Making a game| Need Staff

[thebaum64]

Hello everyone! My friend and I are making a game! We have the really basic outline of the game, and we hope to get it on Steam once it is finished! I am thinking of using SDK (Source Development Kit) for the making of the game. I need modelers and programmers also. Just started with the idea's like i said. Still need a name for the game too. Here is the basic outline of what the game is about:

The game with have graphics similar to TF2 (Team Fortress 2), I wanted to go for a little cartoon'ish style. The game is entirely medieval based (swords, shields, the whole deal). The game has a red team and a blue team like TF2, but of course no guns and such. More combat involved. The game will have a variety of items you can find through out like on TF2. Thinking of later having DLC's for extra characters. This will likely be a large project... but I do plan to sell the game on Steam. I would release the beta on steam for free and ask for donations until full release, then I will most likely make the game $15-$20. Sadly I have little knowledge in coding and modeling. The SDK engine runs on C++. I am hoping someone here knows C++ so they can do programming. The layout of the game is very similar to TF2. Also similar to Chivalry, but the graphics are different of coarse. I want this game to be able to be ran with most computers so it appeals to more players, casual and hardcore. This way, you don't need a beefy computer to run the game. I have some things planed out such as races (characters) as well as some game-type ideas they are here below:
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Races:
Elf (archer)
Warrior (normal sword and shield fast'ish w/ light armor)
Knight (similar to warrior but with heavy armor slow)
Viking (DLC)
Thief (really sneaky, fast, little armor)
*More to come...

Game-Types:
Fortress (two castles on opposing teams, you must capture the other castle at all costs)
Team-Death match (normal Team Vs. Team, most points win)
*More to come...

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Well, this is what I have so far! Please leave comments and ideas below! All ideas are appreciated! If you wish to apply for a spot on the Dev team, please post what you would like to do and your experience with this. I will be posting updates as I go. Might release the game later to Xbox consoles. Thank you for reading!

 

[Chronodiver Lokii]

(a summary of) Some things you should consider from pre to post production (note: this is from an artist perspective...i cant really say much from a programming side):

1. Concept Development and Pre Production-
- laying out basic ideas
- doing paper prototypes, small block tests in engine
- working with a concept artist or artists to get the game style nailed down + so your modelers have a jumping off point

2. Production
- Tweaking concepts and beginning models
- finalizing block tests so level can be populated
- working on rigs, skinning, animating (which is not always part of the modeling side of things; some character modelers have little experience in this, while some riggers and skinners cannot model to the extent of a dedicated modeler)
- ALSO...character modelers dont always = environment people. environment modeling and character modeling are two different sections of 3D, and are on different teams within the larger team

3. Post production?
- Making sure everything works in engine
- making sure code is working/isnt breaking down
- playtesting
- advertisements (you cant just go on social media and say 'look at this game i made!' ; you have to have a plan of attack and good marketing, especially for an indie game with a 15-20$ price tag)

Thats just a summary of stuff. missing a bit, but once again, quick summary.

You should also make sure you have production documents (Asset trackers, scrum sheets, time tables, group dropboxes, etc) to make sure you are on task and so you can give yourself a good timeline.

Also, id recommend that if you are doing this as a serious team effort, standardizing and researching programs. It's one thing to say 'i need 3d modelers', but you have to take into account different programs that are needed. Since this is indie, i'd recommend checking out freeware like blender. it's not the best, but it does the job. If you somehow have the money, licensing programs like 3DS Max or Maya (both are autodesk programs) could be an option. For sculpting (which is used to make the high polygon models), zBrush and Autodesk Mudbox are nice, but expensive (though, zbrush is around 700$ and you get free updates for life. freakin love zBrush). For textures, Photoshop is always the go to, but it can get expensive. There are many freeware art programs, so make sure to check around.
Always always always research your programs. If you dont want to take this route, let your artists use the programs they are most comfortable with, but make sure they are able to convert them to the right file types for the engine. And remember, default assets in engine =/=your assets.

-inhales-

So yeah
uh
this is a lot to take in
and its only BASIC summaries of stuff to take into account

its actually not too complicated, really.
if you want to succeed, just work at it and make sure you and your teammates are all on the same page.
Best of luck!

 

[thebaum64]

(a summary of) Some things you should consider from pre to post production (note: this is from an artist perspective...i cant really say much from a programming side):

1. Concept Development and Pre Production-
- laying out basic ideas
- doing paper prototypes, small block tests in engine
- working with a concept artist or artists to get the game style nailed down + so your modelers have a jumping off point

2. Production
- Tweaking concepts and beginning models
- finalizing block tests so level can be populated
- working on rigs, skinning, animating (which is not always part of the modeling side of things; some character modelers have little experience in this, while some riggers and skinners cannot model to the extent of a dedicated modeler)
- ALSO...character modelers dont always = environment people. environment modeling and character modeling are two different sections of 3D, and are on different teams within the larger team

3. Post production?
- Making sure everything works in engine
- making sure code is working/isnt breaking down
- playtesting
- advertisements (you cant just go on social media and say 'look at this game i made!' ; you have to have a plan of attack and good marketing, especially for an indie game with a 15-20$ price tag)

Thats just a summary of stuff. missing a bit, but once again, quick summary.

You should also make sure you have production documents (Asset trackers, scrum sheets, time tables, group dropboxes, etc) to make sure you are on task and so you can give yourself a good timeline.

