I've little epxerience doing much of anything, but a suggestion:



This idea would be better served as a pen and paper RPG. The resources needed to create one are far far less. Your idea seems to want to focus on customizability and limitless possibility. Pretty much by definition, computer games don't allow that. Plus, the idea is "yet another MMORPG". Few if any will help work on that. The universe though does seem pretty new and interesting [though it sounds quite a bit like HoL, albeit without the acid...] and would probably make for a good RPG setting.



Just my opinions...

Quote: Original post by Telastyn
This idea would be better served as a pen and paper RPG. The resources needed to create one are far far less. Your idea seems to want to focus on customizability and limitless possibility. Pretty much by definition, computer games don't allow that. Plus, the idea is "yet another MMORPG". Few if any will help work on that. The universe though does seem pretty new and interesting [though it sounds quite a bit like HoL, albeit without the acid...] and would probably make for a good RPG setting.

Actually this project is a combination of ideas allready being explored in a MUD and a tabletop RPG. I'm simply combining the ideas from each to arrive at this project.

The RPG is called Shattered Prism, and should be available at RPG.net online store soon.

Oh yeah. HoL?

Having existing material changes the situation a little. That means you should be able to draw on those communities for some help.

Also, if your goals are modest enough, BYOND might be helpful:
http://www.byond.com/

It's not pretty and has a somewhat inflexible feel, but it's a decent platform for online games, and it has a lot of tools to assist you; graphics and map editing, a built-in programming language, even some hosting IIRC. I don't know their community very well, but if you ask there you might find people familiar with it, who might be better persuaded than the jaded hotshots around here ;)

Quote: Original post by TracerFox

Is it possible anymore for a single person with good ideas but little experiance to actually find a team of people to help him implement those ideas?

Sure, their called entrepreneurs.

Quote:
Have people become so jaded that few if any are willing or interested in aiding 'idea people' anymore?

Yes and no. A great idea alone is insufficient to obtain support and aide in the great majority of cases, but a well developed and vetted idea that can be developed cost effectively and released profitably will get serious consideration.

Most of the idea people I know, and I know a lot of them in the screenwriting busines, simply don't possess the critical thinking and BPM vetting skills in addition to their idea development skills to warrant much more than temporary attention.

They're all real creative, and even proliferate, but they don't become their own worst critic, which is necessity.

Nor do they possess the marketing, networking and personal selling skills to give it legs and momentum, nor do they possess the business skills to manage it out of an idea into a concrete commercial reality.

Sucn is the difference between brains and minds.

Quote:
As such I am given two options, I can either put my ideas on a shelf while I train the time it takes to learn the skills to do it myself; or I can try to find and recruit those with the skills to help me out.

Only self and opportunity assessment, and a play to your strengths and a hire to your weaknesses will guide you there.

Addy

Is there a particular reason why you want a 2D top down viewpoint (other than simplicity)?

If not, you might want to take a look at the services offered at SKOTOS. I haven't looked too closely at the specifics, but apparently they provide "storytellers" with the tools to run text only or 3D online games.

Quote: Original post by RTF
Having existing material changes the situation a little. That means you should be able to draw on those communities for some help.

Also, if your goals are modest enough, BYOND might be helpful:
http://www.byond.com/

It's not pretty and has a somewhat inflexible feel, but it's a decent platform for online games, and it has a lot of tools to assist you; graphics and map editing, a built-in programming language, even some hosting IIRC. I don't know their community very well, but if you ask there you might find people familiar with it, who might be better persuaded than the jaded hotshots around here ;)

Hey RTF, thanks for pointing me over there. I just checked out the BYOND software, and after only an hour or so I was allready getting ideas for how I might actually be able to learn the coding language myself!
Guess I'm not as code-handicapped as I thought. :D

However, even if I did go this route, I would need to find some 2d artists to help make the tile art, and for some extra polish would need someone/s good with music and sound.

Either way, a very valuable link you've given me. Thanks!

Quote: Original post by Wysardry
Is there a particular reason why you want a 2D top down viewpoint (other than simplicity)?

If not, you might want to take a look at the services offered at SKOTOS. I haven't looked too closely at the specifics, but apparently they provide "storytellers" with the tools to run text only or 3D online games.

Other than simplicity? Only nostalgic feel I suppose.
3D may be the 'wave of the future', but I personally feel that a well written and designed 2D game can be just as fun as the latest flashy 3D game.
As for the top-down view, I remember an Underdog (Go see Home of the Underdogs for definition http://www.the-underdogs.org/) CRPG called 'Mines of Titan' which I used to play years ago.
All combat in that game took place in a top-down perspective, as did several exploration areas. Frankly I found the experiance very fun to work with.
Also, one of the gameplay elements I want to include is that of strategy, of the PCs being able to build/hire NPC troops to work for them. I wanted this aspect to feel a little like a boardgame, so I chose the top-down perspective.

