How do I start my MMO?

[Comic]

What should I know to start off with and make my engine?

If you have any tips please post below! :)

[Tivoilos]

These are the things I had to know before I started my ORPG(should not call it a MMO till you have more then 1k of players online at the same time understand the word Massive)

###########################
#### Things I had to know ####
##########################
Arrays
Looping
XML
VB6(For Server)
Keyboard Tasks
Mouse Tasks
BitmapOverlay(For Paperdoll)

that is just a small amount of things that I knew before starting my ORPG

[Comic]

These are the things I had to know before I started my ORPG(should not call it a MMO till you have more then 1k of players online at the same time understand the word Massive)

###########################
#### Things I had to know ####
##########################
Arrays
Looping
XML
VB6(For Server)
Keyboard Tasks
Mouse Tasks
BitmapOverlay(For Paperdoll)

that is just a small amount of things that I knew before starting my ORPG
Would I google those?

[Teonnyn]

Well personally, I would start off with some really basic projects first. I'd also get a few books on the subject :)

[sushikid]

holy shit you totally rock!! MMO using AS?? Wow man, i cant even do a simple game. Good luck!!;)

[painteroflight]

There are an daunting amount of components to an mmorpg and an even more daunting skill set. On the latest corporate browser based MMORPG I worked on, the development document for the game alone was 200+ pages, and I don't even consider it a very complex MMORPG.

If you are really serious about building one, first things first is possibly trying to bring some others on board to help. It will make development go a lot faster. Next I would recommend writing out a highly detailed development document that plans out every aspect of the mmorpg.

Some things you will need for the MMORPG are:

* A dedicated server

* Some java/c/other language based socket server for handling user data in seperate zones (try smartfox server or electro server. Electro is the more powerful server, but smart fox is in my opinion the more approachable. smartfox also comes with a free trial license for under 20 users. I guess if you are really masochistic or just looking for insane performance and scalability you could build your own).

* A solid understanding of all aspects of flash game development in an AS3 environment. Yes, it is possible to do browser mmo's in AS2 but I have seen a lot of them suffer performance wise from being built in AS2. Do yourself a favor and build it in AS3. You'll thank me later.

* A way to handle user data through a Business logic layer. I recommend PHP because it is open source (i.e. free), highly scalable, very well supported in regards to community, and relatively quick to develop with.

* An understanding of relational databases such as MySQL, ProstegeSQL, or MsSQL so that you can store all the user data.

There are a ton of other things that are escaping my mind at the moment, but this is a good general run down of what is necessary to really get a bare bones MMO up and running. As I think of other things, I may add them.

[cedog12]

There are an daunting amount of components to an mmorpg and an even more daunting skill set. On the latest corporate browser based MMORPG I worked on, the development document for the game alone was 200+ pages, and I don't even consider it a very complex MMORPG.

If you are really serious about building one, first things first is possibly trying to bring some others on board to help. It will make development go a lot faster. Next I would recommend writing out a highly detailed development document that plans out every aspect of the mmorpg.

Some things you will need for the MMORPG are:

* A dedicated server

* Some java/c/other language based socket server for handling user data in seperate zones (try smartfox server or electro server. Electro is the more powerful server, but smart fox is in my opinion the more approachable. smartfox also comes with a free trial license for under 20 users. I guess if you are really masochistic or just looking for insane performance and scalability you could build your own).

* A solid understanding of all aspects of flash game development in an AS3 environment. Yes, it is possible to do browser mmo's in AS2 but I have seen a lot of them suffer performance wise from being built in AS2. Do yourself a favor and build it in AS3. You'll thank me later.

* A way to handle user data through a Business logic layer. I recommend PHP because it is open source (i.e. free), highly scalable, very well supported in regards to community, and relatively quick to develop with.

* An understanding of relational databases such as MySQL, ProstegeSQL, or MsSQL so that you can store all the user data.

There are a ton of other things that are escaping my mind at the moment, but this is a good general run down of what is necessary to really get a bare bones MMO up and running. As I think of other things, I may add them.

GReat post!