Board Thread:Wiki Discussion/@comment-4242472-20160316123015

So the other day the idea of making a video game out of Sporewiki came up again thanks to several of us developing our skills in the CGI scene, particularly regarding 3D modeling. While there is enthusiasm whenever the matter comes up, what might be needed is a roadmap or a series of targets as there is concern we may be being ambitious with our plan. So I'll stick here what has already been discussed.

Right now I agree with several others that an MMO is out of the question: It requires server farms, 24/7 attendance, constant post-release balancing and a lot of expertise. They're also huge up-front investments so for now the current mood echoes the wish for an RPG. Also any Sporewiki game will need to be absent of any names or assets that could get us unpleasant attention from copyright holders.

One of the other of the first things to consider even before the game engine is a target demographic. What sort of group should our game be aimed at. This will allow us to direct tone, theme and complexity. Spore was criticised for being too 'kiddie' as EA wanted to aim the game at a much younger demographic than what came to make up most of its forums and fansites. While there is division at how popular Sporewiki is, there have been major franchises recently that never existed just a couple of years before. So what might make or break our attempts is making our setting adaptation distinct.

Once we have a basic idea of who this game would be best suited for, then we might be able to consider our engine. I don't now what's available other than Unity and Unreal, but a 3D game will allow us to use the talents of the budding 3D artists in the community.

Along with being somewhat unable to showcase the whole gigaquadrant in one game, it has been proposed (based on the copyright issue above) that what we make may have to stick to the Milky Way, Andromeda, Koldenwelt or possibly Borealis. A first game would be best suited serving just one region. That's not to say we're limited however; Dragon Age: Origins confines itself to the kingdom of Ferelden while the first Witcher video game takes place primarily in and around the city of Vizima. These are but small parts of these massive worlds.

Anything else could be put here, video games are multi-year projects and what turns up at E3 or Eurogamer has often been a couple of years in the pipeline already. For instance games like Mass Effect 2 and Fallout 4 were in first-phase development very soon after the last iterations of the franchises were released. 