Hello Everyone
Long time lurker but first time poster. I am seeking some advice on how to approach contracting a programmer for a project I am working on. I have been working in games for about 7 years but on the art side of things (I am a 3D Animator) and have been working on developing my own project outside of work. I have been learning blueprinting and have some semi functional prototypes I have made over the last year, but am looking for a programmer to come in and collaborate with and really make these systems feel good. The systems I have in mind are limited in scope, no direct combat, mainly AI patrolling, QTE and cinematic events, but I want to make them feel very smooth.
I have secured some funding but am also paying out of pocket and don’t have the resources to pay full salaries and such. I posted a job opportunity on WorkWithIndies, and the applicants are either super new fresh out of school, or 10 year industry vets. Nothing wrong with either of these, but I am trying to figure out a compensation strategy that is fair to the programmer, while respecting my constraints of self funding. The way I approach this on the art side is with revision based contracts. Ex: I talk to concept artist about the piece needed in as much detail as possible. We agree on a base price for said piece. For that piece the base price includes 3 revisions, so I can send it back with feedback 3 times. If I need more changes I pay a set extra amount for each revision. Whether the piece takes them 2 days or 3 weeks they still get the same payment as established in the contract.
I was hoping to do something similar for Programming. I have a detailed design document with the needed behaviors outlined and prototypes to reference. Ex: First contract would be proxy AI patrol and reaction behaviors, outlined in detail. We agree on a price for this package of systems. Then on successful delivery of those systems, I pay the agreed upon price. And if I now want to do another pass on those systems to refine them further, we work out a new agreement with a price suitable for that and go from there.
To me this seems like a way to respect the programmers value and time, because they can set the price of the work, and I don’t risk running up a per hour tab that is more than I can afford. Any insight on how to approach this type of work would be greatly appreciated. I know its also not great timing considering the mass layoffs affecting our industry, so I want to be respectful to that. I also don’t include any non compete type clauses in any of my contracts so anyone is free to work on anything else. I am flexible on expected hours worked and compensation strategies, etc.
Thanks a lot for your time!