Hi all!

I wonder what you think of the entrants for the 2003 IGF competition.

Some good quality entries but I sometimes wonder; for example "Reiner Knizia's Samurai" had a budget of $250,000 and a development cycle of 14month but when I saw the screenshots I wonder where the money went. Coffee?

Brian Azzopardi

I wonder too. I'm thinking maybe they are students and just took a software engineering course at their university. When I took that class, we had to assign everyone on our team a real world salary and calculate (based on the number of hours worked per person) what the staffing cost would be. Then we had to add up the equipment, utility cost, what our rent would be for the office we would have needed, etc. to come up with a total real-world cost for our project. For a 4 person team plus expenses, over 1 year, $250,000 sounds somewhat decent (maybe a bit high, but not by much).

"Miko & Molly is a non-violent logic/puzzle game for all ages. Use powerups & items in each level to find solutions. A cooperative mode allows for 2 players."

sounds like a fun game.

Whoever made this is a genius.

Originally posted by Grimreaper I wonder what you think of the entrants for the 2003 IGF competition.

Some good quality entries but I sometimes wonder; for example "Reiner Knizia's Samurai" had a budget of $250,000 and a development cycle of 14month but when I saw the screenshots I wonder where the money went. Coffee?

Yeah, there are some great titles in there, no doubt about that. Over the past week or so i've been going through as many as I can to see which i like the best. Kind of curious how my picks will match up with the choices of the powers that be.

As for the budgets, i noticed the same thing. But keep in mind, how an "independent" developer is classified by the IGF might be different than what most people consider to be independent. Check out the rules and you'll see that the IGF considers is independent so long as it's not partially paid for, or being published by, someone that's part of the IDSA.

One thing i've always found interesting are the titles that you don't see in the IGF. Seems like Derek Smart would submit Battlecruiser Generations or something.

Originally posted by LordKronos
I wonder too. I'm thinking maybe they are students and just took a software engineering course at their university. When I took that class, we had to assign everyone on our team a real world salary and calculate (based on the number of hours worked per person) what the staffing cost would be. Then we had to add up the equipment, utility cost, what our rent would be for the office we would have needed, etc. to come up with a total real-world cost for our project. For a 4 person team plus expenses, over 1 year, $250,000 sounds somewhat decent (maybe a bit high, but not by much).

I think you're right. There was an interesting thread about this somehwere else and some people were mentioning that some included the cost of their computers while others did not because they already owned them.

Originally posted by Chandler
"Miko & Molly is a non-violent logic/puzzle game for all ages. Use powerups & items in each level to find solutions. A cooperative mode allows for 2 players."

sounds like a fun game.

Whoever made this is a genius.


Now you are just making me blush :o (although IQ tests won't argue with you :D ). Thanks for the compliment.

If you think it sounds fun, go download a demo from my website ( http://www.kronos-software.com ).

Originally posted by Gmicek
I think you're right. There was an interesting thread about this somehwere else and some people were mentioning that some included the cost of their computers while others did not because they already owned them.

Yes, that was the "How can a game have a $0 budget" thread in the IGF forums:

http://www.igda.org/Forums/forumdisplay.php?forumid=107

Ya the IGF is an interesting and somewhat a ironic beast. The main intent seems to me is to get your game presented to publishers so that you can be told how to do things and hence be no longer truly independent. That however doesn't mean it's a not something cool to win or make it as a finalist. I just look at it diffrently.

But I think that from most of the folks that attend the Game Developers Conference don't give much weight to EDS which is where in my option Indie developers reside.

That said, I'd encourage any of you to submit to the IGF if for nothing else to make sure folks that thinks like real Indies win. :) I like to think of it like one of those film festivals where you show of your stuff and it doesn't have to fit the mold of what publishers deem profitable in thier view.

Hrmm if we make it to the finals this time, I think we will be in the IGF Hall of Fame at 3 times :P We'll see. There are a lot of games this year and you really never know if you have a good chance or not.

Anyway, my definition of Indy is game developer that is free from all ties, and can do whatever they please, when they please or if they please. Independent, self contained and free.

As for the project budget thing, it was kinda a hard question to answer on the form. Especially when you are working on all the rest of your business in the same time like fixing stuff in your old projects, but yet still benefiting the new. We just guestimated, hell it's not rocket science... it's more of a Gnomish Workshop.