Hello! I´m developing a 2.5D point&click adventure in Germany and have some (perhaps some quite simple) questions concerning publishing / finding a publisher. 1. Is it okay to have only a working demo to present to a publisher or do you have to have a whole game? 2. I don´t have any characters yet, only a dummy walking about in my demo. Is it vital to have finished characters? 3. How much of the story do you have to tell the publisher and how detailed should it be? 4. What else do I have to give the publisher (a design document?) 5. How are the chances of finding a publisher that pays you for "milestones"? Thanks for your answers and help! Oli

The quick (and depressing) answer is that you don't need a finished product only if your team is composed of people who on average have 3-5 AAA published titles under their belt and if you already have funding. For all other cases you need a finished product; and even then your chances are pretty small.

To break it down w/r/t your questions (assuming that you're not an industry professional):

1) a demo is not ok, you need a finished game
2) yes, everything needs to be done
3) as with everything else story has to be 100% done
4) give them the "finished" game. if it stands on par with other commercial releases they may give you more money to fully test and polish it
5) zero chance

-me

There are a couple of publishers in Germany that primarily publish indie titles. Just go to your local game dealer and check out their budget section. My guess is these indie publishers won't finance your game, but the chances of getting your game published aren't too bad.

Check this out for example:
http://www.de.atari.com/index.php?pg=product&id=599

Atari actually published this and the quality is...well...pretty low. It scored 25% ratings (at most).

Quote:

Original post by FogGobbler 1. Is it okay to have only a working demo to present to a publisher or do you have to have a whole game?

If your team already has a proven track record making commercial games (IE they have worked on several AAA or AA published titles at a commercial developer).

Quote:

2. I don´t have any characters yet, only a dummy walking about in my demo. Is it vital to have finished characters?

See above - it depends how much previous experience your team have.

......

Quote:

5. How are the chances of finding a publisher that pays you for "milestones"?

as with all the above the answer is the same. If you are a team with proven experience making games then you may be able to secure publisher funding. If your team don't have a proven track record you won't get funding from a publisher.

Foggo wrote:

>1. Is it okay to have only a working demo to present to a publisher or do you have to have a whole game?

Read FAQ 11 - http://www.sloperama.com/advice/lesson11.htm

>2. I don´t have any characters yet, only a dummy walking about in my demo. Is it vital to have finished characters?

No.

>3. How much of the story do you have to tell the publisher and how detailed should it be?

Read FAQ 35 - http://www.sloperama.com/advice/lesson35.htm

>4. What else do I have to give the publisher (a design document?)

Read FAQ 21 - http://www.sloperama.com/advice/lesson21.htm

>5. How are the chances of finding a publisher that pays you for "milestones"?

Not good.