17 replies to this topic

[OtherWorldCreator]

Hello, I am one of the many people with a game idea! I really think GIRLS and other people will love it. I have written it down and now I am stuck. I have no interest in actually physically developing the game myself...I am not that computer literate. I would like Rockstar or EA to develop it, or a new developer, with my input. I want to be the voice behind the project I need someone who can help me talk to the right people and help me pitch my idea in the most appropriate way possible. I am broke. No money to invest, just ideas... keeping it real. Help please? Thanks.

[frob]

There are multiple FAQ entries on that.

Read here. (Read the whole list, but the most applicable is Sloperama FAQ #1.)


Very short answer: Based on what you described, it won't happen.

[Rexxaw(Forgrim's mate)]

Hello, I am one of the many people with a game idea! I really think GIRLS and other people will love it. I have written it down and now I am stuck. I have no interest in actually physically developing the game myself...I am not that computer literate. I would like Rockstar or EA to develop it, or a new developer, with my input. I want to be the voice behind the project I need someone who can help me talk to the right people and help me pitch my idea in the most appropriate way possible. I am broke. No money to invest, just ideas... keeping it real. Help please? Thanks.

If you really think it's a good idea, then become computer literate.

Why do you write girls as GIRLS?

[OtherWorldCreator]

Hello! Thanks for replying. I wrote GIRLS as I did because I am a girl and I have noticed that alot of the video games I enjoy playing are aimed at males. I enjoy the customizing aspect of many games, as do many of my girlfriends, but I also enjoy raci ng and violence at times. I feel that girls will enjoy this game just as much as guys. I have tried to read programming books and such, the language just does not click. I am not an artist by any means, so I do not delve into the technical development, I am interested in the creative dimension. I have an idea, I want it created...are you telling me there is noone who takes ideas from 'average joes' and turns them into games. I know it is not that simple and I have to get non-disclosure aggreements and things of that nature, but I just want to know where I can go to once I have all of the paperwork I need. If you have nothing beneficial to say...please do not waste your time or mine by commenting. Thanks.

Hello, I am one of the many people with a game idea! I really think GIRLS and other people will love it. I have written it down and now I am stuck. I have no interest in actually physically developing the game myself...I am not that computer literate. I would like Rockstar or EA to develop it, or a new developer, with my input. I want to be the voice behind the project I need someone who can help me talk to the right people and help me pitch my idea in the most appropriate way possible. I am broke. No money to invest, just ideas... keeping it real. Help please? Thanks.

If you really think it's a good idea, then become computer literate.

Why do you write girls as GIRLS?

[OtherWorldCreator]

Hello,

I appreciate you taking time out to respond to my post. However, your negativity is not welcome. If you were not some kind of video game programmer and you had an idea for a game, but not a computer or the means to develop it, what would you do? No need for trying to shatter dreams. Geesh!

There are multiple FAQ entries on that.

Read here. (Read the whole list, but the most applicable is Sloperama FAQ #1.)


Very short answer: Based on what you described, it won't happen.

[karwosts]

I realize that these posts can seem negative, but you have to realize that there are many many people who come here with the same questions, so you can understand that the community can become quite jaded when dealing with the same question over and over.

The hard truth is that your comment is correct: "are you telling me there is noone who takes ideas from 'average joes' and turns them into games."

There is noone who takes ideas from 'average joes' and turns them into games.

Every average joe out there thinks he has the idea for the best game ever, and nobody simply has time to deal with all these ideas. The ideas are a dime a dozen.

If you want a game made, there's two options:

1) Make it yourself
2) Pay someone else to do it (talking hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars).

If you rule out the first one, than that leaves only the second option. If you rule that out as well, then your game is not going to get made. Sorry but that's the hard truth of life.

[MrDaaark]

Hello,

No one is being mean or negative here. Your post is no different than saying that you have an idea for a house and no money or skill to build it. You just want someone else to come and build it for you.

Doesn't happen. Ever.

If you want to get into the games industry, you'll have to work your way into it, and acquire the proper skills.

Failing that, you will need to get tons of money otherwise to the point where you can start up your own company.

Most companies can't take unsolicited pitches anyways for legal reasons.

[White Dwarf]

The best option for you is to take a course at uni in English literature or business ( depending on which you prefer) and work as a designer/marketeer at a game development company, then work your way into a design position at a company.

