how many people in your team?

[indiemaker]

I work alone, do most of the design, programming. The majority of the artwork I will contract out and do what I can with my meagre art abilities.

Many times I find myself thinking, boy, it'd be so great if I had a partner or two to help with artwork, design, and some programming.

So, how big is your team, and do you recommend teaming up with other Indies who complement your skills?

Any Indies in NY here?

[baegsi]

I used to work with a partner. It didn't work out because my partner wasn't able to work on his own. Although I enjoy additional freedom now, I have to say that I'm less creative and finding it harder to get motivated. I underestimated that factor and I'm realizing that I have to put more effort into buidling an alternative social net. Besides motivation, the size of the team also determines what kind of project (game) one can realize.

See also: http://forums.indiegamer.com/showthread.php?t=1479

[Emmanuel]

Funpause is two people: a graphics / map design guy, and a programmer / marketing guy, using a third party for sound assets. We're also greatly helped marketing-wise by two additional people (Phelios), and of course the whole Indiegamer board's advices could almost be aggregated to the throughput of a full-time employee :)

Best regards,
Emmanuel

[Didier]

So, how big is your team

2 People here.
Sometimes when we are too busy and need more help, we find a freelancer here: http://www.freelancers.net/

Didier

[Sirrus]

One person with contractors. Seems this is the normal for most of us.
Hope to expand with another producer and more consistant artists.

In Boston here - not too far from NY.

[Anthony Flack]

I've always worked alone but I can certainly appreciate the idea of working in a team. It would be nice to have somebody to share the load and get you over some of the humps. Even working with contractors sounds appealing... perhaps a contract programmer, just to be different...

[joe]

We are also two people. I'm responsible for programming and music and Emmanuel does all the graphic-stuff. Other things like marketing we usally do together.

I really enjoy it to have someone to work with and to talk to about project or game development related things.

[ChrisLabombard]

Well.. 1 or 2 man team here. I did some engine modification for a professional artist on his game... Which secured half the art for my game. After the second half is done I have more modifications to do.

The game is entirely mine and I will and do own all art assets....

So I don't know. Technically it's a one man show, but it's basically a 2 man team, leaving me with all creative control

[Reactor]

Two people, but we're going to work separately for a while. We just had too many clashes over design decisions, because we're two very different people. The two of us were necessary to get the game done (it was larger than most) but for the next games we're working on, we're keeping things to a smaller scale.

Working with people can be both good and bad. I, like joe, enjoyed chatting with my partner in development, but now I'm on my own I feel a renewed excitement... that every decision I make isn't going to be hindered by another thought process, contrary to mine. Games really need to follow one visionary (or one main vision) so it's a matter of whether or not you spend all your time trying to amalgamate two visions into one, as to whether you should team up with someone. That's my belief, anyway. I always have a rock solid vision about what I want to do, and past projects have shown I know what I'm doing. But, whenever I ask someone else to contribute, somewhere down the line a point of strength gets watered down.

Getting people to work for you- that's great. Getting people to work along side you- that can be a problem. It all depends on who you are, and what you want to focus on.

[svero]

Id say most of our games are essentially by 1 person but with lots of supporting part timers on graphics, sound, bits of code etc.. Like beetle bomp is mostly by me, but now I've had 2 artists, a sound guy, some design and story help, some code help etc... so altogether maybe 6-7 people got their paws on it in one way or another.

[ZuluBoy]

I also work alone, doing all the programming and subcontract all the other stuff like art, sound, graphics. :)

[ChilledOut]

Similar story here - I work alone (programming, sound and music) but contract out the art.

I'm right over the NY border in Danbury, CT (about an hour's drive North of NYC). Where in NY are you?

[indiemaker]

Similar story here - I work alone (programming, sound and music) but contract out the art.

I'm right over the NY border in Danbury, CT (about an hour's drive North of NYC). Where in NY are you?


I'm in NYC, manhattan.

