Online game development

1. Online game development

2. 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

3. Important terms • Online gaming • MMOG • MMORPG • Avatar • Virtual reality a.k.a. VR

4. 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.

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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.

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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.

11. L.O.R.D. • Legend of the red dragon, played in BBS-environment, text based.

12. MUD • Used in BBS’s and academic networks

13. 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)

14. 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.

15. 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.

17. 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.

19. Case study - Runescape

22. 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.

23. Case study - Runescape • 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.

24. Case study - Runescape • 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

25. 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)

26. Case study - IGE.com • 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)

28. 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)

29. 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

30. 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!

31. Villes’ turn! Q&A