Re: [MMORPG][CONCEPT] Shadowrun MORPG

"PizaZ" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> Also, you might consider prototyping the aspects of your game that are
> unique... like the economy, crafting, experience, etc stuff you mentioned.
> Maybe try one of the clients at http://www.worldforge.org/dev/eng/clients
> That way, at least you're making progress on the diffrentiating features
of
> your game and will have a functional prototype to shop around rather than
> just lofty words in a newsgroup.

It's not a bad idea, if "refining game design concepts" is the bottleneck of
his experience.  But I suspect, that's not the bottleneck. He probably knows
plenty about such game systems, if at age 27 and with commercial network
experience he's wanting to embark upon one.

The bottleneck is actually writing something.  Playing with someone else's
code, rules, and game system really doesn't matter if you already have a
good enough idea of what you want / need to do.  What you need to do, is
make something, get it out into the field, and refine it with player
feedback.

In that vein, it is better to write a *small* game that implements *one*
system or subsystem that could be reused in a bigger game someday.  For
instance, a combat system... and forget about buying, selling, treasure
hunting, dungeon crawling, multiplayer, chatting, etc.  Concentrate on how 2
things kill each other.

> Is their an FAQ for this group that covers these sorts of posts I wonder?

Yes, it's in the FAQ under "Ten Stupid Wannabe Tricks."  Which admittedly,
has grown longer than the original list of 10.  The applicable one is Nathan
Mates' "14. Stupid Over-Reaching" and it explicitly names MMOG as the usual
suspect.  http://www.sloperama.com/advice/lesson24.html#rea

-- 
Cheers,                     www.indiegamedesign.com
Brandon Van Every           Seattle, WA

20% of the world is real.
80% is gobbledygook we make up inside our own heads.