Okay, so me and my brother are long time gamers and we'd like to direct the making of a 2d game, except we don't have skills in any part of the industry so we'd like to learn more about it without getting too specific.

Basically we want to write the story and direct the making of the game (how it looks and how it plays) over the internet--like a very small virtual studio, except we're the boss men.

Does anyone think this is possible and if it is, what level of complexity of games do you think could be made in this fashion without actually getting a group in the same room?

Thanks for taking the time to view out post. : )

Welcome to GameDev LambentTyto :),

I am going to be somewhat harsh so please do not take this personally. I guess it really does come down to this particular question as to how easy it might be:

Do you have the money to pay for those with the technical skills to build the game for you?

If you do, then the answer is, Yes, it is entirely possible to do what you want.

If you don't, then the question becomes what enticement can you offer those with technical skills to even consider coming onboard?

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Now for the questions you really should have an idea as to the answers:

What business structure do you plan on utilising?

What type's of contracts do you plan to utilise with regard "prospective employees", "division of income generated", "ownership of IP"

What platform(s) will this game be played?

How do you plan to monetise your game?

Do you have previous experience in writing for games, or for that matter, professional writing, or even amateur writing examples?

Do you have a story idea/synopsis that you can post for this game?

Do you have a GDD or even the beginnings of a GDD which you can post?

What experience(s) do you have that might entice people to come over "on spec" (Being a longtime gamer does not qualify (virtually everyone here is!))?

What stands you out from being different or an exception to the much-derided "idea man" in the game's industry? Which to be quite blunt is what your post is presenting you as.

I fully applaud that you recognise that you have no skills in any part of the industry, but I am concerned somewhat by the premise "So we'd like to learn more without getting too specific." It strikes me as not willing to do more than dip a toe in.

By no means have I explored any where near the amount of issues that can be asked of you. As I said earlier - If you have money then yes it is entirely possible to do this (perhaps not as easily as you might perceive though) if you are willing to spend the money to achieve your goals. An absence of money though means that the likelihood of what you are asking based on this initial post is, in my honest opinion, virtually zero (or as close to it as to be virtually indistinguishable).

Okay, so me and my brother are long time gamers and we'd like to direct the making of a 2d game, except we don't have skills in any part of the industry so we'd like to learn more about it without getting too specific.

Basically we want to write the story and direct the making of the game (how it looks and how it plays) over the internet--like a very small virtual studio, except we're the boss men.

Does anyone think this is possible and if it is, what level of complexity of games do you think could be made in this fashion without actually getting a group in the same room?

Thanks for taking the time to view out post.

You would need something to make experienced devs even interested. (Money, and such)

You should study in a area you would like to work in. (Programming, Modeling, etc.)

You should write out everything you want in your game.

Then you should begin working on it.

P.S

You could do this all by yourself as 2D Games are much simpler than 3D.

Good Luck!

A couple of noobs who wanna direct the making of a game?
Basically we want to write the story and direct the making of the game (how it looks and how it plays) over the internet--like a very small virtual studio, except we're the boss men.

Lamb, I'm moving this to Production/Management (it doesn't really belong in Game Design, since you're saying you want to be "the boss men"/"Directors" rather than the Game Designers).

Welcome to GameDev LambentTyto ,

I am going to be somewhat harsh so please do not take this personally. I guess it really does come down to this particular question as to how easy it might be:

Do you have the money to pay for those with the technical skills to build the game for you?

If you do, then the answer is, Yes, it is entirely possible to do what you want.

If you don't, then the question becomes what enticement can you offer those with technical skills to even consider coming onboard?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now for the questions you really should have an idea as to the answers:

What business structure do you plan on utilising?

What type's of contracts do you plan to utilise with regard "prospective employees", "division of income generated", "ownership of IP"

What platform(s) will this game be played?

How do you plan to monetise your game?

Do you have previous experience in writing for games, or for that matter, professional writing, or even amateur writing examples?

Do you have a story idea/synopsis that you can post for this game?

Do you have a GDD or even the beginnings of a GDD which you can post?

What experience(s) do you have that might entice people to come over "on spec" (Being a longtime gamer does not qualify (virtually everyone here is!))?

What stands you out from being different or an exception to the much-derided "idea man" in the game's industry? Which to be quite blunt is what your post is presenting you as.

I fully applaud that you recognise that you have no skills in any part of the industry, but I am concerned somewhat by the premise "So we'd like to learn more without getting too specific." It strikes me as not willing to do more than dip a toe in.

