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Imagine this...
Zindaihas
Member UncommonPosts: 3,662
Hi all,
I am an old MMORPG gamer whose experience goes back to the early days of Everquest. The first time I played EQ, I fell in love with the MMO genre because of the way it makes you feel like you've been transported into that world. It was about a year after I started playing EQ that I came up with an idea for an MMO of my own. I am a history enthusiast with a history degree and I have a special interest in ancient history.
And that's the idea that struck me while playing EQ. Wouldn't it be cool if I could merge the MMO genre with ancient history? Wouldn't it give you that sensation of traveling back in time and living in that world? And I wrote up a small book of ideas that I would incorporate into such a game. But without the money or the programming experience needed, there was never much of a chance of ever getting it past the idea stage.
However, with new tools available today, such as crowd funding websites and game engines made for even novice programmers, I have decided to revisit this idea. In an attempt to demonstrate how serious I am, I made up a model of the ancient Acropolis using the Unity game engine and recorded it as a video. Here it is:
http://historiarex.com/the-acropolis
I actually posted my idea on this website about seven years ago, and I got a very positive response. I truly believe there's a real hunger for a game like this. But without something concrete to show anyone, I knew that there would be no chance of ever getting it past the idea stage. I'm hoping this video might be able push it past that.
One thing I feel is very important to point out, is that, while it would be an MMORPG based on ancient history, it would not be restricted to a purely historical storyline; but would be expanded far beyond that into the realm of mythology as well. So while it would be a game based on our own past, it would also utilize the mythos of the people who lived at the time; meaning you would also be able to fight all the wonderful creatures they believe existed. The Griffins, the Chimeras, the Cyclopes, etc.
In addition, one of the things that excites me the most about this game, is the re-creation of all the magnificent architecture of the time (such as the Acropolis in the video). Imagine the reconstruction of the Ancient Wonders, the ancient temples and the ancient theatres. On top of that, as a historian, I believe I would be able to add a ton of lore that would give a player that feeling of being in the ancient world.
So, if I've managed to sell anyone else on the idea, get the word out. I need experienced programmers who are as enthusiastic as I am about seeing this game created. I've already talked to a few people in the industry where I live and they have told me that I'm basically attempting a Moon shot here. And that may be, but the way I see it, I have nothing to lose.
Thanks
Comments
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gH0_LrF36M
All time classic MY NEW FAVORITE POST! (Keep laying those bricks)
"I should point out that no other company has shipped out a beta on a disc before this." - Official Mortal Online Lead Community Moderator
Proudly wearing the Harbinger badge since Dec 23, 2017.
Coined the phrase "Role-Playing a Development Team" January 2018
"Oddly Slap is the main reason I stay in these forums." - Mystichaze April 9th 2018
All time classic MY NEW FAVORITE POST! (Keep laying those bricks)
"I should point out that no other company has shipped out a beta on a disc before this." - Official Mortal Online Lead Community Moderator
Proudly wearing the Harbinger badge since Dec 23, 2017.
Coined the phrase "Role-Playing a Development Team" January 2018
"Oddly Slap is the main reason I stay in these forums." - Mystichaze April 9th 2018
..because we're gamers, damn it!! - William Massachusetts (Log Horizon)
"We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." SR Covey
I was working on a Minecraft server for 3 years, which was inspired by Roman/Greek history. It was focused on the life of an ordinary person, so I did a lot of research on how people lived back in the day. The idea was for players to cooperate and develop a small trade town together. Our people working on the town design used Pompeii as a rough guide. You can see parts of the town here.
One thing I find fascinating is translating mythology into everyday life. By that, I mean taking mythology and trying to present the stories/creatures using familiar objects and animals. For example, I think it's unlikely there ever was a Medusa who would turn people into stone with her gaze. So in our Minecraft world, there was a Medusé character - a fanatical sculptor who would kill uninvited visitors of her island, making statues to memorize her kill. These interpretations of myths that are just "normal" enough to seem plausible feel eery and fascinating to me.
We then closed down the Minecraft server 3 years in, due to the difficulty working with the Minecraft engine to do what we wanted. We weren't letting players build directly into the world anyway, so it felt like too much hassle for no benefit. I switched to Unity a year ago and started to explore some of my original ideas in new ways. You can get pretty far in Unity, even as a non-expert. I'm by no means a professional myself. But even as a curious amateur, I am making steady progress.
In about 6 months, I made a basic MMO framework - it has client/server networking, some basic harvesting and crafting, NPC trading and inventories. You can see some of it here. I'm currently working on plot ownership and player owned shops. So it definitely is possible to get quite far, even on your own.
One thing I'd warn against, is trying to put things together in Unity without wanting to understand how it works. Some of my videos on Youtube are gaining a tiny bit of traction (just in the thousands of views), and I have been getting regular messages from Unity "developers" who are making "MMOs", but have no idea even of how objects in Unity behave. Understanding networking in Unity requires a lot of patience (the documentation is not great), so people who aren't keen to learn usually don't get very far. I think game development on our level is as much about learning as it is about making.
"The first time I played EQ, I fell in love with the MMO genre because of the way it makes you feel like you've been transported into that world."
