MMORPG Engine

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Renavoid
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MMORPG Engine

Post by Renavoid »

So, I have this idea for a grand, fantasy themed MMORPG, but I'm having trouble deciding on an engine that would be best suited to my needs - I'm actually praying that an engine CAN meet all of my needs! I'll probably give details about the game itself in other threads as time goes on, so I'll just highlight the main capabilities which I need to know I can manage with a given engine. Please note that I am essentially a newbie with game engines. I have used Unity3D once in the past on a game project in college, but my exposure was shallow. In the lists below, by "mutable" I mean dynamically changeable during gameplay via scripting.

Must have:
  • Ability to altar animation speeds dynamically (i.e. this model has a running animation loop that lasts 2 seconds, but I want to run it at 1.3 seconds for character X, and 2.6 seconds for character Y).
  • Scripts attachable to any object that isn't terrain - including buildings!
  • Ability to dynamically generate an area based on parameters provided such as textures, area size, etc. - Add-ons or ability to create through sufficient scripting would suffice. This is specific to dungeon creation, not world.
  • Mutable physics, most notably gravity
  • Mutable NPC paths - changing boundaries of territories
Nice to have:
  • Ability to dynamically generate an area based on parameters provided such as textures, area size, etc. - Add-ons or ability to create through sufficient scripting would suffice. This is specific to world creation, not a dungeon. It would not have to run quickly, and I'm fine with hearing ideas about ways to generate the necessary structure outside of an engine, and then be able to import it into the project.
  • Ability to optimize dynamically generated meshes. Specifically, the ability to create a single mesh for a weapon out of weapon piece meshes.
The other points that I want to implement don't give me a sense of "I'm not sure this engine can do this..." because they are rather straight forward, if complex to actually implement.

I have looked closest at HeroEngine and Unity3D for development. I'm a .NET web developer, so C# and Javascript are right up my alley as far as scripting is concerned for Unity3D, but the HE is already custom tailored to making MMORPGs; I am led to believe it would already have easy ways to do my players' most common tasks such as GUI with hovertips, character paperdolls, etc. I simply do not know its limitations due to a lack of free trials and information. I have also looked at an engine called Maratis3D specifically because I could get the source code and mutate the engine if needs be.

Do you know of any engines which can match all, most, or at least some of my needs? Do you know if HeroEngine, Unity3D, or Maratis3D could do all of these things given enough time and effort?
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hallsofvallhalla
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Re: MMORPG Engine

Post by hallsofvallhalla »

Hero can easily do all that you ask and is setup much the way you need. Largest problem is the learning curve. Second is the need for max or maya for the models. I have a copy of Hero that you can test if you want.

Unity is a great engine but you will have to use a 3rd party server for a mmo. The nice thing is there are plenty of options ready to go with unity and many tutorials. I know a few teams using photon and such.

RealmCrafter is very simple but you get what you pay for and sometimes less. It is dirt easy to use but does have its issues.
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Renavoid
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Re: MMORPG Engine

Post by Renavoid »

Thanks for your insight. Honestly, I was leaning towards Hero, but the lack of a trial really stalled that thought process for me. I'd like to take you up on your offer. Could you PM me details to test it out?

Additionally, I've been browsing for other engines around, and came upon Esenthel which looks like it might be an amazing fit for my needs as well. I've downloaded a demo version to give it a shot, but do you have any experience with its capabilities?

Unfortunately, I won't be getting to either of these anymore tonight.. imagine that the real world and its duties should call to me. :lol:
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Jackolantern
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Re: MMORPG Engine

Post by Jackolantern »

There is also Big World Tech Indie. I am not sure what you get out of the box with Hero, but I know BWT didn't come with much, at least last time I checked a couple of years ago. One thing it definitely has over Hero is that BWT is all Python scripting instead of a proprietary language. That means that there is a plethora of code out there that can be dropped right in. Maybe not a ton of MMO-specific code, but a crapload of game logic since Python has been picking up steam in the game dev department in the last couple of years.
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hallsofvallhalla
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Re: MMORPG Engine

Post by hallsofvallhalla »

Big World has one of the most proven servers as well but i personally do not recommend it. Huge pain to work with.

Will get you access to Hero today. Esenthal is a heck of an engine. Even have a copy of that lying around here somewhere. Much of the coding at least when I tried it was c++ however. I hear they have a scripting language now but I have not used it.
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OldRod
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Re: MMORPG Engine

Post by OldRod »

hallsofvallhalla wrote:Hero can easily do all that you ask and is setup much the way you need. Largest problem is the learning curve. Second is the need for max or maya for the models. I have a copy of Hero that you can test if you want.
Back when I used HE, they were working on a Blender pipeline. Did that ever come about?
tboxx
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Re: MMORPG Engine

Post by tboxx »

hallsofvallhalla wrote:Big World has one of the most proven servers as well but i personally do not recommend it. Huge pain to work with.

Will get you access to Hero today. Esenthal is a heck of an engine. Even have a copy of that lying around here somewhere. Much of the coding at least when I tried it was c++ however. I hear they have a scripting language now but I have not used it.

Isn't Esenthal a one man show?
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hallsofvallhalla
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Re: MMORPG Engine

Post by hallsofvallhalla »

yep, last I seen
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Renavoid
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Re: MMORPG Engine

Post by Renavoid »

tboxx wrote:
hallsofvallhalla wrote:Big World has one of the most proven servers as well but i personally do not recommend it. Huge pain to work with.

Will get you access to Hero today. Esenthal is a heck of an engine. Even have a copy of that lying around here somewhere. Much of the coding at least when I tried it was c++ however. I hear they have a scripting language now but I have not used it.

Isn't Esenthal a one man show?
What do you mean by one man show? It has a built in version control system for managing a project with a team. I'm toying with it right now, and it really seems like a great tool - again noting that I don't have a plethora of engine experience to compare it with.
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Jackolantern
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Re: MMORPG Engine

Post by Jackolantern »

It has almost been completely built by one person = "one man show" :)
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