Game project... Created 18 years ago2006-01-24 19:05:23 UTC by PaulRPG

Hello TWHL.CO.ZA

It was recommended by ?The Hunter? that I ask on here so, here I am. I?m not going to dance around what I?m trying to say so ill get to the point.

I am trying to gather a team for a project of mine, a game. I have been working on designs, ideas, story etc in my head and on paper for the last two years. I?m wanting for it to go public, i.e. shelf release etc and I?m 100% committed to working on it, I didn?t just think this up overnight. I am in the process of constructing a temporary website however I have been very busy.

I can go into a bit of detail however not everything for obvious reasons. It is being planned for the unreal 3 engine however this will be converted into an MMO engine, I know that this is no easy feat however it is possible. It is set in the future and it is based around team work to try and reduce kill whores, as from personal experience kill whores can ruin a tactical plan, the idea is to influence people to work together however still be able to solo.

Basically I need people in all fields, especially programming and 3d modeling. To answer one of the questions which will most likely come up, no I don?t have the money for the license yet, however I have plans to get it.

If interested, contact me: admin@paulrpg.co.uk

Side Note: I am aware that this is quite off topic to the nature of this forum, so I apologize to the admins if they remove it (however this is in general discussion), however as I said it was recommended.

Well, when looking for a team, you should probably prepare some media and a full out story/idea plan first. People generally don't hop on big projects based on some text. Give us some screenshots/concept art.

Also, what can YOU do? Recoding the Unreal engine is indeed no easy task. Do you intend to do most of the work or do you just want lots of people doing it for you?

Well, good luck I guess. I'm not interested, just to make that clear.

Well, for the last to years, I have been preparing technical designs and concept art which are looking better as time progresses, also I have been refining these designs to make them more realistic. With this in mind I would say that my area is technical design and architecture. I plan to have a team of about 10 people or so. As such because I do not 3d model (well) no 3d models in game, this is also because I do not have an unreal 3 engine or engine powered game to model for. I could upload some of the designs soon, however the scanner is not functioning. Also I am a bit reluctant to release the full story, mainly because it is difficult to prove that you are the copyright holder of literature on the internet, I am not saying that someone will take it who is a member however people can log on and check it all out then steal the ideas. Anyways, I have things that need to be done off the computer, ill be on tomorrow to discuss this further.

Tell us more... what's this idea of yours all about? If you've prepared idea's and designs for over 2 years, you surely are able to tell us more. Don't be so secretive about idea's, those are just a dime a dozen anyway. Don't be afraid people will steal your particular idea, even if it's really that special - working it out is still the hard part of it.

Show us some concept art, describe the concept of your game, the core gameplay... Make us warm for it. Sure, you'll need a team, but do you specifically know where you need how much manpower? Do you have some sort of estimated production time? Do you know about the typical game/mod development bottlenecks? What modding or game-development experience do you have already? Did you finish similar or smaller projects like this before?

Also, why have you chosen the Unreal3 engine (which sounds unlikely you'll ever get it as they only license it to corporations with a solid background)? Aren't there better (and cheaper) engines out there that better fit your game requirements? Why going retail instead of releasing it over the internet (which really is a valid market if you know where to go)?

I'm not trying to bash you, but I'm interested to see why you made these choices and what you expect from this. Creating a game and spending large amounts of time and money is quite a serious thing...

I agree with Captain P. The question we are asking ourselves is not "Do you have the money for the license?". We are asking ourselves what it is about. Imagine that instead of a game you are making a movie: People won't join you unless they know if they'll be making a romantic comedy or the best sci-fi flick of all time...

And they have to know you're capable of making that movie, of course...
Plus they'll have to like it. Believe me, talented people are easier to find than committed ones...

<cough> er paul... i think you should show them some of the stuff you showed me... when you show me your concept art, your all happy and excited over it, and you get into the deep details of everything you want, and why it should be that way...
i cant quite understand why you're so scared of teh internetz...

join us... Join Us... JOIN US!

Why not built first a demo website to talk about the game concept ? You could upload there all your scenarios, game mechanics, artworks, alpha version engines etc, instead of coming here and "just" say "hi, I have a project, here is my mail", and you could have had your own forum where to seriously discuss the stuff, recruit people, write a FAQ page etc ...

I dont think he needs a forum yet. a website maybe, but only when he knows its gonna get off the ground running. I would love to help but I have no experiance with the unreal engines. :/

Where else are you advertising? what can you tell us about yourself? will the game be plot or story based? both? you dont have to tell me how everything works together, just basic setting and gameplayinfo. what are your main influences?

