Creating A Better MMO Experience
The purpose of this Tutorial and any further editions is to help people create a better MMO experiance by developing a true persistent world and a more enjoyable place to play in.
I have done studies on a few MMOs and have also worked professionally for a short time on a small MMO during it's early phases.(Please don't ask why I quit or who I worked for as it's a long story and I don't want to get into trouble with them).
Please keep in mind that there are many ways to make you MMO good, and this is just my way and my views, I reccomend you read around and not just my guide.
Lesson 1::::Understanding MMOs
In this lesson I will explain how the MMO came about and why it is so popular. Even if you are a seasoned MMO Veteran, you should read this, as you may learn something new.
Lesson 2::::Your World's Skeleton
In this lesson I will show you how to form the world of your MMO so that you can add the 'skin' later on. If you plan to keep players for more then the first 10 levels, then you'll want to get this right.
Lesson 3::::It Does Matter 'bout Your History
In this lesson I will adress the main problem with alot of MMOs, the lack of a decent history and age to a world, regardless of how great the war was before the players arrived, it's important to tell more.
Lesson 4::::Which way today?(AKA Landscapes)
The landscape in a MMO is one of the most difficult and intresting aspects of designing your world, but still people seem to follow the same broken concept.
I am available to help you with your MMO design in return for Sprites and sometimes out of the plain charitablility of my heart, or for Sprites.
Feedback is appreaciated.
Peace
The purpose of this Tutorial and any further editions is to help people create a better MMO experiance by developing a true persistent world and a more enjoyable place to play in.
I have done studies on a few MMOs and have also worked professionally for a short time on a small MMO during it's early phases.(Please don't ask why I quit or who I worked for as it's a long story and I don't want to get into trouble with them).
Please keep in mind that there are many ways to make you MMO good, and this is just my way and my views, I reccomend you read around and not just my guide.
This is an ever growing list of useful hints to aind in your development process.
1. Music
I have found music can really help out as just a way of making you concentrate while working on an idea, try and choose more atmosphereic or background noise pieces so your thought pattern isn't interrupted. My personal favourite, Suzie Blue by Ben Harper, I listended to it working on a world non-stop for 200+ plays, it has a great background noise quality that helps you think without being jaring.
1. Music
I have found music can really help out as just a way of making you concentrate while working on an idea, try and choose more atmosphereic or background noise pieces so your thought pattern isn't interrupted. My personal favourite, Suzie Blue by Ben Harper, I listended to it working on a world non-stop for 200+ plays, it has a great background noise quality that helps you think without being jaring.
Lesson 1::::Understanding MMOs
In this lesson I will explain how the MMO came about and why it is so popular. Even if you are a seasoned MMO Veteran, you should read this, as you may learn something new.
First, this little Essay (400 words) on multiplayer gaming will give you a little understanding into the Genre's evolution, I reccomend you read it, but I won't farce you to read it as it's long for most people's attention span.
MMOs are almost the direct decendant or Multi User Dungeons or MUDs. MUDs where MMOs on a very small scale, and for the time, they were very popular (although expensive).
MMOs have taken MUDs to the next level by giving us the chance to play with thousands of player online at once, and sometimes for no charge at all.
Now you understand MMOs roots, you may wonder why they are so darn popular.
The reason is becuase of the Persistent world and the shared experiance of the MMO that draws players in.
The persistent world of a MMO presents you with a world that will react to how the players within the world play (to a certain extent at any rate) and also means that unlike a standard game with locations that will be the same every time, as you play through the world, you may find things are different, and most of all persistent. As even when you're offline, things happen, thus the addiction to MMOs can be formed. Understanding how to make an intresting Persistent world will come later, right now I am jsut getting you used to the MMO concept.
The Second factor is the Shared experiance, that is, the knowledge that many other people are doing, things around you, and that you aren't just some figure in a plain full of AI. Going off on party quests and being a part of a clan or guild make the player feel more involved with the world and so they will be more willing to keep comming back, and less willing to leave. Players also love recognition, and will quest to have a special name tag or even just a mention somewhere, as this makes them almost a star of the game.
The third factor is that as the player plays, they progress, not through a story as such, but more through a character's life (and death), the reason players level up and explore is usually to gain access to certain areas or use certain things. As the player wants to become better and more knwon in the game and world, they will level up to go do special quests and earn certain items.
Now you understand the factors that make players play MMOs, you may be wondering how to make these things work in your game. I will get into this from now on, and I promise things will be more handson for you from now on.
Multiplayer gaming via the Internet has changed the way people make and play computer games. Multiplayer has become more of an expectation in gaming then an extra and pure multiplayer games have become increasingly popular. From the way games are designed, made and played to the way they are marketed and sold to the gaming community have been changed by the multiplayer industry.
