Hello JJAHMS,

I would recommend trying to learn those skills you don't have first before anything else. You say you can't program, but is that because you have no experience or you have taken college courses and am still bad at it? There are a bunch of free resources online to learn varies things, try googling for it. For instance, when I was looking for aerospace engineering classes on Edx, I say programming classes that they offer. The classes are full fledged college classes but you get no credit/certificate unless you pay ~$50-200 for a certificate. It doesn't sound like you would want or need the certificate so it would be a win for you to take such classes. As for the artistic side of things, the best art that is easy to learn would be pixel art, and that still is quite difficult. You might want to contract somebody to do that for you.

Most importantly is money for what you want to do; no matter what people say, it will be needed. Doing things yourself eliminates some of expenses, but you will need money regardless, to publish, found a company, etc. But don't rush to get money from a bank or anything. Take this SLOW. If you rush, you will overlook things. Take an example from me: I have a startup in the firearms optic industry. I had an idea I was so sure would work and be successful so I was rushing things along. Had expensive custom glass optics made only to realize the product idea was incorrect from a physics standpoint. That was 400wastedrighthere.Iredesigneditagain,thistimetakingintoaccountwhatIlearned.Endedupwithanotherproductthatstillwouldn′twork,luckilyIdidn′tpurchasetheglassagainandonlywasted400 wasted right here. I redesigned it again, this time taking into account what I learned. Ended up with another product that still wouldn't work, luckily I didn't purchase the glass again and only wasted 400wastedrighthere.Iredesigneditagain,thistimetakingintoaccountwhatIlearned.Endedupwithanotherproductthatstillwouldn′twork,luckilyIdidn′tpurchasetheglassagainandonlywasted100 on 3D printed parts. Yet again I redesigned it taking all of what I learned and made a better functioning idea. It still would be inferior to current optics since your eye would focus on the reticule plane not the target plane. Didn't waste any money here, only time. Finally I sat down, looked deep into all of the problems, current solutions, checked existing and expired patents, and even met with my old physics professors to discuss the solution I came up with. This time also instead of doing it all myself, I have partnered up with my local university (for free since my city funds product development programs) and they will engineer the electronics, adjustment mechanism, etc. All while I engineered the optic. The difference this time is I took it slow and analyzed every single possibility that could go wrong and was able to scientifically prove my device will work. Learn from my mistakes here, take it slow and do very thorough research before dropping any money into your game.

So maybe download the Unity game engine (free) and mess around on that. Also Godot is good for 2D and pixel art games too (free). Look into everything needed in a game: soundtrack, plot, dialogue, level design, world building, voice acting (if required), programming, testing, sprites or animations, etc. There is so much to go into and it is best if you go in with eyes wide open of what will need to be done and whether or not you can do it or have the ability to assemble and control a team to do it. If you are hiring people, you have to look into hiring laws, unemployment laws, contracting, and so much more. Also you would have to find a source of lending (unless you or your family is wealthy), which in my experience banks want a 10-20% down payment on any loan they would give you. Say you need 100k, then they expect 10k to be in your pocket, whether it be your cars value, house, or cash. Keep in mind these banks will have you personally sign to repay it, so even if you are a corporation or LLC with limited liability, it still all falls on YOU.

I'm not trying to say don't go for it, but many people have tried and few actually succeed (Hollow Knight is an example of a success with only 2 devs). Hopefully this helps send you down the right path and best of luck if you decide to go the long path and make it real!

EDIT: There seems to be a bug with my post that no matter how many times I edit it and fix the odd double sentence loop with no space it does not stay fixed. Just ignore that part I guess..

JJAHMS said:
I think… that what I want to take on more of a manager role to the whole project. I would tell the people with actual skills what I want from them, and pay them for their work. My question: Am I wrong? Should I learn one of the skills needed to create the project, to say that I added in my own touch? Or should my contribution be me setting the direction and deciding what works for the project?

If you're willing to pay then you can play whatever role you want, however your ability to actually lead successfully is another story. You'll either run into people willing to take the paycheque while putting up with a lead that has zero game development experience and only wants to play director with their “game idea”. Or you'll find people who stay on for a short period of time and then leave regardless of pay.

If you have the cash I would suggest you hire a project manager who can actually build and run a team with real experience and have that person realize your ideas. If not, you'll burn through cash and be left wondering what happened. Also don't forget about funds for your release (ie. marketing). I wouldn't even bother unless you have $3000 - $6000+ USD per month to pay full-time to a variety of positions…

You can also just contract your game out to a development team. There are outsourcing teams which take your idea and create your game, but be prepared to pay a large sum of money.

JJAHMS said:

Thanks for the input! I think I have an idea of how I want to proceed, now. Where would be a good place to start looking for people to do specific jobs? Should I ask around the forum, or are there better options?

You posted in the Hobbyist section which is for non-paid projects only. A lot of people will post their openings here but under “rev-share”.

You can post a job on the site here: https://gamedev.net/careers/

There are also freelancers you can reach out to here: https://gamedev.net/contractors/

Rutin said: people who stay on for a short period of time and then leave regardless of pay.

CanvasBushi said:
if you want to avoid these types, you cant hire hobbyists from a forum like this one. instead you would need to find professionals who do this for a living. this can be freelancers(cheaper) or a game studio(expect to pay alot, because these guys understand that creative jobs can suck so you'll be paying for possible revisions you havent used and long boring meeting time). there are many freelance websites where you can post projects and take bids, so prices will vary but whatever you do, always choose someone who has a decent portfolio because alot of people talk a good game but are completely worthless.

You might want to re-read my entire response to the original poster as I'm confused on your reply. The context matters on why you wont retain long term employees when you don't have any experience in the business you're managing. I run several companies and I wouldn't dare put myself out there unless I knew what I was doing, otherwise I would remain as a silent partner and only act as a shareholder while someone more competent directs the business.

Rutin said: I would suggest you hire a project manager who can actually build and run a team with real experience and have that person realize your ideas.

CanvasBushi said:
I wouldn't recommend hiring a project manager, you're the one who best understands your project. you don't need someone else doing that. what you do need are people with high technical skills to bring your idea to life. Project managers are only useful if you have a game studio with many employees. your team should be really small and sweet capping out at 5.

Ideas are a dime a dozen and mean nothing… What matters is the ability to direct and execute in order to realize the idea. Since the original poster has no game development experience having someone else at the helm would be best advised for many reasons. Why would you throw money out there to hire people when you have no clue on the full cycle? How do you even know these are good people to hire? How are you able to set budgets? What about deadlines? Game development also isn't cheap, and you'll reduce your costs by having an experienced person running the show. The original poster offers nothing of value outside of a money, and with that money people will work towards rendering your idea which by itself is worthless until it becomes something more such as a workable prototype, or a full featured game. The amount of money and time will largely depend on who is running the show, the experience of the team, amount of people involved, and what the actual project requires.

You have an idea, what you need is money and find your own team. Good luck !