Solo or Team?

[Milennin]

I prefer to work solo, although I let my friend do some art for me sometimes. Like, some of the monster sprites and facesets were made by him.

 

[Tuomo L]

Yeah commissioning people is still going solo unless said people have a big say in your game's overall direction, this goes for free help and testers too.  As someone who is: part of a fully fledged game development team, is going solo (with commissions etc to help) with his own game, has been commissioned for other peoples work and has commissioned people for his own projects; I can safely say that there is a massive difference between commissioning people and working in a team.  

One thing to bear in mind is that just because you're going solo doesn't mean you won't still get help, you can still get ideas and criticism from friends, family and associates and be considered a solo act.  A lot of people go solo in their life's endeavours but remember that behind every accomplished person, there is a dedicated support network and when you think about it that way, most people's lives are the result of some sort of team effort.

In answer to op's question: my personal recommendation before moving onto a big project would be to do some small projects on your own solo, try to finish at least one even if it's terrible (my first game was a terrible viking platformer made in game maker which was barely over 10 minutes long but was nonetheless 'finished').  Once that's done you'll know whether you want to go solo, team or even if you just don't think game development is for you (which is okay by the way, it's not for everyone).   

So, uh... I'm doing my game solo? The mappers and the graphical peoples and the animators are not part of the team? The closed alpha tester who gives early input and feedback? That can't be right.

I mean something like Five Nights at Freddy's is a game done as solo... Licensing and royalties is different sure but I'm talking about custom content done for you and for the game.

 

[Scythuz]

So, uh... I'm doing my game solo? The mappers and the graphical peoples and the animators are not part of the team? The closed alpha tester who gives early input and feedback? That can't be right.

I mean something like Five Nights at Freddy's is a game done as solo... Licensing and royalties is different sure but I'm talking about custom content done for you and for the game.

Well as I said, it depends on how much input they have, in your case it sounds more like a team as the way you've worded it sounds like they have a say in the game's direction.  It's a case by case thing

 

[Kes]

I think it can also hinge around payment.  The division that follows isn't a water-tight one, there could be some overlap, but as a broad rule of thumb -

In a team the risk is shared.  If the game doesn't make any/much money, everyone loses.  if a game sells well, everyone benefits more.

If the person is paid per task/per resource irrespective of how well/badly the game sells, then that person is not in a team. e.g. do a script, get paid; compose a track, get paid; do some art work, get paid.  And that payment is a fixed amount.  I paid Tsukihime $20 to use one of his scripts in my last game.  He got that, and the fact that it is selling well does not mean that he can now come back and ask for more.  Equally, though, if it had bombed he would still have been entitled to his $20.

 

[TheOriginalFive]

I'm trying to do the Mechanical Armageddon solo, although I ended up getting feedback from a former HeroSmash player who has provided suggestions for the storyline.

I can safely say that the character sprites, item icons, battlers, portraits, and battle backgrounds will be my own work. I supplemented tilesets with GrandmaDeb's and Maru's modern collection, as well as Celianna's tiles.

Music? Mainly Kevin MacLeod's works as appropriate.

 

[Eva33]

My friend had good practice, he did it with his own team and it was not bad.

 

[Wavelength]

If this is your first major project, I recommend building as much as you can solo.  Don't feel the need to make it perfect, just make it good.  From there, if the project is near completion and you feel that having an artist, scripter, etc. will make your game better than you can make it on your own, hire them or add them to your team at that point.  Teams with mostly inexperienced members, or an inexperienced leader, often fail to finish a game and sometimes don't even manage to start one.

 

[Zoltor]

This largely depends on 1 thing, and one thing only, are you going to pay the team?

Collaboration with more then 1 other person, is asking for trouble. Furthermore, under no circumstances can you expect other people to have the same passion for your project as you do, so unless you're paying people to work on the game, getting reliable people to help you out, might as well be a myth.

If you need help with specific aspects, there's a better way then making a actual team, just hire/pay someone to help you with X aspect you need help with, and then when they're done, they go back to their normal life, done, no team nonsens(where if you're not paying them, they feel the need to debate the dirrection of the project, and that's if they put much effort into helping to beginwith)

 

[Kyuukon]

I'd say team. Especially to cover the areas I'm bad at (art and sound). But not any team. Finding good, reliable and motivated people is hard T.T but surely very rewarding (and fun) so I don't lose hope

Ideally, for my future projects, I'd love to work with a small team. I really hate commissions because often the person who will do the work lacks interest in the project and that reflects in the work (you can object but that's my philosophy). To me, a good team member, is someone who is more interested in making something good than in money or duty. Of course, if the end product is successful I'm more than willing to share profits. After all, I wanna see my friends happy

But I guess for now I do what I can with what I have until I have earned the trust of people so yeah...

 

[DarknessFalls]

Solo only, I am a perfectionist and people don't understand my level of detail