I am looking to make a game very similar to what Diablo 2 was with updated graphics and some new unique features. I am looking at making a kickstarter for the project once I get the details rolled out and then hiring the required people to work on the project. I've tried creating a previous game before kickstarter ever existed and found it virtually impossible to find enough free help for such an undertaking. Now with kickstarter being pretty big I decided to make another go at it.

So I know I need:

Programmers
Graphic artist/animators
Game Engine License
Server Farm for updates?
Sound/FX


Ultimately I'm trying to figure what my goal for kickstarter should be and get some suggestions from the community perhaps as far as game engine for a Diablo 2 type game. Keep in mind I do want to make the game be able to match up with current generation games in terms of graphics and want to go with gritty dark realistic graphics. Any help would be appreciated in getting started.

This is a business question, not a project management question. Moving to the appropriate forum.
If you're going to Kickstarter, you need a business plan, and a GDD/TDD for your initial game.

Business plan is no problem I am a CAPM so that is going to be my ultimate role in the project. But I have a large list of features and details of game mechanics already written out which I guess is a good start on a GDD.

The biggest challenges I am having as far as getting started are:

1.What roles will I need to fill for my project?

2. Considering the roles I need to fill and the requirements of some sort of online media server to allow updates to the game client what kind of budget should I shoot for in kickstarter?

3. Find issues or problems I may be overseeing.

Just more of an FYI... I am doing this project for a few reasons.
1. I want to get more experience as a Video Game Producer as I would either like to own my own game company or would love to work as a game producer for another company.

2. I want to make a great game that people flock to. This is not about profit and may consider more of a break even business model.

If I was in your shoes as a producer in the making I would do this as following:

- Flesh out your idea in a proper GDD, at least enough to get people motivated to work with you.
- Recruit at least one programmer and one artist to start with, at the start you can do most of the design yourself most likely. It is important to make a deal with these people, they might be willing to help you, but it has to be rewarding in the end (or at least have something in it for them on the horizon). I would personally say a share of the profits or something should there be something. This will be your core team!
- With the 3 of you, create a prototype of the game, people will be much more eager to back you if they see you can actually do something. Without this? Forget it.

During this prototyping stage you will encounter problems that you will need to find the answers to. Your programmer might (and should) be able to sort out what you need for your online media server and can search for the proper solution for it and probably give you an estimate of the costs. It's all research. What do you want? What will I need for it to work and where do I get it. Of course, that specific question can also be asked on the forum.

Once you encountered most of your problems, know how to fix them and you got your prototype working, you can create a kickstarter project explaining what you want, how you want to achieve this so people know where your money goes to. Once you got your kickstarter up and running, people will probably be more interested in your project for joining your team as you already proven that you are going somewhere!

Now this is not a recipe for success, obviously. But I think for people that don't have a name in the business and want to make a game, it will be a hard ride unless you really have something standing out or get publicity of some kind.

Nevertheless, I wish you all the luck in the world and hope you achieve what you are aiming for

Thanks! Loving the suggestions and help so far. One thing I am also struggling with is some of my ideas are very complex and unique and I feel putting them on the kickstarter may bring in alot of attention but I am also concerned that the idea could be stolen. What would be the best course of action I can take to prevent this?


To help give a basic idea... the game will be largely community driven with community content being uploaded to the media server frequently then the content will build pieces of the game world randomly where players can rate the content.

So the main building elements i believe I need are:
1. A client that can work with the uploaded elements on the media server to generate the content for the player
2. A robust editor for player use


I really generalized the idea here... but I think you get the idea.

I am not sure what the best course of action would be for your idea to be safe from being stolen. I guess that once your idea is up at kickstarter it will probably have some kind of timestamp or something that could proof "Hey, we had this idea first! See!" but then again.. I don't think you can prevent ideas from being stolen by others. If that would be the case, people could prevent people from using a double jump mechanic or something. I'm sure other can give you more insight in this though.

Depending on the frequency of updates you want to send and the frequency you want the game to be updated, it's not very hard to achieve this. If you want content to be updated once every 12/24 hour, you can get away with simply having a database of some sorts where you store the relevant data, and alter when needed (or add).

There are more factors involved obviously that depends on your aims that might or might not make this suitable, but once you got everything laid out, what it is exactly what you need, you can (or your programmer) come up with a system that works.

Perhaps, given enough information you could ask the question here on the forum! I'm sure people will know something

a. Business plan is no problem I am a CAPM so that is going to be my ultimate role in the project.
The biggest challenges I am having as far as getting started are:
1.What roles will I need to fill for my project?
2. Considering the roles I need to fill and the requirements of some sort of online media server to allow updates to the game client what kind of budget should I shoot for in kickstarter?
3. Find issues or problems I may be overseeing.
b. I am also concerned that the idea could be stolen. What would be the best course of action I can take to prevent this?

a. Your questions 1 and 2 are your "known unknowns." Start writing your business plan now, and start researching your known unknowns by a better means than asking for strangers on the internet to write a book for you. There are lots of articles, postmortems, and books already out there. You're looking for quick easy answers. That way lies danger.
Your question 3 is about the "unknown unknowns." Start writing your business plan, and while researching your known unknowns, you will learn about some unknown unknowns, and can start including those in your business plan. You will never be able to identify all the unknown unknowns. Something will pop up -- it always does.

b. The idea cannot be protected. But you should register your copyright, and require an NDA from those to whom you show the most significant secret ingredients of your recipe.

[quote name='Falcon68' timestamp='1342112319' post='4958471']
a. Business plan is no problem I am a CAPM so that is going to be my ultimate role in the project.
The biggest challenges I am having as far as getting started are:
1.What roles will I need to fill for my project?
2. Considering the roles I need to fill and the requirements of some sort of online media server to allow updates to the game client what kind of budget should I shoot for in kickstarter?
3. Find issues or problems I may be overseeing.
b. I am also concerned that the idea could be stolen. What would be the best course of action I can take to prevent this?

a. Your questions 1 and 2 are your "known unknowns." Start writing your business plan now, and start researching your known unknowns by a better means than asking for strangers on the internet to write a book for you. There are lots of articles, postmortems, and books already out there. You're looking for quick easy answers. That way lies danger.
Your question 3 is about the "unknown unknowns." Start writing your business plan, and while researching your known unknowns, you will learn about some unknown unknowns, and can start including those in your business plan. You will never be able to identify all the unknown unknowns. Something will pop up -- it always does.

b. The idea cannot be protected. But you should register your copyright, and require an NDA from those to whom you show the most significant secret ingredients of your recipe.
[/quote]

a. Ya I guess I was hoping for a general round about total ie. On average creating a diablo type game with modern graphics you'd be looking at around 1.5 million dollars etc. But I do understand what you are saying and to get a more accurate idea I should probably follow your suggestion. The project is basically dead if I never get the funding is my issue... so I hate to go through so much just to not get the funding but at the same time I probably would have a better chance of reaching my funding goal if I get some sort of prototype working.

b. I'm definetly going to do this. Thanks.

Ya I guess I was hoping for a general round about total ie. On average creating a diablo type game with modern graphics you'd be looking at around 1.5 million dollars etc.

Okay, then. $10-20 million.

ok ouch. Considering most huge MMOs don't pass the 10 million mark i'd say you may be overshooting the scale but perhaps that was on purpose to prove a point. The highest kickstarter i've seen for a game reached 3.33 million so anything over that the chance of getting funding seems slim to none. Perhaps I can find some data on the cost to make diablo 3 to try and get a rough estimate.