Online gaming engines as a commodity

[DaveC426913]

Just looking for a place to start researching.

Say I wanted to make an educational MMORPG. No need to reinvent the wheel; there are games out there that could be modified. Do gaming companies have a model where they license their gaming engine out to be redeveloped and modified?

 

[zomgwtf]

Just looking for a place to start researching.

Say I wanted to make an educational MMORPG. No need to reinvent the wheel; there are games out there that could be modified. Do gaming companies have a model where they license their gaming engine out to be redeveloped and modified?

Yup there are plenty of gaming engines out there they can be pretty pricey though(if you intend to sell the game.) There are a lot of free ones available too though. If you are just interested in modifying a pre-existing game though you could find a game that has suitable features and just modify it to your hearts content. .

You could download Microsofts XNA game studio and get one of the game engines for that though, I know people make great games using this engine.

 

[Argentum Vulpes]

I know one of the game engines I see a good amount of is the Havok engine. It's used by Halo 3, Half life 2 and all of its mods, THQ real time strategy games, and I believe Star craft 2 and Diablo 3 are using that engine. Best thing I can suggest is just do a google search of "game engines".

 

[DaveC426913]

Yup there are plenty of gaming engines out there they can be pretty pricey though(if you intend to sell the game.)

Educational. So, via the guvament.

There are a lot of free ones available too though. If you are just interested in modifying a pre-existing game though you could find a game that has suitable features and just modify it to your hearts content. .

You could download Microsofts XNA game studio and get one of the game engines for that though, I know people make great games using this engine.

What kind of quality? Are these games that incorporate multiple players? Are they sophisticated like ones we might be used to? You don't mean like WoW?

 

[MotoH]

It isn't an MMO, but the guts of all of the Battlefield series are moddable to your hearts content. (BF2: Project Realtity) ARMA2 and so on.

I am not sure about MMORPG's, you can make Graphics mods to them, but can't change the gameplay itself.

 

[Pinu7]

Please don't mind my meddling, but how would a MMORPG educational game be played(completing a quest requires knowledge of Lagrangian mechanics?)

 

[zomgwtf]

Educational. So, via the guvament.

What kind of quality? Are these games that incorporate multiple players? Are they sophisticated like ones we might be used to? You don't mean like WoW?

Well it all depends on how much time is put into it. The games off XNA are buyable for xbox and PC.

Unreal has a game engine that can be used to make MMORPGS which I believe has been released to the public. Yes you can incorporate multiple players.

 

[mgb_phys]

The main free 3d game engines
http://www.ogre3d.org/
http://irrlicht.sourceforge.net/
http://www.delta3d.org/

They are all suitable for high performance FPS type games, and are widely used for things like simulations, training systems.
If you want to do a simpler 2d game for smaller kids there might be other frameworks that are more suitable

I don't know of a widely used FOSS MMO engine though - odd because it would seem to be an obvious thing for someone to try and build.

 

[zomgwtf]

There's always RPG maker, which is easy to use. I remember making a game like harvest moon on that when I was in like grade 6.

 

[DaveC426913]

Thanks. I will look into these.

Sorry if I can't be more specific about how I'll use the game educationally.