[froop]

Illustrate your ideas as detailed as possible. Send it to every publisher. If nobody responds, put your ideas on the web. Hope somebody picks them up. Mabye you'll get the credit for it. Forget about money for now.

[geolycosa]

Publishers very rarely take unsolicited game ideas or game design documents from the public. They do this for liability reasons. If you send in a game idea, and they reject it but later make a game that is very similar, it's grounds for a lawsuit (even if they never read your pitch). This has happened in the film industry a couple of times, and is why film production companies don't accept unsolicited screenplays.

Best of luck with your game idea. Female gamers are extremely underrepresented (especially core female gamers). Somebody needs to make games for them!

[Tom Sloper]

There are many business reasons why nobody will make your game idea for you. And the market for girl games is limited (there's a lot of history there). So that's why I see this as a Business question, and am moving this to the Business forum.
In the meantime, OtherCreator, you should read these:
http://sloperama.com/advice/idea.htm
http://sloperama.com/advice/specs.htm
http://sloperama.com/advice/lesson11.htm
http://sloperama.com/advice/lesson21.htm

[kdog77]

This seems more like a breaking in question. Sending your ideas to game companies is a waste of time. Posting your ideas online is also a waste of time (and no one will give you credit if it inspires them). Going to school and learning marketable skills (pick one - art, programming, marketing, production, design, etc.) is a good idea. Getting a job at a game company and starting to learn the evelopment process for making a game (so you know what is possible) is the best way to accomplish your goals.

There are plenty of opportunities to learn skills and contribute with the numerous small mobile and social developers starting up every week. Find out who they are and volunteer to do some QA. Go to meet-ups with other developers who share your passion and ideas. Focus on learning the craft of game development and don't give up just because something is hard. If you have the passion for making games, then this will be an enjoyable experience. If on the otherhand you only want to tell other people about your ideas without actually contributing something real, then yes I am afraid you will end up as a "wanna-be" whose great ideas will remain in your head. That's the reality of game development so please don't complain when someone tells you the truth simply because it is not what you want to hear.

[Hodgman]

Read back your post like this:

Hello, I am one of the many people with a movie idea! I really think GIRLS and other people will love it. I have written it down and now I am stuck. I have no interest in actually physically developing the movie myself...I do not run a film studio. I would like Michael Bay or James Cameron to develop it, or a new director, with my input of course. I want to be the voice behind the project I need someone who can help me talk to the right people and help me pitch my idea in the most appropriate way possible. I am broke. No money to invest, just ideas... keeping it real. Help please? Thanks.

Michael Bay, or EA, don't care about Joe Public's great ideas.
On the off-chance that you did manage to get a meeting with them,and they did like your idea, you would never be the voice of the project -- it would become a Michael Bay project. They would buy your idea, corrupt it to exploit it's market potential, and pay you to shut up while they take the credit for it.

In reality, to even get a meeting with a game publisher of that size, you'd have to be a serious developer with a completely solid plan for how the game will be developed -- you'd need the names of the key staff that you've employed to build it, a detailed break-down of the work-items, a time and money budget, a market analysis of competing products, a business plan explaining how much money they're going to make off you, etc...

Don't aim yourself at Hollywood type projects unless you're already a big Hollywood type player. Keep it real.
Sorry to crush your dream, but EA/Rockstar games are big businesses. They only care about money, not dreams.

Instead of aiming yourself at big business, try a grass-roots approach. Make all your ideas public, get feedback, refine them. Try and attract an amateur open-source team to make the game for free, and give it away for free.

[MatsK]

I have tried to read programming books and such, the language just does not click.

