Startup money for independent developers.
by Earl Carey · in General Discussion · 03/21/2006 (6:06 am) · 34 replies
In some respects I think that innovation is one of the greatest edges that indie developers have over major game companies. We have the freedom to explore ideas that they will not simply due to the fact that a major publisher will not risk millions of dollars on "experimental Ideas".
In other respects innovation is often hardest to do as an independent developer because to really innovate it often takes a real budget. I do not necessarily mean that you have to spend thousands of dollars on tools and resources to innovate. The budget you need to innovate can might be a few hundred dollars a week so that you and your family dose not have to starve to death and your kids can stay in school while you work on your next great game idea.
We as indie developers find our selves in a catch 22. We have the intestinal fortitude to try new ideas but we do not always have the capitalization that we need to pull off our innovation.
How do we solve this problem?
We need to remember that innovation does not have to be a new graphics technique, or A.I. algorithm. As indie developers we also have the freedom to innovate the way that we fund our games.
Let us take a look at how funding works in the "real world". Company A has a great idea. They have a business plan and a solid model but no cash. Company A will not just quit and go home. Instead company A creates an I.P.O. ( Initial Public Offering.). They go to the stock exchange or to private investors and say I am making this many shares available for sail. If you buy these shares then I will pay you dividends every quarter.
A similar situation occurs with an existing company B that has been in business for years but now needs an infusion of cash. The sell shares and use the money to build the company.
Why can't we as indie developers innovate the way that we fund our projects and build a similar infrastructure for our selves?
Here is what I propose. We have a solid infrastructure here at garage games. Already we have tools for teams to post their plans, progress and sell their wares when they are done.
Let's build on that.
Lets have teams post detailed information about other things; market research that they have done, marketing strategy etc. so that people can get an even better idea of that is going on with the team.
Then we build an infrastructure (for teams who agree to sell their game online at least-) exclusively with garage games.) that would allow for the team to sell shares to others in the community. Other garage game members could say "hey I want to support that team or that guy", or "I think that game is going to be a success and I want to be a part of it".
Either way the net result would be that people buy shares and the team can use the money from those shares to buy the resources that they need.
In the beginning to control issues such as people taking the money and running of we can start with the shares not being directly given to teams as cash but rather as credits that could be used to buy resources from garage games.
This is not to say that I do not trust the GG community but rather we do not want unscrupulous people to hear about what we are doing and try to abuse the system.
Once we have control measures in place to some form of back ground checks and monitor teams and track people who are trying to abuse the system we can evolve it again so that teams can receive actual cash. This way they could pay them selves a salary or buy resources not found at garage games.
Summery
The end result of this idea is that we can take all of the intestinal fortitude of indie developers and combine it with real cash the make their ideas become reality.
In this age when every on is claiming that inde development is dead we could build an infrastructure that would allow us to make 'AAA' games with more heart and more soul and equal or more production values of major game developers.
In other respects innovation is often hardest to do as an independent developer because to really innovate it often takes a real budget. I do not necessarily mean that you have to spend thousands of dollars on tools and resources to innovate. The budget you need to innovate can might be a few hundred dollars a week so that you and your family dose not have to starve to death and your kids can stay in school while you work on your next great game idea.
We as indie developers find our selves in a catch 22. We have the intestinal fortitude to try new ideas but we do not always have the capitalization that we need to pull off our innovation.
How do we solve this problem?
We need to remember that innovation does not have to be a new graphics technique, or A.I. algorithm. As indie developers we also have the freedom to innovate the way that we fund our games.
Let us take a look at how funding works in the "real world". Company A has a great idea. They have a business plan and a solid model but no cash. Company A will not just quit and go home. Instead company A creates an I.P.O. ( Initial Public Offering.). They go to the stock exchange or to private investors and say I am making this many shares available for sail. If you buy these shares then I will pay you dividends every quarter.
A similar situation occurs with an existing company B that has been in business for years but now needs an infusion of cash. The sell shares and use the money to build the company.
Why can't we as indie developers innovate the way that we fund our projects and build a similar infrastructure for our selves?
Here is what I propose. We have a solid infrastructure here at garage games. Already we have tools for teams to post their plans, progress and sell their wares when they are done.
Let's build on that.
Lets have teams post detailed information about other things; market research that they have done, marketing strategy etc. so that people can get an even better idea of that is going on with the team.
Then we build an infrastructure (for teams who agree to sell their game online at least-) exclusively with garage games.) that would allow for the team to sell shares to others in the community. Other garage game members could say "hey I want to support that team or that guy", or "I think that game is going to be a success and I want to be a part of it".
