An open letter to CD PROJECT RED

[ElvenNeko]

I think it's irrational to expect a developer to just take a plot from someone new to the industry and build a game around it, no matter how good it might be.

I feel like any kind of word would suit this sentence, but not "irrational". Chosing a plot or game design (or anything in the world, to be honest) regarless of it's quality, and only based on authors fame is pure irrationality. There is no logic in this action, and the only possible motivation could be "too lazy to check the actual work, so i rather believe that famous person will do well".

If you coming to some eating establishment, for example, and see there a most famous cook in the world who offers you a potato that's not even cooked, and an unknown person who offers you a good meal - would you still chose a potato because the person who selling it to you are famous?

Rational, logical behavior would be checking quality of work and picking it based on that quality, and not on worker's personality.

It has to either be a startup fully equipped with programmers and missing ONLY a writer and ideas, which sounds unlikely, or you'd have to be a very big name commanding a market share and bringing fans as automatic sales.

But there is also companies so big, that assigning a few people to the side project won't affect them at all, it's an almost nonexistant risk vs big reward. Yes, fans do some automatic sales, that's why many major franchizes like Star Wars no longer care about quality, but expirience tells that good games still sale more than bad games with existing fanbase.

try to query smaller devs who are less likely to even have HR

I tried, but they usually have the writer for main game they doing right now, and, unlike big companies, have no time or funds to do side projects.

lie if you have to

This is something i won't do. The only kind of things i will ever make up - is my stories. I have a special hatred for all kinds of lies, even the most harmless ones, like flattery. The only expection are fiction, where reader knows that it's not true.

Use your concepts and plots as portfolio that will help you get on board somewhere.

I cannot do that because they are the best of the best i ever created (and maybe even will create). Some of them took more than a decade to achieve the state of perfection. They are too valuable to just post them everywhere.

And, after all, i already have a game where all players were happy with the story. Despite it's being a small rpg from unknown developer, with lots of limitations, and even the story being only a prologue. Do you know many games where people liked not even a full game, but a prologue so much? Now imagine what i can do with at least few people in team and ability to tell whole story?

There's a social network for everything now, right? Game forums, message boards, reddit?

There was a whole paragraph in my letter about why i canno do that. In short - i am not a social person and not a leader. I can give clear directions and cooperate with team well, but i cannot make friends, and cannot bring people together. That is why i am searching for already formed collective. I don't want to lead, i want to just do my part and leave leadership for people who were born for that.

Find ways to adopt your plots and game designs into straight prose.

It will be bad. My expirience allows to tell it very clearly. And i don't want to do anything bad. My skills are unsuited for prose. It's like asking a horror wrtier to write a kid's fairytale - just not his area of expertise. Some birds can swim, but fish will always do it better.

Lastly, it's good to be confident, but saying things like : "Here, i can give them the plot that will easily beat plots of every major franchize of same genre out there. " is not helpful and frankly does not look good when you're trying to make an impression.

I am telling this because it's the only thing in the world i am confident in. In this example, i was speaking about military shooters - and since the release of Spec Ops - the Line there were hardly even just good plots in this kind of games, not even talking about great ones. All major players invested in visuals, but not the story. With such weak competition it will be very easy to beat all of them. Notice that i cannot tell the same about RPG genre, for example - because there is a lot of incredibly strong competitors there (and the best of recently released ones, Disco Elysium, by the way - came out from previously unknown developers - how it's not an example that only skill, and not fame matters?), and i can only hope to be on the same level with them. But overall quality of plots (and even game design) in the industry are quite poor, and it's a fact that hardly anyone will deny - that's why any game with half-decent plot usually instantly receives universal praise. I want to change that, and i know that i can help doing that. Is there anything wrong with it?

I believe that my stories are not just good, but above that. I spent my entire life only mastering this one art to make it possible. You are telling me to not say it... but then, what should i say? This quality of my stories is the only reason why someone should ever think about hiring me. Without them i am nothing but a biological trash, that's not good for even most simple work. So, if the only reason to hire me is quality of my stories being above average ones - what should i say, if i am not allowed to say that?

Let the work speak for itself.

There is a few things in the world that i would want more than this. You have no idea how i wish for someome to finally read my work and see how good it is, so i would not have to tell anything, and let my work speak for me. But how do i convince them to look at it? Even if it takes only a bit of time, like 10 or 20 minutes - i still having zero sucsess in such a simple task.

So English is your main issue? Or are there other requirements you're missing?

Geographical location. Several shipped projects. Education. Maybe something else i forgot about. But English (and any other language except Russian) are the main issue, yes. And it's quite big issue for the writer, because if someone looks for one - they require perfect language skills, and i have them only in Russian.

Of course that's not important for actual work, because it does not affect general plotline at all (it can be explained with very simple words), and all dialogues i write can be corrected to sound better - but it seems like people would rather chose an average writer with great language skill.

CDPR has very specific franchises they focus on: The Witcher and Cyberpunk. That is ALL they make for the time being.

