Reyold said:
I've recently decided I wanted to be an indie developer (not as a full-time job), but of course, knowing only a smattering about good design, or even making them, I'm learning everything I can about it. Still, I may need some cracks to be filled in, so fire away!
First question: Can you already program?
If you can, then have a look at what game-making libraries/tools are available for the language you're most comfortable in. I'm making a game at the moment in Python, using XNA [http://www.pygame.org/news.html] has a lot of useful stuff
and you can release for both PC and the Xbox360.
If you
can't already program, then you can either start learning (I'd recommend Python) or you can use one of the various game-makers floating around (such as RPG Maker [http://www.rpgmakerweb.com/]) to get you started.
Second question: Can you do artwork and/or compose music?
If you don't have both of those skills, you will probably want to seek out someone who has. You can often leave this until you've got a basic version of the game done (with place-holder graphics you make yourself). It's often easier to recruit people if you've got something to show them.
Third question: Do you want to do as much as possible yourself, or have a team?
Unless you can program, do art
and compose music, you're probably going to need someone else involved in your project at some point. But you don't necessarily need any more than a couple of people to make a really good game. (Aquaria [http://www.bit-blot.com/aquaria/] was made by just two people.)
If you
do want to have a larger team, keep in mind that having more people involved (especially more programmers) can actually
slow down a small project rather than speeding it up! Getting programmers to work together is like herding cats (take it from someone who works as a developer!) and it only gets harder if you recruit them via the internet (and thus they're all in different countries). Never underestimate the time and effort involved in acting as a project manager.
Try to recruit people you know in real life before resorting to the internet. It's a lot easier to work together on a project if you can all meet up over a coffee.
Finally: After deciding on your game concept, it's a good idea to ask yourself "Is there already a game in existence that does this idea
better than I ever could?" There's nothing actually
wrong with making something that's very similar to an existing game, but it can be harder to stay motivated if you don't feel like you're contributing something new.
