I posted this in the General Programming forum, but I think the Game Programming forum is more appropriate: Just curious as to some of you out there who have small teams making games starting out. I''m doing some simple stuff right now alone with 2 guys doing graphics, so three people right now. We are starting over building breakout (yeah we tried for awhile too big too soon), and the graphics guys are building skins for each level right now, but what about you? What kind of teams do you guys have? 2, 3, 5, 10 people? Have you noticed at the end of a big commercial game, you''ll see credits for 50+ people? How big of games have you written? This is more for discussion. Being a lone programmer, sometimes I wonder what I can really accomplish by myself. I enjoy it, and will do game programming for awhile until my brain gives out, but for discussion sake, how big is your team and what do you expect to accomplish with that team? ( even if it''s one person ) Much greatness is achieved thru perseverance and faith.

Good organization will determine your need for people.

With my work it''s always a matter of finding 1 responsible, mature and professional person to handle each different area of the project.

My area is engine design and system analysis. Im an old school programmer, 13 year network veteran with a penchant for game balance and picking things to pieces to see what makes them tick and then optimizing them. What I look for is good people to take over the other aspects of the game. I need to find someone to be responsible for artwork, someone for coding, someone for website, someone for databases etc. Once those people have been selected, if they want to solicit more help from others thats up to them.

Depending on the scope of your game sometimes 1 person per field is more than enough. Sometimes 1 person can cover 2-3 fields. For example I dont concider "skins" it''s own field. I clasify that as digital art and whoever is heading up the digital art gets the skins job thrown at him. On my current project Artwork is broken into concept art, digital art and 3D modeling. 3 very distinct subclasses of artwork. For a game like breakout I would expect 1 good person should be able to handle all of the artwork. I wouldnt see a need to bring 15 people onboard to make a paddle game =)

But you know what. It''s your game =) If you need 10 people use 10 people. Just keep them focussed or the whole thing degenerates into a redneck test of manhood as to whose ideas are "better".

Mark

Right, I know I could handle Breakout on my own. I have 3 people right now, so I''m using 3 people. But I''m guessing what one programmer and two artists are capable of?

I was trying to do it all on my own and spend part time doing code, then part time on graphics. I was moving too slow to feel good about anything.

With Breakout, I''ve filled in the gaps of all the stuff I skipped the first time around and had them create skins for the game itself.

Just wondering how big of a game 3 people could make? Seems like a huge task for what I have right now. Oh, I''m not discouraged or anything right now, but I like the discussion, and it helps me feel better about what I''m trying to do.

I know the BIG stuff is usually done by 10 to 50 people in a reasonable amount of time. Do pre-built game engines help offset the need for so many people?

Much greatness is achieved thru perseverance and faith.

I replied in the General Programming forum. Check it out if you haven''t already.

-Q

sorry about the other forum confusion.. Just thought it should be here.

Much greatness is achieved thru perseverance and faith.

I''m just one person right now. I''ve got the programming down pretty well, and 3-d modelling is okay, but i suck at texture art, so I may have to look for someone for this later, once I get the engine fully designed.

I only work very part time at game programming (I''m in school, studies come first), but I''ve alreay got a really good skinned skeletal animation system down with vertex shaders. I think if I had 8 hours a day to sit and write code, I could already have a good engine done.

I don''t see the need for super large teams. I''ve never taken on a huge project, but I don''t see the need for so many people. I think a lot of the credits are for marketing, testing, producer...blah blah. I''d rather work in small teams, it seems much easier to organize. I can understand having a programmer for the different aspects of the game, sound, graphics, etc. A lot of people seem to end up as level creators or level designers, which to me, seems like it would take longer than the programming in some cases.

________________________
Grab your sword, and get prepared for the SolidSteel RPG engine, coming soon...(i.e. when it''s done)

Yeah, I do alot myself. I''ve been lucky in the fact that work requires me to learn Photoshop to do web graphics, so it wasn''t much of a stretch to begin to learn texturing. I''m still learning mind you, but I''m not having to learn the Photoshop interface.

I didn''t want to pay 3k for 3D studio max, so I bought Truespace as my 3D software package, but it''s taken time to learn it and I suck at it hehe, thus my two friends as graphics guys. I also paid for Milkshape. Anyone who would offer a cool package at a great price deserves my money. I don''t like hacked copies of anything. Being a programmer, I wouldn''t want others to get hacked copies of my stuff, so I want to do right by others.

I''m a wanna-be musician living in Nashville, so I hope to tackle game tracks and sound as well, but I feel it''s alot for one person to do when you put it all together. I have a very nice keyboard, and I''m very good at guitar. A drum machine should fix the only thing that I lack when it comes down to it, along with computer sound software I''ll need to learn.

I think my key now, is to keep it simple. A simple game can go far if it''s fun. I love Role Playing Games, but that is just alot of work to do. I will write a few, just because they are fun, but I don''t expect them to be the greatest things in the world. Maybe one day, when I''m worth my weight in salt, I will group up with a few people worth their weight and do a big game. Who knows. I''m having fun, that''s all I know right now...



Much greatness is achieved thru perseverance and faith.

I kind of like to work on this stuff on my own. I gives me a sense of self-accomplishment and besides none of my friends are programmers. This is just like a hobby.


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