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My Break-In Plan

James Joseph Emerald · 2010-03-29T09:22:49

I'm a writer, and I've always wanted to write for/direct a game. Unfortunately: a) I'm a crap artist, and my programming is rudimentary at best b) I get bogged down and/or frustrated by the minutiae of game development (like most writers, I'm a perfectionist control freak) c) Nobody wants to hire a game writer, since game designers either don't care about story, or think they can write it on the side, while juggling their other duties. So, my plan was always to write a popular novel, sell the film rights, and use that money to hire a team of the most talented amateurs I can find (hopefully most of 'em being so starstruck by my presence they'll be easy to swindle -- eh, I mean "convince" :P ). That way I can maintain creative control of the entire process, and the buzz from the movie would be like a massive, big-budget Hollywood advertisement campaign that I wouldn't pay a penny for. If the movie does decently enough in the box office, I could make the most experimental, ground-breaking indie game ever, and publishers would still be desperate to sign it on. Think it'll work? (In theory, I mean. There's probably 1000-to-1 odds on everything going as planned, but for the sake of argument, let's say I'm ridiculously lucky. Or I just try 1000 times.) I'm not the first person ever to think of making an indie game based on his/her own intellectual property (after it's been picked up by a Hollywood studio), am I? Are there any examples of this happening? The one potential flaw I see is concerning copyright issues. It might be hard to retain video game rights through all the negotiations. Think it would be a dealbreaker with most film companies? (Generic, cookie-cutter tie-in games being all the rage these days...) Whatcha reckon?

Games Career Development Business

Started by James Joseph Emerald March 27, 2010 01:34 AM

21 comments, last by Tom Sloper 14 years, 3 months ago

James Joseph Emerald

100

Author

March 29, 2010 02:39 AM

Quote: That's not intended to be a personal slight, just an observation

Pretty much everything you said was a personal slight, whether you intended it or not. Which is especially disconcerting because you just repeated everything I already said about myself, and then mixed it with wild speculation and assumptions based on pretty much nothing.

I've never met a bunch of folk who took things so literally. Even after I explain myself, about four times, in four different ways, you're STILL pulling out semantic nit-picks, focussing on the specific words I'm using and steadfastly ignoring the actual INTENTION behind what I'm saying. I mean, why? You're all waxing Dr. Phil, trying to give me a "reality check" that I have repeatedly stated is completely unnecessary. Telling me things I already know is a waste of both of our time. The only reason I mentioned myself or my "dream" at all was just to give a little flavour and grounding to my actual questions. Which may have been silly, but really all I needed was to be told specifically why (which has been mostly answered, from the bits and pieces in this thread that were actually on-topic, so thanks for that)

I was trying especially hard to be humble, freely admitting all my shortcomings, because I knew people would get their egos in a twist if I was to suggest that breaking into the industry was in any way easy (which I wasn't). But people still started making personal slights against me, from the beginning. And I tried to say "don't worry about me, let's just use our imaginations for a second", but the whole thread just degenerated into me trying to defend myself against a clusterfuck of people who are so stubbornly cynical they can't get past the idea of someone having a dream that falls outside their 'actuarial estimates of success', and other people who don't seem to understand hyperbole, even after I explicitly state what I mean.

Sorry to rant, but if there's one thing I can't stand, it's people who take every possible opportunity to remind everyone around them how intelligent and knowledgeable they are, especially when it's to such a degree that they just make up reasons to show off their incredible psychoanalytical insights and ability to logically refute or morally condemn out-of-context statements. I mean, I don't mind a bit of it here and there - everybody does it - or if it's y'know, actually appropriate to the topic at hand. But when people kindly tell you to stop, several times, and you continue to do it? Fucking annoying.

NO OFFENCE INTENDED!!! Just making some observations. But you might consider working on those areas. As much as I LOVE unwanted, unsolicited, completely baseless and irrelevant advice on how to live my life, stated in the snottiest, most self-important tone possible ("attitude issues", haha, that honestly made me laugh out loud so hard), other people may not appreciate it as much. It could cause a lot of friction in future. Just some friendly advice.

yaustar

1,022

March 29, 2010 05:03 AM

Quote: Original post by James Joseph Emerald
Quote: I would hire an agent to sell them to the highest-bidding game publisher.

Quote: Cherry pick a publisher and/or developer that gives me the most money/highest royalties and has a track record of completing the project on time.

Those are both interesting responses. I assumed on a site called 'gamedev.net', that most folk would be aspiring or current game developers. Why wouldn't you want to take a stab at making the game yourself? Unless you're saying you'd sell off the IP with the stipulation that'd you'd be involved in the design process. In which case, how much control would you want? Would you rather play it safe, and ensure you get paid as much as possible, or take risks and be as creative as possible? Is that viable, or more than likely to result in 'development hell'?

There is the crux. The people replying back on this thread are more business minded rather then creative and therefore having someone pay me/us to develop a game with my/our IP + royalties is fair more advantageous and attractive then taking that risk and cost onto myself/ourself.

As far as control, if I/we don't like it, it doesn't go in.

Additionally, in most cases, the game is set to release with the film so trying to manage a film AND a game at the same time is insane.

If it was a game that was using the IP but not a movie tie in, then it becomes a slightly different story.

Steven Yau
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