[baegsi]

I'm in NYC, manhattan.You're an indie game dev AND live in Manhattan? Wow, you need a challenge, don't you? :D

[indiemaker]

You're an indie game dev AND live in Manhattan? Wow, you need a challenge, don't you? :D

Forget the challenges. What I really need is to win the 100 million dollar lottery! One day perhaps... :D

[Abscissa]

Two people, but I plan to hire some contract artists (and maybe music) for some future projects.

I do all the coding, management, and most of the design. My parter does all the music and helps with design. Depending on the project, the art has been either mostly me (Zarkanoid: Simple breakout graphics) or mostly my parter (Mechapede: Fancier rendered stuff). Web stuff is largely split between us, but I tend to be more on the technical side of that than the artistic.

[Bad Sector]

Well, in theory we're three people, one coder (me), one artist and one musician. In practice, however, it's another story...

[Gnatinator]

I am a lone wolf at the moment, wearing all of the hats.

I would absolutley -love- to get my hands on an audio guy and another artist to speed up art production for my next game. But unfourtunatley my income dosent allow for that at the moment and I dont know many who are motivated enough to work for little or no money while the game is in production.

Maybe some of us motivated indies should seriously consider a team up? Everyone complaining is in the same boat. I would love to pool my resources together with a small team of proven developers like myself.

[joe]

Working with people can be both good and bad. I, like joe, enjoyed chatting with my partner in development, but now I'm on my own I feel a renewed excitement... that every decision I make isn't going to be hindered by another thought process, contrary to mine.

I think it also depends on WHO your partner is :D

[Reactor]

Yup, did mention that. For some people teaming up is a great idea, but it's worth considering how things can go south...

[rmxsteady]

team of 9 over here, 3 programmers, 3 artists, and 3 level designers. man, how i wished i lived in nyc. i was seriously considering picking up and leaving and relocating there. i thrive on major city life, there's just something so alluring about it.

[Anthony Flack]

3 level designers? I'm envious.

[Robert Cummings]

I want out of the big city. I want a nice house somewhere in a more rural district for some peace and quiet and a nice big garden for my little son.

I can't imagine being in a fumes-ridden ugly granite city...

As for the number of people working on my stuff, that fluctuates all the time depending on how much work needs doing.

[Olivier]

I want out of the big city. I want a nice house somewhere in a more rural district for some peace and quiet and a nice big garden for my little son.

That's exactly the place I'm living, except that I don't have kids. I left Paris some months ago and now I'm breathing!:)
We are two people in our team + contract work for music.

[icosahedron]

Team of one here. Like most of you, I'm wearing the hats, though eventually I'll have to contract out the art, since my skills are definitely left brained :)

I hope to have my game out by the end of next year.

[vidalsasoon]

Nobody touches my code!!!

[chrisroyale]

There are currently two people in our team, but I firmly believe in quality over quantity. ;)

[Nexic]

Just me.

I buy my main pieces of art (player ships etc), all of my sound, and cobble together the rest with my limited photoshop knowledge.

[C.S.Brewer]

Lone Wolf as well, I like being a Jack of All Trades!

However I do have a few friends doing the same sort of thing I can safely bounce ideas off regularly. I've also gotten a little help on a tool from an old friend who's just getting into game development.

In the long range I see myself working with at least one more person, and probably two others. For a couple reasons:

1. It doesn't matter how good you are, or if you _can_ do everything. There's just not enough time for one person to do it all. At least for the kinds of games I want to make.

2. It's really fun to work on things with someone else, you can help eachother through hard times, there's a little bit of added pressure on you to keep up momentum, and it's just nice to share your accomplishments with somebody else and get fresh ideas from another head regularly.

[ManuelMarino]

Interesting! We are more than 50. My studio is a kind of pub where we meet, because every of us does more jobs at the same time, some performs at club events, some just teach music to students and so on.

I've got computer and graphics skills (I'm the one with the best computer and english language skills), so in theory I could also do some minor programming or graphics works... but I have time only for music composition and studio management, which is my first role.

