04-01-2008, 12:42 PM
So you want to start a MMOCC eh? Well slow down there little buddy, do you know what it takes to get to this? Oh you do, well in that case I suppose you can just skip this article and go out dandy and make the best online game we have ever seen (sarcasm)! Now don't hit that “New Topic” button yet, you have to take some steps before you get there silly. This guide will help you on the road to starting your dream game (or help you decide your talents are better spent else where).
I. Preliminary Questions:
These questions are mandatory to answer before you even start thinking about anything! Just write them down and stash them for a few minutes the “why” will be explained in a little bit.
1.How much money do you have to set aside for your project? Place yourself in one of these brackets (None, $0-19), (A little, $20-99), (A Decent Amount, $100-999), (MUCHO, $1000+)
2.What skill sets do you possess that you can put forward to this project?
3.How dedicated are you to your projects in general?
4.Why do you want to do this? What is your motivation?
5.How much business experience do you have?
6.Is your age and maturity adequate when entering this field?
II. So Why Did I Just Answer Those?:
Those questions you just answered are about to decide almost every aspect of your game. Even if you think it won't soon it will come to light as to why.
1.Some wise man, probably from a large corporation, once said, “It takes money to make money”. You answered that question to decide how hard this will be for you. If you said you have no money you will not survive as of yet, I would advise you to go back and earn a wee bit more before even attempting. If you answered a little it is still quite possible to survive! Your game will need to be much smaller and you will have to do almost everything yourself (unless you keep reading and figure out the other options *wink*). Basically all you will need to pay for is the domain and find a decent free hosting service. If you selected the middle bracket you are in pretty good place. You have enough money to buy art or hire personnel and enough to get some decent hosting, you are in a pretty good place at this spot. If you actually have the riches of $1000+ well hats off to you and may you hire people to do everything for you.
2.Most of you are probably in the lowest financial set and thus will need to do most of the jobs by yourself for the time being. You will need to assess your skill sets. Can you code or can you pixel? Being head manager of a project as small as yours is probably not a good idea unless you have a lot of money to blow on it. If you don't possess a large skill set you will need to learn some skills. Think about which you are more likely to learn easiest and go with it.
3.If you are not dedicated to anything get out now. That is all.
4.Your motivation should be the business side, not as some “fun” after school activity. This is a business. You can have laughs along the way, but it shouldn't be the laughs that define the project.
5.Business experience helps in any project similar to this. The more business experience you have the better off you will be from the start. If you have none it may help to take a weekend and just read a bit about starting a small business and get the basic point behind profits and such.
6.Maturity is a lot in this business. If you present yourself poorly you will be treated poorly.
III. Research:
I don't care how much you think you know about this industry, if you are just getting into it as a designer you need to do some research. Look not only at MMOCCs, but games in general. What makes certain games more appealing then others? Look at the big MMOCCs and write pros and cons. What makes these games attractive? What is the average monthly profit? What is the cost of upkeep? These are the sort of questions you need to ask yourself. Form an organized word document with these questions and their answers. It is ok to ask people questions!
IV.Creating Your Business Plan:
I don't care who the hell you think you are, if you don't have a business plan you don't have a game. You can post all you want show everything you want, but until we see your future plans your game is just a bunch of gibberish in a pile of crap. Start this after you do your research it will help you a lot. Be sure to include as much detail as you can and similar questions. To get a basic idea of what you are looking for I have formed a small template for you (you may use it if you wish). Always spell check, grammar check and do any other sort of checks you need to.
Name of the Game:
Website:
Target Audience:
Why do you think you will succeed?:
How will you make your profits?:
What makes your game unique:
List of features (5-15 is good):
Planned Release Date:
V. Pre-post Preparation:
You have a lot to do before you first post. Be sure you hire some staff or began working on a client and graphics before you post. You will need prepared screenshots of the graphics and the client in action (graphics and necessary, but the client is optional for first post). Seek out staff through private means, don't make it public yet. Make sure your business plan is finalized. Complete any other things you see as necessary. This process could take several months and I am barely touching on it.
VI. The Post
The day you have been waiting for is finally here! You get to finally tell the whole community about your project and shock them all! Be sure to include the screenshots and your business plan you have worked hard on. Take any criticism they give you and alter your work to fix the problems. Take all advice professionally.
VII. The Development Plan:
This may be the longest plan you will ever write in your entire life. My plan for Time Towns is approaching 60+ pages and I am not even close to done. In this plan you must include every last little detail of your game so that you can easily refer to it to help the developers and the team. Include every last furniture item. All NPCs, all player actions, all interfaces, all public rooms. Include descriptions placement of items, and other important information. Include an ideas that cannot be used now, but maybe used later at the end of this document. Distributed it amongst the team so they all know what needs to get done. I personally like to add images, it helps developers to know what is what when coding.
