All I've got is a concept... what's next?

[TotalNoob]

I ask for anyone's advice, many thanks in advance. I think I may have come up with a new game-concept, I'm searching through all possible indie gamesites and haven't found anything like it yet. I'm very sure it won't be the next Tetris, but it will be fun.

My problem is that I'm totally new to the world of gamedevelopment. I'm a gamer, but I couldn't program if my life depended on it. So I come directly to the experts in the field for some advice: where do I go from here? This concept would be perfect for the new Nintendo Revolution-controller, but something tells me it's not evident to just send it to Nintendo, right :lol: ?

And how do you guys prevent someone from just ripping you off? In my normal day-life I write scenarios for sitcoms, and thus far I've been ripped off twice. Absolutely hate that! So is the gamesindustry also known for this?

Any advice is welcome. What are the typical traps of the industry I should avoid? What is the best way to go if all I have is a concept and some - rather ugly - graphic designs? Many thanks to anyone who's willing to help me set the first steps on the right path :worthy: !

[NomadRock]

I hate to sound pessimistic, but ideas are a dime a dozen. If you've got no product to back up your idea, no publisher is going to care. You could try to convince other studios to do your idea, but everyone has several ideas of their favorite game, why would they choose yours instead of the one they consider the best?

If you want to learn to program, or get together with other programmers *maybe* just maybe you can eventually get there, but even with this tactic the number of designers that actually make it to a finished game are dismally low.

Another solution that is probably less viable for you is to change careers. Try to get into the game industry on the bottom floor and work your way up with other designers. Then maybe you eventually get to design the sequel to some other game whos origional designer got canned. Perhaps with enough titles under your belt they let you run with your own design.

Short of the above, I think the best path would be to dream every once in a while about how cool it would be if someone would make a game like "____" and just go on with whatever you were doing before.

Feel free to prove me wrong by going out, mustering a team together and crafting a game from blood and tears alone, but you'd have to be a mighty optomist.

[bignobody]

The usual answer is "don't worry about it, ideas are a dime a dozen". Which is true, ideas really aren't worth anything. It's the proper execution of an idea that has value.

If you're really serious about your idea, your next step should probably be to get a prototype or proof-of-concept together. You're a little light on the details, but assuming it's not any more complicated than Tetris, something like Macromedia Flash might be a good tool to create it with. Also, assuming you don't intend to learn how to program yourself first, you can hire a flash programmer much cheaper than an C++ programmer ;)


Do "ripoffs" occur in the games industry? Sure, they're called game clones, and they're everywhere. But then again, the same can be said for the TV and movie industry. Very very few original ideas.

In the end, if you can't do it all yourself and you have a lot of faith in your idea, you're going to have to "put your money where your mouth is" to turn your idea (which is worthless) into the execution of the idea (which potentially can have value). Good luck!

[bignobody]

I hate to sound pessimistic, but ideas are a dime a dozen.

lol, posted while I was typing my post about the usual response. :lol:

[TotalNoob]

Thank you guys. Found a very helpful site in the meantime - sloperama - and I agree it looks very grim. Much much harder than publishing a book for instance, which I've done. That's the reason I suspected the gamesindustry might work similarly to publishing. Doesn't look that way :blush: ...

Btw, by "ripping you off" I mean exactly that, the appearance of game clones is pretty hard to prevent I guess. But since my concept is a new one, I was more concerned about someone just stealing it and letting you hang out to dry. That happened twice to me, and it's not funny.

[bignobody]

There's always self-publishing. That's the road I'm taking. Web space is quite inexpensive these days. I've only spent about $500.00 CDN so far (including business start up costs, tools, web space, etc.). Of course, not having to hire a programmer certainly helps keep the costs down ;)

[business]

Ahh this is a topic I think about pretty often. First step I would say, would be to not get discouraged by some of the negative stuff above. Creative ideas are REALLY important in the video game industry, but nowadays seem to be taking a back seat to things like graphics and sales figures. I really hope that the industry has a huge collapse and good original games get a chance to make a comeback. Getting back on topic, you should read through the game engines forum and see if any of the engines seem like they would be able to handle your game. Download demos from engine websites to get a feel for their capabilities, and check out the forums for engines you are interested in, to see what other people are using them for, and to check out the level of support from the developers. Which engine could run your game with the least amont of programming? What is the price like? How soon do you want to start working on the game, and when would you hope to complete it by?

I would go through all the material you have come up with so far, and try to write down every possible detail about the game, how it will work. Play it over and over in your mind. You said that you have some rough concept art, that's good. Do you know any programmers or artists at all?

If your idea is even halfway good, it will be ripped off. The usual method is to keep original game ideas a secret, as much as possible, until you're pretty far along in development. That way you'll be pretty close to release when someone decides to make a tribute to your game by ripping it off, either directly or indirectly. A wierd thing about the game industry is that lots of game designers think along the same lines. I can think of about 10 different times where my friend and I will think up a great game idea, talking about it for hours and hours. 3-6 months later we read about some crappy version of the game we thought we invented, being developed somewhere. So if you don't get your game at least announced, this may happen. Which would be worse: Announcing your game and being ripped off, or not announcing your game and risk being called a copycat if someone else announces a similar game before you? I'm not sure. Lots of professional studios keep their game projects secret, even in their help wanted ads. If you apply and get a response back, they'll usually tell you then what game they're working on.

