Original Post
Hey everyone!
I've returned to this form after a year or so, during which I pretty much gave up on programming; the compiler errors got to me 
But, I've grown as a writer/designer, and I've decided to attempt to persue this aspect of game development.
A lot of ideas for games have been floating around in my head, but not just ones that you scribble on a piece of paper, look at a week later, and think "what the hell is this?" Stuff that could actually make fun, profitable games. I thought that it might be a cool idea to become a sort of free-lance game writer, selling ideas and design documents to companies for either a solid price or royalties. This mostly centers around selling something I call Open-Design Documents, which go into depth about the idea for a game, but still allow for the game company to be creative and be the ones who ultimatley decide how the game will function (the doc would probably be between 15 and 30 pages).
Other possible services could include making extensive characters and/or their backgrounds, helping designers put an authentic spin on their game (if it's set in the past or present, on earth) by providing them with detailed essays, or any number of writing services.
My question to you all is this: could something like this actually work? And if it could, would there be enough demand for it? The major roadblocks I foresee are getting big companies to bite, and not getting my ideas stolen. For the later, I have come up with a multi-stage system in which, the company can see a list of somewhat broad descriptions of the game doc/etc and choose one they like. The company is then sent a more detailed, but still abreviated, version of the idea (1-2 pages) that gives companies information that will help them decide how much effort will be needed to make the game, if it will sell well, if the topic interests them, etc... The company is then faced with three options: Purchase the complete document for full price (royalty or set), buy the rights to the ideas in the shortened version and not get the full version for around half price (in case they want to build on the idea independently), or refuse the idea altogether (but still have to pay a set, non-refundable fee, and can't use ANY ideas presented in the shortened version).
Well, I hope that a few people will take the time to seriously read the previous message and give me a much-needed helping hand.
Thanks,
Mark
small note: Buy enough business, I basically mean any business. I am doing this mostly for fun and a little money, not as a full-time career.
[edited by - KaMiKaZ on October 19, 2002 7:14:12 PM]
But, I've grown as a writer/designer, and I've decided to attempt to persue this aspect of game development.
A lot of ideas for games have been floating around in my head, but not just ones that you scribble on a piece of paper, look at a week later, and think "what the hell is this?" Stuff that could actually make fun, profitable games. I thought that it might be a cool idea to become a sort of free-lance game writer, selling ideas and design documents to companies for either a solid price or royalties. This mostly centers around selling something I call Open-Design Documents, which go into depth about the idea for a game, but still allow for the game company to be creative and be the ones who ultimatley decide how the game will function (the doc would probably be between 15 and 30 pages).
Other possible services could include making extensive characters and/or their backgrounds, helping designers put an authentic spin on their game (if it's set in the past or present, on earth) by providing them with detailed essays, or any number of writing services.
My question to you all is this: could something like this actually work? And if it could, would there be enough demand for it? The major roadblocks I foresee are getting big companies to bite, and not getting my ideas stolen. For the later, I have come up with a multi-stage system in which, the company can see a list of somewhat broad descriptions of the game doc/etc and choose one they like. The company is then sent a more detailed, but still abreviated, version of the idea (1-2 pages) that gives companies information that will help them decide how much effort will be needed to make the game, if it will sell well, if the topic interests them, etc... The company is then faced with three options: Purchase the complete document for full price (royalty or set), buy the rights to the ideas in the shortened version and not get the full version for around half price (in case they want to build on the idea independently), or refuse the idea altogether (but still have to pay a set, non-refundable fee, and can't use ANY ideas presented in the shortened version).
Well, I hope that a few people will take the time to seriously read the previous message and give me a much-needed helping hand.
Thanks,
Mark
small note: Buy enough business, I basically mean any business. I am doing this mostly for fun and a little money, not as a full-time career.
[edited by - KaMiKaZ on October 19, 2002 7:14:12 PM]
