Ask HN: I want to explore/fund a videogame idea, where do I start?

[notacat]

I have this idea for a videogame concept, which is basically TABS (totally accurate battle simulator) but for spellcasting. You effectively need to create a "physics" engine for spell effects to that they are satisfying to use & have good interactions between each other and the environment.

I haven't found a game yet which which implements that concept. The closest is probably Noita (https://noitagame.com/). But I would like an isometric view (or third-person view in 3d world) and the spells effects use some kind of particle animation within that world; as opposed as simple pixels in a 2d platformer.

I don't have a background in game development, so I don't know where to start. I'd like to discuss the idea and potentially have some devs build a prototype to build a prototype and see if it's actually fun to play with. How do I reach for studios and/or indie devs ? Are there good gamedevs forums for that? I am willing to pay for contracts to build some prototypes or fund a whole game if things are promising (let's say ranging from 50k to 1-2M).

[meheleventyone]

There are quite a few work-for-hire studios around although typically they assist rather than build whole cloth. Most others are working on their own stuff and trying to get funding rather than wanting to be paid to make other people’s ideas.

My suggestion would be to find and hire someone relatively senior with experience setting up game teams. There’s a bunch of Discords out there as well as some industry trade websites that host hiring ads. LinkedIn is a good bet as well and for what you want to do working with a recruiter that specialises in game jobs is probably a good bet as well.

In general people with an idea but no experience are treated with quite a bit of skepticism even if they have a budget! Getting someone with good experience on board to lead things will go a long way to help with that.

[notacat]

I like the idea of finding experienced people. Do you have any pointers to find Discord channels with such people and/or having similar ideas?

One thing is that i'm willing to discuss and change my mind. So I think my best bet is to find a studio or people who are already having similar ideas and iterate from there

[meheleventyone]

It’s quite hard because there is a strong dichotomy between private industry spaces and public but largely hobbiest or less experienced folks. One of the biggest I’ve found in the past is Game Dev League. My other suggestion would be to approach some of the small/one man consulting places and see if they want to help with their network.

It’s one of these things where networking is the real route IMO.

[myfavoritetings]

Whether a game idea is feasible doesn't matter so much on whether its 2d/3d/isometric etc., its the mechanics. For example, nintendo showed that they prototyped many mechanics that would wind up in breath of the wild in a version of the original zelda game and found it to be fun.

I think the answer to the question is already in your post. You said noita is pretty close so why not just play that? That's where you start.

Now, if you want some unsolicited financial advise do not dare spending 50k-2000k on a game development project if you don't have the skills/desire to work on it yourself

[notacat]

I want to get involved in the design/prototyping. My skills are Deep Learning, a bit of statistics, finance and frontend dev, and I played a lot of games. I'd say if I spent a few years on it myself, I eventually could make a prototype, but I feel given my position I have more leverage if I just act as an investor + co-designer. I also know this is a very risky investment and I understand that the most likely scenario is that nothing comes out of it (I made other similar investments in the past)

I said noita is the closest I found, but it's still pretty far from what I envision. I also understand that this idea is probably not enough to make a game compelling. It's more a mechanic that could be added to a broader game. There are many possibilities there which should be mostly chosen by an experienced team or studio and not by me.

[not_your_vase]

  > 50k to 1-2M

Is this USD (or comparable: EUR, CHF, whatever you have)? With this money you could pick your favorite indie game dev studio, and ask for a quote.

[notacat]

Yea one plan would be to start with some kind of prototype, which should be possible in the 5-50k range I expect (could be a very small minimalist prototype by a single dev). Then if this looks fun, spec together a bigger project & fund it. I just don't have the right connections to game developers / studios.