Somehow i have a feeling that even despite release shift majority of work on CP is already over, and from Witcher franchize they are working only on Gwent atm. It seems like a right time to assign some of the people who already did all they could for those games to new jobs, because new game usually starting it's development cycle before current one getting released. I am may be wrong about it, but that's what i am hoping for.

 

[Suhiira]

Somehow i have a feeling that even despite release shift majority of work on CP is already over, <clip>

If it was a one or two month delay I'd agree, but five?

For whatever reason CDPR is unhappy with some element(s) of the games content. Might be graphics, skills, combat, side quests, a combination of all these, something else entirely. But something significant because of the amount of delay. You don't need that long to polish things, a month or two would do. It can't be a major change either (say FPS combat to character/RPG combat), because five months is to little for a fundamental system change.

 

[kwakkwak]

I hope I don't hurt your feelings but there is a big elephant in this room and it's called depression. You need to take of that first, because now you pity yourself and basically expect game developers to listen to you and hire you out of pity. You need to accept whatever situation you are in and work towards improving yourself, your talent(s) and your life like every other human being. Sure; some of us get dealt a better or worse hand of cards in life, but even with the shittiest hand you can still win a game if you learn how to play it. It almost seems like you one day decided to become a 'writer for videogames', and then never bothered to look into what an actual game designer does or what makes a good game. Check out this video for a start:

See this chart below? You are somewhere between the "naively confident" stage and "discouragingly realistic" stage now.

Right now you seem very focussed on negative things in your life, which is ok, but you need to accept sooner or later that this kind of negativity will get you nowhere in life. Look at your positive things; you have a lot of ideas (not everybody is creative), you finished at least one game already, you say the Ukraine sucks but get wellfare which allows you to spend a lot of time to develop your skills, some people are trying to get in this industry by improving their skills at night after having worked at Mc Donalds all day barely making enough money to survive. You need to stop making excuses and blaming other people (the whole 'developers dont have time for me' thing) and IMPROVE YOURSELF.

 

[ElvenNeko]

and basically expect game developers to listen to you and hire you out of pity

I kinda expect them to hire me because i can make games that will be remembered decades ago, those rare kind of games that are being replayed and loved no matter how outdated they are. This is the only reason why anyone should hire me. And i don't make empty promises - because i can provide them with complete work right from the start, even before they hire me, so they could get a look and decide if it's worth their attention.

What i do not understand - is why it's so hard, barely impossible to simply speak with people who might need my services. Feels like they live in another galaxy and all attempts to establish contact are doomed right from the start.

IMPROVE YOURSELF

How? I am at the top of my skill, some of my plots became flawless over all those years of polishing.

And i cannot improve any of my other skills because of my condition that i explained in post. It does not matter how hard i will try to do that, if my body isn't suited for that. The only thing i can do in life - is to find use to the only talent i have. And to do that i need to convince a developer to speak to me, but i have no idea how.

 

[Snowflakez]

What i do not understand - is why it's so hard, barely impossible to simply speak with people who might need my services. Feels like they live in another galaxy and all attempts to establish contact are doomed right from the start.

Oof. This hit home for me. I know the feeling of trying to break into an industry, where it feels like a giant brick wall is being put up in front of you.

 

[catnbox]

It's not word count. It's character count.

thanks for being here for this guy. i'm also a disabled vet dev student
and working towards making a game too.

here's some other ino that i hope helps
I recently came across science saying that the stress and that the most important thing in a person's life is good regular sleep.
the research also shows serious damage and possibly Alzheimer's from stress and lack of sleep. PLEASE for the health of your
employees watch Matthew Walker
on The Joe Rogan Experience episode #1109 or read his work Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams.

PLEASE remember that poor sleep and stress are the leading known contributors to Alzheimer's
There is extremely good news for Alzheimer's

Molecular switch for repairing central nervous system disorders

A molecular switch has the ability to turn on a substance in animals that repairs neurological damage in disorders such as multiple sclerosis (MS), researchers have discovered. The early research in animal models could advance an already approved Food and Drug Administration therapy and also...

www.sciencedaily.com

'Game-changing' work in Alzheimer's research uncovers possible new treatment for memory loss

A new drug-free treatment restores the memory of mice and gives scientists hope it could reverse the effects of Alzheimer's.

www.abc.net.au

 

[SMiki55]

This quality of my stories is the only reason why someone should ever think about hiring me. Without them i am nothing but a biological trash, that's not good for even most simple work.

Nobody is trash, and adding "biological" before it is only some ableist, eugenic bullsh*t. The quality of your work may be outstanding, but believing it to be the only good thing in you is outright fail. Depression will devour you if you hang to this sole thing.

Find a good psychologist, maybe therapist. Talk to them of your problems. Let them help you gain confidence! I wish you great success, but first and foremost you must take care of your health. Don't let Nurgle feed on your despair

 

[ElvenNeko]

I know the feeling of trying to break into an industry, where it feels like a giant brick wall is being put up in front of you.

It reminds me an episode from Carole & Tuesday, when they come to famous dj and he just assumes that their music is trash without even listening, because he spents millions to create his tracks with help of the ai and refuses to believe that some girls can make better music.

