Some sound advice from the 2003 GDC
by Joseph Hatcher · in General Discussion · 03/10/2003 (9:31 pm) · 0 replies
Maybe it'll help a few.
Game Dev News & Advice:
Strategy games only have a 1-2% market.
Value & simple online games are bought by mostly women, by 50-60%, age 30-45. The market can easily have your games sell 200,000-600,000 copies. www.popcap.com is a good example, as well as Stevie Case's & John Romero's www.monkeystone.com. If you make these kinds of games, keep the interface clean and idiot proof, include a tutorial that takes no longer then 2-4 minutes to complete or make it go along with each level, & make sure the compressed file size before the game is installed is under 2-4MBs for better success.
REALarcade is having a game creation contest for $100,000. You know how to get there...
Auran is having a contest as well, but you must use Auran Jet on the game.
If you're trying to run a business & create a project(s) at the same time, or just the business part, get a legal advisor or lawyer, and get an office/business manager, so you can focus on your project(s). Get hard copy signed NDAs & employment contracts with your teams & anyone else that relates to your situation.
YOU WILL NEED: A lawyer or legal advisor for contracts,etc; insurance against being sued, an office manager, marketing person to always be working on deals for you, and a business manager.
Don't get emotionally attached to your game. No one cares. The publishers care only about money, not how you feel about such & such a feature should or shouldn't be implemented. If you are truly creative & smart, don't ever put all your eggs in one basket. Like in chess, always think 5-30 moves ahead.
Don't be afraid to try something new. Whether the risk pays off or not, its at least worth the learning experience.
Remember to analyze your market. SWOT=strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats.
On your team, have it down in writing what everyone is suppose to do, to keep down confusion. Write down whos doing what & when each week.
Managers/Leads are responsible for the caring for the passion of the project & people.
Don't be overly prideful.
Don't let your passion be taken away in your job, or anything you do.
Think positive, always look to whats good about today.
Don't promote someone just to promote them, or to fill a position just because they're there.
When you have a bigger team, more people thinks the project is their baby. If the team members stop believing its their baby, you're screwed.
Give credits(s) where credit(s) are due.
Build trust.
No surprises.
Fewer surprises.
www.quazal.com/devzone/ Go here for some excellent network coding solutions. For those learning & with no $$$, you can use the Personal Edition to tinker with your projects, such as for multiplayer games. After the set time, you'll have to get another key. I spoke with the guy for 4 and half hours back from San Jose, I highly recommend it.
As teams grow, specialization is good.
You need to think, "how am I going to grow this year?" You must always desire to learn.
Compliment each other.
Remember to include penalties to the publisher on late milestone payments.
For your compensation to your team, some options are: ownership, equity, salary, bonuses, roaylties, immediate needs of employees (such as maybe they need help with their electric bill this month).
Crunch time is normal and happens more at smaller companies/teams.
Try not to kill your employees.
Larger companies are more standardized for better schedules.
You should practice good reporting on a weekly basis. This includes management, your team(s), etc.
10% of your customers will usually be message board "fans".
For demos, tutorials are almost critical.
Try not to use investors. If you have to, set yourself up for them exiting within 2-3 years, or 1-2 projects.
Be prepared to babysit grown men & women. Have an office manager to help buffer you from this.
You can't afford to make a single mistake.
Make contracts IRON CLAD.
Put a good team together, especially a seasoned advisory board.
Agree on the business plan with your team.
Keep it simple.
Don't talk, DO! Stop wasting your time.
Surround yourself with smart people.
For the value/casual gamer market, develop games that can be developed in short cycles (30-60 days as an example).
There are 10,000 games better then yours.
Write SOLID code.
99% of game startups fail.
Your income from your game being in a bundle amounts to just $500-2,500 as the norm.
Make an employee handbook, update it regurlarly, have them sign it and read it.
Don't pretend employees are independent contractors (ICs).
Keep a worker agreement.
ICs & employees must have written agreements addressing: status- at will (employee), IC, IP protections (NDA, non-compete).
Every employee should have an exit agreement, covering departing workers, exit interview, affirmation of NDA & non-compte.
Protect your trade secrets.
Mark all materials that you feel are critical to your company with trade secret legends (such as a stamp).
Register your copyrights & trademarks. COPYRIGHTS IS NOTHING ELSE.
Here's things publishers can charge you, the developer on them selling your game: credits, return reserve allowance (20% is the norm), promo units/rebates, lost/damaged goods, goods sold below cost, co-op advertising & MDF, COGS (cost of goods), platform royalties, shipping charges.
Get audit rights: review period, frequency, who pays audit costs?, penalties.
Don't delay onwer's agreements. No one likes discussing comparative worth. Establish ASAP - ownership amounts, titles & reporting structure & dispute resolution.
Don't do it all yourself.
When creating audio for your games, listen to it all with your eyes closed. How does it make you feel?
