Quote: Original post by xraven13
too bad i think we dont have money to have a lawyer :(

Then you cannot afford to be in business, period.

I hope you succeed, I really do.

That's why I urge you, and I'm sure others do too, to get competent legal council. So many small companies claim they can't afford it, and then they become blazing fireballs that burn themselves into oblivion.

Entering into that kind of contract without a lawyer and hoping everything works is akin to jumping out of an aircraft and hoping you can fly. You might surprise us all and be a bird, or maybe there will be some divine intervention or luck or some event we cannot foresee that prevents it, but typically it ends with a really big *splat*.

If you go through with this, please report back here to provide some lessons to everybody else.

Well it really depends are they have good intention with us or bad intention..we will try to use all advice you people gave here,thanks for helping,and i hope we will suceed..we are indie team and that company have seen our design and got interested in it and that is how this started..all the time graphic was real problem to us and now finnaly someone can seriously do it...


[Edited by - xraven13 on October 14, 2008 4:57:46 PM]

actually when we got contract(we will not sign it right away) i will say here all details so you can help if there will be something wrong amd unclear..

btw could public notary help us?

Quote: Original post by xraven13
btw could public notary help us?

No.

My advice (which I already gave you when you PM'd me) is that you shouldn't do any business with this company.

Professional help costs money. This company is asking far too much (more than money - they want your whole game). They're trying to take advantage of a 19-year-old kid. Don't sign anything with them without a game lawyer's good advice. You can find game lawyers on Obscure.co.uk.

It costs money to be in the world of business, and I don't think you're ready for this much business. You're going to learn a lot either way you go, but is it worth it? That's for you to decide.

Well people that work in that company are students too and their leader is on same college as me and some other people from our team.They are not big company and have only few games.But i guess that doesnt change anything right.They say that if we wanna do game we must trust each other :D

Quote: Original post by xraven13
Well people that work in that company are students too and their leader is on same college as me and some other people from our team.

OK, well, your definition of a "company" differs from mine.
You need to negotiate a better deal than the one he's offering you.

From a transactional standpoint that is a HORRIBLE deal. Any condition subsequent that requires you to turn your entire product over if you don't meet an arbitrary time condition borders on unconscionable.

In Plain English: The deal sucks. You should NEVER agree to turn over your IP unless you're getting a royalty and advance for it. If they're concerned about time schedules, they should set up milestone payments-- payment conditioned on delivery, or vice versa.

If they insist on doing it this way, don't do business with them. Short and simple. There are plenty of artists and web designers out there-- there's only ONE game like yours (we hope), so use that as leverage.

"we need to trust each other".

NO, not at all. business is business is business. This guy sounds like he is probably very intelligent, and is trying to get the world for free, you should be very leary, particularly since the guy is still in school himself, the business is based on younger inexperienced people, etc. These people, as bright as they are, most likely do not know many of the ins and outs of business.

Another thing that threw me. You mentioned they have a contract like this with somebody else, but you don't know them. Have you seen any of their previous work? This is very important. They could be hoping that your game will , in essence, sell itself, which rarely ever, if at all, happends. Check to make sure the company has gotten their games on shelves, or interviewed in magazines. These are things that usualy require CONTACTS, and students attending college usualy do not have interpersonal relationships with that many people in the business.

Richard.

Ok..
they have games that was sold and i am sure in that.One of their games was on some big competetion on second place,first was Bioshock.They haved interviews in magazines etc...they have also on our college special gamedev group where people can learn about game industry ,programming ,designing and making graphic.

I asked them can they show me contract that they have with other team,so i will report if they do :)
i also sent them new conditions - contract with milestones instead of losing all if we dont suceed...

btw is it possible to make game similar to Legend of Zelda 2D games in 6 months with 4 programmers that can offer 4 hours per day and 1 designer/leader that can work 4-5 hours per day (weekdays - 6-8 hours)..
btw we are not starting right now:
-in design we need to complete all quests descriptions
-in programming - player can jump,run,shoot,fly,enter doors,kill monsters that attack him,there is level editor near complete,he can talk with npcs that remembers behaviour of players and many other things..
lot of things will be done in next two weeks , for example pyshic that is similar to one in chimpmunk but adjusted to our game..


Thanks for all helping!! You people really have great advices :)

[Edited by - xraven13 on October 15, 2008 4:40:46 PM]

Quote: Original post by xraven13
I asked them can they show me contract that they have with other team,so i will report if they do :)

No, don't expect that to happen.