Hi guys, I''m going to start a small dev. company, an idea I''ve been had for such a long time and now I have the time and money to make it happen.. So, before I start I just want to know what are the common mistakes/flaws independent dev. like I am ussualy make ??Of course in hope that I can avoid them.. It''s really nice to get some stories, so any comment/suggestion will do, even ones that''ll struck me back to reality thx..

From reading this board, I see the most common mistake indie develpers make is the scope of the project being to big, and the lack of organization (Keeping team members, documentation..etc).

Hey but you got money .

John

also failing to find out how your gonna sell the game BEFORE spending all that time making it.

Dan Marchant
Obscure Productions

There''s also not deciding exactly *who* you''re going to sell it to before you get started.

-David

DavidRM
Samu Games

Hmm.. regarding who and how you going to sell your game, I think it's a tricky question because you need a "game" first to sell or at least a demo.
I was thinking that I can approach some publishers who sell games online, do you think it'll work ?? Can you give me examples on how it work ? some infos will do..


[edited by - yanuart on April 16, 2003 2:23:59 AM]

I think they mean, who your target market is, your audience. Who are you making the game for. Also what type of services you need to setup before launching the game. You better research the publisher before you pitch any game demos to them. You should know what tpe of game they sell and who their market is. I never done this before but this is just general info I get from reading message boards.

John

You can forget publishers funding you. There's one constant in this business. They only want help you when you don't need them anymore.

Go to www.dexterity.com and read the developer forums as well as all the articles.

If you have never made a game before then make one on your own. The internet is chock full of flakes who will assure you they'll do the work and never do. So you'll save yourself a lot of time and aggravation if you learn how to do everything yourself. Later on *if* you make any money, you can use it to hire professionals.

P.S. Don't spend your hard earned money on creating a company until you have something to sell.





[edited by - Davaris on April 16, 2003 6:37:35 PM]

quote: Original post by yanuart
Hmm.. regarding who and how you going to sell your game, I think it''s a tricky question because you need a "game" first to sell or at least a demo.
I was thinking that I can approach some publishers who sell games online, do you think it''ll work ?? Can you give me examples on how it work ? some infos will do..

I''m just learning about marketing and whatnot, so tkae this with a grain of salt.

If you just want to create your game, sell a dozen copies and enjoy the process of making it and sharing with your firends, then jump right in to the programming.

But if you want to earn some bucks, or even a living, you need to understand the selling part when you start making your game. It''s not a process of A, then B. It''s more iterative.

You need to know what kind of game(s) you like to make. And what kind of games you are capable of making, given your resources (time, skills, etc). And what kind of game(s) that online publishers will be able to sell. And which publishers sell which games. And what the competition looks like.

Remember, one of your goals is to turn your sustained effort into a sustained cash flow. If you create a nifty game that can''t sell, you''ve wasted your time. Likewise, if you create a low quality game that is drowned by better quality competition, you won''t make any money either.

JSwing

"You need to know what kind of game(s) you like to make."

I think you need to know what kind of game(s) your target market likes to play if you want to make money.

John

I believe this article holds a lot of truths to be wary of:

link to article

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