Any suggestions on how to fund my game?

[nired360]

Hello everyone, i am creating a 2d platformer and i want to get some funding for it because dollars are too expensive where i live and i can't afford to buy assets, am using the trial version of game maker and some free assets i got online and i've managed to create a full level with enemy placement and all but as you know the trial version is very limited in terms of how much content you can put in, i've set up a page at indiegogo but sadly nothing happened so far, any suggestions on how to fund my game ? thx in advance!.

 

[sylvain_l]

creating a kickstarter or indigogo campaign page isn't all.

The important part is marketing your funding campaign: that means ensuring you know which kind of people are potentially interested to fund your project; deliver the right PR info to them so they come to your indiegogo/kickstarter page campaign and back you.
And generally that means having already a working demo; a trailer video, etc... having a team, having a portfolio of your past project (that proove that you have already delivered project in the past that'll help a lot convince that you can deliver the project)

I don't know you or your experience; (but assuming from the fact you are still on the trial version of GMS2, you use free asset so you are not already a CG artist. )
A nobody, alone, with no past experience, no demo, no trailer, no social network ready to RT, thunderclap,etc is going to fail is funding campaign most of the time.

does your college/university have any program to offer small funding for students projects ? or some kind of "junior entreprise" (in my country that's a way for students having skills in informatics to get smalls jobs, like creating a website for a small company, etc...) It helps getting your first experience and also earning some money.

 

[Feniks]

(...)am using the trial version of game maker and some free assets i got online and i've managed to create a full level with enemy placement and all but as you know the trial version is very limited in terms of how much content you can put in, i've set up a page at indiegogo but sadly nothing happened so far, any suggestions on how to fund my game ? thx in advance!.

This is your problem you have nothing worth funding. Your game has 1 level and some enemies there is nothing there that separates it from 10 000 other games every kids ever made with game maker that went nowhere. When you wan to get funds for your game you are basically asking people to pre-order your game. In order for people to preorder yoru game you need to convince them it is game worth preordering. So far you haven't done that.

Also as @sylvain_l s said kickstarter or indigogo are not advertisements you don't just post and hope people fund you you work hard weeks prior to campain to make sure as many people as humanly possible know about it.

 

[Yal]

Get a day job as a nine-to-five software engineer. Guaranteed funding and you get better at coding so you can make better games.

Making games is as taxing as making app code, and you're up against one of the most saturated software industries of them all. If you just worry about making money, you're probably off better looking elsewhere. And if you're working on a passion project, it's probably also good if you don't need to cut artistic merit corners just to make it more profitable. (Just look at what Capcom did to Metal Gear Solid after Kojima left the studio)

 

[Old School Ben]

I would always recommend that you learn to create your own assets. There are plenty of shareware applications that will allow you to do this for free or next to nothing. The big downside to this is the time it takes to use these applications and or learn to use them. If you have limited artistic ability, this could make the task even more difficult. Personally, I can't say enough good things about Piskel for a free tool for 2D sprites + animation.

I am fortunate enough to work in an industry that allows for me to create freely but finding a situation where you are earning income for bills and rent but also able to work on your projects is ideal. When I was in college, I got a job as a night server technician in order to pay for school and bills. The posistion allowed me to study and code uninterrupted for hours on end. Look for a workplace that can grant you this freedom.

If you do decide To crowdfund, just make sure you are letting people know about your project before starting tour campaign. Good ideas don't count for much if nobody is aware of them.

The best tip I can offer though is to pay the $40 to get the creator package, if nothing else just to build your game uninhibited. You will be able to import your existing projects and will have access to the software for a full year. If and when you are ready to launch to a platform you can upgrade your licence.

My old neighbor always tells me "It's a good thing elbow grease is cheap". This basically suggests that it is always more cost effective to put in more time and work to meet your needs rather than spending money to reach the same result ( like most of us, you probably might not).

 

[Rayek]

Some suggestions:

• Start a family and friends crowd funder. Not kidding, if you have a large family and good friends you may be able to get at least your development software sponsored through family and friends. I myself have done this in the past: my birthday was a great way to crowd fund through friends and family. ;-)
  
• Get a part-time job like Old School Ben suggests. Do freelance web jobs. Make art for others if you're good enough. Anything to pay bills and fund your game dev. If you are really driven, You Will Be A Paper Boy. Rise early.
  
• Instead of paying for software, get free and/or open source alternatives. Can't name the obvious open source 2d/3d alternative to Gamemaker here, but it's arguably at the very, very least on par with GM. Same with art software: Krita, Blender, OpenToonz, free versions of DaVinci Resolve, Fusion, and so on, and so forth. Heck, many free game frameworks and IDEs out there. Take your pick. Why stare yourself blind on a paid-for product?
  
  This will save you a LOT of money, which can be spent on other things, or if you haven't got a dime to your name/game, at the very least it allows you to seriously start developing.
  
• Assets and art:
  • Learn to draw, create your own art. Free.
  • Team up with someone who wants to work for free and team up with you (look on Newgrounds, for example).
  • Lots of open game art available. Check out opengameart. Look for failed games of which the art was put in the public domain (for example, Glitch).
  • Combine all of the above.
• Don't forget the triangle, and you can have any two: time, money, quality. Cheap & Fast = low quality. Fast & Good = Expensive. Cheap & Good = Slow or Low Priority.
  Meaning in your case: either aim for lower quality and speed, or higher quality and slower development.
• Find a partner who is willing to work and finance your living expenses for the two of you while you work on the game. The developer behind Meat Boy quit his job this way, but of course he had already many games and game dev experience. Not advised unless you have a good public crowd behind you.
• Game development is not magic, nor should the lack of money be a hindrance to start developing a game. Heck, some of the greatest board and computer games began their lives on paper, as paper prototypes.
  
• If you perceive the lack of money to be your greatest reason not to work on a project that you feel you'd love to work on, you will have to ask yourself a tough question: do I really want to work on that project? Because the answer to that question may very well be "probably not".