Development Team

Goochimayne

Hi guys! I'm an entrepreneur looking to put a development team together to design and develop a video game. Looking for ambitious/bold designers,programmers, artists, level designer and sound engineer. I'm looking for individuals who are motivated, creative (problem solvers) , resilient and most importantly loyal. Please inbox me if you share any of the characteristics I've listed. Look forward to meeting you all.

Fengol

Can you give some detail about the project scope and planned length, and the remuneration?

dammit

Is there a particular reason you want to build the team up from scratch? There is the other option of outsourcing to teams that make games for clients (see RetroEpic.com -- where I work)

tbulford

dammit said:

Is there a particular reason you want to build the team up from scratch? There is the other option of outsourcing to teams that make games for clients (see RetroEpic.com -- where I work)

I was unaware RetroEpic did outsourced work. I will keep that in mind next time I have someone knocking on my door for a game development. We have decided not to pursue outsourced work anymore.

I can't help but think that would be a useful list.

dammit

tbulford said:

dammit said:

Is there a particular reason you want to build the team up from scratch? There is the other option of outsourcing to teams that make games for clients (see RetroEpic.com -- where I work)

I was unaware RetroEpic did outsourced work. I will keep that in mind next time I have someone knocking on my door for a game development. We have decided not to pursue outsourced work anymore.

I can't help but think that would be a useful list.

Cool, yes get in touch if there is work you aren't taking on :)

Goochimayne

Fengol said:

Can you give some detail about the project scope and planned length, and the remuneration?

Forgive me but Im not one for admin, Ive always worked on a vision always felt too much admin can psyche one out of achieving goals. The project itself is the establishing of a game development company which would follow the regular process of bplan to recruitment however I believe that route can be time consuming and not rewarding in the short term and not motivating to team members therefore my approach is to validate a market which has been done by the very existence of $1.4 billion video game market in South Africa put a team together then develop a game. That said we are already in that second phase of putting a team together. The planned length will depend on the very success of the products we create and remuneration we can discuss.

Goochimayne

dammit said:

Is there a particular reason you want to build the team up from scratch? There is the other option of outsourcing to teams that make games for clients (see RetroEpic.com -- where I work)

Yes this is true however I am a firmly believe to achieve the best results and to achieve a vision one needs to have a team of people which share that same vision to not approach things as a "job" but something of your own.

dislekcia

Goochimayne said:

my approach is to validate a market which has been done by the very existence of $1.4 billion video game market in South Africa put a team together then develop a game.

Uh. Those numbers are not relevant to local developers. Most of that moves directly offshore to large game publishers for whom it's literally chump change. It's also mostly local hardware sales, so those amounts are severely inflated.

Think about it this way: If the budget for a game from an AAA publisher is $100M, then $1.4B could fund at most 14 games. More than 14 different games reach South African shelves each year, thus the South African market cannot sustain that sort of development. Yet, in order to compete, you'd have to have at least that sort of development budget. It can't be done.

That's why all the studios that are successful in SA focus on reaching global markets. I feel like your research isn't up to scratch, but good luck anyways. (A good question to ask is what fraction of that supposed $1.4B is a single game likely to command)

dammit

Goochimayne said:

dammit said:

Is there a particular reason you want to build the team up from scratch? There is the other option of outsourcing to teams that make games for clients (see RetroEpic.com -- where I work)

Yes this is true however I am a firmly believe to achieve the best results and to achieve a vision one needs to have a team of people which share that same vision to not approach things as a "job" but something of your own.

Our philosophy is very much one of partnership rather than client-work, meaning that we do not see the projects we take on as just a "job" but something that we're a very big part of making.

Good luck to you on your own endeavour.

oomjan

@Goochimayne How will you fund the initial cost of the team? You don't just build a team without some starting capital or funding. Do you have some kind of business plan or idea in mind. Starting a company is a lot more that just putting a bunch of people in a room.

