Hey everyone,

I'm beginning a concept for a third-person action adventure with survival and RPG elements. It will see the player travelling from planet to planet collecting resources to create a sustainable power source for their home planet. Along their journey they will have opportunities to upgrade their ship, gear, and abilities all while combatting the elements and locals in different environments. However, The players biggest threat will be gravity itself, with gravity being a major focus throughout the game.

With that said, I'm wondering what I can do to make my project stand out to employers and investors. I'm approaching the project with a focus on gameplay programming. I currently have 7 pages that contain and in-depth summary, the framework I will follow for production, the strategies I plan to implement, and a defense for my use of those strategies. What more should I add, and is there anything I should be sure I'm doing in the areas that I already have in order to attract more attention? I really appreciate any advice or feedback you all may have!

Since you mentioned employers, it seems like you don't have a post at a game company. In that case, 7 pages is a drop in the bucket, and your chances are basically nil advertising that to prospective investors. 7 pages is basically an “idea” and, as they say in the industry, ideas are worthless.

However, with an abundance of art and some teaser videos, groups have had success on kickstarter and gofundme.

Bryce, multi-purpose documents don't work as well as single-purpose. A presentation to obtain funding is entirely different from a portfolio piece to get a job. Besides, these two goals are incompatible. If your design gets you a job, you won't be able to make that game. Hirers want you to make their game, not yours, and they don't want you splitting your time between the job and a side project. If you get funding to make your game, you're not hirable because your investors don't want you taking a side job when you should be making the game they invested in.

So you need to decide which way to go. The more feasible path is the job, in my opinion. You need the experience anyway, in order to get funding. A concept paper is okay for a portfolio piece, but hirers don't necessarily want to do a lot of reading. In fact, we didn't need to read your first paragraph about your game concept. It's not relevant to your question.

@Tom Sloper Thanks for the response. I probably should've been a bit more clear. I am making the concept plan as a portfolio piece that may be seen by investors or employers in the future, depending on which path I decide to take my career. I don't know how much of the project I will actually be building beyond the concept, and I am not looking to have anyone invest into this project. I'm really just looking for advice on how to make my concept well-rounded. I included a small summary just to give others an idea of the project concept I am working on, as they may have feedback on things that were unclear. With that said, are you saying that I should minimize my summary in my concept? It's much longer than the one I've included here, because I've tried to include as many details as possible. If I go to in-depth am I going to lose the interest of parties that are looking at my portfolio, or will they appreciate the detail? Thanks again for the response, I'm still really new to this and appreciate the opportunity to learn from your experience.

@Euthyphro thanks for the response! I am just building this as a portfolio piece and 7 pages is just what I have thrown together for now. I'm really not sure how far I will take my work on this project beyond the concept, but If I do I will definitely be adding some art and videos to my portfolio! I apologize for being a bit unclear. I am not trying to get this project invested in for now. Whether it will be seen by investors or employers though will depend upon the path I take my career. I am still unsure if I want to do independent work or try and get hired on at a company, so that's why I included both.

brycehanneman said:
are you saying that I should minimize my summary in my concept?

No, I was just saying that you need to consider your “audience” whenever you write something. The game concept summary was unnecessary for your audience (us) because we didn't need it to answer the question you said you were asking. You never said “please critique this summary statement of my concept” at all. If you want a critique of the game concept, ask in the Game Design and Theory forum. If you want a critique of your writing, ask in the Writing forum.

@brycehanneman Any time. How about a bare-bones prototype in Unity or Unreal (minimum viable product)? I think it would be a huge leap. I heard someone experienced can throw a level together in one day, so maybe someone unexperienced can get one working in a few weeks. The models could even be one color--afterall, the model texture doesn't affect gameplay.

If you are doing space with smooth transitions from planet to planet, then I heard loading in and out of chunks was a big problem (source: Bethesda) that needs to be solved, but I'd like to see it done. (P.S. to all readers: Destiny 2 is not a real space game!)

brycehanneman said:

@Euthyphro thanks for the response! I am just building this as a portfolio piece and 7 pages is just what I have thrown together for now. I'm really not sure how far I will take my work on this project beyond the concept, but If I do I will definitely be adding some art and videos to my portfolio! I apologize for being a bit unclear. I am not trying to get this project invested in for now. Whether it will be seen by investors or employers though will depend upon the path I take my career. I am still unsure if I want to do independent work or try and get hired on at a company, so that's why I included both.

It sounds like your trying to cover all your bases, but if you really want one or the other, you will need to flesh out more for one or the other.

Most employers want to know you can do work like what they have done before, so if your applying to a games company that makes RPGs, they may be interested in seeing how your experience can transfer.

Investors usually invest in teams, and not concepts, it's about Execution not ideas. You will need to show how you and your potential team can execute the vision of the game, and develop a demo/ vertical slice. Most investors won't give you the time of day if you don't have a demo.

If your not sure how far you want to go beyond the concept, then how is anyone meant to know how committed you are?

A few years ago one of my connections and industry executives Mark Skaggs tried to throw the Command & conquer community a bone by saying he wanted to do something. People from all corners of the community and industry showed up, and tried to collaborate It fell apart, due to a variety of reasons but I'm reminded of 2 people that work together, and they cranked out a lot of Concepts. They proudly said how good they were at developing ideas and putting concepts together. Developing a concept is just the 1st step in the game dev journey. Anyone can write down designs and concepts. It's the long term execution of the concept that matters. It's the Evolution of your Game design document that systematically documents your full game throughout development. It's the dichotomy of decisions that matter. It's the skills and relationships you build on your journey, and eventually the quality of the finished product.

Anyone can start something, most people don't finish.