#online multiplayer game development

[askagamedev]

We've been waiting for GTAVI for nine years now. Why is it taking so long? It seems very lazy and counterintuitive profit-wise.

I suspect it is because the regular content updates that Rockstar has released for GTA Online have led to them earning nearly eight billion dollars from their players over the past nine years. They've earned almost a billion dollars per year from GTA Online for the past several years.

Also, GTA games require a huge amount of content and have a much longer dev time than most other titles. The size of the team for each GTA game is absolutely massive. GTA6 has been in development for quite some time already and will be launching on the new generation hardware. That’s going to require some time to build everything out to the levels they want.

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[fogaminghub]

https://www.fogaminghub.com/post/fortnite-welcomes-rubius-and-wilson-your-guide-to-the-icon-series

🎉 Huge announcement for Fortnite lovers! Rubius is making his grand entrance into the Fortnite Icon Series with his beloved cat Wilson! 🐱💖 Are you ready to show off the new Rubius Outfit and compete in the epic Rubius Icon Cup on September 21? 

Mark your calendars for September 25, 2024, for the official launch! Check out the full details and prepare for some stylish duos action! 

[captaingimpy]

Discovering the Appeal of the Survival Craft Genre Through Valheim

For the longest time, I didn’t really understand the survival craft genre. Everything from the blocky looking Minecraft, to ARK: Survival Evolved, to Terraria—all of these and many others were games that, while I noticed my younger brother enjoying them deeply throughout his life as a gamer, the appeal was completely unapparent to me. I tried. I really did. But every time I played, one phrase…

[creatiosoftsolution]

In the fast-paced realm of online poker, players are often on the lookout for reliable and feature-rich software that enhances their gaming experience. Fortunately, several free online poker software options cater to both beginners and seasoned players. Let's delve into the key aspects of these platforms, highlighting their features and considerations.

[oengines]

OENGINES Games Development Company.

Contact us for any kind of game Development.

At : support@oengines.com

[gamixlabs]

Gamix Labs Launched Action Multiplayer Game - Gunman Battles

Gunman Battles is a newly launched multiplayer action game by the leading game development studio - Gamix Labs. Gamix Labs' team of artists and developers are done the game with their great work. You can easily download it. it's available on Play Store. Play with your friends and family but don't forget to give your rating and review.

[b0tster]

Hallu. Prospective game dev, here.

Was wondering if you could give some advice.

What game engine would you suggest for an open world-ish Multiplayer game.

Super TL;DR'd synopsis:

Asymmetric Multiplayer (1-4 vs Comp/1-2)

RPG elements with customizable characters

Large procedurally generated maps

Wide variety of "Enemy" player characters

Sort of a super sized, super cereal game of Hide-and-Seek

I'd like for it to be playable on as many systems as possible in terms of hardware requirements. If it can be comfortably played on a laptop, that'd be perfect.

Would love to hear your thoughts.

as much as it pains me to say this, my advice is 'do not make this game as your first project'

open world online multiplayer rpg game is one of the most difficult games to make, entire studios struggle to make games like this.

my advice is to start small. make a game with 1/5th of the scope here. make mistakes, fix those mistakes, learn and grow. your next game will be 2/5ths of the scope. work ur way up until you are a seasoned developer multiple games into your career. then and only then would i suggest you attempt to tackle one of the most complicated games that could be made.

i've had this conversation with a lot of people over the years, and one of the most common responses is 'well i dont care if this'll take a decade, i'll stake it out and get it released no matter how long it takes'. my response to this is that it isnt a question of time, but skill. if you try to build an entire house as your first workshop project it doesnt matter how long it takes if the foundations (the thing you build first when you are at your least skilled) are rickety and falling apart. it will fail no matter what.

i know this is probably the last thing you want to hear, and you are free to do whatever you wish with this advice, but as a person who attempted to make an entire zelda ripoff on my own as one of my first projects and only released a 1 hour long game with no free exploration after 4 long years, it is what i urge you to do

[dalishious]

A BioWare Guide on How to Murder a Fanbase

I have been a Dragon Age super-fan for almost fourteen years, now. I have played every game, with every DLC. I have read every novel, lore book, and every comic — yes, even the terrible ones that are better off forgotten. I have seen the anime film, the animated series, and the web mini-series. I have enjoyed all of these pieces of the franchise over and over, more times than I can count. So, make no mistake: the negativity you’re about to hear comes from a place of love for this fantasy world, developed by many creative people over the years. I would love nothing more than to see the resurrection of passion in the Dragon Age fandom again. But the unfortunate truth is, that resurrection is only needed because BioWare took the fandom out back and shot it in the first place.

