Game development

[Draxalite]

Hi guys sup. If someone were to head the development of a side scrolling offline indie game (think of grand chase or elsword but offline) how many people would it take to complete that project in 2 years working 4 hours a day 5 days a week? I'm referring to everyone from programmers artists composers to producers.

[Brooksie359]

That is a hugely vague question. No way to give a time estimate to complete a project with such little information.

[Slottr]

It's almost impossible to answer because there's so many factors 

Things will go wrong down the line, how long will it take to fix? Oh no, someone quit- we need to find someone asap

 

It's supremely dependent on the environment and people you're working with.

[mariushm]

Depends on how much money you can throw at it and how many talented people you can find.

 

a few people to do pixel art, a few to make sound effects, a few to record voices (if any)...  a few to code the game engine if starting from scratch

while the game engine is being made some people could do game levels, some could translate the text to other languages if you want more than just English..

It could be from as little as 2-3 weeks if someone already has a game engine for side scrollers, a few years.

6 months to a year would be a safe estimation.

 

[NitroUK]

Your request is very vague. I'd require more information to be able to provide an answer to your question.

[Fredrik Svantesson]

1. Write a game design document

2. From this document, write a content rundown, listing all the assets, mechanics etc. that needs to be implemented, estimate how many hours it would take for each of the things

3. Multiply this estimate by 2, and you have a decent and somewhat realistic result.

 

Given that it's an offline, sidescrolling indie game, you dont need many programming hours (at least if you have an _experienced_ programmer), and if you are using a AAA engine like UE4, leveldesign should be a breeze as well. I think art (including animation), audio, and music is what will take the most time here, depending on art direction and such.

 

Good luck!

[Guest]

Skill & experience play a part as well as the tools. 

[rickymohk]

Number of people and working hours per person are not entirely interchangeable. It can be impossible to complete a certain task within a limited period of time even if you have infinite manpower.