[James C. Smith]

This question of hope many people are on the development team was recently asked of several prominent developers of casual games. The IGDA’s Casual Games SIG recently published a quarterly newsletter which contained development questions like this and answers from PopCap, iWin, Skunk Studios, Hip Soft, Reflexive, Oberon, Play First, and maybe a few others. I know it’s not the same as asking the indies here, but I though it may be interesting to compare the answers. Most of them seemed to say they have 3 man teams usually containing programmer, artists, and "producer".

http://www.igda.org/casual/quarterly/1_1/

[simonbowerbank]

Id say most of our games are essentially by 1 person but with lots of supporting part timers on graphics, sound, bits of code etc.. Like beetle bomp is mostly by me, but now I've had 2 artists, a sound guy, some design and story help, some code help etc... so altogether maybe 6-7 people got their paws on it in one way or another.

Yeah, i work mainly with a friend of mine who develops the games practicaly by himself but contracts out to to same people each project. I would really like to be a part of a large scale indie game game one day, but generally i have found they dont really exhist

The project im working on now has the main developer, me, a musician and a level designer

[Sparks]

Well, believe me, the phantasy of beeing part of a large team soon bursts like a soap bubble when reality hits ;)
The absolutely best part of beeing indie (besides the marvellous income, the chicks and the parties) is beeing...indie.
As Joe said, we are just two, and I love it immensly to impress him from time to time with some new unexspected artwork, while he sometimes shocks me with a new fantastic editor or code achievement or soundtrack.
In a large team, there are always several people who need to express their opinions and concerns, and the spontaneity is pretty much lost during the process.In a small team, developing games is much more rewarding (besides the unbelievable income, the gorgeous chicks and the never ending parties) and organic.Its the same like with a band, I couldn't imagine a band consisting of 10 or more people and still be fun.
Unless You want the job become a "job" You don't want to be in a large team.
Even the guys who worked on HL2 or KOTOR were just doing a "job" together with 30 other "worker bees".
I couldn't say that I would be less proud of the games we do as a two man team as I were when I worked in a larger team.
My 2 cents and sliding towards off-topic....

[simonbowerbank]

I suppose you are right about working in a small team being more organic, but it does place certain restrictions on what you can achieve.

I think with sound, working on a game like HL2 or KOTOR you would be allowed more creativity and the flexability to work in an organic way since what you do is primarily creative to begin with.

On another note, Valve seems like a really good place to work. I havnt actually talked to any of the employees but they seem to have an attitude to game making that is more similar to indie development than say EA.

[Sparks]

Thats probably true, as a small indie You can not cope with blockbuster games like HL2, Splinter Cell or GTA SA.
But to tell the truth: the price You pay is that You work probably for 2 years or longer in the same style on the same project and that Your job gets more boring every week.
At the beginning its fresh and exciting, but after six months of redoing the same stuff (envirnoment objects, characters, weapons, vehicles...), its draining.
I am just a dump pixel pusher, and I for one find it so refreshing to have way shorter product cycles and the freedom to start a new design style and content any time with a new game.
It can become VERY draining to do the same visual style for years, especially for artists, who, by nature, love to experiment freely and refine or overhaul their stuff.Thats why I don't understand how people can enjoy working on the NHL, Sims or FIFA series.So boring.
For me working in a larger team would be a step backwards again, I want to "touch" my clients, want to get personal feedback for our and my work, want to be able to change direction quickly.
Our next game for example will look completely different than Absolute Blue.
And the game after that again.
As an artist in a larger team, You are anonymous, in a smaller team, You have a face and (in the positive sense) an ego.
Working my ass off just for a credit entry would be fine for a Hollywood movie, but not for a game."Look, thats my texture there on the barrel !!!"...not really a reward.

[Escapee]

1, only myself , non of my buddies seem to cheer the idea of making indie games , they just feel it's not worth to explore into this field with big time games like HL2 , High quality PS2 titles (By the Japanese ) & others in the market. This is pretty sad, so i'm all alone into this black hole adventure. :cool: