I’m new so I don’t know if this is in the right spot but I have a few questions to ask: First I need to say something.
Like everyone I have an idea for an MORPG (I shall not call it an MMO until it it ready) I know that I need to start small, Learning the software, Making a Prototype, Expanding Prototype, Attempting a LAN connection, Making a small server, and expanding it. But in order to do those I need to know some stuff to see if this is the right software.
I know this is a matter of coding but, the game I am planning switches between first person and third person, is this possible? If so how complicated?
This is an (M)MOFPS does Panda support (M)MOPFS?
I have about five computers that together can stay on 24/7, for when I am at the step of making a server how many players will they support (All are Windows 7)
Do I need to pay royalties to Disney if I do somehow succeed in creating this difficult project?
Are there any affordable modeling/animating soft wares that I could use?
How do I make a world? is it just a larger model?
Any advice?
*Note I do have a modeler and four programmers who will help me.
2)you can make just about any kind of game you want with panda, at least that is my understanding.
3)with one decent machine (see powerpup118’s last post here: [MMORPG? lol) helped me with my server concept a lot.) and Linux i would think you could do well.
as far as writing your server, that should be simple for a non-scalable server. if you want a scalable server you will have to write it yourself(by modifying panda).
4)no. but you can’t use Fmod for sound without a license(used by panda).
5)Blender, with the chicken exporter.
6)as i understand it panda does not differentiate between models, at least not in terms of landscape vs. static model. i am not certain of this, but i believe it may differentiate between static and animated models.
7)I have not yet made a game with panda, but i believe the manual to be excellent, so i am working through it.
I’ll be glad to help you out, so, lets get started. (P.S. I can practically guess from your introduction that panda is right for you , that’s only my guess though. no quoting me D:)
In panda3d you can attach the camera to objects, you can move it relative to objects, you can rotate it and position it statically or dynamically to anything or anywhere you want. This is really un-complicated (you’re a beginner so it’ll still be learning though )
Multi player First Person Shooter… yes.
Panda can support any game mode, any type of game, etc.
Think of panda as a blank slate, it has no ‘preset’ things, you get to build your game all the way from a blank grey screen up, keep in mind that panda was designed this way though, so there is lots of stuff to massiveley help you on your journey
Well, I’ll admit that windows for any server is a terrible choice imo. (70% of web servers are linux based, and at least 16% of that 30% left over at at least unix based (mac), windows really is a small market share for server)
anywho, panda has no scalable networking systems on it’s own, you’re on your own for that (though it’s pretty easy if you’re interested in networking) A single windows machine will support enough for you and your friends to play your game competitively, assuming your server is coded properly, of course
I doubt I’d jump right to difficult, it will be easier than you think, artwork and music is the hardest things to come by, tbh.
As for royalties, that’d be silly. Panda3d may be developed by disney, however it’s entirely open source and free. In fact you can probably rip it off and call it your own engine if you wanted to (I could be wrong, but I think so )
I would try Blender 2.49, it’s really nice and completely free, like panda3d
Other users like tools such as Maya, however those are license-only. (expensive)
Also I’d recommend Gimp for image editing (it’s like the free version of Adobe photoshop, only different)
Yessir. It’s only an object that is large, in fact you can make it one big object or you could build it dynamically out of smaller objects, if you wanted to
Learn and understand python before anything else. That is where imo a lot of people go wrong, if you understand python decently you can create a nice game pretty quickly.
I wonder how good they are? if they are really good, we could see some pretty interesting stuff coming from your direction
Be sure to check out all the examples provided in panda3d, also. Such as Roaming ralph (alot of people like that one) and all the other ones, too
Panda3d can certainly do what you want, it’s only your time and dedication that challenge you with panda3d. And even then, panda3d + python kills any other development environment for video games.
I wish you the best of luck, also note that Pirates of the Carribean and Toontown online where created using panda3d, and tons of other games as well as a few other serious MMO’s, so panda is a really good choice imo.
something i want to bring to your attention:
first person shoters and MMO dont mix well.
i mean technicaly dont mix.
fps require low latency and many updates for fluid gameplay, which results in high traffic.
mmo’s require lots of players in one world at the same time, main goal here is to keep the updates and traffic to a minimum so you can push lots of players around.
250ms lag are concidered good for a mmo, below 50ms are good for an fps.
so, having both at the same time is rather tricky especially if you’r using limited-bandwith media such as the internet given it’s natural lag for players all over the world.
given a standard internet connection in single-digit Mbps i’d guess on something like 100 to 300 players being the point there the fps part of the game starts to break.
if your game allows it i recommend to seperate the fps parts out of the main-gameplay (like for arenas or so)
, that’s only my guess though. no quoting me D:)