Hey, everyone! Will cut right to the chase:

I'm a freelance illustrator with a bachelor's degree in graphic design, have done 2D animation work in the past and some illustration work for a few mobile games. However, my understanding of how an actual video game is made - especially, how to work with programmers - is very limited. That being said, there are Nintendo/Sega Genesis games from my youth that I'd love to, essentially, reskin based on my own designs and have them be playable on mobile devices with a more current day look and sound (reskin's maybe too strong of a word).

One such game is "Evander Holyfield's Real Deal Boxing" (the old Sega Genesis game*). I'd like for the gameplay, the mechanics (the way the jabs, hooks, uppercuts, etc. are thrown), the fighter selection and the career mode to be pretty much identical to how EHRDB is, but - instead of realistic boxing - it would be a sci-fi themed game starring different monsters & creatures boxing each other. I'd like for it to be a 2D/2.5D game and I'd do all of the character designs & animations myself.

It's a fairly simple game by today's standards, but, judging by what I've read & heard - the Achilles heel in most game development is always the coding, the programming.  Mostly because artists - not unlike myself - lack understanding of how to work with programmers and how complicated & time consuming their job is.

So my question is, as programmers - how difficult and time consuming would a project like this be to you? How much would it cost me? How many programmers I might need to pull it off? What specific qualifications I should look for in a programmer? What are some of the potential underwater rocks I should take into consideration? And are there any rudimentary coding, programming, game development courses or books I should check out to have a better understanding on how to work with programmers? Assuming wannabe game developers pop up on forums like this all of the time - are there any Game Dev 101 videos or articles you'd recommend checking out?

Any replies and information would be very much appreciated. Thank you very much!

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19 hours ago, Herwald said:

So my question is, as programmers - how difficult and time consuming would a project like this be to you? How much would it cost me? How many programmers I might need to pull it off? What specific qualifications I should look for in a programmer? What are some of the potential underwater rocks I should take into consideration? And are there any rudimentary coding, programming, game development courses or books I should check out to have a better understanding on how to work with programmers? Assuming wannabe game developers pop up on forums like this all of the time - are there any Game Dev 101 videos or articles you'd recommend checking out?

Any replies and information would be very much appreciated. Thank you very much!

While the game is relatively simple, if you're looking for a commercial-quality game you'll be spending quite a lot.  As a very rough estimate, for a highly simplified version of that game I'd say a MINIMUM of 4 work-months from a professional who already has access to the tools needed for that, so about $40,000.

For a hobby project something could be put together with far less effort and far less quality. You might even be able to do something simple that satisfies your goals by yourself with game tools like GameMaker Studio, GameSalad, Godot, Construct, or similar.  You may also pair up with another hobbyist who knows those tools, and work together on a passion project.

If you decide to hire someone, your role would be both for production work and art work. You'd need to share the design work to make sure the designs you both decide on can be implemented in code and in visuals.  You'll need skills in communications and negotiations. You will also need some guidance on contracts, it is best to have an actual lawyer draft the agreement to ensure you have all the rights you need.  If you are going for a commercial project you'll also need to know about marketing, and have a significant marketing budget.