[BL] Writers, Pitch A Script to this Programmer/Artist Team!

[Rosstin]

Lilinn and I are interested in finding a skilled writer who has an idea that they're passionate about turning into a visual novel! If you can provide us with an interesting script, we can program and illustrate it.

I'm looking for high-concept, unusual and interesting story concepts, like:
*Human spy navigates complex romantic customs of alien culture
*Player is a ghost who interferes with the lives of the characters indirectly
*Robot seeks to escape the eternal party which it was designed to serve
(These are just wacky examples, don't actually pitch these.)

Our artist, Lilinn, is quite fond of male-on-male interaction, so bonus points if your idea involves those. Lilinn's tumblr is here: http://sayoshigure.tumblr.com/
Lilinn says: "I do prefer drawing boy/boy (and I don't mind if they are a little bit old, like over 30 or something), and I don't mind drawing R-18 scenes, as long as they are not hard-core and up close. I am a fan of sad stories myself, so I would love to draw some dramatic-angsty scenes (and don't get me wrong, I love happy endings). I guess in the end my preference is just male characters and drama, the rest is up to the writer, fantasy or modern fits my taste either way."

I'd like to make a primarily story-and-character centered game with romantic elements, rather than a life-sim or economic game. My target is to create a multi-path-story with enough gameplay to justify a price tag of about $5.

About me: I am Rosstin! I'm an amateur game developer with a few years of experience and a talent for getting things done. On game projects, I typically serve as the manager and main programmer. I've been paid as an artist before, and can contribute art assets when the need arises. Although my anime skills are far from sublime, I love to make 2D animations and cute art. I have a huge stock of shot-by-me photography for use as background elements, and am willing to travel for reference shots of exotic locations.

Over the last year, I've released about 3 projects that I've considered complete and successful, including the visual novel Kitty Love, otherwise known as Queer Catboy Love Disaster.
Kitty Love: http://rosstin.wordpress.com/2012/03/17/kitty-love-3/

If you're interested, give me the elevator pitch for your idea! A sample of your best writing is also appreciated!

[Dim Sum]

Not skilled writer but out of curiosity:

What's bad with pitch you've already written?

Do they just lack scripts?

I'm just imagining some talented writer who could turn those pitches into full blown scripts. Would be too bad if such pitches were considered off-limits. They could easily be tweaked like:

*Alien spy was tasked with mission to investigate simple crude romantic customs of human culture but wonky navigation causes crash landing and puts alien into a coma. Several centuries pass and alien wake up too late and all human species are gone and now female alien finds she is trapped in human male disguise. Alien ends up trying to escape the immortal planet that is now occupied by robots, ends up hiding from malicious robot scientists who wants to examine her in the hopes of unlocking true human simulation cause robot society are trying to leapfrog progress by mimicking previous dominant species but due to too little surviving info, could not. Thinks female alien is somehow last surviving human who found a way to survive into their present. (Maybe cause of time machine or something else. They are not sure.)

House she is hiding in ends up being haunted by the ghost of a human male who happens to have been scouting the robot society for years. The plot then becomes about the ghost and the alien working together to survive and convince the robot society (that is acting pseudo-human) that alien is robot in disguise. At the same time, alien is trying to keep her secret mission from human ghost and human ghost is trying to keep his embarrassing past secrets from alien. (Secrets that are the reason why he has been trapped on earth as a ghost for all these years.)

Not being a skilled writer, that is horrible pitch but just highlighting how the pre-provided pitches are (as advertised) high-concept, unusual and interesting story already and you don't seem to have made a game out of it yet. At least the screenshots of Kitty Love don't seem to have those plots.

[redeyesblackpanda]

While I don't have the bandwidth to offer to write myself, I think some other writers might be interested in the terms of this agreement, especially since you plan on making this game commercial.

Will the writer be paid upfront? Will he or she get a cut of the sales? Do you have an approximate word count that you think would make it "justify a price tag of about $5?"

[Rosstin]

Dim Sum: As the advice at the top of this board goes, ideas are worthless, haha. I'd much rather have a writer with a story they're passionate about, than suggest someone write me a specific story. The pitches there are some silly ideas I picked off the top of my head, or were the basis of other projects. (We did actually make a visual novel about a human spy who has to learn alien romance!)
To my mind, good writing is harder to find than a good idea.

Redeyesblackpanda:
I've worked on commission myself before, but I haven't yet lead a team that was paid on commission. All of my projects up until a few months ago have been primarily portfolio-building projects where no one has been paid, so forgive my lack of experience in this regard.

I'd be willing to compensate a writer up to $10/hour of work, provided that I and the artist REALLY like your writing sample and pitch. In this case, I'd like the writer to have a) worked on a successful, complete VN before or b) be published/known for their writing online. In the unlikely event of financial success, everyone on the team will get an equal cut of profits after expenses are paid for, for a year after release. I worked on commission for a professional developer friend (the guy who made Realm of the Mad God! http://www.realmofthemadgod.com/ ) who has a lawyer and fancy contracts, so that could be arranged if necessary.

However, rather than for money, I'd prefer that a writer want to work with us:
* Out of a desire to expand your portfolio with professional-quality work.
* Because you're passionate about making a game.
* Because you're passionate about your script.
* You like us and think it would be fun to work with us.
* You're confident in our team's ability to see a project through to the end.

