so I started my own video game studio

[Volafortis]

How easy/hard is it to get into the industry (talking even about back at Activision)? What kind of schooling/background is preferred?

 

[LordSphinx]

As for my bias against the 360, it may be the stock excuse for PS3 users now, but its with reliability. I actually did have one back in 05, until it RRoD'ed. It got repaired under warranty, then it caught E47 after the NXE update, shortly after which it turned into a disc eater, at which point it had the unusual error of having a woodcutting axe logded in its motherboard.

If, a year from now, Swordcraft were to appear on Steam I would buy it to see if it lived up to what you wanted it to be. It doesnt sound like it has a reason to fail, it just has to get made and get noticed.

The launch for the 360 was an absolute mess. I waited for the jasper processor to come out before getting my Xbox360, and it served me well. I bought a new Xbox360, the 60gb model, before the first one could die on me, because I wanted that extra storage for my 57 XBLA titles. That model is very reliable and I heard the slim model is also pretty good.

As for the unusual woodcutter axe in the motherboard, I say your Xbox360 fully deserved it. Besides, destroying stuff with an axe or sledgehammer is so satisfying!

I think most people don't understand that for however much writing can be an integral part of a game (hell, any medium with a narrative), it's usually very insignificant. Unless it's considered early on, it's like sticking a baseball card in the spokes of a bike.

But Sphinx, I would advise you to look for someone that understands the fundamentals of good literature (primarily, characterization) as opposed to someone that writes well; there's a very big difference. Crytek hired a published author to write for Crysis 2 and the story was still rather meh. It may be a characteristic of FPS, but most developers do not get or do not care about the "it's an interactive media" thing. It's either a single road that leads to the same end or many roads that lead to the same end with no real change in either the plot or the characters. Ultimately, the best you can do is create characters the player can sympathize with.

But if you do go for a dynamic narrative driven by gameplay, show the Extra Credits guys. And me.

I agree that characterization plays a large part in a successful game narrative, and that writing well and being published isn't a guarantee that the writer will be competent in writing for a game. But it definitely helps if the person can show its interest in writing by actually being published, as opposed to only getting a degree in literature for instance. I believe more in actions than in words, and I think that school in itself is only a proof of patience and being able to sweet talk yourself to successful marks. But my opinion on this might be due to an incredibly frustrating inadequacy of education in Quebec.

Anyway, thanks for the advice, what you said does ring true to my ear.

 

[Freechoice]

I agree that characterization plays a large part in a successful game narrative, and that writing well and being published isn't a guarantee that the writer will be competent in writing for a game. But it definitely helps if the person can show its interest in writing by actually being published, as opposed to only getting a degree in literature for instance. I believe more in actions than in words, and I think that school in itself is only a proof of patience and being able to sweet talk yourself to successful marks. But my opinion on this might be due to an incredibly frustrating inadequacy of education in Quebec.

Anyway, thanks for the advice, what you said does ring true to my ear.

Just trying to sell myself well.

Phnar, phnar.

But in all Frosted Flakes, I'd be happy to edit any text or be a wall to throw ideas against.

Have at it.

 

[InnerRebellion]

I'll be honest, I'm damn impressed.

I don't really have a question... well sorta, I guess.

See, I like to write short stories and scripts... and it's been one of my dreams to write for a game. But, problem is, I'm only 15. So, I guess my question is, if an unpublished writer approached you looking for a job, would you take a look at some of his work and possibly hire him/her?

 

[gigastar]

Im actually curious about the level of customisation thats supposed to be available in the titular sword in Swordcraft.

I caught a mention that specific attack types would get specific elements, but im more intrested in:

-How many elements you are thinking about implementing.

-If youre going to stick with the basic sword style. e.g. A blade, hilt and pommel with varying proportions and colors.

 

[BlindMessiah94]

snip

Anyhoo, my advice is watch Extra Creditz, and maybe even email them. They have actually been quite responsive when I've emailed them the past few times, and seem to really genuinely care about people in this industry.

Also you hiring? I worked on a game's music last year and it was a lot of fun

They actually responded to you? I have been trying to get their attention for a while. no dice.

Depends on what you have to say I guess. They've responded to two of my 3 emails.

 

[BlindMessiah94]

Thanks for the advices, I'm trying to be careful but being the enthusiastic CEO of the company makes it hard to not sound like an advertiser! And besides, I do intend to contact them, but I want to have a little more to show beforehand.

Finding good music composers is pretty hard, and I intend to hire a full time sound designer/composer before the end of the year. I'd have to hear what you do before offering anything of course, but I'll definitely listen to your portfolio if you send it to me Aside from that, you'd have to be willing to move out to Quebec, and speaking french or intending to learn the language would definitely help (but isn't a must).