Really? You mean you camp 6 hours for a virtual item that increases some number on your character sheet while trading chuck norris jokes (or at least reading them in the chat channel) with 50 others? I don't feel there is any world.
It is a bunch of gamers trying to kill mobs that pop up every 15 min (or whatever the respawn cycle is), arguing about kill-stealing, camp order, .. and oh don't forget .. trying sell you that piece of loot for 15 real world dollars. And i have not even got to the ebay part. Compared to what we have now, it is not even a good game (combat mechanics just sucks compared to modern games).
I came up with this idea back in 2002, well before Gods and Heroes was ever conceived (or at least before it began development). When it first began making news, I started following its development because of its close relation to my idea. However, as it progressed, I didn't have high hopes for Gods and Heroes because I felt it failed in several areas. First of all, it was restricted to Rome itself, which limited its cultural appeal. Like I said in my OP, I was introduced to MMOs with EQ and one of the things I liked about it was the different starting locations for the different races; it added a sort of cultural flavor to the game.
My idea would build on this by going well beyond Rome. There would be four major empires (Greece, Egypt, Rome and Carthage) in the game as well as some minor cities. In addition, you would not be limited to playing a human character as there would be several mythological races that would be available for character play (remember this is still all in the concept stage)).
Secondly, from the very start, I was perplexed as to why Gods and Heroes would be set in Rome, considering its mythology is ultimately based on Greek mythology. Why not just go to the original source and set the game in Greece? I would argue that most people prefer Greek mythology to Roman anyway.
Finally, I never got a sense that that game was very much interested in its historical setting. It simply used ancient Rome as its setting but never delved that deeply into the rich lore that history provides. For me, that would be a primary goal in any game set in ancient history. If you want to play a game set in the ancient world, you have to feel like you are immersed in that world.
Well this is a thread about my game idea, not EQ, so I don't actually consider it a negative response. And you're entitled to your opinion, so if EQ wasn't your thing, that's fine.
But I would just counter with this: The first thing you said is true of any online game you play (with the possible exception of a six hour camp). They're all virtual worlds, so you can't single EQ out for that.
Besides that, I played several MMOs after EQ and I haven't been able to find any that compare. I can't say if it was because it was EQ or because it was my first MMO. It wasn't a perfect game, but it was good enough to make me tolerate the imperfections.
So it leaves me with the question , specifically what time in history did you have in mind? and please of the love of god all developers, lets leave medieval alone, its been done, thanks got that covered
Please do not respond to me, even if I ask you a question, its rhetorical.
Please do not respond to me
Besides here is a game that was waay to ambitious, was fun but buggy as hell.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roma_Victor
There is a new game same settings in the work, can't remember It's name but its green lighted on steam.
Ancient history. It would be set in ancient times. I know medieval fantasy has been run into the ground, and even if someone came up with a great one, it would be hard to distinguish itself from the others (although I do plan to give Pantheon a try).
An ancient historical mythology game would be relatively new. And since I have a background in ancient history, it wouldn't be that difficult to fill with content.
Please do not respond to me, even if I ask you a question, its rhetorical.
Please do not respond to me
Putting together a cluster of servers is just so enormously expense and may probably cost you way more than you would get back unless the game is really successful. A proto type will even cost considerable amount of outlay with no guarantee of success.
The industry has seen it and lived it so now they realize that it cost way more than it's worth and have moved on to what is profitable.
BTW - The amount of feedback you will get here is probably an indication of lack of interest so unless you have a really good marketing scheme and willing go KS so you build a hype train your ideas will probably get ignored. (I speak form first hand experience)
If you are interested in making a MMO maybe visit my page to get a free open source engine.
Oh, I see what you're asking now. I can tell you have had enough of Medieval MMOs and I thought you were worried about another one even though I had said ancient in my OP. But you want to know specifically what period of ancient history I am talking about.
Well since you asked for it here goes. Your question gives me an opportunity to plug my website because that's the easiest way to explain it.
http://historiarex.com/world-history
The game would be set in approximately 550 B.C., and if you look at 550 B.C. on the history timeline I linked you will see why. There would be four empires in the game - Rome, Greece, Carthage and Egypt. In order to have all four in the game simultaneously, it would have to be set sometime between 753 B.C. (the traditional year of Rome's founding) and 525 B.C. (the year Egypt was conquered by Persia). In addition, it works best before 500 B.C. because Herodotus is generally considered the world's first official historian. He began writing his Histories around 450 B.C., and therefore, if you set it earlier than the time of Herodotus it makes It easier to venture into the realm of mythology since history is a lot sketchier then.
Now, that still presents a couple of problems, however. There would have to be a few anachronisms in the game. Specifically in regard to the Seven Ancient Wonders. In 550 B.C., only three of the Ancient Wonders had been built - The Pyramids (technically the Pyramid of Khufu is the only wonder of the three), the Hanging Gardens and The Temple of Artemis. And you can't build an ancient MMO without having the Seven Ancient Wonders; so therefore, you would put the other four in even though they hadn't been built yet.
There are a couple of other reasons why, but I feel like I'm getting into the history weeds and you get my point.
and i only thought the definition of MMO is loose.