In December 2018, three years after the release of Dragon Age: Inquisition’s Trespasser epilogue DLC, BioWare first announced the then-untitled next Dragon Age game with a teaser trailer. At this point, most fans were anticipating this would mean within the next couple years, we would see the game. This assumption was based on the fact that Dragon Age: Inquisition was first announced in 2012, and released in 2014, with an extra year of development added last minute.

There have been dribbles of extra content since then, adding to the franchise. This was enough to keep some fans still breathing and interested. 2020’s Dragon Age: Tevinter Nights was a lovely anthology. 2020’s Dragon Age: Blue Wraith and 2021’s Dark Fortress were wonderful comics tying up the story started in Knight Errant. And 2022’s Dragon Age: Absolution was a well-animated series with an interesting cast of characters and story. But all these still left the fandom with a major question: What was going on with the next game? It was untypical of BioWare to be so secretive, in comparison to how they handled sharing information of the past games in the franchise. The only form of updates fans still have to go on is mostly just concept art and short stories, hinting that something must be in production. But why was the wait so long?

In 2015, the first version of the next Dragon Age began with a clear vision, clear scope of practice, and a reportedly happy developer team. Most gloriously in my book, there was no multi-player… but this did not align with the Electronic Arts typical money-mad schemes. EA’s push for “games as a service” meant they wanted to monetize all their games as much as possible, and therefore, they wanted them to be a live service — as Anthem demonstrated, that meant sacrificing things that are staples of good RPGs, like narrative and character choice. So in 2017, version one of the next Dragon Age was scrapped and replaced. This new version would have, in total or to at least some degree, an online portion of play.

There is one part of Schreier’s article, “The Past and Present of Dragon Age 4,” that really sticks out to me, regarding this:

“One person close to the game told me this week that Morrison’s critical path, or main story, would be designed for single-player and that goal of the multiplayer elements would be to keep people engaged so that they would actually stick with post-launch content.”

The idea of splitting up components of a game into single-player and multi-player is a terrible idea, because it means that there would be a large bulk of content only accessible through online gaming; something many fans, like myself, are repulsed by. Even if I did enjoy it, I spent most of my life growing up with either no internet or shoddy internet incapable of playing online games. I know many rural people who are still in that position, losing more and more of their favourite gaming pastimes because they are locked out of the ability to play them. It is a disservice to hide content behind a wall like this, especially in a world that is so lore-heavy like Dragon Age. The news of multi-player in Dragon Age understandably upset many, and this is when I first noticed a large drop off in excitement over the next game.

However, in 2021, the failure of Anthem (multi-player) and success of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (single-player) led the executives at EA to bend to the wishes of BioWare leadership and allow them to go back to the drawing board yet again on the next Dragon Age. This meant removing all multi-player content!

While I am very happy that there will reportedly be no multi-player in Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, I can’t help but feel bitter and a little disgusted over the ridiculous development time spent on something no one but EA wanted in the first place. If it weren’t for this foolishness, Dragon Age: Dreadwolf would be in our hands right now. Instead, it’s been in development hell for nearly nine years and counting. Nine years is a long time to expect fans to carry a torch for you through radio silence, but it’s no wonder BioWare has shared barely anything about the next game; it’s been in flux for so long, they likely haven’t had anything concrete to show.

BioWare hurt its reputation even more when the news broke that the studio very suddenly laid off 50 people who were working on Dragon Age: Dreadwolf. This is pretty damning on its own, but BioWare took it a step further. Former developer Jon Renish shared a statement revealing that the studio was only willing to offer laid-off employees two weeks of severance per year of service, and denied health benefits. The denial of health benefits in particular is a pretty wild move for a studio with a reputation for “stress casualties”. The latest news on this is that BioWare has still so far refused to negotiate better severance packages, leading to a lawsuit. The lawsuit originally had 15 former employees, but this dropped due to the fear of not being able to afford to pay their bills. So now, while EA sits on $400 million net income, the laid-off employees are struggling to buy holiday presents for their children. These horrid business practices are not to be ignored when accounting for a lack of faith in a studio. What kind of monsters reward workers who make your games special with vaguely reasoned lay-offs?

The latest news on the Dragon Age: Dreadwolf front from BioWare came early this month, December 2023, with a trailer… announcing a trailer that will come next summer… that will announce the release of the game. Supposedly. Maybe. We’ll see. But by this time, BioWare is something of a laughing stock of their own fandom. Reactions to the video released with a pretty map graphic and a few rendered locations were, from what I personally observed, mostly sardonic in nature. People have commented on the vapourware nature of the game, and like all vapourware, that leads to disintegrating trust.

