World of StarCraft is, by all indications, high on the list of desirable games that have never been announced or even hinted at. It's certainly a universe ripe for development, and it's not as if Blizzard doesn't know anything about running an MMO. But why wait for an official release when you can put the game together yourself? That's what's behind the rather intuitively named project making therounds today -- an effort to use the powerful map editor in StarCraft II to create a full MMO within the existing game's framework.
While development is still in the very early stages, and of course the project is wholly unofficial, it's a fascinating use of player-edited gameplay as well as a display of just how much people want to play in the world as an MMO. Take a look at the trailer past the cut to see the surprising amount of work that's been done on converting the RTS into a more familiar genre -- although bear in mind that the official forums have been getting rather hammered before you go nuts.
I would love something like this. Of course I would be more thrilled to here it was from Blizzard themselves, but even a fan made hack could be fun. However, I don't expect grandpa Blizz will allow it to exist for a minute past when they find out about it :(
Ok, I want to just say to the creators of this: you guys are pretty amazing, this is really impressive. However, this music is terrible. Electronica has come a long way since 1996, seriously guys. That aside, amazing work, kudos.
@Utakata Yes! I know... It's gotten a lot better since then. And don't trip, I listen to plenty of electronic music, including trance :)
I wanted to listen to it again to make sure it was as bad as I remembered, but the video got removed :( What a bummer. I'm interested to see what possible kind of grounds for copyright infringement Blizzard could have against a Starcraft game made using the Starcraft level editor.... I mean, I suppose it could be because it ripped off World of Warcraft, but if that's copyright infringement, then so is like every MMO...
My thought exactly. Its content being made with the Starcraft 2 level editor that is about Starcraft. As long as they don't try to make a profit off of it, I don't really see how it could be breaking any laws, especially because Blizzard wants you to create content by including the level editor in the first place.
The modding community is where the industry needs to look for the best ideas imho. These guys have talent and passion for the games they love, not the suits or lawyers or whatever makes up today's driving force behind the "Lets try to be Blizzard" release or "Lets play it safe and make some cash and get out quick" mentality that keeps our favorite hobby stale and unsatisfying. For example, I play alot of ARMA 2, not the actual game, but mods created by the community on a private server which are, only in my opinion, much more satisfying than the original game itself. These are the people that need to make my next MMO, because they can develop a truly exceptional experience unpaid and on their own time. They should be recognized and snapped up by these developers ASAP, and fire the suits to make up for the additional salaries. Can I get a AMEN?
