A wild and wacky idea

[CaptainHawke]

With the mild "meh" with the release of the Battlestar Galactica Online MMO (which is entirely Sci-Fi Channel series themed, with a splash of classic), and with the huge response of the launch of Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO, it got me thinking...

I realize it would be a HUMONGOUS undertaking of the Classic BSG community,and take years to complete but what if we try to launch a Classic BSG based MMO? Complete with factions (Colonials and Cylons), Guilds, (Different "Battlestars" and "Basestars") planets, interactions, etc.. We could have PVE, PVP, RP - PVP and RP PVE servers... It would be a huge undertaking, but I think it'd work.

For those that don't know the MMO terms and what they mean or don't know what an MMO is, check HERE (http://mmoterms.com/) and HERE (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massively_multiplayer_online_game)

Thoughts?

[Punisher454]

Licensing becomes a huge problem with anything that big. I do a bit of game modding and can say that quite a few projects over the years have run into licensing issues. Most died after years of hard work by team of dedicated enthusiasts.
To avoid being "Foxed" (20th century Fox legal dept is notoriously aggressive) be sure your project is 100% free and completely non-commercial. You will also need an appropriate game engine that will allow you to legally use it in the way you wish.

May I suggest a single-player / Co-Op FPS game to start out. If you can pull this off successfully then you could just port your game assets over to an MMO engine and continue on in that direction later.

Right now there are a few good free game engines available.
1. UDK
UDK (Unreal Development Kit)has been around a few years now and is fairly mature. Its 100% free for non-profit use and has a very easy to deal with licensing option. Drawbacks are that it requires a lot of coding to get anything to work. Advantages are that it has a large user community and very good documentation. UDK get regular monthly updates, and is likely to continue doing so for a long time.

2. Unity
Unity is fairly new and is not based on any existing commercial product. It requires even more coding than UDK. Visually its not exactly state of the art. As with UDK, Unity can be adapted to do just about anything, but the Code work is extreme.

3. Cryengine 3 Free SDK
Cryengine has been evolving for almost as long as Unreal. Crytek recently (just a few months ago) released the Free SDK (software development kit) which is based on a build of the cryengine that branches somewhere between Crysis1 and Crysis2.
Cryengine has the easiest to use WYSIWYG editor of them all, and Cryengine can be visually breathtaking. Crytek is working to continually update the SDK, by this time next year we should have full DX11 graphics like Crysis2. Cryengine requires very little Code work compared to the other two above.

There may also be some usable free MMO game engines too.

I have worked with both UDK and Cryengine and prefer Cryengine hands down. I am currently working on a BSG TOS based game using Cryengine3. My current stage of development is asset building and some basic level building. I may be showing a few screen shots on this site sometime in the next few months.

I know that some people are worrking on UDK based MMO projects, and there is talk by several people that they want to try to do MMO's with Cryengine.

no matter what you do, you will need modelers, coders, level builders, texture artists, voice actors, and Animators. And at least 1 person in charge with a clear plan. Most game modders are skilled in several tasks from the list, but most hone their skills in one or two areas. For my own project I'm still laying out the foundation in most areas before opening it up to a team effort. I am getting closer though, maybe sometime in 2012.

Although my experience is FPS shooter games and not MMO's, but I do know that there is plenty you can do to prepare while deciding on an engine and building a team. Start today.