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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.
Since they're not paying the developers (but are generously paying the publishing & distribution costs), why not open it up to a competition? Tell people, look, everyone can participate. The deadline for submitting your game is (DATE). After we receive all entries, we'll decide which is the killer Linux game and publish it.
Sounds better than simply, we're gonna choose 8 people and then let them come up with a game. Sometimes synergy in groups doesn't work that way.
Let individuals groups compete.
"We're sorry, but the website you're trying to reach has been disconnected."
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.
Of course its a troll, but it's the troll inpsired by the editor ("... or disappointed that people are being asked to work on a commercial project without a salary") so I'll bite.
They say that if the game brings in profit, the developers will get it. I think this is completely fair. Of course I'm not sure if that can be called sponsorship, because the really contribution from the LGP only starts when the game is well on its way (they will help to find artists etc).
I beleive this is quite fare and makes sense. Finding good Open Source developers is possible. Finding good artists is harder. Organizing the development process in any professional kind of manner is hardes. If they will make sure that selected developers have a clue and really provide them with artists and QA -- they have a chance (unlike 99% of game projects on SourceForge, for example).
My opinion is that it's a good idea and really nice of them, but I think that chances of success are around 20%. Success being a released title, of course.
I passed the Turing test.
ANNOUNCEMENT:
./ readership start developing products for me!
I'm taking applications for people to make a product for me. I'm much more flexible, in that it _doesn't have to be a game_. It could be anything. How about a new type of car? Or some sort of exciting new food product?
Anyway, i'll be happy to introduce the team to each other. Then you guys can get to work inventing something fantastic. I won't pay you or anything, you just get together somehow and do it. W00t
When you're done, give me a call. I'll look at it, and if I think its a product that can make money, i'll market it, sell it, and keep 30% of the profits from it. Think about it though, if you invent something worth 10 million dollars, you make SEVEN MILLION DOLLARS. Thats a lot of money.
If your product is crappy, I'm not going to try to sell it or anything. I have a life, you know.
Sound exciting? Well, it sure sounds exciting to me. In fact, i'm not going to limit it to a group of 8, i'm willing to let the entire
Godspeed and Good luck!
Developers are obliged to make the minimum 10 hours a week commitment...
Let's see here, 8 people working at 10 hours a week. Is LGP also managing the team working on Duke Nukem Forever?
The difference is everything.
I work on FOSS because I believe in freedom.
I would rather money didn't exist, so I don't want to put my efforts towards freedom into something the promotes consumerism.
(If they only charge for distribution 'costs', that's ok)
thank God the internet isn't a human right.
I've used the term Rock Band companies before based on the high school rock band.
A bunch of kids get together and decide on a 'bitchin name for their band.
Then they scribble it on their bass drum.
Then, they actually start thinking about the music.
Looks like they're doing the same thing here. The first thing they have scheduled is to think of the name for the company, (and make sure you can grab the domain name!!!) then it looks like part 2 of the agenda is to invent a new genre of computer game. Well, wouldn't I like to be a fly on the wall in THAT meeting!
And what role does LGP play as far as leadership goes? If they see the team, leader and all, going down a path they don't like, can they pull rank? Then what? At any time can they keep the idea for the game, toss all 8 programmers, and bring in a fresh batch?
As I apply for jobs I find myself writing several times a day that a hacker who is passionate about what he's doing is 100x more productive than an average schmoe looking for a paycheck. Figure out a way to get a bunch of hackers together who are passionate about an idea *first*, and *then* keep them glued together with the paycheck. Not the other way around.
I think that if you want to do this, then find 8 friends that you trust and respect and then do the exact same thing -- name a company, think of an idea, and code the hell out of it. THEN, maybe, once you've got a demo, go talk to LGP.
www.HearMySoulSpeak.com
Dear Gannoc,
I have devised a wonderful method for quickly factoring large prime numbers. I'm sure this discovery is worth quite a good bit of money but I have no knowledge as to how to go about marketing my idea or even patenting it. I would love to share my money with you, and maybe your friends too.
Thanks
do not read this line twice.
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.
6 teams of 8 programmers each. Give the teams names like "The Lightning Crew" and "Project: Dynamite".
Then, let them compete with each other in a bitter struggle to earn the affection of LGP by developing the best game.
The contest can be punctuated by weekly challenges. Say, two teams have to play a UT2003 team deathmatch against each other... WITH THE MONITORS UPSIDE DOWN. The winners get use of a rendering farm for a day. The losers lose their internet connection for 48 hours.