Either way the net result would be that people buy shares and the team can use the money from those shares to buy the resources that they need.
In the beginning to control issues such as people taking the money and running of we can start with the shares not being directly given to teams as cash but rather as credits that could be used to buy resources from garage games.
This is not to say that I do not trust the GG community but rather we do not want unscrupulous people to hear about what we are doing and try to abuse the system.
Once we have control measures in place to some form of back ground checks and monitor teams and track people who are trying to abuse the system we can evolve it again so that teams can receive actual cash. This way they could pay them selves a salary or buy resources not found at garage games.
Summery
The end result of this idea is that we can take all of the intestinal fortitude of indie developers and combine it with real cash the make their ideas become reality.
In this age when every on is claiming that inde development is dead we could build an infrastructure that would allow us to make 'AAA' games with more heart and more soul and equal or more production values of major game developers.
#22
You couldn't be more wrong.
Man hours - that's where your money will go. Paying for time - your own time and other people's time.
Hardware is a drop in the bucket - a very small drop at that.
04/10/2006 (3:55 am)
>But to make a game well you'll want some more capable hardware - thats where most funding is spent.You couldn't be more wrong.
Man hours - that's where your money will go. Paying for time - your own time and other people's time.
Hardware is a drop in the bucket - a very small drop at that.
#23
04/10/2006 (6:09 am)
You don't need external funding just to buy your hardware. All you need is a job for like a couple weeks... 
#24
04/10/2006 (6:18 am)
Hardware? Hoho, if it was that easy. 
#25
I am incompetent at art, so I spend money on artists.
I am incompetent at music, so I spend money on musicians.
I am incompetent at C++ and low-level programming, so I spend money on programmers.
Since I'm the one funding my game, I feel a lot of "pain" whenever I have to pay for something which is a strong incentive not to spend money foolishly.
It also gave me a strong incentive to make sure I had a chance at taking the game to completion before I ever spent nickel 1. For me, this meant making a game that could actually be played (with "programmer art", and "programmer music") before I ever talked to artists or musicians.
I've learned that having a playable game can be less than half the work involved, but it's an important first step and gives others confidence that your plans aren't just wishful thinking.
-JF
04/11/2006 (7:38 am)
Personally, I use funding to make up for my own incompetence.I am incompetent at art, so I spend money on artists.
I am incompetent at music, so I spend money on musicians.
I am incompetent at C++ and low-level programming, so I spend money on programmers.
Since I'm the one funding my game, I feel a lot of "pain" whenever I have to pay for something which is a strong incentive not to spend money foolishly.
It also gave me a strong incentive to make sure I had a chance at taking the game to completion before I ever spent nickel 1. For me, this meant making a game that could actually be played (with "programmer art", and "programmer music") before I ever talked to artists or musicians.
I've learned that having a playable game can be less than half the work involved, but it's an important first step and gives others confidence that your plans aren't just wishful thinking.
-JF
#26
Man hours - that's where your money will go. Paying for time - your own time and other people's time."
Well, I do all my own game work. You make the game, and then you pay yourself. A good game developer should be fluent in more than one field. Your workflow sound smore like a game studio workflow, with a team of more than a few close people.
"You don't need external funding just to buy your hardware. All you need is a job for like a couple weeks..."
It's hard to get 10,000 dollars in a matter of weeks for a state of the art developers platform :P. Or the 40,000 dollars for an awesome monitor. If your an indie, like I said, you only need a $20 P2.
04/12/2006 (3:05 am)
"You couldn't be more wrong.Man hours - that's where your money will go. Paying for time - your own time and other people's time."
Well, I do all my own game work. You make the game, and then you pay yourself. A good game developer should be fluent in more than one field. Your workflow sound smore like a game studio workflow, with a team of more than a few close people.
"You don't need external funding just to buy your hardware. All you need is a job for like a couple weeks..."
It's hard to get 10,000 dollars in a matter of weeks for a state of the art developers platform :P. Or the 40,000 dollars for an awesome monitor. If your an indie, like I said, you only need a $20 P2.
#27
The world doesn't stop just because you want to make a game. The mortgage is still due, electric bill, gas bill, etc. etc. Plus, you count all the time you could have been making money at a standard job or doing side work. There's also the time you spend away from your family, wife, kids, etc. while working on what will be more than likely - a labor of love.
Then there's other people's time. Art, music, coding. There's business fees, licenses, lawyer's time, taxes, etc.
>A good game developer should be fluent in more than one field.
