I came up with an abstraction that might be useful. It took me 7 years to uncover it.
I am not making a game. I am building an AI that makes a game.
....
So a lot of the "normal" rules don't apply. I have to design "AI fuel" - algorithms. Any particular design is just an exercise to understand patterns that I can teach to a machine.
--
I think you shouldn't bother with a game and write us a book!
That said, if you really want to stick with games, there were great exploration and interaction ideas in Tiny & Big grandpa's leftovers.
. I've wanted to make games since I was 5.
There's something which irks me: MMO.
Why MMO? They're not realistic at all when it comes to finishing a product. They're hopelessly difficult to make, impossible even, and then there's the blahblah [insert reason why mmo-projects are bad]. Having massive player base on the same server isn't even providing any great benefit for most of the games. Well, if it's done like Minecraft multiplayer, I'll shut my mouth!
The issue with MMOs is that they are content nightmares. You just need a lot of it. Since I'm generating mine this isn't an issue. There aren't any games in existence that do this, that I play, other than Minecraft. So it's tough to compare.
Think Minecraft meets a design that keeps massive servers civil and productive. The players are the workforce in content production. I am just the guy that builds the sandbox that encourages good behaviour.
---
Thanks for the support.
It's not about the destination, it's about the journey.
That was my best Graham impersonation, I'm sorry
Wasn't a bad one.
The potential conflict between the words under your avatar and the events unfolding here have me intrigued. Plus I like your thoughts, and want to see if you can actually manage them into a playable form ;P "Minimum viable product" for "lifelike MMO" is a contradiction I would like to see exist.
Thank you.
Think maximizing depth per "unit" of content in the world. That's the goal.