Hi everyone, this is my first post here and I am not sure if I am putting this in the correct forum, or if I am even allowed to post a post like this. Mods please feel free to direct this to the right forum or remove if necessary.


Anyway, I have a really cool idea for a "game", well it's not really a game but, I am sure the idea will generate some serious cash. The dilemma is, I have no idea about how to create a game or what is involved. That is why I am reaching out to the experts, you, to help guide me. So if I have a really cool idea how would I go about getting the game developed?

By the way, when I say it is not a game, it is not, so I am sure the development would be less demanding. But it would be used on xbox, ps3 and so on.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Travis

So the practical reality is that an idea has zero value if you are both unable to make it real yourself and cannot pay other people to do it.

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Original post by travis99 But it would be used on xbox, ps3 and so on.

This is unrealistic if you don't have a history in the industry and/or have millions of dollars in cash lying about. A AAA game generally runs between 30million - 100million+ over 2-6 years to develop. You can do something in the quality of an XBLA game for much less. If you haven't shipped any titles on major consoles you won't be able to get a team to make it for you unless you can pay them a lot of money (which you can't get from investors unless you have a lot of money.

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Original post by travis99 So if I have a really cool idea how would I go about getting the game developed?

So, again speaking practically it is similarly hard to get a team of strangers to commit time to work on something for you. There are millions of "amazing" ideas out there, but a scarcity of people who can make them a reality. The best approach is to either make friends in real life with developers or learn to be one yourself.

There are also tons of great game making tools available these days. Unreal, Unity, Torque, and to a lesser degree the XNA framework are all available for free or cheap and each provide you with a pretty amazing toolset within which to build your game. You should grab those, play around with them, choose one and start learning the tool and creating your own game.

-me

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So if I have a really cool idea how would I go about getting the game developed?

It depends... do you want to just be "the idea guy", or do you want to actually contribute to the development effort? (your wording suggests the former to me)

If you want to just be "the idea guy", the only way that will work is if you start paying people money to develop it. You can try to promise people a percentage or things of that nature, but that's usually a losing strategy.

The other way is to learn a useful skill in order to help the development team (or perhaps you are the team, depending on what the "game" is). You can do that by learning something like art (modelling, texturing, animating, pick as you like) or programming.

Another challenge is getting it on the xbox and ps3. You can go the XNA route for xbox, but ps3 will be a different story... I think that requires a certain amount of industry clout (or someone with clout backing you).

I'm curious though, what is the idea? Unless you're afraid it will be stolen, which is highly doubtful.


Disclaimer: I'm not an 'expert', I'm not even in the industry. All advice given has a non-zero chance of being completely wrong.

Edit: Palidine said what I'm trying to say much better :)

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Original post by travis99 Anyway, I have a really cool idea for a "game", well it's not really a game but, I am sure the idea will generate some serious cash. The dilemma is, I have no idea about how to create a game or what is involved. That is why I am reaching out to the experts, you, to help guide me. So if I have a really cool idea how would I go about getting the game developed?

Either:
1. Pay for the development (hire a development company) out of your own pocket,
2. Write a business plan, get funding, start a company, and using the funding, pay to get the game developed,
3. Learn how to make games and make it all by yourself,
4. Read FAQs 21, 29, & 60 -
http://www.sloperama.com/advice/lesson21.htm
http://www.sloperama.com/advice/lesson29.htm
http://www.sloperama.com/advice/article60.htm
Also read:
http://www.igda.org/games-game-september-2008

Great advice! Thank you so much for the input. To be totally honest with you, I have no idea about games or the game industry. I am an entrepreneur. And I believe I have an idea that will fit a large market and help current business people expand.

The best way I can describe the complexity of what I want is this: On the xbox 360, you can create an avatar and dress them, and make them unique to your personality. The development would be nothing more than this. I would be willing to fund this idea, "starting very small". Then, once the idea is there and people can see it visually, I think the possibilities are endless. I am sure it would be quite easy to get the funding to expand.

Travis

Just to add, I do not have time to learn how to develop a game. My specialty is sales and marketing, and that is something I have to learn every day. So it would be extremely difficult to learn what most of you already know. That is why I am seeking your advice, because you all will be way better at game development than I will ever be.

Travis

You just described Playstation Home, there must be something else beyond that.

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Original post by Kwizatz You just described Playstation Home, there must be something else beyond that.

Nope, totally different than that. In fact, the main distributors of the game will more than likely give it away for free. Yea, it's out of the box thinking at it's finest. But an idea which at first does not seem absurd is not worth doing.

Travis

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Original post by travis99 Just to add, I do not have time to learn how to develop a game. My specialty is sales and marketing, and that is something I have to learn every day. So it would be extremely difficult to learn what most of you already know. That is why I am seeking your advice, because you all will be way better at game development than I will ever be.

We already answered your question. You need to read the articles I pointed you to. You need to do a LOT of reading, because you need to write a business plan. What else is there to tell you?
Answer: more than we can tell you here. Do your research.

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The best way I can describe the complexity of what I want is this: On the xbox 360, you can create an avatar and dress them, and make them unique to your personality. The development would be nothing more than this. I would be willing to fund this idea, "starting very small". Then, once the idea is there and people can see it visually, I think the possibilities are endless. I am sure it would be quite easy to get the funding to expand.

I'm confused, how is your idea different to what the XBox 360 already does? Were you using the 360 avatar system as an example? If so what exactly does your idea do that is so innovative?