Hello fellow forum goers! I’m a 100% new to the forum, so if needed feel free to put me in my place as I’ve skimmed through the general forum rules to get the gist of what’s allowed and not allowed.
I’ve recently landed on money that I would like to invest. I’m not going to say how much, but I know it is enough to support an indie dev team, or hire contract work.
I am looking to produce a video game through my registered business and I just wanted some thoughts and opinions on devs around the forums. I just need some help on a couple of questions if any of you wouldn’t mind answering for me.
I am looking to hire some devs part time, or through contracts and freelance to help me get my Idea into a beta demo.
Seeing as UE4 does a lot of the “dirty work” with programming an engine, I am sort of confused on who I am going to need to hire.
Let me start off by saying, my expertise is in the industry of sound production and composition. I went to college for graphic design as well, but I am no longer interested in that line of work unless it is needed. That being said, I have no experience with coding languages, programming, writing code for programs, or even how the UE4 works.
I DO, however plan on buying myself a copy, and reverse engineer some of the blueprints and demos to get a feel for it and a better understanding. Currently, I am reading book after book on game development guides, and how to be successful in producing a game with your company. I am very positive I can push something extraordinarily unique, if given the correct tools necessary for the product.
I apologize for that long intro, but I am second guessing that posts like these are very common with younger crowds who haven’t the slightest clue on how developing a game actually works, and I want to make it clear I am a bit more aware of what I am heading into.
So my questions are the following:
1.** For a small Indie FPS game (Will eventually have multiplayer), how many programmers/coders do you think i will need?**
Seeing that UE4 comes with a lot of pre settings and programs built in, I imagine this saves quite a bit of work. However, I do intend to have custom controls and gameplay mechanics, so i WILL need a coder/programmer to produce my ideas into the engine.
2.I am familiar with how coding and programming works. Some things take longer than others, and more coders doesn’t necessarily mean faster production. In fact, it can actually slow down production, and increase my payments. So my second question is:** How long would you say to develop custom:**
-Player controls
-applying different weapon damages to equipped gun models
-health attributes
-implementing nvidia phisyx
-supporting a character ragdoll effect
-hitboxes/hitscan
-bullet physics (different weapons used on phisyx meshes)
-much more details that I probably haven’t even thought of.
I don’t want to go into much detail without just throwing my game ideas around for people to cook up themselves.
I know number 2 was sort of a loaded question, but I get the feeling UE4 already takes care of most of that, coders can just simply tweak the code to make it the way I am describing to him. I say this because I do not want to hire a programmer $20 an hour for something a starting level programmer can easily do if they know the UE4 engine.
I’ve read that it smarter to have your 3d mesh modeler work at the same time with your coder/programmer. This is due to making sure the animations go well with the movement code, and practically everything else involving a solid transition.
Would it be wise to hire more than 1 mesh modeler? I understand somebody who knows UE4 extensively usually knows a bit of Maya and 3D max as well. But I do want to keep these two employees/jobs separate from each other to avoid overworked employees.
- I want to stress that before I put a decent amount of money into production of my game Idea, all I need is a working Alpha/Beta demo of my game Idea.
I just need a:
-Working FPS Arena (basic mesh walls, tiles, and platforms to test movement and shooting)
-2 controllable player models (equipped with basic animation)
-Very basic multiplayer (in terms of technicalities with online play)
-Custom coded game engine rules and technicalities
-Some sound effects.
Given all of these questions, do you think it is possible to make this game with only 2 programmers, and varioius freelance artists for the models?
Once again I apologize for the wall of text, or any rules that I have broken. I’m positive I posted this in the right place.
I really thank you for taking the time to read this if you did, and I look forward to any of your replies.
Please do not go light on me either, if you think I have a pipe dream idea ( though I am the “idea guy” paying the money ) please let me know.
I invite all criticism as long as you have valid reasons to back up what you are saying.
