The Tools of the Trade: An Interview with Robert Spencer
Robert Spencer (rspencer@bigworldtech.com) is Strategic Business Manager for BigWorld. Formerly a Producer at Café Nova and before that Publisher of PC Games Plus, Robert has been actively involved in the MMO space for five years and the games industry in general since 1989. BigWorld the company has been developing BigWorld the Technology Suite for more than six years and currently has 45 licenses for titles that are under development on every continent except Antarctica. For more info, see http://www.bigworldtech.com.
The in-house development of a robust, scalable MMOG engine is likely to be the most costly line item of any MMOG development budget - both in terms of time and money. Big World is one company offering an alternative to in-house development. The company provides a suite of integrated Client, Server and Art Tools designed specifically for the creation of MMOG. We spoke with Robert Spencer, Strategic Business Manager for the company to find out more.
1. Tell us a little about what your company is doing to facilitate the development of MMOG.
Robert Spencer: The BigWorld Technology Suite provides a solid, dependable platform upon which studios can produce MMOGs. 'BigWorld' has been licensed for use in over forty five games at the time of writing. Our success in the market place is based on a real dedication to the ongoing development of excellent technology that solves real-world game problems. MMOG producers now have a real alternative to the option of attempting the time-consuming, expensive and technologically risky development of their own server technology, tools & client engine.
BigWorld licensees find they reduce risk, costs and time to market. They also gain access to world-leading MMO technology. Our server technology, client engine and complete content production pipeline allows the production team to start working on their game from day one, which beyond the obvious implications in terms of cost and time to market also enables the game to be played so much earlier in the development cycle. This fast prototyping enables design decisions to be evaluated quickly and enables numerous iterations to refine game play. An iterative production methodology is encouraged within our content pipeline, with our world building tools allowing fast prototyping of spaces prior to the addition of detailed objects that flesh out the world to the standards required in current-generation and next-generation MMOGs.
This rapid prototyping and iterative design reduces waste, as risky ideas can be tried and developed or discarded, mistakes corrected and game play refined without throwing away development effort.
2. What are the major pitfalls a developer has to watch out for in the development of MMOG from a technology stand point?
RS: Testing! Clearly, an MMOG server is a very complex piece of technology, but as the market matures, reliability and robustness are going to be requisite properties of 'Triple-A' MMOG. Server crashes and even planned outages will cost real money and market share, as players move to games that they can play more reliably. It is very difficult for even large MMOG studios to perform the enormous battery of tests to ensure that their underlying technology will work flawlessly, never mind testing the game code that runs on top of the server and client. By licensing a proven technology platform, developers have a huge head start with developing a successful game.
Too many MMOGs are still developed without sufficient planning and infrastructure for technology and game play upgrades. Given the planned life of an MMOG, transparent upgrades must be expected during game play. BigWorld assists developers with this problem in several ways; we have a very sophisticated transparent update system on the client and server (a GM can even change the AI of a monster while a player is actually fighting it!); we are constantly updating, upgrading and extending the BigWorld Technology Suite (we released version 1.6 just before E3 this year) and Licensees can often get exciting new features to add to their games at no additional cost, reducing their ongoing development costs while remaining on the leading edge.
3. Don't you think that using middleware limits the creativity of the development team?
RS: Quite the opposite! The BigWorld Technology architecture has been developed to provide game producers with the flexibility to develop whatever massively multiplayer game they can imagine. We tend to liken the BigWorld server platform to an operating system; it reduces the complexity but still allows the developer to create startlingly innovative games. BigWorld also allows the game development team to concentrate on their game, freeing their mind and budget to solve game design problems instead of issues with technology and tools. Licensees of BigWorld are currently using the Technology Suite to develop MMOAS (action shooters), MMOFPS (first person shooters) and MMORTS (real time strategy), along with classic fantasy, contemporary and science fiction MMORPGs, proving that it is a very flexible and adaptable system.
4. What do you think the ideal hardware infrastructure is for MMO?
RS: In general, the more scalable and manageable, the better. Obviously, there are cost trade-offs that are possible for smaller games and we have Licensees that are using everything from stacks of 1U pizza boxes to sophisticated blade systems. As our server software takes care of fault tolerance and load balancing, there is no need for exotic hardware or "highly available" systems but it is obviously preferable for games to be on reliable equipment. Partnering with a reliable hosting provider that maintains connectivity and fast hardware repairs is also an important consideration.