I would gladly send you a portfolio if you're interested. I actually live in Vancouver, so I'm at least in the same country

I agree that finding good composers is difficult. As a composer I'd say it's equally difficult finding good designers to work with.
I would love to send you some stuff if you would like to have a listen when the time comes. But it's more important that the sound you are looking for is what I can offer, and that we work well together.

PM me if you'd like me to send you some of my work.

 

[gamer_parent]

wow... good for you!

just a question, do you have any plans on how you intend to raise your half a million? I'm actually trying to start my own gaming dev company as well. The venture capitalist groups I've spoken to generally will not start putting down the big money you've picked up enough steam by yourself. But one of the things that they said which stuck with me was that you need to be prepared to deal with your growing pains. Not that part where you go from 0 users to 100,000 users. That's peanuts. But rather, trying to break the 500K mark apparently is WIDELY expensive for a lot of start up tech firms. That is, you need sustainable growth.

Another question, do you do contractual works as just a dev studio? It seems like a lot of publishers now a days go the way of just contracting out dev jobs instead of develop their own team. But it seems you're playing both roles right now. Any chance that you would do contract dev work if it came to you?

 

[LordSphinx]

I'll be honest, I'm damn impressed.

I don't really have a question... well sorta, I guess.

See, I like to write short stories and scripts... and it's been one of my dreams to write for a game. But, problem is, I'm only 15. So, I guess my question is, if an unpublished writer approached you looking for a job, would you take a look at some of his work and possibly hire him/her?

As I stated earlier, I don't have enough work for a writer full time, so I'd rather find someone on the team who also have good writing skills than hire someone from the exterior for that purpose (there are a lot of game designers who actually have a background in literature). Besides, there a re a lot of people aspiring to writing for games, so someone who has a limited background wouldn't have much of a competitive advantage to make me consider them over the others. I guess I'd have to meet the person personally and know if I feel like I can trust them with the task.

Im actually curious about the level of customisation thats supposed to be available in the titular sword in Swordcraft.

I caught a mention that specific attack types would get specific elements, but im more intrested in:

-How many elements you are thinking about implementing.

-If youre going to stick with the basic sword style. e.g. A blade, hilt and pommel with varying proportions and colors.

For now, the game is designed around 9 different powers. These powers can be leveled more than once, and you can't max out everything. You could, for instance, have a little of everything in the sword, or max out only a few powers and forget about the rest. Thus the game is meant to be short, but with a good replay value.

wow... good for you!

just a question, do you have any plans on how you intend to raise your half a million? I'm actually trying to start my own gaming dev company as well. The venture capitalist groups I've spoken to generally will not start putting down the big money you've picked up enough steam by yourself. But one of the things that they said which stuck with me was that you need to be prepared to deal with your growing pains. Not that part where you go from 0 users to 100,000 users. That's peanuts. But rather, trying to break the 500K mark apparently is WIDELY expensive for a lot of start up tech firms. That is, you need sustainable growth.

Another question, do you do contractual works as just a dev studio? It seems like a lot of publishers now a days go the way of just contracting out dev jobs instead of develop their own team. But it seems you're playing both roles right now. Any chance that you would do contract dev work if it came to you?

How I get around to obtain that money is the most difficult thing in the process of starting up the business, I can tell you that! But my business plan clearly shows that it's worth the investment, and by the end of the day, that's what they want to see. I also explained earlier how I build up my cash on hand by using each previous loan or grant to convince the next to pitch in. It's a very fragile build up where if someone gets out, everybody does, and that is a very stressful thing to manage. I'll probably spend more time running after the money than actually design the game on which the studio works. That's a compromise I am willing to make in order to bring my vision to life!

As for doing contractual work, that's actually the kind of thing I need to avoid. The main goal of Nine Dots Studio is to influence how this industry rolls, and I think that the solution is to be self publishing our titles. This is something that is harder to do, but much more viable in the long term. I have to choose between not having control on deadlines, milestones and expectations and have to share the game's generated revenue between the publisher and the studio, who would probably end up with a puny 20%, or be my own publisher and only have to give away 30% to the distributor such as Steam or Microsoft. That's a huge difference.

The thing is, now that digital distribution is getting so big, the expertise from huge publishers isn't relevant anymore. At first, developers needed them for marketing, manufacturers, distribution, retailers, etc. Digital distribution makes everything simpler. Having a bigger share of the sales means that you don't need to sell as much copies of the game to be profitable, which in turn reduces the requirement for a bloated marketing budget. Meanwhile, I cut the middleman and we can do the games we want, answering only to our consumers and ourselves. THAT is a development dream. And I intend to make it true

 

[Secret world leader (shhh)]

What stage of development are you at in the game just now?
Will the game be in 2D or 3D?
Will you be releasing it on PC/steam?

 

[REvolve]

I admire your boldness in this venture; not many people would do/have done what you're trying!