The first ever game genre to be played over the Internet were MUDS or Multi User Dungeons, these programs were almost entirely text based with the occasional start up screen being the only graphics displayed. Some early titles were Zork and Island of Kesami and these MUDS were made on specially built computers that were very expensive at the time. In the early-mid 90’s when the Internet became more readily available, multiplayer began to be more common as one of the features in games, games such as Quake, paved the way for the FPS (first person shooter) games to become one of the most common multiplayer game genres. Due to the fast paced action of the FPS genre, powerful computers and faster Internet connections were needed, so the computer hardware industry soon had a new demanding and profitable market- the gamer.
As multiplayer became common in the mid 90’s a new style of game play came out; MMOS (Massively Multiplayer Online Games) which instead of having a few players playing against each other, hundreds of players play on the same server at once. The most common type of MMOs are MMORPGs which are role-playing games, the first games that started the MMO genre were Ultima Online and Everquest, both were RPG’s and set the direction for the MMO genre, although a game called Planetside is currently the first, and only, MMOFPS. There are now a wide range of MMO’s from World War 2 ones to the classic swords and sorcery type games, as well as space based and even a Star Wars MMO.
Multiplayer is now an expectation in the gaming community, a shooter without multiplayer capability ends up being rated far worse than if it has multiplayer capabilities. MMO’s aren’t the only type of multiplayer only games, games such as tribes are almost entirely multiplayer. Now trough programs such as Steam, games are even being sold to players while they play games. Games can be bought off Steam soon many games will be available through similar programs.
Gamming has taken a giant leap from early day MUDS to the now increasingly popular MMO’s and Multiplayer games of today. The way games are designed has become more multiplayer focused and Marketing has changed drastically from loose advertising to the more niche focused advertising now being used. As technology advances so will the games, and Multiplayer is only set to get bigger and more expansive
The first ever game genre to be played over the Internet were MUDS or Multi User Dungeons, these programs were almost entirely text based with the occasional start up screen being the only graphics displayed. Some early titles were Zork and Island of Kesami and these MUDS were made on specially built computers that were very expensive at the time. In the early-mid 90’s when the Internet became more readily available, multiplayer began to be more common as one of the features in games, games such as Quake, paved the way for the FPS (first person shooter) games to become one of the most common multiplayer game genres. Due to the fast paced action of the FPS genre, powerful computers and faster Internet connections were needed, so the computer hardware industry soon had a new demanding and profitable market- the gamer.
As multiplayer became common in the mid 90’s a new style of game play came out; MMOS (Massively Multiplayer Online Games) which instead of having a few players playing against each other, hundreds of players play on the same server at once. The most common type of MMOs are MMORPGs which are role-playing games, the first games that started the MMO genre were Ultima Online and Everquest, both were RPG’s and set the direction for the MMO genre, although a game called Planetside is currently the first, and only, MMOFPS. There are now a wide range of MMO’s from World War 2 ones to the classic swords and sorcery type games, as well as space based and even a Star Wars MMO.
Multiplayer is now an expectation in the gaming community, a shooter without multiplayer capability ends up being rated far worse than if it has multiplayer capabilities. MMO’s aren’t the only type of multiplayer only games, games such as tribes are almost entirely multiplayer. Now trough programs such as Steam, games are even being sold to players while they play games. Games can be bought off Steam soon many games will be available through similar programs.
Gamming has taken a giant leap from early day MUDS to the now increasingly popular MMO’s and Multiplayer games of today. The way games are designed has become more multiplayer focused and Marketing has changed drastically from loose advertising to the more niche focused advertising now being used. As technology advances so will the games, and Multiplayer is only set to get bigger and more expansive
MMOs are almost the direct decendant or Multi User Dungeons or MUDs. MUDs where MMOs on a very small scale, and for the time, they were very popular (although expensive).
MMOs have taken MUDs to the next level by giving us the chance to play with thousands of player online at once, and sometimes for no charge at all.
Now you understand MMOs roots, you may wonder why they are so darn popular.
The reason is becuase of the Persistent world and the shared experiance of the MMO that draws players in.
The persistent world of a MMO presents you with a world that will react to how the players within the world play (to a certain extent at any rate) and also means that unlike a standard game with locations that will be the same every time, as you play through the world, you may find things are different, and most of all persistent. As even when you're offline, things happen, thus the addiction to MMOs can be formed. Understanding how to make an intresting Persistent world will come later, right now I am jsut getting you used to the MMO concept.
The Second factor is the Shared experiance, that is, the knowledge that many other people are doing, things around you, and that you aren't just some figure in a plain full of AI. Going off on party quests and being a part of a clan or guild make the player feel more involved with the world and so they will be more willing to keep comming back, and less willing to leave. Players also love recognition, and will quest to have a special name tag or even just a mention somewhere, as this makes them almost a star of the game.
The third factor is that as the player plays, they progress, not through a story as such, but more through a character's life (and death), the reason players level up and explore is usually to gain access to certain areas or use certain things. As the player wants to become better and more knwon in the game and world, they will level up to go do special quests and earn certain items.
Now you understand the factors that make players play MMOs, you may be wondering how to make these things work in your game. I will get into this from now on, and I promise things will be more handson for you from now on.
Lesson 2::::Your World's Skeleton
In this lesson I will show you how to form the world of your MMO so that you can add the 'skin' later on. If you plan to keep players for more then the first 10 levels, then you'll want to get this right.
When creating your world, you usually have some idea of the classes, the rules, the land and how certain parts will be like, but these will only end up being snapshots in your game's world, as to put simply, no matter how many ideas you have, they still need to be put into a functioning and more importatnly, enjoyable world.
So, i'm going to help you create the basics for your MMO world so that you can get the most out of your strong ideas.
First off, you need to Write up A little about your world, and secondly, how the players are part of that world, for this, write down the following, take as much time as you need:
World Name::This is pretty straightfoward
Important Hostoric Events::The events that are going to play a role in your quest's backstory should be mapped out so you have an Idea of how things will go. I'll explain history in depth in another lesson, so for now just get the ideas down roughly.
Hero's Role::Every player is a hero, in here you should define how they will be part of the world, is their goal to become a farmer and grow famous crops. Is their goal to complete some herculean quests and become a rich hero, is their goal to discover the secrets of the world. Although players may have many options, this should be the core idea behind the MMO, if you expect to plop your players in a world with too many options and no general direction, players will get lost and won't be staying very long in your world.
Now we have and idea of what the quests will be focues around, and how the players will progress.
You may wonder why I chose 2 so seemingly different aspects to look at first. It's simple, the History of the world is what will make the world's current time what it is, that is to say, what the players will be doing. For example, if some dark power from the north has formed, then the world will be focused around fighting that force off. If there has been a great discovery of a new land and all the people of the world are going there to build homes, then the players goal will be to make a home and be successful.
As you can see, history is an important part of shaping the experience for the player, and shoudln't be overlooked at any point.
Now we have what you could call the Backbone of the world, that is the purpose of it in realtion to the players.
Now we should add the ribcage, that is to say, add the world's detail to draw the player in.
Unfortuneatley, there is no simple formula for the perfect world for the players to enjoy, so i'll provide you with some tips.
1. Keep the idea simple.
Don't flood the player with 18 different zones, from sand to snow, as this can water down the world too much. If you do want to do this, try and keep the number of zones down, as each zone needs alot of story and design put into it, while one large zone can be focused on and it's design made far faster with far more results.
2. Give it a focus point
Although seemingly uniform and 'ununique', giving the world one or two central cities, towns or whatever the player's main area to be in is, will provide a place where lost players will know to return to and also provide a place where all players know certain things (major quests, guilds etc) are based.
3. Try something new
When entering a MMO world, I love being placed in a new setting for the world past the classic bustling plains city with roads to more advanced towns in every direction layout. Try giving the old idea a spin, why not a Great tower in a desert with great undergorund chambers around it to get to the sacred lands. That would be different and fun.
4. Don't Lose the Player
There is nothing worse then a world where you can get lost by simply walking out of the starting location. Try and give the world a sense of flow without making it feel like it's in a straight line. Simple things like landmarks within your world will make things far easier to navigate. For example, there may be a river called the Brown River, that runs out of the main city. Players know that if they follow it upstream they'll come to the main city, and downstream will lead to a much poorer town's water tanks.
5. Nooks and Crannies!
When laying out the rough of the world map, giving places for the player to explore of their won accord with nice rewards will draw the player in, i've found myself lost many a time deep into a world's secret place just exploring.
6. Just because it's standard doesn't mean it's good
Just because MMO X and MMO Z have the same world ideas and they're both popular doesn't mean yours won't be by leaving them out, or will be by putting them in. The thing that will ultimately Draw the players into your world will be how well you make the world feel 'alive'(In a later lesson I will expland on this idea.)
7. What you enjoy
If you enjoy certain factors in worlds or think something would be fun, and it will fit in with the game's idea, give it a go. Sometimes the things i've enjoyed most in games have inspired games of my own. I mean, you may enjoy a fishing sidequest in a game so much that you would love to have it in your game, so you go and make an entire game about fishing in a sidequest style, nest thing you know you're sitting next to Bill Gates on the Rich list and smoking a Cuban. If you enjoy it, chances are, other people will too.
8. You guessed it, there is no rule 8
That's about it for this lesson, play around with your world some and next lesson i'll show you how to make an intresting history for your world.
So, i'm going to help you create the basics for your MMO world so that you can get the most out of your strong ideas.
