BYOND: The MMORPG Maker! (Not mine but this is basically an advertisement)

http://www.byond.com/?page=Start

I don't know if any of you have heard of it before, but I would like to think it would be a wonderful thing to introduce this free 2D Online game maker that I've used and played games on since 2003. I believe this topic is better suited in Advertisements because I'm trying to show everyone what it is and possible get people interested in using it!

What Is BYOND?

Note: BYOND is short for Build Your Own Net Dream.

"BYOND is 100% free, and is excellent"
-- Richard Bartle, father of the MUD.

BYOND is the premier community for playing free online multiplayer games with friends from around the world. Online gaming available 24/7, with thousands of people like you, playing the kinds of games you like.

[Today's Stats!]
4805 players online now!
346 games in progress now!
Play with your friends.
Make new friends from around the world.

Byond uses it's own program called Dream Maker to create games. In order to create games you have to have icons )Sprites), maps, and coding. The coding is basically the same as C++, and it's pretty simple at first.

Introduction to Dream Maker
(Dream Maker is the system I use to edit and create my sprites <3)

Opening Interface:

Spoiler for:

Icon Interface:

Spoiler for:

[Note, the side bar is blocked out because it has some of my icons names that I don't want people to know that pertain to my book and world]
The interface is small, but you can fit VX sprites in there, 2K sprites, but not XP sprites, you'll have to code the upper icon which would be the head. This is also where you will put the turf icons, A.K.A. the map tiles.

Inside The Icon Interface:

Spoiler for:

The icon making interface is basically like every other program, simple, except for three things. 1. That checkered background is actually transparent, the colors can be changed and won't change the colors in the background already on the sprite, and three is that the Swap command swaps a color with another one. The arrows rotates or moves the icon, so that's pretty nifty <3

Example Of Coding:

Spoiler for:

Now that might look confusing as hell at first, but that's a battle system almost exactly like Final Fantasy 4, so it's pretty high in the medium/advanced level. That's actually only part of the coding, but it works! Coding starts off simple, with verbs, turfs, and mobs [Npcs]. There are code files on the site that people made for public use, like a guild system and the sort, and you learn by looking at coding files or learning C++.

The Map:

Spoiler for:

The map is where you put the map[duh], title screens, and other things of the sort. Where it says Turf, there will also be branches likes Mobs, Events, and other things. When you create a map you get the option of choosing the sizes. Like from 1000x1000 and 100 maps(But that takes TOOO long to load, and is not needed to be that big)


Example Of The Games Currently On Byond

Role-playing Genre: Icon Fantasy! (This is the third game I ever found on Byond, and have been friends with the creator and players since)


Starting Screen:

Spoiler for:

When you click Start you begin by choosing your icon from a file, then this screen appears.

Character Information:

Spoiler for:

As you can see, this game is heavily RPish. You fill out all the info about your character, and when you click done ta-da! Your in the game!

The game used to be up a lot, but it's been down for awhile due to school for everyone. You can build your own houses using the Build Tab in the screen, and you can role play over the world using a verb, or role play to people only in your view!


Final Fantasy Genre: Final Fantasy 5, Another World's Battle System

Final Fantasy V Another World Battle:

Spoiler for:

The cool thing about this game is that it does have a job system implented, but you only get to choose between Bartz, Leena, Farris, and Galuf as characters. The maps are different, and jobs are spread out secretly all over the world. ALSO, when you change classes, your overworld icon changes to look like your job class!


Basically I don't know what to say anymore, except the fact that there are TONS and TONS more games out there, such as Naruto games, bleach games, DBZ games(Avoid like the plague), Action games, some Resident Evil games, Horror games, Mystery games, puzzle games, chat games, role playing games, and MUDs even! The possibilites are almost endless!

But I ask anyone who reads this to reply and tell me if it they would be interested in trying it out or not. I'm hoping I can get some people here to at least try playing on BYOND and maybe even make their own game, but that might not happen as well. But please, if you are interested, please reply to this topic.

[/suckatadvertising]

I have BYOND and know some stuff, and it's really fun once you learn the basics.    Plus, there are some really nice games to play in there.

Ahh,byond the good old days  Before I used Rpg maker i used byond I liked the Icon Ultima Game Me and my friend would spam everyone with objects,I was making a game but Like one night at 1:00 am I found this and eventually quit Byond

Icon Ultima is my enemy, and I so hated people who spammed objects in games that allow you to.

Ever play Icon Fantasy?

No,I usually Played anime Games etc. it pissed me off tho that there were so many ripps. and people who claim to have created it.
I was making a non-rip Pokemon game...soo far Pokeball system,like 20 Pokemon,Pokemon Moves,Like 2 Towns I was almost ready to have testers :O,Have you ever played Pkmn Lightning Yellow or Dragon Ball z Dx?They were my friends games.

I forgot the name of the pokemon games I've played, but what is yours called?

Yeah, the rips are pretty annoying.... I don't play Anime games much anymore.

Well i never released mine but it WAS going to be called Pokemon Opal,What was Your Key?
Mine Was P00NAGE 

We have our RPG Maker 2k3, XP, VX.. No need those BYOND, it looks almost the same as RM.. So..

Uhhh.... Let's see, Online Capability.... In-maker sprite making.... It's not all that useless, thank you very much ^^

I'm sorry for not replying, but my Key was KirkBlaze (Don't ask, I was ten. ) But now it's Kirk Vanfel.

*Makes his sprites with the BYOND Dream Maker program.*

This maker's limitations are in how you distribute your game.  The rest, in my opinion, is very good.  Although I would prefer more freedom in customizing a game's interface, I still like this a lot.  The language is not that hard to learn.  Like Redwyn said, this maker has a very good basic graphics editor that is perfect for spriting, and that even allows you to create animations.

This is much more than an MMORPG maker.  You can create almost any online game you can imagine.  Go look at the website and you'll understand what I mean.  Actually, this is not exactly an MMORPG maker, but you can easily create one.  There are many good guides to help you: detailed help files (documentation), tutorials, resources, community forums, etc.

I recommend that if you want to get started, do so with a simple chat client.  Then start adding more things such as graphics, custom actions, and so on.  If you want a chat client that lets you choose a sprite and walk around and see who you're chatting with in a 2D environment, it's not hard to achieve it.  The basic guide actually tells you how to do this.

So yeah.  You should give it a try.

Note:  I considered using BYOND for RMRKU.  But it's the way in which I'd have to distribute the game, what I don't like.  The users would have to get BYOND in order to play it, and that could get in the way, because many would not trust it, or would be too lazy to learn how to use it.