Despite all this, people like Mary Kirby, (one of the veteran Dragon Age writers who was a victim of the layoffs,) said, “it’s bittersweet that Dreadwolf is my last DA game, but I still hope you all love it as much as I do,” encouraging fans to still support the game when it eventually is released. But after every misstep BioWare has taken, that’s a tough sell now. Fans are finicky, RPG fans more so than others, one could argue. We have our favourites, and many of us stick to those favourites for life over our appreciation for the artistry — but that relationship between studio and fan should go both ways. EA and BioWare has betrayed that relationship, and it will take a hell of a lot to build it back up again, now.

[This piece is also available on Medium!]

[felassan]

Article: 'EA’s BioWare will lay off 50 and cut ties with unionized Keywords playtesting group'

[BioWare Blog post for reference]

Excerpts:

"The layoffs are a blow to morale at the studio and have made the environment difficult, said Gary Mckay, general manager of the developer, in a statement to employees today. He said EA is trying to make BioWare into a more agile and more focused studio. EA has an estimated 12,000 to 13,000 employees, and BioWare had perhaps 250 people. The moves come with a couple of related or perhaps coincidental events. A spokesperson for EA said that the company was unable to come to an agreement with a part of Keywords, a big game services firm, that provides playtesting services. In June 2022, this small part of Keywords had a group of contractors who voted to unionize. EA said it was unable to create a new contract and so will let that current one expire on September 27. It’s not clear what will happen to the contractors without the EA contract, but it’s fair to guess that some jobs will likely be lost over at Keywords unless they find other work. An industry source said EA has renewed work orders with Keywords Studios since their employees voted to unionize in June 2022. But the source added that, in this instance, the two companies simply couldn’t agree to terms. The Keywords contract requirements exceeded what EA/BioWare needed given the change in development approach at the studio.  The layoff also comes about three months after EA moved production of its massively multiplayer online game, Star Wars: The Old Republic, to a third-party publisher, Broadsword, in Reston, Virginia. The game debuted way back in 2011 and has entered maintenance mode. Broadsword has also taken over games like Ultima Online and Dark Age of Camelot so players can keep playing them. McKay’s leadership will not be affected. Michael Gamble, who recently returned to BioWare, serves as head of the Mass Effect team, and pre-production continues on the next Mass Effect game. Corinne Busche and John Epler, two leaders on Dragon Age, also continue in their roles. Andrew Wilson, CEO of EA, announced back in March that the company would cut about 6% of its total workforce, and these cutbacks are related to that move. EA has not said when Dragon Age: Dreadwolf will ship."

[source and full article]

[fogaminghub]

https://www.fogaminghub.com/post/experience-legendary-arcade-moments-in-marvel-vs-capcom-fighting-collection

🌟 Ready to step into the arcade classic realm? The MARVEL vs CAPCOM Fighting Collection is here to take you on an epic journey! 🎮💥 

With seven legendary games like X-MEN vs. STREET FIGHTER and THE PUNISHER, it’s a perfect mix of nostalgia and modern features. 

Whether you’re casual gaming with friends or climbing the ranked ladder, this collection is a must-try! Check out our latest blog post for all the details!

[sparklecarehospital]

I'm absolutely out of the loop what IS SFP2

A while back, I made a joke drawing of Marco seeing Sly play a game called "Sexy Ferrie Paradise 2" based off of a joke I did last year where I changed my art program's name on discord game activity to make it say "Sexy Furry Paradise 2" and I waited for people to notice. Since then, I've developed a little bit of lore surrounding the game and its presence and it's kinda a recurring inside joke. I made a joke drawing of Brigh playing it

Apparently it's an multiplayer online game where you make fersona avatar characters and play with friends- it's completely innocent but it has a weird name that's kind of a joke to catch people's attention and get people curious about it. There's literally nothing weird in the game! I imagine the game as something like taking place on an island with different places you can hang out and chat like beaches or towns or a forest etc. I'm not really sure if it has any "story" or anything but I imagine people use it for rp a lot. But once again, despite the word Sexy in the name it's completely SFW and harmless and it's just meant to be funny

...which is what makes that last comic I drew so funny. Mods.