That's how most people feel when they start programming. It is mainly a question of motivation. In my opinion, anyone can learn to become a decent programmer (notice I said decent, not great) if they have the motivation to stay in there until they start to get a grip on things.
In essence, programming is about finding solutions to problems. This goes for programming games as well. Modern games consists of thousands to millions of problems that must be solved, and the ones that you cannot solve off the top of your head have most likely already been solved by someone else. To find these pre-solved problems (otherwise known as solutions), use Google. That's what I use. It is a very helpful tool.
On the off-chance that it doesn't provide you with anything, that's why you have the forums on this site to post to so others can help you find a solution to your problem. Most of the time, they'll even do it for free!
For example;

Q: How do you figure out if a button has been clicked?!
A: There is a formula for that! It goes like this:

if(MouseX > ButtonX AND MouseX <= ButtonWidth)
if(MouseY > ButtonY AND MouseY <= ButtonHeight)
//If the left mouse button is down, the button has been clicked!
end if[/size]
end if [/size]

[Tom Sloper]

I appreciate you taking time out to respond to my post. However, your negativity is not welcome. If you were not some kind of video game programmer and you had an idea for a game, but not a computer or the means to develop it, what would you do? No need for trying to shatter dreams. Geesh!

We understand. Believe me, we do.

Some of us prefer illusion to despair.
- Nelson Muntz, The Simpsons

[Obscure]

I have an idea, I want it created...are you telling me there is noone who takes ideas from 'average joes' and turns them into games.

Yes, that is precisely what we are telling you. For a full explanation of why see http://www.obscure.co.uk/frequently-asked-questions/selling-game-design-ideas/

I appreciate you taking time out to respond to my post. However, your negativity is not welcome. If you were not some kind of video game programmer and you had an idea for a game, but not a computer or the means to develop it, what would you do? No need for trying to shatter dreams. Geesh!

People who make games were just like you. They didn't know how to do it so they learned. Jimmy Savile has retired now so if you want your game made you need to put in the effort to learn what is necessary to make it yourself, or earn the money necessary to pay someone else to make it. People who went to the effort of learning how to make games aren't going to use their time to make your game (unless you pay them).

I appreciate you taking time out to respond to my post. However, your negativity is not welcome.

You asked a question and people answered it. Sorry if reality doesn't match your dreams but what they are saying is true. While reality may be "negative" (when compared to your dream view of the world) it certainly isn't unhelpful. You now know what you need to do to make your dream come true. If it is not worth your while putting in the necessary effort why would anyone else?

[Human Resource]

Obscure is dead on, miss. I know that you have a lot of enthusiasm packed inside of you, but the world of game development is not made out of honey and milk. It's actually a mix of cold steel intertwined with rivers of hot lava with unstable stepping stones to progress forward. Too mold that world, you need heavy machinery. You see, everyone has ideas, those ideas may be bad, good, awesome... But they are just ideas. I have an idea for an interstellar propulsion system which uses exotic matter to bend spacetime, propelling the spacecraft forward at "FTL" speeds with absolutely no time dilations.

If you are like me, ask yourself these questions:

How are you going to acquire exotic matter?
How much will it cost?
What is the timeframe?
Can I see your calculations?
Can I see the blueprint and a small-scale demo or a simulation?

Ideas are worth... The more vulgar expression for the term feces. As a programmer, there is no need in reinventing the wheel so I'll just point you to an awesome website. Read the Sloperama, as many have already suggested. It's an awesome read, well, for you it'll be heartbreaking... But hey, in a few years you'll be laughing at this moment and feel a bit shy if you decide to progress. Everyone was once a newbie and everyone has embarrasing moments, it's the drive to learn and improve ourselves the thing which is awesome.

And trust me, the guys here at GameDev have been extremely tolerant. I've seen dreams brought down with AA cannons on other websites. I understand it is hard for you to wrap your head around this, but we are actually trying to help you understand and progress.

[MERKB]

Hello,

I appreciate you taking time out to respond to my post. However, your negativity is not welcome. If you were not some kind of video game programmer and you had an idea for a game, but not a computer or the means to develop it, what would you do? No need for trying to shatter dreams. Geesh!

You have to understand. These are people who know what they're talking about. Video game development and publishing is a Hollywood, and you can't walk into 'Hollywood' and say "Hi Steven Spielberg, I have a great idea for a movie, you should make it and put Tom Cruise and Julia Roberts in lead roles. But I want to give input and get money, because it's my idea".

It just doesn't happen.

If you think about it, video games are easier to break into than movie making. Independant developers have always been a breed of nerd-geeks who had a passion and an IDEA to bring to life. If you have a laptop, the internet, and a library, you CAN make games, they've been doing it since Doom. It's not easy. It can be downright discouraging. But if you really do have faith in your idea, then we are here to tell you, you CAN see it to frutition. Stop getting defensive and get a work ethic.