MMORPG....... I know, be gentle

[Twister]

Hello all, First let me say hello, I am just learning panda and python.
I am not new to programming, as I have developed games in VB, c+, even PHP and mysql. so Don’t give me the usual responses like “learn to code first”. I plan on learning what ever engine i choose, in this case it will most likely be Panda and python.
I am looking to create a MMORPG, maybe a MORPG first, I dont know yet.
It doesnt have to be the prettiest thing out there, and I am doing this for learning and enjoyment as much as anything. If it ever gets finalized, so be it, Ill release it to the world.
I really would like to create a expanding world that players could help it grow and expand. So im looking to take more of a design a game that can help write itself in the end. sort of a Spore concept but not nearly as ambitious.
so on to my questions.
first, will this version of panda handle what I want it to handle. I know that MMORPGs have been developed using this engine, but I dont know how much of those features panda currently can manage, and how much was developed in house.
second, would it be better to use panda to handle client side, and try to use something like Darkstar to run the server side. if this is even possible, I don’t know yet.

again I am not a 13 year old kid trying to make my MMO of my dreams, I think there are allot of possibilities with a MMO that havent been developed yet.
I am really tired of hearing how you cant do anything without 1 million dollars and 40 people working for 10 years. I know this is not easy, this is not a “oohhh look what i made last night”. But every attempt to make something teaches , even if its a failure. I have read so many posts over the past week, telling people not to even try, that it is getting on my nervs. Kids rtying to do the impossible is how we ended up with most of our tech today, most of our languages, and advancements were done agains people saying its impossible. God bless the dreamers.

so any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I dont want to get hot and heavy into something I will just have to drop in a month, because I finally discovered it wont do what I need.

final goal for this project will probably be something similar to FlyFF. more simple, but hopefully more dynamic and expandable.
I have looked an numerouse engines lately including torque, ogre, unity, gamestudio, gamecore, realmforge, etc… and it looks like a major failing of most of them is the capacity to handle the server side, load balancing etc. thats what I am primarily worried about with panda as well.

thanks again everyone, any help or advice is always welcome, as long as it isnt “forget it”

[rdb]

@Twister

first, will this version of panda handle what I want it to handle. I know that MMORPGs have been developed using this engine, but I dont know how much of those features panda currently can manage, and how much was developed in house.

Yeah, this question comes up pretty often: “Can panda handle xyz”. The answer is pretty much always Yes.

@Twister

second, would it be better to use panda to handle client side, and try to use something like Darkstar to run the server side. if this is even possible, I don’t know yet.

Well, Panda has a full fledged networking system. (After all, the N in ‘PaNda’ stands for ‘Networked’). However, few people really know how to use it. Fortunately, there are some forum users who are trying to make a code example of how to use it.

@Twister

again I am not a 13 year old kid trying to make my MMO of my dreams, I think there are allot of possibilities with a MMO that havent been developed yet.

Actually, a 13-year old kid can make an MORPG, as long as he has the willpower, competence, endurance and patience to do it.
The problem is that we’ve seen too many people fail at those points, and give up. That’s why you hear to give up from a lot of people.
But if you think you can do it, go for it.

[ThomasEgi]

i second pro’s statmenets.
panda IS capable of handling a fully user-modifyable environment on the client side. it’s not even hard to do actually. but online games are most difficult when it comes to the server. it can easily take month to years to have a somewhat working server which is able to handle your desired number of players. take that number and multiply by x where x is stability, security, bandwith etc.

my personal advice… kick out the first M of your idea and make it a MORPG (like you suggested yourself). handling 30 , 60 or even 100 players is a lot less work than handling 100000. it still gives you all the possibilities for gameplay and will allow you to learn the stuff. but it will spare you a LOT of frustrating hours where you eat the edge of your table cause your server aint doing what you want.

i sorta like the idea of user-editable mmo’s . i once had my own ideas how to do something like that. using panda it’s not really hard, and a “in-game” scene editor already exists ,thought not 100% complete it’s already useable.

[Twister]

has anyone used Panda3d with darkstar?

[ThomasEgi]

@Twister

has anyone used Panda3d with darkstar?

nope. and if i were you i would not try. afaik it’s c/java so you have to mess with integrating darkstar into panda first. which would add (yet another) networking mechanism to panda (we already have more than enough even if you dont count the standard python ones).

aside from that it provides many features you most likely wont need for your game development. if you feel like using it, feel free to do so but i predict headaches:P

instead i recommend to stick with the networking provided by panda. or, at least, try to get some networking which features a python interface.

like i already said. try to go for <100 players where traditional servers work without too much effort.(meaning no load distributing etc. you can easily add a simple zone-system yourself, good excercise).
if you keep the server side simple at the beginning you can spend more time developing your actual game. and later on replace/improve the server only if you are in need to handle thousands of players.