GameBunny.com Questions and Answers #1 |
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GameBunny.com: |
How difficult is it to produce your own MMO - without
the deep pockets of a Sony or Microsoft? We gathered together a
few brainy and brave indie developers from Simutronics, Near Death,
Cosmic Origins and Icarus Studios and asked them what's great and
not-so-great about creating your own persistent worlds. |
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Stephanie Shaver: |
Hero's Journey is a massively multiplayer fantasy
game set in Elanthia, the same world setting we've used for two
of our other games (DragonRealms and GemStone IV). Our design philosophy
is "less tedium, more fun" and also "customizing
stuff is super awesome!"
Production-wise, the best I can say is that I come in every day
and work with a small team of dedicated, hard-working people who
all want to see this game completed and released. Because Simutronics
is not under the gun of a deadline imposed by investors or publishers,
we have the luxury of setting out own release dates and our own
production cycle. Blessing and curse, all rolled into one.
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GameBunny.com: |
Why the creation of a PC MMO? Why not a single-player
title, console or handheld game?
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Stephanie Shaver: |
Simutronics is exclusively an MMO company. We've
been doing it for over fifteen years. We started for the sole purpose
of making multiplayer games, and that's what we do.
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GameBunny.com: |
Would you agree that massively multiplayer games
are more difficult to develop than any other? |
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Stephanie Shaver: |
Absolutely, and I suspect it's got to do with the
lengthy development cycle. I have friends in the industry who started
out doing MMOs who have sworn they'll never work on them again simply
because they take so long. You need a good team and a good, solid
plan to make an MMO today. Without both, you're screwed.
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GameBunny.com: |
Business-wise, what has been the hardest part of
producing your own game?
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Stephanie Shaver: |
Differentiation. Everyone is making a fantasy MMO.
What makes ours different? Just knowing it's different isn't enough.
You have to convey that to the public enough that they are more
than willing to part with their $50 to come over to your side. Otherwise,
people will look at the oh-so-pretty obligatory warrior babe on
your cover and say, "Oh, I don't need to play that fantasy
MMO, I'm already playing Dark Realms of Fantasy Quest."
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GameBunny.com: |
What about from a game creation standpoint –
what has caused the most trouble as you inch toward the gold master?
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Stephanie Shaver: |
Computers. Man, those computers with their hard-drives
and their memory and their wires....
Seriously. Computers. We want to do amazing things visually, and
we've had to throttle back on it because this is an MMO and in MMOs
(as in any 3D game) framerate is probably one of the most important
technical challenges the team has to contend with. Even with paying
tithes to King Framerate, though, the game is still visually stunning,
and though we wish we could do more, we know our limitations and
are constantly pressing against them. |
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End of Part 1.
Next Friday we finish the Q&A with a look at
the positive side of indie development, the importance of graphics
and how our devs feel about a little game called WORLD OF WARCRAFT.
Stay tuned...
If you'd like further info...:
Stephanie Shaver, Simutronics,
HERO'S JOURNEY
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