Pandora (Enquiry) Hiring Developer's For Pandora

[smileyguy]

How I handle this for the titles I am involved (on other platforms) is to fix the amount by project (paying by milestones). I guess this would be applicable and be the wiser course of action for Pandora also.

That is how I would have assumed it.

You have got a PM.

Just replied your PM.

 

[smileyguy]

Just to add a new layer here too.. I work spare time for a contracting firm locally, (we deal with software for state aid insurance etc, depending on what state they are billing, and if i am needed on location they can charge anywhere from 150-700 an hour for exactly the same services. Mind you i see about 14% of that so take it for what you will. You'll probably need to look for indie or freeware help honestly unless your willing to pay decent cash for the market your targeting (Californians are way over paid :> (nuthing personal) but there cost of living is insane too.

You probably already know this but just in-case not, i would drop around Tigs , freeware remakes, moddb etc forums and see who is posting looking for something to do if your really serious about putting together a team.

I confess that I may have been a bit too rash about the topic itself. I guess, I should be looking for a collaboration for something that is freeware rather than to get everyone thinking that I am paying 'commercial rates' for a 'commercial product'. Thanks for the pointers guys.

 

[elwing]

Programming goes for about $800 usd a day.

Wow, what dream world are you living in? Book me a ticket!

in this country, outsourcing to a service society actually cost more than that... but the programmer itself still get only around 400$ a day...

 

[kmob]

Off shoring programming tasks isn't as straight forward in practice as some folk assume. You end up having to front load your project by producing extremely detailed, specific and unambiguous functional specifications as well as intensely manage your off shore guys.

The developers you get generally will turn out “ok” code that does – exactly - what you requested, and no more than that. You also will have a hell of a time managing them and getting straight answers about progress or problems. The default answer is “yes” regardless of what the actual situation is, you will discover problems at the very last minute that the team has been hiding from you under a blanket of positive statements...

All of this means that in practice you need to change the nature of off shored development projects and not only produce bullet proof specifications but also allow for significant hands on attention to their tasks. It still does work out cheaper though, but you can’t approach it the same way you usually would with your usual on-shore teams.

Early on when I was doing this I got told this parable and it turns out to be scarily accurate:
You have to pop out of the kitchen for an urgent call but you’re boiling potatoes for your dinner! So you ask your offshore programmer (who happens to be there in the kitchen ) to watch them for you while you’re out. When you return your house is full of billowing black smoke and when you make it into the kitchen you find your off shore programmer sitting calmly in front of the stove intently staring at the smoking charred ruins of your potatoes welded to the bottom of your pot. When you ask WTF happened, he turns around and says “Job done boss, I watched those potatoes just like you asked!”...

 

[emcp]

Just chipping in here quickly (read just the first page)

Considering this isnt to be commercial

Why not have a comp, more fun, more results etc
I dont know how exact your game designs are, but if this is to be considered 'a gift'

why not just openly post it first, see if anyone will be on board (although this normally leads to a dead end, comps get more results)
Also the artist is the main thing here (personally, very tedious)

I dont mind programming and enjoy it, however when it comes to the art its painful, very painful, and i now tend to get the art done first, so i know i have it (normally it will be based on primitives, with some sort of particle effects to spice it up etc)

So if your not looking to make money from it, have a comp
even if you are looking to make money (entry cost, money from ads/sponsors)...................

 

[MWeston]

Silicon valley migrant code labor short term contracting, c'mon down, if you're really good $520 of that is even yours before taxes which are huge but there's a yearly bonus with per project/finder bonuses, (also taxed), phone, laptop, 3 week vacation, and a yearly 5 day retreat, lots of singing around the campfire, dental, optical, 100% medical, cafeteria plan, 401k, (to try and avoid those taxes), and an expense account along with mileage just filling agency contracts. You'll have to live here though and that costs more than a bit extra too but the weather is very nice.

Wow, I'm in the wrong business then. You had me up to and then after the campfire singing.

 

[smileyguy]

Just chipping in here quickly (read just the first page)

Considering this isnt to be commercial

Why not have a comp, more fun, more results etc
I dont know how exact your game designs are, but if this is to be considered 'a gift'

why not just openly post it first, see if anyone will be on board (although this normally leads to a dead end, comps get more results)
Also the artist is the main thing here (personally, very tedious)

I dont mind programming and enjoy it, however when it comes to the art its painful, very painful, and i now tend to get the art done first, so i know i have it (normally it will be based on primitives, with some sort of particle effects to spice it up etc)

So if your not looking to make money from it, have a comp
even if you are looking to make money (entry cost, money from ads/sponsors)...................

Good suggestion. I'll see how things goes. Will keep you guys informed if it is a go.

 

[noisome]

You obviously wouldn't pay someone hourly, you'd contract this out. Maybe some amount upfront and the rest to follow. You can bid for people on rentacoder.com, where everyone can fight for the work, but I'm not sure you'll get very good programmers. I always figured that site was only really good for helping people cheat on homework, the actual bids for real work end up way too low. But if they really come through then it'd work out well for you.

I have used rentacoder.com and there are very good programmers and very piss poor programmers available. References are always available upon request and I have went with well reviewed coders and haven't been let down. Some even go out of their way to give a quick demonstration of what you want before you actually accept their bid.


Of course you can pick more expensive countries (US, UK, all of Europe, etc) or less expensive countries (India, Pakistan, China, etc). You get what you pay for, and people bid appropriately for the most part.

 

[NearTao]

Hmmm... globalisation. You could always hire cheap Indian programmers?

Exploitation. Yummy!

From experience, coders in India aren't as cheap as they used to be and keep getting closer to US salaries every year. Try Africa, Brazil or China... but really, they are starting to get more expensive too.

Anyone tried looking into Moon/Martian coders? They must be an untapped resource.