October 2003
- Scripting Languages and Magic gbtmud
- Scripting Languages and Magic Edward Glowacki
- Scripting Languages and Magic Freeman, Jeff
- Scripting Languages and Magic Patrick Dughi
- Scripting Languages and Magic Sheela Caur'Lir
- Scripting Languages and Magic Patrick Dughi
- Scripting Languages and Magic Smith, David {Lynchburg}
- Scripting Languages and Magic Jonathon Duerig
- Scripting Languages and Magic J C Lawrence
- Scripting Languages and Magic Richard A. Bartle
- Scripting Languages and Magic eric
- Scripting Languages and Magic Matthew Estes
- Scripting Languages and Magic Ben Chambers
- Scripting Languages and Magic J C Lawrence
- Scripting Languages and Magic Nathan F. Yospe
- Scripting Languages and Magic Smith, David {Lynchburg}
- Scripting Languages and Magic J C Lawrence
- Scripting Languages and Magic Edward Glowacki
- Scripting Languages and Magic Freeman, Jeff
- Scripting Languages and Magic Crosbie Fitch
- Scripting Languages and Magic Sheela Caur'Lir
- Scripting Languages and Magic Crosbie Fitch
- Scripting Languages and Magic Sheela Caur'Lir
- Scripting Languages and Magic Nathan F. Yospe
- Scripting Languages and Magic Marian Griffith
- Scripting Languages and Magic McDonald, Stephen
- Scripting Languages and Magic Sheela Caur'Lir
- Scripting Languages and Magic Mats Lidstrom
- Scripting Languages and Magic Sheela Caur'Lir
- Scripting Languages and Magic Eric Merritt
- Scripting Languages and Magic gbtmud
- Scripting Languages and Magic gbtmud
- Scripting Languages and Magic Jo Dillon
- Scripting Languages and Magic Kwon J. Ekstrom
- Scripting Languages and Magic Steven Metke
- Scripting Languages and Magic Alex Chacha
- Scripting Languages and Magic Jason Murdick
- Scripting Languages and Magic J C Lawrence
- Scripting Languages and Magic Nicolai Hansen
- Scripting Languages and Magic Sheela Caur'Lir
- Scripting Languages and Magic Adam Burr
- Budget (was size) Michael Sellers
- Graphics engine choice (size) Derek Licciardi
From: Sheela Caur'Lir
> Bruce Mitchener wrote:
>> Bo Zimmerman wrote:
>>> From: Amanda Walker
> Mostly because technology have moved so fast recently, that you
> may not attract players a year from now, with an engine of
> yesterday.
...
> And I think it will happen more and more, that games, even the big
> ones, will be based on a licenced engine, so the developers can
> concentrate no game content to a larger degree.
I'd have to agree here. Assuming we're after a commercial MMO.
Assuming we're evaluating the roll your own engine or buy one off
the shelf... I tend to lean on the buy one off the shelf for the
following reasons.
1) Stability. Period. How many MMOs have we played that simply
cannot get it right in the engine department. Bad launches cause
fan disappointment, and lost revenues. Buggy clients are a HUGE
turnoff to the initial impression and initial impression can often
mean the difference between a subscriber and only a sold box.
Anything that minimizes the risk of a bad launch has to be
seriously considered.
2) A new engine is not needed. UO is evidence of this and I think
it applies to newer games. RPGers time and time again show with
their dollars that they want story, depth, and game play before
graphics. You don't need to be able to hang with the FPSes.
3) The engine has to last 5+ years. Now you can staff up like
Criterion or NDL to keep your engine glowing through each DirectX
release and each new shader language or you can let someone else
do it. I'd prefer the latter because MMOs are a hard enough sell
anyway and the Graphics Engine resale market is saturated at this
point. Why build your own technology if you're never going to
resell it in some way. An asset that is never used might as well
be leased. Remember MMOs are a 24x7 service. Developing some
home grown wizbang graphics engine that crashes every time the
toilet flushes simply is not the definition of providing
service. Admit you don't have the QA department for a graphical
engine. Admit you don't have the talent and admit that your
engine will crash on every platform you do not test it on. At
that point the buy decision becomes much more appealing.
Lastly, You're already behind on the content race. Why waste a huge
segment of development time waiting for the engine to be stable and
developed to the point where your entire art pipeline is complete?
The 12 months of idle art time could have been put to far better
use. It doesn't make sense. Buy the engine and implement 100 new
quests and I am sure your players will thank you for it with their
wallets.
That being said, there is only one case in my mind where it makes
sense to build your own. That's if you are an SOE or an NCsoft and
you plan to spread the cost of development across many projects. In
this case you can afford to staff up an internal NDL sized
development team just for your engine, though even that is risky
because there is no one you can turn to when something goes wrong.
In the end you're still left with an asset that is not worth
anything to the outside world because of the conditions of the
Graphics Engine marketplace. Again, an MMO is a service.
