24 replies to this topic

[Smashey]

For about 6 months I've been working on an MMO project. Now, of course, you could be immediately thinking that I will never pull this off. I'm not. I've been working on a game document, and I plan on presenting it to a game corporation. But I've ran out of ideas, and I need more insight on what I could add. I won't explain what I currently have, because I want this game to be unique so far and I don't want someone coming in and making a somewhat similar game.

Details:
This game, as far as I know, is one of a kind. I have yet to see a third person shooting MMORPG. It has shooting tactics, and RP tactics built in. It's based in the future on a different colonized planet (Earth was overrun with infected insane people, kind of like 28 days later) The year when you begin is 2830. Every character has high tech armor (not going into upgradable details) Guns are the main form of combat. (Deciding on this one) - There may be melee weapons for small use like a dagger, or blades on the forearms on the armor.
Also:
-working on classes, so far a closerange,midrange,and longrange class, may be divided into subgroups
-lots of skill advancements and your character will advance (physically and mentally)
-mass pvp
-You can own vehicles and actually build your own
-You can also build weapons and (maybe) armor.

There's a shitload more to this game. I do, however, need the insight of others. The features are only my view of the game, but I also want to see yours. I want this to be a game where everyone is happy and they have what they could possibly want.

So...
Post your ideas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i will love you forever and ever more if you contribute :D

[Jare]

You haven't even scratched the surface.

- Group / community features: parties, guilds, alliances, factions.
- Houses, cities, possessions in general, both individual and for groups.
- Player-generated content vs. prepackaged content (quests, dungeons, etc).
- Environments: surface, air, sea, underwater, space?
- Trading: how do players exchange goods, and what limitations are in place?
- Fluff and vanity features: weddings, pets, 'prestige' titles, etc.
- Progression: does it ever end? If so, then what next for the player? If not, then how do you deal with inflation (of stats, money, etc).
...

[Sol_HSA]

No offence, but perhaps you should consider writing a novel instead? If you've done 6 months of research in the subject, you just might have enough base material to pull that off.

Presenting a design document to a game corporation won't fly. Everyone has ideas, and everyone feels their ideas are better than others. Why would they use yours?

[Smashey]

Jare said:

You haven't even scratched the surface.

- Group / community features: parties, guilds, alliances, factions.
- Houses, cities, possessions in general, both individual and for groups.
- Player-generated content vs. prepackaged content (quests, dungeons, etc).
- Environments: surface, air, sea, underwater, space?
- Trading: how do players exchange goods, and what limitations are in place?
- Fluff and vanity features: weddings, pets, 'prestige' titles, etc.
- Progression: does it ever end? If so, then what next for the player? If not, then how do you deal with inflation (of stats, money, etc).
...

i have about 30 pages in this document and everything is explained in that. I have scratched the surface, more like dug a hole through.

[Razor]

Smashey said:

I have yet to see a third person shooting MMORPG.

Did you consider for even a second that there might be a reason for that? It's extremely difficult to pull off twitch gameplay in an MMO.

[12ant34]

i have about 30 pages in this document and everything is explained in that. I have scratched the surface, more like dug a hole through.

[12ant34]

I was supposed to quote the above

If you've got 30 pages of descriptions, then where do we come into this?

[Smashey]

I need more ideas, did u read my first post?

[Sol_HSA]

You ask for ideas, and when offered, you brush them aside saying that you already have all that. What is it that you want?

In any case, I'd advice you not to make a mmorpg at all.

[Matthewrdot]

Razor said:

Did you consider for even a second that there might be a reason for that? It's extremely difficult to pull off twitch gameplay in an MMO.

Well. Actually there are a few MMOFPS's out there. Like PlanetSide.

But anyway, good luck with your project. I'd suggest you find a smaller team of people looking for ideas rather than a large company, for a large company already has hired professionals to do that for them.

