Oh I see. If you can't do it yourself really the only think you could contribute is money.

I can also contribute by working out the deal in great detail, so the other guys don't have to get creative in that regard.

I'm aware it's a long shot. I'm aware it's probably not happening. This isn't the first thing that was probably not happening.

I'm aware this is a long shot on a whole new level. So?

I'll just keep my eyes out for a cheap and skilled crew and if I never find them, it never happens. Big deal.

I can't keep my eyes out for them if I don't know what I'm looking for, and that's the main reason for this thread.

working out the *idea* in great detail. Also organizing it, finding investors, getting the word out. That kind of stuff. I would agree that's mostly secondary work, but not useless per se.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQvWMdWhFCc

While I wouldn't call that useless, I kind of knew all of that. I'm aware that I'm just another dude with just another idea.

Those things certainly aren't useless; they are very important. The real question is why anyone would work for someone with no money and no experience. If you had a few friends that wanted to do this that would be different.

Well, I know some people in that broad direction. People know people. I'll also be going to university next year.

A lot of people have 'dreams' but don't act upon them on their own. I find it's always good to look for those people and see what you can do.

People with skills, ambitions and lack of initiative, basically.

I would also like a fortune in software development done for me for a bag of chips. Also, if there are any thousand dollar a night ladies out there who'd like to work with me 'as more of a hobby', I'm sure I can accommodate you. All donations gratefully accepted.

This would be a great project/hobby for university. It would be a good hobby. Not a good business.

"I can also contribute by working out the deal in great detail, so the other guys don't have to get creative in that regard."

I actually find that most ametuers want to have this creative control of the projects the put time and effort into. So this may be a downside.

Have you compared the various hit indie games made in the last decade. Things like Dwarf Fortress, which doesn't reach Triple A standards, and yet i believe is a commercial success (i suppose with very low development costs it is much easier to make a profit...)

Yeah most coders have their own ideas and would rather work on those than someone else's.

steephie, i think i asked a variation of this before, but i'll ask again: why does your first project in any given field always have to be as big as possible?

what makes any creator successful (be it writers, game devs, musicians) is their desire to create (duh), no matter the size.

so if you translate that to video game design, that would mean designing a few small projects on your own first before you start producing a genre-shattering 3-dimensional rpg. simply because it's easier, yes. fail fast. fail better.

yet you seem to think that you don't need that, and that makes you come off as extremely arrogant and makes people (usually) reluctant to help. maybe you really don't need that, who knows. maybe you will produce the next aaa-title with as good as no prior knowledge, but if that's so, how can we help you when you already know everything?

it also makes you look like you're not really interested in video game design, just in big projects.

Steephie please go to university first. And please choose a very challenging degree. And make lots of good friends there. That is all.

If you want to make a PC game that isn't a simple one, one with great expectations, please don't go about it alone. Get some friends from your faculty or w.e. and work on it together. Solo indie game developers are the most annoying, they publish unfinished low quality games with TONS of potential and then sell the game using the help-me-buy-a-coffee card. don't be THAT guy

But otherwise, i wish you luck and hope u have a lot of fun and learn lots making a game.

Also, use unity engine, its easy and produces great results.

cheers

@abge: "It would be a good hobby. Not a good business."

Works for me.

@kasimax: It's not about the size, but I want to do things that add value to something. Creating a more or less generic game doesn't really add anything.

I don't think I'm arrogant. I don't think I can do this. Like I said, I wanted to know what it takes to do this.

I know I need to learn, I just have a different approach to learning.

The fastest way to learn someone how to swim is to throw him into a pool.
Except you might die there. I only take safe opportunities in that regard.

@MrcsAurelius:
I'm going to :-)

I guess I also think I learn more from a failed ambitious project than from a 'safe' project.

I disagree. You learn the most from successful projects.

Also, even if you're completing "safe" projects (what even is a "safe" project anyway?), then you'll have a portfolio which you can use to attract others to the next project. People are more interested to help someone they know has the dedication to see an idea through.

"It's not about the size, but I want to do things that add value to something. Creating a more or less generic game doesn't really add anything."

i would argue that at it's best, the indie industry is everything but generic and adds way more "value" to "something" than aaa titles, especially with innovations in story-telling and gameplay.

"Like I said, I wanted to know what it takes to do this."

well, i told you to start small, you ignored it, so there's that.

"It's not about the size, but I want to do things that add value to something. Creating a more or less generic game doesn't really add anything.

I don't think I'm arrogant."

i didn't say that i think you're arrogant, i think you're very genuine, but you come off as arrogant, and the quote above is a good example. i tell you to start small when you're interest is really in developing a game, not in earning millions of dollars and you simply dismiss that idea, and by that, every small video game ever, as "generic".

innovation has, at its core, close to nothing to do with money.

I don't have any small non-generic pc game ideas at the moment. Otherwise I'd start with that of course.

I would still 'start small' on a large project: much like I'm doing with the boardgame, I try to get a playable, solid boardgame. Most of my plans won't be in it yet.
I like the prospect of being able to grow after that first version, though.

You should design a game where players have to "sweep" a defined field for hidden "mines".

You could call it, 'the finder of mines'

PR-wise, call it Boom!

Just to clarify, I have many interests and for the foreseeable future, this fact combined with a lack of free time means I need to be very picky. If creating a pc game was the only thing I wanted to do, sure, I'd start small as long as large isn't an option. Right now, a small pc game is an option on the list, but not in the top, precisely.

I just don't want to put something on hold for some other, time-consuming thing to prepare for another time-consuming thing.

I hope that makes sense. Rest assured I won't be doing much with this for the foreseeable future, I just hope to be able to recognize the guys and girls that would be helpful for this. Hell, if it's just an interesting discussion topic in the end, no problem.

it absolutely doesn't , no, but as you're not listening to our advices you're either going to find that out on your own or never make a game.

"i would argue that at it's best, the indie industry is everything but generic and adds way more "value" to "something" than aaa titles, especially with innovations in story-telling and gameplay"

Agreed, just look at games like:
FTL
Papers, please
Fez

@steephie "The fastest way to learn someone how to swim is to throw him into a pool.
Except you might die there. I only take safe opportunities in that regard."

Except that programming isn't equal to swimming. If you dive in a big project, you'll def drown.
Start small and with things you can use in your big project. Think in terms of modules, reusability of code! Like running around with a character, making some raw buildings/stuff you can use later, making an npc.

Also, you'll have more chance in finding people if you already have a basic game version of your end game and they don't have to begin from scratch. it doesn't need to look nice, just playable.

Also, what are you going to study next year?

Business