Kressilac - Graphics engine choice (size) Paolo Piselli
- Graphics engine choice (size) Sheela Caur'Lir
- R: size Ghilardi Filippo
- [TECH] TCP fundamental throughput limits? ceo
- [TECH] TCP fundamental throughput limits? Jeremy Noetzelman
- [TECH] TCP fundamental throughput limits? Sheela Caur'Lir
- [TECH] TCP fundamental throughput limits? Miroslav Silovic
- [TECH] TCP fundamental throughput limits? Jeremy Noetzelman
- [list] Scripting Languages and Magic Scion Altera
- [list] Scripting Languages and Magic Talanithus HTML
- SSH Encryption on data stream Craig H Fry
- SSH Encryption on data stream squid
- SSH Encryption on data stream Mike Shaver
- SSH Encryption on data stream Brian Hook
- SSH Encryption on data stream Amanda Walker
- SSH Encryption on data stream Christopher Allen
- SSH Encryption on data stream Christopher Allen
- SSH Encryption on data stream Mike Shaver
- SSH Encryption on data stream ceo
- SSH Encryption on data stream F. Randall Farmer
- SSH Encryption on data stream J C Lawrence
- SSH Encryption on data stream Amanda Walker
- SSH Encryption on data stream Felix A. Croes
- MUD-Dev Digest, Vol 4, Issue 30 Lee Sheldon
- MUD-Dev Digest, Vol 4, Issue 30 Matt Mihaly
- MUD-Dev Digest, Vol 4, Issue 30 Dave Rickey
- MUD-Dev Digest, Vol 4, Issue 30 Lee Sheldon
- MUD-Dev Digest, Vol 4, Issue 30 Matt Mihaly
- Web vs. Java client Mark 'Kamikaze' Hughes
- Web vs. Java client Torgny Bjers
- Web vs. Java client ceo
- Web vs. Java client Mark 'Kamikaze' Hughes
- Web vs. Java client Elia Morling
- Web vs. Java client Christopher Allen
- Web vs. Java client Baar - Lord of the Seven Suns
- Web vs. Java client Christopher Allen
- Web vs. Java client Kwon J. Ekstrom
- Web vs. Java client Christopher Kohnert
- Web vs. Java client Christopher Allen
- Web vs. Java client ceo@grexengine.com
- Web vs. Java client Baar - Lord of the Seven Suns
- Web vs. Java client Mark 'Kamikaze' Hughes
- Web vs. Java client Matt Mihaly
- Web vs. Java client Christopher Allen
- Web vs. Java client Jeff Fuller
- Web vs. Java client(?) Joshua Judson Rosen
- Web vs. Java client(?) Eric Merritt
- Web vs. Java client Eric Merritt
- Web vs. Java client Mike Shaver
- Web vs. Java client Jeff Fuller
- Web vs. Java client Mike Shaver
- Web vs. Java client Mark 'Kamikaze' Hughes
- Web vs. Java client Matt Mihaly
- Web vs. Java client Mark 'Kamikaze' Hughes
- Web vs. Java client Ben Greear
- Web vs. Java client Jeff Fuller
- Web vs. Java client Ben Greear
- Web vs. Java client Kevin Reid
- Web vs. Java client Joshua Judson Rosen
- Web vs. Java client Jeff Fuller
- Web vs. Java client Adam Burr
- Web vs. Java client Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- Web vs. Java client Kwon J. Ekstrom
- Web vs. Java client Matt Mihaly
- Web vs. Java client Matt Mihaly
- MudDev FAQ - part 2 Marian Griffith
- MMORPG: where to start for making and running a game Richard Brown
- MMORPG: where to start for making and running a game Eric Lee {GAMES}
- MMORPG: where to start for making and running a game Michael Sellers
- MMORPG: where to start for making and running a gam e Peter Tyson
- MMORPG: where to start for making and running a game Edward Glowacki
- MMORPG: where to start for making and running a game Oliver Smith
- MMORPG: where to start for making and running a game Dave Rickey
- MMORPG: where to start for making and running a gam e Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- MMORPG: where to start for making and running a gam e Michael Sellers
- MMORPG: where to start for making and running a gam e Jeff Thompson
- MMORPG: where to start for making and running a gam e Sheela Caur'Lir
- MMORPG: where to start for making and running a gam e Derek Licciardi
- MMORPG: where to start for making and running a game Lee Sheldon
- MMORPG: where to start for making and running a game ceo
- MMORPG: where to start for making and running a game Lee Sheldon
- MMORPG: where to start for making and running a game Patricia Pizer
- MMORPG: where to start for making and running a game Lee Sheldon
- MMORPG: where to start for making and running a game Patricia Pizer
- MMORPG: where to start for making and running a game Oliver Smith
- MMORPG: where to start for making and running a game Oliver Smith
- MMORPG: where to start for making and running a game Lee Sheldon
- MMORPG: where to start for making and running a gam e Koster, Raph
- MMORPG: where to start for making and running a gam e Lee Sheldon
- MMORPG: where to start for making and running a game Sheela Caur'Lir
- MMORPG: where to start for making and running a game Damion Schubert
- Open Source Rules Engine Craig H Fry
- Open Source Rules Engine Emil Eifrem
- [NEWS] The Latest in TV Reality Michael Tresca
- [NEWS] The Latest in TV Reality Dave Rickey