If i'm making an iphone game, how should I split profit? I'm pretty sure the programer should get more money, but then again, this is my first time ever doing this.
It is difficult for us to provide any suggestions without knowing the scenario. What is your role? Are you the artist or the programmer? Or are you producing the game with your own finances? What type of game is it? Is it graphically intensive or a very complex game from a programming point?
While I wish the programmer would automotically get more money, it really depends on the game and in my opinion also on how much the programmer and the artist get involved in the game design. Giving some more details about your situation might help get a more specific answer, though obviously there is no golden rule.
details k, well theres not much artwork that needs to be done, 3 backgrounds, the character, a splash screen, and the blocks. Here's a video of it i made a while ago: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKRSYt_Ou24
Are the programmer or artist getting paid any cash? If it was pure rev share, I'd say the programmer would make the lion share on this project, according to the video.
im the programer and no the artist isn't getting anything up front. what do you mean 'the lion share'?
It seems that you're not just the programmer, but also came up with the concept, designed the game, created the levels, possibly did the music/sound effects?, took on production and are doing marketing? I would say something between 10-40 percent, depending on how awesome a job the artist does / how much of a unique character he brings to the game, and whether he was involved in the project from the start contributing to the general design of the game Edit: 10-40 percent for the artist, that is.
If you are the programmer and, as you stated, not much art is needed then why not contract out the art work? So just pay a flat fee for the the completed art work and not have to worry about splitting the rev. You're not paying the artist up front but it seems like you should do just that and not have to worry about calculations later.
It depend of what each member do... Why do you think the programer should get more? My team share equally I am the artist, 2d/3d but I also code shader, test and write the bug report, write email to the publisher and such...so I feel I deserve my half... Work on concept art and advertisement material... 30% is peanuts hope you ve agreed on this before working with you re artist
@bmamba His case seems to be very different from yours, if you do additional stuff on top of the art and are involved in the concept design from the start. No assumptions that the programmer should get more (though I would wish so, being a programmer There can be easy to code, art intensive games for which it would make sense for the artist to get a bigger share. Edit: I agree that the ideal thing to do would be to contract the art in the OP's situation.
I agree with the others, you should contract the art. You won't need a lot of it for this game, you should be able to find a good price if you know what you want. Also, I think your game as a very good concept, but it is still like a prototype at this stage (but a good one). Did you thought about using a publisher? In your case, it might make a big diffeence to your product and might be very profitable for you. But keep the IP. JC
I mean that you could contact a publisher like chillingo (just an example, I have no idea if they are dev friendly) http://www.chillingo.com/developers.htm and tell them about your prototype. They could help you producing the art and helping on tunning the game into a great balanced games. They will be publishing the game under their brand, you will get no visibility but you will probably earn much more. In your case, it might be a good solution, now I don't know what you can archieve on your own... JC