If you want to handle development and publishing on your own, I'd look into a cheap engine and finding a couple people to help you out. Lots of people still develop games independently, just check out the Home of the Underdogs site for proof of that. If your game is going to be freeware project you may be able to find volunteers to help out, on a site like this one. But if you plan on selling it, expect to pay your team. You'll have to recruit some people, and be able to judge their skill. How do you gauge a game programmer's skill? I have no idea!

Trying to get backing from a publisher seems like a more difficult approach. You'd probably need to research your publishers and find out who is most likely to publish your type of game. Certain publishers have published lots of original titles, while others stick to franchises and sequals. You'd need to have a working prototype of your game, if only one level or section, to show how them how the game plays. So maybe you could work independently, but start searching for publishers once you reach a certain point? Once you found a publisher, you'd have to negotiate with them about royalties and such, and try to work out a deal where you get screwed out of as little money and rights as possible. The only thing I can think of to help you out in this scenario, is that the less people your game will take to build, the better. Better meaning cheaper and possibly less risky for them to fund (just a guess). Also the more detail you have and can get into at this point the better, I would guess

The other possibility was mentioned by NomadRock - where you get a job at a game studio, and after a long time possibly get to do your game idea.

So.....pretty discouraging, but it can be done. A guy and his wife in Hungary are making a fun game called Mount & Blade, which you can download and unlock for $10. If you want to read some great articles about original ideas, developers, and publishers, check out Scott Miller's page www.gamematters.com (http://dukenukem.typepad.com/game_matters/)

Hope this helps

[Axehilt]

"Ideas are a dime a dozen" and "execution is everything" is true regardless of the medium. There are plenty of writers, movie makers, and game studios who have great ideas but fail to execute them well.

Regarding ideas in general, I read a particularly fitting quote from Chris Taylor on design recently, but can't find the exact article. Paraphrased, it went something like, "If you can just talk about a concept, and it gets you excited to play the game, then you're on to something."

As for how to approach the creation of the game, business' advice seems about the best you can get. Part of how you approach the creation of the game will be determined by exactly what you want to accomplish with the game: whether you want it created for the fun of turning your idea into reality, or for profit as well.

Lastly, different types of games necessitate different sized dev teams. A single person could create a simple puzzle game, but it takes a very large team to create a MMORPG. The more complex your game is, the more likely you'll need more programmers. And the more content your game has (art, level design, quests/missions/whatever, and sounds) the more content creators you'll need.

[0cool40]

get a note book to draw storyboard your game keep it as a log to help you if you use director it makes the file to where no won can steel it or reverice engener it to steel your work.allso get a lawer to make up your ( example) USER LICENSE AGREEMENT ("EULA") IS A LEGAL AGREEMENT BETWEEN YOU (EITHER AN INDIVIDUAL OR, IF PURCHASED OR OTHERWISE ACQUIRED BY OR FOR AN ENTITY, AN ENTITY) READ IT CAREFULLY BEFORE COMPLETING THE INSTALLATION PROCESS AND USING THE SOFTWARE. IT PROVIDES A LICENSE TO USE THE SOFTWARE AND CONTAINS WARRANTY INFORMATION AND LIABILITY DISCLAIMERS. BY INSTALLING AND USING THE SOFTWARE, YOU ARE CONFIRMING YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF THE SOFTWARE AND AGREEING TO BECOME BOUND BY THE TERMS OF THIS AGREEMENT. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THESE TERMS, THEN DO NOT INSTALL THE SOFTWARE AND RETURN THE SOFTWARE TO YOUR PLACE OF PURCHASE FOR A FULL REFUND.
there is more to it just an idea for ya

[Methulah]

Yeah, but that is a long way down the track.

[Ellis1138]

My first post here. I'm in a similar boat as you, although less optimistic. I guess I can try to help you by telling you what steps we're taking.

First off, we researched what game engines we'll need, and what we can do. We decided to have servers run on Linux, since it's more stable for a 24/7 playing game.

Then, I researched everywhere I could on the internet (including finding this forum), and began to make a list of books we need for programming and design and various internet articles to read. To keep costs down, I check on eBay and Amazon.com for used books. I wound up getting Thor Alexanders MMO Deleopment Book #1 for $9, with shipping. We are dedicating much of our spare time this year to rersearch and design. There will be nothing coded until such time as we have a solid plan for each part of the game. We're doing a persistent world, model, though, so it's harder than a single-person game, maybe.

I would say you need to learn at least programming fundamentals, even if you get a team to work for you. Unsupervised programmers often become sloppy, fail to document code, tell you something "can't" be done or wind up slacking off on actual projects while working on whatever new fun thing catches their fancy. So, as the project leader, you'll have to be firm, and need to know enough about it that you'll be aware if someone's not doing their job.

I wish you much luck in the endeavors, whether you decide to attempt it, or just leave it as a dream.

[Methulah]

Nice advice Ellis, and good luck on your project. You seem to be one of few inexperienced developers going straight into the MMO sector with solid planning and design. Good luck.