I have a game idea that I am pretty sure has never been done before. I am fairly certain it could be a hit, if the right development house got a hold of it. What can I do with besides just letting someone take it?

I'm sure someone more experienced can comment on this but from what I've read, you're in a fairly difficult position. If you send your idea to developers they won't even open it and look at it. There are many legal issues that keep them from even looking at it. That's what I've read.

You may have an original idea, but they say ideas are a dime a dozen. And most ideas have probably been thought up by many people many times over before you thought of them.

Don't let this discourage you I'm just saying what I've read and found. Good luck!
~Wave

You can't sell an idea.

You can sell a game because of an idea. It's good to have an idea of the game you want to make. I would even go so far as to say that an game is nothing more than a series of very complicated ideas in action.

But nobody's going to give you money for your ideas when they have hundreds of their own for free.

Learn to program, get a proof of concept working, and then try to get hired to develop that. It's as close as you're going to get.

I know topics like this come up all the time, and you are, of course, assuming my idea is like every other newbie idea out there. I never said I was a newbie.

I know how to program, but I simply lack the resources that an idea like mine would require. It would take an experienced development team.

My line of work is quite different from that of game programming and I don't think it would be a good career move to opt for game design now.

I have had a lot of good ideas in my life but nothing like this. Frankly I am surprised that no one has made anything like it yet. I don't necessarily want to sell it. I would however like to see it come to fruition. I think that something like this developed to its fullest could attract a lot of players.

A Step from a great Game idea to a several hundreth pages long detailed Design document is huge. The first is just a worthless Idea, the latter is a priceless Idea brought to life.

Quote: Original post by orbotrox2000
I know topics like this come up all the time, and you are, of course, assuming my idea is like every other newbie idea out there. I never said I was a newbie.

I know how to program, but I simply lack the resources that an idea like mine would require. It would take an experienced development team.

My line of work is quite different from that of game programming and I don't think it would be a good career move to opt for game design now.

When people say newbie they mean someone without game industry experience. You don't have game industry experience so you are a newbie.

Neither developers or publishers will accept ideas (even for free) from someone without proven industry experience. For a full explanation of why read http://www.obscure.co.uk/faq_idea.shtml

Totally agree with all of the above. You can't just be a games designer in order to generate an income. We had that notion when we first started out and eventually set-up a development company to bring some people in on very low wages and help us development our first game. If its your passion to play the games that you have designed then i'm afraid it's gonna be a hard slog to get them out to the mass public on your own. Perhaps you can seek advice from your local business enterprise and hear what they have to say. Otherwise, its getting your idea up to 'demo' level with strong paperwork/artwork to back it up and punting it out to companies you see fit in order to get their feedback. Good luck!.

If you don't want to make cash on it, just write a detailed description of how you see your game and post it to game designers part of this forum.. maybe someone will ike it and bring it to life...

Another way would be to start a sourceforge or similar project.. but you would have to do a lot of work to start the project and get some ppl to join it. From your description it doesn't look like you would do it.

Thanks anonymous... finally an answer I was looking for. No, I would not be able to pitch a project like this. While I do have programming experience, I know nothing of 3D programming or human character animation. Besides, I don't really have the time to coordinate such a project. I will write something up and see if a small group could use it. Thanks.

Quote: Original post by orbotrox2000
... I will write something up and see if a small group could use it. Thanks.

Huh? I thought you said in your first post you didn't just want to let someone take it?