Im pretty sure this question gets asked a lot, but I still require the answer so I will ask it.

What do I do now?

BACKGROUND CHECK:

I have been working on a game idea/story (however you wanna phrases it) since a 12 month deployment I was on in 2007.

SInce than I have been actively working on it when I have the time and resources.

I feel like I am ready to start sharing it and taking the next step to this being a real game.

I will let it be known that I lack many resources.

This is a list of concepts/ideas/toolsets, you'll get the idea.

Title/storyline

-Long term goals

-Inspiration/written opening scene

-Factions/Races

-PVP/PVP status system

-Multi player PVP/ Multi player PVP status system

-Player Guild/Alliance/Regions

-Player charecter itemization

-Player Economy/Auctioning system

-PVE itemization system

-Tradeskills

-PVP/PVE/PVMP Skills systems

You get the idea, I could keep this list going for a while.

So back to my question

What to do now?

You learn how to code it, or cope with the idea of it never getting out there. These are times of "do it yourself, or write a new Twilight and have people demand it's made into a game (or something)". You likely won't make a game on your own, nor convince investors to join in, nor get serious talent to walk from whatever commitments *they* have to help you out (for most likely the *promise* of getting paid), and nor would you be able to even get the product out there and noticed without serious shilling that only backfires.

Indie is a hard thing to do without *being* seriously talented, or a hell of a good bullshitter. Otherwise, if your IP is as good as you *think* it is - put it out there in a different format that suits the skills you actually have. Books, comics, board/P&P games, even music "inspired by" - anything!... because your game design is worthless without *application* somehow.

Oh yeah, and there is a 100% chance of failure of trying to get any legit business to pick your IP up unless it's famous for *other* reasons. I shouldn't have to explain why, and other posters have the links to various articles about "why your game won't..." on quickslot.

Originally posted by GTwander

You learn how to code it, or cope with the idea of it never getting out there. These are times of "do it yourself, or write a new Twilight and have people demand it's made into a game (or something)". You likely won't make a game on your own, nor convince investors to join in, nor get serious talent to walk from whatever commitments *they* have to help you out (for most likely the *promise* of getting paid), and nor would you be able to even get the product out there and noticed without serious shilling that only backfires.

Indie is a hard thing to do without *being* seriously talented, or a hell of a good bullshitter. Otherwise, if your IP is as good as you *think* it is - put it out there in a different format that suits the skills you actually have. Books, comics, board/P&P games, even music "inspired by" - anything!... because your game design is worthless without *application* somehow.

Pretty much this.  A the very least, learn an established toolset, or start some tutorials on modding already successful engines.  You may never accomplish what you fully set out to do on your own,  but if you lack stone to build your masterpiece, maybe you can start by using legos.

A lot of people have the destination in their head but no way to get there.  If you really want to make your dream a reality, you'll have to put in a lot of work.   There are 1 man developers out there,  but its all a matter of knowing what you are capable of.

If you can map out what you need and ways to obtain it,  it may put this all in perspective. 

Originally posted by Stubbz04
What if money was not a resouce I was lacking. I think you misunderstood my question.

You don't have enough to pay a team for the production of one, think yearly salaries of 25-60k (depending on role) for years at a time. If you were born of the silver spoon then I doubt you would have been deployed outside the country in the first place... unless you are a senator's son, and it was just for looks, and you spent that time with an armed guard and the duties of cooking in the mess hall.

Just saying... dunno if that came out wrong, and no disrespect meant - unless you are that silver spoon, of course.

You could start small, of course, but the prospects of earning anything are tough unless you take advantage of bargain prices on distributable networks like Steam. Games like "The Binding of Isaac" and "Terreria" do great, but they are *not* AAA titles. So get that expectation out of the way early.

Originally posted by Stubbz04

Title/storyline

-Long term goals

-Inspiration/written opening scene

-Factions/Races

-PVP/PVP status system

-Multi player PVP/ Multi player PVP status system

-Player Guild/Alliance/Regions

-Player charecter itemization

-Player Economy/Auctioning system

-PVE itemization system

-Tradeskills

-PVP/PVE/PVMP Skills systems

 

You get the idea, I could keep this list going for a while.

So back to my question

What to do now?

There is a website that I just found out about called fiverr.com where you can buy or sell simple one-time services for $5. If you offered to just hand over everything you've written down for your game idea/story for the past 4 years on that website, for $5, I'm pretty confident that not a single person would bite.

Why? Because what you have there isn't worth any amount of money. Just about anyone who has the ability to create a game—in whole or in part—already has plenty of game ideas kicking around in their head. Nobody needs to beg for game ideas to be spelled out for them. Of what use is an "idea man" who just decides what tradeskills and what races should be in the game? Would you be willing to pay someone to come up with those ideas for you? I think not; it's ultimately not valuable information. Or, an even better question: if you were an artist or a programmer, would you be willing to work under someone who knew next to nothing about game development but insisted on creative control? That's what you're asking of the people that you apparently want to hire to make this game.