Also, id recommend that if you are doing this as a serious team effort, standardizing and researching programs. It's one thing to say 'i need 3d modelers', but you have to take into account different programs that are needed. Since this is indie, i'd recommend checking out freeware like blender. it's not the best, but it does the job. If you somehow have the money, licensing programs like 3DS Max or Maya (both are autodesk programs) could be an option. For sculpting (which is used to make the high polygon models), zBrush and Autodesk Mudbox are nice, but expensive (though, zbrush is around 700$ and you get free updates for life. freakin love zBrush). For textures, Photoshop is always the go to, but it can get expensive. There are many freeware art programs, so make sure to check around.
Always always always research your programs. If you dont want to take this route, let your artists use the programs they are most comfortable with, but make sure they are able to convert them to the right file types for the engine. And remember, default assets in engine =/=your assets.

-inhales-

So yeah
uh
this is a lot to take in
and its only BASIC summaries of stuff to take into account

its actually not too complicated, really.
if you want to succeed, just work at it and make sure you and your teammates are all on the same page.
Best of luck!

ok, thank you for your opinions and thoughts. and I did say the graphics will be like TF2 and i personally am an artist ( i can draw quite well) I know this will be a large project, but currently its only my friend and I. I know there is defiantly a lot of monetary potential but I can't just do this alone. you know what i mean? I need to learn how to model, texture, and some programming. And out of my friends... I am the only one who can draw... lol... can be frustrating sometimes...

 

[Chronodiver Lokii]

then you'll be on concepts?

well, saying the graphics will be like TF2 is a good start
but 1. copying the style verbatim will make the game look stale and boring (why pay the money when they could just play TF2 or chivalry?)

mhm
these are just things to think about

drawing means a whole lot of nothing if you arent doing a 2d game/have no 3d artists.
thats coming from a concept artist lol

 

[Centribo]

You sound very optimistic about this project, and I just want to say something of this size is going to be large. Saying "we need artists and programmers" is a very easy thing to say, but actually getting your team together and working well is another thing. Chronodiver is correct in saying you need to do a lot of pre-planning and testing before a project like this can even be in a playable state. If this is your first game project, I really think you should scale down and start on smaller projects first, especially if you've never done anything with a team. I don't want to come off as mean, but everyone, litterally everyone, in the games industry has ideas. It's those who can actually get their **** together who get to see an actual product. It's easy to sit around with your friend and keep on coming up with millions of ideas. Also your idea sounds alot like Chivalry: Medieval Warfare, just with a "TF2-like" artstyle. (See: http://store.steampowered.com/app/219640/?snr=1_7_15__13)

Other than that, I wish you luck.

 

[Shadow the Past]

Lokii summing up pretty much everything that I'm thinking lol.

Main things I'd like to add are that you're not really selling me on this game concept. Saying stuff like "Oh yeah it's gunna be like TF2 and Chivalry" isn't going to get people interested in your game. Remember, it is YOUR game, don't try and base it off of other games success, you need to get people hyped up for the game. I'd rather hear you bring up aspects of the game you find unique/interesting instead of saying "It's like TF2/Chivalry". If it's going to be like those games, what's stopping people from just playing those instead? lol. Do you think a game like InFamous would have been noticed by a developer if the game concept document said "It's like Spiderman, but with electricity."?

I also agree with Lokii in doing a paper doll test, which involves making a demo out of your game out of paper. So you would draw the map on a large piece of paper, have little player pieces on the map and demo what would actually happen in a game. Right now it just sounds like "You're playing a guy, who's out in a field, doing stuff."

Also, what is making you want to use SDK? Why not something like Unity or Unreal? What if the programmer wanted to use something else? Not dissing on SDK, but it's a bit preemtive to decide before the game concept has even begun what engine you'll be using.

Also Early Access on Steam is not something you should actively aim for, lol. Always strive to release the full game in it's final form, not plop it out as soon as it's running and beg people to throw their money at you.

Sorry if I'm sounding super rough or critical, but to me it just sounds like you're trying to jump into a game development cycle without really understanding all the steps involved in releasing a game and what they entail. Lokii's list is a good starting point at what it involves, but it does delve much much deeper than that.

So yeah. I'm not trying to discourage you or anything, I just want to make sure you're entirely aware of what you may be diving into, and that I want you to be going in with your right foot forward instead of stumbling in with uncertainty.

 

[Chronodiver Lokii]

so
much
deeper

 

[Shadow the Past]

so depth
much deep
wow

But something I just though of in regards to "hyping" your game concept, a good example of a game that did that successfully would be The Stanley Parable.

The Stanley Parable is a first person exploration game. You will play as Stanley, and you will not play as Stanley. You will follow a story, you will not follow a story. You will have a choice, you will have no choice. The game will end, the game will never end.

To someone who knows nothing about the game, that sounds VERY interesting. I want to know more. I want to figure out what this game is about.

Now if we changed that motto to instead say what the game is actually about it would look something like

The Stanley Parable is a first person exploration game. The goal of the game is to walk through Stanley's office and find every ending we made.

Now that sounds a lot less interesting. I know exactly what I'll be doing, and that kills a lot of the "hype".

This is something somewhat important when trying to get the attention of people who are hearing about your game for the first time. Getting them with the bait and dragging them in is one of the most important things you can do when selling your game concept, which also transfers over to marketing. You're not always going to be presenting your idea to a bunch of video game nerds on a Smash forum, eventually in the distant future you'll have to present your idea to a development executive who will have a pile of 100 other game ideas that he'll be shuffling through and throwing in the "keep" and "trash" pile one by one. So when presenting your game idea, give us something hype and exciting to read so I'm wanting to find out more about your game; don't worry, you can detail the specifics of the game later lol.

Just something to think about.

 

[Lore]

Sorry, but this isn't the place to beg for help making a game.

My strongest suggestion is to learn c+ yourself and get started. Right now it just sounds like you have concepts and no actual groundwork done to show besides maybe some drawings.

Plus the other advice said in here is very solid.