2. Do you want to develop the game solo, with a team or just sell the idea to a publisher/studio?
Solo!
Ok, that is great! you can manage graphics, music, code and everything in between. The only restriction would be the time constraint associated to it. With today’s tools (engines), like Scirra’s Construct 2 (and 3 is on the way), Yoyo’s Game Maker, Unity 3d/2d, Unreal, etc, you can create your own game without having to know a lot of code… well maybe not so true for Unity and Unreal, but it is for C2 and Game Maker.
This path is very tough and very rewarding. You will have thousands of hours to work on it (depending on the level of perfection you want) and you will be alone working on it. Yes, we have done it and it is great to have your own game created only by you (it also makes the credits a pretty short list 🙂 )… However, it is very time consuming and days will pass by without noticing. You may also face a “writer’s block” as you progress in the game or code. No worries, there are tools and tricks to avoid that, which will be provided in future posts.
With a Team!
First of all, if you have the team, great! If not, then you will need to find that perfect team that matches your game. Wait! You don’t know how? Check these suggestions…
1. Let’s put your game in the physical world! (aka paper), so you can analyze it better and provide it to your future team members.
This should be easier, as you already followed step 1 (What is your game about). For this, you can create a Game Design Document (GDD), which will cover all the basic (and not so basic) information for your game. Maybe, you do not want to spend hundreds of hours writing it down and having a 1,000 page document. Yes, it is nice to have it, but… who is going to read it? Let’s start with the basics then… A single page that will help understand the game you want to create. That’s what is call a pitch for the tv/movie industry. You want to be short and concise, so it is important that you place all the information in one page only! Use a bullet point system, so you can have only the important things there. All details can be placed later in a GDD.
You have your first page? great! Now, where do you find people?
2. Recruiting… Forums, Meet ups, Friends/Family, School/University & Social media are a good places to look for someone. (in Human Resources/Business terms… Networking)
Forums: If you know which engine or framework you will use, you can review people offering their services (paid/unpaid) and based on what they say, you can contact them. You can also place your idea and request for help in the forum. You will have to sort out people and not everyone that starts with you will necessary end with you.(We met Patrick in the Unity forums)
Meet ups: Looks for the ones related in your area, there must be some game development there. Before it was harder, but now there’s a lot of places and cities that have meet ups for game development. If not, there are other options too… (We met Mario in a meet up in Miami)
Friends/Family: Sometimes help is closer than you think. Also you have already invested trust in your friends and family, so they can give you an honest answer and maybe support you in different ways, including moral support which is always great. Of course, you have to be able to enter into constructive discussions and not family/friends fights. It does not works all the time, but it is an option. (We met Cristine like this :-))
School/University/Work groups: There’s probably a video gaming group or a coding group, etc… You can go there, meet some people and maybe you will find someone with the same passion that you have who will join the creative team. Maybe you work with them on a day-to-day basis. Just be sure that it does not interrupt your daily job (which would not be good or very well perceive by your employer ;-)). (We met David like this)
Social Media: Twitter, Twitch, Facebook, YouTube, etc. There are plenty of channels to review groups, post requests, read and provide feedback; however, Social Media is a very time consuming and you can get distracted very easy (yes, I love to keep up with the latest news… but I have been losing track of my time during those “blackouts”)
You will have to discuss a lot with the people you involve in the project, so get to know them well. After all, you will be all working together on the same game and you need to be sure that they really want it and are committed to it. We have gone through a lot of different people before reaching the right size of our team and the right members. It is ok, everyone has different paths and if you lose someone on the way, just consider that the person was not really sharing the same passion and faith that you have on the game.
3. If you already have your team, prepare a 10 pages explaining multiple aspects of the game.
Include drawings, something fun, quotes, etc. It has to be fun so everyone could read it, or better yet… make a meeting and show it to them. Order pizza or some food, so no one will be hungry… 🙂 (Ok, it could be a virtual meeting through Skype, Face Time, Hangouts, etc. if they do not live in the same city… Patrick lives in Canada, and there rest of the team in Miami, so we use virtual methods to meet 🙂 ). An NDA is always useful to make things more comfortable for all the members of the team.
Sell my idea to a publisher/game studio!
Ok, for this one you really need to have it ready to go. A full GDD completed but always start with your 1-page executive summary. Once that goes well, then you move to the 10-pages and then forward. Including a full GDD and being ready to talk to a lot of people. You will receive multiple No’s before a Yes happens (unless you are lucky on the first round). This is a long process and today you can publish it yourself, but if your idea is too big (budget), then you may not have any other option. There is a lot more details in this path, but this is a basic guide 🙂