Okay, so you've gotten an idea into enough shape to call it a game design document.  Now you're looking for what to do to move it from a conceptual state into a functional product.

You've hinted that money might not be an issue, but let me assure you, it always is.

My first suggestion is that you form a business plan.  Most likely you are going to need assistance in turning this idea into a reality.  You should have a rough idea of how long it will take to code, test and implement.  This can give you some rough estimates of manpower and labor costs.  You will need to do a thorough background investigation of your IP to ensure it isn't similar enough to another idea, story, movie, song, game, music, etc, and that it can be undeniably stated to be your IP.   And you will want to investigate business insurance, and some possible corporate structure in order to protect your own assets.

Once you have a rough cost of development, you should do some economic planning.  Will this game use a subscription model or a micro-transaction model?  What is the projected minimum population base?  If you anticipate sales equivilent to a AAA MMORPG, what are the ongoing operational costs?  Once you have these numbers, you can develop financial plans such as a projected revenue model and break-even dates.

You will want to set up an internet presence by getting the domain name for your project.  Set up a web-site for the company and the project.  Early press never hurts, so making your game known to the industry is essential.

Once you start the development process, you will want to make certain you acquire legal copies of all software used to develop this project.  Even if you plan to use Open Source tools and other free-ware tools, investigate them for redistribution rights.  Invest in a professional backup system and use it!  If your coding is going to go beyond yourself, it wouldn't hurt to have a source code library system in place.

If your product is going to be marketed internationally, you will probably want to develop multi-lingual versions of both the game product and content, but also the supporting website.  A good translator will know local customs and idioms, and hopefully avoid any Nova moments (tFord's Nova never really sold well in Latin American countries, because the name 'Nova' translated to 'No Go' in Spanish).

Basically, your game project is more likely to suceed if you treat it like a business from the start.  At the worst, it might delay your project by a couple of weeks, but it could save you millions of dollars.  Even if money truely not an issue, millions of dollars is still significant.  (If not, please send a check to.... )

Good luck with your game!

Originally posted by Stubbz04
Take the shade of grey out and give me a black and white answer.

The black and white is still that if you had millions, then you could assemble a budget crew to make it over the necessary time it takes to create *your* vision. It will take longer if you are strict about how you want things (assuming you want full creative control here too, hopefully not). The problem is that the cheaper you go on labor, the more it will show (inexperience), and the best of the best don't make commitments because they are usually on contract with a company (gainfully employed and all that), and hiring them would require a similar cut of what they make *AND* the security that you'll be around longer than the company they are at. No, no... you will have to go the route of amatuer help.

This isn't bad though, and games like Wurm Online (which I love) turn a decent profit and actually get updates from volunteers with the right skills who believe in the game (and are most likely promised pay at some point). Again, being 'King Bullshitter' is worth more than money, but failing to pull through will kill any chance of having a career in the industry ever again.

You need a LOT of money - AND - weight behind you to get real talent to make a game. Start small, nurture a team with something they can handle, then work from there. GL.

Originally posted by Disdena

Of what use is an "idea man" who just decides what tradeskills and what races should be in the game? Would you be willing to pay someone to come up with those ideas for you? I think not; it's ultimately not valuable information.

 

I love this point, because a lot of amateurs design a game that really is a list of "tradeskills and playable races". If you haven't done a single math equation, your "game" is just a lore bit. Real designers (and the majority of the time, programmers) deal with the real guts of a game; calculations. Without that, your game is worth less than what we already stated it was.

ahhh yes. one of the problems with game developing, design =/= maths.........even i got shocked, how to differentiate the work of the designer from the work of the programmer?.....

Originally posted by GTwander

I love this point, because a lot of amateurs design a game that really is a list of "tradeskills and playable races". If you haven't done a single math equation, your "game" is just a lore bit. Real designers (and the majority of the time, programmers) deal with the real guts of a game; calculations. Without that, your game is worth less than what we already stated it was.

You could turn it into a pen and paper RPG first, then if it gets popular people might very well pay you to get that into a MMO. Or you could write books first in the world and hope they sell.

What I would do as OP otherwise would be to team up with a tech guy that can code and make a demo that we could show for possible investors. There is no way you get money to make a MMO with just lore unless that lore is just a popular P&P or book IP already.

Originally posted by xaritscin

ahhh yes. one of the problems with game developing, design =/= maths.........even i got shocked, how to differentiate the work of the designer from the work of the programmer?.....

The programmer codes said 'maths', and usually has to understand it more than the designer does. They do get paid the most, ya know.

Originally posted by Stubbz04
As much as I appreciate the criticism, and understand why someone would be so underestimated with this style approach. If you removed any assumption of who my person was and read my question again. Take the shade of grey out and give me a black and white answer. You answered my question under the wrong assumptions, with no assumptions I'd like to have a serious answer. I understand the magnitude to my claim, and for odvious reasons I keep the good stuff to myself.