Incidentally, I attend school in Pittsburgh, PA, and my family home is in San Jose, CA, so if you have geographic proximity to either of those places, I'd love to meet over coffee.

Redeyesblackpanda, in regards to a word count that justifies a price tag of $5, I confess that I do not have a good sense of how long a game would have to be to justify that much money. All I have for reference is the Kitty Love project -- I estimated that as a $2 game? I'm open to any advice about how long a game would have to be to justify the price. I'm hoping to have about 5 hours of gameplay.

In regards to game length, although I've said that I don't want to do a mathematically complex life-sim, I have made action/platformer games before. Adding a gameplay element can significantly lengthen the life of a visual novel, so I'm willing to include a single simple gameplay element provided that it's very-well integrated into the story, is a core mechanic, and it's inclusion doesn't overshadow the visual novel nature of the game. For instance, we could create a replayable rail-shooting game element that pops up a couple times, an exciting dialogue mechanic, or very light money/stat elements.

As an example, here's a shooter we made a few months ago:
http://www.gamecreation.org/game/merblade

[tigerkidde]

@Dim Sum: I do like how you took the three off the top ideas and intertwined them into the aforementioned pitch.

@asterzul: From the small peek on these boards, it sounds there are some candidates floating around. You might find some candidates from Script Frenzy as well.
http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/scriptfrenzy

[Hollow Gourd]

Must the script already be written at this point?

[Rosstin]

Nope, just pitch some of your ideas to us, and back them up with a writing sample and a link to your portfolio.

[Kuro Hime]

hi, I pm'd you my ideas.

[Tsundere Lightning]

Okay - I'd like to pitch a game to you, then. It is inspired by, but very different from, the excellent tabletop RPG Dogs In The Vineyard.

Angel Falls used to be a nice place to live out in the frontier. Still is, least if you're a demon.

Sometimes you get some unwitting sinner who attracted the undivided attention of one of Hell's finest. More often, some petty sorcerer is trying to, if you'll indulge me in a metaphor, mine for gold using a wagon full of brimstone and nitroglycerine. Whoever invites them into our world, they latch onto a good community like a tick and start bleedin' it dry, driving them to Devil-worship, hate, and murder. Sometimes figurin' this out is as simple as looking for leathery wings and belched sulfur and saltpeter. Most of the time, though, you get a real Screwtape, and tracing the evil back to it's source becomes a mite confusing.

Now, most people, when they know enough to suspect a demon and are brave enough to do somethin' about it, they call the Church. Get the Holy Witchhunters involved so they can start raising Hell for the sake of heaven. But sometimes, the Church won't intervene in a town still worth savin', especially if one of their own is part of the problem. Then, you're going to need someone else to help you, hire not only a gun but a bible to go with it.

Meet Jeremiah Stone and Daniel Clearwater, freelance Witchhunters. Jeremiah is something of a sorcerer, make no mistake, but his head is screwed on quite a bit straighter than some of his fellows. Won't work with a demon even to save his own hide. He works only with angels - and maybe some of the locals, if a Mountain Folk's shaman isn't keepin' them busy. Now Danny boy, he may look like the gentle kid of the two, but don't push him around; he's the sharpshooter and it isn't conductive to one's long term health to get his dander up.

Danny's got a gift from Jer that helps him tremendously in their line of work. A sidearm, the Angel Calibur. People say that one one of Jeremiah's friends on high by the name of Baradiel took up residence in the Angel Calibur, and the fact that it shoots lightning and fire and hail instead of bullets seems to bear this out.

And this has some people in the Church in a holy furor. See, the reason they weren't too keen to retain the services of Jer and Danny is cause they tend to be a mite... affectionate, at times. And the then Witchfinder General Ezikiel was absolutely furious that Baradiel doesn't seem to give a damn, in defiance of his deeply cherished personal articles of faith. Now, mind, not everyone in the church gave a damn either, but then again, not everyone in the church was handin' out assignments to Jer and Danny, and Zeke was. So there's a bit of bad blood, there.

Still. If you got a problem of an Abyssal persuasion, and the Church is sticking fingers in it's ears and whistlin' Amazing Grace, your best bet is probably to drop a telegraph to Jer and Danny. They'll sort things out real quicklike, believe you me.

The gameplay mechanic would be some light combat - gunplay and possibly sorcery. For the record, Baradiel is cited as the traditional Angel of Hail.

Let me e-mail you a sample or two from Bliss Stage, or something.

[Rosstin]

I've received some very nice submissions so far... any more contenders before we do interviews?

I recommend your writing samples to contain good dialogue, and have at least one sample with branching narrative.

[Rosstin]

One last bump for great justice! I will continue to take submissions until August 7th.

[Victoria Jennings]

Wait, so now having boys involved is a requirement? 0':

[Rosstin]

It's really better for everyone if the artist is drawing what she loves!

[Victoria Jennings]

Mmm, yeah, true... but I guess I may as well just let this opportunity go, then. I don't like to limit my games to one type of romance. :C

Good luck on all your ventures!

[Rosstin]

There's always the next game! As a producer, I don't have strong preferences... I'm sure I'll eventually make a visual novel that doesn't involve hot boys kissing! ^_^