Well, this is a full scale Java3D MMORPG work in progress. Our team is working very hard to bring a state of the art Java online world to the gaming community. Feel free to check out our website http://www.magicosm.net. Also, if you think you have the skill and dedication to be part of the team, be sure to shoot us an email.
-Jeremy Squiers
Magicosm Server Developer
I have seen it before, and interested in it of course 
Any date on beta, preview anything? Interested in the performance
Well, I’m hoping we have some sort of test release ready by the end of the summer, but it is really hard to estimate these things since we are all working on it in our spare time. The team has really been picking up momentum in the last month, so we’ll see what happens.
As far as performance, once the game loads, there aren’t any performance problems, and I’ve been running it on an AMD 600Mhz. Magicosm co-founder Dave Yazel has done truly amazing things with Java and Java3D on the client.
[quote]once the game loads, there aren’t any performance problems
[/quote]
Bad startup time then? ;D
I’m really looking forward to seeing this - the screenshots are by far the most professional looking Java3D work I’ve seen.
Actually, I don’t even know if I could say the startup time is all that bad. When I start up Unreal Tournament on the same machine, it takes almost as long.
I’m really anxious for us to get this game ready for public testing, but we’ve got some work ahead of us first. :o
Hi Jeremy
Dave Burke
Oh, hi Dave!
All I can say is: “Wow!” :o
P.S. Is Magicosm a download or do you have to buy it?
wow!!! very very impressive! Keep it up!
The current plan is that the Magicosm client software will be a free download (or a CD can be ordered) and you will have to pay a subscription fee in order to play on the server.
[quote]you will have to pay a subscription fee in order to play on the server.
[/quote]
Darn it! >:(Couldn’t you make it so that we pay for the game, but the server is free?!
Actually, I don’t mind a subscription fee if it is reasonable and pays for something… i.e. content. Not having to purchase the software is definately an added bonus. Just make sure all of us get in on the beta so we can play for free for awhile.
While it would be nice to have free server use, there are a few reasons why we can’t.
The cost of maintaining the server and bandwidth for the long term would have to be covered by subscription. A one time cost would have to be a lot to cover someone who would potentially be playing for years to come.
When the game is established, we have plans to release the client as open source. We would no longer be able to keep the game running if we don’t have some way of maintaining long term income, which would have to come from server use.
Most of us on the team would like to at some point make “working on Magicosm” our full time job and be able to support our families nicely while doing so. It would not be possible to do this with a mmorpg without charging a subscription.
One the bright side, most other MMORPGs (like Everquest), charge $50 for the client, and make you subscribe on top of that. We, on the otherhand, are providing the client for free and have plans to open source it once it is established in the gaming community.
Yeah… that’s what I’m after too. There are lots of games that I would play if they were like that, but I won’t play them because of the subscription aspect. (Although obviously it does attract enough players to work if you have a good game.)
I think the solution (and I should patent this… ) is to use in-game advertising. Call them ‘sponsors’, whatever… if you can go to the INN and buy an Ale… well that’s the perfect spot for a keg 'o Budwiser to be sitting :). I know it could be carried away… but if it was integrated tastefully into the game it could work. After all, why shouldn’t there be advertising in your game world as there is in the real world?
Some online games have looked into this – it’s called “branded content” (IIRC).
While it’s a possible source of revenue, you have to be very careful with so as not to piss of the players.
I think sports games are especially looking at…
I have actually had thoughts about in-game advertising (inspired by the movie The Truman Show). I think there are possibilities there, but our problem is that they would have to fit in with a medieval fantasy world and be subtle enough that it doesn’t get cheesy.
“Hi, I’m Skullcrusher the Barbarian! You may remember me from such battles as The Destruction of Krondole, or The Supression of the Goblins. When I’ve had a hard day crushing gridbugs, I like nothing better than to sit back with a flagon of Mountain Dew…” :
See! It Works! ;D
Seriously, I think you could get people to make the advertising fit in. You might even get sponsors to participate on a larger scale. Like running a magic shop or something as a NPC that knows stuff about products in other worlds. Unless the real players actually asked, it the sponsors NPC wouldn’t talk to much about non-game-world things. But obviously the fantasy games don’t work as well for this stuff as maybe something like The Sims would.
Hi
Yor not the first to think of it :), in space games it’s even easier, individual space stations can have sponsers with large banners around the station. There are advertising banners (with nothing real being advertised) in Unreal tournament too :). Wether or not you could get enough advertising to cover the costs of every server is another matter though.
Cheers
Endolf
What would stop people from running their own servers and establishing their own worlds? How much of the crucial code is found in the client?
It looks really nice, looking forward to it.