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[GlyphGryph]

No, I'm not running it, and with my track record for finishing projects I start, that's a good thing. I am designing much of it and doing the bulk of the programming, and we've already got a great level designer/writer and a finance guy, but this is going to be a pretty big project, and we could use some more people interested in jumping on the team. I was thinking about where I might be able to find some talented people and... well, hell, it's pretty much you guys, so don't let me down.

Our first game project will be a single player, web-based Missile Command clone combined with RPG elements and world development.
We have a few mockups our non-artists have made:

Spoiler: A Colony (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: The Galaxy (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Another Colony (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Another Galaxy (click to show/hide)

We've got a lot of the general feel of the game mapped up, and we're working daily on giving it real form. We can pull it off with the people we have - but it would be hard, and it won't be as good as it could have been.

What we need are people to fill in our gaps, and help generate content, in the following areas.

Major Needs:
Art - We need someone with good spriting skills to do pretty much all the artwork for the game and help us decide on the best visual style. We aren't committed, so sell us on yours if you think your up to it. Max White is a go.
Writing - We have a general plot and some major elements done up, but we're going to have well over several thousand missions, and dozens of items, and hundreds of backstory "Lore" pieces that can be discovered.
Sound - We'll need music and sound effects for the game. Doesn't need to be the same person.

Lesser Needs:
Programming - Right now, it's mostly just me on this end. Could use some help on that front if we want this to get out the door at a reasonable speed.This will likely be HTML5 based, so JavaScript knowledge (or the ability to pick it up quickly) is important, but honestly we are still considering our options here. AS through haXe. Someone who can handle some minor AI scripting would be great too. Programming Team Complete! Thanks Siquo!
Level Design - We've got a great level designer right now, but there are going to be a lot of levels, and more content is NOT a bad thing. Plus, he's a really good writer and a halfway decent pixel artist as well, so if we have trouble filling those roles another level designer would be useful in giving him time to hit other areas.

Anyone interested or have any questions, let me know.

[Max White]

White reporting for duty! Amateur pixel artist and trained programmer in the C syntax, willing to donate time to a cause. Did this yesterday.


Also, a few minutes algo I helped somebody out on the programming thread. Only downside is that I currently have my own affairs to work on, but I still have some free time to assist. Will you have me?

EDIT: Hmm, taking the game into account, you are most likely after landscape artists more then characters, both different styles of art, so have a tiny landscape I made.

[forsaken1111]

No, I'm not running it, and with my track record for finishing projects I start, that's a good thing.

Case in point: I told you to do this yesterday.

Thanks for putting this up though, and Max that looks excellent. Can you do a mock-up in your style of some kind of action scene similar to that first image Iituem made for us? (the one under the "A Colony" spoiler)

I'd love to see what you can do with it, so go nuts and make pretty pictures.

[IronyOwl]

I suppose I could take a shot at writing. Can't promise much in the way of commitment, but I could probably help out here and there.

[Max White]

A quick mock up? Ok, I can do that. Although interesting to note, few games like this have an image of the ground and background. They are almost always generated at run time based on an algorithm, otherwise balancing the gameplay by changing the level layout requires you to redraw the image, making the testing iteration sooo much longer then it should be. As far as art goes, your should only need the images for the buildings, the interface, the effects and maybe the missiles, depending on how you want them. Even the colour of the buildings that show status, like your shield generators, should be a single sprite, changed by palate swap. You should talk with your programmer(s) about it.

But still, quick draft, just to see if you like the colour scheme.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

EDIT: That reminds me, even if I don't end up doing the art, to who ever does: Be nice to your programmers! See how I turned the three lazor cannons into a single omni-directional lazor shooting orb? Now the programmers don't need to figure out what point to shoot from, there is a single point of origin, and it still looks cool.

EDIT EDIT: Also, best to keep all building blocks the same size. Not required, as it is possible to program your way through it, but making the blocks the same size not only helps the programmer, but helps the player a little by making the height of buildings a little more predictable.

[forsaken1111]

Yes I do realize the level features are usually generated in games like this, not hand-drawn. I just wanted to see your art style, and I must say that looks fantastic.

How long did that take you?

[Max White]

Background and ground, less then two minutes. As you can tell they are done very quickly and scraggly. I can do much better images as both a artist, and as a programmer, if required.  But the building? Not that long. n average about 30 to 60 seconds a 'block sector'.

Edit: Also, just a quick note, if you want it to look more realistic then arcade, then it would be nice to have some small plant and shrub sprites to spread around, that can be destroyed by stray missiles. It breaks up the otherwise straight lines of the ground to your eyes.

[forsaken1111]

Max, this project may take a while to develop, and we're looking at other projects afterwards. Do you think you can commit to that?

[Max White]

You mean the fact that it might take a while, or the later projects or both?
Take a while? Yea sure! All the better! If you need one thousand sprites from me, I would be happier knowing I had a year to do them, then three days. A long dev cycle just means I am not the bottle neck, and when the programmers get something together they can use nice graphics instead of blocks, so hopefully they look forward to testing more, and focus more on the task at hand, so I see a finished product faster!

Other projects? Aww hell yes! Are we talking sequels to this game, or new games? Because I'm more then willing to put in for part II, but I'm sort of a jack of all for pixel art, so it might be nice to stretch out into other styles when the game calls for it.

[forsaken1111]

Max, PM me your e-mail address and we'll talk. I'll give you some more details.

[Max White]

Ok, sorry this is taking so long, I am currently reading some information on the best way to get something to work in a game, while watching tv at the same time. My attention is some what split. Still, it looks cool, sleek, and the houses look some what friendly, with a touch of my own style here and there.

I only applied two layers of shade to the houses, makes them feel less military.

[forsaken1111]

Ok, sorry this is taking so long

No worries, there's no deadline here. I'm just sitting at work waiting for the hours to pass.

[Max White]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Nw just for lazors, missiles and explosions. I felt I had to preview now, as it looks so peaceful, shame to ruin it. Ah well, I'm using layers to an almost unreasonable amount, so getting rid of the chaos will be easy for me.

[Max White]

Hmm, final for concept art? It will do.

Spolidered the others for the sake of space.

[forsaken1111]

That looks great Max. Look for an email from me shortly with some more details.