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Mierza · 01-06-2004, 11:30 PM

Wow! Thank's so much Netwrym for your post, I've found it very informative, and encouraging to know that I'm not the only one persuing a dream for a MUD like mine.

As you may guess, from reading the first post of this thread, I too originally wanted to learn to code my own MUD.

However, I was only wanting to learn enough to take an already made codebase and go from there, to learn just enough to get me started.

Ofcourse then others came along, and since my strengths lay mostly in leadership, design, and production, that's where I naturally positioned myself, leaving coders to code, artists to create art, and learning a little about each in the process of putting it all together.

You sure sound like you had some learning experience, alright, hah! But good on you. I get most of my design type experience from the real world, from novels, from movies, etc. Alot also comes from research, and I seriously suggest that people who are interested, do some research and find places like GameDev. The opinions of experienced game designers and programmers alike, can seriously alter the way you view the creation of a MUD.

I like your tips. Especially the one about limiting yourself. I've seen games with thousands of races, and that's great to offer variety for a more simple, traditional mud. However in cases like yours and mine, I agree that where a more complex system is involved, content should be simplified to begin with. I was thinking of like.. 8-9 races when I first started designing, but ended up deciding on 4, possibly 5 original ones.

Thanks for your suggestion about nailing a language, lol. I do intend to learn enough for me to work efficiently as a game designer. Unfortunately there's no way I could code a game to my standards, and have it meet my standards. You yourself said you've been learning for the last few years. Mmm.. I know there has to be a coder out there somewhere that finds it appealing to be involved and challenge themself with an innovative MUD design? Even if this game of mine isn't to go commercial, this is just one step in the rung of a ladder. Either my company will slowly grow, OR quite simply, my team members can take our finished product, and their development steps and show these to potential employers in the future. ~That's what I intend to do, to help me get game design experience to get into the industry (as well as school education, of course) -and I think that has been one major motivation for coders and artists that I know as well.

I have another point to add to your "Always write down what you're thinking."

My point is brainstorm -An initially 'stupid' idea that can be brainstormed, can turn out to be a great concept further along on the track. Getting together with the rest of your development team (or even just some like-minded friends if you're working solo) can be a great source of fun and motivation for progress.

I think your last section of the post, about backups of code, is extremely important. -You were right, I did learn my lesson the hard way, and I hope that other people can read this and learn from my mistake.

01-06-2004, 11:30 PM	#36
Mierza Member Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Hope Valley, Perth, Australia. Posts: 33	Wow! Thank's so much Netwrym for your post, I've found it very informative, and encouraging to know that I'm not the only one persuing a dream for a MUD like mine. As you may guess, from reading the first post of this thread, I too originally wanted to learn to code my own MUD. However, I was only wanting to learn enough to take an already made codebase and go from there, to learn just enough to get me started. Ofcourse then others came along, and since my strengths lay mostly in leadership, design, and production, that's where I naturally positioned myself, leaving coders to code, artists to create art, and learning a little about each in the process of putting it all together. You sure sound like you had some learning experience, alright, hah! But good on you. I get most of my design type experience from the real world, from novels, from movies, etc. Alot also comes from research, and I seriously suggest that people who are interested, do some research and find places like GameDev. The opinions of experienced game designers and programmers alike, can seriously alter the way you view the creation of a MUD. I like your tips. Especially the one about limiting yourself. I've seen games with thousands of races, and that's great to offer variety for a more simple, traditional mud. However in cases like yours and mine, I agree that where a more complex system is involved, content should be simplified to begin with. I was thinking of like.. 8-9 races when I first started designing, but ended up deciding on 4, possibly 5 original ones. Thanks for your suggestion about nailing a language, lol. I do intend to learn enough for me to work efficiently as a game designer. Unfortunately there's no way I could code a game to my standards, and have it meet my standards. You yourself said you've been learning for the last few years. Mmm.. I know there has to be a coder out there somewhere that finds it appealing to be involved and challenge themself with an innovative MUD design? Even if this game of mine isn't to go commercial, this is just one step in the rung of a ladder. Either my company will slowly grow, OR quite simply, my team members can take our finished product, and their development steps and show these to potential employers in the future. ~That's what I intend to do, to help me get game design experience to get into the industry (as well as school education, of course) -and I think that has been one major motivation for coders and artists that I know as well. I have another point to add to your "Always write down what you're thinking." My point is brainstorm -An initially 'stupid' idea that can be brainstormed, can turn out to be a great concept further along on the track. Getting together with the rest of your development team (or even just some like-minded friends if you're working solo) can be a great source of fun and motivation for progress. I think your last section of the post, about backups of code, is extremely important. -You were right, I did learn my lesson the hard way, and I hope that other people can read this and learn from my mistake.