I can write up something, no problem. Here are some guidelines I've followed in going from an idea to a published game.
If you've got your game completely ready go to item 9, otherwise take some time to read the full thing. But reading the other points will be helpful also.
[1] The Idea. Most publishers and players aren't looking for another game that has been done 1000's of times before, they want to something original, some fresh/new. Most likely you're going to create a fps, so it's vital to add something original to it. Something which makes the game stand out from others. Don't jump straight into FPSC, but write your idea down on a piece of paper. Give you game a personal touch, something that is you. If you hate horror, don't force yourself to create a horror game. If you love puzzle games, add many puzzle elements to your game.
[2] The Audience. Determine your audience. Who's going to play the game? Kids? Adults? Everyone? Hardcore gamers? Once in a while gamers. This is very important in the game design. It determines the violence rate or absence of it, gore, strong language and so on. This also sets the features and gfx you use in your game. Is your target Hardcore gamers, use top notch gfx and shaders. If you target kids, keep the gameplay simple and so on.
[3] System Requirements. Determine the audience system. If you're making a game for a certain audience, but they don't have the system to run it, you won't sell.... Also keep in mind that if your computer can handle it, that's no guarentee that their's can (unless you have a really old one). Keep in mind that 90% of the people playing games do NOT own the latest PC, but still have a system with a 2Ghz CPU or less and a GFX Card equivalent to an Radeon 9600/9800 or GeForce 5700/5900.
[4] Story & storyboard. Very important. Most of you don't use it, but it's vital to a good game. Take pen and paper and write down the rough story of the game. Not just person blahblahblah lives in the ww2 and has to kill all of the nazis walking around. NO... write the full game story from the beginning to the end. What's the plot of the game? What's happening? Why is it happening? What is the desired out come of the game?
Once you've got the story ready, write a storyboard. Again take a piece of paper and divide the story in levels. Make a rough outline of each level and determine which part of the story takes place in which level. Also make a rough sketch of what you're going to need in each level.
[5] Level Design Paper. Pick one level from the storyboard, only one! I always pick the hardest one. Using the storyboard start designing this level.... ON PAPER. Draw the level (rooms, corridors, doors, where are the keys, enemies, pickups and so on). Not in total detail, but not to rough either. Determine what you're going to need for the game and where you're going to get it. Can you do it yourself, great! If not, find sources/people who can help providing what you need.
Notice you haven't even touched FPSC until now.
[6] Designing one level. Now start up FPSC.... finally. Create this one level and work out in FPSC. Work out the details while making the level in FPSC. Place all the stuff from the level you've written on the level design paper. Create the full level until you're happy with it.
At this time, also create menus, loading screens, conversation/story screens and such. Make sure everything looks as best as you can make it.
[7] Testing.... test, test and test some more. Test it until it runs smooth, as you want it to run. Maintain the highest framerate as possible and that mey be very tricky.
[8] The Preview Demo. Don't worry we're getting closer to the publishing part. You've got one level now and it's the way you want it. Now it's time to expose it to the public. The public is a few people from your target audience. The public isn't neccesarely this forum, often it's better not to ask us in this phase. We often proof to be bad critics around here
I've found family members to be excellent preview testers. Brothers, sisters, dad, mum, children, as long as they're in the target audience. So don't let your 18 year old brother test the game that's meant for your 8 year old sister and so on.
Get a few trusted people and often family works best in this phase. They're most of the times much more critical as others and that helps you to develop your game to the max. Don't feel bad if they hate it, listen to them and improve your game or even redraw it. If your families mouth drops open because they're stunned by what you made and they loved playing it, you're on the right track.
[9] Go here or there.... The level has been tweaked, you listened well to your initial tester and they've approved of it by now. Now you can go 3 ways.
A. Expand your testing audience.
B. Start developing the full game
C. Get feedback from a publisher.
A and B you can handle, C is hard part, but the route we want to go, after all we want out game to be published, don't we?
First of all select a number of publishers, there are 100's of them. You can try the big guys (like Valve, Sierra and so), but it's better to start with smaller ones. Now contact them by email. Make it clear you're working on a game and you only want feedback at this moment. Is this something they would be willing to publish. Are there hints they can give you in making the game better.
What do you sent them? At this moment you sent them you're request for feedback, by giving them the SHORT VERSION of the game story. Tell them what features the full game will have. About how many levels will the full game have. Enclose some screenshots and a link to the demo.
Be polite and try to keep it short. No long stuff (like my forum post here), but to the point. Us a trustable email account, it may take a while for them to contact you.
Now wait.... this can take up to 3 weeks. In this 3 week period of time, do not contact them. If you don't hear back from them after a period of 3 weeks, contact them once again. STAY POLITE. If you don't hear back from them after this try, forget it. Don't feel bad when they don't reply at all, some never do.
When they reply and give you feedback, do something with it. They're trying to help you to make your game better. I've had a number of publishers give me great advice.
