Hi, i am interested to know how much it would cost to produce a web browser game like glory of fellowland or tribal wars. Text web browser game, with 2d art, little to no flash. And how long it would take as well, thanks!
I asked a similar question on one of the other forums, but never got a decent answer, so i'll subscribe here and hope to get some info on browser game dev too.
Well, it depends on the game. For a good game, you need to hire good programmers, 3d/2d designers, network engineers, and so on. For starter you need to choose very professional experienced software engineers. For Programming. $50 per person * 8 hours a day * 20 days(for a month) = $8000 per month. Networking and servers.(Let's say we get cloud computing) = $500 per month. Designers $100 per person * 8 hours a day * 20 days = $8000 per month Other costs = $1000 like testing, security etc. Roughly all cost per month = $17500 per month Let's say it takes 3-6 months to finish the project, do your math. But if you hire Indian or Pakistan guys by outsourcing you can do for less. But it is just a roughly guess.
As a browser game developer, I can say that it can take anywhere from a month to a year (depending on how complex you want it). This is assuming that you dedicate a good portion of your time to the game. It took one-month to make most of the features in my browser based game, however I could have easily taken a year if I wanted it to be highly polished. Programming was free, as I did it myself. My linode VPS costs $20 monthly. Art varies a lot, it ranges from a little (if you spend $2-$3 for items like this): To a lot, if you want the best of the best ($10 to $20 per item). If you want more advice, feel free to ask.
With all the popular flash based games out there... I would think text base browser games are dated. Back when MySpace first introduced "MySpace Applications" that's what was popular... I can't see them holding a lot of peoples interests these days.
I want to make a tribal wars/travian/glory of fellowland clone type, online browser strategy game. (I can't give a link because its not available to me) Unfortunately right now, I'm kinda confused. Having problems understanding the graphic engine. Are these games simply using isometric grids? Whereby the world map is made by piecing together squares of sprites together? And they have a few different variations such as a sprite and tile for grassland, forest etc and they piece squares of such tiles together to form the world map?
Red__codec i sent you a PM, but basic text-based RPGs have many scripts which have been passed around; cloned and have the same basic context. PHP, Mysql programming is required. Web design, as well. Finally maybe Photoshop for 2D images.
Hi Tim, May I know how long did it take the 5 of you ( I am assuming all 5 of you were involved in the programming) to write the script?
You're actually asking "how high is up?" One game can end up costing $10,000 to bring to a finish, another almost identical game can cost $500,000 to do. Numbers won't help you. There are two paths: 1) Do all the work yourself, or with a small group of friends (who may not all remain friends by the time you finish). It';ll be finished when it's finished, and be as good as it is. 2) Hire the people needed to get it done the way you want, in the time you want. It'll cost what it costs. You can specify the cost, you can specify the time, you can specify the quality, you can't specify all 3. (Call it the Heisenberg uncertainty of programming principal.)
Thanks for the reply. I think I have an idea how much it costs now as I had been working on my project for a while now so I don't quite need answers to my original question thank you.