Starting own company and selling the game
September 07, 2008 01:59 PM
Hi..i got lots of questions and i hope someone will care to reply..:D
so here we go:
-to sell the game you must have your own company right ? so i wonder how much cost starting own company , all workers in company would work for free so dont count that in..they are already working for free,we are all volonteers but we will split money at end of project
-getting licence for selling game and all other rights for that..how much money is needed and do i need anything else to start selling the game?
-how much commercials cost and what are bests ways to advertise game? cheapest and that it have effect :)
-if some artists are volonteering for us and there is NO contract and we for example sell our game with art they made can they sue us? and how i can make a contract with people that are far away from me ? i know that i cant give them money and tell , ok thats it ,because they can sue us again and tell that they didnt got money from us etc...
-how much cost work of artist that make for example all graphic in game like Legend of Zelda : The Minish Cap
-how much money would game similar to Legend of Zelda get,but that is 2D side scroller and that have battle that is similar to Jazz 2 Jackrabbit, but far more complex..be aware that we will not have popular name like Legend of Zelda have,probably worse graphic and it will be sold on PC!!!!
thx in advance for helping :)
288
September 07, 2008 02:18 PM
Quote: Original post by xraven13No not really
Hi..i got lots of questions and i hope someone will care to reply..:D
so here we go:
-to sell the game you must have your own company right ? so i wonder how much cost starting own company , all workers in company would work for free so dont count that in..they are already working for free,we are all volonteers but we will split money at end of project
Quote: -getting licence for selling game and all other rights for that..how much money is needed and do i need anything else to start selling the game?In the us at least there is no such thing
Quote:yes
-if some artists are volonteering for us and there is NO contract and we for example sell our game with art they made can they sue us?
Quote: and how i can make a contract with people that are far away from me?The same way as if they were standing right next to you. make copies give them to people get them signed and everyone gets a copy
Quote: i know that i cant give them money and tell , ok thats it ,because they can sue us again and tell that they didnt got money from us etc...
yes but usually when you give some one money there is evidence such as a check written by you to them which has been cashed.
1,208
September 07, 2008 02:22 PM
Normally, forming a company is both easy and cheap. In the UK you can do it for the equivalent of about $150, and the company exists by the end of the day. You might have to consult an accountant even if you aren't paying salaries, as I assume US companies have to do annual tax paperwork like in the UK.
In short, setting up a company is probably the EASIEST part of getting a game ready to sell.
In short, setting up a company is probably the EASIEST part of getting a game ready to sell.
September 07, 2008 04:25 PM
Hi XR, you wrote:
>-to sell the game you must have your own company right ?
No, that isn't the only way to make money from your game. You didn't say what kind of game (what platform) you've made (or whether it's already made or how far along it is).
>so i wonder how much cost starting own company , all workers in company would work for free so dont count that in..they are already working for free,we are all volonteers but we will split money at end of project
I'm not a fan of that model, mainly because I believe you'll make no money - and some of the people on your team will be angry about that. I think the best thing to do, assuming this is everyone's first game, is to make it with the intent that it be a portfolio piece. In fact, I wrote about this very topic in this month's column. It's at http://www.igda.org/columns/gamesgame/.
>-getting licence for selling game and all other rights for that..how much money is needed
It's not clear what you mean. Are you planning to make a console game, and your question is about how to get licensed with a platform holder so you can get SDKs and self-publish? Or are you asking about a regular business license?
>-how much commercials cost and what are bests ways to advertise game?
Television commercials?? Those are very expensive. You'd have to contact the TV stations and inquire. Most games don't get TV time.
>cheapest and that it have effect :)
That kind of marketing question usually doesn't get very good answers here, unfortunately.
>-if some artists are volonteering for us and there is NO contract
That's a very bad idea. You must have a collaboration agreement. It's essential that all the members of the team are on paper to have a clear understanding of what's being done, and who owns what rights.
>and we for example sell our game with art they made can they sue us?
Anybody can sue anybody for any reason. If you're entering into business, you need to have an attorney.
>and how i can make a contract with people that are far away from me ?
You can email and scan.
