Post by yixian on Jul 12, 2008 12:41:01 GMT -5
Hey guys!
One thing I'd recommend is that when confronting the production of a fantasy MMO, or a fantasy game of any kind really, you're up against a lot of cooky cutter material on the market. Look at games even as high profile as Oblivion: they lack an original art style of their own and the monsters and races and locations and names are all your average Tolkein-esque stuff.
The most successful MMO, WoW, I believe owes a lot of it's success to it's unique art design and clean, concise and original backstory. This is what distinguishes many MMOs when so many have such similar gameplay.
The same is true of Diablo, there are so many games like it but Diablo is one of the best selling games of all time. Aside from the gameplay I think this is also down to the art style and the use of gothic and ethnic (arabic, mayan) themes rather than Tolkein-style "Lord Ogiroth of Mount Mantorok" genericness
Obviously I'm not expert as just a regular gamer, but if I reckon there should be an unbreakable rule to the design of MMOs:
• Each area should be artistically and thematically consistent both in locations, lore and bestiary (eg. no egyptian mummies in mayan temples, no witchdoctors in egyptian tombs).
To this end I think that choosing 3 or 4 main locations and basing them partially on historical times and places and partially on original design is a good way of ensuring consistency. And also I think that creating alternative, "fantasised" version of known culture themes like the Mayans, the Romans, the Celts, gothic Paris etc. gives an air of relevance and sophistication in design that cooky cutter Dungeons and Dragons themes don't.
And rather than trying to be hyper realistic with the models, Blizzard/Zelda style semi-cartoony looks are far more endearing and easy on the eye in my opinion.
Anyway I cannot wait to see where there goes, I am sure you guys will go from success to success with your games, based on Aurora Faint I can already tell that this will be defining MMO on the iPhone.
One thing I'd recommend is that when confronting the production of a fantasy MMO, or a fantasy game of any kind really, you're up against a lot of cooky cutter material on the market. Look at games even as high profile as Oblivion: they lack an original art style of their own and the monsters and races and locations and names are all your average Tolkein-esque stuff.
The most successful MMO, WoW, I believe owes a lot of it's success to it's unique art design and clean, concise and original backstory. This is what distinguishes many MMOs when so many have such similar gameplay.
The same is true of Diablo, there are so many games like it but Diablo is one of the best selling games of all time. Aside from the gameplay I think this is also down to the art style and the use of gothic and ethnic (arabic, mayan) themes rather than Tolkein-style "Lord Ogiroth of Mount Mantorok" genericness
Obviously I'm not expert as just a regular gamer, but if I reckon there should be an unbreakable rule to the design of MMOs:
• Each area should be artistically and thematically consistent both in locations, lore and bestiary (eg. no egyptian mummies in mayan temples, no witchdoctors in egyptian tombs).
To this end I think that choosing 3 or 4 main locations and basing them partially on historical times and places and partially on original design is a good way of ensuring consistency. And also I think that creating alternative, "fantasised" version of known culture themes like the Mayans, the Romans, the Celts, gothic Paris etc. gives an air of relevance and sophistication in design that cooky cutter Dungeons and Dragons themes don't.
And rather than trying to be hyper realistic with the models, Blizzard/Zelda style semi-cartoony looks are far more endearing and easy on the eye in my opinion.
Anyway I cannot wait to see where there goes, I am sure you guys will go from success to success with your games, based on Aurora Faint I can already tell that this will be defining MMO on the iPhone.
