Hi all to those who gander over this. I have been managing a team for the last 3 years now and now that we have built up a large resource of game content for the two projects we are working on I am curious to know how simple it is to protect such content. I have already established what should happen to my input/control of the team should I pass on within my will but I would like to know that should I wish to form the team into a registered company the pro and cons of doing so for an indie team. I would imagine we are given better protection of our ideas and such than IP does but are there any major cons with liability and such that I should be aware of. I have googled here and there but thought I would pool some information from here before approaching a lawyer etc. The second question in regards to my topic title is this, this week I was screwed with a big screw in the screwhole that is life. I am currently studying a Computer Science degree (approaching final year woohoo) as I once applied to Codemasters for a programming position and was told I would need a BA in Computer Science if I wished to program there. So I have stuck it out on a Computer Science degree all this time, however the final year options day I went to last week showed I could do 2 modules in particular (we have to do 4, 2 preselected, 2 that we choose) Game Design and the other was 3D Modelling. I was most pleased thinking I could orient my degree that little bit more towards Gaming whilst still having the classification produce a Computer Science degree. Bad news hits and I find they have dropped the Game Design module due to lack of numbers (I hate that rule), so I picked up Multi-Service Networks instead hoping that a background knowledge in that will aide me with my interest in multiplayer gaming and networks. Right, so the actual question is in order to get a job in the Gaming industry fresh out of Uni, what are my chances if I can show I have a registered company/team, two working multiplayer game projects, interest in gaming and my Computer Science degree. That said, when producing projects for submission to show them to employers would they look on the game from a end user point of view or want to examine how it was put together and thus in which case might be better for me if I produce a collection of simple from the ground up small time games to boost my portfolio rather than try to impress with RealmCrafter Scripting? Sorry for the long post all ^_^. [Edited by - SilentSiren on March 9, 2008 2:15:43 PM]

Quote: Bad news hits and I find they have dropped the Game Design module due to lack of numbers (I hate that rule)...

You call that getting screwed in the screwhole? Well, I've got bad news for you. You're going to find life much tougher than you expect to.

Hi Ashkan,

I expect life to be hard, but to have to have to now choose a module that I am not prepared for, or rather am not going to enjoy which will form a substantial mark for my final year and decide the degree classification I get is an annoyance. If by hard you meant life in general then I assure you I am a strong enough person to deal with such issues. :)

Thank you for commenting on - oh, wait...you didn't.

Quote:
That said, when producing projects for submission to showcase them to employers would they look on the game from a end user point of view or want to examine how it was put together and thus in which case might be better for me if I produce a collection of simple from the ground up small time games to boost my portfolio rather than try to impress with RealmCrafter Scripting?

The most impressive demo you can have is a complete game -- and I mean totally complete, menus, high score table, everything that goes around a game to make it into a finished product. It doesn't matter what the actualy game is, it can be a Snake clone or a World of Warcraft clone. It matters that its complete and polished.

A good demo in RealmCrafter is very well, but most companies will want to see a demo written in which ever language they use internally (almost certainly c++).

Alan

Hi Alan Kemp,

Thank you for that advice I was hoping that would be the answer, that if I could produce the fact I had a complete project done from Design Document to actualisation and showed after care support that I would be seen as a hardworking person to see it all through. I think it might be in my best interest based on what you said then to maybe create a single player game in C++ then so I can show that I can actually program as well which luckily RC mainly GUI based enviroment should give me enough time to do so.
Ill get to work on one and document it with my journal here and eventually host the download link that should be a good portfolio hopefully. Cheers for the idea.

Sir Sil wrote:

>I am curious to know how simple it is to protect such content.

Protect in what way, against what? Do you mean copyrighting it or trademarking it or patenting it? Those are all legal matters, and you should read the Game Attorney Q&A sticky at the top of this forum.

>I would like to know that should I wish to form the team into a registered company the pro and cons of doing so for an indie team.
>are there any major cons with liability and such that I should be aware of. I have googled here and there but thought I would pool some information from here before approaching a lawyer etc.

So you want to get free bad advice first, before getting good advice that you'd have to pay for? Why?

>The second question

Our counts are already off! (^_^) We'll have to start over again.

>I was most pleased thinking I could orient my degree that little bit more towards Gaming

Games. "Gaming" = gambling/casinos.

