The goal right now is to make the core foundation of the game as solid as possible. The core of the game is basic MMO functionality and mechanics, much of which is based on what are now referred to as 'old school' MMOs, like EQ, UO, DAoC, etc. Combat is the big focus. We've implemented the core classes and we've given them abilities (spells, stances, prayers, actions, etc.). We've created items and loot for levels 1-10. We've got dungeons and outdoor zones populated with encounters for that level range. We have basic mob AI in -- we can make an NPC a wizard and he will act a certain way, and use certain spells, or a warrior, etc. Basic NPC behaviors. We're focused on distances, when mobs aggro you, how long they'll follow you. We're focused on the core UI -- does the game feel responsive, the general UI intuitive? How long does a basic battle last? Does it feel right, or too short or too long? How difficult is soloing at lower levels, and then what happens if you bring friends? Situational awareness -- do you have to pay attention to what is going on around you during combat? Do you have to worry about adds? Can you stay in first person and focus on the battle, or do you need to make sure you don't wipe because you weren't paying attention and allowed other wandering and aggro mobs to get too near?
And then, ultimately, with all of this going on, is the basic game fun? I realize that this may seem like a 'duh', but it's really quite important. MMOs are complex and there's a lot going on, things you have to watch and keep track of, the role you are playing in a group, how you are equipped, etc. We have enough of the core game in now where we can holistically consider how all of these variables and formulas are coming together and discuss if it feels right, if it plays like we wanted it to play, and is it all fun?
The basic approach is what I call the 'skyscraper' approach. When you build a skyscraper, you first make sure you have a solid and deep foundation. Then when you are building upwards, adding on new stories, you don't have to worry about the structure crumbling around itself. This is what we are focused on now. We have a couple of outdoor zones, a couple of dungeons, and a city. We have content in for these core classes so you can level up to around 10. Items work, stats mean something, skills go up through use, core abilities/spells are there, grouping works, communication works. Auto-attack and tab targeting work, with offensive and defensive targets. Spells can be learned and memmed. There's not a lot of unique, Pantheon-specific, untried and inventive functionality yet, and that's by design. We're also not spending a ton of time on the visuals being fully fleshed out -- we don't need a lot of different animations, or player character models, or spell effects. All of that is certainly important, but it doesn't gate us from testing and establishing the fundamentals of MMO gameplay.
Some simple quests are being put in, but nothing too elaborate. Abilities and spells are mostly in families that you see in just about every MMO. The core classes are distinct so we can test interdependence -- that is fundamental.
Anyway, we basically have a playable old-school MMO. Everything fundamental to how an MMO of this style is pretty much in place. We also have temporary zones where we can quickly test combat (without having to wander about a huge outdoor zone), and we are logging combat messages with a lot of detail, so we can see the effects of a spell, or attributes or skills going up, or using one weapon vs another. The goal, like I've said, is to make sure we have a solid foundation that is also fun. The bells and whistles aren't necessarily there, but some polish is important (again, like in areas of the UI, does it feel responsive, does timing work and matter). A lot of it is objective, but some is subjective. But the ultimate goal is to establish this solid, core foundation so that when we build on it, increase the level range, put in the rest of the classes, create more varied zones, make more sophisticated NPC behavior, and start adding some of the more unique and untried Pantheon-specific game mechanics, we don't do something that brings the whole game down like a house of cards. We'll be able to tweak and tune things without breaking a ton of other aspects. We'll be able to change or even remove game mechanics and features without breaking the core of the game.
And when we do add and extend the core, we do it very modularly, one building block at a time. We don't put in complicated features and mechanics as detailed and complex as we hope to ship with all at once. One step at a time, building on what is already there, extending and adding. It's all part of an MMO development philosophy that I and others have developed over the last 15+ years. We've seen a lot of approaches that work, and probably more that don't work. We've seen MMOs developed where a ton of time and effort has been put into a system, but when that system is finally placed into the context of the rest of the game, it doesn't fit, or doesn't have the expected result. We've seen so much time, effort, and money wasted by not mitigating risk and approaching development very methodically. We've seen what feature creep can do. We've seen what waiting to put in basic systems until later can do. We've made probably more mistakes than done things right. And with Pantheon, keeping a lean and mean team going, and not having a huge budget, and not trying to appeal to everyone but making sure those we are targeting truly love the game, all of this stuff is important, even essential. So that's where we're at. I'm really happy with how much we've accomplished with so few people and in such a short amount of time. We do make mistakes, but rarely repeat old mistakes. We 'fail forward' if at all possible. We're leveraging our experience making these very complex games (there are many genres of games that are far easier to create) and trying to work both hard *and* smart.
Next we'll start building on this foundation, increasing the levels, building more content and zones, implementing the rest of the classes, and start modularly adding in the more complex systems, the newer and more exciting features, etc. Once we have enough content and functionality in place that we can't test it all ourselves, then we'll bring in our pre-alpha testers, and then after that our alpha testers. Then once we have more than a solid MMO foundation but actually a specific MMO called Pantheon, we'll start beta testing. Then we'll start to see areas that need to be tweaked, or systems that could be made better, or even ideas that don't pan out at all, and be able to address them without the game crumbling down around us. Early beta is where you start to address issues and tweak and balance things that just were not apparent with a much smaller group of testers. Later beta is where you start stress testing server load and look for problems that only arise when you have a game being played by roughly the same number of players you expect to be in the world after launch.
Anyway, I'll stop here. I've touched on a lot of things, a lot of philosophy behind how to build MMOs, how to avoid big mistakes, how to be efficient, how to know what to worry about now and what can be dealt with later. It's hard to make a single post that summarizes where we are at now and where we're headed, because it's all built on years and even decades of experience doing this sort of thing, seeing what works and what doesn't. But I tried to summarize it the best I could. Hopefully some of this makes some sense, and at the very least answers your question as to where the game is at now.
