Who wants to build the metaverse with me?

[Pirate]

Im bored of the Internet and I wanna see something like the metaverse come to be.

What I am talking about is a virtual 3D Internet that is based of a game engine like half life or other and build a sort of easy modeling program so people can build structures, avatars etc with text or voice chatting.

I know there are ones already out there, but they are all limited to shitty graphics and built with dial up in mind. My idea is to fuck dial up users and consentrate on what can be built for broadband.

I have no idea where to start and I will have to learn the coding language. But if we build it, make it free and open source... who knows what could be done.

[DumHed]

you just want to be the colonel sanders of the matrix so you can find out what the 11 secret herbs and spices are!

[Pirate]

fucking oath

[polite]

If you build it, he will come.

[Kyle]

hehe i remember the old days of vrml on my 56k....i spent hours with that stuff...

[gplama]

man, didnt you watch Antitrust!?

If you build it, you'll get wacked! :)

[pleed]

I do not have any real skills, but I will offer moral support.

[Turtle_Wrangler]

ive got a vrml phearbot (de megatokyo) I modeled somewhere... hell if i remember where I put it.

[Zan]

yeah I'll play. I can do textures and shit.

I can't do much else.

[durus]

teh uber 1337.
But I'm good for nothing. Particularly cos I'm busy +
Will offer moral support and some minor labor.

[FireHart]

Okay sounds cool. My coding level is on basic Java, so I can be the dude saying how great things are going. I'm good at that shithe.

[druid]

Only if it will be built from LEG...I mean Blocko (http://blockofighter.kicks-ass.net/blockofighter/main.php) bricks.

[Jaz]

There was a plan to build a mmorpg using halflife, but it involved joining many hl servers together to make a big enough world.
They needed to start with something bigger, like GTA3.

Or, For self coding, perhaps just mod some mud code. replace text descriptions with the objects. The landscape layout will be a series of blocks, but thats cool if you want the emphasis on the modeled objects.

[rosamund]

I can model, skin, and do uber-textures (imho), but cannot animate. :(

[druid]

Seriously though, it would be madness to build it from scratch and god will punish every BUSTER who even tries that!

P.S. I can do this (http://blockofighter.kicks-ass.net/blockofighter/main.php)

[Pirate]

Good stuff, I think something on the scale of GTA would be awesome, but it need some sort of code that allows you to travel between servers.. like a hyperlink.. so there can be mulitple worlds on different servers and you can jump between them so it all meshes into one world.

What we need is a 3d engine that is easy to code for.

[durus]

Screw Half Life. Quake 2.
GTA size world servers would be good, the only issue is that you need to send that information to a client. MTA is bandwidth intensive just for player information. We need something with half decent net code. If it's all laggy and jumpy no one will do anything.

[Jaz]

Originally posted by Pirate
Good stuff, I think something on the scale of GTA would be awesome, but it need some sort of code that allows you to travel between servers.. like a hyperlink.. so there can be mulitple worlds on different servers and you can jump between them so it all meshes into one world.

What we need is a 3d engine that is easy to code for.

All of what you described there was the halflife mmorpg mod (goddammit still cant find the link).

I reckon you should make the mapping system simple enough to run on 1 server, and just have square rooms with 4 exits. with rules like colour of the exit wall matches the sky of the next room, like simple rules, so you can change the world on the fly. have people's graphics hardware churning out good looking objects rather than landscape.

[sagit]

dont use the unreal engine tough. the mapping tool for that is way too hard to use.

[Turtle_Wrangler]

After actually thinking about this, Ive realized that the old BattleZone II engine would prolly be ideal. Its got shyteloads of mapping tools avaliable, is (relatively) easily modded, and has tools to convert meshes made from several 3d programs (even my fav little freeware blender) into game meshes. (http://www.bzuniverse.com/modifier/) Its also ideal in that buildings, and consoles which display various sorts of information (via menu systems) are allready incorporated in the engine, so plutting in-game browsers into the system (i.e. "heres my house, the console inside loads my homepage" kinda rubbish) would be rather simplistic. A final point is that landscapes are well handeled, and when traveling as the simplest avatar (pilot) can seem absolutely immense, yet with still good detail.
So If youre really considering having a go at this, may want to consider said engine

edit: wrong page link. That mod page sucks ass... hell if i can remember where the other was.

[coreageek]

Unfortunately, I can't contribute with technical issues. I still have a headache from trying to mod the first Jedi Knight.
I'll make a $5 donation or something.

I have a crapload of suggestions, though. For starters, if the technical issues are worked out with switching servers, the in-game interaction for changing servers could be going to the train station or airport and catching a ride to the next server/city.


Also, if the city/world were broken up into sections (instead of sending and receiving data for the whole world/city), it might help make more detail possible. Think of it as rooms or channels within a server. If you're a mile away from someone or something, you don't need to send and receive data for what's going on with it. You'd be on the same server, though, so chat would still be possible (cell phone, phone booth, you get my drift).
Here comes the awesome part. . . a subway. Each section has a subway station, and to get to other section of the city/world, you go down to the subway station and hop on the local for the next section or the express to get to your buddy if he's across town (several sections over). With this mode of transportation, the subway would actually be it's own section, and with quick loading time (because of the fact that you don't need to include the buildings, people, etc. at street level).
As far as walking from section to section, there would probably have to be some sort of pause for loading the next area.

Just to be clear, "world/city" means the server, "section" means channels or rooms within the server.

[Moga2]

Are you thinking of worlds like those talked about in the Tad Williams book Otherland? not the uber complex ones, but the basic ones that comprise the net in said book. If so that would be wicked.

I dont know how ill be able to contribute. But im up for it.

[Stocking]

It should realy be built on the doom engine. Have everything built as sprites. It's be heaps easy to use! hehe. bot the idea of 4 walls is good. keep it simple and extrapulate later. instead of doors you could just go through walls. no clipping style.
No seriously, I'd be into doing a bit of visual design for it. you know with my exceptional photoshop/3ds max skills ;)

[kré]

i'll be in charge of stabbing cunts who try to stop it from happening.

[Turtle_Wrangler]

Originally posted by Stocking
you know with my exceptional photoshop/3ds max skills ;)
oi. drop by the 3 dimensions thread (http://forums.zgeek.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=4372&perpage=15&pagenumber=12) sometime, and post some random stuffs. our lurvely thread has dropped to bout only 4-5 contributers now.

[FireHart]

Hmmm... People are getting serious about this. Should this be a Read Me! -thread?

yes

[coreageek]

Originally posted by FireHart
Hmmm... People are getting serious about this. Should this be a Read Me! -thread?

yes

I second that yes

[druid]

Originally posted by Stocking
keep it simple and extrapulate later.

If you keep the design too simple then expanding will not be easy.