Quest Online LLC has taken a unique approach to MMO development and when we were in Phoenix to see Alganon, we also got a glimpse into how they hope to change the way people build MMOs.
The other big difference between QOL and most every MMO I’ve ever seen is that they do everything themselves, and I do mean everything.
They didn’t license Unreal, buy HeroEngine or any of these other third party solutions. Every single thing in Alganon is developed 100% in-house by their team. This is very rare. Some MMOs license everything from the graphics engine, to the billing system, all the way to the trees in the world. The only possible exception to this, according to Allen, will be integrated VOIP. They do intend to eventually adopt it, and will almost assuredly turn to a third party for that out of pure practicality.
The Alganon Editor is how the game is put together. As anyone who has tried to play with the Neverwinter Nights or Unreal editors know, these tools can be complex, but also quite powerful. It’s a lot of work to build and maintain one, and usually the more custom to a project it is, the more convoluted it gets.
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Read it all here.
