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For the independent game studio Mode 7 it took 4 years and 3 developers plus contractors. Do you think it could have been done faster (according that you have played it) ?

What would it take to just make a clone of that game ? for another indie that is, not for a big studio.

WaterBearer
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    We have have got loads of questions of this type. No one really grows any smarter by guestimating stuff like that. In any case, the answer is "that depends". – aaaaaaaaaaaa Aug 18 '11 at 13:36
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    It would take one year if you have 144 developers. Oh, wait... – thedaian Aug 18 '11 at 13:45
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    haha, as usual the useless replies are found in the comments (I particularly like the all time useless "it depends") - any competent person around, feel free to share your knowledge in an answer – WaterBearer Aug 18 '11 at 14:19
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    Want better replies? Ask a better question. – Cyclops Aug 18 '11 at 14:30

  • I particularly like the all time useless "it depends"<< I'm glad you do, because it's the most exact answer you are going to get.

     – aaaaaaaaaaaa Aug 18 '11 at 14:31
  • Whoops, my previous comment should read "one month". The good news is, if you're just cloning the game, you don't have to spend all your time doing boring stuff like design, testing, redesign... Heck, if you steal their art and sound, that's half the work done for you! – thedaian Aug 18 '11 at 14:47

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It depends on whether you've ever made a game before, whether you have money, time, resources or a team, or any one of other many things it takes to make this happen.

It really depends on the skill level of your artists and programmers, the clarity of your design document, and what resources you have available. If this is a full time job for everyone, it will go faster than if it's an "on the side" evenings and weekends job.

Also, if you have previous game development experience it will go faster. If you don't, it will go slower. If you have a reliable team, it will go faster. If your team is not reliable, it will go slower.

Perhaps others can fill in more dependencies in the comments.

If you REALLY stick to making a clone and not changing the game, it will go faster. If you start making changes and tweaking, it may take longer.

To the point about the original game you're cloning...

Probably a lot of what went into that original 4 years of development time was design, trial and error, prototyping and polishing the idea. If you're going to just copy them, clearly you don't need to spend time on thinking much - just coding and art.

And lastly for some advice from the mouths of pros who've cloned other games..

You might find this article interesting. It's about how Farmville was created in 5 weeks. It was a clone of various games and so the developers didn't need to come up with a completely original idea.

Tim Holt
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