They end up being ok anyway, but, sadly, real life is not fiction. For now, i can only hope that not all people in game industry are that kind of smug, and that one day i will meet someone who will believe in me enough to start a talk.

The quality of your work may be outstanding, but believing it to be the only good thing in you is outright fail.

It is the truth. My brain works in most unexpected ways - it starts from having very different tastes and thoughts than majority of normal humans, and ends up in me being unable to do even most simple tasks, no matter how hard i try.
You won't say "saying that you cannot run is outright fail" to the man without legs, right? But you saying this to me only because my problem is not visible and obvious. You think from your expirience and cannot even imagine how it is - to fail in every single thing you try to do... except writing video games, that just comes naturally to me.

I don't need confidence, i only need a developer to speak to.

 

[kwakkwak]

How do you even know that your stories are THAT good if you aren't willing to share them? You claim that they have reached some sort of legendary status because you took years to polish them, yet you apparently have no portfolio or anything to show for it except for that one game. Have you considered the possibility that most game developers (or anybody in any other industry that decides in a hiring process) hardly have any time, and you are making it superhard for them to even see anything from you. CDPR is considered one of the best developers in the world, and you expect them to drop all their shit and take the time to read one of your stories just because YOU think they are really good? They probably get hundreds of job applicants a month and you are probably making it the hardest of them all!

I get it; you want a chance to show what you are capable of, but there are thousands of other people that are trying to get into this industry that DO have stuff to show for it. A CDPR quest designer literally replied to you and advised you to SHOW your work and you still complain that nobody wants to look at it (I also work in the game industry btw, so thats two already). You are basically driving yourself in a corner man, unless you are willing to share your work (or have a portfolio) it's pointless to apply anywhere because nobody in the industry has time for this.

 

[ElvenNeko]

How do you even know that your stories are THAT good if you aren't willing to share them?

Comparison. And i am willing to share them, just not publicly, that will only devalue them. I quess you never saw a game made out of published script, right?

yet you apparently have no portfolio or anything to show for it except for that one game

Can you explain why i need more, if my game has zero negative feedback about the story, even regardless that it's only a prologue and shows only a tiny bit of what i can do? Or you think that quanity should go over quality?
I would be glad to do more, but i need a team for that.

hardly have any time, and you are making it superhard for them to even see anything from you

They can play my game to see at least a bit, then pick any theme they interested in from my list, and i will send them the document. Shortest of them are only 3 pages long, that takes 1-2 minutes to read. Longest is around 26, it takes 10-20 minues to read, depending on how fast you do that. How is any of that superhard? From my point of view it seems as easy as possible, because unlike many people who would start working only after joining the team, i already offer to look at complete work.

I doubt that even presidents of the countries are so busy that they don't have 20 free minutes per day. They just have a choice between "read 9gag for a bit", or "watch the new episode of something", or "look at my work". It would only take to skip some of those small activities to have enough time, and for people who enjoying games as much as i do it must be an interesting thing to do as well.

A CDPR quest designer literally replied to you and advised you to SHOW your work

Unless i understand english very wrong, the only CDRP member who replied here only suggested me to add my actual writings to the letter as an example when i apply. He didn't asked to show anything to him personally, or i would do that instantly. The thing is that i am already doing what he suggested - when i am writing the letters i adding not only my game as an example, but sometimes also other small things (for example, a way to improve a quest in game made by the company i apply to). But my letters would still be ignored by the HR team - in CDPR example it will happen as soon as they read about my bad English and not knowing Polish at all (that's required for every writer's opening). That's why i need to show my work directly to the developer, so they could see that it's worth their attention even despite my language problem.

How can i convince them to look at my full work in private? If it helps, i could even publish "Totally not a Witcher" concept right here, in this post, because it has very little value - there is no plot and very few game design elements, just general description of the world and it's lore without much details except the most important ones. I don't know how it will be much different from Project Fire, that also doing same job (introducing player into new universe and explaining it's lore), but a lot better because it's a game where i can show a lot more of world building examples than on paper, but... If they will want me to do it - i will. Just say the word.

 

[dogukans]

First of all, you think your stories are good but we have no idea about them. Well, I want to be a game writer one day too. In fact, I created an universe already and working on it for years but still far away from perfection. And unlike you, I am willing to share something about that universe.

In this universe, world is controlled by an organization called Free World Organization. This organization was created by a man called John Greer, former MI6 agent. He believed current word order is totally nonsense and he had to change that. He easily found people who sharing same ideal and created FWO. In short amount of time he had enough power to get noticed by governments. Though, he decided to stay low until he is sure world couldn't resist his big attack. He created secret underground bases in the world (one of them is in Alaska, which FWO's main training center. Will be explained later) and persuaded a lot of scientists for creating advanced weapons. He also attacked critical points of governments and made important assassinations. His propaganda was so strong that a lot of people was joining his cause, even some of enemy who tried to destroy FWO. Eventually, in 2024 he had millions of people under his command with advanced equipments and weapons, thus they attacked the governments. Countries defended themselves for months, though their technology wa outdated and eventually surrendered. Like promised, John Greer brought peace and more fair order to world and is controlled by FWO now. Though there's people who wants old order and created their resistance, using mostly guerilla tactics.

