Hiring information: What should I expect/organize when hiring a scripter?

Help and Feedback Scripting Support
#1

Hiya, I’m Kitkat, and I’m the Co-Dev and communications manager for an upcoming figure skating game. Main dev @ExiledRivers isn’t yet fully confident with English so I manage communications, direct queries, hiring, etc. Rivers mainly does building, sound directing, animating and GUI, and is quite happy working in that area and letting me manage the other stuff.

I myself am still new to outsourcing development work, specifically scripting. I need to ask a few things to sort of get an idea of what works, and what is fair. Skip over any questions you don’t want to answer, any input will help!

For context: This is going to be a competitive figure skating game. The concept revolves around a complex, round based system, and will inculde aspects such as datastores, currency, points, lots of customization, levels etc. The scripting job will mostly revolve around creating the rounds and datastore system, but there are many many aspects of this game to be included. Some aspects are already scripted, but that is from my limited scripting knowledge. We just need to hire someone to fill in the massive blanks.

  1. Should I hire a scripter for a one-time job or find a long-term scripter?

  2. Is this a job for multiple scripters?

  3. How long should I give my scripter to work on this project?
    This is, from my understanding, a very large scripting job. While I am lenient, I want to have an idea of how long to give a scripter, with reasonable allowance

  4. How much input and instruction should I give for the scripter?
    In smaller commissions hiring, I would usually include a ReadMe script with direct instructions as to how I need something to work, as well as what I needed incorporated.

  5. **How should instructions be laid out? Is there a particular format, flow or general organised **

  6. Finally, what payment range should I be looking in for quality work?

Thank you for taking the time to read through this, and let me know if there are any other points or tips I missed.

#2

Long term, if you ever want updates to the game, you’re going to need somebody who knows how to code. That may put you in a position to have a long-term scripter, but that’s difficult and expensive. If you just want them to get done what you need right now, you maybe could get away with a really large contract commission.

You probably won’t need multiple scripters. Personally speaking, I lean towards working on backend systems, but I am ultimately a full-stack developer and can do everything on my own. Pretty much every experienced scripter on Roblox can say the same, so multiple scripters is something you probably won’t need.

It’s hard to really give you a good time frame for how long your project could take. It depends on the scripter’s experience, how thorough they are in full-proofing your systems (especially data), and ultimately how much work they need done. Your best bet is to allow them a considerable amount of time, but check in often to make sure the work is getting done in a reasonable time frame.

Its up to you to choose how much leeway you give to your scripters. Generally speaking, it’s very helpful for you to be clear with what you want done. Leave the technical aspects of things to your scripters.

There isn’t a special format for giving instructions to your scripters. Just be clear with what you want. Be prepared to have things that can be used as references (like screenshots or examples from other games).

As far as payment goes, if you are looking for quality work, you can expect it to be pretty expensive. You are definitely going to want to be working with real money here. You may get lucky and find somebody who will work for a percentage of game profits, but that comes with its risks.

Hopefully that answers your questions.

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