>in order to get a job in the Gaming

GAMES!

>industry fresh out of Uni, what are my chances

Low. Notice that I deleted all the rest of what you were modifying that question with. It's very hard to get a game job (notice I didn't say "gaming")

>if I can show I have a registered company/team,

How's that supposed to help get a job? "Hey look, I'm already doing something so I can't work for you. Give me a job!"

>two working multiplayer game projects,

A two-game portfolio is twice as good as a one-game portfolio.

>interest in gaming

Worthless. Read this thread on IGDA, from some argumentative twit who refuses to hear the answer to this same question: IGDA.org - forums - Breaking In - Being a gamer.

>and my Computer Science degree.

That's a good thing to have. If what you want to do is program.

>That said, when producing projects for submission to showcase them to employers

Whoa, you lost me. "For submission to showcase" is confusing phraseology. Are you making games to submit for publication, to try to get a deal? That's what submission means.

>would they look on the game from a end user point of view or want to examine how it was put together and thus in which case might be better for me if I produce a collection of simple from the ground up small time games to boost my portfolio rather than try to impress with RealmCrafter Scripting?

Gee. Why don't you just make games that you think would be fun to play?

To be honest, the Multi-Service Networks module sounds like it would more beneficial to you as a programmer then the Game Design course.

copyrighting it or trademarking it or patenting it?

Well I thought that patents were used for inventions more than actual games.
The copyright I thought would be the one needed in relation to protecting our games.
Leaving Trademark as I was under the impression of just protecting the Company name though I may be wrong.

Free does not mean bad as I am sure you are aware. When I had my will done the person who did it for me was a family
friend yet has specialised in that area within her law firm for the past 10 years, her skills are
far from bad. In my eyes I believe it is better to get a variety of opinions and get a general idea
than to take one view as the standard, that is why.

Your comment of Gaming being equal to gambling is a little silly when I read it, it makes no sense
to refer the term Gaming to gambling I would ask you keep your reply to being in relation to the questions
posed or not at all, thanks.

If I show that I have already led a team and company then I would hope it would give me an edge
over the competition in that I have project management experience and the extra skills involved
with doing so. I am sure you have heard of the cycle of those not getting a chance to work within the Gaming
industry due to no industry experience, I am trying to increase my chance by any means necessary.
£20-30 through companies house is hardly life changing budget cut...

Thank you for the link to the IGDA link and it confirmed a back of the mind worry that I had
about just thinking a love of games could get me in (hence the route of University), though
I would imagine a common interest in some games would be good for integration within a team.

Apologies for my phrasing, what I had meant is the job positions where they are for a demo submission, I put
showcase instead of just "show" mind was elsewhere on that one I guess, edited now.

Well I want to make games that people enjoy, but I don't want it to end just there I have major plans
and since I am 21, I thought I could take on life experiences of those here who have already been there and done that.

Hey yaustar,

Hmm had the talk on Multi-Service Networks seems like I will be dealing with routers and how different data types are sent etc I just hope I don't end up with wasted knowledge like when last year I had to learn Ruby...Give me PHP & MySQL anyday lol, thanks for the boost though was starting to think it could be a waste.

Quote: Original post by SilentSiren
I would like to know that should I wish to form the team into a registered company the pro and cons of doing so for an indie team.

Quote: I would imagine we are given better protection of our ideas and such than IP does

Nope. Copyright protects anyone equally. Likewise a patent can be registered by anyone but would almost certainly be pointlessly expensive for an indie team (and not applicable unless you have actually invented something new). Lastly trademarks don't apply unless you actually do business - you can do that as a company or as a bunch of individuals.

Quote: but are there any major cons with liability and such that I should be aware of.

Yes, it costs money to set up and run a company and as such it is pointless unless you are actually intending for it to be your primary business.

Quote: what are my chances if I can show I have a registered company/team,

If you already have a job running a company why would you be applying for another job. If your not intending to run your company as a job why would you set it up?

Quote: two working multiplayer game projects,

That depends on your definition of "working". If you mean finished, debugged and fully working then it would be great. However if you just have a load of assets and some partially working (or not-so-working) code then it isn't much use.

Quote: interest in gaming

Being interested in games isn't a qualification, in fact it is taken as read.

Quote: and my Computer Science degree.

Degree is certainly one of the most useful things along with a great portfolio.