Don't expect a contract or anything at this time, go back to the development of the full game. If you're very lucky they may express interest in the full game and be willing to even sign an agreement for them to publish the finished game. It happens, but not often. Of the six games I had published, that only happened to me once.
[10] Finished Game. You've got the full game finished. All levels are done, loading screens, menus, conversation/story screens, movies, in-game screens and pop-up texts, game over screen, game completed screen, music, sounds and so on.
Now give the full game to a number of people to test. At this phase let it be some people of the target audience, but also some peers and others who may help you in bug hunting. Get feedback from the target audience about the gameplay and what they think of it, from the others hear about the problems and bugs.
With all this information improve your game and let them play once again, until the game as good as it needs to be.
[11] Self-publish. You're almost ready to look for a publisher. But before doing so, publish it your self. Create a nice looking website, semi-pro if possible. that will reflect your game(s) and appeal to your target audience. If you can do it, get someone else to do it. Put the game on it, get paypal and start selling it. Keep in mind that every publisher you get into contact with goes to this website, it's your 'bussinesscard'. If it's sloppy then they will think your game is sloppy. If it looks bad, then they will think your game is bad. If it looks childish, then they will think your game is childish. This good when you create a childrens game, but not when you're trying to sell a brutal horror shooter.
Make sure you have screenshots, a video, and demo on the website and the opportunity for others visiting your website to buy it. Make sure the customer knows what he/she's buying. Don't create false illusions, be honest about your game.
Host..... you NEED a reliable host. Not one of those free ones that's here today and gone tomorrow. Perhaps you need to invest some money into getting a domain and a reliable host.
PRICING..... this is the tricky part. I've seen people ask S19.99 for games I wouldn't even spent a penny/dime on. Determine what your game is worth, check with others what they ask or simply ask your testers how much they would be willing to pay for it. The price must reflect the game. I've priced Commander Josh $8-$9 on purpose: It's made with FPSC V1.0, so it doesn't have save/load, but a workaround. It has 12 missions, not hundreds. So you got to carefully consider your price. If one can buy a similair game as yours that is much better, has more missions and features then don't give yours the same price.
[12] Promotion. Submit the game to other websites. Not just any website, but well known ones, like download.com and so on. This will be the test for your game and to create a precense for your game. If a publisher later on searches for your game and finds it at some different well known websites and portals, then it helps to impress them. So PROMOTE your game!
You want to create a presence for your game. This way you can make sales yourself and make the game known. Just for fun.... go to google and type commander josh there. As you can see, a name is important. Create a well to remember not already used a million times name.
[13] Finally.... contacting the publishers. Done all of this? It's time to contact publishers now. Just email them and tell them what you've created and direct them for more info to your website. Keep it direct, simple, to the point and short. Don't brag that you've created the best game in the world.... you didn't, I already did that, so you can't brag about that anymore
It's OK to be a bit bold in the email, as lonmg as you don't go over the top.
Just as a guideline, here are parts of the email I've sent to Manifesto, I've taken out references to another game and used my forum name, make sure you use your real one.
Quote: "Hello,
My name is BenjaminA from the Netherlands, and I'm a indie game developer. At the moment I'm looking for a new publisher for my games.
I've noticed you're claiming to be a different kind of publisher and it sure sounds appealing. Could you tell me what kind of contracts you're usually dealing with?
The two games I'm interested in getting published are Commander Josh and XXXXXXX.
Commander Josh is a FPS-Shooter with a twist, all of the details can be found here:
http://www.gamefun4u.nl/page9.html
Thank you for taking the time to check out these games and I'm hoping to be a part of the revolution you've started.
Regards,
BenjaminA
GameFun4U
The Netherlands"
As simple as that. Now wait 3 weeks. Don't contact them withing these weeks at all. Just sit and wait. If they get back to you, cool, if not contact them once again after 3 weeks.
[14] Deal Guidelines. If they contact you, follow a few simple guidelines.
NEVER give them your full game without a contract. They may buy it from your shop (some will do, let them think of this, don't tell them they can), that's their full right and then you've made some money.
Work with non-exlusive deals if possible. That means you can give the game to other publishers also. If they offer you a million for an exlusive deal, take it!
Listen to them. They may want a slightly customized version of your game, with their logos and links in it and so on. Don't mumble, just create it.
Make sure the customer who buys your game at their store(s) has a way of finding you also, put a link to your website in the game or in the readme. If they like your game, they may want more of your games.
BE POLITE! Always. You may end negoiating for a while and end up with no deal, too bad. Stay polite, they may publish your next game.
[15] Closing thoughts..... I guess that's about it. If I do think of something more, I'll post it. If you think I've forgotten something, let me know. If something isn't clear, ask me about it.
Good luck in getting ready to publish your own game. Don't feel bad if no publishers wants it, it's not the end of the world. Most titles never get published by a publishers, just self-publish them, that's fun also!
Whatever you do, make sure creating game is FUN. If in the end, you don't make a penny/dime of the games, you still had lot's of fun creating them and that's what it's all about.
