[modi123_1]

(The title should be [link]Tips for a One Man Gamedev Team: What to Do Before Even Touching a Computer )

http://gamedev.tutsp...ing-a-computer/

An good read on what to do when you want to embark out on making a game. Should be a required read some days!

Quote

Can You Make This Game?
Cool Idea, but What About Your Game?
But Isn’t All That What Prototyping Is For?

So you’ve decided you want to make a video game as a hobbyist. You’ve picked a development platform, read some tutorials, and you’ve got a cool game idea in mind. You’re all set up, time to get started, let’s hit the computer, right? Wrong.

When you’ve got a design that’s achievable, you’ve hammered out the specifics of how things are going to work, and you know exactly how you’re going to tackle prototyping, then you’re all set!

[e_i_pi]

Great read, and it should definitely be a link that is included in quite a few responses to threads here. The author doesn't poo-poo the idea of people making games by themselves, but points out a lot of important things they need to know that they probably haven't thought of.

As a one-man dev team myself, I would say one of the cheapast ways you can propel your game is by outsourcing the art. By "cheapest", I would say it is still beyond the means of a student or low-income person... I have so far spent about $5000 on artwork for my site, and have put aside another $1000 for art, with the view to putting aside another $1500 in the next few months. You really need a day job (or personal loan) to bankroll this. And you also need to know that you'll make money out of it that will at least cover your costs. That can be hard to ascertain, but if you determine the gross incomes of your competitors, you can sometimes get a ballpark figure.

[modi123_1]

Exactly! A one man team for coding the whole shebang, but there are other things out there too.. like that damn art!

[ButchDean]

There is also audio. Granted that that is never expensive to create on a lone project.

One more thing that I may add is why spend thousands on a game that you will not even break even on?

Good read but the author should have pointed out a lot more the kind of character it takes to make games (creative problem solver with unfailing determination to get the job done). The very clear fact of the matter is that only a tiny percentage of lone hobbyist game developers actually finish their title, after they realize that making games is a whole different ball game to playing them.