The future of A7

Some forum users might already know from other threads that the oP group GmbH recently won a contract to develop a MMOG with A7. This project will consume most of oP group's and Conitec's development manpower in the next 14 months until the planned launch in November 2010. Together with external teams of level designers, website and software developers, up to 40 people will fully or partially work on this project, including some from this forum.

Naturally this has also an effect on A7 development during this time. Beta versions will be less frequent, and new features will be often determined by what we need for the MMOG. For instance, a huge amount of actor animation will be created by a motion capture studio, thus new animation import features will appear, and some little extras have to be added to the MDL7 model format.

We are however determined not to neglect our user base. We'll dedicate a part of our manpower for continuing the A7 development plan as listed on the forecast page. The focus will be the development of new A7 templates to make starting with Gamestudio easier.

Putting all that together, I think that the Gamestudio version of November 2010 will be even better and more useful than without that project.

I'm really happy for you guys Congratulations! Do I get a free copy of A8 now ?

Anyhow, goodluck with the MMO and I wish the best for you guys and this community >_^

//Endu

That definatly sounds very good to me, draws a bigger userbase, hopefully breezing new wind over here, that's something that's always very good

Good luck with the MMO, but keep an eye out to us from time to time as well.

regards,

Well, I'd really appreciate if CLASSES are developed first, and then start that MMO project .

But congratulations either way!

Congratulations! I am really happy that the engine gets such a tribute!

I wish you - and us, the users - a good progress in the development of the MMOG and the engine!

Keep us informed, we are very keen to here any news of it.

I a fan of gamestudio I really happy with the future
I like to see that 2010 version (Like visual studio?"Gamestudio 2010" :-).)

Already! Gamestudio on the roll! Can't wait to see the features, and BTW, i want a copy of A8 .

Congratulations! This is really exciting that you won the contract (I knew you had a good feeling about it, and heard good things about it, but this is the first I've heard of you winning the contract).

This is very good news.

Jibb

Will you use Lite-C for the Multiplayer-Client or
do you develop it directly in C++ ?

I also wanted to ask that.

i am more interested in the server, will it be a lite-c server or c++ server?

First of all: congratulations!

The encryption works only when server and client are the same (I guess they are also using it...) and jcl said, that with good skills it's possible to create a large scale MMO with the engine, so now the time has come to proof it . But I am fairly sure, they will use some kind of master-server and use the engine just as a server for instances.

If fastlane still was here I think he would be pretty happy, because you can be sure that after this project is finished, multiplayer will definately work.

Multiplayer already works and worked all the time, Fastlanes problem was just that we had no decent multiplayer tutorial back then. That led to all sorts of overly complicated and ineffective multiplayer scripts by users and even in AUM.

As to the server code, there are many - we'll have 28 servers of different purposes in the first stage of the project. But the zone servers, which are responsible for player movement and level change, will indeed be programmed in lite-C, with the same script as the clients.

If that is really the case, why has Conitec not given a review on false
methods and
code-structure improvements / tips much
early, as the problems where obvious for years?

You could have given that as Tutorial Project for
Users such as George, and then have a review if this
was really the "propper" approach to have stable mulitplayer.

That's just what we did when we became aware of the difficulties. Just look in the tutorial.

Just curious, but will this be labeled A8?? I am considering buying A7, but as I am in no hurry, I don't really want to miss out on a free upgrade to the next version again.

edit: I've just read the reply in the other thread about A7.99.9 etc. This seems to suggest A8 won't be here for another while.

Awesome!

So is this MMOG that your designing going to be for Gamestudio or for some other company?

Either way good luck.

Congratulations on the deal.

I think really it is just what is needed. I think that when developers use the tech that they create, the tech evolves at a more rapid pace. Perhaps one day we could see an mmo developer kit....

"Fastlanes problem was just that we had no decent multiplayer tutorial back then"

It was a bit deeper than that but I agree that with a working MMOG (not a tutorial or demo mind you, an actual MMOG), most or all of the problems we encountered could have been ferreted out and overcome.

All the same I am of course very happy to hear this and can't wait to see the final product! Congrats!

Probably a lot of GS user want to see the results and actually buy the game^^

When its a MMOG its probably free, you must only pay for the subscription.

or even only for premium items... you know most f2p games has a item-mall and do not requier any fees to install and play.

And some of them are nearly as succesful as that Blizzard thing, what was it called...^^
The good thing about MMOs and A7 is that you dont need great graphics to have a chance in the competition; Please correct me if Im wrong, but afaik there is no MMO currently on the market, except for AoC maybe, that got graphics that A7 cant recreate with a medium amount of work. So theres no problem with that.

Just wait for Aion >=D

I said "currently on the market". I know Aion will rise the standards, but afaik its made with the CryEngine 2 or something... So I think we can forget THAT.^^

The MMOG will be free. You only need to pay for items and buildings. I'm not sure that everyone wants to play it, though, due to the hard cult stuff that we have to put into it - it's not for the faint at heart.

Fastlane: We owe you that project. Had you not complained about the unusable multiplayer mode, we had likely not written that tutorial. Without the tutorial, our client had likely not been able to test A7. And without the decision for A7 we had likely not won the contract. I guess when we meet some day again I'll have to buy you a beer...

There's GuildWars...

That MMO doesn't sound that bad, would like to hear more about it^^

And yeah, MP works pretty well now =)

The name of the MMOG: 3rd life

3rd life - sound very very much like 2nd life

Don't underestimate the core parts of those engines though, as they aren't designed for heavy duty AAA graphics, but rather smooth MMO experiences even on 5 year old PCs.

Having said that, there are a few CryEngine based MMOs coming out soon which might stir things up when it comes to the MMO graphics standard.

At least I hope so, I hate those World of Warcraft-style clones.

All what I wanted to say is this: A first person shooter, for example, that is made with A7, will probably not be too successful as that genre got a very high graphics standard, wich is very unlikely to be reached with A7.
With a MMO, u dont have that problem as the current graphics standards of the gerne arent that high.

Havin too demanding Graphics (like Crysis) would be suicide for a MMO Game.

Its keypoint is to reach as many players as possible.
Thus the Graphics need to be in a sensible range.

Also creating aditional assets is easier and quicker for
less a detailed artstyle.
And the patch/update amount is smaller.

Hight tech graphics for MMo are growing :
Guild Wars 2, Tera Online,Axeley, NineTeen knights (or i forgot the name) ...

But with poor gameplay or multiplayer parts , even a good graphics mmo won't go far.
Some MMO bet on original world (perhaps gameplay) than on high tech graphics, but have cool graphics like "Allods Online".

Even the incoming Star Wars mmo made by bioware will have a World of Warcraft touch !

Trackmania is a nice looking MMO? Will A7 be able to equal that ancient game? And how about Myst online? That thing was massive. I sincerely doubt A7 reaches the quality to those. Anyhow, I hope this works out well.

Alright, so MMORPGs, not MMOs.
I didnt think of Trackmania as an MMO.
Oh, and I think Myst was prerendered, wasnt it?

Aion MMORPG is using Cryengine. We are nearly there

WATCH HERE!

Ya, but I hope they also pull off the gameplay right...
I had the chance to play it on the GamesCom, but only for five minutes...

it is the cryengine1 from farcry1(2004) not cryengine2 from Crysis. It looks good tho.

I guess it was a joke.

I think the most important thing of a MMO is the gameplay, the athmosphere, a new idea at all.

though I think the grafic will be great as well

Why is the 7.80 version not available anymore? 7.50, .60, and .70 are though.

?
From the download page:

Right, downloadpage thanks.