Boysano

If you do have the capital, consider approaching existing companies and investing in them.
You will reduce your own risk, and can help the industry.

Sonicay

Yea if there is no estimation of what you will pay people that already have projects going then there will be no motivation to even want to go to your team.

Because most of us here have our own projects we are working on and even with just 1 to 2 people, we are still being able to achieve creating small fun games which will give us a income in the future - even if its not that much.

What your saying is, is that your not seeing it as a "job" meaning you want to start it without paying people, then for being the main guy you will be getting most of the profit. What do you contribute to this project of yours? Are you going to be the project manager only which in my case any person can do? or are you going to be the guy with the idea of the game? which is also the same case.

To put things lightly, you must give us more than just "Ive always worked on a vision always felt too much admin can psyche one out of achieving goals" - and how you want to justify something that most game developers know like @dislekcia said. That market means nothing if clash of clans makes that in a year so to say.

Say what your project is about, how you plan to start it out, where you intend people to work, how much they should work, if they are going to get payed, how will things be run [Your doing programming, this guy will do Modeling, etc].
If people dont get payed - you can approach us in a different way in saying- i am going to make a team consisting of 5 people that has vital roles- whichever game we make and make money out of, will be split equally among us 5 - Something like that. Like i am a person always up for making a game, being able to create a game is a joy in life and having ppl enjoy that game is even more enjoyable, but when you have created your game, you want to aim bigger and everyone here wants to earn something for the effort they put in.

Everyone should aim being like Blizzard are today.

Goochimayne

dammit said:

Goochimayne said:

dammit said:

Is there a particular reason you want to build the team up from scratch? There is the other option of outsourcing to teams that make games for clients (see RetroEpic.com -- where I work)

Yes this is true however I am a firmly believe to achieve the best results and to achieve a vision one needs to have a team of people which share that same vision to not approach things as a "job" but something of your own.

Our philosophy is very much one of partnership rather than client-work, meaning that we do not see the projects we take on as just a "job" but something that we're a very big part of making.

Good luck to you on your own endeavour.

I'm open to partnerships and wouldn't consider myself as an employer in any shape or form. My statement is evidence of that. A shared vision is to share the rewards and risks.

Goochimayne

dislekcia said:

Goochimayne said:

my approach is to validate a market which has been done by the very existence of $1.4 billion video game market in South Africa put a team together then develop a game.

Uh. Those numbers are not relevant to local developers. Most of that moves directly offshore to large game publishers for whom it's literally chump change. It's also mostly local hardware sales, so those amounts are severely inflated.

Think about it this way: If the budget for a game from an AAA publisher is $100M, then $1.4B could fund at most 14 games. More than 14 different games reach South African shelves each year, thus the South African market cannot sustain that sort of development. Yet, in order to compete, you'd have to have at least that sort of development budget. It can't be done.

That's why all the studios that are successful in SA focus on reaching global markets. I feel like your research isn't up to scratch, but good luck anyways. (A good question to ask is what fraction of that supposed $1.4B is a single game likely to command)

The numbers speak of a market. What you're saying is south Africa cannot sustain the market yet we consume 1.4B worth of games annually? You're looking at it from a competition perspective and that is correct bt it doesn't take away the fact that a market exists here in south Africa or that the market is ready for a south African developer. I've heard many things in my experience in business and mostly it's just what the machine wants us to believe 'that it can't be done'.

Goochimayne

oomjan said:

@Goochimayne How will you fund the initial cost of the team? You don't just build a team without some starting capital or funding. Do you have some kind of business plan or idea in mind. Starting a company is a lot more that just putting a bunch of people in a room.

This is all part of the process and right now it's a blank piece of paper. I've never worried about capital some how we have been told about following our dreams etc bt be careful if u fail, that word is enough to have some1 forget his/her dreams to assist realise another's dream. What I'm offering is an opportunity to be part of something which could possibly be ur dream/vision not just mine I just happen to believe it can be done and am looking for others that believe it to.