Untrue, again. I code, that means I don't do art or music. Two different sides of the brain and it hurts me to think about or attempt to do any form of art work. You _cannot_ be good at everything. Any of the major fields takes a lifetime to learn correctly and there is really no room to be a "jack of all trades". Realising that you really do suck is the first step, the next is paying for someone else's time and experience is the other.
>It's hard to get 10,000 dollars in a matter of weeks for a state of the art developers platform :P. Or the 40,000 dollars for an awesome monitor.
If you think that "art platform" or ub3r monitor is going to automagically produce anything other than a monthly bill, you seriously need to stop whatever you're doing and pick up an economics book.
04/12/2006 (4:48 am)
>Well, I do all my own game work. You make the game, and then you pay yourself. The world doesn't stop just because you want to make a game. The mortgage is still due, electric bill, gas bill, etc. etc. Plus, you count all the time you could have been making money at a standard job or doing side work. There's also the time you spend away from your family, wife, kids, etc. while working on what will be more than likely - a labor of love.
Then there's other people's time. Art, music, coding. There's business fees, licenses, lawyer's time, taxes, etc.
>A good game developer should be fluent in more than one field.
Untrue, again. I code, that means I don't do art or music. Two different sides of the brain and it hurts me to think about or attempt to do any form of art work. You _cannot_ be good at everything. Any of the major fields takes a lifetime to learn correctly and there is really no room to be a "jack of all trades". Realising that you really do suck is the first step, the next is paying for someone else's time and experience is the other.
>It's hard to get 10,000 dollars in a matter of weeks for a state of the art developers platform :P. Or the 40,000 dollars for an awesome monitor.
If you think that "art platform" or ub3r monitor is going to automagically produce anything other than a monthly bill, you seriously need to stop whatever you're doing and pick up an economics book.
#29
In some cases, if you have already produced a rather good demo, you might be able to get some investors to offer you cash in exchange for almost all control of your project. They will in most cases receive most of the profits of you game too (and depending on the contract, they might even own your company and / or IP).
So lets end this silly thread and get back to reality. If you want to succeed, it requires hard work and planning. If you aren't willing to work 12 hours a day to get there, you probably won't get their (unless you have a rich and understanding girlfriend / boyfriend ;) ).
04/12/2006 (12:29 pm)
Stop posting threads like this. If you are an indie developer, you can most likely fund yourself. If you have a day job that's the easiest way to start. Once you have some experience, and get a few games out the door, you might be able to quit your day job. You won't automatically get rich, and you will still have to make more games. In addition you will most likely have to take on contract jobs often, in order to pay for things like food and shelter.In some cases, if you have already produced a rather good demo, you might be able to get some investors to offer you cash in exchange for almost all control of your project. They will in most cases receive most of the profits of you game too (and depending on the contract, they might even own your company and / or IP).
So lets end this silly thread and get back to reality. If you want to succeed, it requires hard work and planning. If you aren't willing to work 12 hours a day to get there, you probably won't get their (unless you have a rich and understanding girlfriend / boyfriend ;) ).
#30
04/12/2006 (12:31 pm)
TRUF!
#31
04/12/2006 (12:34 pm)
Now I am not trying to be all discouraging and gloomy. But if you keep talking about stuff like this, you will never get a game done. Companies and games don't get made by people saying its impossible to do. They are made by the few that know its possible, and have the drive to do it. If you want something in life, you have to fight for it. When there are thousands of people trying to do exactly the same thing you are doing, you have to do it better than them or fail.
#32
No amount of money replaces having the guts that it takes to actually complete a game.
Once the game is done we need to support each other to make sure that we get exposure for our competed games.
Entrepreneur: A person who takes risks to stat in business.
Making any thing commercial product, be it a book, a game or a piece of hardware is like playing the lottery. Especially if you are an independent developer.
The only difference between playing the lottery and being an indie developer is that people who play the lottery only have to spend a dollar to play.
As a developer you have to give your soul, your energy your blood, sweet and tears to get in the game.
If you win you get everything but if you loose then you get nothing.
Most people will not have the intestinal fortitude to finish. Many will finish but will only win a little bit and a few will win big. Which group you fall into depends on how much guts you have, how skilled you are and how lucky you are.
If you choose to travel this road you have to use all of the resources that you have at your disposal. If all that you have is a 20 Pentium then use that. If you have a $50,000 dollar rig then use that.
I started this thread because I think that the issue of funding is important not just in getting the game built but also in marketing. I want to see "Marble Blast" and "Think Tanks" marketed on T.V. just like Microsoft's big name tittles.
While the Xbox Live platform seams to be a God sent for indie developers historically in any field that you examine you will find that inde's are forced to sell their soul to get into the big leagues.
