I came up with a really cool idea for a game about a month ago. At first it was a basic concept, but I got so into the game that I started expanding upon it. I'm going to school for Game Development and have a couple years left, but my idea turned into a really awesome storyline I’ve never heard before. I've created a Pitch Document, Game Prototype and Design Document, and an in depth storyline. I wouldn't be wanted to actually pitch it and somehow get it made unless I thought it was unique and believable enough to get off the ground. The problems I’m running into are getting a meeting to pitch it in the first place. Every place I’ve tried doesn't take ideas from anyone except companies they work for, or if you pitch an idea to them they say that they can and will use it without your consent. I think it's worth putting effort into to get made, but I don't have the money to get a demo made but can compare how the overall look I want it to look like. Even had my cousin make a logo for me that looks really professional and a catchy title that is simple but says a lot. Anyone have suggestions? Ideas? Know someone in the business I could get in contact with?

You just asked the single most frequently asked question and got the only answer there is. Developers/publishers don't accept ideas from people outside the industry (that include game dev students I'm afraid). Put simply, no one is going to trust millions of dollars of their companies money to someone with no industry experience. For the full explanation of the problem see http://www.obscure.co.uk/faq_idea.shtml.

Even if you have a great demo and documents that still won't prove to a publisher that you can finish a game - its easy to start one (and make a demo) but it painfully difficult to drag a triple A game through to gold master and the publishers know it.

If you want your game made you will either have to recruit a hobby team and do it in your spare time (check out the Help Wanted Forum), win the lottery and pay a company to make your game or put the idea in your sock draw until you have worked in the industry for a few years and earned your stripes.

Either way good luck with your project.

PS there is one other possibility, which is to enter your idea into a game design competition. Sony have been known to run competitions where the winning idea gets made but they are very very rare, the chances of winning are slim and the company running the compo will almost certainly end up owning the game.

I thought about sitting on it till I had a job in the industry but that won't be for a couple more years, and even then the chances are slim. Writing up the documents (were also for my class I’m in) the more it became a big scale project and not a simple concept that can be made using flash. It would be for pc/console which I don't have the money for to hire a team by myself and get it going or even a demo made. I wasn't planning on asking a company for money so I could get a team together to make it, I kind of figured if they liked it they would basically buy the idea from me, and use a team they have themselves. I've written more about it than just a simple concept, I’ve gone through a lot of the steps of the target market, stage setups, character descriptions, detailed storyline/some alterations, ect. Putting a lot of my free time into writing and rewriting it so one day it would be produced.

Hello Bro,

You just went on as though Dan never said anything. Either that or you were making arguments against what Dan said. (I'd earlier written an entire rant based on the latter assumption, but now I'm assuming the former.)

Either way, what you have expressed in your two posts IS the usual desire that Dan addressed (you really HAVE asked Frequently Asked Question #1). In addition to the article on Dan's site, you should also read http://www.sloperama.com/advice/idea.htm and http://www.sloperama.com/advice/lesson11.htm.


[Edited by - tsloper on October 10, 2006 5:03:49 PM]

Quote: Original post by Broadway
...I kind of figured if they liked it they would basically buy the idea from me, and use a team they have themselves. I've written more about it than just a simple concept, I’ve gone through a lot of the steps of the target market, stage setups, character descriptions, detailed storyline/some alterations, ect. Putting a lot of my free time into writing and rewriting it so one day it would be produced.

This is exactly what everyone else says and is all covered in the article I linked to. Guess you didn't bother to read it.

The really disappointing thing for me is that you are doing a (specifically) game development related degree and the course doesn't even teach you the basics of how the business works. It's obviously necessary to teach you how to make games but if (as I assume) you're planing to make a living as a developer it would be useful if they taught you at least the basics of how the industry works.

Quote: Original post by Obscure
The really disappointing thing for me is that you are doing a (specifically) game development related degree and the course doesn't even teach you the basics of how the business works. It's obviously necessary to teach you how to make games but if (as I assume) you're planing to make a living as a developer it would be useful if they taught you at least the basics of how the industry works.

Hear, hear. One of the things I stress to my students at USC is the reality of the business. Bro, what's the name of the school you're attending? Are the teachers there not truly game biz pros?

