Idea : Kickstarting a game from Scratch to Hopeful Fruition

Hey,

So been following games for too long now and thought it's probably high time I put digits to keyboards and make my own.

I had an idea about Kickstarting the game from scratch, myself having no experience In Coding whatsoever, but doing it in a way that documents the whole process from its absolute infancy right through (hopefully) to a playable and fun game. I'd be looking to use the backers to help mould the project and create something everyone wants from a few simple ideas.

So what do you think? Good idea, bad idea?

Thanks

A

terrible idea

Sadly, il have to agree with that.

Not to be too down on your idea, but unless you have some exceptional persuasion skills and a track record of seeing things through, I'd reckon the chances of getting a bunch of people to throw money at you as you possibly learn to code seem slim to none.

But then again I don't know you from Adam, so maybe you are indeed someone that could make the learning process fun to watch. I just don't know if many people would want to pay to see you do it.

Ok cool thanks. For me, if i could back someone now and watch how they get on i'd be pretty interested but hey, not for everyone.

The only way I could see this working is if you were a noted entrepreneur or author with a history of diving headfirst into a wide array of subjects with no prior experience. Someone like a Tim Ferriss or Malcom Gladwell.

Honestly, I think you'd have a much better shot at starting a twitch stream livestreaming game dev and possibly setting up a patreon. Still not a very good shot, but at least that's a long shot. Getting anything funded like that on kickstarter wouldn't even be a long shot I feel.

I agree with some of the others. You defintiely would need at least a prototype you can show off to get anyone to spend any money I think.

If you have a prototype and a quite modest goal, you can do it but I wouldn't expect to get much money and the odds aren't great. It's something I've thought about as well, and you should really get something playable up.

I think the best route would be to make a prototype or simplified version of your game then go to kickstarter and try to get some money to expand on that. Think like Westerado, for example. They had a simplified version of the game and then kept working on it for a full release. You need to prove yourself and I think that's just the smart way to go. Making games isn't easy and you should see if you can and want to do it before you're asking for money.

Yeah it's just a bad idea. Even if you had recognition or were very persuasive, I would just think "Good luck! Hope the game is cool when it's out" and not contribute.

You have to understand there have been plenty of kickstarters where people have coding experience, a solid idea, and sometimes a mostly playable game, and they still do not get funded. Getting funded without any experience at all just sounds like a pipe dream.

You can't take people's money for this. Document your game-making process and put it on YouTube or stream it from Twitch instead.

The thing is, why would you even need money to do that? I've been working on and off on some prototypes for about two years, learning how to code and stuff. The only thing that I bought was gamemaker. If you're working alone in your free time, it shouldn't cost you anything. Unless the scale of your project is big, which is a bad idea for a first one, there's no reason why you can't do what you described with no money at all.

Document the process of learning everything you need to learn and put out several short, free games first and THEN go to Kickstarter. Gives you plenty of opportunity to give up without screwing people over (because you might not actually enjoy it) and if you do get to the kickstarting bit, you can point at all the evidence you've gathered and say "that's what I've done, from nothing and this is where I am going".

The only thing is, anyone can know nothing about programming and game design and art and say "if you give me £10, I'll show you videos of me learning how to code and then give you a game at the end that might be fun, but might not be". That isn't unique or hard to find anywhere, you'll find the biggest successes on Kickstarter are the projects where people think that this is the only time this going to happen. Want another Double Fine Adventure game ever again? Want another Castlevania? Better not wait around because that shit ain't happening unless you give us money right now. So find that one thing that only you can deliver on and then deliver on it. Why do you think they put a timer on this stuff? To make it limited, it's like the anti-sale.

Best of luck.