And finally, yes it's alot easier to do 2d top-down tile art. All you have to change for facing is to rotate the image. :D

Anything else?

Quote: Original post by TracerFox
Here it is simply.
Is it possible anymore for a single person with good ideas but little experiance to actually find a team of people to help him implement those ideas?

Good is a subjective term. There are patents for things that would boggle your mind why they were invented but the inventor thought they were good ideas.

The answer: no, unless you have money or charisma. If you have charisma you can persuade people who have money to give it to you so you can hire people to work on your ideas.

Quote:
Have people become so jaded that few if any are willing or interested in aiding 'idea people' anymore?

Become? You didn't pay attention in history class did you?

Normal people need money and expect compensation for their skills and promising them future funds isn't going to cut it. They don't know who you are and sane people expect the worst in people until they know them.

You must have something concrete, that is already working, to show prospective team members. If you can draw, you should have a lot of art, and mock-up screen shots to put it together. Maybe even a little flash app that shows the things in action. If you can program, you should have a single level with a single player and a single quest, at least, and ugly, hand-drawn squiggles that walk around. If you can build good levels and quests, but neither program nor make art, then you should use an existing engine (anything from Click-and-Play to the NeverWinter Nights scenario editor) to create the first arc of your story, so that people can evaluate your story skills. Call it a mini-mod.

This will let the prospective helpers know that you actually can achieve something, and that the project has a chance of success. Once you have that tangible something, you should look for support in the areas where you're not strong. If you're a programmer, look for an artist, and vice versa. If you're lucky, you may find two good people, who both want to contribute to the project. You should NOT go recruiting for dozens of people; the people you get for those projects are not going to stick around, and you probably wouldn't have the skills to manage them anyway if you haven't done a smaller project first.

Once you have contributors, you have to realize that it's no longer YOUR project; it's a TEAM project. Everyone else's time is at least as expensive as yours, and, to them, it's more important than to you. At that point, you must realize that you don't have full creative control anymore; you have to be prepared to make it a team creation, and the team gets credit. If not, then your (small) team may not hold together to finish the project.

If you have neither art skills, nor programming skills, nor level/mod design skills, but only writing skills, I suggest a career as a writer, rather than in games.

Quote: Original post by TracerFox

Quote: Original post by Telastyn

This idea would be better served as a pen and paper RPG. The resources needed to create one are far far less. Your idea seems to want to focus on customizability and limitless possibility. Pretty much by definition, computer games don't allow that. Plus, the idea is "yet another MMORPG". Few if any will help work on that. The universe though does seem pretty new and interesting [though it sounds quite a bit like HoL, albeit without the acid...] and would probably make for a good RPG setting.

Actually this project is a combination of ideas allready being explored in a MUD and a tabletop RPG. I'm simply combining the ideas from each to arrive at this project.



The RPG is called Shattered Prism, and should be available at RPG.net online store soon.



Oh yeah. HoL?

Human occupied Landfill. Google should supply a few links and reviews.



Then shall I recommend letting the paper RPG go? Once it hits the market, it should give you a good measuring stick. Once people play the pen and paper version, they will likely be much more inclined [or disinclined] to help.

TracerFox,

You will have a lot more credibility if you've made something already you can show to others. Always start small. I imagine most people here are hobbyists. Nobody's demanding you make a breakthrough in graphics technology or come up with music that rivals the London Symphony Orchestra. You don't have to make something spectacular, but make SOMETHING. The majority of projects that start never get finished since their founders get bored of it, and it makes people hesitant to join teams. If you can show you're actually capable of seeing a project through from beginning to end, I'm sure more people would be willing to help you out with your more advanced ideas.

That being said, ideas are a dime a dozen. Out of all the ideas floating around and colliding with each other in the vast airy open space of my cranial bubble, there are only a few I'd even bother asking others for help with. In my opinion, if you're going to make a game, try to make something original that we haven't seen before. Not just another FPS where you blast everything in sight, take an enormous amount of damage, and find a full-health-restoring medkit around the next corner. Try to come up with a unique style of gameplay, or a unique take on RPGs.

Multiplayer games take an enormous amount of effort, and it's rather mind-boggling how many people make comments like, "Im makin a MMORPG an I needz storywriters, progammerz, artistz, animatorz, musiciuns, an someone to water my plants." It's really absurd, in my opinion. Try making a single player game first. Show people you're capable of producing something worthwhile. If you lack programming skills and feel you're untrainable at the moment, use a scripting engine like Dink Smallwood, DarkBASIC, or Adventure Game Studio. Just start somewhere, so you have something to show.