Me and the project

Hello Game Development Community!

My name is Nick, and I'm the creator of "Plunder: Scourge of the Sea". With a background in game development and over ten years of experience in game design and software architecture, I've been able to blend these skills to develop the framework of an engaging MMO.

For the past four years, I've been pouring my heart and soul into what I consider my dream project. I'm excited to share that we have a playable (closed) demo of the game. However, it's becoming increasingly clear that the game needs more content to truly bring it to life and fulfill the requirements of a real pirate game.

My primary focus has been on refining the game's infrastructure, which unfortunately leaves little time for delving into other essential aspects like 3D modeling and content creation. While I have a solid grasp of the technicalities involved, I must admit that my artistic capabilities and available time are limited as I juggle programming and community building efforts.

This is where I need your help. I'm reaching out to look for talented 3D artists and content creators who can bring their creativity and skills to help fill the world of "Plunder" with vibrant and immersive content. Your contributions will be crucial in shaping the visual and interactive aspects of the game, providing our players with an unforgettable experience.

How far did I get:

In an effort to compensate for the current limitations in original art creation, I have invested in purchasing graphical assets. To clarify, while some of the game's graphics are acquired assets, every line of code in the game is my own creation. To date, I've amassed around a thousand 3D assets that are loosely related to the pirate theme. I've modified many of these assets to better fit our gameplay, but there's only so much that can be achieved with this approach.

Here's a snapshot of the systems and features that are fully operational in the game:

1. Full MMO Capability: We've successfully implemented multiple servers with various chat functionalities, including public, crew, and local chat.
2. Crew and Ship Management: Players can manage their crew and ships, adding a strategic layer to the gameplay.
3. Character Creation: A robust character creation system that allows for diverse player avatars.
4. Skill Development: A wide array of skills is available, ranging from combat skills like swordsmanship and pistol handling to crafting skills like mining, woodcutting, smithing, and more.
5. Quests: We have a growing list of quests, each designed to provide unique challenges and storylines (more details below).
6. NPC and Ship AI: Sophisticated AI for both NPCs and ships, making the game world dynamic and engaging.
7. Auction House: A fully functional auction system for players to trade goods.
8. Reputation: A reputation system that tracks player actions and decisions, influencing how the game world and its inhabitants react to them.
9. Items: Items enhance your character's abilities and can be unlocked through skill level progression, quest completion, or by earning reputation.

Quests and content creation:

From the outset, I knew that quest creation would be a significant undertaking in terms of content development. To streamline this process, I developed a system that can instantly convert XML-written documents into in-game content. This approach allows for efficient and dynamic quest creation, making it easier to populate the game world with engaging and diverse missions. Let me show you an example of how this works:

As soon as I make changes and save these files, they are automatically reuploaded to my Content Delivery Network (CDN). My backend services then immediately transpile these files into in-game content. One of the most significant advantages of this system is that there's no need to restart the servers for changes to take effect. Everything happens in real-time, directly within the game environment.

Whether it's NPCs, items, recipes, or resources – virtually anything in the game is driven by this system.

Art, visuals and development pipeline:

While content metadata changes are smoothly handled by our system, integrating art and visuals requires a complete game rebuild. However, this is streamlined through version control. When changes are pushed, build servers automatically update the development server and client, usually within 10-20 minutes.

What we need:

My game currently lacks detailed content. There are around 20 islands, but only two are fully developed. While there are over 100 weapons, they don't quite fit the pirate theme. Of the three ship models I have, none are modular. I'm eager to introduce detailed, modular shipbuilding into the game and this could be an area where your skills come into play. As this project is a labor of love done in my free time, I can't offer a salary. However, I'm hoping to connect with like-minded individuals who are passionate about game development and willing to collaborate to bring this vision to life.

What have I planned for the future?

Steamfest is in our sights, along with a Kickstarter campaign. If successful, our goal is to allocate substantial funds towards enhancing character and ship building features in the game.

I'm not good in communications, and probably missed a lot of stuff, so if you have any feedback or questions, I'm all ears!

What game engine are you using?

Unity, Universal render pipeline