Making money?
However I can't think of any way to make some many other than to make a game.And we all know that making even a simple game requires 2-3 people and some time.
Does anyone have any ideea?
Some people will sell raw assets (sounds, sprite art, 3D models, textures). Others will sell plugins or development tools that can be used (Unity, etc).
Programming is an in-demand field these days, and you can make good money for relatively little effort, especially in fields like web development, or mobile app development.
Tristam MacDonald. Ex-BigTech Software Engineer. Future farmer. [https://trist.am]
There is also the part-time hobby. You could just open-source it and be the primary maintainer, or develop it in increments and setup a PayPal donation button on a website. Those who want to help make the game better would donate a few dollars here and there.
Lurk on these forums for awhile, see if you can pick out some of the things that people are constantly asking for and then see if you can devise some marketable solution to those problems.
I'm working on a game! It's called "Spellbook Tactics". I'd love it if you checked it out, offered some feedback, etc. I am very excited about my progress thus far and confident about future progress as well!
There is also the part-time hobby. You could just open-source it and be the primary maintainer, or develop it in increments and setup a PayPal donation button on a website. Those who want to help make the game better would donate a few dollars here and there.
But then it'd just be going into your savings, right?
I always thought, if you're going to use a donation system to raise money for a game project, you should only use the money you get for things directly related to the game. Things you can't really get for the game by yourself: if you're a programmer, maybe buying art and sound, or to pay for servers (if the game is online), advertising, etc.
But not just to add to your savings as an individual.
Isn't that how people usually do it?
[twitter]Casey_Hardman[/twitter]
I always thought, if you're going to use a donation system to raise money for a game project, you should only use the money you get for things directly related to the game. Things you can't really get for the game by yourself: if you're a programmer, maybe buying art and sound, or to pay for servers (if the game is online), advertising, etc.
But not just to add to your savings as an individual.
Your living expenses while you build the game count as costs of its development.
Programmers need food, and a place to sleep.
Tristam MacDonald. Ex-BigTech Software Engineer. Future farmer. [https://trist.am]
Indeed, I think it's reasonable to ask for donations even if it's just for your work/time.
But whether anyone will donate when it's available for free is another matter. Usually these only seem to work when there's a clear cause for the money (other than just for the programmer), or when people are having to pay something anyway (e.g., the choose your own price schemes). It doesn't seem something to make enough to live off.
I second the "get a job" suggestion as the best way to make money with this knowledge :)
http://erebusrpg.sourceforge.net/ - Erebus, Open Source RPG for Windows/Linux/Android
http://conquests.sourceforge.net/ - Conquests, Open Source Civ-like Game for Windows/Linux
Programmers need food, and a place to sleep.
Or if that's too expensive, coffee.
Being serious though, if the game is the goal, but you need money, you can find other programming-related jobs and work the game on the side. Sites like guru.com are great for freelancing programmers, and there should be software work in almost any city since most industries use software at some point in their toolchain.
If the game is just a means to make money, it's not really the fastest way to do it, and games produced just to pad wallets are never as good as someone's passionate, artistic "baby". Note: that's not the same as having a great idea for a game that you think a lot of people will want to play. The latter is awesome.
I always thought, if you're going to use a donation system to raise money for a game project, you should only use the money you get for things directly related to the game. Things you can't really get for the game by yourself
I've set up a donation page on my own project and outlined exactly what I'm intending to spend it on: hardware and software to improve the workflow/environment and speed up asset production. I don't expect donations to show up for a long time yet (if ever) but I kind of follow your intent. It's money I can't afford to spend for things directly related to the game's production, and since I have the dayjob I can't really say "I need the money to eat/sleep/pay my internet bill"
Hazard Pay :: FPS/RTS in SharpDX (gathering dust, retained for... historical purposes)
DeviantArt :: Because right-brain needs love too (also pretty neglected these days)
Programmers need food, and a place to sleep.
Being serious though, if the game is the goal, but you need money, you can find other programming-related jobs and work the game on the side. Sites like guru.com are great for freelancing programmers, and there should be software work in almost any city since most industries use software at some point in their toolchain.
Have you actually used a site like guru.com? Is it actually worth doing?