First off, you need to Write up A little about your world, and secondly, how the players are part of that world, for this, write down the following, take as much time as you need:
World Name::This is pretty straightfoward
Important Hostoric Events::The events that are going to play a role in your quest's backstory should be mapped out so you have an Idea of how things will go. I'll explain history in depth in another lesson, so for now just get the ideas down roughly.
Hero's Role::Every player is a hero, in here you should define how they will be part of the world, is their goal to become a farmer and grow famous crops. Is their goal to complete some herculean quests and become a rich hero, is their goal to discover the secrets of the world. Although players may have many options, this should be the core idea behind the MMO, if you expect to plop your players in a world with too many options and no general direction, players will get lost and won't be staying very long in your world.
Now we have and idea of what the quests will be focues around, and how the players will progress.
You may wonder why I chose 2 so seemingly different aspects to look at first. It's simple, the History of the world is what will make the world's current time what it is, that is to say, what the players will be doing. For example, if some dark power from the north has formed, then the world will be focused around fighting that force off. If there has been a great discovery of a new land and all the people of the world are going there to build homes, then the players goal will be to make a home and be successful.
As you can see, history is an important part of shaping the experience for the player, and shoudln't be overlooked at any point.
Now we have what you could call the Backbone of the world, that is the purpose of it in realtion to the players.
Now we should add the ribcage, that is to say, add the world's detail to draw the player in.
Unfortuneatley, there is no simple formula for the perfect world for the players to enjoy, so i'll provide you with some tips.
1. Keep the idea simple.
Don't flood the player with 18 different zones, from sand to snow, as this can water down the world too much. If you do want to do this, try and keep the number of zones down, as each zone needs alot of story and design put into it, while one large zone can be focused on and it's design made far faster with far more results.
2. Give it a focus point
Although seemingly uniform and 'ununique', giving the world one or two central cities, towns or whatever the player's main area to be in is, will provide a place where lost players will know to return to and also provide a place where all players know certain things (major quests, guilds etc) are based.
3. Try something new
When entering a MMO world, I love being placed in a new setting for the world past the classic bustling plains city with roads to more advanced towns in every direction layout. Try giving the old idea a spin, why not a Great tower in a desert with great undergorund chambers around it to get to the sacred lands. That would be different and fun.
4. Don't Lose the Player
There is nothing worse then a world where you can get lost by simply walking out of the starting location. Try and give the world a sense of flow without making it feel like it's in a straight line. Simple things like landmarks within your world will make things far easier to navigate. For example, there may be a river called the Brown River, that runs out of the main city. Players know that if they follow it upstream they'll come to the main city, and downstream will lead to a much poorer town's water tanks.
5. Nooks and Crannies!
When laying out the rough of the world map, giving places for the player to explore of their won accord with nice rewards will draw the player in, i've found myself lost many a time deep into a world's secret place just exploring.
6. Just because it's standard doesn't mean it's good
Just because MMO X and MMO Z have the same world ideas and they're both popular doesn't mean yours won't be by leaving them out, or will be by putting them in. The thing that will ultimately Draw the players into your world will be how well you make the world feel 'alive'(In a later lesson I will expland on this idea.)
7. What you enjoy
If you enjoy certain factors in worlds or think something would be fun, and it will fit in with the game's idea, give it a go. Sometimes the things i've enjoyed most in games have inspired games of my own. I mean, you may enjoy a fishing sidequest in a game so much that you would love to have it in your game, so you go and make an entire game about fishing in a sidequest style, nest thing you know you're sitting next to Bill Gates on the Rich list and smoking a Cuban. If you enjoy it, chances are, other people will too.
8. You guessed it, there is no rule 8
That's about it for this lesson, play around with your world some and next lesson i'll show you how to make an intresting history for your world.
Lesson 3::::It Does Matter 'bout Your History
In this lesson I will adress the main problem with alot of MMOs, the lack of a decent history and age to a world, regardless of how great the war was before the players arrived, it's important to tell more.
Imagine you're at school and it's time for history. You come to class and open your books, inside is just one Page, which has the following text::
1000 years ago there was a Dark Lord who rose to power. He become very powerful and unleashed fearsome beasts on the land.
5 Brave heroes saved the world from the Dark Lord By sealing him in a secret elemental chamber.
Image how easy all those essays would be.
My point is, that if you think that summarizing just a quick snippet of the world's history will give the world enough depth to make player spend hours discovering the secret elemental cave, then you should go work for EA and stop making a MMO.
The first thing you need to do when you start developing a world is make sure it has a steady history up to the point where the player arrives, giving it a bit of a future may help too, but the history is what the player will hear about.
First off you need to establish something of the core beliefs of the world, I don't mean a full blown religeon, I avoin having too deep of a religeon in a game as it can drive of many religeous players.
Basically, an idea of what the core rules of the world are, how is good and evil defined, or if there is no good or evil and your game is farming, what is the crop lore?
