making a game :-) - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

Digilogic · 04-20-2004, 01:23 PM

I am in a small team of people (4) trying to make a basic MMORPG. *sigh* Yes I know that an mmo is probably the worst possible game to attempt for beginners, but it is easy to divide among the group and its interesting to all of us. We aren't shooting for anything major right now, just a server/client setup that can support maybe 100 people. I was just wondering if anyone has advice for us. I am doing the client which mainly just means the graphics engine. Its gonna be all 2D and I am still unsure whether I should use opengl or directx or something else. I think our graphics are gonna end up looking SNESish.

SO anyways, any suggestions ? :-D

Digilogic · 04-20-2004, 01:26 PM

O yeah, also this is gonna be done in c++ unless something changes.

KnifeMissile · 04-20-2004, 01:36 PM

If you're doing a 2D type of game then might I suggest you forgo both openGL and DirectX for something simple and very compatible (and safe!) like GDI. That way, your client will run on any Windows platform and with less bugs.

Good luck with your game...

Digilogic · 04-20-2004, 01:44 PM

Could you elaborate on why those will be less compatible? Also, would sdl fit into this catagory?

KnifeMissile · 04-20-2004, 02:21 PM

I don't know anything about SDL but if you code with DirectX, you must have knowledge of what version of DirectX you're coding for. Not all versions of DirecdtX is available on all Windows platforms.

If your client uses GDI, it will even run on Windows 3.1! Your socket code may or may not make it 3.1 compatible but it's possible. Now, perhaps, this is overkill (you're probably thinking to yourself who still runs that piece of crap) but there are other platforms, like WinNT that are still used, as is Win95. So, you don't want to needlessly exclude anyone, right?

GDI is too often overlooked. You have a rich set of controls implemented for you, already, and it will have that Windows look to it, which may or may not be what you want. However, it always annoys me how many applications make their own version of controls that already exist in Windows (like WinAmp!). I mean, it used to be a box-line advantage that all Window apps use the same controls and now it's a box-line advantage for applications to not use standard window controls. Oh, the irony...

KnifeMissile · 04-20-2004, 02:30 PM

I just looked at the SDL homepage and it looks like a really good idea! Your code will be more portable if you use it although, unless you're more experienced than I think you are, your client will probably still turn out far from portable.

Also, when I say "more portable," I mean to other OS's and not to other Microsoft Windows platforms. Not that this is a bad thing. You'll probably see a wider audience supporting Linux than Win95...

04-20-2004, 01:23 PM	#1 (permalink)
Digilogic Crazy Location: Raleigh, NC	making a game :-) I am in a small team of people (4) trying to make a basic MMORPG. sigh Yes I know that an mmo is probably the worst possible game to attempt for beginners, but it is easy to divide among the group and its interesting to all of us. We aren't shooting for anything major right now, just a server/client setup that can support maybe 100 people. I was just wondering if anyone has advice for us. I am doing the client which mainly just means the graphics engine. Its gonna be all 2D and I am still unsure whether I should use opengl or directx or something else. I think our graphics are gonna end up looking SNESish. SO anyways, any suggestions ? :-D __________________ "Good artists copy, great artists steal." - Pablo Picasso

04-20-2004, 01:26 PM	#2 (permalink)
Digilogic Crazy Location: Raleigh, NC	O yeah, also this is gonna be done in c++ unless something changes. __________________ "Good artists copy, great artists steal." - Pablo Picasso

04-20-2004, 01:44 PM	#4 (permalink)
Digilogic Crazy Location: Raleigh, NC	Could you elaborate on why those will be less compatible? Also, would sdl fit into this catagory? __________________ "Good artists copy, great artists steal." - Pablo Picasso

04-20-2004, 01:36 PM	#3 (permalink)
KnifeMissile Location: Waterloo, Ontario	If you're doing a 2D type of game then might I suggest you forgo both openGL and DirectX for something simple and very compatible (and safe!) like GDI. That way, your client will run on any Windows platform and with less bugs. Good luck with your game...

04-20-2004, 02:21 PM	#5 (permalink)
KnifeMissile Location: Waterloo, Ontario	I don't know anything about SDL but if you code with DirectX, you must have knowledge of what version of DirectX you're coding for. Not all versions of DirecdtX is available on all Windows platforms. If your client uses GDI, it will even run on Windows 3.1! Your socket code may or may not make it 3.1 compatible but it's possible. Now, perhaps, this is overkill (you're probably thinking to yourself who still runs that piece of crap) but there are other platforms, like WinNT that are still used, as is Win95. So, you don't want to needlessly exclude anyone, right? GDI is too often overlooked. You have a rich set of controls implemented for you, already, and it will have that Windows look to it, which may or may not be what you want. However, it always annoys me how many applications make their own version of controls that already exist in Windows (like WinAmp!). I mean, it used to be a box-line advantage that all Window apps use the same controls and now it's a box-line advantage for applications to not use standard window controls. Oh, the irony...

04-20-2004, 02:30 PM	#6 (permalink)
KnifeMissile Location: Waterloo, Ontario	I just looked at the SDL homepage and it looks like a really good idea! Your code will be more portable if you use it although, unless you're more experienced than I think you are, your client will probably still turn out far from portable. Also, when I say "more portable," I mean to other OS's and not to other Microsoft Windows platforms. Not that this is a bad thing. You'll probably see a wider audience supporting Linux than Win95...