[devsgames]

On Scoping And Idea Management for Games

I started my teaching gig (which is incredibly chaotic but I'm very much enjoying it despite that) and I noticed a really consistent theme with some student project pitches around the idea of planning and scoping projects. Some advice that I gave them that I think is worth repeating and reinforcing here:

You are not a AAA studio. Do not plan to make games like a AAA studio.

If your concept, premise, pitch or idea of a game that you actually want to finish contains elements, mechanics or concepts that is predominantly executed by AAA studios, please for the love of god don't expect to be able to execute them without brutally interrogating them first.

Things like: Soulslike game balance, 'open world', heavily systemic design, online multiplayer, complex mechanics, etc. You know, things you largely only see AAA studios (or very experienced dev teams) complete with any semblance of success. There's a reason many of these are only executed by large teams.

This isn't to say it's impossible to execute on these ideas or that it's not worthwhile experimenting with it a little, but if you're going into it with little previous development experience and expect to come out the other end with a 'finished' thing, you're overscoping and setting yourself up for failure.

Ever notice how AAA studios even struggle to execute complex concepts like that? It's not (always) because of mismanagement, but also because it's often overscoped for them too and they are incredibly hard to execute. AAA studios often work on concepts and premises which require a lot of resources to do so effectively. Indie studios don't often make these kinds of games for the same reasons, because conceptually it will easily explode your scope out of the water. Some try, and you can often feel how stretched thin they were.

The point is, you (assuming as a reader that you're an individual with no 'fully' shipped titles) are equivalent to...basically 1/2 a person at an average indie startup. If you have a team, then you're basically the size and scale of a small indie team. Realistically, in all likelihood, you do not have the knowledge, experience or time to do it anywhere nearly as well as a full-time studio production.

And I get why people fall into this trap!

We draw inspiration from what we see most and what we like, and don't often challenge our assumptions about them - it's why we see something like a Batman Arkham Asylum combat system or Photorealistic graphics and say "yeah I could do that easy" without realizing it's actually really really hard to do in the first place, let alone really get right. Studios are notoriously secretive about process, and the reality is there's months and months of unseen work behind pretty much everything.

We also tend to use blanket terms we're familiar with to define our works, as opposed to more fitting terms. For example, some people might call something like Journey an "open world" game, despite the fact it's not strictly an "open world" but rather a linear one with a non-linear presentation.

As a solo developer I too constantly make this mistake of over-scoping or underestimating just how hard it can be to execute on certain concepts or ideas.

Avoiding It

So how do you get around accidentally writing cheques only well-equipped studios can cash? You need to interrogate your ideas a lot more.

Okay, now ask yourself: Is it mostly a premise that is done by people operating at around your level of resources, or by dedicated groups with tons and tons of employees? Has anyone done your mechanic at a small, simple scale? How many studios have done it? What size were they? How many resources do they have? If anyone has executed a similar idea, how many resources did they seem to have to do it? What corners did it seem like they need to cut to get there? Ask yourself how often you see concepts like yours, executed at scale like yours. Ask yourself why that might be.

A generic example to run with: "I am going to make an open world exploration game where you can climb anywhere, with tons of content and things to do".

Ask yourself some of the above questions, and also interrogate all your definitions. What do you define as "open world"? "exploration"? "tons"? "anywhere"? "Climb"? What do these words, specifically, mean to you? Are these reasonable and realistic expectation for the amount of time you have for this project? Have you already executed on any of these before, and how many are unknown to you?

"But Devon, my idea is unique and no one has done it before! I have nothing I can compare it to!"

Nope. Sorry, just no - you're wrong. Maybe they've not done it exactly like you envision it, but I promise you that at this point in time someone has done virtually everything in games before, you've just not heard of it yet. I have yet to hear someone describe a game that didn't do anything I hadn't heard of before to some degree or another. Ask some friends for references and take more time to do research - you'll find parallels if you dig enough.

Execution

If by now you've realized you might be in over your head, you might still be able to do it if you plan very smartly around it and accept scoping down.

I could talk forever about how to break down your scope into something that is more manageable (and probably will in the future), but I'll keep it focused on this idea of interrogating definitions for now.

Running with the "open world exploration game where you can climb anywhere, with tons of content and things to do" example.

Plan to do only one of the verbs in your game really well.

"Climbing" - you could spend forever building a game just around that verb, and people have! Getting Over It With Bennet Foddy. Doodle Jump. Grow Home. People have done this, and even those games tow the line of being complex to make.

"Open world" - this one is very heavy, but make it just about walking around. Challenge the assumption that an open world isn't enough and that it needs 'content' - just make walking around the world really fun. Dear Esther, Proteus, Passage, Beginner's Guide.