Now you have the core belief of the world, work out from that, and build important things, such as where the first parts of the world were populated, major events, (special leaders etc) until you have an idea of the basic feel of the world's past.
This sounds tough, so i'm going to give you a rough idea of devloping history for your world.
1. Learn from the Past
Grab a general history book from a shelf or library and dip in and out and find intresting historic events, these can inspire your own. Try to not just look at the wars, look at things like famines, revolutions, anything that happened in the past could easily happen in your world.
2. 'Tis Elementry Watson
Myserties are fine and dandy, but not every odd event has to be unexplained, this doesn't mean to avoid mystery altogether, but try to keep from overusing the mystery idea.
*At this point Durastik had a Coffee*(Moccona Really Has More mmmmm)
3. Gold!
One of the things often overlooked in world history are goldrushes and the like. These actually make good historic points as they usually lead to some kind of revolution and often new towns. Now, this isn't to say every game shoudl have a town form during a goldrush, but they do make good reason for why the hell there is a town at the peak of mount Doom.
4. Society...Changes
There are more ways for a country or province to be ruled then my a monarchy, why not communisim or Tribes or something origanal, there are money ways for a country to be run, my favourite: Democracy, scince there aren't any real ones in the world, why not start your own? You can even have a player run democracy with the right kind of community, imagine voting in an election where you suddenly have another player helping run a town, that would make things very intresting with the right execution.
5. Just Like MMOs
Every society has Fads and fashions, from Whaling to gaming, use more major Fads in your history to creating intresting reasons for major events. For example, it may have been popular at one point in the world to wear very high hats in one part of the world, but to make them some town in the north that had the Bobbly Hangy Bit Mine decided to cut off it's supply and demand higher prices, thus the leader of the Northern Town was assasinated, and thus the war of the hats began... Okay it may not be the best example but it's an example.
6. 1000 Years is a long, long time
Not every major event leading up to an even more major event has to be broken up by 10s of years, things happen fast when they happen, in mere months the world can go from free trade talks to world war, so don't be afraid to speed things along.
7. Less to Eat, More to Chew
You don't have to provide a full acount of the world's every historic event, but you should try to provide intresting books and quests that wil lunviel more intresting and sometimes odd historic events that will make your world stand out.
8. More then just a Backstory
While writing your history, remember that every event will change the way things happen in the future, morte often then not people learn from their mistakes, and the way people react to things change. Keep in mind to make sure that either your history ends up how the world is at the start of the game, or the start of the game lines up with the history. There is no point in a history that just sits on the back end of the game, to be deep signs and mention of recent and ancient history have to used.
By now you should have an idea of how your world's history will work. Remember that a MMO is aimed for the masses, so avoid chosen ones and suff like that as it can create an odd atmosphere of a world being based on a singleplayer storybeing ported for multiple players.
Keep in mind when Creating a history for your world that things have to be reasonably possible within your world and should also always have an effect, be it good or bad, the reason for something in the future is because of something in the past, so you should remember this when creating your world.
I can't really provide more then a rough guide for history writing, as although i'm good at it, the process is something you have to practice and learn. What I can reccomend is watching history documentries and ready history books, even historic novels can unveil the past if they are accurate. The more you read about the past, the easier creating imaginary pasts will become.
That's all for this lesson, in the Next lesson I will discuss landscapes and the likes, as by now you'll be itching to start putting skin on your skelton.
1000 years ago there was a Dark Lord who rose to power. He become very powerful and unleashed fearsome beasts on the land.
5 Brave heroes saved the world from the Dark Lord By sealing him in a secret elemental chamber.
Image how easy all those essays would be.
My point is, that if you think that summarizing just a quick snippet of the world's history will give the world enough depth to make player spend hours discovering the secret elemental cave, then you should go work for EA and stop making a MMO.
The first thing you need to do when you start developing a world is make sure it has a steady history up to the point where the player arrives, giving it a bit of a future may help too, but the history is what the player will hear about.
First off you need to establish something of the core beliefs of the world, I don't mean a full blown religeon, I avoin having too deep of a religeon in a game as it can drive of many religeous players.
Basically, an idea of what the core rules of the world are, how is good and evil defined, or if there is no good or evil and your game is farming, what is the crop lore?
Now you have the core belief of the world, work out from that, and build important things, such as where the first parts of the world were populated, major events, (special leaders etc) until you have an idea of the basic feel of the world's past.
This sounds tough, so i'm going to give you a rough idea of devloping history for your world.
1. Learn from the Past
Grab a general history book from a shelf or library and dip in and out and find intresting historic events, these can inspire your own. Try to not just look at the wars, look at things like famines, revolutions, anything that happened in the past could easily happen in your world.
2. 'Tis Elementry Watson
Myserties are fine and dandy, but not every odd event has to be unexplained, this doesn't mean to avoid mystery altogether, but try to keep from overusing the mystery idea.
