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Insomniac
13-09-2007, 05:22 PM
I recently met a group of people in Durban who have got some great ideas for games and are looking to seriously work together and make something happen. At our last meeting we have picked what game to do first and have got a basic design going.
Unfortuantely we are having problems with artists who keep fading on us and need some more to join the team. We also need some more programmers as I'm the only one at the moment :P

Also note there will be no money paid upfront for your work but when we do commercially release a game you will be rewarded :)

Mark doesn't want me to give too much away with our game details but I can say we are looking at using C# and XNA. If you're interested in joining then PM me and I'll put you into contact with Mark and he will let you know more.

Tr00jg
13-09-2007, 05:47 PM
I think more people might join or PM if you give us more info...

And tell Mark to join Game.Dev. :P

Insomniac
13-09-2007, 05:56 PM
That's what I told him ;)
I'll get him to join asap.

Evil_Toaster
13-09-2007, 07:39 PM
Good luck with finding an artist. I went on a major artist locaterising mission for FFS a while back. I went through about 5 cases where in each case the person seemed very keen up front, and then pulled out a few meetings/emails down the line... Eventually I roped an old friend in. He did a lot of the art for Cartesian Chaos. But yeah, I'm a bit disillusioned with artists after that ordeal.

On a more practical note, I'd suggest looking at methods of procedurally generating art, as well as finding ways to represent things which use less art resources.

Tr00jg
13-09-2007, 08:29 PM
Good luck with finding an artist. I went on a major artist locaterising mission for FFS a while back. I went through about 5 cases where in each case the person seemed very keen up front, and then pulled out a few meetings/emails down the line... Eventually I roped an old friend in. He did a lot of the art for Cartesian Chaos. But yeah, I'm a bit disillusioned with artists after that ordeal.

On a more practical note, I'd suggest looking at methods of procedurally generating art, as well as finding ways to represent things which use less art resources.

Have you looked at outsourcing it to professionals? ie paying per sprite whatever?

Evil_Toaster
13-09-2007, 08:58 PM
Not really hey. I am of the opinion that Retrotoast should pay its own bills. Ideally, I shouldn't have to put more than some initial startup cash into its account, and hopefully things will take off from there. The short of it is we're not considering paying people up front for art. We have the same position as Insomniac, where we'd be willing to offer a percentage of royalties to those who helped with the game.

I also plan on designing around the art problem and get the engine to do my animations for me, and as mentioned, procedural generation is a good way to go as well. Even with 2D games, when you're aiming at a certain level of graphical quality/polish, the game can require a tonne of art resources if the engine can't do anything more than flip between different rectanglular sprites.

Mark_GD
14-09-2007, 11:05 AM
Hi everyone.

We've got a few ideas for games. The first one I want to do is a game for the Xbox Live Arcade. The game will be 2d only. The camera view will be directly from above. I've been doing some research, and we can still make it look beautiful from the top down view. Because of the way the gameplay will work, I want the style to be along the lines of a Japanese anime. I would also like the graphics to be hand drawn and then edited a bit. That look will suit the gameplay perfectly.

The game will be a survival/adventure zombie game with strong comedy elements. I have come up with a great new combat system I have never seen in a game before. Some games use similar elements, and my system will work out brilliantly. I have played the game many times through my head and have come up with some great ideas. Currently I have 2 story guys (one humour and one basic - they both needed for this game), a programmer (Insomniac), and 2 artists who have both yet to give me anything (in my mind, they not actually part of the team yet). I will be helping with animations, but my main task will be level design and general feel of the game.

Recently I recorded some of my friends swinging objects around from above, and I was very surprised at how different things look from above and how clearly you could still see what was happening from above.

Please, if you are interested, PM me if you want to do art or Insomniac if you want to program. We are not taking this lightly. As soon as we release it you will be rewarded. We want to do a combat concept demo first before we start the entire game. With a concept demo we plan on getting funding. I know its not an easy industry, but we have done our research and we know how to go around doing it.

Cyberninja
14-09-2007, 01:00 PM
The only way you are going to secure a artist (without paying them upfront) is to make sure you give them details about your business strategy. They need to know for certain that you are serious about making your product commercial and that they will be rewarded when the time comes. You need to show them your business/marketing plan even before production begins. That's the only way they will take you seriously and work for you. Saying "We'll make this brilliantly original game with X and Y!" is not going to work, until you provide a solid business plan to go along with it. Saying "we'll cross that bridge when we get there" is not the way to go. You need to assure them from the start that you are serious about your product. That's when the work will start.

