| Running your own Game Company |
| Topic |
Author |
Description |
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A Case for Flexible Milestone Deliverables
[Added: 7/31/2007]
|
Tom Buscaglia
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addresses the fallacy of detailed “Static Milestone Deliverables” and discusses a preferred methodology involving “Flexible Milestone Deliverables.” |
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A Lone Wolf In a World of Packs
[Added: 9/9/1999]
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Geoff Howland
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An essential article for anyone trying to make it as an independent. |
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An Independent Developer's Look at the Game Developer Conference
[Added: 10/12/1999]
|
Geoff Howland
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Focuses on how independent developers can use the GDC to promote their product and find publishers. |
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Basic Negotiating for Fun and Profit
[Added: 2/22/2001]
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Steve Pavlina
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Steve returns with pointers and advice for getting the most out of contract negotiations. |
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Battling Bad Press: How to Survive When Your Game Falls Victim to Media Massacre
[Added: 7/18/2000]
|
Katherine Oliver
|
Discusses possible causes of bad press and methods of preventing or repairing a press assault. |
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Breaking the Sound Barrier: How to Work With Sound Designers
[Added: 6/3/2000]
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Aaron Marks
|
Of all the tasks necessary to a game development project, perhaps the one most commonly outsourced is that of the sound designer. Aaron Marks explains what you need to know before sitting down with a third party sound designer. |
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Budgeting and Scheduling Your Game
[Added: 5/11/2001]
|
Luke Ahearn
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Walks you through the intricacies of budget and schedule planning. |
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Building Killer Brands in Independent Game Developers
[Added: 9/3/2003]
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Matthew Riggall
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Discusses what brand equity is, and how indie developers can build it. |
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Conducting a Project Postmortem
[Added: 4/11/2000]
|
Steve Pavlina
|
Want to maximize what you learn from your game's failures and successes? Here are ten suggestions for an effective postmortem. |
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Contracting Art For Your Game
[Added: 1/10/2000]
|
David Michael
|
The dos and don'ts of outsourcing artwork. |
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Controlling Chaos in the Development Process
[Added: 3/24/2000]
|
Tim Ryan
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Suggestions for improving product quality and how to offset the effects of employee turnover and changing management. |
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Critical Path Analysis and Scheduling for Game Development
[Added: 7/22/2001]
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Jack Hoxley
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Describes the critical path anyalysis algorithm and how it can be used to schedule your projects. |
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Exploring the Business Side of Making Games
[Added: 10/3/2001]
|
Di Davies
|
Looks at project management from a non-game industry perspective. |
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From Underground to World-Renowned
[Added: 10/30/2000]
|
Damon Brown
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Looks at the impact the Independent Games Festival has had on bringing indie developers into the spotlight. |
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Game Development in a Virtual Enviromnent: A Beginner's Guide
[Added: 1/10/2000]
|
Jason McIntosh
|
If you're trying to work as a team over the internet, you'd better read this article. |
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Hiring Game Designers
[Added: 2/17/2002]
|
Arnold Hendrick
|
Explains what to look for.
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How to Get More Sales for Less Work
[Added: 1/22/2001]
|
Steve Pavlina
|
Regular columnist and Association of Shareware Professionals President Steve Pavlina discusses the many advantages of supporting your games with expansion packs and add-ons. |
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How to Screw Up a Perfectly Good Game Company in Ten Easy Steps
[Added: 2/1/2000]
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François-Dominic Laramée
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A discussion of some of the pitfalls to avoid when launching a start-up. |
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How to Start and Grow Your Own Game Development Company
[Added: 9/17/1999]
|
Michael Hawash
|
A great article that covers legal issues, an industry overview, and advice about publishing. |
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Indie Games Follow-up: The Class of 2000
[Added: 1/6/2001]
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Damon Brown
|
Follows up on the participants in the 2000 Independent Games Festival |
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Killing Feature Creep Without Ever Saying No
[Added: 10/30/2000]
|
Scott Crabtree
|
By completely understanding your original design, all change requests, and the people involved, you can avoid feature creep without ever saying 'No' to a request. |
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Legal Issues for Rookie Development Studios Part I
[Added: 7/28/2003]
|
Thomas H. Buscaglia, Esquire
|
Introduction to a series covering basic legal issues small startups need to be concerned with. |
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Legal Issues for Rookie Development Studios Part II
[Added: 8/23/2003]
|
Thomas H. Buscaglia, Esquire
|
Covers various forms of IP, including copyrights, patents, trademarks, and trade secrets. |
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Legal Issues for Rookie Development Studios Part III
[Added: 9/18/2003]
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Thomas H. Buscaglia, Esquire
|
This final article takes a look at some other basic contracts every rookie developer should have: the employee/consultant agreements and Non Disclosure Agreements (NDAs). |
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Lone Wolf Killers Part I: The Design Phase
