Ultimate Game Design : Building game worlds

Building Game Worlds
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U L T I M A T E G A M E D E S I G N
Bandwidth Support Issues
It can cost considerable amounts of money to keep large bandwidth pipes open for
game data transfer between your game servers and your clients or players. This is
a sizeable support expense that must be factored into the cost of maintaining the
persistent game environment.
Hardware Support and Maintenance
Unlike client-based games, like a simple console title for instance, MMOG titles
require significant server hardware support, updates, configuration, and maintenance.
This includes not just the cost of hardware, of course, but also enough staff to keep it
running with stability.
Database/Backend Construction and Maintenance
Where does all of that saved character and inventory item information go in an
MMOG? It gets stored in a database or “backend” that interfaces with the game
server. Popular database solutions include Oracle (www.oracle.com) on the high
end, and MySQL (www.mysql.com) as a more affordable, yet very powerful choice,
among many other options. The game server passes off character-based information
regularly to the database. This helps to prevent cheating, maintain character integrity,
and establish certain security features. Development and maintenance of this database
backend is painstaking, deliberate, and expensive work.
QA Costs
It’s very difficult to run an MMOG title through QA. You don’t just show up with a
game build on a fresh CD. You need a sophisticated test plan and a considerable staff
to help test all of the game functionality checks you’ll need to perform to get an
MMOG to a point of stability. Player community beta testers are of great assistance,
but in order for their feedback to be valuable, it has to be managed and prioritized.
The last thing you want to do is launch a bug-riddled MMOG, alienating your
audience if players lose their hard-earned experience because the database chokes,
drops game information, and crashes. All aspects of the client/server game application,
database interface, connectivity issues, subscription functionality, and character or
game data integrity must be thoroughly and systematically tested. It is quite simply a
vast undertaking that very few game industry professionals have much experience
with yet.