Programming an MMORPG in C# with XNA gets a Co-Author!

by Jeromy Walsh 8. June 2009 15:27

I'm pleased to announce that the well-known and well-respected developer Jim Perry (aka Machaira) will be joining me in authoring the book and implementing the engine for Level-Grind Online.

For those unfamiliar with Jim he spent 3 years as a programmer in the game industry from 1999 to 2002. Now he primarily writes .NET business applications by day and dedicates himself to the XNA and game development community at large by night.  Among Jim's most well known achievements and involvements are:

  • Microsoft XNA/DirectX MVP
  • IGDA XNA/DirectX Forum Moderator
  • GameDev.net Moderator
  • Author of "Role Playing Game Programming using XNA Game Studio 3.0"
  • Author of "Essential XNA 2.0 Game Programming"

Having Jim work on this book and engine with me is a great honor.  Thanks Jim, let's make it a good one!

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Status Update

by Jeromy Walsh 18. May 2009 07:27

I wanted to write real quick and reassure people that development is continuing on the Tools & Engine, and that I'm still soliciting concept art, 3D models, sound effects, and music to be used in the book.

I'm currently in the process of relocating to Washington, in addition to finishing up my first XNA 3.1 book.  As a result, updates will be a bit slow for the next month, but after June 30th (my relocation date) there will be a website overhaul including several new features, and an increasing number of screenshots and downloads made available. Among the changes to the website will be a new theme & layout, a Media Gallery so people can see concept art, renders, and in-game screenshots, a media player, so people can listen to the various background music and audio tracks, and several web-based and downloadable tools, including:

  • NPC Generator
  • Item Generator
  • Quest Generator
  • Dungeon Builder

And speaking of music. Our primary composer for the project, Caglar Sahin, has put together a massive number of songs for the game and I wanted to give those of you who don't follow the forums a chance to listen in.  The following is the opening track played on the title screen.  Cheers!

Level-Grind Online Title Song

A New Logo

by Jeromy Walsh 19. April 2009 17:43

For those that haven't seen, Rene has provided artwork for a new logo.  I've requested he provide artwork for the entire website, so expect to see a new layout and some snazzy new graphics in the coming weeks.  Here's his logo design:

 

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First Look at a 3D Render of the Continent

by Jeromy Walsh 18. April 2009 10:20

Up until this point we've just shown a few 2D world maps of Level-Grind Online, but thanks to community members we've now got our first 3D render of the terrain! Feel free to provide your input!

For the purpose of understanding scale, Level-Grind Online is roughly 1/2 the size of Northrend from World of Warcraft. To run from the western most edge of the map to the eastern most edge of the map would take just under 15 minutes of wall-clock time.

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Required Concept Art & 3D Models

by Jeromy Walsh 15. April 2009 17:13

Due to popular request and getting a brief moment to do so, I've added the first-draft list of required world objects which we need concept art and 3D models for.  If you're either a concept artist or modeler looking to contribute to the book "Programming an MMORPG in C# with XNA" and Level-Grind Online, the best thing to do is see the below list and get started.

Once you've got artwork completed, create a new thread for it in the appropriate forums and attach it.

See the List of Required Artwork

Still Need Concept Artist and 3D Modelers

by Jeromy Walsh 9. April 2009 23:10

It's been a week or so since I posted. I've been extremely busy finishing up my other book but I wanted to take a moment and let everyone know we still need concept artists and 3D modelers... LOTS of them.

We're going to have character & creature models, in addition to armor, weapons, and a gazillion world objects which need to be modeled and textured. So if you've got the skills, get in contact with us.

In the mean time, here's the latest world map along with some concept art of the character classes, creatures, NPC's, and locations in the world, followed by some renders of some swords. Cheers!
 

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The Worst Quest Ever....

by Jeromy Walsh 28. March 2009 08:43

After yesterday's post about needing 70 quests for LGO, the community members and I were discussing storylines and possible themes we could use to make writing quests more entertaining for the general population.  The theme we've decided upon is "The Worst Quest Ever..."

Basically, all the quests in LGO will be pulled from the list of the worst things we can imagine doing, and then divided up between the "good side" and "bad side", with the good side having quests that take advantage of them, while the bad side has quests that take advantage of other NPC's.