[Added: 2/10/2000]
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Mason McCuskey
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Ever been part of a project that fizzled out? Ever had trouble running a virtual development team? In the first of this two-part series, Mason takes a look at the most common reasons why virtual development teams fail. |
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Lone Wolf Killers Part II: The Development Phase
[Added: 2/28/2000]
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Mason McCuskey
|
Ever been part of a project that fizzled out? Ever had trouble running a virtual development team? In the second part of the series, Mason continues his look at the most common reasons why virtual development teams fail. |
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Managing Digital Assets in Game Development
[Added: 5/21/2001]
|
Otamere Omoruyi
|
This article will outline a framework for evaluating a Digital Asset Management (DAM) system and look at the process involved in reusing, repurposing and hopefully turning digital asset into a digital product. |
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Marketing 101 Part 1: The 4 Ps
[Added: 7/3/2004]
|
Joseph Lieberman
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Covers the importants of product, price, place, and promotion. |
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Marketing 101 Part 2: Contacts and Contracts
[Added: 8/13/2004]
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Joseph Lieberman
|
Looks at contacts: who, where, when, and why |
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Marketing 101 Part 3: Advertising Part I
[Added: 12/9/2004]
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Joseph Lieberman
|
Discusses how to evaluate the effectiveness of online advertising. |
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Negotiating Contracts That Protect Your Title and Team
[Added: 1/28/2002]
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Jay Powell
|
Offers guidelines that will help you negotiate a deal that will get the publisher committed to your game and protect your team in the event that something goes seriously wrong. |
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Online Tournament Gaming
[Added: 3/18/2002]
|
Jon Norris
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Discusses an approach to creating perpetual revenue streams with online games. |
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Proposing Your Game Idea
[Added: 2/24/2000]
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Ellen Guon Beeman and Mary Margaret Ipser
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Lots of good tips about proposing your game to investors and publishers, as well as the skinny on NDAs. |
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Public Relations for Game Developers
[Added: 5/17/2000]
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Katherine Oliver
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Some basic guidelines about successfully using PR to promote your game. |
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Pull Together: Getting Team Buy-in
[Added: 6/27/2005]
|
Rafael Chandler
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Discusses various motivational techniques in team management. |
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Shareware Amateurs vs. Shareware Professionals
[Added: 6/4/2003]
|
Steve Pavlina
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Examines what separates the men from the boys in shareware development. |
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So you wanna be a software startup?
[Added: 7/7/2000]
|
Stanley Foo
|
Despite the hype surrounding our industry, forming a new software company carries some serious risks. In this article, the author shares his insights into how some of those risks can be avoided, and why starting from scratch may not be the best route. |
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Staying in the Black
[Added: 5/24/2000]
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Mary-Margaret Ipser and Ellen Guon Beeman
|
Covers topics like alternative methods of financing a game, funding a late project, and what kinds of profits a small game company can really expect to pull. |
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Ten Independent Development Myths Debunked
[Added: 9/25/2000]
|
Tim Morten
|
Looks at the reality of starting your own game development company. |
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The 10 Commandments of Independent Game Development
[Added: 8/23/2003]
|
Cliff Harris
|
A fun but serious list of rules new indies should adhere to. |
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The 7 Deadly Sins of Startup Companies
[Added: 1/28/2009]
|
Roman Lembersky
|
Roman shares what he's learned from being involved with startups and what you should avoid at all costs if you're thinking of starting up a business and want to be successful later on down the road |
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The Birth of a New Game Studio, Part One: Humble Beginnings
[Added: 8/28/2001]
|
Daniel Sánchez-Crespo
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provides some background information: market research, teamwork and product design and architecture. |
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The Birth of a New Game Studio, Part Two: Goin' Places, Meetin' People
[Added: 8/28/2001]
|
Daniel Sánchez-Crespo
|
Covers the important subject of industry events, trying to explain when, why and how fledgeling studios should go to these places, what to prepare, who to talk to, etc. |
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The Good News About Digital Distribution
[Added: 8/7/2007]
|
Tom Buscaglia
|
A look at the benefits to publishing your game digitally |
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Under Development blog
[Added: 4/19/2008]
|
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A great blog about game development business and legal issues. Don't have that college business degree but want to start your own company or manage a studio? Check here for some requisite reading. |
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Why Should I Hire a Freelance Designer?
[Added: 11/24/1999]
|
François-Dominic Laramée
|
As you might guess, this article answers its own question. |
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Working Nowhere and Everywhere
[Added: 7/23/2009]
|
Christopher Natsuume
|
Boomzap is a casual games developer that has employed a highly-successful business model of being completely virtual. No offices, lots of outsourcing and daily online communication. See how they pull it off and how you can too! |
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