3 replies to this topic

[Disco]

I have a rather specific set of wishes, and after looking at 25+ engines (Realmcrafter, Torque, Unity, DX Studia, C4, Visual3D.NET, and many others) my head is spinning. I therefore turn to the experts!

A bit of background might be handy first.

I have been developing for an Neverwinter Nights persistent world for 4 years now. We're doing quite fine for a game that's over 6 years old, but the constraints of NWN are felt nowadays. We stretched the old lady to her limits with database support, little hacks, big scripts, and all the fanciness we could think of. We put our hopes on NWN2, but that was a miserable failure when it comes to multiplayer.

What do I miss in NWN? Well, first of all I hate DnD with a passion. It's, imho, a stupid system which never really worked for online games. Secondly I'd like to have an autoupdater, so we can extend our server without bothering our players with downloads. I can't get my hands on either aspect of the game as they are locked inside the engine and behind lawyers with big meatcleavers.

What do I like about NWN? First and foremost the fact that the basics are there. I don't have to think about pipelines, I barely have to think about artwork, and I can focus on scripting stuff that players like and creating new areas and stories. I know that many people see this as uncool, but I prefer to dedicate my time to creating fancy stuff as soon as possible.

I do like a challenge, and I am going to take my time, so we can raise the stakes a bit. I have experience with PHP, MySQL, Authorware, Flash, basic C/C++, and a bit of JAVA, and I know my Adobe and Corel stuff. I know what I want, I know what my players want, we got a world, and we got an example to emulate.

So, what am I looking for? Well, a game engine that has:

* network capability (up to say 150 players), including a way to update the client software/data
* a sensible set of basic art content (houses, characters, plant life)
* support for those RP things like item crafting, inventory, skills, etc
* a Windows editor & client, and preferably a Mac and/or Linux client as well
* a modest pricetag. I can shell out say $500 myself, but I can't force my collegues to pay $500 just to do work for free
* 'easy' (as far as possible) tools. I realise that it won't be NWN easiness, but alas.

I have absolutely no commercial ideas with this project at all, btw. I just want to give our gameworld a new life that's not too far from the experience we have now. No need for the latest and greatest graphics, no need for a full set of physics APIs.

Anyway, I doubt such an engine exists, so perhaps some of you can tell me what comes, in your opinion, closest to what we're looking for?

Thanks in advance!

[imerso]

Although practically all the engines you cited could fit your needs with some extra programming, I think your best bet is finding a game with MOD support and a built-in World Editor.

One information that will surely help people to suggest the right engine|game is: are your users|players paid customers?

[Disco]

No, we're all as poor as mice. We do got a fast server, though, with a good connection.

[fireside]

I would think Realmcrafter comes closest to what you are asking. I think it has some included art work. You might also look at Worldforge, which might be a nice free solution especially if you have a server. Anything like that is going to be a lot more work than doing a mod, though, so if you can find a game that's close to what you want with an editor, it would probably be your best bet.