getstart.htm

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<LI>Feature List</LI>
<LI>Definitions and Descriptions</LI>
<LI>Introduction Sequence</LI>
<LI>Game Selection Sequence</LI>
<LI>Game Start Screen</LI>
<LI>Game Play</LI>
<LI>Game Levels</LI>
<LI>Milestones in Game</LI>
<LI>End of Game</LI>
<LI>Game Exit</LI></OL>

<OL TYPE="I">

II. Screen Description and User Interface Specification</OL>

<OL>

<LI>Introduction Sequence or Movie Before the Game</LI>
<LI>Game Selection Screen</LI>
<LI>Branch off screen for options before the game starts</LI>
<LI>Game Screen</LI>
<LI>Flowcharts of Screens</LI>
<LI>Controls</LI></OL>

<OL TYPE="I">

III. Art Specification</OL>

<OL>

<LI>Colors and Resolution Modes</LI>
<LI>Masking Color</LI>
<LI>Naming Conventions and File Types</LI>
<LI>Background Art List</LI>
<LI>Foreground Art List</LI>
<LI>Character Art List</LI></OL>

<OL TYPE="I">

IV. Sound and Music Specification</OL>

<OL>

<LI>Sound Effects List</LI>
<LI>Voice Talent List</LI>
<LI>Music List and Description of</LI></OL>

<OL TYPE="I">

V. Paradigm Specification (How things are done)</OL>

<OL>

<LI>How is the project going to be completed, who is going to do it?</LI>
<LI>What are the milestones for the game to be completed?</LI>
<LI>What functions and procedures are needed?</LI>
<LI>What information do we need on our characters?</LI>
<LI>How is the screen drawn?</LI>
<LI>How many frames per second are needed?</LI>
<LI>What libraries are needed to complete the game?</LI>
<LI>Flowchart of the game from beginning to end</LI></OL>

<OL TYPE="I">

VI. Artificial Intelligence Specification</OL>

<OL>

<LI>What do the characters need to know?</LI>
<LI>What will the characters do that someone could not do in real life?</LI>
<LI>Is everything fair?</LI></OL>

<OL TYPE="I">

VII. Legal Stuff</OL>

<OL>

<LI>Copyright notices</LI>
<LI>Non-disclosure agreements</LI></OL>

</OL>
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<P>As you can see here, this is an incredibly long list and it's just a list.  When you fill in all those topics with extremely detailed information about your game its going to get very large.  For large projects it's normal for design documents to be 100 pages and more.</P>

<B><P>When do I need to stop writing?</P>

</B><P>There comes a time when you have to stop writing and produce.  This is a necessary balance and it's actually dangerous to write too much.  You can burn yourself out and quit the project just from frustration.  </P>

<P>Writing a design document is very difficult but it is also very rewarding.  Your ideas will solidify as you write your document, you are forced to ask yourself, "How am I going to do this?"  This is <I>so</I> important for creating your game, it will give you a true direction.</P>

<P>Spend a couple of days writing it at the least, this should be enough time for you to fill in the basics and expand a good deal on the beginning topics.  Your design document is going to change and be wrong, this always happens when you turn concepts into reality, just go back and change your design document when you change the way your doing things.  This always keeps you on track.</P>

<P>I'm just doing a small game do I still need a design document?</P>

<P>Yes, you do.  First of all, you need the practice and it will still help you in your programming.  Secondly it抯 a small game so the design document will be smaller; it won't take you that long to create or update it so just stick with it.</P>

<P>I started working on my game, but now I'm stuck.</P>

<P>This is going to happen, even after you gain experience you are going to run in to roadblocks that you just can't seem to get over.  Fortunately in this connected age you can go to places on the Internet and get help.  </P>

<P>There are a lot of sites up that have tutorials in every subject you can think of, go to your search engine and search on the topic your having a problem with.  If you can't find it just search on "games programming" and then look through the sites that come up.</P>

<P>If and only if you can't find a tutorial on something that helps you fix the problem you should go and ask on newsgroups.  Before you post to a newsgroup read from it for a few days first.  See the way people act and post on it so that you don抰 make a mistake that people yell at you for.</P>

<P>The long time rec.games.programmer newsgroup has recently been split into a comp.games.development.* series of groups.</P>

<P>You need to choose the appropriate group to post in before you start asking questions, if your question is about programming in DirectX do not ask in the design group, or the art group.  Do not post more than one message in more than one newsgroup.  If no one responds to your message re-post it in two days, not less.</P>

