Question about game developers/game comcepts

[Jettison]

Suppose I have an awesome idea for a videogame. The game engine is beyond my abilities to design, though.

If I were to lay out the gameplay/character designs/concept art, and develop a simple flash game that encapsulated the idea of the game, would it be possible to sell the idea of the game to a developer?

I was thinking of making a bunch of concept art/t-shirts/stickers, and renting booth space at a game convention to create buzz for this game.....even though it is a rudimentary flash game....if I were to secure all the rights to the game story and concept, would I be protected?

Are there any games that actually get made in this way?

I mean, what if before Guitar Hero was created, some person made a simple Flash version and created all the cool concept art with kids standing around in their living room with those guitar-controls, like they had a vision for where the game would go in the future......would a game developer just see that and steal the idea? Or would there be a bidding war over buying the rights to the game?

[aesir]

Game development studios dont accept pitches from random people. In fact, they wont even listen to you at all in case if they want to make a similar concept later on they dont want to bother with possible legal problems.

If you do want to pitch to someone, you pitch to a publisher. They would be who you would secure funding from. They will not GIVE you a studio. You would then have to hire all the needed people with the funding they gave you and build your own studio.

Needless to say, no one is going to fund a random guy who doesnt have a studio or any sort of track record making games.

Ideas are WORTHLESS. Every employee of EVERY game studio has at least 6 in his head.

If you're serious about an idea, build up some money, hire some people, or work with friends and build a game prototype that you can show off to publishers. Dont expect much though.

[0kelvin]

What aesir said.

It just doesn't happen. Occasionally, and only in very rare cases, a developer may hire a team that has made a mod, indie game or student project and will give them a chance to make a commercial version of their game (Counterstrike and Portal, for instance). But you'd be better off planning on winning the lottery to finance a game than to count on that happening. Your best chance is assembling (or hiring) a team and making the game yourself.

It would be like asking a painter to buy your idea for a painting.


Eric

[Jettison]

So a working concept would be a step in the right direction, right? I really appreciate you taking the time to reply. I recently heard of a game that came out that I had thought of years ago.....it got me thinking of this idea I currently have in my head.....I figure if nothing else, having a working (basic) demo of the game along with some nifty art/t-shirts/stickers etc., to fill a booth with would be fun to do at game conventions/comic conventions.......

I will definitely start checking out publishers to see what sort of requirements must be met to secure any funding.

Thanks
Dimi

[Homeless Foxman]

I doubt anyone would buy the game from you, what would most likely have to happen is you get a bunch of people together to make it yourself like kelvin said. Even so, it would be easy to make a game similar to your idea if you were to show them your demo. If you want to get anywhere thats what would be your best bet, but usually people are too lazy to get all this together themselves.

[Jettison]

It's an idea that could be simply portrayed in a basic 2D flash format....

Have you guys played this flash version of PORTAL?
http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/404612

I suppose a simple way to ask my question is, take a look at that above linked game.....imagine for a moment they had made that game before the actual PORTAL game was ever conceived...even just the first level.....could they have got a developer to turn it into the fully functioning 3D version? Or do you think such an idea could easily be stolen, altered and released without even dealing with the people who had come up with the basic 'beta' version?

That kind of sums up my idea.....would developing a very basic game be worth it?

[aesir]

no, they could not have gotten a developer to make it for them. I dont care if you got the whole massive black team to make a thousand awesome concepts and made a cool flash game and a presentation and bought them hookers.

You cannot sell, or even give away your game ideas to a studio.

[Pavel Sokov]

What aesir said.

It just doesn't happen. Occasionally, and only in very rare cases, a developer may hire a team that has made a mod, indie game or student project and will give them a chance to make a commercial version of their game (Counterstrike and Portal, for instance). But you'd be better off planning on winning the lottery to finance a game than to count on that happening. Your best chance is assembling (or hiring) a team and making the game yourself.

It would be like asking a painter to buy your idea for a painting.


Eric


yup, mod teams that made Portal, Cs, Team Fortess, Castle Wolfenstein, Day of Defeat and Red orchestra are an extremely rare occurence. That might make it seem very possible, but think of how amazing these mods were.

[Jettison]

That might make it seem very possible, but think of how amazing these mods were.

Mods? Sorry, my video game knowledge is pretty limited....do you mean model?

[daestwen]

Mods? Sorry, my video game knowledge is pretty limited....do you mean model?

No. Mods are when you take the pre-existing video game and use it to make something new. Some games come with mod packages already... to encourage users to make new levels and stuff and upload it on the internet for everyone to play.

[ArtZealot]

Mods? Sorry, my video game knowledge is pretty limited....do you mean model?

If you don't know what a game mod is, and if your knowledge of games is limited as you say, then in my opinion, you've got a lot to learn and a long way to go to actually make a game.