>-how much cost work of artist that make for example all graphic in game like Legend of Zelda : The Minish Cap
Those high-quality artists are expensive. You should look at the Salary Survey on gamecareerguide.com.
>-how much money would game similar to Legend of Zelda get,
Please clarify the question.
XR, it would also help if we knew your approximate age, your level of education, and your occupation. Tell us also what you'll be doing in this project.
>-to sell the game you must have your own company right ?
No, that isn't the only way to make money from your game. You didn't say what kind of game (what platform) you've made (or whether it's already made or how far along it is).
>so i wonder how much cost starting own company , all workers in company would work for free so dont count that in..they are already working for free,we are all volonteers but we will split money at end of project
I'm not a fan of that model, mainly because I believe you'll make no money - and some of the people on your team will be angry about that. I think the best thing to do, assuming this is everyone's first game, is to make it with the intent that it be a portfolio piece. In fact, I wrote about this very topic in this month's column. It's at http://www.igda.org/columns/gamesgame/.
>-getting licence for selling game and all other rights for that..how much money is needed
It's not clear what you mean. Are you planning to make a console game, and your question is about how to get licensed with a platform holder so you can get SDKs and self-publish? Or are you asking about a regular business license?
>-how much commercials cost and what are bests ways to advertise game?
Television commercials?? Those are very expensive. You'd have to contact the TV stations and inquire. Most games don't get TV time.
>cheapest and that it have effect :)
That kind of marketing question usually doesn't get very good answers here, unfortunately.
>-if some artists are volonteering for us and there is NO contract
That's a very bad idea. You must have a collaboration agreement. It's essential that all the members of the team are on paper to have a clear understanding of what's being done, and who owns what rights.
>and we for example sell our game with art they made can they sue us?
Anybody can sue anybody for any reason. If you're entering into business, you need to have an attorney.
>and how i can make a contract with people that are far away from me ?
You can email and scan.
>-how much cost work of artist that make for example all graphic in game like Legend of Zelda : The Minish Cap
Those high-quality artists are expensive. You should look at the Salary Survey on gamecareerguide.com.
>-how much money would game similar to Legend of Zelda get,
Please clarify the question.
XR, it would also help if we knew your approximate age, your level of education, and your occupation. Tell us also what you'll be doing in this project.
-- Tom Sloper -- sloperama.com
September 07, 2008 05:38 PM
@Tom Sloper :
First i wanna thank you for reply .. it helps a lot and i read column from link you posted.. i am 19 years old, i am at second year of college FER,going for programmer or something that have connection with computers and stuffs like that..
I am founder of team,leader,recruiter,manager,team manager,story writter and lead designer.Yes there is lot of work to do :)
Game is 2D side scroller with elements of RPG and adventure.In exploring is similar to Legend of Zelda games and battle is similar to Jazz2 Jackrabbit battle but is far more complex. Design is almost totaly finished,only part i need to do is balancing the game but i cant do that until is all programmed :) Team was made 4 months ago and most of people from start stayed in project.Some of them leaved and new other people replaced them.
There is 5 programmers right now in team and it is done 60% of programming for sure,all classes and main core are nearly done.We need to programm gameplay and thats it.There are MBs of code and all is build really well so we have total control on it.For now player can run,jump,double jump,shoot bullets,fly with jetpack,use special power,throw bombs,kill monsters,collect items etc. We have also level editor in which you while building level can press start for example and you start playing from instant.For example you place few tiles , jump on them,place monster that attacks you etc..
About design,all members agreed that is good , i was working on it more then 2 months,each day more then 6 hours.I collected all good systems from other games and added some other original stuffs so i think that is good enough to succeed on market.Each part of design is made in way that is interesting and original,there is not stupid item,equipment,monster etc.,everyone have something special in it.Puzzles are also inovative.People in team tell me all the time i got great ideas and i gave them full freedom to comment my design so i always change it if they are not happy with it.I also used some of their ideas.Just to mention that quests and story are not made for whole game,only for demo version that we plan to release before 1.11.2008.
Game is intend to be released on PC and we are not sure can game like that suceed on PC market,it can be really good or really bad end :).
