Hello!
I'm looking for some price ideas on a project I would like to have developed.
But before I go on about that I feel like I need to explain my situation so as not to be disregarded due to assumptions.
I've been researching and planning for a project involving motion capture for some time now, I can't really disclose more information about it than that, but I essentially have been making a lot of phonecalls and research to different companies trying to get a good idea of how much that project would cost me and how I would go about setting it up.
Originally this project were to be set in motion early next year, but lately I've been having some conflicting thoughts and have gotten another, albeit smaller and hopefully cheaper, project in mind.
Depending on how the research turns out for this new project, I might put the other one on hold for another year or so.
What I'm currently looking for is having a software developed for me for PRIVATE use only.
The software would not be distributed in any way or form, by either me nor the developer.
This software can be explained real short and simple by using it's common abbrevation/name used online; a gamebot.
It's essentially a software that automates gameplay for a computer game.
The most popular 'bots' online are designed for MMOs, which stands for Massive Multiplayer Online.
I'm not a programmer myself, however I'm currently picking up C# to try and get some grasp of it and to be able and make simple modifications to the software once it's done.
But from what I understand these softwares attaches to the game itself once loaded and reads the memory to see what is going on.
The purpose of the software is to automate gameplay (playing a character in the game) and to stay hidden while doing it.
Obviously this is something I cannot do on my own, however I'm hoping to be able and write some specific AI for the software once it's done (as in more speficially how to play the character).
Before anyone jumps to any conclusions despite my best efforts to explain everything as good as possible; using this software would violate most games End User Agreement and Terms of Service.
That however does not mean that it is in any way illegal to develop (nor to use really, we could argue details here but let's not).
However many people do frown upon this as their moral compasses points in another direction, I do sincerely hope though that this won't affect my potential answers here.
If you have any moral or ethical problem with what is described in this thread, please refrain from posting.
I realize that to be able and develop such a software quite some research is necessary on the developers end aswell to fully understand how the game in particular works and it's security measures.
I can also provide access to similiar softwares and accounts to the game in question so that it can be inspected and tried, to get a better grasp of what we're dealing with.
I would like to reiterate that this software would NOT be sold or distributed in any way, nor could the sourcecode be used again or altered slightly and then be distributed by the developer.
These things could be worked out with legal measures if needed so that both parties could feel secure about it.
So what I'm asking for now are some ideas from experienced developers here on what a project like this could cost to develop.
I'm not looking to hire a firm/company nor a freelancer, it would be treated as a hobby project by the developer and the timeframe would be very flexible and the pay could potentially be straight to his/her pocket.
All responses regarding my question are much appreciated!
Regards,
Alex