*At this point Durastik had a Coffee*(Moccona Really Has More mmmmm)
3. Gold!
One of the things often overlooked in world history are goldrushes and the like. These actually make good historic points as they usually lead to some kind of revolution and often new towns. Now, this isn't to say every game shoudl have a town form during a goldrush, but they do make good reason for why the hell there is a town at the peak of mount Doom.
4. Society...Changes
There are more ways for a country or province to be ruled then my a monarchy, why not communisim or Tribes or something origanal, there are money ways for a country to be run, my favourite: Democracy, scince there aren't any real ones in the world, why not start your own? You can even have a player run democracy with the right kind of community, imagine voting in an election where you suddenly have another player helping run a town, that would make things very intresting with the right execution.
5. Just Like MMOs
Every society has Fads and fashions, from Whaling to gaming, use more major Fads in your history to creating intresting reasons for major events. For example, it may have been popular at one point in the world to wear very high hats in one part of the world, but to make them some town in the north that had the Bobbly Hangy Bit Mine decided to cut off it's supply and demand higher prices, thus the leader of the Northern Town was assasinated, and thus the war of the hats began... Okay it may not be the best example but it's an example.
6. 1000 Years is a long, long time
Not every major event leading up to an even more major event has to be broken up by 10s of years, things happen fast when they happen, in mere months the world can go from free trade talks to world war, so don't be afraid to speed things along.
7. Less to Eat, More to Chew
You don't have to provide a full acount of the world's every historic event, but you should try to provide intresting books and quests that wil lunviel more intresting and sometimes odd historic events that will make your world stand out.
8. More then just a Backstory
While writing your history, remember that every event will change the way things happen in the future, morte often then not people learn from their mistakes, and the way people react to things change. Keep in mind to make sure that either your history ends up how the world is at the start of the game, or the start of the game lines up with the history. There is no point in a history that just sits on the back end of the game, to be deep signs and mention of recent and ancient history have to used.
By now you should have an idea of how your world's history will work. Remember that a MMO is aimed for the masses, so avoid chosen ones and suff like that as it can create an odd atmosphere of a world being based on a singleplayer storybeing ported for multiple players.
Keep in mind when Creating a history for your world that things have to be reasonably possible within your world and should also always have an effect, be it good or bad, the reason for something in the future is because of something in the past, so you should remember this when creating your world.
I can't really provide more then a rough guide for history writing, as although i'm good at it, the process is something you have to practice and learn. What I can reccomend is watching history documentries and ready history books, even historic novels can unveil the past if they are accurate. The more you read about the past, the easier creating imaginary pasts will become.
That's all for this lesson, in the Next lesson I will discuss landscapes and the likes, as by now you'll be itching to start putting skin on your skelton.
Lesson 4::::Which way today?(AKA Landscapes)
The landscape in a MMO is one of the most difficult and intresting aspects of designing your world, but still people seem to follow the same broken concept.
The first thing that most people notice about MMOs is the fact that they all follow the same general concept, but with vairous twists, but there is one place that seems almost unchanged, and that is the world and landscape.
Although following the generic RPG world layout concept is easiest, it can ruin the enjoyment of a game. You need to be able to reflect the true fantasticness that games allow for you to present, a game is a chance for you to create something exciting and fun, it's up to you to grasp that opportunity..
There is a few general ideas you should follow when creating you landscape, which is what some would consider the most important part of the world, it can be, but then again, if your game doesn't follow the mainstream adventure theme, it may not.
First off, you have an opportunity in a MMO to create a living world that doesn't have to obey the same rules as this world, this effectively is a blank canvas in terms of landscape, as things like gravity don't have to effect some things.
Use this to your advantage, you can make the landscape of your world as wild as you like, and really reflect the concept of fantasy, as although people like logic, sometimes a very well explained piece of fantasy is just more fun.
If your world isn't a generic fantasy world, then that's fine, in fact, you get even more fun, the best way to start laying up the world in that case is to decide how the general objects, such as buildings, trees etc will look, and you'll be able to fit those things together like a puzzle.
The best way to map your world in my experiance, is to draw a roungh of the idea on a piece of paper, then 'zoom' in by drawing areas in more detail until you've broken things up into bite size pieces and you can worry about exact item placement.
At the beggining I touched on the concept of Zones, this is a litle bit on why it's best to focus on a few basic 'zones' rather then trying to fit everything in.
First off, when designing your world, most people are in for the genric Zone idea of having grass, snow and sand or soemthing similar, but i've found these ideas end up watering the world down a fair bit as the designer doesn't get the same kind of connection with the layout of the world. This is not to say having Zones is a bad thing, but when using them you should be aware of some of the issues attached.
