Creating a game?

Question

Hi all i am 14 and i think that at my age people that play computer games should be able to think of a game they would like to make.
Well i doubt i am old enough but yes i am going to write down my ideas for a great game.

So my questions would be how would i go about doing this once i have left school (or if possible know)? (Like i have the ideas i want who would i go to to help me publish and create graphics etc)

2) Know my game would be either a Flash game or an Online PC game so i can put updates on it every so often so if i am going to make it a flash game how much would it cost? (To keep the site up and running to keep the game up and running and to get like servers on it?)

If you have played Runescape They have Servers for different countrys but how much do those servers cost?
Or if you have played Battleon (which is a flash) how much does that server game cost to hold 14,000+ players?

I should think that is all i could ask really =)

Answer 1

In the case of online games, you don't just have to pay for the servers, you have to pay for the bandwidth. The cost will be thousands of dollars every month for hardware and connectivity, plus you have to pay for people to monitor and maintain everything. There's a site at http://www.t1shopper.com/ with some price quotes for connectivity. You're looking at multiple T1 or T3s, depending upon the number of servers. Also, you'd need routers and switches and firewalls and other security. I'd say you're looking at a minimum of $40K per month when you factor in salaries. You could get as low as maybe $20K per month.

Obviously it will cost less if you only have 1-2 servers and a T1 and handle all the administration yourself. Still, it's expensive.

Answer 2

Servers cost a fortune - you couldn't afford it.
Best thing is to use Flash and use your own PC as a server, and hope you don't get too many hits at one time.