Edit: Corrected the word. My bad people. ;)

Coolhand
14-09-2007, 01:20 PM
...give them details about your business tragedy.

ROFL.

I don't think that you'd want to give them *those* kinds of details... ;)

Cyberninja
14-09-2007, 01:24 PM
I mean't the business part that explains how you are going to market/sell your product. Not the "numbers" parts. Artists don't like working with numbers. ;)

Mark_GD
14-09-2007, 01:26 PM
I will email all the information if someone is interested. I'm not going to give out all my information out front, and I'm not going to trust someone with all our ideas unless I think they are capable of the job. I also have a financial adviser for a major music company helping us out. All the guys in our team will be asked to sign contracts amongst some other things.

We are taking this seriously. If you interested, PM me, I'll send you my email address and then you can feel free to know whatever it is you need to know before you start.

Mark_GD
14-09-2007, 01:27 PM
....give them details about your business tragedy.

No details regarding our "tragedy" available at all...... only success.

Cyberninja
14-09-2007, 01:32 PM
I will email all the information if someone is interested. I'm not going to give out all my information out front, and I'm not going to trust someone with all our ideas unless I think they are capable of the job. I also have a financial adviser for a major music company helping us out. All the guys in our team will be asked to sign contracts amongst some other things.

We are taking this seriously. If you interested, PM me, I'll send you my email address and then you can feel free to know whatever it is you need to know before you start.

I was talking about the marketing/selling part, not the entire strategy. :) Sorry, if my post came across that way. Sorry, I can't help, wrapped up in my own projects this year. Good luck with your game.

Edit: Fixed..sigh.

Cyberninja
14-09-2007, 01:39 PM
No details regarding our "tragedy" available at all...... only success.

Optimism is fine. But you have to give them something to chew on. People work better if they believe they are working towards something. Giving them just words and promises won't work.

Mark_GD
14-09-2007, 01:51 PM
If they want to know how we plan on marketing it they must PM us.

Cyberninja
14-09-2007, 01:55 PM
Cool. You should try looking for artists in these sites also:

http://www.deviantart.com/
http://www.animationsa.org/v3/default.asp

Theres loads of talented people here. :)

Cyberninja
14-09-2007, 02:11 PM
ROFL.

I don't think that you'd want to give them *those* kinds of details... ;)

Fixed the word. lol My bad. ;)

Jimmwyrm
19-09-2007, 02:24 PM
I'd help you guys out as far as art goes, but unfortunately, im waaaaay to busy at the moment :\

Some work here ->
http://jimmytheediblewyrm.deviantart.com/
http://praxiscomics.com/calanrock.html

dislekcia
19-09-2007, 06:29 PM
I'd help you guys out as far as art goes, but unfortunately, im waaaaay to busy at the moment :\

Some work here ->
http://jimmytheediblewyrm.deviantart.com/
http://praxiscomics.com/calanrock.html

Hey, neat! Please don't disappear off the forums, I think you'll find a few projects here over the next few months that could benefit from having an experienced illustrator...

Plus, tell Jeanine I say hi ;)

-D

Insomniac
19-09-2007, 07:34 PM
I'd help you guys out as far as art goes, but unfortunately, im waaaaay to busy at the moment :\

Some work here ->
http://jimmytheediblewyrm.deviantart.com/
http://praxiscomics.com/calanrock.html

Hey thanks for the interest and nice stuff there :)
I sent Mark a message and told him to get into contact with you.
And dont worry, most of us in the team are also really busy at the moment with uni or a job so we understand :P

Cyberninja
19-09-2007, 07:38 PM
I'd help you guys out as far as art goes, but unfortunately, im waaaaay to busy at the moment :\

Some work here ->
http://jimmytheediblewyrm.deviantart.com/
http://praxiscomics.com/calanrock.html


Awesome work man. I love your style. :) Very cool technique.

Mark_GD
20-09-2007, 08:19 AM
I did get hold of you..... sent you an email... I love your style.

MEKILL
20-09-2007, 11:34 AM
what language

Mark_GD
20-09-2007, 11:49 AM
English.... just joking...

C#, we using XNA

Jimmwyrm
20-09-2007, 01:19 PM
thanks all :)
Gotcha email Mark