Getting into emulation

[P1raten]

Introduction
Hello there, and welcome to my "Getting into emulation" tutorial.
If you are reading this you probably want to get into emulation of some sort, and dont worry, ill do my best to explain everything to you.

In this guide ill be covering the following:
-The most common emulators
--ArcEmu
--Trinity
--Mangos

-Most common Languages
--C++
--Lua

-Different Server types
--Custom
--Funserver
--Blizzlike
--PvP

The most common Emulators

ArcEmu
ArcEmu is probably the most used emulator today, and also the most userfriendly. It is based on the emulator Ascent which was one of the first "successful" emulators. It is being flamed constantly of being a ascent copy&paste emulator, but that doesnt stop the ArcEmu team from continuing their development. ArcEmu uses a SVN which makes it very easy for you to download.

ArcEmu currently supports patch 3.3.2. And one of the things i like about it most is that it supports the programming language Lua.

Most people choose ArcEmu since its the easiest to use when being creative. Hyperion is one example of creativity.

Trinity
Trinity is a Mangos fork, which means that it's based of Mangos. And this thread aswell has many times been accused of being a copy&paste core. The Trinity team claims to have better DB interaction, which they do. There are many things that you can change from the database, which is great.

Trinity currently supports patch 3.3.3a. Trinity is great when having a PvP server, since it is by far the core with the most working spells that i've seen.

Trinity can be hard to obtain get due to it using HG, which most users dont know how to work with.

Mangos
I am not very familiar with mangos, and there is therefore not very much that i can tell you about it.

Mangos currently supports patch 3.3.3a (correct me if im wrong).

Most common Languages

C++
C++ is the richest language in the emulator scene. The only limitation to this language is your imagination.

Although it is a very good language it takes more than one day to learn, and therefore most people dont want to learn it.

Even though some people may think so you dont need to know C++ to work with C++ in the emulation scene.

Here's an example:

_unit->SendChatMessage(CHAT_MSG_MONSTER_YELL, LANG_UNIVERSAL, "The wheel... spins... again...");

This isn't very hard to understand, right?

The unit(the mob) sends a chatmessage, it yells it in the universal language. And it yells; "The wheel... spins... again...".

That wasn't very hard now was it?

Lua
Lua is in my opinion the most user friendly language in the emulation scene. Your able to do big things with little knowldge.

A good example is my House system

And if you have a little more experience you might be do something like Hyperion that i mentioned before.

Different Server types

Custom
There are many server owners who claim that their server is custom. I dont know what their definition is of the word, but it certainly doesnt comply with my definition.

My definition of custom is a custom story line, custom quests. Custom level 1 to level X leveling.

To better help you illustrate in your mind what custom really means i got a video for you;
YouTube - Alliance Custom Leveling Preview.

Funserver

My definition of Funserver is everything from having a mall and levelroad to starting at level 80.

When making a Funserver you need to look at other funservers and give your server what theirs doesnt have, obviousley.

Even though a custom leveling road may be fun try to vary yourself.

Blizzlike
I've seen several blizzlike servers which have custom items, and that annoys me bigtime.
Blizzlike means that a server is as blizzlike as it can be. Having a set the Killrate and XP rate to x2 or something like that is acceptable.

Remember that hear aswell your able to vary yourself. They have fun events on retai, dont they? Do some events to keep the server alive. That excludes stair events.

PvP
A pvp server is all about Player Versus Player.

When making a PvP server one of the key things to think about is; "How will the players get gear?" Most of you may answer this question by saying "Vendors". Although i suggest that you use them this isnt the only thing i'd suggest. How much fun is it to PvP if you get all the good gear at the beginning? Try to get some PvP tokens etc. So that players earn their gear.

Conclusion

Getting into emulation is not the hardest thing to do so if you are thinking about doing then stop thinking and do it.

I may update this guide in the future.

That's all from me.

Over and Out. //P1raten

[davidknag]

nice post but u forgot to write about gm servers :P

[P1raten]

nice post but u forgot to write about gm servers :P

Those servers are retarded.

[davidknag]

did u just insult me?

[Seriouskip]

Nice start

Could use on how to start picking up C++ and LUA.

[Confucius]

Trinity Core is 3.3.3a

[P1raten]

Trinity Core is 3.3.3a

Thank you.

[Breakdawn]

Those servers are retarded.

Indeed

did u just insult me?

If you like GM servers... then yes atleast I will

[Nydelevien]

Thanks for the small guide. It was very informative.

[dekription]

This was a great read. I have been wondring wether or not to start a private server i have been playing on my private server for a few years and now Finding this website has completly shifted my thought towards devoloping one! Thanks MMowned. Also very informative +rep

[Grif]

Quite short and informative +Rep
Would be nice to see some more stuff added as time goes, but good job.