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Online game development

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Outline of the presentation

important terms brief history status quo of present day online gaming Case studies:

Runescape Habbo Hotel IGE.com

Future development Why should we be interested? Opponent’s turn, Q&A

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Important terms

Online gaming MMOG MMORPG Avatar Virtual reality a.k.a. VR

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Online gaming

“An online game is a form of entertainment where users interact over an LAN network or the internet.” (from Wikipedia)

Virtual social behaviour with entertaining elements. Communication with real people attracts the users.

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MMOG

A massively multiplayer online game is a type of computer game that enables hundreds or thousands of players to simultaneously interact in a game world they are connected to via the Internet. Typically this kind of game is played in an online, multiplayer-only persistent world. (wikipedia)

Examples: Halflife: Counter-strike Warcraft 3 Battlefield 1942 Multiplayer

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MMORPG

Special type of MMOG, typically concentrates on adventuring the virtual world with an Avatar, socialicing, performing game tasks and improving the avatars statistics. A modern version of role-playing game.

Big names on MMORPGs: Everquest Asheron’s call Ultima Online Runescape (browser based) Second life

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Avatar An avatar is an icon or representation of a

user in a shared virtual reality. MMOG and especially MMORPG are based on user avatars.

Avatar of a runescape player.

Avatars have certain statistics which list their abilities in the game environment.

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Virtual reality (VR)

Computer simulated environment, first systems found in the 80’s

”Gives the user the ability to interact with the virtual surroundings”

Big hype, results were not convincing Virtual reality goggles, gloves

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Brief history of online gaming BBS -games 1970 – 1990 MUD 1979 - 1990 Modem based gaming, ”deathmatches” (early

90’s to present day) Doom Quake Half-life: Counter-strike

Modern online games: Ultima online (1997) Everquest (1999)

New innovations Advanced games (usually MMORPGs) Trade of virtual items & avatars

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BBS – Bulletin Board System

A bulletin board system is a software which lets users to dial and connect to the system over a phone line, perform functions like downloading files, reading news, participating to discussion forum and playing games online with other users.

Era of BBS’s lasted from the late 1970s to the early 1990s.

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L.O.R.D. Legend of the red dragon, played

in BBS-environment, text based.

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MUD

Used in BBS’s and academic networks

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Status Quo of online games

After the golden age of online games (1999-2002) we are now in the times of hard competition.

Game developers are pushing new online games to the market, and everyone’s fighting for their share.

Separation to different genres: MMORPG FPS multiplayer Simulations (Flight simulators, The Sims (2), Strategic)

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Status Quo of online games

New products are coming to the market, consoles are coming into the business as well (XBOX live).

Most of the new releases have a multiplayer possibility.

Big players (read: Microsoft) are desperately trying to get their share, which means that money is to be made.

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Status Quo of online games

A big number of MMORPGs are already on the market, and even more are coming. This form of gaming is relatively new, and has some really interesting aspects, so we’ll next look into it more deeply.

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Case study - Runescape

Browser based (No cd needed, the game engine can be downloaded for free)

Uses JAVA and OpenGL –platform The virtual world is a 3D medieval scenario with

some fantasy elements. Users control a character which developes

during the game play. The development is measured with levels and stat –points.

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Case study - Runescape

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Case study - Runescape

Launched in January 2002 by a small software company called Jagex

Reached 50 000 registered members by June 2003 Skyrocketed to 100 000 registered members in July 2004

The game is free for everyone, although only registered members(= paying customers) can use certain special skills and enter certain areas of the virtual world.

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Registered members pay $5 per month for the game.

With the user amount of 100 000 (last July and still growing rapidly) Runescape generates $500 000 a month income.

In addition to this, Runescape.com sells advertising spots to the site.

Case study - Runescape

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Points to be considered: No reproduction costs (users download the

application with their browser) Low starting level (Hey, this game is for free!) High addiction rate (the fanatics play it a few hours a

day just to keep up with their friends) Content is partly created by the users (Dueling of the

avatars, creating items, selling them, adventuring together, socializing, forming of ”User guilds”)

Great site for advertising (hundreds of thousands of users per day!)

Considerably low maintenance costs

Case study - Runescape

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Case study - IGE.com

Each MMORPG is characterized by its own unique virtual economy. IGE's core business is the making of secondary markets for the buying and selling of the virtual currencies and property used by players of multiplayer online games. (company

mission statement)

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Arranges ”player auctions”, where players can sell their valuable in-game items or game accounts.

Sells in-game currency for real money, for example: 20 million ”Ultima Online” gold coins for $157,92! (120 EUR)

Case study - IGE.com

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Case study - IGE.com

Estimated 880 000 million dollars are going to be spent on ”Secondary market” (which means transactions of in-game items) during 2004.

The market is getting larger all the time, as new MMORPGs are released (Star Wars galaxies, Sims 2)

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Future development

MMOG will be a popular form of social interaction – a natural step of evolution from chatrooms to a ’virtual reality’.

In-game advertisement. In-game item sales and design. Game advertisement

”Movie games” Ikea expansion pack

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Why should we be interested?

There is money and jobs in the gaming industry.

We know the tools: Habbo Hotel is based on macromedias Director and Java. 3D –design is a big part of MMOGS.

The trend seems to be towards online entertainment – early bird catches the worm!

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Villes’ turn!

Q&A