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Want to design, but not program

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2 comments, last by Zato 22 years, 8 months ago
Hi. I am a huge fan of 2D console fighting games (such as the Street Fighter series) and I am VERY disappointed with the quality of the games currently on the market. I would like to direct a project in which team members consisting of programmers, artists, concept designers, etc. work with me to put my ideas into action (along with approval/editing/testing). However, I don''t want to program the game myself because I am WAY behind in that department plus I''m more concerned with the creative side of things anyway. I just want to be the "idea guy" that revolutionized the industry because I actually came up with something new for a change! If anyone could help me with some practical advice on how to achieve this, I''d really appreciate it. I don''t even want credit or money for my ideas...I just want to play a completely astounding fighting game! Capcom (the only acceptable source IMO) doesn''t accept outside ideas because of legal issues. So creating a portfolio and sending it to them is sorta out of the question (plus I want to be there to edit/test in order to ensure PERFECTION). PLEASE SOMEONE HELP!! THESE SUBPAR GAMES ARE KILLING ME!! Zato
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Not gonna'' happen.

Ideas are worthless. Everyone here has more ideas than you can shake several large sticks at and have no need for someone else''s.

You need to bring more to the table than an idea. If you can''t(or won''t) bring skill, then bring money.

And by the way, you''re not going to revolutionize anything with an idea. Every idea needs to be implemented before anything can come of it.

I wanna'' ride on the pope mobile.
Zato, your in the same boat as a lot of us. I believe designers earn the right to create games. Alot of the designers nowdays are people who have been promoted from a previous position such as programmer,artist etc. Are you really sure you ONLY want to be a design guy, cause this is what will happen, you give your idea, and it''s ripped to shreds and mutated into something completely different and you''ll get so frustated because you are only the design guy and have no say in it once it hits production. I''m sorry Zato, welcome to the world of game development If you think Hikeeba and myself are being hard on you just wait til you try and sell an idea to a real live publisher.
Alot of people think making games is this stroll through a park where you smell flowers and run around in rays of sunshine where everything is happy happy joy joy. The ain''t the case. It''s alot of hard work, blood , sweat and most of the time tears. I can tell you from personal experience there have been many nights where I have gone without sleep.
Zato, my personal suggestion is join another team, try to contribute something, and maybe just maybe they will respect you enough afterwards to work on one of your projects.
I however believe Hikeeba is wrong in one sense, ideas are the foundation for better games.
Live by the code, die by the code
> I would like to direct a project in which team members
> consisting of programmers, artists, concept designers, etc.

Guess what? Everyone does! It's called management. And you're not going to get there without years of blood and toil gaining the experience doing the hard work first. If you don't want to do any of the other game related jobs on your way up, maybe you should consider another career, or.. business school.

Most games in every genre are 'sub-par', but the real reasons for this go far deeper than the ideas. The limiting factors are usually other things like the abilities of the team to implement the ideas, the complexity of the project, the time and resources available.

Certain ideas work better for games than others, unless you've worked in the industry and gained the experience first-hand, it's often hard to see the technical and human limitations of what can be done.

Another factor is, most people think their ideas are the dogs bollocks, but what you think is great, other people might hate. Do you expect many teams actually think their ideas stink and their games are going to fail? Still, most do.

Edited by - IDC on October 29, 2001 6:37:34 AM

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