Going on contract

A

Ancalagon

Honorary Master
Joined
Feb 23, 2010
Messages
18,207
Reaction score
3,678
Hey guys. This is in relation to my other thread.

I want to resign from my job and go onto short term contract work, so that I can work on my game part time while still earning enough money to support myself.

Ideas? Advice?
 
I am not working in the programming field, but think these are some options:

I know there are various websites that allow you to "bid" on projects and get contract work, one of the problems of doing this is the Indians generally get most of the work since no one I know would work for so little.

Have you tried speaking to the company you currently work for? Perhaps they could assist you with either contract or part time work?

I am very interested to hear what type of game you are working on.
 
fonoi said:
Have you tried speaking to the company you currently work for? Perhaps they could assist you with either contract or part time work?
Click to expand...

No, not yet. The thing is, I want to have some kind of a backup plan before I do. My reason is that, the company currently is lacking clients. So they would probably be happy to either let me go or let me go onto a contract basis, to reduce the cost to them. At the moment I'm not making them any money because there isnt any client work for me to do. Same is true for 2 other colleagues. I dont think its dire straights yet, pretty sure the company has enough other work to keep it going.

My concern is that, if I tell them this, they might rather that I resign completely, than go on contract. And, if I do go on contract, I wont have any guarantees that they will need my services X hours per month. Its not as if they can force me to resign, but I'm just worried about letting the cat out of the bag before I have more opportunities in place, in case things go wrong.

I am very interested to hear what type of game you are working on.
Click to expand...

A third person action oriented RPG. Something of a cross between Diablo and Dragon Quest, with some magic the gathering thrown in. Targeting PC, Mac, Linux and Android phones. Still quite some time away from release though. And not sure how well it will run on Android phones.
 
fonoi said:
I like the sound of the game, that is something I would play. Not on my phone though, screens are still to small imho, an IPAD maybe.
Click to expand...

Thanks!

My aim is to make it playable on screens sized 4 inches and up. Probably better on tablets though.

No Apple support planned until after release I'm afraid. Just too much work at the moment.
 
Well for me you have 2 options get a investor/ loan

Or stay @ your company (they have to pay no matter what you do) and get your game on such a level to move on

What are you currently doing during the day @ work now ?
 
byron_spy said:
Well for me you have 2 options get a investor/ loan

Or stay @ your company (they have to pay no matter what you do) and get your game on such a level to move on

What are you currently doing during the day @ work now ?
Click to expand...

Another option - get a partner who is skilled in artwork/3d modelling, who would be willing to do the work for no fee but a share of the company. From what I've heard, it will be difficult to find someone like that.

I'm looking into the loan option.

Staying at my company hasnt worked well - I dont have the time I need to work on my game. Progress is way too slow, and very inefficient. Ie, I have a few hours in the evenings to work on it. Remember some time is wasted remembering what I was doing. I might institute a scrum like way of working at home, to keep track of what needs to be done.

Right now - working on an internal project. But there is not much to do.
 
Partner options not a bad idea but you will need to present something to your "future" partner thats look appealing

Ideally getting a investor to fund this will be ideal as the stress of worrying about cash, finish the game, marketing etc is quite alot you just need to focus on your game

You still need some kind of a income though monthly just so you can cover costs and finish the project, its a difficult one bro

Me personally I would stick it out where you are now and then once you are ready just do your own thing and save some cash up perhaps do a few privates etc as well now, but then on the other hand the longer you delay this the less you will make with the game
 
byron_spy said:
Me personally I would stick it out where you are now and then once you are ready just do your own thing and save some cash up perhaps do a few privates etc as well now, but then on the other hand the longer you delay this the less you will make with the game
Click to expand...

Nope, cant stick it out where I am now. I'm not making any progress. Life gets in the way, I find it too difficult to balance life,work and game writing. I need another solution or this will happen, one day I will be 40 and thinking, "Imagine if I had finished writing that game."

I dont want that to happen. So I need to take a calculated risk.

An investor is not a bad idea - anyone got about R500k for me? Okay perhaps it could cost less, I might get away with something under R300k if I am lucky I think.

Although I have some cash myself, I dont have that much. I'm looking into a bank loan.
 
Ancalagon said:
Nope, cant stick it out where I am now. I'm not making any progress. Life gets in the way, I find it too difficult to balance life,work and game writing. I need another solution or this will happen, one day I will be 40 and thinking, "Imagine if I had finished writing that game."

I dont want that to happen. So I need to take a calculated risk.

An investor is not a bad idea - anyone got about R500k for me? Okay perhaps it could cost less, I might get away with something under R300k if I am lucky I think.

Although I have some cash myself, I dont have that much. I'm looking into a bank loan.
Click to expand...

There is a few sites you can register and then check what happens just google it

So true about that I am getting regretting a few stuff already and I am still far from 40

If its calculated then definitely go for it, its important not to put yourself in a position where you regret taking the risk
 
I saw one or two such sites - angel investment networks they are called.

I'm a little sceptical because you have to pay up - a lot of them could easily be scams. But I might try it out.
 
Back to the OP:

Check with your boss if you can work 3 days a week for reduced pay.
That way you still get money and you get time to do your stuff..
 
rward said:
Back to the OP:

Check with your boss if you can work 3 days a week for reduced pay.
That way you still get money and you get time to do your stuff..
Click to expand...

That would probably be ideal I think. What do you think the chances of it working are?
 
Ancalagon said:
I saw one or two such sites - angel investment networks they are called.

I'm a little sceptical because you have to pay up - a lot of them could easily be scams. But I might try it out.
Click to expand...

Check hows the feedback of the site on google and if they are really worth while :D
 
Contracting generally does not equate to 'working your own hours', the client will want you sitting at your desk like any other job.

You also won't get investment unless you have a solid business model, working prototypes etc.. You're just some guy who wants to code a game in their eyes. 'Angel Investors' invest in companies not pet projects no matter how much potential they have.

There are two ways you could go about it:
- Start out making small simple games you can work on in the evenings, for android/iphone app-stores etc. Get a solid portfolio going and cash will slowly trickle in, hopefully enough to at some point quit your day job and work on your more ambitions game.
- Get some simple half-day job, working in a store etc.. live reaaaally simply and then have the time for your project.
 
Hi, I have been contracting for a long time and you can obtain extra work or if you pm me your skills I can get you freelance development work, please pm me. Name is Rishan Singh. Send your skills and years experience and I will see what I can do. Rishan Singh
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X