Zones are widely used, and are basically put there to create diversity in the world, but in fact, they can end up creating a weaker world concept. The main reason is the player never gets to feel one kind of continuos style or fashion in the world, as these zones will have different architechture and different cultural styles, as the rule goes. So it breaks the continuity of thew world and creates the feeling of several concept being stuck together.
This is why I lean toward keeping one large and deep zone as it gives you a chance to create diverse scenes without giving the player a cultural change in a matter of seconds. The advantage of one or two main zones is they represnt one or two main concepts, which can give your idea more direction and more of a defined style.
Okay, now we should have some rules, as i've found you all dig that:
1. Naturally Different
Try taking an idea from nature, then changing it around to create a ladnscape style, for example, instead of having a bald mountaintop, why not have a mountain range that the trees only grow at the very top, as housing for some rare and mysterious bird. This makes the player feel more comfortable with the world, while still presenting a 'new' idea.
2. Plates and the likes
As you probably know, the world is based on plates floating on magma, these produce mountains and the general landscape. This idea should be kept in mind when placing mountains, try and keep then in a flowing line along a plate, as this can create an easily changed but natural feeling world.
3. Give it a point
Try and give each major place a point, either historic or present, as this will prevent the player from feeling liek they're jsut lugging around random zones. Try and keep the flow of the world going, humans tend to build structures in easy to access places, and although not something that translates well into games, it's best to place things logically.
4. Bend the lmits
No matter what system you make your game on, there will be limits onto how you can work your world, but you can bend these limits to create something better then you could think. For example, the lack of a Z-axis in RMXP means that you can't actually have a very good verticle style area, but you can still create very nice maps that slowly get higher and high using panoramas to show the levels below. This could ultimately present a much nice game. Instead of just avoiding your limits, just operate right next to them, and you'll start to find a way to create an effect that was unexpected but great all the same.
5. Keep it flowing
Make sure the atmosphere and styling of the world flows, from place to place there should be a coninuation of the last place, making the player feel comfortable with the changes, rather then being hit in the face by them.
That's all for this lesson, next lesson; Systems and such, how to keep it together.
Although following the generic RPG world layout concept is easiest, it can ruin the enjoyment of a game. You need to be able to reflect the true fantasticness that games allow for you to present, a game is a chance for you to create something exciting and fun, it's up to you to grasp that opportunity..
There is a few general ideas you should follow when creating you landscape, which is what some would consider the most important part of the world, it can be, but then again, if your game doesn't follow the mainstream adventure theme, it may not.
First off, you have an opportunity in a MMO to create a living world that doesn't have to obey the same rules as this world, this effectively is a blank canvas in terms of landscape, as things like gravity don't have to effect some things.
Use this to your advantage, you can make the landscape of your world as wild as you like, and really reflect the concept of fantasy, as although people like logic, sometimes a very well explained piece of fantasy is just more fun.
If your world isn't a generic fantasy world, then that's fine, in fact, you get even more fun, the best way to start laying up the world in that case is to decide how the general objects, such as buildings, trees etc will look, and you'll be able to fit those things together like a puzzle.
The best way to map your world in my experiance, is to draw a roungh of the idea on a piece of paper, then 'zoom' in by drawing areas in more detail until you've broken things up into bite size pieces and you can worry about exact item placement.
At the beggining I touched on the concept of Zones, this is a litle bit on why it's best to focus on a few basic 'zones' rather then trying to fit everything in.
First off, when designing your world, most people are in for the genric Zone idea of having grass, snow and sand or soemthing similar, but i've found these ideas end up watering the world down a fair bit as the designer doesn't get the same kind of connection with the layout of the world. This is not to say having Zones is a bad thing, but when using them you should be aware of some of the issues attached.
Zones are widely used, and are basically put there to create diversity in the world, but in fact, they can end up creating a weaker world concept. The main reason is the player never gets to feel one kind of continuos style or fashion in the world, as these zones will have different architechture and different cultural styles, as the rule goes. So it breaks the continuity of thew world and creates the feeling of several concept being stuck together.
This is why I lean toward keeping one large and deep zone as it gives you a chance to create diverse scenes without giving the player a cultural change in a matter of seconds. The advantage of one or two main zones is they represnt one or two main concepts, which can give your idea more direction and more of a defined style.
Okay, now we should have some rules, as i've found you all dig that:
1. Naturally Different
Try taking an idea from nature, then changing it around to create a ladnscape style, for example, instead of having a bald mountaintop, why not have a mountain range that the trees only grow at the very top, as housing for some rare and mysterious bird. This makes the player feel more comfortable with the world, while still presenting a 'new' idea.
2. Plates and the likes
As you probably know, the world is based on plates floating on magma, these produce mountains and the general landscape. This idea should be kept in mind when placing mountains, try and keep then in a flowing line along a plate, as this can create an easily changed but natural feeling world.
