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[C]

i wanted you to notice what i said - on the internet, no less

Feel free to ignore this advice if you want, but know that you're not the first person to underestimate the task.  It's very common.

[Ardbob]

May I point out that this thread is not titled: "Tell me how to make my game".
I made this thread for the SOLE purpose of finding team members. So far, this is somewhat successful and have found a few people (as I have through other methods as well). If you don't think I can accomplish this project, good for you, but I've heard enough criticism for now. So if you're not interested in joining my team, then I'm really not interested anymore in help. Thank you though for some of your guys' well intentions.

Also could you just remove the picture from the post, cause it's creeping me out, lol.

[FrankieSmileShow]

I myself have NEVER seen any new developer heed the advice of "start small". Never happened. Its just way too hard to swallow.

Also, haha beef I too perused google to find out whether he had made a game before or not, and likewise my eyes stopped at that picture and I decided the search was off. I knew too much...

(Ardbob, first thing I do (and I suspect, most people do) when someone asks me to work on a project/freelance or when I see a job offer is to google them to find out what that person made or who that person is. I'm afraid your google image first impression will forever be this... well probably not actually, but you should think about that!)

[Ardbob]

Haha shit, I haven't even been on my deviantart in forever, and I never made that picture. My friend did. Bahaha. I did mention before though that this was my first project. *fail* T_T

[Ardbob]

I myself have NEVER seen any new developer heed the advice of "start small". Never happened. Its just way too hard to swallow.

See, the main problem is not really a developer. I'm a writer. I believe I can develop a video game. Yes, I know it's a lot of work, but I'm willing to put that in. I never intended to be a developer however and this will probably be my only project (unless it's wildly successful). I thought of a concept and I loved with it. I decided I needed to roll with it. So, I am going to. I don't want to start small simply because I don't want to make multiple games. Just this one.

[Amirai]

Agh, new posts... eh, I'm posting anyway.

Ardbob, I realize you said you don't want any more advice, but I at least need to clarify.

Also, I know that it's going to be a lot harder than I'm saying it is, but do you expect me to say "You're right, this is going to be too hard" and give up?

Far from it, and I'm sorry if my post came across that way.  I didn't mean you should give up on the game completely, I meant the game you've written about here is too hard for your first game.

I meant you should get some practice on something smaller to start with, like maybe a mini-RPG with no pressure to finish, entirely to both have fun and learn the process - something where a major design mistake isn't a big deal, and after learning from it you can tear it all apart and put it back together again properly.

I'm going to learn as I go, adapt and get better and eventually finish this project.

It seems like a good idea in theory, but in practice starting a large project like an RPG without proper knowledge of how to design software causes major problems down the road, and what should be simple tasks end up taking way longer than if you knew how to design things properly in the first place.  I probably could have shaved off a year of development time had I known about one specific feature of construct when I started, but by the time I realized how to use that feature, it would have taken me even longer to rewrite the parts that would have benefited from it.

Again - I meant DON'T give up, try something smaller first. You know, learn to walk before you try to run.

I hope I didn't bother you with my advice, that was certainly not my intent.

I myself have NEVER seen any new developer heed the advice of "start small".

I tried to with my game... without realizing that any RPG is unreasonable.

[Ardbob]

You probably posted that while I was posting my previous post. Again, I am not a game developer. I am merely a writer who had a concept for a game. Thus, I must take on the role of game developer. I did for a while attempt to find a company looking for a writer, but it seems most indie developers have writers already, so the only other option was creating my own company to make the game and finding a programmer, artist and composer.

I want you guys to know that I honestly do appreciate all of the advice and help (though some of it has been a little harsh), but I'm not really looking to make a few small games before making this one. I'm only making this game because I love the concept so much.

EDIT: If I end up being way in over my head, then what I will end up doing is suspending the project until I have enough money to pay programmers and artists to work more than just in their free time. I'm willing to spend the money for this project, but don't have any to spare at the moment. However, I don't give up easily, so I don't see that happening.

[Ardbob]

Haha, I'd like to note that surprisingly, there are more people that call themselves Ardbob. I googled ardbob to delete the accounts for things I haven't used in 5+ years and I found a lot of stuff not about me. For instance, I am not a 10 year old who plays Mabinogi and I do not make commercials in Austria.

[Miguelito]

I'm not gonna lie - if you're a good writer, you'll find it easy to condense your plot into half an hour of narration, padded with some running around/combat filler.

If you feel you need this to be long, sprawling and epic, then you better have a cast of 20 fleshed-out characters, a boatload of original twists and a lot of things to tell your players.

Being brief and concise is a virtue, not a shame.

[Cow]

I'm not gonna lie - if you're a good writer, you won't be writing about zombies.

[Ardbob]

I'm not gonna lie - if you're a good writer, you'll find it easy to condense your plot into half an hour of narration, padded with some running around/combat filler.

If you feel you need this to be long, sprawling and epic, then you better have a cast of 20 fleshed-out characters, a boatload of original twists and a lot of things to tell your players.

Being brief and concise is a virtue, not a shame.

Oh, I could easily do that, but it wouldn't be nearly as good.

I'm not gonna lie - if you're a good writer, you won't be writing about zombies.

Yeah, yeah I know it's been done to death, but not this way.

[GZ]

I've said my peace, so I personally won't continue further with posting on your thread. It's not possible for me to sugar coat my posts if I want to tell the truth, and if you think I'm harsh, reality will give you all the harshness you can handle by going through with this project.

[ryanelittlefield]

Ardbob - cheers. Just, simply, cheers.  Best of luck to you. Hope it turns out the way you want. I'm currently working with a couple friends on a similar project, and dedication is currently outweighing experience by a lot. So, bravo.

[Ardbob]

Ardbob - cheers. Just, simply, cheers.  Best of luck to you. Hope it turns out the way you want. I'm currently working with a couple friends on a similar project, and dedication is currently outweighing experience by a lot. So, bravo.

Thank you! 

[Destral]

Let's start here: Can you name a single Indie RPG that's 18-24 hours? If you can name such a game, was it any good? If it was good, how many people did it take to make? How much time did it take them to make? If you still don't get where I'm going with this line of questioning, I'll spell it out: It's extremely difficult to produce such a game with the resources you are outlining, let alone a first time dev team. It's possible with enough time, experience and qualified people, but you will not get experience without first making other games, and you will not get qualified people unless you are experienced. Time is a whole other problem in itself.

Not to start an argument or anything, but Breath of Death VIII and Cthulhu Saves the World both fit into the description above, and the updated-versions bundle on Steam appear to be doing pretty well