Home Forums Programming Flash gaming – how to start and how to recruit

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    • #6721
      Anonymous
      Inactive

      Dear All,

      I was kindly directed to your forums by one of your admins, so I hope you don’t mind a newbie like me asking (possibly silly) questions.

      Firstly, I’m looking to create some very simple 2D flash games. Simple, yet stylish graphics (such as minimal but well drawn matchmen as main characters), and simple, but fun gameplay.

      I’m starting a long-term project and am currently drawing up some detailed plans of how the games should work and what the unique angle of them will be.

      Problem? I have zero programming experience. A BIG problem, of course.

      Firstly, if I wanted to recruit a programmer who may be interested in a unique project, how do I go about it? Would there, for example, be students (the game mechanics would be fairly simple as gaming goes) who would be looking for something to build up there CV with?

      The games in question have commercial potential as there will be a unique angle to them and we would, of course, give them a share of any possible future rewards/royalties.

      Finally, and this is more of a personal question, I’m looking to find out more about flash programming/website design and was wondering if anyone can recommend good Dublin based courses for beginners (evening classes).

      I hope this thread wasn’t too hopeful/dumb and would appreciate any feedback.

      Kind regards,

      JPS

    • #41068
      Anonymous
      Inactive

      Have you looked at Gamemaker?

      http://www.yoyogames.com/gamemaker

    • #41069
      Anonymous
      Inactive

    • #41070
      Anonymous
      Inactive
    • #41076
      Anonymous
      Inactive

    • #41077
      Anonymous
      Inactive

      Firstly, if I wanted to recruit a programmer who may be interested in a unique project, how do I go about it? Would there, for example, be students (the game mechanics would be fairly simple as gaming goes) who would be looking for something to build up there CV with?

      The games in question have commercial potential as there will be a unique angle to them and we would, of course, give them a share of any possible future rewards/royalties.
      [/quote:f18ba8c6eb]

      This may be a reasonable place to have a first look at recruiting programmers. It’s not clear from your post what sort of recruitment you are after, though – you would need to make quite clear what sort of arrangement you are proposing in order to get a serious response. I’m doing some research into the flash game space at the moment, and would be interested in hearing what you are proposing.

      You are not expecting to find programmers that will develop your idea for you in return for a share of the royalties? This is one thing that seems to be suggested in your post. This would not usually be a realistic expectation, as usually in games, ideas are cheap and execution is the hard part. Generally if you want to work with an anyway skilled programmer you’re going to need to bring something to the table like funds, art talent etc.

    • #41085
      Anonymous
      Inactive

      No offence to any students here, but I would think very carefully about looking to hire a student for your work, they always got other things to be doing, uni projects, partying, etc… Yes they’re cheaper, but weigh up the risks first.

    • #41097
      Anonymous
      Inactive

      No offence to any students here, but I would think very carefully about looking to hire a student for your work, they always got other things to be doing, uni projects, partying, etc… Yes they’re cheaper, but weigh up the risks first.[/quote:9df2b8cb57]

      This would be more to do with the professionalism of arrangement reached and the professionalism of the individual, rather than whether or not they are a student.

      But certainly, if you are looking to recruit someone to do your work for free, or for a future split (unless you are bringing a lot to the table) in general you will have difficulty finding people to commit to your project in a professional manner – they’ll come on board at first, and then stop doing things as other pressures (student or otherwise) appear, or as they get bored, in the usual pattern of part time ventures.

    • #41136
      Anonymous
      Inactive

      Many thanks for all the advice guys, I’ll PM a few of you and I appreciate the time you have taken to respond. Great forums, well done.

    • #41137
      Anonymous
      Inactive

      No offence to any students here, but I would think very carefully about looking to hire a student for your work, they always got other things to be doing, uni projects, partying, etc… Yes they’re cheaper, but weigh up the risks first.[/quote:11ce512ca4]

      Harsh one there Damian. Not all students are like that. My first programming job (like many i’d say) was on a contract during summer time of uni (made a nice few pound), more importantly also helped me to get an addition to the c.v. which on the back of that job helped me get a 3rd year placement from uni which alot of ppl struggled to do that year due to downturn in i.t. jobs etc. Also partying and a job can co-exist (although sometimes you cant tell from some places in the games industry lol).

      I think any student with programming experience who wants to get into flash this might be a good opportunity, as flash is becoming very popular even in console games (majority of kick ass ui’s in next-gen games are now being done with a mix of actionscript\flashscript and c++, i.e. DIRT,burnout etc), nice to have a bit of commerical experience. This area is only going to grow, so experience now will give you a jump on competition, just look at some of the salaries on offer for a game programmer who can combine flash\action\c++.

      Although I would expect that the individual should be paid for the work in full, with possibility of royalities etc on top (if they are on off). But more importantly they get paid for the job and not paid with the view (oh you’ll get 20k if this baby sells, unfortunately it usually doesnt sell that amount and if it did, programmer is last to see it ;), so money up front i guess is the moral ).

    • #41139
      Anonymous
      Inactive

      It may be harsh, but for someone who sounds like they are looking to hire minimal people, a student is always a risk. Sure, they can be the best hires you can get (as they can be cheap and uber enthusiastic), but you have to remember, they are students first and your employee second. If they have a uni and a work project due at the same time, chances are, uni comes first.

      Don’t get me wrong, I was the working student too and this kind of role for a student would be a godsend…its jsut a be careful about who you hire. I know there were a lot of people in my year that wouldn’t have put heart and soul into a work project.

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