Question Can you create a fantasy RPG with Unity?

Can you create a fantasy RPG with Unity, perhaps an MMO?

 

Yes, but it will be extremely difficult to achieve.

 

I have already finished the proposal for the game that I'd like to make. I think it's pretty good.

How many years would it take take create an MMO, realistically?

 

realistically you need at minimum a small team of people each extremely focused on each asset.
one person could not manage the entirety of the workflow while maintaining a life.

teamwork makes the dreamwork
if you really want to "make an mmo" find a group of folks willing to work on the same project over the several years it would take to become live.

Not even getting into the red-tape related to online interactions, moderations and all those licensing hoops.

it's doable.. just why do it alone?
a good mmo is about the community, so why not start as one.
if the idea is good enough, don't be afraid to share it.
but also.. don't be afraid to make changes as per others input.

im going to stop now

 

It's not about years, really, but about the fact you (or anyone) probably aren't smart enough to do all the disciplines alone in the time available solo. It's also really expensive and intensive on labour costs.

To put it simply, unless you use an engine which has it out of the box, or a ready to go product, you aren't doing an MMO.

But it's not all doom and gloom, you can compromise and make a multiplayer online game, just not a massive one like WoW.

Think about something that has really great focused multiplayer. Not about thousands of players on the same servers. Elden Ring or GTA 5 both have more sensible limitations on multiplayer but don't feel worse for it.

 

I was thinking of making some smaller games first and sell them on steam, just to get started, and then after some time I might get a small group of people to start working on the project.

 

Give it a go, just work your way up. Try small multiplayer games, etc, go where the heart leads you. But don't forget that the world is moving away from a monolithic mmo model toward Games as a Service (GaaS) where frequent updates, great friend connectivity and so on to create a cheaper, easier to run, feel of the mmo.

So you don't have to target the WoW or Final Fantasy scales to get the same great gaming.

 

To quote Mr Miyagi in the original Karate Kid trilogy "Must learn stand, then learn fly"

What I mean is, you must learn the very basics of Unity before embarking on such a grand project.

 

Would it perhaps be easier to make a 2D isometric fantasy RPG, instead of an actual 3D game like WoW?

 

Yeah, a considerably simpler project would be to try and do a remake of something like Knight Lore, which was on the 8 bits back in the 80s, isometric 2D Dungeon Crawler.

 

That's interesting, but it's not what I want.

I was mostly just wondering if it would require less work, and if it would be easier to go for a 2D isometric design, similar to something like this?

I would imagine that making a 3D game like WoW, would require a lot of work.

That's why I'm asking.

 

Graphics will be LEAST of your worries (considering many games which are visually 3d do not use 3rd dimension in any meaningful way). The hardest part will be network architecture. Ensuring everything works in sync and your servers can handle the existing number of players. Plus the work will be continuous; you wont be able to just upload the game to storefront and be done with it. You'll have to constantly tweak balance, fight with cheaters and exploits, release new content, get money to keep servers running, etc. No matter how good your concept is, execution is what matterts

 

It's not that big of a problem, if I have to spend a lot of time developing the game. I can spend my whole day on it, if that's what it takes.

If I publish it on Steam, is it me or them who will have to pay for the servers?

 

If you have to ask a question like this you don't have the knowledge necessary to create the game. Runescape was developed by a small team but they had years of experience creating games.

If time is truly not an issue your best bet is to set aside your game idea and focus on learning the tools you will be working with. You need to learn a game engine and then you need to either learn an existing framework for MMOs or learn the technologies behind them. The framework path will be a couple years. The DIY path is much longer.

https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/templates/systems/ummorpg-51212

 

Of course not, otherwise I wouldn't have made this thread.

 

The hardest part about working on an mmo is to remain consistent over time and getting the correct people for the job. It's actually amazing that it was accomplished back in the day. Took a lot of hard work to keep the lights on.

you'd think it would be a Copy Paste thing nowadays with how popular they had been. And true, it technically has never been easier to accomplish. But, No drag and drop solution. The funding scheme is almost more important than the game itself. For example. server costs for a small 700 player 2d mmo runs about 12k. not including staff, website, payment system and programming.

a lot of the current operaters of the games actually do not know how to program it. they just assure it's operation is normal and everyone is happy.

heck we had to hire a guy who knew the foreign language some of our code was written in to amend it..
one of those purchased licenses deals that ends up NOT saving time.
beat the people to market.. too early to make a wave lol

 

Thanks for the advices, I think I'm going to make some smaller games first.

It would probably also be best to develop the game for both smartphones and personal computers, as smartphones are becoming popular for gaming.

Also, would it make sense to develop it as a single player fantasy RPG first and sell it on Steam, then use that money to pay for the servers?

Would that perhaps be the best course of action?

 

Yeah 'course! You can make almost anything, the only limits are your imagination, and of course, your programming skills.

 

You would be better off not worrying about the cost of servers until you have something to run on them.