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[Thomiass]

Hello

Is it possible to develop a 3D "point and click adventure game" (think of Life is Strange, Syberia (the last two ones who are in 3D), Detroit Become human (with way less of production value of course), the newer Sherlock Holmes games... Etc. I think you get the picture.

Game Characteristics:

- 3D "point and click adventure"(like Life is Strange, Syberia, Detroit Become Human,  Sherlock Holmes games...) etc.
- Unreal Engine
- "Deduction mechanism" (like in all new "detective" adventure games (agatha christie poirot games, Sherlock Holmes etc.), otherwise pretty much standard adventure games mechanisms, nothing special, no "extra hard to develop" game mechanisms planned...
- PC platform (steam)
- 8 hours of gameplay (approximately)
- Really no real "story or choice" branching at all (NO "Detroit become human", NO "Dark pictures Anthalogy"), rather a linear experience.
- Heavy useage of various bought "pre-made" assets (3D, "code" etc.) to speed up and "cheapen" development
- Fully english voice acted (of course)[/li][/list]


6 people payed full time (experienced people (at least one title shipped)) + externists (sound, music, voice acting, translation etc.) , 12 months of development

- One programmer (not just blueprints) experienced in Unreal Engine
- One Level Designer in Unreal engine.  -  Im not sure about this, but he might partially be also doing "3D Generalists stuff" because im not sure he needs 12 months for the work, i think he should be able to finish all the "maps" (locations) sooner than 12 months... But im not sure about this point...(any map makers out there...?)
- One 3D Animator ( we will use Mocap and probably Facial capture as well, so he will have way less work because of this) i assume that he should finish the work in half the time (6 months instead of 12, so the remaining 6 months im planning to use him as a 3D generalist (or hire dedicated 3D generalist instead of him for the remaining 2nd 6 months of development).
- 1st 3D Graphic Designer - Character Artist specialization - We will use "easier" solutions for characters -Metahuman, Character Creator etc. Im not planning to sculpt a lot of characters from "nothing"/beggining. The same goes for clothing. We will try to use "easier" "pre-made" solutions, but some brand new work in Marvelous Designer will be probably still needed. Still again, im somewhat "confident" he can finish all the characters because of this sooner than in 12 months, so in the "free time", im planning to use him also as a "3D generalist"...
- 2nd 3D Graphic Designer - "Generalist" (Props, Enviroments etc.)
- 3rd 3D Graphic Designer - "Generalist" - myself. Although because i will be doing all the other stuff around the project , im planning I might be able to allocate only like 50% of my time (at most, probably even less) to 3D graphics itself...[/li][/list]


So 6 "experienced" (at least one title shipped i would like from them to have) people, full time, 12 months...
Its HARD to predict of course but according to me, it COULD and SHOULD be possible/doable to make this game...?

2 things im a bit worried:

1st) Is only one programmer sufficient...? But again, we are talking about basically a "point and click adventure" (in 3D) ... I just cannot see why one (experienced) programmer that can buy/use all the "code" from unreal engine marketplace he wants, should have a problem with that... Im not building the next AI (ChatGPT), im building a "frickin" "point and click adventure" game (basically) in 3D...

2nd) Im not sure if I have enough of 3D graphic designers... I have one dedicated Generalist, then me (0,5x time generalist), thats "1 and a half" (1,5) 3D generalist... Than i have a dedicated 3D character artists... I really assume that he should be able to finish with all the character stuff way sooner than in 12 months and thus should help with 3D generalist stuff. The same goes for the 3D animator... Im not sure about the Unreal Engine Level/map editor guy though... He might need all those 12 months...?

So... whats your experience, tips, predictions, oppinions... Do you think its a reasonable number of people (6 full time guys) and development time (12 months) for such game...?

(Also if anybody has any links, articles etc. about how much time each game genre takes to develop, or simply some writtings/info in this direction i would be glad to read it, i wasnt able to find much (nothing really) in this specific issue of gamedev)...?

Thanks

[michaelplzno]

do you have a writer?

[Thaumaturge]

I'm inclined to agree with Michael, above: Point-and-click adventures tend, I think, to hold quite a bit of writing, but you don't seem to have someone assigned to the task. Will someone be taking this on in addition to their other duties...?

Another thought occurs to me: Who is going to be doing the voice-acting that you mention, and have you budgeted time for the process?

On the other hand, let me say that given the time-frame that you describe, I do think that making use of third-party assets seems like it may be wise! (Presuming the availability of the elements that you seek, of course.)

Hmm... On which note: when choosing visual assets, I'd suggest--if feasible--being careful to select assets that form a cohesive art-style when taken together. Mismatched art can be counter-immersive, and overall look poor, I do fear.

Returning to positives, I will say that I also think it wise that you intend to stick to a linear story: branching can make for rather more complex logic, and incur a significant amount of writing time and testing time, I do believe.

[Beastboy]

1st) Is only one programmer sufficient...? But again, we are talking about basically a "point and click adventure" (in 3D) ... I just cannot see why one (experienced) programmer that can buy/use all the "code" from unreal engine marketplace he wants, should have a problem with that... Im not building the next AI (ChatGPT), im building a "frickin" "point and click adventure" game (basically) in 3D...

For this type of game 1 programmer is more than enough.

[Guntha]

I happen to have been in the Syberia 3 team, and they had a whole team of what they called "layout men", which is a bunch of people who were staging every dialogue, because basically every dialogue was its own cutscene. If you want to do a 3D point'n'click with less than 10 animators/level designers/scripters, I'd suggest showing dialogues from afar (like the first 2 Syberia, or other mainly 2D point'n'click games), or come up with some kind of automated system (which might look like less production value), or come up with an art style that reduces the work there (or make the game shorter, or reduce the amount of characters and dialogues...)