I have been thinking of starting a small videogame company for a while. I would like to eventually hire about 4 programmers/artists to work for me on my first project, just to see what it's like and hopefully to have a small project done after a year or two. However, while I have owned a business for a few years, I have no clue how things work in the gaming industry, how programming teams work together and especially how does a plan or idea go from the creator's head to the programming team. I am posting this to ask what this community thinks are the important things that a new developper should learn, and that are immediatly available for learning. Thus, I do not care what the things are that make a good veteran developper. What I need advice on is more along the lines of "how much programming/artistic/graphic design/business leadership/ knowledge I would need to get started. Keep in mind that I do not plan to code anything, although I assume that knowing how a program is done would be useful. What I really want is to know what I should learn to be able to efficiently plan and control the project. Would I need to learn UML to be able to properly show my ideas to my workers? Or should I just write a detailed plan and have a pro think of a development plan himself? Can I be successful if I only know the basics of programming? Those are the kind of things I am hoping I could get advice on. Thank you, I am grateful for any advice I can get. [Edited by - Beltz on March 22, 2005 4:23:21 PM]

I'm not sure how much coding experience u have but assuming none i would suggest getting ur foot in the industry door by working in another company for a few years. This way you get contacts etc.

BTW i do not know all so this is speculation.

ace

I've done some C++ a few years ago. I had gone through a 1000 page "Beginning C++" book by Ivor Horton and practiced making programs after that for about 3 months. That resumes my only programming experience.

About working for others... I am planning to hire about 4 employees and I already have my own business to handle, so I do not wish to study computer sciences for a few years and then work for someone else to get experience. I'm really just looking for advice on the things I should try to learn in the next 3-6 months before taking the first steps such as setting up a local, hiring staff, etc...

well why not try to gather a team together first?
your first team can do a game and your second team can do an app?
both of them small of course.
see which one you found easier or more comfortable doing, then go with that.

(first post editted to deter replies that do not pertain to it)

Alphas, I'm just looking for answers to my questions, assuming I hired a team for a videogame.

For the next 3-6 months, I would seriously consider learning Project Management (unless you'll have the money to employ one) and research the games industry as well as you can.

As you know how to run a business, I would only add that financial projections (costs in particular) can be waay higher than you would expect at first glance.

Good luck!

Since you´re planning to work with a small team you´ll probably be managing the project yourself. Any and all knowledge related to that will be an asset, if you can´t manage both the team AND the finances it won´t work.
The technical details I´d leave to your employers, since I assume you´ll be hiring game developers anyways. The things you´ll be doing is setting up the project, finding a way to make money off the product and seeing to it that the milestone goals are met.

To answer your question in short - you should know as much as possible about all areas involved, with the priority on business and project management knowhow. Everything else is secondary. Some might even argue that managers shouldn´t get too much into the technical details anyways, since it creates a dangerous sort of half-knowledge, which allows them enough insight to meddle where they shouldn´t, but not enough to actually help.

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Original post by Beltz However, while I have owned a business for a few years, I have no clue how things work in the gaming industry, how programming teams work together and especially how does a plan or idea go from the creator's head to the programming team.

this book has some good stuff about gameplay, game design, project/team management and the industry. You'll also want to read up on the popular engines and APIs (opengl/directx). Gamedev also has some good articles on industry.

Other than the obvious a new developer should learn about formal design methods and testing.

I think itd be a good idea to get an independant team together first. Come up with a few game ideas and create them to the best of ability, and offer them as freeware or possibly shareware. The more projects you complete, the better you and your team will be at what you do. Then you can worry about Money. Ive found that money complicates things. Dont do it as a business right off, do it as a hobby. Once you get good, then do it as a business.