Sorry for the lack of replies. I just got the email for a post here.

Right now we have a Sourceforge page, but not an actual webpage to speak of.

What I was thinking was using multiple languages, using one for whatever its best at, and using C/C++ for the core of the system.

Popular or not, I'd rather use something that can do the job well, even if it means having to do physics in Fortan and graphics with Java.

We're not looking for compatability with Windows/MacOS, so we've got alot to work with.

not that you shouldnt make a windows/mac version but i just want to get this out there:

how come windows programers hardly ever release linux versions of thier games but whenever we make a linux game we release a windows version.

anyway you could make it so that windows users have to pay for a physical disk and monthly subscription (if there is such) and linux users be able to download it free from hte repos and only pay subscription so linux users save the cost of the actual install disk.

We'd prefer something totally free as in beer. We may work for Cygwin compatability.

We're not going to try for Windows/Mac compatability without an emulator (which I've got a feeling would make it close to unplayable).

I would agree with that fully. The sheer size of what you have described is unmanagable for two. HOWEVER, I think that a lot what you have described sounds very promising if it gets done. My advice would be to make the whole thing as modular as possible. Figure out the bare minimum that needs to be in the core game engine and relagate everything else to a seperate component. And when I say minimum, I mean MINIMUM. It might take a little longer at first to get something that actually does anything, and it will require more thought, but this way, after months of development, you end up with a solid base that others can easily contribute to. It should also help prevent the game getting to a very early version and being abandoned as it just seem like far too much messy work!

Good Luck!

We know it will take alot, thats why we've asked for help with this.

I agree with the whole modular thing: I was thinking we could design it so that if, say, the whole graphics were to die for some odd reason, you'd pretty much be left with a chat app until the engine was restarted (that minimal enough? lol).

Right now we need help. That much is obvious. We get a few more people into this who know more about certaint aspects of this sort of thing then we do, we'll be in good shape.

I'd be interested in finding out some more about your project and how you plan to progress. with a view to possibly helping with some things. I've emailed you.

I read it.

What we're trying to do is basically make a virtual world. Some of the ideas are a bit iffy atm (discussions have pretty much covered the future world currently), but what I'm hoping to see is something that you can jump into, and either relax, play a game of pool, or go out and fight out part of a massive war. Like was said, we're trying something along the lines of a compilation of every gametype out there kind of, starting off with (hopefully) a decent world to interact with, and a good FPS.

How we plan on it is well, iffy as well. We'd like more options on what options we have, and also find someone who not only KNOWS that option, but we also want someone who can use it to full effect.

ah so the attributes and stuff will not only be marksmenship and that stuff but also social skills and maybe even points for attractiveness or frightening looking.

why dont you work on them one world at a time? i dont know how you can mix fps with mmorg really.

Planetside does it fairly well, but their servers are so laggy and the system is very old.

Mixing isnt really an issue. Most of the issues covered will be handled via the physics engine. Making a game of pool would be easy as little scripting would be needed for the balls, just a little tweaking and the general game scripting to handle when the balls enter the "hole" and to start/stop/reset the game.

We dont need criticism, we have plenty of that :D

One thing we really want is a good, central physics engine. With that, pretty much everything else will fall into place.

Skills/Attributes (take your pick on name) many end up as a very long list, but that is going to depend on how everything gets set up. Hopefully we can keep it to a rather small selection to keep it fairly simple (but maintain the power of a large selection)

Keep us updated. It would really help if you guys could put a site, or at least a forum together for this. This game sounds like it could be alot of fun, but I agree with everyone else, I do not see this going anywhere. And you claim this is will be free, donations will get you somewhere, but they're not gonna pay for much, I doubt it'll even cover the servers, not to mention the work you guys put into this.

We have a site on SourceForge(under the unix name genadu), right now we are laying down the final fundamentals and getting the basic design together. I am trying to avoid the "oh crap we should have done this". And have laid down the basic framework that we will use (hopefully we will see how well these aspects handle early on to avoid complete rewrites)

Right now I am finishing up my self-studies on Cg (essentially identical to microsofts HLSL, but it supports opengl and runs on just about any platform). And will begin writing the initial engine before the end of this year.

Hate to be a party pooper, but there is no way you'll ever get even 1/3 of what you are dreaming about done.
Take a look at Wesnoth. A relatively simple and streamline game that's been in development for years by a large group of core people.
You aren't exactly gonna crack out Second Life + Counter Strike + Warcraft 3 + etc. I bet you'll lose interest before the engine is even done.

We dont need you to tell us it is impossible, stop trolling and go get a life. Discouragement does absolutely nothing to help.

Ok, apparently I need to restate something I said elsewhere:

If you do not have any helpful advice, and offer only negative comments, to be very blunt:

Shut up.

If you don't like it, then you have no need to post here. Anything else will just be trolling.

Got it?