Ofc there's much more stuff and characters but it'd take hours to write all of them here. See? This story has loads of flaws needed to fixed.

Well what I suggest you is drop overconfidence and learn some game making skills, also try your luck in ID@Xbox program. Maybe they'll help you. Your disability isn't stopping you from game making I hope

 

[Hiperon]

I understand you.
Yet, agree with ElvenNeko 100%.
It's not companies/game developers job to put effort into understanding you. You need to make it easy to them, by simply making portfolio.
Also, for now, only person who is saying, that your writing ideas are good, is you. That's not enough.
I wish you best, but know, that every post when you refused someone else opinion, you made me more and more believe "his not ready yet,".

 

[SigilFey]

Unless i understand english very wrong, the only CDRP member who replied here only suggested me to add my actual writings to the letter as an example when i apply. He didn't asked to show anything to him personally, or i would do that instantly. The thing is that i am already doing what he suggested - when i am writing the letters i adding not only my game as an example, but sometimes also other small things (for example, a way to improve a quest in game made by the company i apply to). But my letters would still be ignored by the HR team - in CDPR example it will happen as soon as they read about my bad English and not knowing Polish at all (that's required for every writer's opening). That's why i need to show my work directly to the developer, so they could see that it's worth their attention even despite my language problem.

Including a portfolio is a very good idea. Customizing the application and portfolio to a company is another good idea. Brevity is another good idea.

(There are at least 5 people here laughing their toofuses off at me right now, but I'm ignoring that.)

Always be as brief as possible when making first contact. Compress, compress, compress. Or in another light: "Show, don't tell."

How can i convince them to look at my full work in private?

You don't. You either have what a company is looking for at that point in time, or not. You deal with the outcome. Instead of spending time trying to convince people to look at your work, continue sending it to more people.

Unfortunately -- and I, personally, don't like the way this works either -- landing positions in the creative field is mostly solicitation with a minority of work here and there. (Some of it, you're actually paid for! )

_______________


I've been doing content / copy writing since the mid 1990s (never full-time, but fairly steady). Worked for a few gaming studios, but it's mostly been freelance work or PR stuff for theatre troupes. Did work for various industries over the 7 years I lived in Dubai, which continues to this day. Also worked for a couple of agencies, though only briefly. (And I'd recommend steering away from agencies unless all you want is a paycheck.) I think your expectations are simply not lining up with the reality of the situation and the field:

1.) Brief? Why? Because the first person you're likely to speak to in any company or studio is not an artist, developer, designer, gamer, and (almost certainly) not a writer. They're likely an HR rep that gets waaay too many applications every week to look at each in detail. Or, they're the head of a tiny studio that just doesn't have time to read over long applications.

1a.) Brevity also exhibits accurate focus. If someone can target what I'm looking for in </=250 words, I'm going to be far more impressed with that person in terms of meeting my needs than I will be with someone that makes me comb through 10 pages to get a sense of their mojo. Remember, you're not selling yourself to people that think like you. Or value the same things you do. Or will ever even remotely care. Give the people what they want, but always leave them wanting a little more.

2.) Use your network. (And if you don't have a network, start working on that, first.) I'm a lot like you, value-wise, and this is probably the most difficult thing to accept (in any industry), but it's the way it works. It's pretty self-defeating to "go it alone" and "stand on our own merits". Knowing the right person in the right spot is key to advancing a career. And no, I'm not talking about "underhanded" / "backroom" stuff. Look at it this way, if I'm in charge of a business, and I have limited resources to find a person vital to our success, who am I more likely to consider? The random person I've never heard of that sent me some good stuff...or the equally impressive candidate that was recommended to me by someone I've worked with for years? That's the reality. The definition of business is "risk", so people are going to calculate their risks.

3.) Always be working, when you can. Goes directly with the networking thing. It doesn't have to be huge, and it doesn't have to be all that much. But if writers don't have at least a few current clients / employers that can vouch for their work, it's making them really unmarketable. Branch out. Do some freelance stuff. Get into areas you're not familiar with. Learn to cater to different needs. Always have someone recent to contact for a reference: for professional work, not "character" references. (Those are important, too, but they can't carry you.)

4.) On the gaming end...(briefly......)
Absolutely mind-blowingly, awesomely incredible, this-is-solid-gold game design concepts...are a dime-a-dozen. So, why do they never get noticed? Why are there not thousands of absolutely mind-blowingly, awesomely...(etc.) games on the market right now!? Because: business. Of all the good stuff submitted to a studio, only one can be focused on. All the rest will, quite obviously, not be selected. Your competition will be fierce. (And so what? Don't we enjoy the challenge?)

5.) Even superb ideas will often not be possible for real-life, logistical concerns. Being able to balance that against our own drive is extremely important. I am very sorry to say this, but passionate idealists are often very difficult to work with. (And I can confirm that from both perspectives, top and bottom. I've watched things struggle from both points-of-view.) Tone down the intensity. Make sure the people you're talking to feel relaxed. You settle them down, not the other way around. If you don't care for the way it all feels...you can always say "no".

