Off the wall question.

Just a somewhat random stray thought here. Somewhat inspired by that K1ngp1n thinger.

How much money would someone have to offer to you on this forum before you took notice and wanted to go after it.

Lets say someone was making a game, or wanted to make a game, and they had a big-ol-stash of money.

Lets separate coding from art. Annnd. Lets say it is a small game. Or a game that is functionally very small but big in the production side. So.. Like.. A simple RPG, with an editor that someone could then use to make a 25000 hour monster if they so chose. You know. Shop, Overworld, Battles, Menu, and Cutscenes... And the art is a butt-load of pixel art.

I bet there is a lot of variation in what people would expect to get paid. Or what number is the smallest that would instantly get them interested in working on the project.

Enough to make me give up my day job.

Would it seriously have to be that much to get you to work on something part time? Even a small game that'll only take a couple months to code?

I don't think there's any amount of money that could convince me that k1ngp1n's project wasn't going to turn out a total train wreck.

While I don't really have any spare time, I think the most important thing I'd look for in a potential project are:

* Well presented. If you can't take time out of your busy schedule to present your ideas properly, I can't take time out of mine to care.

* Well thought out. If your idea has glaring, obvious flaws and/or no pervasive train of thought, it's not going to instil confidence in your ability to pull this off, and I'm probably going to pass.

* Existing IT infrastructure. As a minimum the project needs a Subversion repository and some sort of issue tracking and wiki type collaborative document system. Like say Trac.

Normally I'd charge about £70 and hour for consultant work, but if it's in a time where business is slow anyway, I could be persuaded to give a discount and/or a fixed price for subcontract work.

Other than that, I have plenty of my own projects to work on, before even considering committing time to someone else's.

I don't think these types of projects are likely to come to Blitzland.

I originally did wonder as to how the hell he ended up creating an account here to post such a request.

Nobody is coming here and offering a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow - why would they - unless they are already (or were) a Blitzer?

hm. Well. I didn't just mean as far as kingpin is concerned.

Are you saying you wish they would, puki? Or that you don't think anyone would ever stop by, say... "I'm willing to pay someone $2,500 to code a game, and I need an artist whom I will also pay $2,500, and then if the game sells, they will also make an additional percentage of the sales."

Well, I would be a lot more likly to go after Leads offer than Kinpins. No matter how much the money difference would be for the simple reason that I trust Josh.

I dont mean that I would lend him $'s just that if someone like Lead asked for workers/partners I would know that it was going somewhere. Where-as Kingpins project is the sort of thing that a few mates should be doing rather than a buisness.

Go look round the net, and there are milions of this sort of project. You start doing them for the Love of the art. You dont start to do them for the Money. Whereas the Leardwerks offer would be a job. And Josh would (almist certainly) pay you. Whereas Kingpin would be a returns thing.

Well 400 USD certainly isn't enough for about 3 days of work. Not for anyone in this community anyway.

Really? I am very supprised you got no offers for that. I think the problem was lack of graphic ability (Well thats why I didnt jump at it), rather than wage.

FD.. I don't see any mention of a price on that post.. tho.. I did just skim it.

I don't have time for any on the side coding. I've got a day job, and I already do part time contract work as well. The pay on those is much better then anything the game stuff would bring in (unless the game was a huge hit and I got royalties, but my artistic skills don't exist so there is not much chance of that happening)

No, the price was open for negotiations. 400 USD was (roughly) the price the artist (Laust Palbo Nielsen) and I agreed upon, after his estimate of how long it would take, at the agreed upon quality and quantity.

Gotcha. What would have been a better price?

Better for whom?

hahaha.. How about. You both.. His and yours.

If someone had a big ol stash of cash to invest in a game, I somehow think this would be among the last places they'd look.

Stop poking holes in my hastily thought up musing!

I think for programming or art, you usually should expect to pay $25-75 an hour. It's all about finding the right person who already has knowledge and experience doing what it is you want.

Why the musing anyway, what's your motivation.

Not that I'm interested in this project but for me to be interested in programming a game I'd look for £30 per hour min + royalties unless it was like something I *REALLY* wanted to do and then maybe less.

Oh.. no project. I would have to come into a lot of money all of a sudden to even entertain an idea like this..

The only idea I'd even consider doing it with is the first installment in a serial RPG.. 10 hours of gameplay in each game.

Even that. I would need a substantial tossaway income to make something like that work out.

I mean.. that's 1,500 minimum at $30 an hour.. if you are a friggin rocket. I wouldn't be surprised if it ended up being closer to 10 grand.. I could never afford it.

It was just the post from k1ngp1n. Was a random "What do you think your work is worth" kind of thing.

That's what venture capitalists are for.

Are you offering to finance my venture?

The answer for me is simple:

If they offered 50% cash upfront and the remainder at the end of the project I'd consider it. Royalties and "pay at the end" is not of interest to me.

That's the way I work with my clients and it works out the best for everyone concerned. The 50% upfront shows they are serious and makes me complete the project for the other 50%. 5+ years working with that model and it works the best for me :)

*edit* plus the amount of cash would have to be worth it of course.

No, I'm not a venture capitalist - I'm saying that if money is the only hurdle, write a good business plan. If Infinium Labs can raise $80 million USD for an idea like the Phantom Console, your idea (regardless of how ridiculous it is) should be able to do the same.

oh oh oh. Dragons Den