Update the Game Engine

[Damionic]

I was going to write another suggestion on armour colour changes, but then I was thinking it's easy to do that on other games.. Why not here?

It's the engine..it needs updating as at the moment it's holding the developers and the game back.

Colour changing is very complecated
New classes and PrE's are being chopped and downgraded to "fit" the old engine.
There is no updates to the game like physics(tm) from Nvidia
Things take far too long and are drawn out and are half-baked once they arrive.

Now I know next to nothing about game engines apart from that they are expensive.. But this game is years old with it's old engine and newer games with better engines are doing a better job then what DDO is offering.

DeathknellQ

[Ziindarax]

I was going to write another suggestion on armour colour changes, but then I was thinking it's easy to do that on other games.. Why not here?

It's the engine..it needs updating as at the moment it's holding the developers and the game back.

Colour changing is very complecated
New classes and PrE's are being chopped and downgraded to "fit" the old engine.
There is no updates to the game like physics(tm) from Nvidia
Things take far too long and are drawn out and are half-baked once they arrive.

Now I know next to nothing about game engines apart from that they are expensive.. But this game is years old with it's old engine and newer games with better engines are doing a better job then what DDO is offering.

DeathknellQ

Hmm... A stronger engine would make the game better... and it would unleash more possibilities.

There are some problems with this though. The first problem is that the dev's would need more time to get acquainted with the engine (as well as modify it for their purposes), and the second is that it might make DDO require a stronger PC to run it..

[Damionic]

It's the old saying "keep up or die" The PC Req shouldent be an issue as by today's standards it's set very low (my PC is average by enthusiast standards and I have everything set to max with no problems)

As for devs having to relearn/update their skills.. This should be a givern as not keeping up in this day and age is a one way ticket to unemployed. New game developers will need people in the "know"

[BattleCircle]

Methinks a new game engine would mean a new game.

Rewriting all the code for the current game would certainly suck big ones.

[Damionic]

Methinks a new game engine would mean a new game.

Rewriting all the code for the current game would certainly suck big ones.

That's not really a bad thing as it's already a new name.. Why not a new game as well?

[Freeman]

That's not really a bad thing as it's already a new name.. Why not a new game as well?

Putting a new engine in an existing game isn't like putting a new engine in a car. Once you replace the engine, you'll have to recode virtually everything to work with the new engine before you could start adding new functionality. The cost, in both time and manpower, for doing that in a game that already has years of development built on the current engine is usually prohibitive. That's why you see so much engine reuse, and rarely, if ever, hear of a major game's entire engine being replaced.

[Damionic]

Putting a new engine in an existing game isn't like putting a new engine in a car. Once you replace the engine, you'll have to recode virtually everything to work with the new engine before you could start adding new functionality. The cost, in both time and manpower, for doing that in a game that already has years of development built on the current engine is usually prohibitive. That's why you see so much engine reuse, and rarely, if ever, hear of a major game's entire engine being replaced.

In short why develop microsoft windows 7(tm) when windows 98(tm) is good enough.

[slothinator]

In short why develop microsoft windows 7(tm) when windows 98(tm) is good enough.

These are not the same thing. Think about the manpower and money that Turbine has compared to Microsoft. Bill and his team can spend millions and take 2 years to develop a product because the end result is worth it. Recoding DDO to fit a new engine would kill new development, and that would affect the money coming in. Not to mention the cost of the development.

[Hecore]

No, starting over from scratch (images, sounds, etc.) is like Windows 98 to Windows 7. Because the big cost in a game engine update is primarily the coding (sound, writing, graphics are also expensive, just less so), it doesn't make much since to keep anything from the original project.

[Requiro]

New engine is cool from players perspective. But for Developers it very risky, because:

1. Require lots of time
2. Require lots of money

And new engine, will not guarantee that they gain more money/players. That’s why this kind of change will never happen, unless game start loosing players... rapidly.

EDIT:

In short why develop microsoft windows 7(tm) when windows 98(tm) is good enough.

Well... If DDO has 90% of ALL players from ALL games then you will see new engines every 6 month

[BattleCircle]

In short why develop microsoft windows 7(tm) when windows 98(tm) is good enough.

Not for existing applications, but for future applications.

The game engine will not be upgraded.

[Freeman]

In short why develop microsoft windows 7(tm) when windows 98(tm) is good enough.

You fail at analogies. Nowhere in my statement did I imply that newer game engines should not be developed. I only pointed out that the cost to update the engine of an existing game would likely be prohibitive, and they are more likely to spend those funds developing an engine for an entirely new game as opposed to trying to retrofit an existing game onto a new engine.

In your example, did Microsoft go back and change their previous OS versions to use the Windows 7 kernel? If so, it might be more supportive of your statement. Since that didn't happen, I think it just strengthens my point.

[Kaeldur]

I don't see what's so wrong with the current engine, specially considering MMOs, which have a huge complexity attached to it that single-player games don't. How many MMOs with WASD controls do you know? Most are click-based (yuck!). And it's even cooler that you can play it with your GamePad =)
Graphics are nice when you put it at maxed quality. And light enough to play on very old computers when you lower graphics. Gives access to a huge range of people, because unlike in the US, top-level hardware is very expensive in certain countries...
We have lag sometimes in certain quests (notably Shroud), but even that has reduced a huge amount ever since the double-strike mechanism.
I think the engine is fine...

[Requiro]

Not for existing applications, but for future applications.

And primarily goal: MORE MONEY

[Lorz]

Now I know next to nothing

DeathknellQ

Fixed that for ya OP.

[Thrudh]

In short why develop microsoft windows 7(tm) when windows 98(tm) is good enough.

That's rewriting everything...

You can't just drop a new engine into an existing game... New engine equals new game...

Now, is it time for DDO2???

I don't think so... not quite yet...

[Uska]

That's not really a bad thing as it's already a new name.. Why not a new game as well?

Because a new game would most likely be based on 4E and I would have to call in the Sulaco and nuke both turbine and WOTC from orbit to stop that abomination just to be sure

[Loromir]

I think maybe just design a whole new game (DD0 2.0 if you will). Design an entire new setting (Maybe bring back Forgotten Realms). Do all of this in tandem with our current game. After the new game goes live, stop creating new content for the old version, but keep it live at reduced subscription prices. Make the new version subscription only for the 1st couple of years, and gradually phase out the old version as the new version grows.

Would be nice if there would be a way to port our current toons over to the new game, but maybe with no plat and only basic gear.

[Damionic]

Fixed that for ya OP.

I could do the usual and flame you for your misguided attack.

But no, I'm going to come at you with this..try knowing nothing.. You will find it very difficult!

[MrCow]

Keep in mind that changes to the Dungeons and Dragons Online engine could have further implications, being Lord of the Rings Online at its core runs with the same game engine.