How to Build an MMO / Unity Networking Deprecation

I've been studying how to make video games on my own since I was 14. Here's all of the research I've acquired over the years. This is how far I've come to making my first game and it's going to be an MMO. I was using Unity to build an MMO and this is how I'm going to do it.

 

Depends what you mean by an MMO really, an MMO RPG is a HUGE expense. Even with some systems prebuilt (Atavism comes to mind) it's going to be a nightmare to actually get all of the tools and resources (Models, custom code, database management, textures, animations)

And then you need to get enough people PLAYING for it to be worth while, that's the hard part as well. even if you crack the code and somehow make a functional MMO RPG as an indie, you've now got to compete in one of the hardest markets in gaming, which itself is an extremely hard market for an indie even if you're just making a platformer. Unlike 2d side scroller though, an MMO LIVES and DIES by it's playerbase. No one is going to play an MMO with only 30 people online.

If you mean an MMO as just "Lots of players" like AGAR then yes it's doable

 

Atavism makes it a lot easier but..you do need to have some experience with Unity to really enjoy the long road to making an MMO. Too many come in to use Atavism without any experience at all. Since I am one of the support staff on the Discord channel, I spend a lot of time explaining simple Unity functions.

So learn how to make games first. Learn all you can. Then come over to Atavism and look for me. We would be happy to help you make your MMO. Easy to find me...I am Laura.

 

I would recommend against making an MMO for several reasons. Among those reasons, see if you can do the following:
- Advertise; all other MMOs failed because they couldn't OUT-Advertise WoW
- Customer Care; get ready to service your MMO community
- Continuous content; if you can't pump it out, you will get a fed-up community real quick

If you have a studio or several people that can work for you on it, sure, why not.
Otherwise, MMO projects will fail.

 

I don't know if I agree with all these points entirely.

On the WoW advertising issue, I'd say that is a problem when your game isn't significantly different from WoW. But your MMO can be so different than WoW as to not really be a competitor.

Some MMO's baby their players, while a few successful ones create the sandbox and let their community largely fend for itself.

MMO's built around stories or quests need continuous content, but an MMO can be designed around largely player created content as well.

As an example of all 3 points, look at Eve Online. It doesn't really occupy the same space as WoW, and it lets the players largely handle their own business. If you lose all your stuff and cry to customer service, too bad. Most of the content is player created, where epic wars of tens of thousands of players are instigated, organized, and run by the players themselves.

But I'd agree that building your own MMO is something that isn't necessarily recommended.

 

I think that building an MMO is a long process. But..if you want to do it, then do it.

Yes, people recommend not to make an MMO..they have forever. Yes, it is overwhelming to someone who has no idea what they are doing.

But..everyone is welcome to make the game they want to make. Just realize exactly what it involves.

 

Well, the overall idea was to make a game that's great to play with multiple people but, can also be enjoyed as a single-person experience. It's essentially a Monster MMO or a Pokemon MMORPG (without it being Pokemon). So, I want players to have the exact same experience as playing a new Pokemon game on a handheld as well as having the option of playing and interacting with other players.

This was very useful. You see, my idea was that since I'm building it by myself, that I would worry about marketing much after I develop the project. I was going to hire people with the funds I got from selling the game and merchandise. Since I've never worked in a tech company I would like some tips on how to hire people and what to look out for. I also sought to develop a world big enough with content that would last people for a while, with numerous mini-games so that the game isn't just a single game mode.

Unlike 10 years ago, I think now I have a clearer understanding of making an MMO.

Thanks for the encouragement. And I'll check out Atavism. I actually never heard of it until now. As for Unity, I'd say I've nearly learned everything I need to know about Unity. The last thing I need to learn (since I'm building a monster game) is how to use arrays to store Monster objects and etc. There really isn't that much left for me to learn about Unity outside of Particles. At least for Unity3D. There's probably a few things here or there I need to touch up on but, for the most part I think I'm done learning how to use Unity.

Thanks for all of the replies guys. I look forward to hearing from all of you again.

 

use kbengine, https://github.com/kbengine/kbengine
its a real mmorpg server that can hold several thousand concurrent users, like stress-tested here:

you can take its unity example if it still works and you use it as a template:

the real problem is the astronomical amount of content mmorpg needs this days
and extreme difficulty to get people playing it (dying genre?)

I advice to make a prototype and get crowed funded for it, see if there is any interest at all
look in YouTube on how many empty mmorpg games are out there, don't think yours won't be the same..
unless you do something very different

good luck

 

Hope to see you soon. Lots of folks using Atavism so you will feel welcome there.

 

i remember some years ago you could not stand atavism. did it changed in good way since it has been purchased? i stopped following it after the bugs on skills were never fixed.

 

As someone tackling MMOs, definitely recommending making smaller games first. Even smaller scope multiplayer games.

There are a ton of system in MMOs that players expect, and just the amount of work that goes into it will take forever. Atavism at least handles a lot of the base systems, although I haven't used it. Just from what I hear about it.

 

Well, I actually wanted to make a small game first but, then I kept getting requested by people to make a Pokemon game. A lot of people like my old Sprite work from deviantArt which lead me to the idea of making a multiplayer monster game. I plan on releasing a small first person game with the similar assets after this one. I'm going to use the graphics I originally planned for my game. I figure that I took the time to make the assets, so why throw them away?

As for my game itself. I'm working on a system that collaborates with my website for validation and management. I'm going to be using a combination of VPS hosting and a simple server-client to handle players. While it will be nice to use a prebuilt system, the thing is, is that I plan on having multiple game modes within my game (Some mini games to make the game fun even after the player has gotten a level 100 character, etc), which calls for Scene changes as well as a good Game Manager to handle. Most systems I have seen cannot accommodate this. So while it is good to use an existing system, the truth is is that I would still have to tweak that system just to work for my game.

Really, I don't think my game will necessarily be an MMO but, should be more similar to a game like Gaia Online. I can handle all of the 3D modeling and artwork, as well as storyline. I've also created a business model to follow in case I ever get stuck. I know exactly what scenes I need to build in Unity. Honestly, what I am afraid of is if Unity can actually handle it and if I will be able to continue using Unity to make my game or will I have to start all over and code it from the ground up.

I know I'm a novice, a newb when it comes to programming but, I've spent 14 years learning about video games. I think I'm ready to actually make my first game and for my first game to be this big.

I'm having a hard time finding you guys. Is there a discord link or something you could send me?

 

Hahaha!

Yes, Atavism was purchased by a different company and the asset is fabulous now. I highly recommend it for making an MMO. However, one must have some experience to Unity for the best results.

 

Sending you a PM with discord link.