"Exploration" - this verb is vague and takes many forms, and while it can easily be dangerous if it gets too big, it can still be small and engaging. A Short Hike, Umurangi Generation, Hidden Folks. You don't need mechanical complexity or depth to make something fun.

Start from that and then expand. Maybe you get to a point where your climbing is really fun and good and you don't even need to add tons of things to do, or open-world mechanics. Maybe your open world is so easy to do that climbing becomes the thing you spend your time on.

---

Essentially the point here is to not assume that because you've seen something done before it's easy to execute on, nor that you should simply run with concepts without fully understanding what you mean when you come up with them first. It's going to not only save you a lot of time and stress, but also more likely to put you in a position where you'll be able to actually finish what you started.

This is also only the tiniest portion of my thoughts on scoping here, so I'm sure I'll add more to this down the road. :)

[wanderinggrizzly]

Just saw the Dragon Age Veilguard trailer and I……..

It’s been ten years since Inquisition. Ten years of development on the game and changes in the studio and EA pushing for new game directions, lead artists and designers leaving the company. BioWare has been on thin ice for so long, so precariously balanced with their fans who are ready to abandon the entire company that keeps misinterpreting what people actually want. So then today we get this Veilguard trailer. What was that? I mean this literally, what IS this game going to be? We dropped the Dreadwolf name and swapped it for Veilguard. Changes the tone already. People are comparing the new vibes to Suicide Squad (which for dragon age lore and Wardens isn’t totally out of place, albeit a different mood), and comparing the departure from the story driven RPG to what happened with Arkane Studios and Redfall (i.e. publisher EA forcing story driven single player RPG company to make a multiplayer online live service shooter).

The trailer was dogshit. People are comparing it to Borderlands, Fortnite, mobile games, Suicide Squad. And all those comparisons are totally accurate. What is this game going to be? Ten years of development. Ten years of fans of the series waiting for this grand conclusion to an apocalyptic world(s) event. Ten years waiting to take on actual gods combatting undead twisted demons and ghouls and darkspawn.

[ynoproject]

Collective Unconscious

About a year ago, a project was born on our Discord server, with the intent of creating a collaborative game inspired by Yume Nikki and its fangames.

From there, Collective Unconscious was born: the first online-exclusive multiplayer Yume Nikki fangame!

You play as Minnatsuki, a mysterious character wandering around a vast dream-like world, full of spirits and otherworldly beings.

The game is currently unavailable as it is still in development, but it will be released on our website once the main functionalities are done!

Collective Unconscious is an open collaborative project, just like Yume 2kki, so anyone is free to contribute as long as they follow the procedure. You can join the development Discord server, which is linked in the presentation channel of our main Discord server (click here to join it)!

For more updates and information on the project, check out the bulletin-board channel in our Discord server (link on our website)! You can also follow this account for more sneak peeks in the future :)

[oddsconvert]

what other kind of things are josh not allowed to have? like what random objects would felix consider "contraband" and take away?

Josh has A LOT of rules and restrictions. This is just a little list of some of the things he's not allowed, things that are kept from him, and some other rules.

He isn't allowed razors. If Felix decides Josh's face is getting too stubbly for his liking? Felix will restrain him and shave Josh's face himself. (Yep. He's really that much of a control freak. Same with haircuts.)

None of the mirrors are glass. All it would take is for Josh to punch one out of anger and oh look, he's got a neat little shard of glass as a weapon. Big no no.

Felix has a games console (I'm thinking PlayStation). Josh is not allowed to play on it, despite how much he begs and pleads to be able play a game to relieve his boredom. It's a no, in case there's online multiplayer or communication features.

Josh isn't allowed deodorant. Felix is sure it would make a pretty good mock mace/pepper spray, but doesn't plan on testing that theory.

Quite obvious one - no belts, no strings: Felix will remove the strings from hoodies/joggers.

Josh isn't allowed any clocks/calendars down in the basement. In the house is fine, but especially later on in the story, the basement becomes a place of punishment. Felix wants Josh to be disorientated and have no concept of time down there, to be reliant on Felix. Has he been locked down there for hours or days?

Josh isn't allowed to take baths/showers alone (the showers rule changes as their 'relationship' develops). Felix must always help him. Whether that's because Felix doesn't trust Josh not to do something stupid, or because he's just a nasty piece of work who wants to take advantage of the opportunity - I'll leave that to you to decide!

I'm SURE there's so many mundane household objects that Felix has banned that aren't coming to mind right now. Felix is an utter control freak.