6.) Promoting your game designs...
...is not an effective avenue toward landing a job with a studio. Yes, a portfolio of good stuff can impress people...or scare them off in minutes. Studios will be looking for people that can facilitate their designs. They will have no shortage of awesome game concepts (see #5), and are almost certainly not looking for someone to come up with something totally new. If you want to develop your own games, stop looking for employers and start looking for investors. (Note: this is even harder than finding an employer.) If you're looking to be hired, definitely don't focus on following your own pursuits. As someone that's hiring, that's a red-flag warning to me that you'll either be very set in your own vision or likely to jump ship if someone favors one of your personal ideas.

7.) Just create. We're living in a cool time. The whole crowdfunding option has literally opened the floodgates for artists and visionaries. Now, I've never tried to crowdfund one of my own projects, but I have been involved in a crowdfunding venture that went south. Not hard to do. Be prepared to learn how not impressive your best ideas may be to others, regardless of how sure you are about them. Also, be prepared to be stunned when you discover that people came up with your ideas...or better...years before you ever stepped forward. There are brilliant minds on this planet, and they will not wait around for anyone else. (Sadly, most will never be noticed.)

Invent and reinvent.

 

[ElvenNeko]

And unlike you, I am willing to share something about that universe.

Funny, i wrote a simillar story around 16 years ago, but it wasn't for video game (i tried to explore various mediums back then), but for tv serial. It starts with group of us military who are going rogue and stealing a nuclear sub, and their leader has to kill a close friend who were standing in his way because he believed that his mission is more important. Then, an agent who were tasked with investigation finds out that simillar things happening all around the world - but there is no public attention because every country is asamed to admit such a breach in their deffences and trying to settle everything in secret. During his investigation he manages to infiltrate the organization behind it, but it's already too late, because they made first move - vice president read their demands live on tv, and then blow himself and the white house to prove that they are not messing around. They want a simple thing - for all countries to stop the warfare and surrender all military power to them, so they can keep the peace. If they refuse - bombs planted in biggest cities and important objects would be detonated, and heads of the governments would be assasinated by the sleeping agents. Some countries instantly make public statement about refusing to cooperate - and facing the consequences. The agent who are now investigating the organizating under cover, trying to trace every string they pulling are torn apart - he starts to believe in their goals because he meets someone he used to trust a lot among their ranks and that person manages to open his eyes on the world order and how it could be improved, but he is also loyal to his country, and the actions of the organization also threaten safety of his family, so now he must pick a side.

But at some point i lost interest to this story and dropped it's development, and also because at that time i were already switching to video game stories instead. Now the only cool thing i can remember about it - were my favorite character, "blind man with a vision", while the everything else seems kinda meh compared to what i write now.

But there is a clear reason why i cannot share any of my current work: have you ever saw a game made out of published script? Even if contents get leaked - people are tasked to remake it already.

Also, for now, only person who is saying, that your writing ideas are good, is you.

So people who played my game do not count? There is not a single one who told that my story was bad, despite it's being only a prologue and not displaying top of my skill. It has to mean something.

Also it's easy to check out. You only need 5-15 minutes to read the plot summary or gameplay concept, if you don't have a few hours to play the game.


SigilFey - thanks for detailed reply, i have many things to tell for you as well, but again forum complains about character count, so i will have to wait for one more comment to do that

 

[Sild]

Go ahead.

 

[ElvenNeko]

Thanks you. Here goes:

Including a portfolio is a very good idea.

Sorry, i am not sure i understand you. The more i try think about meaning of this words, the more my head hurts - like i told, i am not smart at all in anything except my writing. How is having a portfolio is different from me showing the game i made? Do i have to do provide more examples of my creations... why? Just for the sake of quantity? What if i cannot make anything good without a team - should i make something bad just for quantity? I am really confused (just like with most things that seems normal for society).

Once i tried to make a game just on my own. I picked up random plot that i came up with in half hour or something, and i did... this: https://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/8zv2sz Few people liked it, yes. But it isn't something that i would even concider showing in my portfolio, just because it simply does not represent even a bit of what i am really capable at. And it's way bellow Project Fire, of course. So, why show it, if i can show Project Fire instead?

Always be as brief as possible when making first contact. Compress, compress, compress. Or in another light: "Show, don't tell."

I doubt that if i just write "Hi, i can help you to make games of higer quality, look at my concept" people will be interested. I feel like i need to explain why i think so, what expirience do i have, etc... Am i wrong?

They're likely an HR rep

I know this. And this is why i wrote this letter - i have no chance to ever get past by the HR because he has no intention to figure out possible benefits of hiring me, he justs sees that i do not meet the requirements and tosses the letter to the spam. I will only have a chance if someone competent enough to review my work will look at it.

Use your network.

