Building a Video Game Development Team - Part One

With communication becoming easier by the day using the internet, independent business has become a popular, but rarely beaten path overall. When it comes to creating a video game, many people find themselves with few, if any, tools to use to help them in the development of one. Not only that, people want total control over their projects, but many want little to none of the work associated with completing them. If someone decides to start a video game company or wish to create a game using a handful of people as programmers, graphic artists and music composers, they should take these questions and guidelines to heart, to ensure a finished product and long term relationships for future video game development projects.

Am I a team member, or a director?
Many people will have some skill that'll allow them to save time and work with the team to help complete their goals. Others want to be "the boss", order people around and gain most, if not all of the profits and attention. Before one embarks on their video game development journey, they should decide whether to be a team member, or a director.

Being a director - Pros
People who want to be directors most likely, got excited from the way certain people in the video game industry are portrayed in countless video game publications and TV shows. They're shown literally as rock stars, people who deserve all the recognition, fame, fortune and highly charged relationships they can muster. Every interview is either about them, or the games they make;little is mentioned about the guy who made the graphics look realistic, or the guy who added all the content. In reality, it's the entire team that creates the masterpieces these people bring to the world, directors are just one piece of that video game making machine.

As a director, you call all the shots. Your approval and criticism are key to your success and the development team's longevity under your wing. It's all about the 3 Cs - Complete Creative Control.

Being a director - Cons
While directors have almost complete control over their projects, everyone else might look down upon them. Unless there's many benefits in store for them, people rarely like to work under directors. There have also been many workers who leave the video game corporations from where they were directed under, to become directors themselves. Since directors are in charge of everything, they have to see to it that every part of their team is working efficiently. They also take the blame, for producing product flops. Their benefits from development of the video game come upon completion. They might also be responsible for development compensation.

When you're on the hunt for video game development members, be aware that as a director, you'll have a more difficult time;people can easily spot others who are intent on solely being directors.

Being a development team member - Pros
When just another one of the guys, being a team member can help you build better working relationships. It also saves you the trouble of worrying about everything. You can save a lot of resources by having many skills that'll enable you to complete video game projects easier, with less strain. You also gain many short term benefits, such as compensation for your work.

Being a development team member - Cons
Members will have to concentrate on making the video game, and making sure their respective job is done, before doing anything else. They'll also have to learn many different skills for their work, including many unrelated skills, in case development members back out. You'll also find yourself working under people who may or may not have your welfare at heart.

If you happen to be at the helm of your video game development ship, here are some questions to ask yourself.

What kind of video game do I wish to develop?
Get your ideas down on paper. Find out what game would excite you to have in development. Set a time frame for your production. Decide what kind of help you need, whether it be from a programmer(code), artist(graphics) or a composer(music).

Imagine what you want the player to go through as they play your soon to be finished video game. Maybe they're shooting a giant octopus, or launching blocks into many different pipes. You don't have to have a complete description of your game, but it's in your best interest to have a basic idea of how you want the game to work, so you can have something to show team members.

For your artists:
Make sure you have a general idea of what kind of graphics you want to use for the game, before you employ any artists. Keep in mind the color depth(how many different colors can each sprite use), pixel resolution(how detailed they should be) and style(how they should look). Many artists are proficient in few styles of drawing, and some may only specialize in one style.

For your programmers:
Do a little research on what language you want your video game to be developed in, and what environment you want the game to play in. Examples of languages include: Java, C++, Flash, Python and Ruby, examples of applicable environments would be a browser window, through an executable(offline), or through the JRE(Java Runtime Environment). If you don't mind how your game is developed, you can use tool suites such as Game Maker and RPG Maker and save time on finding an applicable language and environment, as such suites have both.

For your composers:
You don't need to have much for a composer at the planning stage of the video game development process, but a good idea is to figure out what genre you want your music to come from, so you can narrow down possible composers to look for when the game goes through actual development.

Make sure to get your game halfway, if not completely through the planning stages before you even think about enlisting the help of another. People rarely take kindly to being called on for a half-baked, if not a completely non-baked idea.

How do I find members?
When you have a good blueprint for your video game, finding members can be a daunting task. There are however, sites to find such members exclusively. Indiegamer.com is one such place. You can also look on sites that have dedicated member bases also, such as Shmup-dev.com, which has a lot of talented shoot 'em up video game developers.

For your artists:
Searching for "freelance artists" or similar terms on search engines may provide dedicated websites for artists who are looking for work. Keep in mind their portfolio and samples when browsing their sites. Also take note of their most prominent pictures. Some artists specialize in character portraits, while others may be good at drawing landscapes.

If you wish to contact them, search for their contact info on their site(hopefully listed in areas labeled "Contact Info"). When you contact them, keep your email short and to the point. List your game, how you want it to look and provide visual samples, either from their site or other sites, of the style you desire.

For your programmers:
Searching for "freelance programmers" may yield similar results. Think about the genre of the video game you want to produce, then search for related sites. Shmup-dev.com for example, is a good place to look for shoot 'em up game developers. When you look for developers, take note of the games they've made, the number of games they've made, and what language they made them in. Also take note of how complex the games they made were. It's best to look for developers who can make complex games, if you want a complex game to be developed.

When you contact them, list your game and how you want it to play. List possible player abilities, enemies and obstacles too. Also give them references to games that you may have liked playing or viewing, that are related to the genre of the game you want to produce. This will help developers get a general idea of how you want the final product to play, and what they'll need to develop them.

For your composers:
Search for music composers. Take note of the style various composers use for their music. Also look at their portfolio and credentials.

When you contact them, tell them about your game, and what genre you want the game's tracks to come from. Also list the number of tracks you want. If you can, list possible situations for each type of track, like for example, what the player would be doing when the track for a boss fight is playing. The more information you give them, the more distinct your tracks would be.

When you post an ad to find members for your game, list as much information as you can. Also try to be a part of the community, you may find more people would be willing to help you out.

When someone wants to create a game and start their own team, it's best to be well prepared, well before they start out. Further articles will provide more info on building and maintaining a video game development team.