Well now for real problems :)
Biggest problem in our game is graphic.I dont know why but artists doesnt love volonteering much,there was tons of artists in team and most of them gived up because it was too difficult to them,they didnt work on game before,or they got school , or they wasnt good enough etc. We got now some good artists in team and each artist have part of job , for example one if drawing NPCs,one is drawing monsters,item icons etc.. We need few artists more : one that will make tiles ( he just need to draw few pictures and we will seperate it into tiles),one that will make animations of main character ( all of them that tryed gave up :D),one for special effects and one that will animate monsters :D
So that is biggest problem in our team i hope i will solve it with more recruiting on few sites.If that doesnt suceed we will maybe invest some money to get real artists.I think after releasing the demo everything will be a lot easyer..
at end i want to say that we didnt start making this game for money,but for fun and to learn something but in the way we realize that maybe there is chance to make some money..and god knows we need it :D ..so that is why i posted here , to see is there a chance and did someone suceed in that by working in way we are working..
if anyone got question,you are free to ask..
on link there is more info about our game,just to say that i improved much more story that is posted there..game starts with story of legend from past , how world was created,how it was divided in dark and light,how dark sun become the moon etc.. :
The Link :
http://gamedev.dailyforum.net/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=113
well this is all from me for now :D ..
[Edited by - xraven13 on September 7, 2008 5:38:32 PM]
First i wanna thank you for reply .. it helps a lot and i read column from link you posted.. i am 19 years old, i am at second year of college FER,going for programmer or something that have connection with computers and stuffs like that..
I am founder of team,leader,recruiter,manager,team manager,story writter and lead designer.Yes there is lot of work to do :)
Game is 2D side scroller with elements of RPG and adventure.In exploring is similar to Legend of Zelda games and battle is similar to Jazz2 Jackrabbit battle but is far more complex. Design is almost totaly finished,only part i need to do is balancing the game but i cant do that until is all programmed :) Team was made 4 months ago and most of people from start stayed in project.Some of them leaved and new other people replaced them.
There is 5 programmers right now in team and it is done 60% of programming for sure,all classes and main core are nearly done.We need to programm gameplay and thats it.There are MBs of code and all is build really well so we have total control on it.For now player can run,jump,double jump,shoot bullets,fly with jetpack,use special power,throw bombs,kill monsters,collect items etc. We have also level editor in which you while building level can press start for example and you start playing from instant.For example you place few tiles , jump on them,place monster that attacks you etc..
About design,all members agreed that is good , i was working on it more then 2 months,each day more then 6 hours.I collected all good systems from other games and added some other original stuffs so i think that is good enough to succeed on market.Each part of design is made in way that is interesting and original,there is not stupid item,equipment,monster etc.,everyone have something special in it.Puzzles are also inovative.People in team tell me all the time i got great ideas and i gave them full freedom to comment my design so i always change it if they are not happy with it.I also used some of their ideas.Just to mention that quests and story are not made for whole game,only for demo version that we plan to release before 1.11.2008.
Game is intend to be released on PC and we are not sure can game like that suceed on PC market,it can be really good or really bad end :).
Well now for real problems :)
Biggest problem in our game is graphic.I dont know why but artists doesnt love volonteering much,there was tons of artists in team and most of them gived up because it was too difficult to them,they didnt work on game before,or they got school , or they wasnt good enough etc. We got now some good artists in team and each artist have part of job , for example one if drawing NPCs,one is drawing monsters,item icons etc.. We need few artists more : one that will make tiles ( he just need to draw few pictures and we will seperate it into tiles),one that will make animations of main character ( all of them that tryed gave up :D),one for special effects and one that will animate monsters :D
So that is biggest problem in our team i hope i will solve it with more recruiting on few sites.If that doesnt suceed we will maybe invest some money to get real artists.I think after releasing the demo everything will be a lot easyer..
at end i want to say that we didnt start making this game for money,but for fun and to learn something but in the way we realize that maybe there is chance to make some money..and god knows we need it :D ..so that is why i posted here , to see is there a chance and did someone suceed in that by working in way we are working..
if anyone got question,you are free to ask..
on link there is more info about our game,just to say that i improved much more story that is posted there..game starts with story of legend from past , how world was created,how it was divided in dark and light,how dark sun become the moon etc.. :
The Link :
http://gamedev.dailyforum.net/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=113
well this is all from me for now :D ..