To answer your question yes there is start-up capital. As far as a business plan that's what we as a team will formulate but I do have marketing strategy in place already and it's damn good.

Goochimayne

Boysano said:

If you do have the capital, consider approaching existing companies and investing in them.
You will reduce your own risk, and can help the industry.

That is a good idea. Will keep that as an alternative.

Goochimayne

Sonicay said:

Yea if there is no estimation of what you will pay people that already have projects going then there will be no motivation to even want to go to your team.

Because most of us here have our own projects we are working on and even with just 1 to 2 people, we are still being able to achieve creating small fun games which will give us a income in the future - even if its not that much.

What your saying is, is that your not seeing it as a "job" meaning you want to start it without paying people, then for being the main guy you will be getting most of the profit. What do you contribute to this project of yours? Are you going to be the project manager only which in my case any person can do? or are you going to be the guy with the idea of the game? which is also the same case.

To put things lightly, you must give us more than just "Ive always worked on a vision always felt too much admin can psyche one out of achieving goals" - and how you want to justify something that most game developers know like @dislekcia said. That market means nothing if clash of clans makes that in a year so to say.

Say what your project is about, how you plan to start it out, where you intend people to work, how much they should work, if they are going to get payed, how will things be run [Your doing programming, this guy will do Modeling, etc].
If people dont get payed - you can approach us in a different way in saying- i am going to make a team consisting of 5 people that has vital roles- whichever game we make and make money out of, will be split equally among us 5 - Something like that. Like i am a person always up for making a game, being able to create a game is a joy in life and having ppl enjoy that game is even more enjoyable, but when you have created your game, you want to aim bigger and everyone here wants to earn something for the effort they put in.

Everyone should aim being like Blizzard are today.

You raise valid points. I'm a guy that has various business interests, I know how to build a company from nothing. This is a life long dream of mine a natural progression 1 might say. I once quit my job just so that I cud finish a game and now I want to make something that damn good for some1 else to be completely immersed in it. I admit I don't know everything but the things I do know I know well. I'm not looking to be an employer but to be part of something great something I've always loved it's a matter of self actualisation so percentages of ownership etc are open for discussion as long as the vision is achieved but for now what I believe to be important is the company I keep to assist in realising the vision.

dislekcia

Goochimayne said:

The numbers speak of a market. What you're saying is south Africa cannot sustain the market yet we consume 1.4B worth of games annually? You're looking at it from a competition perspective and that is correct bt it doesn't take away the fact that a market exists here in south Africa or that the market is ready for a south African developer. I've heard many things in my experience in business and mostly it's just what the machine wants us to believe 'that it can't be done'.

As a South African developer running my own company, employing people to make and sell our own games, do I count as "doing it" or I am part of some sort of "machine"?

Where are you getting your figures from ($1.4B is incredibly high) and what are you trying to achieve with these posts? If you're trying to exhort people to make games in South Africa, cool - that's already happening (and not based on the financial reasoning you've laid out). If you're trying to join or even found a team, you're going to need to demonstrate what you can do - I suggest going to a game jam and jumping right in.

Goochimayne

dislekcia said:

Goochimayne said:

The numbers speak of a market. What you're saying is south Africa cannot sustain the market yet we consume 1.4B worth of games annually? You're looking at it from a competition perspective and that is correct bt it doesn't take away the fact that a market exists here in south Africa or that the market is ready for a south African developer. I've heard many things in my experience in business and mostly it's just what the machine wants us to believe 'that it can't be done'.

As a South African developer running my own company, employing people to make and sell our own games, do I count as "doing it" or I am part of some sort of "machine"?

Where are you getting your figures from ($1.4B is incredibly high) and what are you trying to achieve with these posts? If you're trying to exhort people to make games in South Africa, cool - that's already happening (and not based on the financial reasoning you've laid out). If you're trying to join or even found a team, you're going to need to demonstrate what you can do - I suggest going to a game jam and jumping right in.

Cool man advise considered and will be taken onboard.