Like i already told, it's not possible. I am not a social person. I have only one friend who is just as associal as me, and we only play online games from time to time. I don't communicate with people irl at all unless it's about something that must be done. And for people i worked with on mods - i don't have their contacts, we all communicated trough chats.
I only getting involved in conversations with strangers on boards and forums (like we are doing now), but i don't make personal contacts with anyone. I quess i just wasn't born for this.

I'm in charge of a business, and I have limited resources to find a person vital to our success, who am I more likely to consider? The random person I've never heard of that sent me some good stuff...or the equally impressive candidate that was recommended to me by someone I've worked with for years?

How would you know that the other candidate is EQUALLY impressive if you never saw the work of the first one? If i were in charge of buisness, i would give both a test job and picked the one who handles it better.


It's like you have two cakes. One is recommended by your close friend, and second offered by the shop to taste it for free. Why would you refuse to give it a taste, if you don't have to pay for it? Just becuase friend recommended another? I belive that most people have their own head on the shoulders (especially those who are in charge of anything), and not doing everything in their lives relying on the co-worker's advice.

Get into areas you're not familiar with. Learn to cater to different needs.

I wish my brain allowed me to...

The definition of business is "risk", so people are going to calculate their risks.

So you are telling me that people are "risking" to spend 5-15 minutes on reading my concept and not being satisfied with it? I always thought that risk is all about losing something. If there is nothing to lose, what's the risk is about?

Why are there not thousands of absolutely mind-blowingly, awesomely...(etc.) games on the market right now!? Because: business. Of all the good stuff submitted to a studio, only one can be focused on. All the rest will, quite obviously, not be selected.

Then, comes the question: why there is so little good games? Majority of them are completly medicore and forgettable, even if made by big studios with huge budgets. That's why when something like Disco Elysium is made by small and unknown studio come out - happens a huge burst of praise. Why? Yes, of course because it's an excellent game in first place, but mostly because competitors are so bad that games like this feel like a miracle to players, when it should be a common thing. And there is also games like Radical Heighs or Umbrella Corps - games that were obviously doomed right from the start. Everyone with a bit of taste and common sense knew it since they saw trailers. But games were still developed. People wasted money and effort on that, and other simillar trash. Why? How could big and expirienced studio like Capcom fund something so worthless? Isn't this a real risk - developing a game that's obviously doomed to fail? Spending efforts of talanted people on something nobody needs? But you are telling me that the real risk is spending 15 minutes to read the possibly better concept before starting the development. That... does not make any sense to me. It always make me so sad to see another horrible game made out of good assets, because i think what i could done if i had that budget and developers...


If you telling that every studio has lots of ideas, but what's picked are usually either medicore or even flat out terrible, what does it means? Are the rest of their ideas are even worse than this, or the person in charge are always incompetent and picking the worst possible idea from the list?


Because for me it seems like many studios have many talanted people who can create awesome graphics and animations, able to make interesting features with code, but when it comes to originality of the concept or, especially - the story, they just saying "hey, my 3-th grader son wrote a fanfic, maybe we will use it?". It's hard to believe that what they do - is they best they could do. Right now even studios who were always known for their excellent writing, like Obsidian (and i simply adored their games before) are releasing something like Outter Worlds - dull, boring, predictable and uninspired so much, that some of the quests (like cannibal family) causing literal facepalms about how poorly they are written. Why? Studios like them should not lack talent. After all, they were awesome before.

Even CDPR, who so far is known for having both excellent plots and gameplay still making tiny mistakes - for example, a very player-sided and just broken ballance and economy system in Thronebreaker, that also causing negative impact on the story (for example, if i have tons on unneeded gold despite building and bying everything i could - the choice of giving away money to the hungry or keeping them is obvious and not a choice at all, because i don't need those money anyway, i don't feel like i am sacrificing my own power to improve their lives). Everyone has a room to improve.

Even superb ideas will often not be possible for real-life, logistical concerns.

I already worked with other developers and more or less know what is what. Yes, few of my plots will require a lot of work to be done properly. But there is others who can be developed in team of less than 5 people. Also, majority of them are flexible - i have several gameplay concepts, and, if needed - can adapt my stories for whatever gameplay the studio will want to make, cut and edit parts of the story for budget limitations, better ideas from other members of the crew, etc. After all, i already did all of that with Project Fire - game came out to be nowhere near as i imagined it too be because of too many limits in my way, but i still managed to make it good enough for people to enjoy it, and my partner improved it even more with few really cool ideas and awesome animations. That's why working with team is so important - together almost anything becomes possible, and if it's not - group can find a way around that.

Be prepared to learn how not impressive your best ideas may be to others, regardless of how sure you are about them

Also, be prepared to be stunned when you discover that people came up with your ideas..

I had expirienced both of those. Once - at the same time! And i could tell you about that, but... character count hits me again) So i will do that in next comment.

 

[SMiki55]

character count hits me again

.

 

[ElvenNeko]

Thank you, SMiki55!

Be prepared to learn how not impressive your best ideas may be to others, regardless of how sure you are about them
Also, be prepared to be stunned when you discover that people came up with your ideas..

Like i said, i expirienced both of those, and once it even happened at the same time.

