How do your pay for your project

[Engr. Adiktuzmiko]

Charities are great for purchases, as in 10% of all sales will be donated to charities. But when it comes to investments and funding to help a company or project get off the ground, most people expect all their money is going towards that investment. Being told that a portion of that money is going somewhere else for an unrelated event is a sure fire way to get people to rethink their choice of investment.

Yeah, if I am to give money to fund a project, I would like all of it to be used directly or indirectly for the project... Charities doesn't count in any of those...


@Seita - maybe character sprites and other stuff?

 

[Napoleon]

Instead of a pie I usually make a document that represents the big rough story-lines and ideas, characters, places and etc. Based on that document I calculate the total combined price (based on costs from previous projects) and I weigh it against the income or possible budget already available to see if it will work w/o external funding. And if so, how long it would take to fund it and if the project can already be started based on the monthly budget.

A pie-chart with percentages is an interesting statistic but a pie-chart created based on just estimates and nothing else before a project starts is probably more misleading than accurate&helpful to you.

I know for sure that my project-costs are mostly art and art and more art . Art is (for RM projects) way more expensive than scripts, music and even licenses like rpg maker itself, plus you need plenty of it. And of course because I do the small scripting myself.

But for non-rm-projects with custom engines and such, programming is by far the most expensive part in my experience. You just can't do that by yourself within a reasonable time-frame.

 

[Shelby]

For the love of god shop around! I pay someone on DA 25usd to do a background pic, I find another artist on here that wants 90usd for same quality work. THIS is where people fail on there budgets. It would be silly of me to spend 3 times as much for something that hundreds of skilled people will do for less. Big companies and RM users make that mistake all the time we are only human.

You want to pay for your project? Don't waste your money without shopping around. There is always someone that will do what you want for less money, that's part of living in a free world. Never hire anyone to do anything without having 3 choices of who to hire. If I ever approved a artist for 3 times the budget price I would be fired instantly!

 

[Stridah]

I have commissioned an artist out of pocket to draw my characters, i will also probably commission a spriter this summer.  I think if people see you are willing to put money into your own game they will be more likely to invest on kickstarter then the generic "I need new graphics here are some rtp maps." 

I think personally being invested in your game can motivate you to finish and keep pushing to promote it/etc, it would be a loss financially for me to not keep working on my game!

 

[Dust]

I pay a composer for my project... Although I'm kind of on a very restricted budget as a student with a sidejob. But we both found an agreement that suits our collaborational effort the best which I think is always the best way when working with other people. Being open about what you expect and  compensational possibilities. And of course, it helps when they're really interested in your project and like working together with you.

 

[crimcrim]

i hire others for work that i can't do myself within a reasonable time frame. right now i'm at 3 artists, way too many programmers and one musician.

there are literally hundreds of thousands of different set levels of "advice" people can give you with what to charge other people. just talk to who you're trying to commission and agree on a price. people are very flexible, especially if they care about the project.

and for the love of God do not be cheap. time == money and unless you respect other people's time they will not respect you or yours. i've seen too many cheap people in this community not giving artists ESPECIALLY the compensation they deserve.

 

[saintivan]

I am working on my first game, and it's like Stone Soup: the more ingredients you put in, the more you want to put in to make it even better. Whatever you vision is, be true to it. Don't skimp if you have the money; you will regret it.

 

[Stridah]

pro tip, ive found deviant art to be better for finding equal quality more affordable art!

 

[Raths Rants]

I have two helpers at the moment. It's a you scratch my back I, scratch yours kind of thing. To be honest this has been mostly unsuccessful. The fact of the matter is, I am finding out it takes $$$ not friends to get real help . Even with an offer on the table to split any and all profits made from various avenues to help offset the cost of making a solid game.

Choose your help wisely. Research how you're going to spend your funds. At the end of the day you're at the mercy of the people you require help from.

Currently I have spent money on two additional RX Ace licenses. Some transportation and meeting costs.

It has been a great learning experience that has helped me streamline how I deal with helpers, commissioned work and project work flow.

 

[Shion Kreth]

I think it's best when a few people go in together and split income when done, and otherwise just pay for what you desperately need and can't produce yourselves out of pocket.

 

[Kes]

I think it's best when a few people go in together and split income when done, and otherwise just pay for what you desperately need and can't produce yourselves out of pocket.

This may sound a bit cynical, but could I suggest that if you are doing it this way, it can't just be "let's agree among ourselves that we split it this way".  You need something in writing, which everyone signs.  You need to be very clear about who pays for resources during the development time, and that needs to be agreed before you start spending.  You also need to specify that those expenses are repaid before any other income division.  This all may sound obvious, but sometimes it gets overlooked and then there can be some unpleasantness.  Because games don't always get to completion and release, you need to decide what to do about any expenditure already incurred if that happens.

You also need to come to an agreement about what to do if income doesn't cover expenditure - it's not just what you have to spend on resources making the game, it's all the other costs e.g. getting a business licence, paying an accountant, paying for web hosting etc. etc. etc.  It all mounts up.

 

[Shion Kreth]

Good information for everyone ksjp17, I forget that some members wouldn't consider that process a given.