Hi, I wanted to ask people's opinions on which of these they prefer in MMORPGS: Could you please take a minute to say which one you prefer and why? Other people's opinions always helps me in making decisions. Zones: - No zones at the price of graphics quality vs. - Zones with significantly higher graphics quality If Yes: - Small Zones (size of UT) with quick loading (speed of UT ) vs. - Medium Zones (Size of Everquest) with medium loading (speed of everquest... ) vs. - Large Zones (20 minutes from left to right, 20 minutes from top to bottom) with a fairly long loading time and somewhat a loss in terrain quality Also: -Zoning through limited entrances (straight forward but bounds you to box-shaped worlds) vs. -Zoning through lines across the land (freedom but might get confusing) Thanks alot in advance. Edited by - Cameron on September 29, 2001 9:23:06 PM

Hey there, Ive had experience playing a few types and I can tell you that out of the given choices, medium zones with medium loading (ala EQ) and zoning through lines across the land.


The reason for the first is that with the type of mmorpgs coming out, if your game doesnt have good graphics, I doubt many will play it in the first place. Even if it has incredible gameplay, you still need people to try it. Also, bad graphics and zones both contribute to a loss of immersion, since zones only occur once in a while and graphics are constantly viewed, go for better graphics and zones.

Ive found that medium zones such as in EQ work very well. It actually gives zones more personality then if they were too large or too small. Of course, zone design will have a lot to do with it.

Finally, you definately need to have zoning across zone lines. If you only want a player to zone at one spot, creat physical barriers such as steep mountains. Make it believable. One of the things about EQ that I could not stand is how I would not be able to zone at a spot which all logic would point towards me being able to do so. THAT really destroys the immersion.

Im developing a mmorpg too. Actually just the design for now, Im teaching myself programming and drawing (hoping to move on to cg after I improve). I have dissected the mmorpgs that I have played and I feel that I know what needs to be changed or added. If your planning on creating one, good luck to you and I hope you have a team hehe.

Alohaz

My advice is to try and do away with zoning. Try to develop your engine in such a way that zoning is not required, or at least is more seamless than EQ (like in UO). It''s definitely more complex to program it in this way... but your users will thank you... eventually, as technology and hardware improve, zoning will be a thing of the past, and people will fondly remember EQ''s technical naivite the way we nostalgically talk about 80''s video games.

I can understand that if its only possible to do *much* higher terrains at the expense of being "zoned" then I think it would be acceptable.

However, as u ask, what would i prefer, and i totally prefer seemless zones(no load times). Why? because
A) its annoying to wait for loading, and
B) it takes away from the experience of being inside the game.

Its time to take games to the next level, and that level should include terrain/areas which are loaded dynamically behind the scenes without your knowing...i mean the 600megs is on your harddrive for a reason, just load it in chunks that surround the player! (easier said then done, but its doable)

So i want high graphics + no loading..dont got this 1.4Ghz w/20Gigs for notepad now do i...all i need now is DSL?