<H3><FONT COLOR=YELLOW><I>What to do after you make your game?</FONT></I></H3>

<P>After you create your game you have to decide how to distribute it.  After all, you don抰 want to be the only one who plays it right?</P>

<P>Luckily there are many ways to do this.  As I spoke of earlier you can try to get a publisher or distributor and put it in stores.  This will depend a lot on the quality of your game.  It has to be comparable to other games that are also in stores.</P>

<P>One alternative to this is to go with a value software publisher or through a regular publisher in their value line.  Several value publishers are Expert and MVP, you have likely seen their software in all types of stores in racks by themselves and they at times get placed with other games as well with just a reduced price.</P>

<P>You can also take your game the shareware route.  Even with this there are many alternative ways to distribute it.  There are CD packs that contain hundreds of games and you could get your game put on there and people may send you money if they like it.  There are also several hundred sites on the Internet that have download sections for games such as download.com.</P>

<P>If you decide you want to sell it yourself there are places that will do the credit card transactions for a fee with every transfer.  Its usually about $5, but if you sell your game for over $15 it can definitely be worth it.</P>

<P>Even better than that a lot of providers have site hosting that has credit card set ups as a built in service with shopping cart CGI scripts as well.  This basically handles all of the transactions for you all you will need to do is set up your bank account with the company.</P>

<P>How to contact publishers?</P>

<P>Publishers will generally have links of their site that so you can email them about your game.  Never just send them your game, they will just delete it so that you can't sue them.  Before any game company will ever look at your game you will have to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) which will protect them, and if they have written it fairly it will protect you as well.</P>

<P>NDA's are standard procedure and you can not get around this.  If you don't see an NDA with instruct on their site with procedures of what to do email them and ask them.  Some publishers do not accept 3<SUP>rd</SUP> party submissions and some only want games for consoles so you will have to ask around to find out if they are looking for something like your game.</P>

<P>A safe bet is to just ask them if they are looking for games of your genre and platform type.  A yes or no answer is a good start.</P>

<P>How do you protect yourself and your game?</P>

<P>Protecting your work is important, you put a lot of time in to it and you don抰 want to lose any of it to someone who would steal it.</P>

<P>Anything you write is protected by the Copyright laws, but you still have to prove you wrote it first right?</P>

<P>First thing you should do is put a Copyright symbol next to your work with a message saying that you own this and it is your property.  This just shows people that you know you have a right over it.</P>

<P>You also need to send in a copy of your material to the Copyright office.  If you don't a lawyer will not even touch your case.  You can find out more information by going to the US Copyright Office homepage at:</P>

<P>http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/</P>

<P>Trademarks</P>

<P>Trademarks cost money, but they are the best way to make sure you have all the rights to your game, starting with the name.  The last time I checked I believe the price was $250 approximately to get a Trademark and $500 for a lawyer to do a search for you to find out if anyone else already has it.</P>

<P>If you don抰 have the money for this you can use what is called a Service mark.  Instead of a small TM next to your game's name you would put a SM.  Service mark's give you the same protection of a Trademark but they are not yet registered so there is still some risk to it.  Signing a service mark to your game's name is basically saying that you intend to trademark that name within a given period of time.  It is from 2-5 years, I forget how long precisely but it will at least give you enough time to get your game out the door safely.</P>

<P>Agents</P>

<P>Yes there are really agents for computer game developers now.  These people usually get their money from the publishing companies for finding talent.  Since your not the one paying them they don抰 really work for you, it is still in their best interest to get you to a publisher though.</P>

<P>Just like dealing with anyone about your game though you will want to be cautious.  Until you have a signed deal or a signed NDA your ideas can be taken.</P>

<P>My advice is to be only somewhat paranoid about your game's idea.  Obviously you don抰 want to give away your secrets that will make your game the best, so just describe your game in terms of other peoples games until you get an NDA signed.</P>

<P>This is also usually clearer as well.  For instance you could say, I'm doing a game that抯 like a mix between SimCity and Links Golf, you have to design golf courses for the rich and famous.  They can use their imagination. </P>

<H3><FONT COLOR=YELLOW><I>Conclusion</I></FONT></H3>

<P>In conclusion I wish everyone who really wants to create games good luck and a reminder that if you work hard enough at anything you can get there, especially if you are capable of taking small steps.</P>

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