Chapter: Chapter 2. How to Make Virtual Worlds
KEY TOPICS
Development
On Architecture
Theory and Practice
Virtual worlds are implemented using complicated pieces of software, but, contrary to what many developers would like to believe, they are by no means the most sophisticated programs in existence. Modern operating systems comfortably beat them, and they're dwarfed by major projects, such as air traffic control networks. When you read the following, therefore, remember that it could all be much, much worse.
This book is written from the perspective of a virtual world designer. The fun part of design is the creativity; the boring part is what you have to learn to inform the creative process. It's not surprising that many designers therefore omit this step. This is a Bad Thing. It is not enough to have played or even coded other virtual worlds; to do a good job, you have to understand how they work. For example, a college student putting together a textual virtual world might try out different codebases to see which is the most appropriate. Well yes, that sounds only sensible. However, it would be like someone who knows how to drive taking a selection of cars for a spin before deciding which to use as the basis for designing a car of their own. There is more to designing cars than finding something that suits your driving style; there is more to designing virtual worlds than finding something that suits your playing style. Before you can make a start you need to be aware of how virtual worlds function, what the components are, how they fit together, what can go wrong, and a whole host of other things.
A student building a virtual world from a kit has the excuse that in doing so they might actually learn some of the important design principles involved. The student's next world will consequently be much improved. Professional virtual world designers can fall back on no such justification. There are some things that they simply ought to know beforehand, whether they want to or not.
It's this background knowledge that this chapter is intended to impart.
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