5 replies to this topic

[jbb]

Like many c++ developers I have dreams of making my own MMORPG in my spare time :) But I understand that this simply isn't going to happen even if were able to work on it full time it's far too big a project for a hobby project for one person.

However I'd like to make something related. My idea is to make a simple fighting game with one small "zone" and one player and one monster to fight just with some basic 3d graphics and simple animation. I can extend this to have multiple monsters, equipment drops, make it client server, make it multi player and so on to make it a little more like my dream as time goes on while still having an achievable hobby project at each point. I'm realise I'm going to need help making some acceptable levels and 3d models at some point as my talents don't extend much beyond animating a simple cube.

Understand that this is just something I'd like to do in my somewhat limited spare time to bring back some of the "fun" into software development instead of working on serious applications.

So my question I want an opinion on is should I code the graphics "engine" part myself or use an existing one such as Ogre3D which looks ideal for this? Clearly it would be much faster using ogre, but on the other hand working with some low level graphics stuff sounds a lot of fun, and that's why I'm doing this. However I'd like to actually get something finished at some point too :)

I realise nobody can answer this for me. But I'd welcome any opinions on what I intend to do and which option I should choose? I've played around with some graphics stuff before so I'm confident I can write the code, it's just is it worth it?

[Mihail121]

Yes it's worth it 100% 'cause you gain full control and freedom of choice! Building a very simple graphics system is almost trivial and adding support like collision detection, sound, graphics and etc. with the existing 3rd party libraries makes your life really simple. If you're serious on this, you can get a decent all-inclusive system in less than a month!

[awood]

From my experiences, there has been more satisfaction in building a game from the ground up, rather than using 3rd party source code. For me, the real satisfaction comes with learning new things, and knowing that you did it all by yourself. While using a graphics engine like Ogre will allow you to focus on other details, I think that graphics coding and optimization can be a lot of fun.

[TheNut]

Indeed, building your own engine can be a fun and rewarding exercise. I’ve also sampled many other engines and I have been disappointed by their design/coding style or lack there of. It is no overnight task however, so you’ll need to consider it carefully. If you’re willing to spend the extra time to make something your own, by all means go for it. If however you prefer to see something tangible at the end of the day, then options like Ogre3D will help get you there.

[jbb]

Thanks for the opinions.
As I said, I want to see the end result but I'm not too bothered what the result is as long as I have fun along the way. This is mostly a reaction to having to write dull software for a living so it's nice to do something fun instead :)

I think I'll go with my own then.

[Ed Mack]

Use as many libraries as possible if you want progress!