[edit]I could help with your web design. well a monkey could help with your web design atm but Im a bit better than most monkeys

First of all sorry about being so discreet about this project of mine. To answer a quick question it was the only question I could think about at the time, and I have been pretty busy recently. I shall try to answer as many questions as possible, ill leave the actual talking about the game until next post, pretty busy, which is why this post has been so delayed

CV

I do not have experience in games development however I do have a lot of modding experience, the games I have worked on are: Operation Flashpoint (programming/mission editor/3d modeler/camera scripting), Dawn of War (programmer), Doom3 (map editor, some programming), Quake 4 (map editing), Bf2 (a little bit of object server alterations), Hl2 (a little map editing). These are the games I?ve worked on, I also know HTML, PHP, how to use and maintain MySQL, how to use Apache web server and VB.Net. Currently learning C++.

Reasons why I have chosen Unreal 3 engine:

It is possible to convert to an MMOG engine.

Its? rendering system will reduce lag and will also be nice to work with.
Because it is built upon the unreal 2 engine and older versions it mean that the editing tools, for example unreal ed will most likely be used, and from the screenshots I?ve seen, this will make map editing easier

The visual effects which are available will be nice, I am aware that they will not all be able to be used because of lag etc however the possibilities are there.

Rag doll physics creates a more realistic death and also more interesting game play, also there are physics tools.

Having said this it will be possible to use the Unreal 2 engine, however I feel that the unreal 3 engine is much better.

Retail release:

To be honest, I had thought about having a virtual download system for the game however I have been mainly concerned with other areas, although a definite possibility.

More to be added in the future, just thought I should update something.

i was bugging him on msn

ok, sounds better, Ill wait till next post then.

So, you worked on (or rather, worked on mods for) several games. Got anything to show then? Something finished? That'll say much more, you know. (Plus, I like to see stuff... :))

And so, somehow you know it's possible to use the Unreal 3 engine for a MMORPG. But have you investigated the costs of that? How much time and experience would be required for that, not to forget about the money involved? How are you planning to get that license in the first place, without a company or company experience?
Have you thought about the expenses of running a MMORPG? I've done some reading on these kind of games a while ago, and I found out one of the main reasons companies don't start MMORPG's is the heavy costs of such games. How do you plan to scale this, being a student? Do you got investors or such?

Sounds to me you've got some big dreams, but too little sense of reality at the moment. Don't get me wrong, I'm not against you, but I seriously doubt your changes of succes with this project in it's current shape. I've seen people with more experience starting up MMORPG and similar projects. None of these groups has lasted more than a few months. Why would your project succeed?

If you can satisfyingly answer these questions, you've gone a long way already. If you can't... then you may want to reconsider your plans. After all, these things will come in your way some day...

Well said CP.

I think some of the main things you want to ask yourself is; Are people going to pay to play this? Is it THAT good and not just a bit of fun for a while and then not worth buying.

You want physics in a MMO? Dream on.

What you need to do if you are serious about this is not talk to people over the net. You want to find yourself a company (or start your own with a group of friends or people with similar skills and such) in real life. Work is a lot easier to handle when your team is at the end of a phone line or a short drive / walk away.

No major game has ever been made purely over the internet, if you want to make this game, find somone in real life, real life contacts who you can discuss the idea with. From what I am reading here you seem to be pretty well skilled in quite a few feilds. Take that to an employer. Dont just think you can jump on the band wagon and build your own game. Become a memeber of a Games Company and get a lot more experiance in the feild before you try to take on such an insanly large project.

If you have no experience becides modding and plan to release this as retail, you will fail. To get your product manufactured, to make a good game, and to know about marketing it you need education. I myself am a major in game design in college. Im a freshman, and all my computer professors tell me that the industry is looking for educated people. Like EVERYTHING in life education is key. Modding does not cut it no matter how many games you have "modded". Sorry to be blunt, but it is the truth. Look for any job, or product subscribing, it all asks for education.................

What publisher?, and what engine are you using to work on? (command based or shell scripts).

Good luck anyway.

No major game has ever been made purely over the internet

Oh, it's not impossible, but it's just not something to be taken lightly. Take a look at 0 A.D., for example - it surely is possible. Note that what you see there is the result of about 4 - 5 years of work and it's not finished yet, so again, it's not as easy as it looks. On the other hand, it's not as impossible as it looks, either.

i've been designing games for 7 years now, now in college for 3 years, and soon in the industry for who knows how long until i get the opportunity to develop the game, then add 5 years to make the first game.

screw luck, you'll need passion and experience to shove your way into the industry. sorry for being dreadful, but i'm in school for this, and they teach about the industry all of the time and all of the misunderstandings. I could go on, but a crack in your dream is bad enough.

But on the plus side, it IS possible and has happened the way we all hope. Make a 400 page tome of your design and send it to adeveloper and get a deal. It has happened, but the chance is slim. Don't rely on it.

