MMORPG Day 1

I decided that a MMORPG (Mini Multyplayer Online Role Playing Game) would be something fun to work on. I hope I can finish it in the 19 days I have left of Christmas Break because afterwards I have exams and I won't be able to focus on programming. It's probably a world wonder if I do finish a MMORPG in 20 days but it won't be very big, that part comes later (I hope).

I'll write a daily Blog post so you guys know what's going on. I have decided that I will only dedicate full days to my MMORPG, nothing less. This way it will be easier for me to focus. If I take a break of working on my MMORPG (for whatever reasons) I will simply skip that day and continue on the next (If possible).

So on Day 1 of my MMORPG I made an outline of all the things I would need to program in Java. That way I will hopefully be able to tell exactly how much progress I have made and how much I still need to do. Here's the simplified outline:

- 3D Engine
- Map
- Character
- Networking
- Sound
- HUD / Menu

The 3D Engine is going to be the first thing I will work on. It will "simply" take 3D Models and display them on the screen. I have decided to use the 3D Engine I developed earlier on due to portability reasons. If I would take a 3D engine depending on graphic cards there certainly would be problems. I choose Java because of portability and I'll choose the 3D Software Rendering Engine out of portability too. Maybe later I'll add the option for people with good graphic cards to use them. I decided to work on this first so you people out there can see results quickly.

The Map will load a 2D tile based map and convert it into a 3D model which will be displayed by the 3D Engine. It will also store all the data of the players surroundings.

The Character will load a Characters DNA and make a 3D model out of it which will also be displayed by the 3D Engine. A Characters "DNA" includes all the characters Information in one short line of text. The Character stores everything about the player and what he's doing right now.

The Networking will probably be the hardest since I have no experience in that area at all. I'll just have to try this and that and hope it works. Wish me Luck!

The Sound and HUD are very low priority and will be the last thing I'm going to work on. The HUD may come a long as I work on my MMORPG and it may not, it depends on how much I need it.

I had some time left after making a good outline so I imported my old 3D engine and familiarised myself with it as it has been a long time since I last looked at it. It's working nicely and I'll just have to tweak some small things here and there to make it fit into a MMORPG. The biggest concern will probably be the speed but I'll find a way (hopefully).