Time for a unity programmer to program a small 2D RPG

Hi everyone,

I may soon have a game design project in Europe. It should be a kind of small 2D Management game with RPG elements.
It should contain approximatively 10-15 scenes for 10 -15 levels with sizes like the ones in Hot Line Miami.
And another 10 scenes for 10 mini-games/capabilities (e.g. car races, investigation with images) incorporated within the levels.

I should be my first project as a game designer. I just started learning Unity so I know I won't be able to code the project myself. But I ask myself if someone knows how much time and money would need a Unity programmer for discussing/adapting the Game Design Document I provide and also for developping the game.

Any help would be welcome

 

The best answer to this question will come after you have gone through the process once and you can reflect on past experiences.

It's also near impossible to estimate something without concrete requirements. At the moment you have a vague idea of the structure of assets, but that does not take into account the vast amount of other complexities you will encounter during your project.

There is also the consideration that depending on who the person is performing the work dictates both the quality and duration of work, in addition to how the overall team works together and adapts as progress is or is not made.

Start with trying to get one scene/level prototyped out and use that as a baseline for how future levels will go.

 

hard to say anything exact..

you can hire someone from fiverr for few dollars, or some dedicated expert to create fine tuned masterpiece in 3-12 months time.. all depends.. and needs art, sounds (can be from low quality to AAA quality)

Could also create the game within a week, game jam style, quick n dirty..

amount of money depends also from where you hire people..
can check freelancer sites for some average rates, and maybe could find similar 2d game project tasks to see some pricing ideas.

 

Few months to few years, 0 to 100$ per hour per headcount. Full time.

That is as precise, as for what you provided.

There are simply too many variables, to even attempt estimation, based on few assumptions and very brief project specification.

I am however not sure, how you approaching game design position, without knowing unity first. This is strictly integrated and required knowledge for that kind of job.

 

Indeed - otherwise you might think nothing of paying $1000 quoted to change the graphics API, $1500 to set up Addressable asset groups, $2000 to configure shadow cascade settings, $2500 to integrate linear fog..

 

Thank you for your answers !

How far do you mean it is integrated ? What I wanted to do was to first develop the game design with papers to test the mechanics. I would write them in a Game Design Document with structure for the levels and some concept arts. Maybe it is unrealistic but I wanted to write a exhaustive GDD.
Once the GDD would represent the game enough, I would start discussing it with a programmer. Then the programmer would develop the game with Unity. We would use free assets or small contribution from a graphical designer.
This is not meant to be an AAA but a indie game.

Do you think the Unity programmer should participate from the beginning already ?

 

A small game can take between days and years. It depends on what is actually going into the game, whether you need to learn anything new to accomplish it, what quality level you are looking for, whether it is multiplayer, whether you resist feature creep, and the skill level of the developer(s).

 

@oldhighscore @mgear @Antypodish @polemical @Joe-Censored , Thank you all for your precious answers !
I will start with a maximum estimate of the programming time and refine it after the first steps of development.

 

To do that, you are expected to have quite extensive technical skills as well.
Not only what you want in a game, but also what are possibilities and limitation of tools that you are aiming to use.
Basically what you aiming to do at this stage, is just put some ideas, but having 0 confidence, if such features, art, or mechanics can be implemented in timely and cost effective manner.

When dealing with programmers and artists, you are expected to have certain level of technical knowledge, to understand possibilities and limitations. Then you are expected to estimate deadlines for milestones. Without knowing tools that you aim to work with, that is basically unrealistic.

If you target specific hardware, then how do you know, you will be able to run your game smoothly on it, if you never worked with tools like Unity.


You don't want to be just another mr. Idea Guy.

 

I totally agree. That is what concerns me.

This idea of a project started when a company knew I was developing table top game as a hobby.So they asked if they could have one for training purposes. I know the topic they want to integrate into the game as I am currently managing projects in the same field as a research engineer.
Yet they also want a video game from it potentially. As I have, I must say, no professional experience in developing video game and they know it, I was trying to find information or an estimate on what it would cost them to hire a Unity programmer for developing the game. This would help them make the decision to do the project or not.

Personnaly I am interested in developing video game, whether this project starts or not.
I have programming background (C++, PHP) but not with Unity. That is why I have started the Unity Junior Programmer Pathway. I have also finished the Essentials and the 2D RPG Ruby's Adventure from scratch to get an overview of the different competences involved in developing a 2D game.

I am very thankful for your advices. I am aware that I am not a professional, but I wouldn't like to miss this opportunity to become one.