Ultimate Game Design : Building game worlds

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A
whole new avenue for games has arrived in the form of the massively
multiplayer online game (MMOG). These games allow large numbers of
players to collaborate and compete together in a persistent world. As you might
imagine, developing this kind of game is among the most complex game development
challenges any game developer has faced in the relatively short history of electronic
gaming.
Up to this point, we’ve discussed game making in terms of single or multiplay experiences
on the consoles or PC. The pure construction aspect of building MMOGs
shares many of the same challenges, yet it offers entirely new challenges and points of
learning for all developers.
In this chapter, we’re going to take a look at many of the production and design issues
and factors involved in building this particular kind of game. Right now, many
game developers are hard at work on this kind of game title. They are learning to
drive by driving. It should be assumed that much of the information and experience
garnered from MMOG development is still fluid, ever-changing, and coming in daily
from the “front lines.” Let’s not forget that MMOGs are in their infancy. For developers
everywhere, there is still very much to be learned.
A massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG) is a common game
genre now and a popular form of MMOG. I use the general term “MMOG” because
the challenges and design considerations of massively multiplayer games are not restricted
to role-playing games alone.
M MOG PRODUCTION CHALLENGES
The sheer scope, scale, and complexity of MMOG titles helps to create a game development
environment with a wide array of production challenges and issues. Since
production details are the real-world implementation of design ideas, it will serve us
well to stop and consider exactly what we’re up against from a pure production perspective
when we set out to create an MMOG title.
In the following sections, we will consider many of these issues in detail.