, ui customizations, original story line, etc.
6) GMs and Quest makers: Need to create the tools to allow users to create content on servers.
7) Game Server: Responsible for connecting the client to all other services on the backend as well as managing the list of publicly attached servers.
8) Game Server toolset: Tools to govern the game server: Seeing who is on, booting people. I am thinking of implementing this in the client like WOW so GMS can login to the game world and admin it. I still think that maybe there should be a GOD tool so we could admin the servers from 'above'
9) I would like to be able to provide a server so others can download and host servers on their own but link them back to a public list so clients could browse within the software to a global list of servers. Each server could have its own maps, game play, etc.
Theres alot of work, please message me if you are interested in helping out on any of these pieces. I am going to start up an irc server so we can begin talking about these items but for now, email me and I'll start up a list of contributors.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Sunday, February 10, 2008
PANDA3D
Hi All,
Well I decided on Pand3d, I was able to write several small programs in Panda in about 4 hours.
I spent all friday and Sat trying to build just a simple room in Crystal, Irrlicht and Raydium. Although each game engine has strengths and weaknesses, Panda was the simplest in getting your development environment setup. Within 5 minutes I was coding and making some impressive programs. Since Python has literally countless add-on modules for both Linux, MAC and Windows it gives me alot of room to grow. Since it is free, anyone can download and help out. It has solid networking built in for MMORPGS. I can build great UIs within and outside the game. This is important as I obviously will need to build a server to manage client connections and build a toolset to create the game. Since I can compile on both my LAVA Linux desktop and XP work desktop, it means I can program wherever I am at. Also Panda has built is support for alot of the files I want to integrate, 3dsmax, X, mp3, AVIs.
Since Panda is built on python and is free, I can distribute the final client as a self-contained binary using tools such as py2exe or pyinstaller. This is important as I don't want fellow gamers to have to manually setup a python install just to play my game. With py2exe and pyinstaller I can literally make my game install a standard EXE on windows and a standard binary install on Linux. Simple double click to play.
Well I decided on Pand3d, I was able to write several small programs in Panda in about 4 hours.
I spent all friday and Sat trying to build just a simple room in Crystal, Irrlicht and Raydium. Although each game engine has strengths and weaknesses, Panda was the simplest in getting your development environment setup. Within 5 minutes I was coding and making some impressive programs. Since Python has literally countless add-on modules for both Linux, MAC and Windows it gives me alot of room to grow. Since it is free, anyone can download and help out. It has solid networking built in for MMORPGS. I can build great UIs within and outside the game. This is important as I obviously will need to build a server to manage client connections and build a toolset to create the game. Since I can compile on both my LAVA Linux desktop and XP work desktop, it means I can program wherever I am at. Also Panda has built is support for alot of the files I want to integrate, 3dsmax, X, mp3, AVIs.
Since Panda is built on python and is free, I can distribute the final client as a self-contained binary using tools such as py2exe or pyinstaller. This is important as I don't want fellow gamers to have to manually setup a python install just to play my game. With py2exe and pyinstaller I can literally make my game install a standard EXE on windows and a standard binary install on Linux. Simple double click to play.
Re-Formated my PC
So I just reformated my development pc with my new build of LAVA Linux Dev.
Loaded it with all the engines, crystal space, panda3d, etc.
I played with panda3d a bit and found it was easy, freely available, interfaces with blender a great free 3d modeler and was easy to setup an environment on both the pc and linux.
Crystal space took a little more effort but also has a huge support force online. I also thought that if I invested time in crystalspace it may be more beneficial as Crystal space has spurred off many interesting projects such as CEL.
Irrlicht is also a contender as I like the tutorials - the forums are helpful and it also has a great list of links and add-on projects.
I'm still reviewing the engines and in the next week I want to work on the following simple engine test.
My simple hello world will be - to build a simple room, texture mapped with dynamic lighting and have collision detection so i cannot walk outside the room. Total 3d, look up, down, sides as well as move slow and run. This is a simple task and it is a test to see which engine does it the best and which does it the quickest.
Loaded it with all the engines, crystal space, panda3d, etc.
I played with panda3d a bit and found it was easy, freely available, interfaces with blender a great free 3d modeler and was easy to setup an environment on both the pc and linux.
Crystal space took a little more effort but also has a huge support force online. I also thought that if I invested time in crystalspace it may be more beneficial as Crystal space has spurred off many interesting projects such as CEL.
Irrlicht is also a contender as I like the tutorials - the forums are helpful and it also has a great list of links and add-on projects.
I'm still reviewing the engines and in the next week I want to work on the following simple engine test.
My simple hello world will be - to build a simple room, texture mapped with dynamic lighting and have collision detection so i cannot walk outside the room. Total 3d, look up, down, sides as well as move slow and run. This is a simple task and it is a test to see which engine does it the best and which does it the quickest.
Monday, February 4, 2008
I'm back
It's been awhile - the last couple months I have been working and fixing up my new house. Check back in the next week or so and I'll post new content on. I'm going to start dedicating the next couple months on this project. I've received alot of emails with people interested in producing a MMORPG and will be sending out feelers to all. If you haven't emailed me, please do, I can use all the help I can get.
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