In order for an indie game to get real AAA type sales they need to do some real AAA type advertising, but to get AAA advertising the need to have AAA money and to have AAA money they need AAA sales etc.
Most major publishers in the industry where able to get in the 8 bit and 16 bit days when games where a lot more inexpensive to make and still generated a lot of profits.
New developers and new publishers do not have that option.
So given that nothing will replace balls to the wall development to get a game done. Given that no mater what you budget it takes discipline and character to create a game. How does the indie community rally it self so that we can observe each other and support each other and when one of our brothers and sisters in code break their balls and actually completes a good game. How do we help support them so that they can get more exposure?
We can do much more that just give money. That was just a place so start the discussion.
Many game magazines and websites take requests. You can e-mail them suggestions for which games they should review, your favorite games etc. Perhaps we are able to Have a thread where we all decide to support a specific game in a given month and we all e-mail suggestions to different sites and magazines that they feature that game?
2 things to keep in mind.
1. Dealing with major companies they usually want you to sell your soul to them figuratively speaking.
2. Major companies are that way for a reason. They risk a lot of money to make a lot of money. So they do not make any moves lightly.
If we combine the AAA open source technology of Garage Games, with developers who have the balls to develop complete games and with "Open Source" capital to get the game publicized then we would utterly blow away the industry.
04/16/2006 (3:33 pm)
Summery:No amount of money replaces having the guts that it takes to actually complete a game.
Once the game is done we need to support each other to make sure that we get exposure for our competed games.
Entrepreneur: A person who takes risks to stat in business.
Making any thing commercial product, be it a book, a game or a piece of hardware is like playing the lottery. Especially if you are an independent developer.
The only difference between playing the lottery and being an indie developer is that people who play the lottery only have to spend a dollar to play.
As a developer you have to give your soul, your energy your blood, sweet and tears to get in the game.
If you win you get everything but if you loose then you get nothing.
Most people will not have the intestinal fortitude to finish. Many will finish but will only win a little bit and a few will win big. Which group you fall into depends on how much guts you have, how skilled you are and how lucky you are.
If you choose to travel this road you have to use all of the resources that you have at your disposal. If all that you have is a 20 Pentium then use that. If you have a $50,000 dollar rig then use that.
I started this thread because I think that the issue of funding is important not just in getting the game built but also in marketing. I want to see "Marble Blast" and "Think Tanks" marketed on T.V. just like Microsoft's big name tittles.
While the Xbox Live platform seams to be a God sent for indie developers historically in any field that you examine you will find that inde's are forced to sell their soul to get into the big leagues.
In order for an indie game to get real AAA type sales they need to do some real AAA type advertising, but to get AAA advertising the need to have AAA money and to have AAA money they need AAA sales etc.
Most major publishers in the industry where able to get in the 8 bit and 16 bit days when games where a lot more inexpensive to make and still generated a lot of profits.
New developers and new publishers do not have that option.
So given that nothing will replace balls to the wall development to get a game done. Given that no mater what you budget it takes discipline and character to create a game. How does the indie community rally it self so that we can observe each other and support each other and when one of our brothers and sisters in code break their balls and actually completes a good game. How do we help support them so that they can get more exposure?
We can do much more that just give money. That was just a place so start the discussion.
Many game magazines and websites take requests. You can e-mail them suggestions for which games they should review, your favorite games etc. Perhaps we are able to Have a thread where we all decide to support a specific game in a given month and we all e-mail suggestions to different sites and magazines that they feature that game?
2 things to keep in mind.
1. Dealing with major companies they usually want you to sell your soul to them figuratively speaking.
2. Major companies are that way for a reason. They risk a lot of money to make a lot of money. So they do not make any moves lightly.
If we combine the AAA open source technology of Garage Games, with developers who have the balls to develop complete games and with "Open Source" capital to get the game publicized then we would utterly blow away the industry.
#33
Until I make enough to support my family for an extended period of time while I build a game any thing can happen to prevent me from completing the game.
At this point I would not take a dime from anyone to help me with the game because I can not swear for the amount of time that I can spend on the project. But.
Once the game is done and ready to ship, then I would look for funding to assist with marketing.
04/16/2006 (3:36 pm)
I was suppose to release a game demo some time ago but my real life got crazy and I had to post pone it.Until I make enough to support my family for an extended period of time while I build a game any thing can happen to prevent me from completing the game.
At this point I would not take a dime from anyone to help me with the game because I can not swear for the amount of time that I can spend on the project. But.
Once the game is done and ready to ship, then I would look for funding to assist with marketing.
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