Some example quests include:

* "My dog and I took a walk and I forgot my plastic bag at home, can you go around town and scoop up the poo?"

* "I've lost my chicken and would like you to find him.  He was last seen trying to cross the road back into town."

* "Last night at dinner I somehow left my purse on the table and I'm afraid it was thrown out with the trash...can you go dig through the trash behind the pub and find my purse."

* "Every day those geeks come into the school yard and think they're so much better than everyone else.  Go beat up X geeks and take their lunch money as proof." 

Or the quest chain...

* "I've gotten pregnant and don't know how to tell my boyfriend he's not the father.  Can you do it for me?"

followed by:

"Oh really...go kill the father..."

Which ends in:

"Sorry dear, your boyfriend left you."

As stated yesterday, you can find the Quest Posting Format here.  Make sure to use that format when submitting quests to the Quest Forum. Ok, let's see what you can come up with!

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Ready, Set, Quest!

by Jeromy Walsh 27. March 2009 13:01

With the separation of LGO and Chronicles of the Five Kingdoms I've re-organized the forums and made it easier for people to see what types of assets I'm looking for, for Programming an MMORPG in C#, and where to put them.

As usual I'm still looking for any Concept Art people may wish to submit for classes, weapons, armor, environment objects, city overviews, etc...  While I may or may not end up using your artwork, the website's getting hit by a couple hundred people a day right now so it's still a good opportunity to have your artwork put before others.

I'm also going to be looking for 3D modelers soon.  As our collection of concept art grows more rapidly we'll need 3D environment modelers and Character modelers to turn the concept art into reality.  

Finally, I've created a special place for people to post quest ideas on the forums.  I know Meg and Aaron are currently in the process of coming up with a stub story for LGO, but even without that, quest ideas are welcome - just make them general enough they could fit in any world.  I've created a full description of the format required for quest submissions Here.  If you have a quest idea, make sure to follow the format used in the previous thread and then create a post Here.

Per the table posted in the Game Mechanics thread there will be a total of 70 quests for Level-Grind Online, divided up between 4 classes and 4 zones (1 for each faction, and 2 'contested'). The quests break down as follows:

29 Regional Quests Per Faction (x2 = 58)
3 Class Quests Per Class (x4 = 12)

If you need help coming up with ideas for your quests, Cameron posted a nice thread with different quest types Here, which you can use for inspiration. 

Regional Quests
Each faction will have a starter zone which has monsters and quests in the range of levels from 1-6, and then a secondary zone which has monsters and quests in the range of levels from 6 through 10. The two secondary zones are adjacent, requiring a person from one faction to cross both contested or "neutral" zones, depending on server settings, in order to get into the opposing faction's land.

Per the chart in the Game Mechanics table the quests will be broken down as follows for each of the two factions:
Level 1 Quests (Zone 1): 1
Level 2 Quests (Zone 1): 2
Level 3 Quests (Zone 1): 2
Level 4 Quests ( Zone 1): 3
Level 5 Quests ( Zone 1): 3
Level 6 Quests ( Zones 1 and/or 2): 4
Level 7 Quests ( Zone 2): 4
Level 8 Quests ( Zone 2): 5
Level 9 Quests ( Zone 2): 5

Quests may be solitary or chained together with other quests. These can be other quests you provide, or continuations of a quest that someone else has already posted. All quests should be posted in the format listed in the above thread.

Class Quests
Each class will have three class quests, available at levels 3, 6, and 9. All three of the quests are obtained in one of the two contested zones but requires travel into the other. Which zone the quests starts in is unimportant but can be dictated by the nature of the quest or geography. Each class quest should somehow emphasize the skills of the class. All quests should be posted in the format listed in the above thread.

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New Rogue Concept Art

by Jeromy Walsh 23. March 2009 12:19

After re-focusing our efforts to allow easier customization for Programming an MMORPG in C# with XNA we decided to ditch our previously defined classes, or rather, re-use them in Chronicles of the Five Kingdoms, and so we needed to come up with new ones instead.  We decided to go with the standard four archetypes of Warrior, Wizard, Cleric, and Rogue.

Below is Tang's concept of the LGO Rogue.  Feel free to join the forums and post your feedback Here.

 

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