[Basic nub question] Emulation/repacks/servers

[mmodame]

Ok so I have spent a lot of time looking at emulation and trying to figure out the best way for my daughters (and me) to play around a bit. My oldest also is somewhat interested in game design adn programming so I think eventually she'd like to write custom stuff but she definitely isn't ready to do anything major right off the bat. I do have some programming experience but it was quite a while ago (Vbasic, cobol, pascal, java) and minimal exposure to SQL/other DBs.

There seem to be lots of guides out there for different pieces of the process but I think I might be misunderstanding something pretty fundamental on how it all fits together.

Sooo...after all that blabber let me see if I understand the basics and maybe get some help from you all on where to go from here:
#1 you need an emulator to build a server to play on/read the database
#2 you need a db backbone and maintenance tool (mysql/navicat, whatever)
#3 you need a way to compile/write in C++
#4 you need a repack or to build a db from scratch(the world you play in)
#5 scripts - (C++) are the functions/actions that run the world - do they come in repacks or do you have to build from scratch?

Is building my own clean blizz-like reasonable (I own all the games) without a lot of programming to start with? Or am I better off with trying someone elses first?

[stoneharry]

#1 you need an emulator to build a server to play on/read the database

The emulator creates the world for you to play in, it's what allows you to login and move around, to cast spells and the likes. This is scripted in C++, and you need to the source code to make. Repacks compile it for you, but then you can't update it yourself and such, so it's obviously better to compile yourself if you can.

#2 you need a db backbone and maintenance tool (mysql/navicat, whatever)

The database handles the data for the server, accounts, characters, items, creatures, gameobjects, and where they are etc. You will need a program, like you mentioned, to be able to edit/create/delete this data, and a SQL server to be able to run it.

#3 you need a way to compile/write in C++

Visual C++ Studio will allow you to compile and edit the source code for a WoW emulator, but it is not required. You can simple run a repack, but compiling is always better.

#4 you need a repack or to build a db from scratch(the world you play in)

You need a repack or to compile the source code yourself. A database you can download from a variety of projects that are available, each offering different blizzlike aspects. You can then work from this and add your own content/fix things yourself, but it is short task.

#5 scripts - (C++) are the functions/actions that run the world - do they come in repacks or do you have to build from scratch?

If your using a Ascent based emulator (such as ArcEmu) they usually support Lua. Lua is a lightweight language that allows the user to quickly edit/make scripts and apply them without even needing to restart the server. It is very fast to develop using this language, but it will never be as good as C++. You can also do whatever you want to Lua scripts using a repack or compiling your own. C++ is what all the main emulators (Ascent based and Mangos based) use. Wcell and some other use C#, but they are no where near as advanced as the C++ emulators yet. C++ is what the emulator actually runs on, so you will be able to edit anything. You will need to compile your own core and not use a repack to be able to do anything C++ related.

Is building my own clean blizz-like reasonable (I own all the games) without a lot of programming to start with? Or am I better off with trying someone elses first?

You don't want to build your own blizzlike database/emulator. Trust me. It will take you months and months of hard work just to achieve a little bit. Take one of the current emulators and databases, and work from there. You can edit it/add to it as you want from there.

Hope this answered some of your questions.

As far as emulators go, the main features are:
Mangos/Trinity: More blizzlike, more works, more hard-coded.
ArcEmu: More customisable, more user friendly, Lua.

[mmodame]

Oh that is awesome, thank you for that complete description I knew I was a bit confused! I was a schmuck and gave out too much rep already today but I'll make sure to try again in a bit!