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Game Development: How do I get my game from Prototype to Demo?
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SY
Shelong Yang, Videogame industry vet with 10+ yrs of experience. answered:

Hey there. I've worked in the video game industry since 2008 in a variety of roles in QA, Design, Production, Product, and Marketing. I'm also developing my own games on the side.

I was unable to tell if you were paying freelance programmers so I'm going to answer this from the assumption that you're not, since you're planning to finance programmers through crowdfunding.

In this situation, unless you had a really dedicated freelance programmer, it might be pretty hard to get a few different scripts to work together. Even if the scripts were to come from the same programmer, most freelance programmers who aren't getting paid for it will rarely create an entire working prototype. Even the nicest of people will usually like you to meet them in the middle and figure out some part of the code yourself (or at least attempt to).

Generally, programmers are pretty patient people who love problem solving. With my own questions in the past, I've found several who not only offered potential solutions but also took the time to create a quick demo of the issue I brought up. Of course, keep in mind that my questions are usually very specific such as "I can't find a way to store the last 10 lines of this dialog". I've never asked anyone how to create a poker app from scratch.

Depending on the type of scripts you're asking of these freelance programmers, I'd say they're probably hoping you'll take these scripts and figure out how to make them all work together. If you are asking for one script from Programmer A, another script from Programmer B, then asking either of the programmer or even a Programmer C to make it all work together, then I'd say you're creating more trouble for yourself than you need to which would result in a product that won't work together.

If you can, I would try to work out a long term plan with one or two freelance programmers so that they not only understand your product but have the same passion for it that you do. This way, you have a partner who can connect the dots with you versus you doing it yourself (if you're not a coder). If you can't pay them, you can try working out some contract work to be paid at a later date, potentially via the funds from crowdfunding.

Another route you can take is to try and create those scripts yourself, then seek help in troubleshooting them if they don't work as intended. This approach is normally better for both you and any freelance programmers you are pinging for help. It shows you are trying and putting a majority of the effort. It also helps you understand the inner workings of your own prototype so that when you do hire programmers, you know what you need and can better estimate the funds needed to keep the project going.

Hope this helps! The answer is a bit high level since, again, I'm not sure if you're paying the freelance programmers or if you are a coder yourself.

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