Linda Currie, a designer on Zoo Tycoon II
…as quoted from an interview with a Cyberlore peep on the “Killer Betties” site.
Jeezus Christ. From Jagged Alliance…to ZOO TYCOON. A Zoo Tycoon sequel.
Guess there’s that whole “game designers gotta make money” thing
Er… What’s wrong with Zoo Tycoon? It wasn’t a fantastic game, but it wsan’t terrible.
Its actually a fun little game.
I dunno. Something about the JA games being right up there with X-COM in the “BEST TBS EVAR” category…to a Tycoon sequel. It just makes me…sad.
–scharmers
Hell, not only that, but one of the best GAMES EVAR, period.
It is sad, because the Curries could be working on Jagged Alliance 3.
Zoo Tycoon made a shitload of cash. I won’t look down my nose at anybody looking to get a piece of that action.
I think they should rename the Jagged Alliance series to make it more marketable for the mainstream.
Merc Tycoon.
And they should add rollercoasters.
Unless I’m very mistaken about the operation of the industry, designer is a salaried position and probably not up for a piece of the action if the game sells a bazillion copies. The people making out well on that would be the owners of the dev studio and the publisher.
Bingo!
Bingo![/quote]
Ahh, is that a position that is usually occupied by someone with an ownership interest in a dev studio? My bad.
Bingo![/quote]
Not so fast there, tough guy.
One of the factors in my annual bonus was the performance of my last title at retail, but it wasn’t a huge factor (we got 50% of our annual bonus at product ship, for example). To the best of my knowledge, none of the Dev team got a piece of the gross - that is, money tied directly to sales.
Then again, I worked for EA…
-CJ
Well no, not every game designer gets a royalty share, but he was under the impression that none do.
I was under the impression that most don’t. Of course the owner of a software company can assume any position they want or do nothing and hire staff to do everything, so there’s no putting an absolute on this. In my experience in the (non games) software world, usually the hands-on type owners take up a business management or sales role and the technical details are taken care of by hired help.
Having only a minimal amount of personal experience with the games industry, I just assumed it worked like other areas of the software industry.
Unless I’m very mistaken about the operation of the industry, designer is a salaried position and probably not up for a piece of the action if the game sells a bazillion copies. The people making out well on that would be the owners of the dev studio and the publisher.[/quote]
Smaller studios (I am under the impression that Blue Fang is relatively small) usually are better about giving their employees a slice of the royalty pie. I know several people who have gotten fairly rich off of hit titles.
Unless I’m very mistaken about the operation of the industry, designer is a salaried position and probably not up for a piece of the action if the game sells a bazillion copies. The people making out well on that would be the owners of the dev studio and the publisher.[/quote]
Smaller studios (I am under the impression that Blue Fang is relatively small) usually are better about giving their employees a slice of the royalty pie. I know several people who have gotten fairly rich off of hit titles.[/quote]
3D Realms even kicks in a percentage of other products, like action figures, novels, ports, and strategy guides. Seems like a sweet deal!
3D Realms makes games???
3D Realms makes games???[/quote]
No, so it’s probably a good thing they make action figures and such.
Even if you don’t get a share of the royalties, having a hit game on your resume can’t hurt, not to mention the personal satisfaction that probably comes from having your ouevre be played by millions.
Sold!