Would you like to create your game, but you don't know what budget you will have to spend on it? This article will be a perfect introduction to the topic. Thanks to it, you will learn the most important things when it comes to the process of creating a game and estimating production costs.
In the beginning, it is worth noting that estimating the cost of the project breaks down into two factors. The level of complexity and the size of the team you have. This really determines how much the project will take and how much it will cost.
Teamwork
It is important to keep in mind that game development is mostly a team effort. That means that the work done by individual people is often dependent on the work done by other team members. Each team needs a fair amount of time to complete its assigned tasks. The whole team consists of people from many fields, such as graphic designers, programmers, tester, and project manager. Each person mentioned has a series of tasks for which they are responsible.
Graphic designer: Responsible for preparing models, animations, levels, and interfaces,
Developer: Programmes the game's mechanics, its structure and implements the elements created by the graphic designers,
Tester: Checks that the work done by the graphic designers and developers is bug-free,
Manager: Supervises the development of the project and maintains contact between the client and the development team. He helps to avoid unclear situations and misunderstandings that lead to higher production costs.
Each person listed above has different tasks and as a result, may have a different hourly salary rate. You have to keep in mind that, for example, an hour of work of a graphic designer may not be equal to an hour of work of a tester or programmer. Also, the work of individual units cannot be skipped or delayed. Only after each team has completed its work the product is finished. Everyone must constantly complement each other to ensure a quality product.
Different scenarios of project development
As the game development process is complex and sometimes unpredictable, the influence of many factors can result in a longer project time. Such factors may be, for example, misestimated complexity of the project, problems resulting from oversights in the project, or technological and technical problems. Of course, these are only a few factors out of many that can happen. For this reason, during the estimation, it is worth taking care of the optimistic as well as the pessimistic scenario.
Template spreadsheet
We have prepared for you a spreadsheet, which can facilitate the initial estimation of the project cost. We took into account the most important elements of game development, without which no game will be created. It's worth having it handy, so you don't forget about anything.
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