Assembling core team for PvE sandbox MMORPG

Hi everyone. I am currently looking into assembling a team for an interesting project - a purely PvE online RPG “sandbox”. If this is something that catches your attention (and possibly overlaps with your own concepts), please read on!

About the game concept:
The game’s main theme is colonization - building of civilization from the ground up. Players are cast into hostile environment, where they have to establish simple settlements and develop them by acquiring resources, building supply paths and conquering territory. The focus is on cooperation (PvE) rather than competition (PvP) - this includes robust economy and crafting systems, trade routes, player-generated missions etc. Overall, the game tries to provide a framework (world) for players to shape.

Bullet points:

  • Focus on player cooperation and grouping as well as player-generated content
  • Open-ended, “off rails” gameplay
  • Semi-procedural PvE content
  • Class-less character progression with non-combat skill trees

Note that the setting is open - the game was originally envisioned as low/mid-fantasy open world, but we (me and my buddy artist) have recently prototyped a space-sim version of it with some success. Although I am personally more drawn to the original fantasy setting, it is definitely more resource hungry so we would see what the team would prefer (and be able to deliver).

What is done:
Tech-wise, the netcode for the game is in pretty good shape already. Design-wise, I do have the core concept for the game developed and there were prototypes of various parts of the design on different engines to evaluate the options.

Who am I looking for:
You probably see that the above description is somehow vague. While I do have much more detailed concept in hand, I am not an “idea guy” who just wants to find people who would bring his ideas to life. I am looking for people with similar taste in gaming to co-develop the core ideas, help design the game from the ground up and in the end build their dream game.

At this point, I am mostly looking to fill the following core roles:

  • Concept artists and modelers to define the basic “look & feel” for the world, environments and props
  • Level designer(s) able to prototype various environments in engine
  • I will of course consider anyone with passion for this kind of project :slight_smile: just let me know how do you think you could help!

Due to the early stage of the project, I am only looking for people with some prior experience. The initial team as I envision it would be about 6 people strong and once we have the fundamentals nailed down, we would grow it as necessary (would be much easier with some awesome screenshots in hand, wouldn’t it?).

If you think of joining the project, please be sure you can dedicate at least 8-10 hours every week to it. The project is being developed with the idea of small team working on it - meaning the scope is very reasonable - but we would still need you to be able to contribute continuously and finish your part of the work in time.

About me:
I am a professional game developer (programmer) with 8+ years of experience developing AAA games for PC and console. I have some experience with team leading and production as well. Thus I feel very comfortable leading the technical side of the project and I can provide some insight into content pipelines if needed. At the beginning, I can also provide team leadership and management, although if the team grows larger in the future, I would like to get a dedicated person to do that.

In case you are interested in joining, or need more info to decide, please contact me by PM on forums or drop me an email: .ddg [at] gmail [dot] com!

Thanks to everyone who read the whole thing :slight_smile: Cheers,

Update: looking for two more concept/3D artists! Please PM me if interested

I know how to 3D model, but the only issue I have is I would like help on how to actually import them and rig them, I am also a Graphic Designer who can help set up images and such for ui’s and huds, game menu, advertisements and logo and game cover. Wouldn’t mind even pitching in my 2 cents on ideas and concept art, pm me or email me if interested email

Is this going to be a survival game? Also would it be set on an alien planet with futuristic weapons, rideable alien creatures and mysterious biomes? That would be awesome if it was and would be interested in joining :slight_smile:

You didn’t see his work experience? Its clearly -snip-

@anonymous_user_fb796d6c: Also, if you’ve constructed a prototype for each engine to weigh the benefits, may I assume you’ve found Unity to be just as good as Unreal ? http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/recruiting-assembling-core-team-for-pve-sandbox-mmorpg-artists-needed.351710/