-Matt

[fimbletoes]

Smashey said:

i have about 30 pages in this document and everything is explained in that. I have scratched the surface, more like dug a hole through.

Im sorry not putting you down or anything but 30 pages isnt even enough for a single player game. I have written MMO documents with well over 600 pages usualy presented in web format to save alot of complex indexing.

30 pages for a mmo isnt enough. Maybe for a very very basic design proposal but not the whole thing. Also if you have run out of ideas you clearly arnt upto the task of a designer. A designer will never run dry theres always something in his/her head.

Didnt mean to sound rude just trying to show you a industry opinion.

[fimbletoes]

sounds like planetside

[dave_]

fimbletoes said:

Im sorry not putting you down or anything but 30 pages isnt even enough for a single player game. I have written MMO documents with well over 600 pages usualy presented in web format to save alot of complex indexing.

I have read MMO documents of over 600 pages long, usally they're a waste of time and you could get the mechanics across with far far less.

Perhaps these 600 page documents are why so many MMO fail.

[Sol_HSA]

like I've said before on some other threads, teams and work methods differ - some work better with more detailed design docs, others better with smaller detail..

[fimbletoes]

Documentation is there as the designers guide to the game for the team. More documentation there is the more infomation the team can follow. Especialy the art style guides. As Sol_HSA said some team prefer simple to complex, But usualy when your under publisher or investor they love to have a huge heap of 600 pages to show your doing something in your MMO. I'm right in thinking World of warcrafts design doc is well over 2,000 pages, and that didn't fail?

"I have read MMO documents of over 600 pages long, usally they're a waste of time and you could get the mechanics across with far far less."

I'm talking about commercial mmo's not independant.

[Sol_HSA]

fimbletoes said:

I'm right in thinking World of warcrafts design doc is well over 2,000 pages, and that didn't fail?

But was the doc 2k pages before they had a single line of code done, or did it grow while the game was fleshed out? I'm pretty sure they started off with something less bulky.

[fimbletoes]

Yeah most design docs expand during development it was arround 1k of pages on pre production. Same as vanguard word arround the industry they have had over 3k before starting. Some projects vary but most industry designers love to pull over the top with the documentation.

[TheKrust23]

The game idea does sound pretty cool, and I don't think it's SPECIFICLY been done. But unfortunatley, the concept has.

It's hard for me to say any real ideas since I don't know some things about it, such as:
The combat style - the art style - the general theme

there are several ideas I can give you, but none that would truley fit into the game without me knowing too many details

[Jare]

Sol_HSA said:

I'm pretty sure they started off with something less bulky.

I doubt they claimed that "everything is explained in that."

[Yfel]

fimbletoes said:

Im sorry not putting you down or anything but 30 pages isnt even enough for a single player game. I have written MMO documents with well over 600 pages usualy presented in web format to save alot of complex indexing.

30 pages for a mmo isnt enough. Maybe for a very very basic design proposal but not the whole thing. Also if you have run out of ideas you clearly arnt upto the task of a designer. A designer will never run dry theres always something in his/her head.

Didnt mean to sound rude just trying to show you a industry opinion.

Obviously beating a dead horse here but anyways.

First, designers run out of ideas all the time. That is why it's a team sport and not a single one. Designers feed off each other and their influences. All of which is meaningless unless it's something that can deliver (com speaking).

Secondly, there is a standard format to designing certain structures. Smacking down ideas and dreams based on not following the ideal structure is not very innovative at all. This industry is all about innovation and everything else in between. Frankly, smacking down something because it's not what you think is *right* isn't the way to even address this man or womens questions or concerns.

Lastly, if you haven't actually shipped a game in the MMO genre then don't dictate on such things on what you ASSUME. All game companies follow their own structure and design. Some make 100's and 100's of pages of content alone (quest design, items, monsters, raids, and etc) and some really don't.

Sorry to plague the topic but I guess some people just want to input their two cents no matter what...