Who am I?
I’m a 29 year old programmer. Graduated with Computer Info Systems degree and have spent the past 6 years doing code/web development in non-gaming industries. Have spent the past year working full time for a top NYC consulting company. I’ve also been an avid gamer, and have dabbled in designing adventures and modding off and on since I was 7.
I’ve finally thrown down the gauntlet and am jumping into what I consider a ripe opportunity in the gaming industry: an urban, crime-based MMOG. I’d be happy to discuss the project in more detail and why I think there is such a great opportunity for a game like this, but for the sake of keeping this post shorter I’ll skip it for now. Reply if you’re interested in hearing more.
I do not have professional game development experience. Neither do I have wild dreams of making a MMORPG from scratch in a short amount of time without the backing of a huge studio and without funding. Rather, I think there are enough tools and resources available on the internet that make it feasible for a very small, dedicated team to produce a reasonably quality game in a 1.5-2 year timeframe.
What’s the story so far?
I have spent the past four months ironing out the initial design, learning about game development, and exploring game platforms & tools. I’ve settled on using Multiverse to provide the backend/networking server and game rendering engine. Sometime soon I will purchase this [URL=“http://www.3drt.com/3dm/levels/urban_set/urban_set.htm”]urban construction kit to provide a starting point for building a city. I have found quite a few decent, free 3d car, truck, weapon, and furniture models available for use on the internet. There are free sounds and songs available. I’ve also found some low cost animations and other assets that might work, but am not positive they are suitable and compatible. I’ve set up a collaboration environment at [URL=“http://www.modcenter.com/sf/projects/not”]ModCenter. [To be clear: It is not a mod.]
What do I expect out of this project?
I’m fully aware that the vast, vast majority of indie game projects are never completed. At a bare minimum, I will accept completion of this project as a personal success. On the other end, I see three possible successful outcomes: [LIST=1]
[]It is a smash hit ala Runescape and we get to work on this full time, or
[]It is of high enough quality and success we can use it to get our foot in the door of an established game development studio, or
[*]It does well enough to raise funding for our own future game development.[/LIST]I do not consider it unreasonable that one of these three will happen.
What do I expect out of this post?
I’m looking for someone who either has a background in meshes, textures, uv, animation, shaders, collision volumes, etc, or is passionate about learning about these things and is willing to contribute. I’m not looking for someone to make everything from scratch, but just as I’m going to have to code quite a bit I’m certain there will be a fair amount of art work to do as well. Ideally I’m looking for someone to help put the art pieces together into a cohesive whole and help in recruiting. However, no contribution is too small. I’d even appreciate people simply giving moral support and showing interest as the project moves along. Want to chat with me about the design and direction of the project and offer constructive criticism? Great! If you’re interested in any aspect of this, please let me know and we can talk more about it. The budget for this project is small, but I’m willing to spend a little if I must. If a contract or some money means the difference between someone accepting this offer or not, let’s talk.
Thanks for reading, and looking forward to meeting interested parties.
Regards,
- Paul O., Project/Technical Lead of NOT