Hey All, I need to create a prototype of a 1st player 3D distributed gaming application for my final year uni project which all the gaming information (virtual objects, events, flags) are stored into a centralised database on a server in a server/local client and remote client architecture (sorta p2p). If a player interacts with one the virtual objects, then i need to modify the database based on the type of interaction that happens and what effect the interaction has by accessing the database and making changes determined by some physics engine. eg position, velocity, damage, shape. My question is basically does anyone know where i could start? perhaps mention a gaming engine which has a physics engine, decent rendering module, handles networking side such that i'm only concerned with the packet type that need to be encapsulated, inputs and output peripherals, supports an interface to a database. Will Direct X handle that. I'm going to do this on a c/c++ language under a windows platform. Hope that makes sense reading. Regards, Victor.

One central database for all game state? Can you spell B-O-T-T-L-E-N-E-C-K ? Knew you could :-)

The FAQ actually almost addresses this question, but I probably need to update it a little bit.


Commercial purveyors of MMO engines may include:

bigworld.com
butterfly.net
forterrainc.com
grexengine.com
openskies.net
zona.com

Low-cost or free alternatives include:

nevrax.org
planeshift.it

If you don't need the "M" or "RPG" parts, then any networked game engine will probably do for a prototype. Some commercial available include Unreal, Doom III, Far Cry and LithTech on the expensive side, and Torque on the cheap side.

Of course, if you buy every module there is, Renderware will make a just fine game engine, too.


Honestly, it sounds like, with your requirements, you should go with either Torque, or planeshift.it (although I work for one of the more expensive solution providers :-) www.garagegames.net
You may also want to team up with someone who knows how to create art. A world without good art isn't really all that fun to be in or work with.

Take a look at Torque - there is a resource somewhere for coding an interface to a database. That would solve all your problems I think.