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hello there. I've been developing a game on paper for a while, now I need to ask a few questions on how to go about this. It is going to be a multiplayer RPG, with an elements trading and violence on a large scale. I intend to have all kinds of vehicles and weapons available to the player and his AI opponents. There is also going to be an element of character progression.

1) I've been creating landscapes and models in 3d studio max and Terrain Editor, and used microsoft excel to create spread sheets for the various statistics associated with each of the models. Is it easy to import these formats in to DBPro or am i going to have to recreate them?

2) I am trying to build the game in stages - I have done the majority of the 3d work. Next I am going to make a trading game to see that the trade system works properly, then a beat em up to see the violence works properly and so on. Is this a sensible way forward and would I be able to essentially cut and paste elements of the smaller game in to the larger game?

I am hoping that I can break it down in to smaller peices so I can get to grips with each component on its own before having to tie it all together. So far I have created a 3d map with 60 towns and villages, and 30ish monsters to play with - Thats the scale I'm playing with.

Let me know what you think

Cheers

You have obviously planned it all out, but here's one thing you haven't thought about - can you do it?

I'll leave you to think about that for a while.

I know that everything I want to do can be done using DBPro. My programming skills aint so hot, this is why I'm looking at doing small projects then building up to the big one.

Instead of using Excel use arrays to store data.

60 towns is also a few too many for the player will probably not visit them all. Add more to the game later on.

It may be wise to start generating the world. Then allowing the player to walk on it. Then add the villages / towns. Then add quests. Add trade last for it is very nice but a minor feature and many people will not notice it and thus your hard work will be usless.

I suggest you take a year or two working as hard as you can to learn as much as you can. Not just techniques, not just how to make something look good, but how to make an engine that you can use to make a game.

If you are wanting to export your models in 3DS max to Dark Basic use Panda exporter to export them to .X file format. Don't know about terrain Editor never used that program. Its good that you want to work on your game in bits weather you can incorporate them Smoothly will depend on how well you coded each section. My advice would be try to use only Functions for the majority of you code that way most of the work is only a copy and paste job to combine the sections.

As for the multilayer I wouldn't even worry about it until you have completed the game first. Once you have a complete game then go back and make the changes to make it multiplayer. Zoaster is Right about learning to create a game engine. A good start is Xenocythe's tutorial on this Page.

Btw I really Hope it doesn't take you 4 years to create a quick RPG

Youve managed to do something that I find really hard, whenever I tackle an idea, I tend to just sit down and try to code it. After a while the source becomes so complicated and disorganised that the program comes grinding to a halt and I give up.

The advice given above is sound, that is get yourself learning the db language. The work you've already done wont go out of date and once you have got yourself ready coding wise, you can use you models and ideas no matter what language you are using.

Personally I think youve managed to choose all the most difficult game elements in your idea, multiplayer, rpg. If you said you wanted to do a 2d shooter for example, your goal would probably be closer in your grasp and maybe a matter of months instead of years.

Good luck with it anyway. Have you ever considered trying to team up with someone who already has a strong background in DB? Im sure if you asked someone would want to be involved.