In need of some advice for making a game...

[Rockonmetal]

Hello everyone. I am helping one of my friends make a game. We are using Game Maker to make the downloadable version of the game but the full game will be one that is probably going to be displayed online.

I am looking at the following types of gaming engines to run this game with. First you need to know a little bit about the game right? Well its a Grand Theft Auto like remake. Basically a free roam game with lots of options. Though we hope to add a real multi-player feel to it. So that its a community game that destroys everything...

The gaming engine must be able to connect to MySQL and run php scripts through it *unless it can access the database in some easier way to insert info...* The first version isn't going to deal with 3-D but we hope to be able to gradually bring it down to 3-D. I know that the size of this game might be too much for Macromedia Flash to cope with. I also know that Java is the gaming engine used by the game "Runescape" made by Jagex *not advertising, just giving an example.* I know that game is 3-D and is really one of our role models for what we hope to achieve.

Questions:
1. I almost have no prior experience with Java. I have many tutorials but never really tried it... So besides Java *unless its my best chance* what else is there that I can use? Would shockwave be a good idea? I know that its used in another 3-D game like Runescape... Though its not as advanced...

2. What do I have to download to make it so that it will run straight off my computer? What programs would help me? *I don't need an answer for flash... I own it already *

Thanks upfront!

[magicyte]

Questions:
1. Try it the old-fashioned way: BOOKS.

2. Download Java, maybe even use C/C++ with a server, at Sun Microsystems or Java.com.

-magicyte