Knowledge needed for an in-house project.

[SnowmanDev]

Hello all,

My name is steven porter, I have a team of 5 developers/designers. (we are looking for more)

We were looking at using UDK to develop an online game until I spotted that the max player count is 64. My team and I are looking for an engine that would be server based and hold anywhere from 1 - 2000 players. Also the terrain would need to be deformable in-game by the players e.g. using a spade to dig a trench or a pickaxe to create a cave.

Can anybody lend a hand either with the project or by pointing us in the right direction?

Many regards from myself and the team.

[Solid Snake]

That sort of stuff isn't currently possible with UDK. Ideally you will want to license the engine to roll some of your own technology.

[SnowmanDev]

thanks for the reply,

you think if i license the engine that we could implement the tech that we need?

If it is possible to implement something like 'GeoMod' and have the engine support up to 2000 players, then we are going to need a dedicated programmer/coder.

Before this happens I will need to know if it is actually possible to do these things without having to "rewrite/code" the engine.
Can anybody shed some light on this matter?

Regards,

The team.

[mktwo]

Well, I can tell you for sure that such functionality won't be possible without programming.

[SnowmanDev]

Well, I can tell you for sure that such functionality won't be possible without programming.

I understand that some programming will be needed, I was just looking to avoid having to rewrite a huge chunk of the engine.

What I really need is big yes and a nod from somebody who can see the direction we're heading in, because if this engine can't support 250-2000 players even with reprogramming then we will have to look at other possibilities.

Thank you for your input.

[SnowmanDev]

Does anybody know where to start with something this big, will the UDK give me the source code for the engine so I can start programming, or will I need something else?

Regards.

[Saishy]

You will probably need a source licensee.
That will give you access to all UDK code, so yes, you will be able to do what you want.

In another hand, you can keep the 64 player count without problems.
The server can be written in any language you want and each player connects to it.
You could use a .dll or tcplink for this.

Good luck with your project.

[SnowmanDev]

ok i think the idea is there with UDK, we could start off with 64 players, get the ball rolling and then look in to expanding it to mmo size.
what do you think about the terrain editing part, is this possible at this time?

Thanks.

[Saishy]

ok i think the idea is there with UDK, we could start off with 64 players, get the ball rolling and then look in to expanding it to mmo size.
what do you think about the terrain editing part, is this possible at this time?

Thanks.
Dunno about the terrain edit.