I'd really like to create my own online graphical RPG.  I've had a quick look around for software, but nothing matches quite what I am looking for.

But then this gave me an idea.  In a community that has many people looking for their "ideal game", why not create a project to start working on a simple MMORPG.

The problem for me is, although I have some coding knowledge (very limited mind you), I don't know how the pros go about the business of making MMORPG's.

I'm guessing they start with a gaming engine and associated software for music and graphics, and go from there.

I'm sure there are tonnes of people with experience in this area that can help me (or if other people are interested, us) out.

Does anyone want to shed some light on how the process works in game creation?

(Say, for example, how do you make tiles for a perpetual world?  How do you make monsters?  Etc.)

-Oscarian

It's quite impossible to make a mmorpg by yourself. I, too, was recently looking into this. Your best bet would probably be Realm Crafter. it costs $100 mind you.

A thread like this is started at least every two months on this web site.  The majority of the time it is started by someone who hasn't a clue about game development asking for those who do to join in.  It hasn't happened yet.  It isn't going to happen either.

As some one else posted you wont be able to make it yourself, you'll have so many questions about stuff and not enough knowledge, so might aswell do something usefull

Yeah, what they said - but I've just been recommended I try out theuniversal.net, which includes customisable worlds. It might just be enough for the budding game designers out there to scratch that itch.

Here's the blurb straight off their website. I gather it currently contains a lot of monkeys...

"The Universal is a unique, massively multiplayer online game set in a virtual universe of realtime 3d worlds, owned and run by players.

You start in a single star system with a range of worlds to explore. By playing on worlds you can improve your in-game status and wealth, trade, upgrade your spaceship, fly to new star systems and - well, that depends on what you find there...

Customisable worlds
Each world in the galaxy is totally customisable, offering a huge range of different challenges for all kinds of PC gamers.

Some have complex economies that encourage player co-operation and competition. Some are worlds at war where you’ll need to stay sharp to stay alive. There are team games, racing games, cricket, hornball, pub games and more. Or you can just kick back and relax, chat, listen to music, and sit on a hill watching monkeys playing in the sun."

"Owning a world

Allowing everyone the chance to purchase and run their own worlds is a central part of the game - but the way you build worlds is very much work-in-progress. Designing your own world is currently a difficult and time-consuming task - although ultimately still a rewarding one.

The plan is to make world-building as fun and easy as actually playing the game by providing loads of tools, models, textures and settings templates for you to use. Here's some of the stuff world owners get to play with:

Custom architecture
Each world can have its own customized building models, player models, vehicles and textures. These can either be made in a 3d modelling package and converted to the game's .atm format, or downloaded from the model library available through this site - currently work-in-progress.

Vehicles
All vehicles (cars, aircraft & boats) are settings-based and totally configurable to give you control over how they look and behave in the game.

Environment
All landscape textures and background graphics are customisable, so it's up to you whether your world is a tropical paradise with palm trees and butterflies, or floating through an asteroid field with the string-worm creatures of Asalbal VI. Or something.

Gameplay
You can create almost limitless types of gameplay using the hundreds of settings available to world-owners. For example, whether players earn rewards through industry, warfare, skill, or perhaps even laziness - or any combination you like.

Economy
By modifying the product lists and changing settings for production rates & building types available on a world, world owners can create & control a wide-ranging macro-economy. Perhaps players will have to mine ore to make steel to build tractors, or grow crops to make bread to power aircraft - anything you like.

Robocrows
Robocrows are our homage to Subspace, and also lots of fun: classic 2d crow-to-crow combat raging in the skies above your planet! The settings (speeds, damage rates, weapon types) & models used for robocrows are fully configurable. "

Thanks guys for your replies, even though I am a little belated in my thanks.

I've spent some time researching game engines and such, and fiddled with doing some coding, but I've been inspired a little by the community of Fallen Earth.  Which from my reading seems to be a community based on a gaming idea which has subsequently made it almost to the point of completion.

I can appreciate that any game requires a good business model, rather than merely being "I had this great idea for a game".

I'm going to spend some time, instead, focussing on writing rather than learning to code.  I have plenty of time on my hands, since I am unable to work due to illness.

So I am going to sketch out my concept of a game I think I would enjoy, refine it a little, and whack it up on a website somewhere for other people to enjoy/critique/poke fun at.

If only I could draw cartoons, I would turn my ideas into a webcomic.

-Oscarian

Your words hit home with me, I've so many ideas in my head that I'd love to get to paper or put into an mmo or game in general it drives me nuts.