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Original post by TemporalFlux How, for minimal initial cost, do you set up an effective prototype team for an RTS style game as in, what kind of people are required for this kind of task and how many?

Well you are going to need a programmer and a 3D artist. The main/initial programmer needs to be good so that he can make a framework on which other coders can later add extra bits to flesh out the game. To get the game progressing quickly you may want 3 programmers, 2 modellers, 1 2D artist, 1 level designer, 1 sound/music guy - but it is normal to get a prototype with just a coder and an artist.

You will almost certainly need to give more away to get interest than just telling us your idea is a revolutionary one. You might get a little interest but nobody will start work until they know what the design is - preferably from a proper design document. Many people will see your role as pointless unless you are a proper company and you do loads of marketing, website etc - until then you in a sense have to 'give' the ideas to the team and let them get to work, with the ability to change things if they want.

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Original post by TemporalFlux Quote: If you have the money the best way to go is to set up a company and hire a small initial team to do the prototype, with everyone signing an NDA and a contract (which includes an assignment of rights where necessary). Then don't show the prototype to anyone you don't have to (investors would be on the "have to" list) keeping it under wraps until you are ready to start marketing it. That I think, is what I was looking for. Runs the risk of Sandmans a) b) or c) syndrome though just with much higher financial reprocussions! Can you give any sort of rough projection on how much this would cost and how long it takes. I realise that without any details on the game this will be a ballpark guess but assuming a marketable game will run about 2mil and take 2 years of production time, how much of these two elements would the prototype phase cost?

It depends if you're going to pay a full wage to professionals as a 'real' job. If yes then you can expect fast progress but it will cost a lot (add up 3 people's salaries and you see a large part of the prototype cost assuming it takes one year). If they are to work together you must hire an office too...

...or are they going to be volunteers working for nothing?

Well, what's a DJ if he can't scrath? And even more importantly, what's a game designer if he can't code?

Learn to code. I've never known a designer who wasn't at some point a programmer.
In fact, most of them are still programmers even though they might hand over much
of the coding work to other people.

It's not that hard. It just takes a lot of patience.

- Madvillainy

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Learn to code. I've never known a designer who wasn't at some point a programmer.

I get your point but unfortunatly I am not the coding type or at least my brain is not wired to learn languages easily. Complex interactive design...that is what I am made for...and philosophy :)

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it is normal to get a prototype with just a coder and an artist.

Cool, that was an answer I was looking for but no, they would be fully paid positions because I think this sets you up for down the road much better.

Would it really take a year to build a prototype though with a year to rewrite the actual game? I would have assumed that it would take 6 months or so to create a working prototype and then about a year, year and half to write the actual game.

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Original post by TemporalFlux Would it really take a year to build a prototype though with a year to rewrite the actual game? I would have assumed that it would take 6 months or so to create a working prototype and then about a year, year and half to write the actual game.

Depends on what you want to prototype. I worked with a team that did two separate prototypes over the last year. The first was for a big character based game. After six months developing engine tech from they still weren't close to a prototype that actually showed the interesting gameplay. It became clear they would have to write a lot more of the game before they got to that stage. Instead we started on a new concept. One designed to be made by a smaller team. Started of doing video visualisation so that the team would all know what was expected then started on the coding and within three months we had a really fun prototype that clearly showed what the game was going to be.

Another issue is how real the code is that you write. If you just hack the prototype together is can be done quicker but will have to be thrown away when you do the real thing. If you write the code properly it will take a bit longer but can then be used in the real product.

Do you actually have the cash to pay two salaries for up to a year, and what would you do with your prototype? Try to get a pulisher to fund the rest - or do you have the money to fund a team of 5-10 for the rest of the development?

Since a relatively small amount of money seems to be no problem, you might want to check out the Tourque Game Engine or the Tourque Shader Engine. Combined with their RTS Starter Kit you're well off for about 150 bucks.
You can easily create prototypes using only scripting, but since you get the source, you can add anything you want to.
That way you don't have to tell anybody your game idea if you feel uncomfortable with it and just do it yourself. And if you are stuck, just ask the community on how to code some stuff and keep the rest to yourself.

l3mon - very useful links, thank you. I imagine in the right hands a lot can be done with those assets that would certainly be able to create a functioning prototype.

d000hg - I don't have 2 million sitting around (i'm sad to say) but I have enough to pull other investors into the loop to cover the majority of the cost but as with a publisher they want to see real potential, not just "I have an idea" :)

Are there freelance production studios out there that you could just rock up to with a fully detailed designed idea and some cash and say...make this into a working prototype..you have 6 months?

You could make a simplistic prototype version of it just to attract a team with a free game-making program(something along the lines of Game Maker). It would show your team that you're willing to work for it, too.

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Original post by TemporalFlux Are there freelance production studios out there that you could just rock up to with a fully detailed designed idea and some cash and say...make this into a working prototype..you have 6 months?

Yep there are developers out there that do prototyping work and other outsourcing jobs.

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Yep there are developers out there that do prototyping work and other outsourcing jobs.

How much would this cost?

I know that without any details or useful information to go on this is a ballpark figure, but how much would you estimate it would cost for a good programmer to develop an RTS prototype using one of the resources mentioned?

Btw, I appreciate all the feedback. You have all been very helpful and informative. Thanks.