Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
the monthly cost of running a game. MMOs in the commercial world cost tens
or even hundreds of thousands of dollars to run every month. There is a cost for
the amount of staff running them and the amount of servers required to allow
large numbers of players to play at the same time. Of course, if you are making a
small game these things won
t be a big consideration, but if you know what your
outgoings will be for a small start-up, such as a webhost, a server, and the
software. You can then work out what number of users (if any) you will need to
keep those services running. In a worse case scenario, if you have no users, what
would be the cost of running the system. This is essential bottom line number
that is important to know if you are making an MMO with limited resources, as
it may take you a while before you have enough content to get users playing it,
so for a while you may have no or very few users. If you cannot run the
equipment and pay for the webhost, you may be better off creating your MMO
locally on your PC and getting your friends to test it until you are in a position
to release it properly. At least making this budget estimate will allow you to
figure out how you need to proceed.
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You may want to consider how much time and effort you want to put into
making your MMO, as this will have a big impact on the financial cost as well as
the time it takes to make it. Many indie game creators underestimate the amount
of time it will take to make a game. If you are honest with yourself at the
beginning about how long the project will take, there is a better chance you will
complete it. If you think a game will take one month to make and it takes two
years, the majority of people trying to make that underestimated project are
likely to give up. Understanding what you need to do and how long it will take
are very important for both the developer
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s sanity and for completing a project.
Servers and Equipment
This fits in nicely with the scope of the project, the budget, and the overall
understanding of your user base. If you are aiming your MMO at a few family
and friends, you might be able to get away with running your game on your PC
and getting them to connect over your DSL connection. If you are looking at the
next level up, where you want tens or hundreds of people to access your game,
you might need dedicated server hardware and hosting. The great thing with
Realm Crafter is that you can start off small, locally on your PC, and move up
when you have the content in place.
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