I get tons of email, but one particular note is by far the most plentiful. It reads something like this:
“ My name is [xxxxx], and I have this great idea for a game. You are a cyborg, out to take revenge for your parents’ death. To kill the enemy (I named them the Kilbothra) you have tons of cool weapons. And there is blood everywhere.
The problem is that I don’t know how to program. How do I make this a game? It’s not like anything else you have ever seen! Do you have any ideas?”
While this is a simplification, you get the idea. Many people send in great ideas for games, but they don’t know how to convert ideas into reality.
Is there any hope of converting your ideas into the next Marathon®? Sure, but it’s not easy. Ideas are a dime a dozen, but great games take hard work, a great idea, timing, perseverance, and a bit of luck. While your idea may sound like a huge hit to you, you will have to convince many people of this on your way to glory. If you can convince enough people, you can make your dream come true. If not, it’s back to the drawing board...
The Plan
Everything good starts with a plan. Getting a game from idea to Software Etc.® takes more than just a sketch of the main character and a description of a really rad gun that can kill hundreds in a single shot! You need to determine what assets you have towards making a game, and what assets you will need to acquire. Some of the things you will need to make your game are:
• A game design to guide your efforts
• Great programmer(s) to develop the game
• Great artists(s) to create the visual and audio experience for the game
• Someone to lead the project
Your game, in the end, must stand out on store shelves. Is it the story that makes it great? Is it the technology used to build the game? Is it the art and sound? What will make people buy your game? It’s all of them. Your plan guides you as acquire the parts of a great game.
A great game design starts it all off. And it is where most projects end. As the owner of the idea, you have to be honest with yourself. As you start your project, you must do competitive analysis to determine whether your idea is strong enough to sell to others. Programmers won’t join your effort if they think the game won’t sell. Publishers won’t pick up your game without a strong design.
How to Get What is Missing
So you are writing the plan, and you come to an asset you don’t have. Are you allowed to write “I don’t have a clue what to do here” in the plan? No way! Whatever you need, you now need to go get it.
Where do you go to get programmers, artists, or sound designers for your project? You go where they hang out, a task made easy in our ”cyber era.” Here are some suggestions on where to look:
• Friends - Start with the obvious. Do you have any friends that are great programmers or who have tremendous doodles on the sides of their spiral notebooks? So many game projects are created within groups of friends. The advantages to acquiring talent this way are that you know the people you are going to work with, and you might be able to trade equity in the project for their work, rather than using cash you don’t have.
• Online - Mailing list discussions, news groups, and email are a great source of ready talent. There are tons of game development groups on the Internet, AOL, and Compuserve. There are even more general game discussion groups that people read. Once your game design is ready, you can post to these groups stating that you need a programmer/artist for a cool project, and wait for responses.
• Universities - The home of all cool stuff! Where else can you find gifted people who already aren’t working for game companies? If you live near a university (and who doesn’t), put up posters in the Computer Science, Engineering, or Art departments. Check with the college’s Career Center or Job Posting boards to find your team. College students are talented people just waiting for the “man” to hire them. Get to them first!!
• Commercial companies - You can hire out whatever talent you need, but it will cost you. There are many contract companies that will code, draw, or vocalize for money. Many of these companies advertise in magazines like Next Generation, Game Developer, The Edge (Europe), or in trade journals like the CGDA (Computer Game Developers Association) Report.
• Publishers - You can have your publishing partner provide you with missing talent as part of the contract. The only drawback to this is that it potentially lowers the value of the project to the publisher (more cost/work), making the payback less to you. The more work you do on the game, the more money you make from your megahit!
Presenting the Game
You’ve got the game developer’s dream team, fleshed out a game design that rules, done some screenshots, determined how the game will be coded. It’s time to take it to some game publishers. Publishers provide the following for your game:
• Build excitement around your title in the game market
• Design the game packaging
• Get the game onto store shelves, into mail order catalogs, and into other selling channels
• Advertise the game
• Market the game to buyers, reviewers, and the retail channels
• Sell the game!!
Imagine this guy in a cubicle at “Way Too Big and Bloated Games”, a fictitious game developer. His job is to screen all the game submissions this megacorp gets, and find the new, hot games. This person is your target.
Your submission needs to stand out in a crowd (I get tons of these, I should know!!). It needs to look professional, cover everything that needs covering (see the plan), and answer the almighty question “Why Chose Me?”. This submission is the resume for your game, and it better look good. Nice binding, no typos, concise documents are the cream of the crop. When the reviewer sees screenshots (in standard graphic formats), hears audio samples, and gets to play a quick demo, they know you are not messing around. Get their attention, because you only have one chance. Give them the material they need to visualize the game in their head.
WARNING!!!
Your game is at risk here!!! Without a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) in place between you and the publisher (or anyone you show the game to), the party you contact has the ability to steal your great idea and make a game themselves. Protect yourself and put an NDA in place. If you don’t have an NDA, hire a lawyer to draft one for you or ask any party you are disclosing if they have one you can use.
Who To Call?
Who should you take your game to? The million dollar question. You should present it to more than one company to get different bids. You might not get the best deal if you only present the game to one company. When selecting companies, you might want to consider:
• How long has the company existed? (will it still be there tomorrow?)
• Do they publish games like yours? (will they want to publish your game?)
• Do they have a good reputation?
• If they are publicly held, do they have solid financials? (see if they make money)
• Would you like your game published by them?
• Do they do a good job publishing? (good box, ads, other hit games, good public relations)
Once you have decided on your “targets”, call them up and ask to speak to their Publishing or New Business groups. Get an NDA in place and send your proposal. Remember to sound and act professional. This always pays off.
Don’t Stop Now
It’s now time to wait for the publisher to analyze your proposal. This takes time, so don’t rush them. On the other hand, don’t send in a proposal and forget it. Call regularly to check on the status of your proposal. This again is a sign of someone who has their act together.
Once you get feedback on your proposal, you will be able to weigh your offers, if any. You made it!!! If your proposal is not accepted, ask for feedback. Anything you learn can be reworked into your proposal to make it stronger for the next publisher you send it to.
Final Notes
This is just a guide, not a bible. I didn’t cover self publishing, actual document formats, or anything too detailed. The biggest two items to take away from this article are:
• If you believe in something and are prepared to work hard, it can happen
• A successful games starts with a great idea, a well designed plan, and a strong team
Feedback to this column is always appreciated. Send your comments to the editor of IMG or Eric Klein at the email address “eric@jumpy.com”.
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Eric Klein is a former Apple Games Evangelist and is currently the New Business Development Director at Bungie Software.