Back in year 2005 (or maybe 2006, my memory were always bad) i played a browser game called Urban Dead - it was about a world infested by zombies, you needed to scavenge, find shelter, cooperate or fight with other players and ai-zombies, and if you were infected - you could turn into zombie and have unique skill tree, so you could go hunt some players.

I was so impressed by this game that i came out with simillar concept for thrid-person open-world shooter rpg that had simillar key features, but also a lof of new ideas (for example, building outposts, factories, etc, instead of simply barricading existing houses). And i made a mistake by publishing it on various gaming forums. You know how people there reacted? There were not a single positive opinion. "You must be a moron if you think anyone will play a game where you lose all your stuff after death" - they said, and many other things like that. Even providing them with examples of other successfull games where PvP interactions and world simulation were key features, such as Ultima Online or TimeZero wasn't enough to convince them that it would be fun to play.

I was still dreaming about game like that all years to come, but because of those people i also started to believe that it would not be popular, and i will be one of the few players who would like that kind of gameplay.

And you know what? When many years later DayZ, game that were literal manifestation of my concept (minus professions, production, stealth and some other small details) came out, and gave birth to the huge wave of survival games - everyone was playing it and enjoying it, as well as the other games that came after. I bet that even all those people who criticiezed my concept were jumping into survival train.

This told me an important lesson: publishing a concept for random bypassers are waste of time. Majority of them have no idea what they want and ready to criticize everything that's out of their comfort zone before they even could try playing that game, and also they are not expirienced enough to make a proper judgement about the concept of the game, to see the potential in it.

No, i do not believe that all players on those forums could not recoglize the pontential. Just not the vocal majority. The rest either decided to not comment at all, or didn't wanted to go against the crowd. And in this world, sadly, the crowd that screams louder usually concidered to be right no matter what.

So the best possible course of action i see: share concept with professionals who is able to see it's value, if they like it - make game together, and then let people decide what they think about it, when they can actually try playing it instead of making theories. People are often huge conservators, they afraid to try something new, but their opinion changes fast when they see how good it's actually are. Even i often do that mistake - for example, i didn't wanted to play Pyre because of it's battle system that reminded me football, but it ended up becoming one of my favorite games, and i spent lots of time convicing people on forums to try it out as well. I have to constantly remind myself to be more open-minded about things that does not seems good at first glance, because the only way to find out the truth about them - is to try them. You will never know the truth before you get the actual expirience.

This is why i want to reach the developers, people who have enough knowledge and expirience to instantly identify the potential in the concept or plot they see. All i want is real professional to judge my work and decide if it's worth his (or maybe some of his colleagues - because even if the developer who will read it won't be able to make the game, he could still give recommendations for others) attention. Just one person who will trust in me enough to spare those 15 minutes on reading my work - is all i want from this life, and i could give away anything, even parts of my body or my entire life (but, sadly, it's worthless) if i could make it happen.

p.s. And it's perfectly normal that other people already made several games that's exactly like i envisioned in my concepts. After all i am not some kind of genius - i just work really hard to seperate a good ideas from bad ones, and then make them even better. So there is no surprise that with so much people out in the world some of them also had same kind of ideas, and also resourses needed to make games out of them. After all, there are rarely something 100% original - new things are usually taking inspiration from something. For example my 7-th concept takes various elements from at least 6 different games and simply combines them in a way like nobody did before. It feels like taking a lego parts that's made for a car and making a plane out of them simply because they fit just right.

But my stories are different thing. There were a few games with simillar settings and a few plot twists, but most of the time i try to make them as fresh and free of popular cliches as possible, i believe that most immersive, thought-provoking, teaching, emotional and just fun to expirience stories can come out only from burst of inspiration. I try to use all my knowledge and feelings to make a trueally memorable adventures, and hope that one day people will be able to expirience at least one of them.

 

[RaynStargaze]

Ive read the first few paragraphs of your first 2 posts.

Your english isnt very good. There are numerous grammar mistakes in just those few paragraphs ive read.

Sincerely.

 

[SigilFey]

Sorry, i am not sure i understand you. The more i try think about meaning of this words, the more my head hurts - like i told, i am not smart at all in anything except my writing. How is having a portfolio is different from me showing the game i made? Do i have to do provide more examples of my creations... why? Just for the sake of quantity? What if i cannot make anything good without a team - should i make something bad just for quantity? I am really confused (just like with most things that seems normal for society).

Once i tried to make a game just on my own. I picked up random plot that i came up with in half hour or something, and i did... this:

A portfolio does not have a set "way" of being done. In fact, the more creatively it's presented, the better the response, in my experience. Tricky for writers, as we don't have a lot of visuals to include, so I add them. Even if it's only to include logos of the company I was writing for or some publicity shots of a performance. If I'm gunning for something in particular, I'll tend to cater the bits I include to only stuff that would directly apply to that job or gig.

And again, brief. A few articles or something, a heavily redacted version of a value statement or mission statement written for investors, or a mere excerpt from some of my creative writing. And again, only what applies. (I mean, a person looking for a technical writer or to deal with correspondence between businesses or clients are not going to be very interested in reading a sci-fi short-short that I wrote back in 1995.)