[Edited by - xraven13 on September 7, 2008 5:38:32 PM]
September 07, 2008 10:58 PM
XR, you wrote:
>I am founder of team,leader,recruiter,manager,team manager,story writter and lead designer.
OK, so designer and producer. From the sound of it, you're doing things correctly, and building the trust of your teammates.
>Game is 2D side scroller with elements of RPG and adventure.
>Game is intend to be released on PC and we are not sure can game like that suceed on PC market,it can be really good or really bad end :).
In regards to your previous question about the chances of the game making money - from this description, it sounds not very likely that it'll make a lot of money.
>There is 5 programmers right now in team and it is done 60% of programming for sure,all classes and main core are nearly done.
Very good.
>i gave them full freedom to comment my design so i always change it if they are not happy with it.I also used some of their ideas.
You are doing it the right way. Good job.
>Biggest problem in our game is graphic.I dont know why but artists doesnt love volonteering much,
Yes, well, it's complicated. You may have heard of "starving artists"?
>i hope i will solve it with more recruiting on few sites.If that doesnt suceed we will maybe invest some money to get real artists.I think after releasing the demo everything will be a lot easyer..
Don't count on it.
>at end i want to say that we didnt start making this game for money,but for fun and to learn something but in the way we realize that maybe there is chance to make some money..
That's always what happens. Expectations rise as the game comes together. Unfortunately, hopes don't equate with probabilities.
>and god knows we need it :D ..so that is why i posted here , to see is there a chance
Oh yes, anything is possible. But the likelihood of making money from it are pretty low. After you finish the game, then you (the designer/producer) now need to learn a whole new set of skills. Sales, marketing, and business... and work even harder than you or anybody has up til now. Making the game is the easy part. Making money from it is very hard.
>and did someone suceed in that by working in way we are working..
Some have. Not many.
In my opinion, you should take your finished game and enter it in indie competitions, and use it as a portfolio piece for everyone on the team. You can try to sell it - just don't pin your future plans on making money from it. But if you all do a great job making the game, you can all get game jobs.
>I am founder of team,leader,recruiter,manager,team manager,story writter and lead designer.
OK, so designer and producer. From the sound of it, you're doing things correctly, and building the trust of your teammates.
>Game is 2D side scroller with elements of RPG and adventure.
>Game is intend to be released on PC and we are not sure can game like that suceed on PC market,it can be really good or really bad end :).
In regards to your previous question about the chances of the game making money - from this description, it sounds not very likely that it'll make a lot of money.
>There is 5 programmers right now in team and it is done 60% of programming for sure,all classes and main core are nearly done.
Very good.
>i gave them full freedom to comment my design so i always change it if they are not happy with it.I also used some of their ideas.
You are doing it the right way. Good job.
>Biggest problem in our game is graphic.I dont know why but artists doesnt love volonteering much,
Yes, well, it's complicated. You may have heard of "starving artists"?
>i hope i will solve it with more recruiting on few sites.If that doesnt suceed we will maybe invest some money to get real artists.I think after releasing the demo everything will be a lot easyer..
Don't count on it.
>at end i want to say that we didnt start making this game for money,but for fun and to learn something but in the way we realize that maybe there is chance to make some money..
That's always what happens. Expectations rise as the game comes together. Unfortunately, hopes don't equate with probabilities.
>and god knows we need it :D ..so that is why i posted here , to see is there a chance
Oh yes, anything is possible. But the likelihood of making money from it are pretty low. After you finish the game, then you (the designer/producer) now need to learn a whole new set of skills. Sales, marketing, and business... and work even harder than you or anybody has up til now. Making the game is the easy part. Making money from it is very hard.
>and did someone suceed in that by working in way we are working..
Some have. Not many.
In my opinion, you should take your finished game and enter it in indie competitions, and use it as a portfolio piece for everyone on the team. You can try to sell it - just don't pin your future plans on making money from it. But if you all do a great job making the game, you can all get game jobs.
-- Tom Sloper -- sloperama.com
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