Or, the teams need to rot13 encode the first page of Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by hand, while a naked man squirts lemon juice in their eyes. The winner receives their choice of an O'Reilly book. The loser probably goes blind for a day.
Or, a chosen member of each team has to write a functioning HTTP server (text only!), while being forced to watch the goatse.cx website - Clockwork Orange style. The winner receives a 2.0ghz P4 system from Gateway.com. The loser has his liver pecked out by ravens.
Slowly but surely, a product emerges and is judged. Now _thats_ something that will propel the linux gaming movement forward. Hop to it.
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
Ok, look. I'm going to have to admit to being a little naive here and .... why is my rear end suddenly getting warmer, please put the flamethrowers down until *after* the post. I don't really understand why so many people are so caught up in complaining about this.
I don't play games, typically, so I'm not your average raving fanatic ready at all times with my tome of useless time line knowledge on the whole of the gaming industry. However, I know that it is big business, and I also know that manufacturers are beginning to look in the direction of the gaming developers as the next level of high line computing.
But did Id software start out, fully formed. Leaping from the bushes, games firmly in boxes hidden beneath trenchcoats ready to make nefarious deals? Psst. Buddy .... need a game? One of the great things about online forums is no one really knows how old anyone else is, until statements like the one I am about to make are made. Then one dates themselves. But, I remember a time back in the days of dinosaurs when we had these little programs called "Shareware."
I seem to remember that the original Wolfenstein 3D was shareware. Wasn't it out before Doom and Quake? The first 3D shooter of the genre? Even though Doom was the biggie, and apparently built modern gaming as we know it. The ol' Wolf was pretty "bad" back then. For all the youngsters, "bad" is a term indicating something was really "rad," "hip," or "cool." Which are all terms to indicate "Good." God I hope "good" is still in Webster's Dictionary.
These games, you see, were on a floppy diskette. You could pick them up all over the place, flea markets, the gas station, the grocery store. I kid you not, you could buy Wolfenstein 3D from my local grocery store. Then there were other true Id favorites. Duke Nukem. Which had three parts, or seperate games, if memory serves. All of them shareware. Written by some really imaginative people in a garage somewhere. All they ever asked for was like $10 - $15 bucks for a game. You mail them a payment, and they send you a code to unlock all of the game, or send you the floppy with the full game already on it.
Don't you think that all of these "High line Gaming Developers who would Shape the industry and our world as we know it" had day jobs? All of them did, I'm sure of it. Even if there day job was coding another project (maybe even another game) They weren't feeding their families on this. They were using it for the exact same thing that I read out of this.
A chance.
Plain and simple. They wanted to be noticed, wanted their software to be used. Wanted their games to be played. And shareware was so much more than games, they had spreadsheet programs, comic book databases, you name it there was a shareware program that could do it. Oh wait .... that is kind of like the GNU/GPL/OpSo software today. Software all written for a chance to get noticed and have the opportunity to do something really really cool. By really imaginative people.
I can't help but read through all the posts that are saying things like "This sucks." or "You suck." or even "You want me to code you something for free so you can make money off of it." and think to myself. How disappointing. No vision in any of them. Not a single imaginative soul in the lot. You don't seem able to see things in the larger perspective. This isn't about working for free. Hell, it can be argued that all of us work for free. It is about attaching *your* name to a project. Giving *your* John Hancock to the world of gaming. Something that Rare and InfoGrams and Sega and hell even Microsoft might notice
This is about screaming I to the world. Well I say I damnit. Crazy script kiddies that don't know how to do anything that doesn't come with instructions. If you can't click next, next, next then you think you can't do it. You have to have it all spelled out for you because you as a world are afraid, you're all terrified of failing. This has nothing to do with money, it has everything to do with knowing the whole world is laughing at you. But you know what. Sign me up.
That's right. Sign me up. I don't know a thing about C, or C++. I know bash shell scripting, I'm a UNIX administrator. I know some PERL and a little BASIC. Go on, laugh at me. That's right. I used to code games in BASIC for the Commodore 64. Bring it on. Because I'm not afraid. Whether you think that you can, or that you can not, you are right! And I tell you I can. I'll learn C, I'll learn C++, put my name on the list. Bill it as Ed Booher's Optika World VII. But give me my chance!
Mr. DeVille, I'm ready for my close up.
"Genius may shine aloof and alone, like a star, but goodness is social, and it takes two men and God to make a Brother."