By no means have I explored any where near the amount of issues that can be asked of you. As I said earlier - If you have money then yes it is entirely possible to do this (perhaps not as easily as you might perceive though) if you are willing to spend the money to achieve your goals. An absence of money though means that the likelihood of what you are asking based on this initial post is, in my honest opinion, virtually zero (or as close to it as to be virtually indistinguishable).

Thanks, Stormynature for replying to my post. And I don't think your response was too harsh either.

At this point we're simply wondering of it's possible, so the discussion is hypothetical I suppose. When I say we'd like to learn more without getting overly specific, what I mean is, we need to understand what skills are needed to make the game we invision and we also need to know what tools these skilled people we be using. In other worlds we need an idea of how video games are made and work behind the scenes without becoming an expert at any specific skillset like programming or graphic design. I don't know, maybe it's far fetched to think that one might be able to direct the making of a video game without specific in-depth knowledge of specific skills. All I know if that I know when I see a video game's art that looks nice, and I know when it's running smoothly doing what the player wants. If I'm wrong on this, please let me know, and if I'm not, some suggestions on what books would be best for this would be great.

As far as funding, well we have none, and to slightly contradict what my previous paragraph said, I am a writer and aspiring novelist (amataeur) so I'll be writing the story/script of any games we might make, hypothetically of course. I'll need to study up on video game script writing.

If this idea is a possible reality, what we plan to do is write the story/script and invision every aspect of what we want the game to be, and then try to create buzz via social networks etc until we have enough excitement for a kickstarter project, therfor raising the funds we'd need. I have no idea how likely this is, but you never know until you ask, or try!

Obviously there's a lot to consider when undertaking such a project, but right now we're just peeking our heads through the door to see what we might learn.

So to clarify, you have an idea.

You have no money.
You have no relevant experience.
You have no relevant skills.
You have no game design documents.

You have no business plan.

You have no desire to do concepts ("I'll know it when I see it, but I cannot describe it")

You have no desire to program the game.

You have no desire to be the artist or animator for the game.

You are planning on eventually writing a story, someday, when you get around to it.

And with nothing but that, you are hoping people will accept you as their boss, build your ideas, give you money, and invest in your idea.


Your odds are approximately zero.

Read:
http://www.sloperama.com/advice/idea.htm
http://www.obscure.co.uk/blog/2009/07/04/i-have-a-game-design/

Then read the links that those documents link to.

Sorry if it seems harsh, but when faced with these kinds of questions, I always like to translate the question to another industry for some perspective:

Okay, so me and my brother are long time film-buffs and we'd like to direct the making of a animated short film, except we don't have skills in any part of the industry so we'd like to learn more about it without getting too specific.
Basically we want to write the story and direct the making of the film (how it looks and how it's edited) over the internet--like a very small virtual studio, except we're the boss men.
Does anyone think this is possible and if it is, what level of complexity of films do you think could be made in this fashion without actually getting all the volunteer actors, cinematographers, story-boarders, gaffers, etc, and their priceless equipment in the same room?

Okay, so me and my brother are long time lego collectors and we'd like to direct the making of a house, except we don't have skills in any part of the industry so we'd like to learn more about it without getting too specific.
Basically we want to draw the blueprints and direct the construction of the house (how it looks and how it's decorated) over the internet--like a very small virtual studio, except we're the boss men.
Does anyone think this is possible and if it is, what level of complexity of buildings do you think could be made in this fashion without actually face-to-face meetings with the volunteer brick-layers and their supply of free bricks?

Back on topic though, I'd suggest joining the industry in a junior QA role -- you often don't need many skills besides good communication, logical thinking and an interest in games to get that kind of job, and it will give you an inside perspective on how games are made, as well as direct access to programmers, artists and producers so you can see what they actually do.

You can't be someone's boss, but there is no reason why you can't take up game design as a hobby. As long as you have a computer, and time, game design is fun and won't cost you a cent.

So to clarify, you have an idea.

You have no money.
You have no relevant experience.
You have no relevant skills.
You have no game design documents.

You have no business plan.

You have no desire to do concepts ("I'll know it when I see it, but I cannot describe it")

You have no desire to program the game.

You have no desire to be the artist or animator for the game.

You are planning on eventually writing a story, someday, when you get around to it.

And with nothing but that, you are hoping people will accept you as their boss, build your ideas, give you money, and invest in your idea.


Your odds are approximately zero.

Read:
http://www.sloperama.com/advice/idea.htm
http://www.obscure.co.uk/blog/2009/07/04/i-have-a-game-design/

Then read the links that those documents link to.

Hey, thaks for the links!

As much as I don't think self-advertising this way is elegant, I think an article I wrote some time ago might help you rethink your idea:

http://gamesmakingnoob.blogspot.com/2012/12/i-have-brilliant-game-idea.html