Becoming a wargame developer?

[mavraamides]

ORIGINAL: wodin

GordianKnot, your game is looking superb. Is there an overall description of it's features and game mechanics, I love the amount of details and info each unit has.

Thanks! I started working on a site using Google's Site Maker so I wouldn't have to pay for hosting but it was so hard to get their stuff to look right that I gave up as it was taking away from dev time. I plan on making a post on my blog with a feature list (ever changing of course) probably in the next week. I also am about 20% done with the manual which I'm kind of writing as I go but it won't be ready to post for a long time.

[wodin]

GordianKnot, have you proposed this to Matrix? I'm sure they will be willing to chat to you about it and publishing etc. It sure does look professional and something they'd be interested in.

[IainMcNeil]

We're always interested in talking to new developers so definitely feel free to contact us

[Perturabo]

ORIGINAL: Arjuna

Perturabo,

I'll repeat the advice Roger Keating of SSG gave me when I asked the same question back in 1983 and that was "don't give up your day job". I know this is not what you want to hear but it is still the best advice going. Take it from someone who ignored that advice thirty years ago, developed games which have received the highest praise but lost his house on a game development risk too many.

Is it possible to make games that receive the highest praise while still having a dayjob or does one have to choose between these two?

ORIGINAL: Arjuna

Having said that it is possible to develop wargames fulltime provided you don't mind being poor, don't have a wife or have one who is very tolerant and don't have kids. The frank truth of the matter is that even when you are at the top of the game designing excellent product the product we have to sell is for an extremely niche market. Everyone like to think they belong to the majority but rest assured that wargamers are on the outer fringe. We are a weird lot and there is not many of us. So sales can be measured in a few thousand not tens of thousands and certainly not in the millions like AAA titles that you will be competing against for your customers dollars.

In short it's a mug game. Only jump in if satisfying your creative urge is greater than your material aspirations.

My material aspirations are paying the bills, having full stomach without having to resort to junkfood and buying some game/book/comic/manga/music from time to time. Oh and replacing clothes when they start to fall apart. I don't know if it counts as "being poor" and thus being able to jump in or as "satisfying material aspirations" and having to bear a dayjob.

ORIGINAL: Arjuna

If you ignore all that I have said and take the plunge then I recommend strongly that you don't take that plunge on your own. Team up with someone else. Risk, burdens and wargame development are all best shared. [:)]

What kind of people are most useful for teaming up with?

[wodin]

Team up with someone who has talent and also has the same love of the same games so you can fire ideas off. Also someone dedicated.

Will be hard to find though. I'd love to meet a programmer who say loved my game design ideas...it isn't going to happen though!

So it boils down to learning one self, which I suppose your looking at a good few years before you get competent enough to start making a game.

[doomtrader]

wodin, actually the programmers don't have to love wargames. Just find one who would be willing to wait for his share until the game release.
There is a lot of them so sooner or later you will find somebody.

[waverick]

ORIGINAL: GordianKnot

Its a VERY steep learning curve. I've been programming professionally for over 25 years and nothing in my professional life could completely prepare me for writing a war game. Especially the AI.

But if its something you want to do, you should go for it. You will learn so much and it will help you in your career as well. If you do get lucky enough to make it a full time profession, all the hard work you put in will be more than justified.

Well, I'm in the same boot I guess. Beside my fulltime job I am programming a wargame (Operational/WEGO), the same experience, AI is very hard to write. Came to the conclusion that it was necessary to have in-game live AI-debugging, which of course takes again a lot of time. Last year I decided I just want to release a(!) game, and programmed a simple casual game just to get the feeling "what comes after the programming"....man(!) this part is even more difficult.
My casual action puzzle game is part of the gaming world where every day new games are launched. Trying to get noticed is nearly impossible.
But is was a learnfull experience also the part of putting together a release, building a online highscore server.

Anyways in the game programming world there is no easy way......

http://fruitonrails.3qc.nl

Currently I am back on programming my big wargame.....

[Perturabo]

I'm wondering if it wouldn't be good to start out with making a paper wargame. After all I need to design all the rules anyway.
Maybe making a solo wargame and then making a computer port as a first "non-exercise" project.

[Arjuna]

ORIGINAL: Perturabo
Is it possible to make games that receive the highest praise while still having a dayjob or does one have to choose between these two?

Professionalism doesn't mean "full time". It's an attitude and a practice that pays attention to detail, that sticks at something long aftyer the initial enthusiasm has waned. So yes you can.

What kind of people are most useful for teaming up with?

That all depends on your own skill set. Work up a list of the skills you reckon are needed. Cross off the one's you think you can handle and then find someone or some others that meet the rest. But apart from that you need someone you get on with. Someone that you can be completely open to in regard to your design. Someone who understands the nature of the risks involved and whose prepared to wear the consequences should things not turn out the way you think. It will be these non-skill type attributes that really count the most.

So what skills do you bring to the table? What are you capable of? What would you like to focus on? What's left?