My question: If someone (i.e. myself) is interested in entering the game industry as a programmer or developer with an engineering degree, what would be the best way for them to do it? I find I satisfy all of the requirements for a job save industrial experience, and I don't know how to get that in the game industry if everyone is asking for it!

Best of luck to you and your new studio!

 

[omega 616]

My question is, are you going to be listening to gamers in terms of annoyances?

Such as unskippable cutscenes, being forced listening to NPC's (mainly on the second or more play throughs), being forced into a training room (again on the second or more play throughs). You know, The kind of stuff all gamers don't like.

 

[LordSphinx]

What stage of development are you at in the game just now?
Will the game be in 2D or 3D?
Will you be releasing it on PC/steam?

We've just finished our prototype and are now starting development on the title. The other questions have already been answered in previous posts

I admire your boldness in this venture; not many people would do/have done what you're trying!

My question: If someone (i.e. myself) is interested in entering the game industry as a programmer or developer with an engineering degree, what would be the best way for them to do it? I find I satisfy all of the requirements for a job save industrial experience, and I don't know how to get that in the game industry if everyone is asking for it!

Best of luck to you and your new studio!

Programmers are rare, they are sought after and anyone competent can find a job in game development if he looks around and pitch in at every opportunity. Just be confident in your abilities and start speaking to people. It's even easier if you got some experience in programming, no matter the field.

My question is, are you going to be listening to gamers in terms of annoyances?

Such as unskippable cutscenes, being forced listening to NPC's (mainly on the second or more play throughs), being forced into a training room (again on the second or more play throughs). You know, The kind of stuff all gamers don't like.

I don't want to force anything down the player's throat, but I will eventually make titles that have a strong narrative focus and thus I'll have to direct the player's attention to key moment. As for tutorials, I prefer an approach that completely separates the tutorial from the main game. Let those who want to instruct themselves about the game do so, without getting in the way of those who don't care. Besides, any tutorial feels artificial IMO, unless the notions are introduced in very, very, very small increments.

So short answer: yes, we'll do our best to avoid annoyances, but we want to use the medium to say something meaningful rather than treat our products like toys, and that means that sometimes, we will need to direct the player's attention toward something else than gameplay.

 

[similar.squirrel]

The very best of luck to you, man. I will keep an eye out for upcoming releases.

 

[Gunner_Guardian]

I also encourage you to release games on steam, a lot of hit indie titles have had the majority of their sales on that platform including Super Meat Boy and in general the platform is really friendly at exposing small but fun titles but whatever it's your company if your that afraid of pirates.

I'm a PC gamer and I'm interested in this sword game.

 

[LordSphinx]

I also encourage you to release games on steam, a lot of hit indie titles have had the majority of their sales on that platform including Super Meat Boy and in general the platform is really friendly at exposing small but fun titles but whatever it's your company if your that afraid of pirates.

I'm a PC gamer and I'm interested in this sword game.

Well, from this thread I can definitely see a recurring interest in having this game on PC, and I do have dedicated PC gamers in my team. If I keep hearing it as often I'll certainly give more consideration to it. But I still have to strike a deal with Steam first, and that is a time consuming endeavor, so I won't start this process unless I'm sure that I can manage.

 

[omega 616]

My question is, are you going to be listening to gamers in terms of annoyances?

Such as unskippable cutscenes, being forced listening to NPC's (mainly on the second or more play throughs), being forced into a training room (again on the second or more play throughs). You know, The kind of stuff all gamers don't like.

I don't want to force anything down the player's throat, but I will eventually make titles that have a strong narrative focus and thus I'll have to direct the player's attention to key moment. As for tutorials, I prefer an approach that completely separates the tutorial from the main game. Let those who want to instruct themselves about the game do so, without getting in the way of those who don't care. Besides, any tutorial feels artificial IMO, unless the notions are introduced in very, very, very small increments.

So short answer: yes, we'll do our best to avoid annoyances, but we want to use the medium to say something meaningful rather than treat our products like toys, and that means that sometimes, we will need to direct the player's attention toward something else than gameplay.

Sweet!

What about in balance 'cos it sounds like you might run into the same problem as the magicka dev team ran into with the steam beam, if they nerf that beam that changes all the other spells aswell. So will you leave OP stuff in or what?

Making the game harder (increasing enemy numbers or health) will balance out that one build but 'cos the game is hard now thats the only effective build thing. The same will happen if you nerf the build, it will trickle down to the effect the other things (I imagine) meaning the game will be made harder.

 

[holographicman]

how did you get into game testing?
and what skills do you need?

good luck man i hope 9 dots makes it big

 

[Dogstile]

So, is there anything you'd like to ask to the CEO of Nine Dots Studio?

Oh, its quite simple.

How hard exactly is it to get into game design? I mean, i'm learning C++ and Java, but i've heard that most companies use their own engines and their own modified languages. Would this mean that i'm learning to logic currently and that i'll have to apply that logic, rather than the language, to a company?