I'd say grab the source engine (due to its better looks and effiecency compared with the unreal 3 engine), make a small area of your MMO in that, and see how it comes out.

use it as a jumping point.

I do not have experience in games development however I do have a lot of modding experience, the games I have worked on are: Operation Flashpoint (programming/mission editor/3d modeler/camera scripting), Dawn of War (programmer), Doom3 (map editor, some programming), Quake 4 (map editing), Bf2 (a little bit of object server alterations), Hl2 (a little map editing). These are the games I?ve worked on, I also know HTML, PHP, how to use and maintain MySQL, how to use Apache web server and VB.Net. Currently learning C++.

You have experience in game development if you have experience in modding, it's basically the same thing but the fact the game engine is ready-to-use, fact that you could complete well with your C++ learning...

If you have no experience becides modding and plan to release this as retail, you will fail. To get your product manufactured, to make a good game, and to know about marketing it you need education.

Marketing is an important key nowadays to sell games yes, but not an exact science : CS and the Sims are examples of what a game can succeed no matter the "quality" of its marketing...

Like EVERYTHING in life education is key

What do you exactly mean? That the more a person went to school and the more he/she worthes in the community?

accually, i revise my thing about source.

cough up the $1000 to get Unity Pro and the $0 for blender (unless you like spending money), and some Photoshop guys, and some guys who are good with 3d modeling programs

Ok, ive looked more into the havoc engine, alas I can not answer any questions for I am swamped with coursework. Ive looked more into the havoc engine (source engine for hl2 etc) and I am now prefering this over the UT3 engine. Will look into licensing soon.

Again, Unity, less then a licence for Havoc or source or Un3.

Physics engine better then havoc, compatable with Maya, blender, 3dsmax, etc...

WHat I meant about education was if you want to succeed in life, then you need education. Really is no argument to that is there?

Then you mean that workers, taxi drivers, cooks, sweepers etc as a lower level of persons? Hadn't you ever heard about people who "succeeded" in life with no diploma?

Just got a few mins, a few more essays to do. Garg problem is that in an MMO, we will have to strip down most of the physics to reduce lag, will look into it tho, also I know the havoc engine to be very robust. Link us please.

It's "Havok". You'd think that you'd know the name of the engine you plan to spend thousands of pounds on.

In my opinion an MMO game doesn't need physics: Seriously, it will just kill the servers, just emulate some collisions and some others world rules (gravity etc), and that's enough, players won't care about "oooh, look at this ball launched in the air and bouncing on this wall, its run is sooo realist!", come on...

link for Unity:
http://www.unity3d.com/

im sure the Ageia physX engine can be toned down or off easily

be prepared to look into all of the advice here! Dont just say, "This is what i want!" because there are people out there that know more about it, take their advice and look into it.

If you plan on project managing this you will have to realise you dont know best, only what you want.

You need an engine that is easy to code and model for. No point in getting an engine that then needs another $2000 worth of software to use.

EDIT: I always had a great idea for a game: either a MMORPG/FPS or just a BF2 style game crossed with something like escape from LA. A city has been turned into a huge prison, there a 3 factions and you have to fight for land and resources. A bit like planetside but a lot better

You can always make you game using the lower/cheaper options and then when its starts making money start developing a newer version with the best graphics etc.

I am more than willing to test anything you come up with, im currently learning Java and then C++ but i doubt id be of any use with it. I am very good at developing ideas, problem solving and research.

If you need any help let me know at stufarnell1@hotmail.com

A bit like planetside but a lot better grin -

What makes your idea better?

You can always make you game using the lower/cheaper options and then when its starts making money start developing a newer version with the best graphics etc.

Creating a simple and fast-to-create prototype before starting production is a very usefull way to find out if your idea is actually fun to play - you don't want to waste thousands of dollars and years of time to find out the game just doesn't have that 'thing' that makes it fun to play. There's a nice article about prototyping on Gamasutra.com, where a team of students each created a game prototype per week. It resulted in some interesting game idea's, worth to work out. Most prototypes just didn't have it, though, which I think stresses the importance of an early test version or prototype.

However, if you start with a version of the game on one engine, it may take quite some effort to port over. If you'd only do that for better graphics, then I'm not sure if you've set your priorities right. Improving the gameplay each release is probably a better approach as it really adds the content, the solidness of the game. Visuals help sell a game and may improve the experience greatly, but they come at a high cost these days. It's difficult to compete with retail games on the visuals part, so perhaps it's better to focus on other area's.

I am more than willing to test anything you come up with, im currently learning Java and then C++ but i doubt id be of any use with it. I am very good at developing ideas, problem solving and research.

I started with C++ and greatly like it over Java (which I have to use at school now), but of course I'm biased since I like raw performance and abilities over platform-independence and faster production times.

/rant