Resources for future development:
Owning an MMOCC! By Dayjob
Tips to Hiring Staff for a MMOCC by Greckel
Choosing a Name for Your Game by Greckel
MMOCCF Graphic Tutorials
MMOCCF Coding Tutorials
Words of Wisdom by Adam
Let's Start From the Top... by John
I. Preliminary Questions:
These questions are mandatory to answer before you even start thinking about anything! Just write them down and stash them for a few minutes the “why” will be explained in a little bit.
1.How much money do you have to set aside for your project? Place yourself in one of these brackets (None, $0-19), (A little, $20-99), (A Decent Amount, $100-999), (MUCHO, $1000+)
2.What skill sets do you possess that you can put forward to this project?
3.How dedicated are you to your projects in general?
4.Why do you want to do this? What is your motivation?
5.How much business experience do you have?
6.Is your age and maturity adequate when entering this field?
II. So Why Did I Just Answer Those?:
Those questions you just answered are about to decide almost every aspect of your game. Even if you think it won't soon it will come to light as to why.
1.Some wise man, probably from a large corporation, once said, “It takes money to make money”. You answered that question to decide how hard this will be for you. If you said you have no money you will not survive as of yet, I would advise you to go back and earn a wee bit more before even attempting. If you answered a little it is still quite possible to survive! Your game will need to be much smaller and you will have to do almost everything yourself (unless you keep reading and figure out the other options *wink*). Basically all you will need to pay for is the domain and find a decent free hosting service. If you selected the middle bracket you are in pretty good place. You have enough money to buy art or hire personnel and enough to get some decent hosting, you are in a pretty good place at this spot. If you actually have the riches of $1000+ well hats off to you and may you hire people to do everything for you.
2.Most of you are probably in the lowest financial set and thus will need to do most of the jobs by yourself for the time being. You will need to assess your skill sets. Can you code or can you pixel? Being head manager of a project as small as yours is probably not a good idea unless you have a lot of money to blow on it. If you don't possess a large skill set you will need to learn some skills. Think about which you are more likely to learn easiest and go with it.
3.If you are not dedicated to anything get out now. That is all.
4.Your motivation should be the business side, not as some “fun” after school activity. This is a business. You can have laughs along the way, but it shouldn't be the laughs that define the project.
5.Business experience helps in any project similar to this. The more business experience you have the better off you will be from the start. If you have none it may help to take a weekend and just read a bit about starting a small business and get the basic point behind profits and such.
6.Maturity is a lot in this business. If you present yourself poorly you will be treated poorly.
III. Research:
I don't care how much you think you know about this industry, if you are just getting into it as a designer you need to do some research. Look not only at MMOCCs, but games in general. What makes certain games more appealing then others? Look at the big MMOCCs and write pros and cons. What makes these games attractive? What is the average monthly profit? What is the cost of upkeep? These are the sort of questions you need to ask yourself. Form an organized word document with these questions and their answers. It is ok to ask people questions!
IV.Creating Your Business Plan:
I don't care who the hell you think you are, if you don't have a business plan you don't have a game. You can post all you want show everything you want, but until we see your future plans your game is just a bunch of gibberish in a pile of crap. Start this after you do your research it will help you a lot. Be sure to include as much detail as you can and similar questions. To get a basic idea of what you are looking for I have formed a small template for you (you may use it if you wish). Always spell check, grammar check and do any other sort of checks you need to.
Name of the Game:
Website:
Target Audience:
Why do you think you will succeed?:
How will you make your profits?:
What makes your game unique:
List of features (5-15 is good):
Planned Release Date:
V. Pre-post Preparation:
You have a lot to do before you first post. Be sure you hire some staff or began working on a client and graphics before you post. You will need prepared screenshots of the graphics and the client in action (graphics and necessary, but the client is optional for first post). Seek out staff through private means, don't make it public yet. Make sure your business plan is finalized. Complete any other things you see as necessary. This process could take several months and I am barely touching on it.
VI. The Post
The day you have been waiting for is finally here! You get to finally tell the whole community about your project and shock them all! Be sure to include the screenshots and your business plan you have worked hard on. Take any criticism they give you and alter your work to fix the problems. Take all advice professionally.
VII. The Development Plan:
This may be the longest plan you will ever write in your entire life. My plan for Time Towns is approaching 60+ pages and I am not even close to done. In this plan you must include every last little detail of your game so that you can easily refer to it to help the developers and the team. Include every last furniture item. All NPCs, all player actions, all interfaces, all public rooms. Include descriptions placement of items, and other important information. Include an ideas that cannot be used now, but maybe used later at the end of this document. Distributed it amongst the team so they all know what needs to get done. I personally like to add images, it helps developers to know what is what when coding.
Resources for future development:
Owning an MMOCC! By Dayjob
Tips to Hiring Staff for a MMOCC by Greckel
Choosing a Name for Your Game by Greckel
MMOCCF Graphic Tutorials
MMOCCF Coding Tutorials
Words of Wisdom by Adam
Let's Start From the Top... by John