Hello, I'm looking to budget a game based on the Torque Game Engine. I have a physics Ph.D. and I've done 3D modeling, so I can develop some of it. I also have some resources to pay people to develop that which I can't develop. Based on the following description, how much do you think the game would cost? I know this question is extremely general and open-ended, depending on how good the end game is, but for a commerical project to be delivered in one year, using available Torque libraries and resources, how many developers/$$$$ would it take to make the following game? Thanks so much! TITLE: AUTUMN RANGERS Based on an action-adventure novel and screenplay, Autumn Rangers delivers a high-octane, cross-country driving/fighting/shooting game with rockin’ art, architecture, music, history, and classical storytelling. THE GAME: Ranger McCoy must rescue APRIL, an AI computer he invented at MIT which was stolen by Silicon Virtue Inc. and taken to Doom Mountain, Death Valley to create WMDs. Tucker Johnson, a hipster Harvard MBA and CEO of Silicon Virtue, has turned APRIL against Ranger. APRIL sends ever-more-advanced RoboClones and RoboDrones to hunt Ranger down. Ranger wears the ring that can unlock APRIL’s higher morality, turn the tide, and save her from the dark side. She can yet serve the higher ideals instead of SV’s bottom line. But time’s running out, as SV is leasing APRIL to terrorists who’re building nuclear bombs to detonate in America, and she and her RoboClones are growing more powerful by the moment. Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Early on Ranger meets Autumn West—a beautiful folksinger with special powers. She helps him battle SF agents and shows him how to defeat RoboClones. Together they must make it across America in her ’69 Stingray Corvette, on Harleys, and on horseback, eluding SF agents, battling RoboClones, and making a living from Autumn’s performances in coffee shops and bars. Before APRIL was corrupted, she created Autumn, uploaded her virgin soul, and sent Autumn to help Ranger. In order to save APRIL, Ranger must get to Doom Mountain with both Autumn and the ring. APRIL is a mile deep in the mountain—a heavily-fortified, cold-war weapons facility, guarded by an army of advanced RoboClones. Autumn and Ranger have no chance of going it alone. 3D Entertainment Inc., a Hollywood company, is using APRIL to manufacture RoboClone models for the entertainment industry. In order to penetrate Doom Mountain’s defenses, Ranger’s only hope is to lead an underdog army of 3DE’s models in battle against APRIL’s RoboClone warriors. And time’s running short, as terrorists load nuclear bombs on NY and LA bound tankers.

Initial costs:

Torque Engine : $100 per seat
(Additional licensing maybe required. IANAL. Go look at Torque license agreements).

3D Modeller:
3DS Max would be best. $1000+ per seat
ZBrush could be very helpful.

Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro $100+ per seat

Programmers: You will need at least 1.

Artists: you will need at least a modeller/animator and a texture artist. Generally today the ratio is 2:1 for artists to programmers. You will want to get highly skilled artists too, which will cost more $$$ but it is worth it if you want to pitch your game to a publisher. I'd reckon that most of the work will be art, because you are using Torque and generally behavior only needs to be scripted or some C++ code will need to be added. Torque has the editor built in, you only need to create your models (buildings, trees, etc) and than use an exporter to put it into the Torque format to import it. You will of course need animators for players and such. AI is generally a combination of scripting and extending the built in AI classes.

Can't tell you how much it will cost beyond that, it depends on how you hire people (employees, contract?).

Your idea is very doable, you don't sound like your are insane and trying to do something over the top on this. It could be a cool game if you keep things reasonable and expand as necessary when you have sufficient capital. Most people want to make MMORPGs with insane features and have no clue the capital that is behind the companies doing this stuff (Sony, etc).

Quote: Original post by RangerWest
Based on the following description, how much do you think the game would cost?

While it is fairly easy to work out the software/equipment costs (at least on a per person basis) I am afraid that the information you have provided is almost completely worthless for the purposes of creating a development plan/schedule/budget - its just story. We need to know what will actually have to be produced.

You need a proper design which lists everything in the game from start-up to exit. That means the front end, menu, every level, everything in the level and the exit screens too. You need a list of what objects will be in each level, what they will do, how they act and how they interact with the player. You need a list of all the assets associated with each object (textures, animation, audio). Without that any estimate will just be a pure guess.

Just a few ideas:

3DS (while I agree is the best tool) seems thrifty for $1000 - I think that's a little higher especially when you add in the rest of the features you need.

Gamespace (for modeling) is a very good choice economically (~$200) as well as having support specifically for the Torque formats. However, I find it awkward to use (having learned on 3DS a number of years ago) at first - until you get going. If you are going to do cut scenes/movies (unless 1.6 changed this) then gamespace may be a little limiting with regards to frame count. I have never used Lightwave or Maya but I know people who stand behind those tools as well.

I would also add a few other things to your list of expenses:

Source Control System software
Bug Tracking software
Project tracking/management tool (MS Project)
50-100 T-shirts (incentive for good beta testers)
Box/Art design

These are just off the top of my head. I know that GarageGames handles some of these elements but if you are trying to budget out your project you may want to find out how much help and how good the help is first.


Hope that helps -

#dth-0