I have a game title,plot,storyline,NPC''s,places and quests written down. And am irritated that I am not a software person so that I can make this game come to life on the PC. Should I sell the idea to a software company? If so, not sure where to start. HELP ME PLEASE.

Start learning how to do software then. As a general rule, game software companies don''t take external game designs due to legal reasons and a need to protect themselves. It''s a blanket guideline. You''re basically stuck. You don''t "sell" the idea. You get into the industry and once in, propose the idea.

At least, that''s what I''ve been reading and learning. Better get a programming book and a compiler and get going, eh? You''re probably young - you''ve got plenty of time!

Here''s my suggestion...from partial personal experience.
write down or record everything about the game and store it somewhere where it wont get lost, destroyed, eaten, etc. then, learn how to program, probably in C, but whatever works. next, when you (and possible the friend that wants to be just like you) have the skills to do so, code the game yourself, or get a friend to code it, or you and a friend could code it, you see where i''m going with this i hope?? after you have it finished, then the companies might realize you exist, but it''s doubtful. Option #2 is you could get a job as a writer at some game company and then propose your idea to them. (not propose to your idea, just propose your idea).
for further help, consult the "Developer Resources" section of this site (not the forum, the actual site). i personally found it very useful for a beginner (like me ).

Learning how to program may be a bit extreme. Programming isn''t for everybody... especially if you don''t enjoy it. Let''s face it... even if you learned how to program... making a game by yourself would require years of dedicated work.

Your best approach may be to talk to people interested in a game project that specialize in areas that you lack. You''d have to share some of the glory and your ideas may be sightly twisted by the group but the previous posters are right... it would be extremely difficult to find a game company willing to use your idea unless your working for them.

Good luck.

There a lot of RPG game macker on the net!

I don''t like this thing....im a programmeur and i like to program! But for non programeur they should be good!

Yes they have limits, and yes you will have to learn how to use them, but it is a lot easier than learning a progammation language

Most of them are title based (lie the early final fantasy...

Check thes link for a reference to these tool!

www.amadev.net

www.madmonkey.com

A search on yahoo could get you some links to...

But don''t expect to make money from this!

Good luck

Delisk

If you think you have what it takes to program, do it. But if not, remember that that is not the only road that can get you game production.

The Anonymous poster is dead on. Listen to him, no matter what naysayers there are. People love to say that you''re just a dreamer if you can''t program, that you''ll never get into the biz. Screw that. They''re sortof right, it''s way harder to sell yourself as a designer, but if you''ve got talent and creativity, you''ll find a way.

READ ABOUT GAME DESIGN! Everything you can find! You will be amazed how little you and the people around you actually know about this stuff. I try to read at least a textbook a month on writing, film, or most importantly, game design. I''ve learned a lot, and so I reccommend you do too.

Network as much as possible, and practice you''re people-skills. Programmers can put a great engine together, but you''ll have to MAKE yourself indispensable. And you know what? If you get really good at this you''ll be way more valueable than a programmer... you might be in the position to choose which programmer you want to put to work for you!

I reiterate, if you try programming and find you like it, STICK WITH IT! Otherwise, listen the me and the anonymous poster. =)

Good luck!

Heh, I'm a naysayer... Hmmm. If you truly only want to design, it's a harder road to travel. You have to learn everything about design, not just story, character design, places, and quests. You need to delve into engine, music, art, balance and that's just the obvious things. Read game design books of which you can find some in GameDev's own book review pages. I recommend Game Architecture and Design. Read interviews with game designers like Sid Mier or Chris Taylor or others if you can find them. Be aware of the market. Hmm, I'm getting to hardcore here...

Play lots of games, even games you hate, and analyse them. Hate FPS games? Ask yourself why are they fun. Hate Tomb Raider? Ask why it did so well then (if you say people are idiots or Lara has assets, you've missed the point). You will see the designer's mind within games.

You can't just have a game title, plot, storyline, NPC's, places and quests. You must have a general grasp of everything. You may not be able to program "Hello World" or draw anything past a stick figure or play a tune on a guitar, but you must be aware of those aspects. And remember the game editors!

Programming is difficult from a different point of view. Design is just as hard.

But most of all, zero in on what Landfish said: NETWORK. Make contacts. The majority of jobs aren't advertised (or at least that's what people tell me). And what's the best way of doing such a thing? Well, from what I've seen, you need to produce something for all to see. God knows how many people have been hired because they made a great FPS level or whatever.

Oh, one other thing. Check out http://www.auran.com/technologies/jet/

I'd say Good Luck, but I'd rather say Work Hard.

Edited by - Jeranon on June 15, 2000 8:46:33 AM

I was once a Knight who said Nay. Monty Python asked us if we wanted to do a film but we didn''t think anything would come of it.

As Mr Cup always says,
''I pretend to work. They pretend to pay me.''

Thank you all for your input on how to get started. I am thinking about getting a c++ book and some software to start programming. This may sound childish but I did write a game in Basic which was a great game for being in 6th grade. I am now 30 years old and would like to start programming in a better language. My cousin has a masters in computer science and writes code for Microsoft. Maybe I''ll ask him (don''t want to be a bother to him) for some ideas and maybe help also. Any suggestions would be appriciated.

Again thank you all for your help. :-)

P.S.
I''ll check out those sights on the web.

If you want to start programming....
I started with Turing... haha, and i sucked.. then i learned C/C++ from tutorials on the net and became the top student of my school...

Now i''m into Visual C++ with DirectX...
what i''m saying is that if you want your ideas to flourish then you''ll have to put hard work and effort... then, and only then will your idea become truly yours... and if others like it. You become filthy rich... well not filthy depending on what kinda game you make