I've completed writing a story for this horror game a bunch of my friends are working (with RPG maker and bought assets). I'm quite happy with it, it was easy to write and visualize. Fun stuff.

But that gave me a thought. I know many game companies don't take game ideas and scrips from people who offer those, they either use their own staff or contact an established party. Understandable. But is there any way for "normal people", who have no ties to the video game industry, have their ideas seen and/or approved by game companies?

For example, let's play with the thought I had a killer game concept, already written and brainstormed. But I don't have a team to make that game. How would I make that game a reality? It would be impossible?

I've always wondered this.

Not impossible, but without having any contacts it is very risky. There are to much bother with IP's, ownership and fear of being sued these days, that large companies do not even look at scripts from people which they do not already employ (and therefore own the IP). There are several reasons for this (which I can go into more length if you want), but bottom-line is that it is a waste of time sending scripts or game ideas to large companies.

Indies are something else, though, but then again it is very much up to contacts and knowing who would be able to create the game according to your visions.

Do what I did - hire a busker to annoy the living hell out of them until they meet you in the pub next door. I got hired.

Might work. And I can understand that. So basically it is impossible :D

It can work if you somehow manage to get attention without giving them the script/idea. You need something else as a starter. Something to get attention. If you already have a game, or some other already finished product, then that might be a door opener. If you just send the script, it will go straight into the bin (virtual or real). The best chance is a contact of a contact who might know the cousin of the wife of the janitor who works at UBI...

Or kidnap an employee and tie him/her to the bed (kneecapping optional) while you read the script loudly to them. It seems to work more often than not.

A big problem is that making games is so accessible now, if you can't do it yourself for some reason, I doubt many will even take you seriously. Personally I've had a dozen or so ideas from fully fleshed (characters, scenes, dialogue etc.) to basic ideas yet apparently completely lack the ability to learn programming. Or at least the patience to look up how to do something every 3 minutes.

My suggestion would be to keep an eye open for game jams and competitions, people are basically all equal in these things and some have gotten enough attention to become available for mainstream purchase, Realm of the Madgod being the best example I can think of ATM.

Otherwise, just frequenting these indie forums and posting ideas would be a start. TIGSource has a subforum specifically for people looking for help with projects (amateur and pro) and your idea would have your own name attached so it would be hard for someone to steal.

In any creative medium ideas are worth very little. Most devs (and writers, etc.) have tons of them, and they'd rather work on their own ideas instead of on someone else's.

IMO if you have an idea that you feel is great try to get a team and at least prototype it. Could be just one programmer who's interested enough and who'd use free resources to create a basic level, something that would prove that the idea is indeed fun. If it is, you now have a way to prove it and excite people with it, which might mean a larger team who believes in your vision or crowdfunding, etc.

I like this idea. I bet there are talented programmers out there who would love to create a cool game but don't have the creative chops to think up the game concept. They might be looking for someone like you, ready with a story, a world, and a cast of characters.

The problem I could see here is that the division of labor might be skewed quite a bit, depending on your own coding skills.

Agreed. I think that KneeTheCap would have to participate in the development at some level beyond just offering an idea and text for it. Still, if the programmer is getting some compensation or promised share of profits that could be less of an issue.

Thinking about it some more, what I expect to happen is that the programmer will join because he likes the idea and therefore will start suggesting changes, and it will end up a collaboration.

Sure, if you sleep with the right people and go to right parties, you'll have a chance.
(Not necessarily in this order).

What is "some level beyond" ?

With the horror game my friends are making (with RPG maker), I wrote the story and all the dialogue (naturally). I also wrote all the locations, what the characters do (move here, do X, slam head into wall) and how does the scene look and feel in general.

Would that be "some level beyond" or is it just writing text? Genuine question, btw. I am interested to hear!

I think before the question can be answered adequately, one would have to know what your specific end-goal(s) would be. We know you'd like to work with others to see a game come to fruition from your ideas, but what is the driving force behind that, the why? Is it purely creative, or are there monetary goals as well? Any other aspirations to come out of it?

I ask because it's hard to answer such a question without making a number of assumptions that may not be true. For example, if you'd be happy just to work with some people on a game perhaps as a creative director or some other creative role, but profit is not a goal or motivator so much as creative expression, then I'd suggest exploring and hooking up with people in the open source community who might be interested in a mutual creative venture to just complete a project for the sense of achievement alone and put it out perhaps as an open source game. If the motive is profit based however, then one would have to probably reach out to existing indie developers or developers with aspirations of such.

It's important to frame the purpose/end goal, and the specific objectives first and then look at the options that might exist or could be created to work towards that goal.

Hope this helps.

That is a lot of work but I think some people would see it as you giving the coder a pile of stuff to do while you're then sitting around doing very little and not contributing to the code. Obviously, that's not the case - your work started long before your found your coder(s). But that's still an impression you'll have to deal with, and that likely comes from finding the right people to work with in the first place. Any professional should understand that, but not all of them will.

Actually, that's true for any business proposition involving multiple people: know the big picture, know everyone's part in it, and know that it doesn't all happen with the same amount of effort at the same time.


Edit: what skeletonbow says is very important. Step One important.

I'll give you examples below, but first I'll tell you that what's expected depends on your role. If, for example, you get a programmer and tell him: "here's my idea, I want to get 10% of the profits at the end for what I've created here, you take the rest" then you're unlikely to be expected to do more. If on the other hand you intend to lead the project and make the bulk of the profit from it, then you'd be expected to at least manage the project (that is, keep an eye on development and provide feedback) and handle the business side (crowdfunding or whatever).

Beyond that, it would help if you contribute at a technical level, such as convert your text and possibly movements into something that's directly usable in the game. That would reduce the demands on the programmer, which is a good thing whether he does it for free or for pay.