3. Give it a point
Try and give each major place a point, either historic or present, as this will prevent the player from feeling liek they're jsut lugging around random zones. Try and keep the flow of the world going, humans tend to build structures in easy to access places, and although not something that translates well into games, it's best to place things logically.
4. Bend the lmits
No matter what system you make your game on, there will be limits onto how you can work your world, but you can bend these limits to create something better then you could think. For example, the lack of a Z-axis in RMXP means that you can't actually have a very good verticle style area, but you can still create very nice maps that slowly get higher and high using panoramas to show the levels below. This could ultimately present a much nice game. Instead of just avoiding your limits, just operate right next to them, and you'll start to find a way to create an effect that was unexpected but great all the same.
5. Keep it flowing
Make sure the atmosphere and styling of the world flows, from place to place there should be a coninuation of the last place, making the player feel comfortable with the changes, rather then being hit in the face by them.
That's all for this lesson, next lesson; Systems and such, how to keep it together.
It's been a while, but I did promise to continue my updating, so here goes...
I've covered most of the world based things for now, so I thought this would be a good time to get into tying that world to your gameplay.
Alot of games at this point usually pull out some stock gameplay systems and add some brand spanking new and shiny 'Unique Features'. That may work in some cases, but the wrong style of gameplay to your world or vice versa will make your game feel like a disjointed mess.
This first thing to think about when designing your system, whatever it is for, is to think "How does this connect with my game?". I've played many games where you run around a medievil world, only to open the menu and feel like your handling a PDA.
The same thing goes for actual ingamecombat and movement. Where you may be playing a puzzle/action game, but using a point and click style system.
Matching both the gameplay and systems to your world's tone and setting will help greatly in putting your players in the mood, and keeping them in your world.
Take the good old World of Warcraft, it is a good (not great) example of how to take a basic setting and keep players involved by making sure from the moment they log in to the moment they shut down the game that they are emersed in their world. Keeping the graphical side tied was one thing, but the way things navigated and played kept you in the mood for combat and such.
Then take something with mouse based movement, what with all the caffine in my system I can't actually think of one, but they way they play usually puts you in a thoughtful frame of mind, where you plan moves rather then just run everywhere until you find what you are after. That style of system is one I prefer over most action based systems, as it can make a stock standdard online action game into a more strategic battle.
But in a game that's all about melee combat, a mouse based control shceme will overcomplicate and pull players out of their exerpiance. Just as a button masher style of play in a thinking man's world will ruin the player's experience.
Always keep the question of how the feature or gameplay element will relate to your world, and keep asking yourself if it will pull the player into of out of the world. Because player involvement will make or break your world.
The simplicity or complexity of your game's system is to you, but always make sure the player feels involved in your world, even when using a menu, or they will soon only be using your menu to exit the game.
That's it for this lesson, next lesson will cover merging your visual elements to reflect ideas.
I've covered most of the world based things for now, so I thought this would be a good time to get into tying that world to your gameplay.
Alot of games at this point usually pull out some stock gameplay systems and add some brand spanking new and shiny 'Unique Features'. That may work in some cases, but the wrong style of gameplay to your world or vice versa will make your game feel like a disjointed mess.
This first thing to think about when designing your system, whatever it is for, is to think "How does this connect with my game?". I've played many games where you run around a medievil world, only to open the menu and feel like your handling a PDA.
The same thing goes for actual ingamecombat and movement. Where you may be playing a puzzle/action game, but using a point and click style system.
Matching both the gameplay and systems to your world's tone and setting will help greatly in putting your players in the mood, and keeping them in your world.
Take the good old World of Warcraft, it is a good (not great) example of how to take a basic setting and keep players involved by making sure from the moment they log in to the moment they shut down the game that they are emersed in their world. Keeping the graphical side tied was one thing, but the way things navigated and played kept you in the mood for combat and such.
Then take something with mouse based movement, what with all the caffine in my system I can't actually think of one, but they way they play usually puts you in a thoughtful frame of mind, where you plan moves rather then just run everywhere until you find what you are after. That style of system is one I prefer over most action based systems, as it can make a stock standdard online action game into a more strategic battle.
But in a game that's all about melee combat, a mouse based control shceme will overcomplicate and pull players out of their exerpiance. Just as a button masher style of play in a thinking man's world will ruin the player's experience.
Always keep the question of how the feature or gameplay element will relate to your world, and keep asking yourself if it will pull the player into of out of the world. Because player involvement will make or break your world.
The simplicity or complexity of your game's system is to you, but always make sure the player feels involved in your world, even when using a menu, or they will soon only be using your menu to exit the game.
That's it for this lesson, next lesson will cover merging your visual elements to reflect ideas.
I am available to help you with your MMO design in return for Sprites and sometimes out of the plain charitablility of my heart, or for Sprites.
Feedback is appreaciated.
Peace
