Open Source / Semi Open source game idea. Help needed

So here I am with a great idea for an online MMORPG with no company to implement it. I was a bit put off at first, but I soon realized that with a bit of ingenuity I may be able to pull this off.

Here's the idea: The game will be developed under almost a stock share system except you don't buy the shares, you code for them. Depending on the difficulty of the task including the amount of lines coded, the difficulty of the task, the level of knowledge needed, the hours taken etc. an amount of shares are given. Upon completion of the game I would like to see it implemented in a similar fashion to the game Silkroad Online which is free (or cheap) to download and play, but there are certain items in the game which are only available in an online store which make the game easier/faster/more fun/etc. however, I would not be opposed to getting the game published if the offer is both decent and on the table. Regardless of what happens, the decision of what to do would be handled by a vote based on shares and any profit would be split among shareholders.

I am going to write up a design doc for the game in general, but I know I will need developers in C++, OpenGL/DirectX, SQL along with 3D modelers. If anyone is interested in potential development shoot me an email at [email protected] and hopefully this will get off the ground. I will throw a copy of the design doc back to you as soon as it is complete which a preliminary one should be done soon. Even if we only start with just a couple people, the coder base will grow as time goes on. Keep in mind that even if this doesn't go anywhere it would be great on a resume especially if you keep your code segments.

The game itself would be loosely based off of the old mechwarrior series and you are a mercenary group which is hired out for particular tasks. Levels in this game are instead the class of vehicle you are able to pilot and salvaging will help you gain weapons and mech chassis, but you have to bring along a salvage craft and maintain it along the way. I would also like to create player interaction by creating an entire trade economy along with (of course) PvP action and the ability to for parties to complete missions. I can go much deeper into the details, however I would at least like to see server/client up and running by the end of this project along with an online store where in-game goods could be purchased for what may eventually be real money. I know there is a lot of talent on these forums so right now I'm just seeing who is interested in potentially helping with development. I can give you more details after I get at least a small base of people.

Do we keep the ip rights of the code we write?

Another MMORPG thread. But at least your not asking how to make one all by yourself with no programming knowledge.

Sounds cool, hope it all goes well.

I don't see why not. The intent is for the game to "belong" to all of its creators. You do allow your code to be used for what could eventually become a commercial product and the whole of that product would be owed in part by you based on the share system. You may also use your own code individually later as the rights to it would be yours. That I have absolutely no problem with. The only thing that may have to be closed source and may restrict your ip rights would be the implementation of the server end for security reasons later on. Essentially you still would be able to use that code later on, but probably not share the bare code with others.

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Originally Posted by psychopath

Another MMORPG thread. But at least your not asking how to make one all by yourself with no programming knowledge.

Sounds cool, hope it all goes well.

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Indeed. I've dabbled in GLUT and had a ton of C++ and JAVA experience along with some JDBC to access an XML library through SQL so I know at least the basics of everything that needs to be done. But I also know that a project of the magnitude I would like to undertake would require a much larger coding base than myself.

Save yourself the pain and the invested time and forget about it right away. There are probably hundreds of people that try the exact same thing as you do and have ideas that are even better than yours. I see new mmorpg projects pop up every day and I can only pity them when they fail after some time.

You obviously have NO idea how much time is required to develop an mmorpg...just look at the size and the development time of something like a Halflife2 mod and those people know what they're doing and have a fully fledged engine with the underlying network architecture to work with.

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Originally Posted by KONI

Save yourself the pain and the invested time and forget about it right away. There are probably hundreds of people that try the exact same thing as you do and have ideas that are even better than yours. I see new mmorpg projects pop up every day and I can only pity them when they fail after some time.

You obviously have NO idea how much time is required to develop an mmorpg...just look at the size and the development time of something like a Halflife2 mod and those people know what they're doing and have a fully fledged engine with the underlying network architecture to work with.

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I'm not saying that it will take off. All I'm looking for is a few people who like to code and would like to undertake a small part of a large project. I have been on large scale development projects before though and have seen how much time and effort it takes to complete a project as such. I know there are plenty of other ideas out there, but it's not going to stop me from trying.

Unless you have access to a world-wide network of data centers it's going to be very expensive to host. You could find a company to do it for you, but more than likely they'd want the rights to your game, eventually they'd bring in their own dev's and no more you.

Even if your game got to that stage (which 99.999999999% of them don't as KONI said), it wouldn't be easy. You can't whip up a good MMORPG without first having a team, which you won't find that easy. Modelers and the like want their end-less ours of work and rendering time to be put to good use, can your game really provide that?

I would suggest you stop before it's too late, and you get 2 years down the track only to find a game like that already exists and is far more popular than your own.

I don't intend to have that stop me. I do realize there will be immense obstacles to tackle in this project, but intend to come to them when the time is right depending on how the project is going.
I'm not going to worry about Worldwide network hosting until the game is at least mostly functional and modeled.
I'm not going to worry about modelers until the base classes are written and the class which will communicate with the gui is written.
Right now I'm writing up the design doc (which is getting lengthy) and getting ready to write some simple base classes. The game dynamics will be written over those to provide what is actually happening in the game, THEN the GUI over that. I think as soon as things start to come together more ppl will be willing to devote time to the project.

Sounds fun, plan on releasing the design doc? :P

Again, this sounds interesting, if you can attach the design doc I might help out if it's open-source.