Looking for advice for Battlezone3.com

[FelixAkk]

Hi there

First of all; big fan, etc, etc. Mod is looking awesome, could have only dreamed of it ever being remade so authentic. Keep up the great work!

To the point; I'm the admin from battlezone3.com. I'm currently trying to get an effort going to create what could be called "Battlezone 3" on the UDK. A current-gen community made spiritual successor to an awesome game that was way ahead of it's time, and dearly loved and still played by many. The original is dated (1998 ), has issues (cheating, lack of OS support), and the publishers have abandoned it, so no reason to expect a sequel; all the reasons to pick up the ball yourself. We've got a team, but it's limited and we're trying to find more enthusiastic developers. So I thought, what better place to ask for advice than here at the forums of an awesome and successful mod, wondering how you guys did it, or if you have some good suggestions 8) (or on managing a such project in general)

Cheers and greets, Felix

[[NE]Fobby[GEN]]

Hi Felix

Probably the most important aspect in starting a mod is having a team first. Try to get an array of skill available before going forward with the project - this could include 3D and 2D artists, animators, programmers, level designer and a person/people familiar with the Editor and its use. Have at least 1-2 people in each of the above categories minimum before starting, and be sure to always be on the lookout for more recruits after starting. There are plenty of freelancers on the web as well that are willing to do art for a project (in order to better their portfolio), good places to look for members would be the game-artist forums, moddb forums, polycount forums, and others.

Also, make sure you've got a clear cut design document for the game. Agree on gameplay features, and most importantly, what is needed to complete the project. It's good to have something like this before hand as well, in order to cease any disputes over how the gameplay should be like when the mod is at a more critical state.

Be sure to set up a mode of communication, like an internal forum, and try to have things like team meetings on MSN or Skype every so often to keep your members interested and working for you.

Stay out of the public eye until you've got something great to show off. Once you decide to launch your public community, use venues like ModDB and other sites to advertise for your mod.

Keep working at it and good luck.

[Pr0eX]

Also calling it Bettlezone3 is a little bit risky, many mods where shut down by the owners of - in your case it would be Battlezone 1-2 - the brand.

So you need to check back with em to be sure you can use this name and also you really need to have some kind of written permission to make it.

Especially its not a mod its a game you are making on the UDK, wich is standalone then.

[FelixAkk]

Thanks for the reply fob!

Indeed you need a reasonably sized team to start and get the job done, but to draw the attention of developers you'd also need some considerable work to show ... a promising start. So I think it's also a bit of a gradient when it comes to teamsize at the project. But thanks for the advice, very helpful!

@Pr0ex: Yep, that would probably be suicidal to stick to that name, and we're than aware of realise that ^^ I picked up the domain http://www.battlezone3.com because it was literally left dusting away and would be a good hub for the while being. We'll probably rename to a better name with no copyrights sticking to it anytime soon now.