Thats some of the stuff I learned at the 2003 GDC, hope it helps someone.
Xhadoe
www.agfrag.com
Game Dev News & Advice:
Strategy games only have a 1-2% market.
Value & simple online games are bought by mostly women, by 50-60%, age 30-45. The market can easily have your games sell 200,000-600,000 copies. www.popcap.com is a good example, as well as Stevie Case's & John Romero's www.monkeystone.com. If you make these kinds of games, keep the interface clean and idiot proof, include a tutorial that takes no longer then 2-4 minutes to complete or make it go along with each level, & make sure the compressed file size before the game is installed is under 2-4MBs for better success.
REALarcade is having a game creation contest for $100,000. You know how to get there...
Auran is having a contest as well, but you must use Auran Jet on the game.
If you're trying to run a business & create a project(s) at the same time, or just the business part, get a legal advisor or lawyer, and get an office/business manager, so you can focus on your project(s). Get hard copy signed NDAs & employment contracts with your teams & anyone else that relates to your situation.
YOU WILL NEED: A lawyer or legal advisor for contracts,etc; insurance against being sued, an office manager, marketing person to always be working on deals for you, and a business manager.
Don't get emotionally attached to your game. No one cares. The publishers care only about money, not how you feel about such & such a feature should or shouldn't be implemented. If you are truly creative & smart, don't ever put all your eggs in one basket. Like in chess, always think 5-30 moves ahead.
Don't be afraid to try something new. Whether the risk pays off or not, its at least worth the learning experience.
Remember to analyze your market. SWOT=strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats.
On your team, have it down in writing what everyone is suppose to do, to keep down confusion. Write down whos doing what & when each week.
Managers/Leads are responsible for the caring for the passion of the project & people.
Don't be overly prideful.
Don't let your passion be taken away in your job, or anything you do.
Think positive, always look to whats good about today.
Don't promote someone just to promote them, or to fill a position just because they're there.
When you have a bigger team, more people thinks the project is their baby. If the team members stop believing its their baby, you're screwed.
Give credits(s) where credit(s) are due.
Build trust.
No surprises.
Fewer surprises.
www.quazal.com/devzone/ Go here for some excellent network coding solutions. For those learning & with no $$$, you can use the Personal Edition to tinker with your projects, such as for multiplayer games. After the set time, you'll have to get another key. I spoke with the guy for 4 and half hours back from San Jose, I highly recommend it.
As teams grow, specialization is good.
You need to think, "how am I going to grow this year?" You must always desire to learn.
Compliment each other.
Remember to include penalties to the publisher on late milestone payments.
For your compensation to your team, some options are: ownership, equity, salary, bonuses, roaylties, immediate needs of employees (such as maybe they need help with their electric bill this month).
Crunch time is normal and happens more at smaller companies/teams.
Try not to kill your employees.
Larger companies are more standardized for better schedules.
You should practice good reporting on a weekly basis. This includes management, your team(s), etc.
10% of your customers will usually be message board "fans".
For demos, tutorials are almost critical.
Try not to use investors. If you have to, set yourself up for them exiting within 2-3 years, or 1-2 projects.
Be prepared to babysit grown men & women. Have an office manager to help buffer you from this.
You can't afford to make a single mistake.
Make contracts IRON CLAD.
Put a good team together, especially a seasoned advisory board.
Agree on the business plan with your team.
Keep it simple.
Don't talk, DO! Stop wasting your time.
Surround yourself with smart people.
For the value/casual gamer market, develop games that can be developed in short cycles (30-60 days as an example).
There are 10,000 games better then yours.
Write SOLID code.
99% of game startups fail.
Your income from your game being in a bundle amounts to just $500-2,500 as the norm.
Make an employee handbook, update it regurlarly, have them sign it and read it.
Don't pretend employees are independent contractors (ICs).
Keep a worker agreement.
ICs & employees must have written agreements addressing: status- at will (employee), IC, IP protections (NDA, non-compete).
Every employee should have an exit agreement, covering departing workers, exit interview, affirmation of NDA & non-compte.
Protect your trade secrets.
Mark all materials that you feel are critical to your company with trade secret legends (such as a stamp).
Register your copyrights & trademarks. COPYRIGHTS IS NOTHING ELSE.
Here's things publishers can charge you, the developer on them selling your game: credits, return reserve allowance (20% is the norm), promo units/rebates, lost/damaged goods, goods sold below cost, co-op advertising & MDF, COGS (cost of goods), platform royalties, shipping charges.
Get audit rights: review period, frequency, who pays audit costs?, penalties.
Don't delay onwer's agreements. No one likes discussing comparative worth. Establish ASAP - ownership amounts, titles & reporting structure & dispute resolution.
Don't do it all yourself.
When creating audio for your games, listen to it all with your eyes closed. How does it make you feel?
Thats some of the stuff I learned at the 2003 GDC, hope it helps someone.
Xhadoe
www.agfrag.com
