So I got this job offering...

[Inferno]

Some random company heard about my game design stuff and are offering some job/project/idk to build them a Facebook App or iPhone app or something. TBH I'm against softcore and casual game like this but if I'm getting paid I think I'll take it.

Have any of you guys ever dealt with the type of coding that goes into that stuff? Is it a pain to learn?

[Cortexian]

I wouldn't code for that kind of thing even if I was getting paid... Then again I don't code.

[Phopojijo]

Some random company is asking you to develop an iPhone or Facebook app?

...

...

Just release it yourself and keep ALL the money o.O Don't get Steve Jobs'd (http://www.arcade-history.com/?n=breakout&page=detail&id=3397)

I mean, unless it's a specific app that they own the IP for.

[SiriusTexra]

Dude, If you don't know the api, what's your chance?

What sort of games design experience are we talking about btw.

Tbh, your getting yourself into a load of hassle:


Email N01.

" Hi Dane,

I do not need to upload just provide the files to the media agency before 8pm today.

Thanks
Tom"



Email N02.
" Hi Dane,

Please can you send over the completed banner and back up gif before 8:30 pm?

I will need to submit the placement late and ask that YouTube accommodate for this.

Thanks
Tom "

5 minutes apart. Working till 9 after I'd already finished work at 5. The client told me, on deadline day, that the youtube mastheads run through googles DoubleClick serving, whereas the specs I was sent said eyeblaster. This meant the entire functionality of this masthead (had video players, navigation) was null. I had to learn googles shit in a few hours and basically rebuild the core all over again.

All because a client was a fuckhead.

Also, quite often, they will ask you to do something quickly and make you agree to this, when they know you can't possibly do it that quick. Then what happens, is the rest of the working hours chalk up to debt wages, and your the one who has "fucked up" by not getting it done on time, and they don't have to pay after that. The project spans on for weeks at a time with pissy little text changes and graphic changes, making you lose money and time, while they lose nothing.

Seriously, some clients can be really fucked. They will never see any problem with anything they do. They will always blame it on you, because your the cheaper asset. Their designers are never wrong. Even though, 90 percent of them are complete dogshit.


Basically: get Outlook setup properly, maybe setup an svn repository for the clients server, and make sure as fuck you can actually deliver what you start working on. Otherwise your setting yourself up to be pinched hard. Unless you have the freetime and whatever, go for it. Being employed by a boss, means these manners hurt his pocket, because he has to pay me wages to work on something that isn't going to earn us money anymore because it's gone on for too long.


Just be wary.

[thehoodedsmack]

Is this a large company, or some local business? Consider whether this is a project where you'll be given adequate freedom and regulated deadlines, or if its some overzealous manager who wants to put out a Facebook app as soon as possible because the KIDS THESE DAYS are all about it.

You'd probably get better advice out of us if you told us more about the company.

[Inferno]

They aren't telling me much until I sign a NDA. So yeah.

Dunno much about them, I plan on at least talking to them about it and then making a decision. I'll take your advice though. If it sounds like a shit deal it won't be worth my time to learn what ever coding language they are going to be using.

[Limited]

Lol, either your lying or the company has no idea wtf they are doing. They should be giving you a bit more information, before demanding an NDA.

They saw your work, which is completely not code related, and they offer you a job. Who is this company? Who the heck does their recon work? Do they understand you have little knowledge in coding, no experience developing for mobile devices and Halo is for desktops. No offense meant, just your expertise are in a different area.

I can tell you now, you won't be able to code for it, mobile apps are a tricky business. Its not easy taking a full scale game and porting it to a mobile device.

Great sector of work to get involved with though, very popular and generally the games dont need a massive amount of depth.

[Inferno]

They know what they are doing I'm just not supposed to say what exactly this game is going to be. But it's basically just another farmville.

[Hotrod]

Another Farmville thing? That's so lame...

[Limited]

Well to be honest I havent seen a single one of your game design things so perhaps they are pure gold.

Looking at it from a business point of view, if you do go ahead with it you will need to make sure you know how they are paying you. If its basically X amount once work is completed. Or you might be paid a smaller amount, but receive a proportion of however much the game makes, in this case if the games a big hit, you get paid more, if it flops you lose out.

I'd ask them how many people they plan to have work on this project, is there more than 1 coder, and whether they have experience with the platforms previously. I believe you have to pay to put a game on Facebook, so the company will be putting that up front.

In terms of actual coding, I've never looked into the Facebook API, I believe its just a backend for data storage and other protocols to use such as notifications. iPhone can be tricky to pickup, its fairly easy to get something up and runing, however turning that into a viable product to tell takes time.

[Inferno]

Another Farmville thing? That's so lame...

That's my thoughts about it as well. I don't like softcore gaming but a job is a job. And if there willing to pay me to learn and build a game for them I'll do it.