From the article archive
Episode 7.5: The Bonus Column
In the forums, Ed Healy asked a whole bunch of very good questions. Since a lot of folks have been asking for a few more “down-to-earth” game design considerations, I thought I’d take a minute or two and jot down my answers.
Consider this a “bonus” column, if you will. Have fun!
What thought do you give to products beyond the main rulebook?
None.
At least, for the moment. The more I write, the more I discover that ORKWORLD is going to have to be at least 200 pages.
But there's a school of thought in the game industry that believes if you don't have supplements, you might as well consider your game a "dead game". People won't buy your game if you don't support it. Something I'll have to consider. ORKWORLD adventures? Won't make a lot of money. Published adventures are the -worst- selling of all the things you can publish for a game. Make something -mandatory- and people will buy it.
That's the trap.
People -complain- that you have mandatory supplements for your game (and I do have issue with the word "mandatory"), but they won't buy anything that isn't mandatory.
Interesting, eh?
On the other hand, I do plan to do an ORKWORLD novel at some time. Small press as well.
If your game will have multiple supplements, how do you design the production plan so that you don't sacrifice the value of a product by making it obsolete with future supplements, and how do you ensure that each supplement is actually needed without turning it into just 'another book'?
That's another good question. As you're writing, you start asking the question, "Does this belong in the main book or in a supplement?" That decision, one of the -hardest- in game design, is one you have to face all alone.
And trust me, you’ll hang for it, no matter what you decide.
But if you don’t come out with supplements, you’ve got a dead game. As long as you’re printing supplements, you’re game is “alive” and well.
Tricky, isn’t it?
Assuming you have your game already designed, how would you go about getting artists? Is there some sort of organization (like GAMA) which helps bring manufacturers and artists together?
If you join GAMA (something I keep meaning to do), you’ll have access to their membership directory. At the very least, this will get you in contact with other game designers who have worked with artists. In general, however, I’ve found art directors love passing on contact information. There’s not a lot of money in the game industry, and another gig is, after all, another gig.
Joining GAMA does give you a few options you can’t get yourself. You can find out for yourself by going to www.gama.org.
For me, I've worked with a couple of artists on projects before, so it's easy for me to give 'em a call and say "I got a check in my hands. Wanna draw?"
Also, what are some things to be aware of when working with artists? What are the pros and cons of buying art outright as opposed to licensing its use for your game and letting the artist retain full ownership of it?
It's a lot more expensive. Two times more expensive. Many artists have a policy of selling art at the price they got paid for it. So, if I pay an artist 100 dollars for a full-page piece of b&w, he's selling it for that same amount.
Each artist is different. You have to approach them all in different ways.
[Note: I assume here that you don't know a dozen established artists already] Also, where would someone with a small art budget start, as opposed to someone with a healthy doze of cash to throw around?
Get a friend to do it for you. Someone who hasn't broken into the industry yet. The prices I talked about in my column are reasonable for a professional artist. In many cases, they're too low. Don't believe me? Find out for yourself.
What are some of the better printing companies out there?
The best thing to do is look at Lightning Print. They've got a web page.
For the small press guy, LP has lots of advantages. The biggest is that you can “print to order”. That means, if you get 24 orders for your RPG, you can print up 24 copies and ship ‘em off. In most cases, printers want you to print at least 3,000 copies of your book. There’s a start-up cost, but for the general RPG book, it usually costs about 4 bucks per copy.
Unfortunately, I can’t find their web page right now. I’ll have to give that to you on Friday.
That’s all for now.
On Friday, more magic — including mechanics!
See you then.