Quote:Original post by Tom Sloper
Also, can you tell us about the system for nobodies to pitch their art ideas? 'Cause I've never heard of that. I always heard you had to be, like, artistic.

There's a grain of truth in that there are lower barriers of entry in art, music, fashion, or writing. Berlin is a fantastic example of this: we have a ton of really awful art and fashion around, thanks to low cost of living, low rents (cheap studio and gallery space), and a fairly liberal atmosphere. There are a few gems in the rough, to be sure, but the low barriers mean pretty much everyone who fancies herself an artist can at least pretend to be one. But yes, doing any of these successfully requires a lot of skill and hard work.

Computer games and film are different. You need a team of specialists, working for a long time. That's just...reality.

It's not that great ideas are a dime a dozen. But they're (quite literally) worthless without some kind of execution. If you've taken that idea and used it to write a great film script or design document, your chances of being taken seriously rise from zero to slim. In other words, you need to be able to effectively *communicate* your idea to the people who will be executing it, and do some kind of actual work yourself. If you don't have any experience with the development process, that's extremely difficult to do.

Quote:Original post by drakostar
The US (assuming you're American) is probably the best place in the world to start a small business. Okay, maybe not right this very moment. But the legal/tax situation makes it fairly easy.

You have an idea for a product. It's difficult/impossible to sell the idea to someone else, unless you already have connections. So join the many (and yes, mostly failed) entrepreneurs who have attempted to realize their ideas. There are a ton of books and web resources to help you get started.

Agreed. Scale down your grand idea, then hire freelancers (one programmer and one artist will suffice, if you reduce your idea to its essence) and turn it into reality. You can make it happen with a few thousand bucks if you know what you are doing and conserve your resources.

Fascinating, most fascinating… I am pleased to see that your reactions are balanced and not simply “get lost punk”. For the most part I have found your replies to be reasonable and also helpful. However there are few points I would like to make further.

When I said I had a “good idea”, I didn’t mean the proverbial few scribbles on the back of a napkin, rather a lot of thought has gone into this, and I get the impression that some of you think this is a bit of a whim. A ‘portfolio’ of ideas would be no problem, just time consuming is all. Nevertheless, an excellent point there!

Now to answer a few points directly;

Working with technical limitations.

Personally I don’t see this as such a great problem for ‘my idea’. I do level design for a (nearly) 6 year old engine. Believe me I know all about the infuriating limitations such a thing imposes upon your original vision. I also have experience on how to find loopholes to get around them.

Really all I need is a second hand game engine (I have two in mind, which may be suitable), rather than going to the trouble of creating everything from scratch.

Game Assets.

Yes, of course for a large title an equally large development team is needed, however, the advantage with having your idea already planned out in full is that it should be quicker to progress with the more technical aspects of production. I honestly wasn’t joking when I said I could have a full story done within a week! ;)

True, the story is not all of the game. However I very strongly disagree with anyone who says that the story is one of the less important aspects of game design. Fewer games that are merely ‘point, shoot, kill’ and more games that actually involve the player in a deep and rich story line would be a good thing in my opinion.

As for working in a team… yes I understand that game development is a team effort, but the thing is that the actual story and design of the game is dictated more by the designer (and unfortunately also by the executives) rather than the rest of the ‘minions’. At least as I understand it anyway. Afterall, if everyone was suggesting things to put in it, nothing would get done would it, there has to be someone up top who keeps on the course that was originally set. It’s like a director, the director doesn’t actually do any of the acting (normally) nor does he set up all the lights and such.

He has people that do that for him. He goes to the lighting guy and says “I want the lighting and mood to be like this…and this and feel like this…” maybe showing him an example. Same thing with the actors. They then go off and try to create in reality what the director sees in his mind.

The point is I would be useless at actually doing coding, animating, or 3d modelling. Unless of course I spent many years learning such. BUT, I could very easily and simply express my ideas to people who do know how to do those things, giving them examples and describing it in detail, so that they could then try and make that into reality. I will give you an example; I can’t use 3Dmax or such things, but for the particular engine I make levels for I know what I am doing. I could very quickly make a simple mock-up of the general layout of the level, complete with architecture and notations. All that would be needed is to refine and sculpt it using the actual game engine being used.

Its just that I get the sense again…that you think what I’m talking about is just standing infront of a bunch of people and telling them what to do. If I had an opportunity do make my ‘idea’ I would be right in there with the concept art, story script, dialogue, motion capture, acting. You name it; I have no problem with that. I can’t think of anything worse for a team’s morale that to have some inexperienced fool barking orders at them!

Making your own game.
Don’t worry, I have already downloaded a few of those ‘make your own game’ programs, and intend to investigate them. I am happy to make plenty of effort, but what I do feel is that I would be useless as a minion, and might to better in more of an oversight role. But that’s just my opinion.

Pitch your idea

In reply to the person who asked how exactly such a system of pitching ideas to game studios would work…look no further than ‘Dragons Den’.

To make it plain, I loathe that program. The idea of having people embarrassed and made fools of on national television is most distasteful. However, the actual system, used in private, could work quite well.

Envision it; three people maybe, an exec, a game designer and someone who is an all rounder. They have one day a week where you can make an appointment, and you get to tell them about your idea, they can then sift through the people they see and find the people they think have really good ideas. Similar to how the ‘X Factor’ works. At least the ‘nobody’s’ get to have a go, even if they don’t get any further! Afterall, it is better to try and fail, than to not try at all!

Noz

Quote:Original post by Daaark
Yeah, the usual oversight role. That's like a lot of projects here where people post for help, and envision themselves as the supervisor, where all these people come and spend their spare time laboring away to make someone else's vision.

As far as i am aware, having a person(s) with a vision and then finding people to make that into reality is usually how it works with game design / film directing.

Quote:But you keep talking as if no one gave you a viable option to design your game. I gave you several. If you get good with XNA, Mircosoft even holds a design / build / play contest every year that publishes the winning entry.

Yes, i appreciate that, but the catch there is get good. Learning a whole new program and then 'getting good' at it before you can even bring to fruition the other 80% of the game (plot, characters, gametype, leveldesign, texture art, player motivation etc.) is the bit that takes a long time. Hence why I (and a good many others!) would like to be able to pitch ideas to game studios, so that the people who have alrady learned and excelled in those fields can be put to use doing what they were trained to do.

Anyway, like i said, i have already downloaded a few programs and intend to invesigate them further.

Thanks for the advice guys!