Good read, by the way.

quote: Another example is that dropping an anvil on a Cog''s head is more likely to hit when the Cog is stunned from being hit by a pie in that same round

In other news, the Monty Python ''Foot of God'' has been outlawed and classified as a weapon of mass destruction. :D

Although it doesn''t say what Python was actually replacing? Would be interesting to know more details as to why it wasn''t sufficiant and what in particular was good about Python as a substitute.

Its quite unique in the MMO* world in that it has a totally different set of priorities. They don''t aim to have huge quests, continuous storylines or epic battles like so many aim for, and in doing so seem to have created something that looks a lot more complete and stable. It seems to be much more geared towards creating a community and teamwork as well, unlike so many other current MMO* games.

It seems that the MMO* is the best case for scripting languages to be used: players are increasingly demanding more content and an evolving world, and a good scripting system can make that much more efficiant and reliable.

[S-Type] [V-Script]

quote: Original post by OrangyTang
Although it doesn''t say what Python was actually replacing? Would be interesting to know more details as to why it wasn''t sufficiant and what in particular was good about Python as a substitute.

It''s really not much good as postmortems go. It''s more of an advertisement for the product with minimal technical implementation outlines (as opposed to details) thrown in here and there.

quote: Its quite unique in the MMO* world in that it has a totally different set of priorities. They don''t aim to have huge quests, continuous storylines or epic battles like so many aim for, and in doing so seem to have created something that looks a lot more complete and stable. It seems to be much more geared towards creating a community and teamwork as well, unlike so many other current MMO* games.

I think that is actually quite important. It simplifies the tasks of both development and management, though it remains to be seen how it translates into longevity. Perhaps would-be MMOG developers need to give more thought to community-oriented structure?

quote: It seems that the MMO* is the best case for scripting languages to be used: players are increasingly demanding more content and an evolving world, and a good scripting system can make that much more efficiant and reliable.

While true of MMOGs, I think that the nature of today''s market and audience is such that virtually every game needs to be extensible, modifiable and able to supply additional content easily. A scripting approach makes it easier to build sequels off of a given codebase, among other things...

quote: While true of MMOGs, I think that the nature of today''s market and audience is such that virtually every game needs to be extensible, modifiable and able to supply additional content easily. A scripting approach makes it easier to build sequels off of a given codebase, among other things...

People have agreeing with this for years. It would be a great benefit to the programming community at large to get away from the common misconception that everything needs to be done in C or C++ so it can be as quick as possible.

I know and you know, but we need to let John Q. Manager and Walter P. Newb know.

quote: I think that is actually quite important. It simplifies the tasks of both development and management, though it remains to be seen how it translates into longevity. Perhaps would-be MMOG developers need to give more thought to community-oriented structure?

Subspace is still going, even after the dissolution of the original company. (I don''t think anyone actually supports it or officially hosts it anymore)

quote: Original post by flangazor
It would be a great benefit to the programming community at large to get away from the common misconception that everything needs to be done in C or C++ so it can be as quick as possible.

I''m trying to do something about it. I''m working on a bunch of small- to medium-sized games in Python (using PyGame, PyOpenGL and perhaps Nebula at a later stage) that I intend to release to the public domain, partial source included (incentive to learn), as examples of what can be done quickly and effectively. If I can indoctrinate a new generation of newbies, that''d be great.

quote: I know and you know, but we need to let John Q. Manager and Walter P. Newb know.

Managers are taking note, from what I gather in Game Developer Magazine/GamaSutra postmortems. I''m seeing Python (and Lua) crop up in more and more games, driven by the customizability that we mentioned above.

quote: Subspace is still going, even after the dissolution of the original company. (I don''t think anyone actually supports it or officially hosts it anymore)

You know, I''d never heard of Subspace before. That is really cool! I''ll have to find some information on its structure and forms of user customization beyond swappable images later. Thanks.