GT has it right, even if you don't want to hear him out.  Here is a great quote from the web site I'm linking, it fits your situation very well.

http://www.sloperama.com/advice/idea.htm

Pretend for a moment that you have a great idea for a novel, not a game. How would you go about getting it written and published? Would you go to a bulletin board and advertise looking for an author to write it for you? No, you would have to get off your butt and write it yourself. I have heard that a friend of Frank Herbert (author of Dune) asked Herbert to author the friend's idea and split the profits 50/50. Herbert refused, even though the guy was a good friend -- Herbert's reply was basically that ideas are easy; the writing is the hard part. Think about it for a minute -- would YOU want to have a friend come up to you, tell you a few sentences, then have you spend months hunched over a keyboard turning his few sentences into the Great American Novel? I doubt it. If you did spend months writing that book, would you want to give half of the money to that guy? I don't think so.

Now pretend for a moment that you have a great idea for a movie, not a game. How would you go about getting it made into a movie? You would have to begin by becoming a movie industry professional, get several movies under your belt, become a producer or studio executive, and off you go! That's the DIFTI route ("Do It From The Inside"). There's also the DIY (Do It Yourself) route: spend a lot of money (tens of thousands at the cheapest), write and direct it yourself, with the help of actors and technicians you hire. The end result may never get into theaters everywhere but could well prove your worth to a real studio. Either way, (DIY or DIFTI) by the time you're done, you're in the movie biz. And you earned it by hard work, not by waving your arms for a few minutes in front of a cigar smoker who then throws wads of cash at you -- it don't work that way.

I grabbed that quote from this site http://www.sloperama.com/advice/idea.htm

I really suggest you read everything Tom Sloper wrote on that site if you're truly interested.  You have to realize that you are going to have to be the one that makes it all happen, nobody's going to take your idea and run with it, even if you give it away for free just to see it become a game.

If you lack the skill set required to get things kicked off....there is always college and a degree in programing.  If you don't want to take it that far, and you actually have a fleshed out idea (I hope you have actual rules for the game laid out, and not just the end resules you wish to see) as others have suggested you can turn it into a pen and paper rpg very easily....

Originally posted by Kilrane

If you lack the skill set required to get things kicked off....there is always college and a degree in programing.  If you don't want to take it that far, and you actually have a fleshed out idea (I hope you have actual rules for the game laid out, and not just the end resules you wish to see) as others have suggested you can turn it into a pen and paper rpg very easily....

 

By then, though, he'd have 50 amazing concepts and this original one would be the equivalent of a wank tissue.

Originally posted by GTwander

Originally posted by Kilrane

If you lack the skill set required to get things kicked off....there is always college and a degree in programing.  If you don't want to take it that far, and you actually have a fleshed out idea (I hope you have actual rules for the game laid out, and not just the end resules you wish to see) as others have suggested you can turn it into a pen and paper rpg very easily....

 

By then, though, he'd have 50 amazing concepts and this original one would be the equivalent of a wank tissue.

You're right but a lil encouragement isn't always a bad thing.

That site I linked pretty much states what you just pointed out, and pretty early on as well....I just hope he reads it.

The moral of this story is there is no such thing as a "good idea man" in any sector of the entertainment industry.

Originally posted by Kilrane

The moral of this story is there is no such thing as a "good idea man" in any sector of the entertainment industry.

Yes there is... but they been at it for 20-30 years, before the focus group could make up their "worth". They stick around because of built up clout, and generally only exist in the movie industry. Though, we still have our Garriots and Molyneauxs, and all it takes is a standout hit like God of War to become a Blezinsky (sp?).

Originally posted by GTwander

Originally posted by Kilrane

The moral of this story is there is no such thing as a "good idea man" in any sector of the entertainment industry.

Yes there is... but they been at it for 20-30 years, before the focus group could make up their "worth". They stick around because of built up clout, and generally only exist in the movie industry. Though, we still have our Garriots and Molyneauxs, and all it takes is a standout hit like God of War to become a Blezinsky (sp?).

Touche

Originally posted by Stubbz04
 I've heard most of the things you've all said only directly from the source that could make it happen. I've got pages upon pages of information from development companies explaining to me what they are willing to pitch in if I give them xxx and yyy.

I find that hard to believe, because you are either just saying that, or these people you know are full of shit.

If developers were willing to consider a GDD for greenlighting it wouldn't be from an outsider, they allow pitches from within all the time, but giving that kind of priority to you is just never going to happen. I even have local contacts at SOE and Blizzard (huge drive there though) that would attest that the only time a nobody comes in to pitch a game it's just part of their portfolio for their *job interview*. They aren't going to take your concept and run with it, they are going to hire you as an assistant producer (seeing as how that may be your only skillset atm), and make you work on other titles until you pay your dues - like everyone else. Then they will see what you have come up with since your first pitches (another thing is "don't you dare just show up with one"), and then gauge if you actually learned anything, and deserve that step up.

You are going to *have to* write that book, or hopefully these people willing to look at your concept are beginners, and actually *willing* (as well as uninspired) enough to go with your idea.