The first 8 weeks of school are almost over, I just started going back to school. A lot of my generals transfered so I have about 2 years left of school since I'm in school all year round except 2 2 week breaks. I've only had an intro class and my last english so far. I started at Devry for the Game and Simulation Programming (GSP), the career I want is Game Development but there are other possibilities also with what i'll be learning.

Quote: Original post by Broadway
the career I want is Game Development.....

That's a rather general term covering all the disciplines necessary to make a game. Are you focussing on anything specific?

Hope the course goes well.

Quote: Original post by tsloper

Quote: Original post by Obscure
The really disappointing thing for me is that you are doing a (specifically) game development related degree and the course doesn't even teach you the basics of how the business works. It's obviously necessary to teach you how to make games but if (as I assume) you're planing to make a living as a developer it would be useful if they taught you at least the basics of how the industry works.

Hear, hear. One of the things I stress to my students at USC is the reality of the business. Bro, what's the name of the school you're attending? Are the teachers there not truly game biz pros?

I'm chiming in here, although I don't have the Game Biz Experience, just Biz. But, where I'm coming from is that a few programmers who knew me and want to make an MORPG had the same idea you did. "This is a great game idea. We'll make the game and sell it and retire young!" While they're making the game, I'm taking care of the stuff they had no clue needed to be done. Legalities, business formation, contracts, trademarking, and other not as fun things that are part of the eventuality of doing business. We didn't even entertain the idea of pitching the game to anyone because we know nobody will want to do such a huge risk. (We're self-financing it.)

As Obscure and Tom pointed out, nobody will give you money for your idea. Odds are, it's not a unique idea and there's a possibility someone out there has done it or is doing it. Or, there might be a reason the specific idea is not being done. This doesn't mean to give up on your idea; it means you need to give up on the idea that someone will pay you for what you thought up, because it's unrealistic.

I remember an earlier post here, where someone wanted to know a good game school to go to and he'd posted one. I went to the website and bypassed all the propganda and looked at the faculty listings. One of the teachers there listed, as his game experience, that he worked in a retail store that sold games! If I go work at Starbucks as a barrista, that doesn't make me an expert on coffee agriculture. So, be wary of the "teachers" of "game schools". It wouldn't shock me that they don't know the real ins and outs of a business, if they don't have experience as the business-person.

The best advice I can give you, Broadway, is to write up your idea as a fiction story and then for $45 copyright it at the Library of Congress, so the idea is on record that you own the IP to the in-depth storyline. Now, you are protected to a small degree and there is no rush. Also, fiction/story-writing is the only thing I know of where you do get paid for written ideas and someone buys the rights and then finances and creates something from it.

Second best advice: Dan and Tom are incredible resources. Read what they link to, in detail. Listen to their advice. I feel blessed that they're here on a forum and posting good advice.

Quote: Original post by tsloper
Hear, hear. One of the things I stress to my students at USC is the reality of the business.

I'm currently a graduate student in screenwriting, and due to some fortuitous events have met a very successful game writer, allowing me to pick her brain on all sorts of subjects. Something that has so far been a semi-not-sure-if-it's-too-much-to-ask topic is how to get in on the ground floor of game publishing. The reality mentioned above is obvious, everyone has to start somewhere.

It seems like a tall order considering I have no programming knowledge (well, exceptionally limited anyway) and little 2d/3d artistic ability. On the other hand I've spent the last several years developing my storytelling skills. Do companies hire people for development or conceptualization of story these days without "game industry" experience?

I've taken a look at the game jobs section and there are senior designers and whatnot listed, but the technical sides to those listings are beyond my skill set. I've yet to see, although I have only been a recent visitor, postings for game writers. It seems like a natural position, but again, the in-house ability for people to write games on the cheap may outweigh hiring outside or freelance writers. Now the question is what sort of position should one seek out in order to become an in-house writer in the future?

Just curious to take a look at an industry outside of film and television. (Luckily I have a decent start there.) I have no lofty goals of making my ideas into games off the bat, but learning and helping create the stories for games seems like a good spot to start, if it's even a realistic niche in the game job market.

Thanks in advance.