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LGP Announces Game Development Project
michaelsimms writes "Linux Game Publishing is excited
to announce our newest project to increase the appeal of Linux gaming. We are sponsoring the development of a from-scratch Linux title! We are looking for developers to work in a team to produce this game, and we will be publishing the game they make! If you are interested, please follow the link to our detailed announcement and within there you will find the rules, requirements, and application process. If you have wanted to get into the gaming industry, if you love playing games, and if you are a creative thinker, not afraid of a challenge and a bit of risk, then you need to take a look." I don't know whether to be happy about anything that promotes Linux gaming, or disappointed that people are being asked to work on a commercial project without a salary.
There are a good many open source coders who work on projects without being paid to do so right now. What difference does it really make whether the end result is sold or given away? Some things get done simply because people have a passion for doing them, and whether freeware or commercial, the product could help Linux. Earn your money, put food on your table, and if you're still looking for a creative outlet, here's your opportunity!
How is this any different than the 10000 "Let's make a game!" posts seen on messageboards everywhere?
disappointed that people are being asked to work on a commercial project without a salary
In a way ANYONE who contributes to Linux is doing just that. When people like IBM et al selling product that in large part was written by individuals that will never be "paid" for their efforts, I don't see how this is any different. Is there anyone out there who contributes that thinks that their work won't eventually end up in a product that is sold (i.e. someone else will generate revenue from their efforts)?
Working on a game is a long long process, and more often than not, deadlines are missed and toward the ship date, everyone pulls the all nighters. But they get paid for it. I'm not saying that people won't do this, but I think it would be kind of hard to hold down the day job, which pays the bills, and still work on this project and come close to the deadlines.
Then again, I could be wrong.
You've gotten better at reading inane comments (300)!
Open-Source/Free games for Linux will not solve the lack of games for Linux. The only way to get game developers to come to Linux is to develop a Direct-X like API that makes it easy to develop Linux-native games. Until that happens, Linux gaming will continue to revolve around WineX, id Software, Epic, and begging game companies to release Linux executables.
Given how unlikely it is that the Open-Source/Free software community could ever come together to make a decent cross-distro API, your best bet is to just subscribe to WineX.
For those that have always dreamed about making a good (and popular) game, it's not always about salary. I think that the fame and pursuant job offers for making a free game would more than make up for the lack of salary during development. If every 15-year-old was picking your title up off the shelf/net and saying "coool" - reading your name in the credits - don't you think that would be a fairly rewarding experience in itself?
I'll probably get trolled for this. Oh well. Troll me if ya gotta if you really wanna miss the point.
I'm sorry to be the one to say it, but as you've set up this process, you've doomed yourselves to failure.
Hiring the programmers first and the designers, artists, later, you're putting the cart before the horse.
You don't start making a moving by hiring actors. There's a script. A director. A lot of storyboarding. Conceptual Design. Location planning. Scene planning. Shot planning. You know, for the most part, how every piece fits together before there's any action in front of the camera.
A game doesn't start with programmers. A game starts with an idea. A concept. A concept that is then fleshed out by writers, artists, etc... Quite possibly one or two programmers/developers with a knowledge of whatever game engine will be used (and/or maybe helped choose the appropriate one in the first place.) are available to consult with the conceptual team and prototype some things along the way. But the code is more than likely the LAST thing to be written.
It's a shame. It sounds like an interesting project. It's one I'd certainly like to lend my artistic talents, writing, and imagination to. But it's going to fail unless things are done in the right order. You can't tell 8 programmers "make a game, we'll make it pretty and give it a plot and music and a look, etc... later." You've got to take the proper time to conceptualize your game _before_ you get programmers on-board.
Ed R.Zahurak
You know, oblivion keeps looking better every day.
Without at least a windows port, and *very* aggressive marketing, this will make no money
I argue that WITH a Windows port, AND very aggressive marketing, this will have approximately 0.01% chance of making any money. How many people out there have gotten a group of people together and tried to make a game on their spare time? How many have succeeded? How much did the successful groups and/or their publishers spend on advertising, and how much did they gain in sales?
Game development is VERY HARD, and game marketing isn't a bag of easy either. Add to that the fact that today's linux game market is so tiny, and you have a recipe for "being in the red."
All Your Memory Are Belong To Java
We understand that you may have good intentions, and if you actually did guarentee publishing this would be a great deal.
But you don't.
At the bottom of your announcement, LGP commits to publishing the game but reserves the right to not do so if we feel that publishing will harm our company.. In essence, you do not guarantee publishing. You are guarenteeing that you have the option to publish, but that you have a convienient out if you choose not to do so. This is the most commonly abused clause in book publishing today, with many authors works tied up in legal tape surrounding the issues of optional publishing.
*Actually* guarantee publishing, and make some guarenteed publishing commitments (x amount or more marketing, x amount of stores, x amount for box art...), and you have a good deal. But remember, you're a publisher now. Nobody will give you the benefit of the doubt on anything because your fellow publishers employ more lawyers than developers. It's a risk, but a significantly smaller one than you are asking the developers to take.
And for god's sake, get a team of free artists and free level designers in on the thing before it is too late to have a complete game.
The ______ Agenda