Keep it simple: 3-5 submissions they can read over in a matter of minutes, and a statement that you'll be happy to provide other examples if needed.

Few people liked it, yes. But it isn't something that i would even concider showing in my portfolio, just because it simply does not represent even a bit of what i am really capable at. And it's way bellow Project Fire, of course. So, why show it, if i can show Project Fire instead?

I would definitely include things that tend to be "crowd pleasers", and I would definitely avoid things that received lots of negative feedback (...unless I felt it was what the client or employer was looking for).

Including a piece that's off-beat or quirky is fine -- even helpful if it's clever or funny. Shows range and voice in a positive way.

I'd outright avoid things that are overly dark, violent, or controversial unless it specifically applies to that job.

...justs sees that i do not meet the requirements and tosses the letter to the spam.

Well, it's both better and worse than that. A lot of larger companies will utilize an ASO to auto-screen applications that lack applicable keywords. It will often scan all uploaded documentation, so ensuring that you include prominent keywords 2-3 times can be helpful. On that same coin -- don't overdo it. If the same term appears too many times, the engine may autoflag the message as spam.

If it gets to a person, they will likely read your cover letter quite thoroughly and skim over the rest of your application (resume, certifications, portfolio, etc.) If they choose to set the application aside, there will be a reason for it. You will probably never get a straight answer as to what, exactly. You'll have to analyze.

So you are telling me that people are "risking" to spend 5-15 minutes on reading my concept and not being satisfied with it? I always thought that risk is all about losing something. If there is nothing to lose, what's the risk is about?

No, I'm telling you they often won't risk hiring an unknown over someone that comes recommended internally. Remember that game development is both highly competitive and extremely complex in terms of personnel management. The hiring process is both expensive and time-consuming. Even smaller studios of just a few people need to make sure they have the right person for the job. (Still complex, too, as the smaller the team, the more lateral everyone's responsibilities become. They may need to avoid specialists and hire people with rounder sets of skills.)

And sometimes, yup, at the expense of some wider concern for the game. Grammar may not be perfect...netcode might be buggy...really cool feature needed to be cut...but they'll be able to release the game.

I will only have a chance if someone competent enough to review my work will look at it.

Then, comes the question: why there is so little good games? Majority of them are completely medicore and forgettable, even if made by big studios with huge budgets.

This negativity is working against you, and (yes, I'm doing this on purpose) attitude is everything. (Shameless...)

Well, not everything, certainly, but it will have a big impact. You tend to have a high opinion of yourself and a low opinion of others...others being a group largely made up of people you've never met. That's a serious danger zone.

It's a small, small world. You have no idea if the "mediocre, forgettable" games you're referencing (even if not by name) may well have been worked on by the very people reviewing your application or interviewing you. This type of condescension (and that is exactly what it is) will come through clearly in your attitude and energy. Regardless of how merited your opinions may be, no one is eager to work with someone who feels free to put their opinions above others. Bad news, man.

Also, your opinions are completely subjective. Denouncing the methodology or style a studio is planning on using is a direct doorway to not being considered for the position. (And remember, you have no idea what they're planning until you're hired. So, if there's nothing nice to say...)

Why? How could big and expirienced studio like Capcom fund something so worthless? Isn't this a real risk - developing a game that's obviously doomed to fail? Spending efforts of talanted people on something nobody needs?

The point of producers is to make money, not "great games". The studio may have fantastic ideas, but the producers will say "no" because they're looking at the bottom line at all times. Many games are not made to do new and exciting things; they're built according to a well-established formula to capitalize on the existing market. A game that everyone utterly hates, that the studio and producers may understand full-well will be negatively received, can still make enough money on just release day to be profitable. Extremely so, sometimes. Sometimes...that was the plan from the very beginning.

Welcome to the biz. If you intend to work in it, these are realities you'll have to grow accustomed to. You're not being hired to tell the directors and producers what they're doing wrong -- you're being hired to write and/or design. If you intend to call shots and work according to your own philosophies, once again, it would be better to try to fund your own venture.

I already worked with other developers and more or less know what is what. Yes, few of my plots will require a lot of work to be done properly. But there is others who can be developed in team of less than 5 people. Also, majority of them are flexible - i have several gameplay concepts, and, if needed - can adapt my stories for whatever gameplay the studio will want to make, cut and edit parts of the story for budget limitations, better ideas from other members of the crew, etc. After all, i already did all of that with Project Fire - game came out to be nowhere near as i imagined it too be because of too many limits in my way, but i still managed to make it good enough for people to enjoy it, and my partner improved it even more with few really cool ideas and awesome animations. That's why working with team is so important - together almost anything becomes possible, and if it's not - group can find a way around that.

Well, I certainly can't argue with your experience if that was it. Mine was different. I would describe the overall system of development as "happy chaos". General progress interrupted by unexpected issues, then back to the grind. No studio I worked with handled things the same way or at the same pace as any other. Kind of like a theatrical production, there is a general day-to-day that is pretty established, but the challenges that cropped up and the experience of going from pre-production to "release" is different every time.