iCombat

If you are considering outsourcing some or all of your project then you should definitely think about having a Non Disclosure Agreement signed by everyone that will see your specifications or idea.   You can find some decent NDAs on Docstoc and then simply put your name or Company name in the document or have a lawyer help adapt it for your needs.  Especially with outsourcing the project abroad, it is just too difficult to know whether you can trust all of the developers you will speak with.  While I am sure most NDAs won’t hold up internationally anyways, even the fact that someone is willing to go through the trouble of printing, signing, and scanning says something in my mind.

Once you have a signed NDA and you have sent out your specs and chosen someone to your liking the next step is drafting a contract.  What worked well for me was to create a contract between the developer and myself outlining, via milestones and detailed specs, what was going to be done at each stage.  While it takes a lot more up front work on your end to know exactly what you are looking for, it pays off in the end by having everything out on the table for everyone involved.  I learned from my experience developing application for The App Farm^tm , that it is worth the trouble to get it right the first time to avoid confusion down the line.

Things to consider in terms of a contract with a developer for an iPhone application:

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I have had an idea for a while now to create a tank game that would utilize some of the new features of the iPhone such as the accelerometer and tap firing.  I had always been fairly certain that it would be a 2D game, as I assumed 3D costs would be much higher (I don’t actually think this is true at this point but I never did really check into it), and I wanted to replicate some of the playability of the games of my childhood without screwing up the game play with unnecessary gimmicky features.  My last console was the Sega Genesis and I had owned many of the preceding consoles from the 90’s and 80’s including the N.E.S. and Atari 2600 so I was used to simpler graphics, fewer keypad options, but much better game design.

I decided to develop a basic tanks game that would leverage the 2 player via Wifi as well as accelerometer and tap features of the iPhone, but include little in the way of characters, story line, etc.

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