Artists wanted for next-gen visual novel project

[Johnathan]

I am currently seeking artists for a next-gen visual novel project. I have been making games as a programmer & designer for 15 years and have credit in 10 published titles (some indie, and some AAA console games), so I know what it takes to make a game and can guarantee it will get completed, if we get the right people on board.

This will be a commercial project and will be published through various online retailers, whom I already have connections with (Gamefly, GamersGate, Desura). We can also enter the game in competitions, such as the Indie Games Festival (one of my previous games won an award from that festival a few years back). You will get a percentage of all profits, and if it does well we might even be able to make a career out of it! In the chance that it doesn't make much money, a finished quality game with your name on it will still give you a good chance of finding a job as an artist in the video games industry.

SEEKING

I am looking for 2 artists to join the team:

1. Character artist. The characters are primarily female, anime style 2D drawings with multiple poses/facial expressions. The style is flexible, but something similar in style to the following anime: Working!!, To Love Ru, Guilty Crown.

2. Environment artist. The 3D environment can be modeled in any 3D software, such as SketchUp, Blender, 3DS Max, Maya, Lightwave 3D, etc. The game engine can import assets from pretty much any software package.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

What makes this project "next-gen" is it will have fully 3D environments. The characters will be 2D, but will be placed in a 3D world. You can freely walk around the environment and interact with the characters you encounter. Depending on who you talk to, and in which order, the story will progress in different ways. I have a custom 3D game engine written for this purpose.

Aside from the 3D exploration element, this will be a typical bishoujo visual novel, where the player attempts to win the girl. Similar games include Shuffle, Kanon, and Love Death 4. However, this will be a teen-rated game and will not include any H-scenes. This game also has only one heroine.

I have 3 different storylines to choose from for this project. You are welcome to choose which ever suits your interest most:
- Post-apocalyptic sci-fi, where the main character starts off thinking he's the only person left on the planet, but discovers he is not when he follows the sound of a girl singing.
- Modern day mystery, surrounding a psychic girl who never speaks.
- AI girlfriend. This isn't so much a story as it is an interactive character that you can talk to and play games with, kinda similar to Love Plus but more interactive and without having to worry about your stats.

A fair bit of planning and writing has already been done for these, but I don't want to give away too many spoilers on the forums. I'll fill you in on all the details via e-mail.

TIMELINE

The timeline for this project is approximately 3 months. I will personally commit about 20 hours per week, you may do less but at least 8 hours per week would be needed.

PLATFORM

The target platform is Windows/Mac, but might also make versions for Android and iOS.

If interested, please send me a private message with samples of your art! I look forward to hearing from you!

[Auro-Cyanide]

Are you willing to disclose which titles you worked on or give examples of your work? It may help give people a better idea of what you are after, what you are capable of etc.

Since you are looking for commercial quality work with no upfront pay, maybe you wish to add a hook to your idea descriptions? Something to get people interested. In this kind of project a person interest is all that keeps them working up until release, so pitching might help attract some attention

[gekiganwing]

Welcome to the forums, Johnathan.

What makes this project "next-gen" is it will have fully 3D environments. The characters will be 2D, but will be placed in a 3D world. You can freely walk around the environment and interact with the characters you encounter. Depending on who you talk to, and in which order, the story will progress in different ways.

I'm trying to think what a 2D character (sprite?) would look like in a 3D polygon world. I keep being reminded of the Paper Mario series...

Having a 3D world to explore can be enjoyable. But unless you and other people are very committed to the project, it might be an awful lot of effort. If you believe that you can sell a romance game or an interactive story with 3D graphics, then go for it. Otherwise, consider making a 2D world which can be explored.

Either way, adding more interactivity to a story is not a bad idea. I'm interested in a game where the player has many choices, and can investigate the environment. Not a bad concept for a different type of western visual novel.

[jack_norton]

I was wondering that too - usually what has been tried so far is 3d characters in a 2d painted background (like the famous Alone in the Dark series).

[Johnathan]

Most modern anime has scenes involving 2D characters on a 3D background, especially during intros. You've probably seen it but just didn't realize it because the 3D is stylized to look like it was hand drawn.

There is the option to make fully 3D characters, and I do have a base character to work with, however it's more complicated to work with and more difficult to find people with 3D character art experience.

Here are some of the games I've made:
http://www.make-the-switch.com/portfolio

[DaFool]

Hmmm... perhaps if the 2D character were animated in motionportrait fashion like this:

I hope you find reliable partners to work with you (though if it were me I'd just grab the 3D artist from someplace more dedicated to 3D art). I'm assuming you looked through deviantart already.

[Johnathan]

Thanks for suggesting the motionportrait. I even made similar demo a little while back. That's definitely an option! =)

[jack_norton]

Just checked your site, and if I'm not mistaken you're vegan too? cool good luck for the game anyway, sounds like you have the skills to finish it!

[Kindred87]

Having 3D and 2D assets blend together well is very much possible, but it takes very good planning and even better implementation o.O Though in three months? That'll be interesting...

Anyways, it's awesome that you worked on Homeworld 2. It's such a staple franchise ^^

[Johnathan]

I'M WILLING TO DO WORK EXCHANGE: For anyone who signs up for this project, in exchange for your artwork I can offer time for your projects, doing programming and/or writing.

[Green Skies]

Woahhhhh such a professional wip!
I'm excited for this!
Do you have any character sketches/concept art?
I'd love to see it if so

[Johnathan]

Here's a quick video of "motion portrait" type effect using my 3D game engine. Here it shows a character looking at the mouse cursor as it moves around the screen. It was done quickly so I know it's not perfect... it's just an example. We'll likely use this type of effect for the characters in the game, in addition to breathing, blinking, and some ambient animation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zcD5PiCji8

[Weakjounin]

That's cool and slightly creepy at the same time.
Hardcore skills right there though

[DaFool]

Have you talked to mugenjohncel?

He's been trying to do cheapo Motion Portrait for a long time:


Not to mention he's the master SketchUp backgrounds artist around here.

What he wants to achieve is this apparently:


Just dangle your 3D motion portrait tech in front of him like a carrot and I'm pretty sure he'll bite.

(I'm also anticipating what he'll probably do using webcam face-tracking technology and upskirts... ah, the possibilities are endless)

[mj67ai]

This is... fairly nice and professional in commissioning. Nice.
This is the kind of thing I've been looking for. Very nice.
My area is most commonly Character Design-- and am currently a student involved with animation.
If your still open, I wouldn't mind doing character drafts, character designs.
To Love Ru, Shuffle!, and most of Noizi Ito's character design styles are influences of my style. Mostly follow to modern anime/ manga character styles found today.
I'm soon to have decent examples up...but a free commission I've done has been for projects like FatexHeart (FxH) on here... and have done mascot designs for school clubs (including a few anime clubs).... anyhow if you're still open, and are in available spots for character design and drafts... I'm interested. That is, if you dont mind being more specific on the projects.