Lemma Soft Forums

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Aghh! I do apologize for abandoning this thread. I collected everyone I needed to on DA, and then got sidetracked with work and other things. Forgot to close this thread.

However, I do need to re-open it again to recruit a new environment artist. Our previous one informed me she was suddenly too swamped with work and would have to pull out. So...environment artists! I need you.

Changes have bee made and a concept has been formed, although I don't want to give too much detail of the whole project.

• What am I looking for?: Environment artists only. The settings we'll need done are a typical city's setting -- several city street shots, a park, a forest, interiors of apartments, shops, etc.
• Engine: The game will now be made in Ren'Py! I do not need additional programmers, but I may be looking for them eventually.
• Money Stuff: We may eventually do a Kickstarter for the project if we decide we need it.
• Narrative:The visual novel's tone is being approached as a "black comedy"! Light-hearted humor with a healthy dose of satire all around. And yes, this will be one of those "dating sim" romantic interest VNs. I eventually want to add in "platonic" options, though, if we have the ability.
• Setting: This modern world is similar to our own -- except it is populated by both humankind and monsterkind, and they co-exist more or less peacefully. I.e. A vampire boy that plays video games in his mom's basement all day is completely normal, just like a siren who tries to sell people timeshares. Everyone is pretty much OK with this.
• Plot: Our human protagonist dropped out of college to pursue his/her dream of becoming a professional photographer, moving out of their tiny middle-of-nowhere hometown and into the big city. She/He is overwhelmed by the much higher number of monsterkind and the overall change from small rural community to bustling metropolis.

That's the basics of it. I have more information here in my DA forum thread if you want to know more, and as always, commenting on the thread (I promise I'll keep better track of it this time) will grab my attention easily, too.

Link to DA Forum Post:

http://forum.deviantart.com/community/projects/1845073/

Please let me know if you have any questions!! And if you're interested, please post links to at least one interior and exterior shot that you've done recently. Thank you!!

Producers are a very important part of game development... in large productions. I work in a corporation, so I know how important project managers can be. But visual novel teams very rarely take on that many people and it's not very beneficial to the team to have someone who isn't contributing as much as everyone else. It would be good if you could pick up some skills that would be useful to others. Programming is probably the fastest to learn, especially since programs like Ren'Py have gone a long way in bridging the gap between the code and new comers. However anything from Google Sketch-Up, writing, music programs etc could be considered very useful. You will always be more likely to find the right people if you are getting in there and getting your hands dirty as well.

The other thing to note is that most people here are hobbyists. If they want to disappear, no amount of nagging is going to stop them. It happens to say... 75% of projects? The best way to have a better chance of finding the right people is actually to get involved with the community and find out who stays and who leaves, who gets stuff done and who doesn't. Then you get to know those people. You help with a couple projects, up skill, take on more the next time, and eventually you can take on larger projects.

This is just advice mind you based on my experience here and working on projects, so take it how you will. Nanoreno is coming up in March, so it will probably be a good chance to see fast paced development at it's best, you can probably learn a lot about what people do right and wrong and watch for who succeeds and how.

Auro,

Thank you very much for the advice! I do hope to be able to contribute more to the group with Novelty, and I'll take your suggestions into consideration as far as looking for people.

In one sense, your proposal may be a welcome one. There are many writers and programmers who prefer to work alone because they find involving other people to be a hassle. If as a producer you stepped forward to handle all of the coordination and people problems so that the individuals could do what they do best, you might provide an offer that even a recluse like me would consider.

Your post talks a lot about what you want to offer to the project and your reasons for being interested, but what exactly are you hoping to gain from coordinating a project like this? Are you hoping to make money, or to create something that proves you have talent, or something else entirely?

Also, how big of a project are you intent on making? A small kinetic novel or a massive, branching dating sim? Have you played many visual novels yourself and do you have any in particular that you liked or wanted to model with this project?

I'll restate that this is an interesting offer, one that even has me curious, but you'll need to round out your resolve with a strong vision of what you hope to accomplish before people will invest their time in it. And I hope that you read this as good advice and not a criticism. I work in Ren'Py not the novely engine, but if you want someone to throw ideas against just ask. Unemployment does have it's benefits.

Is there a reason you specifically want to use the novelty engine? Personally I prefer having all the coding laid out in front of me. It's quicker to work with, easier to find mistakes and 99% of the time it does exactly what I want, when I want, how I want. As interested in the idea as I am (I normally put on the producer boots in projects and it would be fantastic to play on the sidelines for once) running it through novelty put the nail in the coffin I'm afraid.

Still, as I said, I like the idea and if you want to bounce ideas I'm more than happy to give my 2-cents :p

First of all, i have to say that this is a very interesting offer.And I have visited your DA group page and forum post. It seems like you've already got a few people interested in your idea there. That's good.

I am a newbie Ren'Py user. I have kinda look and study the Novelty engine a bit, but just as Kato said, I prefer having all the coding laid out in front of me. Well, it is a a habit of me since I am a full time programmer. So, yeah, I am a bit more comfortable with Ren'Py. But I don't mind learning it more than before.

So I am interested, but I can't draw so the position of artist is out for me. The least I can do is writing and programming. Maybe a bit GUI design, but not much. I have 2 projects right now. I am both the writer and programmer for those two projects. You can see it on my signature. If you want to read the story, do tell me. I've finished writing the stories for both of them and they are being proofread right now. And for the art, I'm still waiting for it, hehehe...

Well, that is all I can say for now. Thank you and good luck. Contact me if I can be of some help.

May I be a proofreader and/or an editor

Updated the top post!! I figured I could recycle this thread since I didn't do too much with it. If you're too lazy to scroll up, here's what I wrote:
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-Erases everything that was here-

Aghh! I do apologize for abandoning this thread. I collected everyone I needed to on DA, and then got sidetracked with work and other things. Forgot to close this thread.

However, I do need to re-open it again to recruit a new environment artist. Our previous one informed me she was suddenly too swamped with work and would have to pull out. So...environment artists! I need you.

Changes have bee made and a concept has been formed, although I don't want to give too much detail of the whole project.

• What am I looking for?: Environment artists only. The settings we'll need done are a typical city's setting -- several city street shots, a park, a forest, interiors of apartments, shops, etc.
• Engine: The game will now be made in Ren'Py! I do not need additional programmers, but I may be looking for them eventually.
• Money Stuff: We may eventually do a Kickstarter for the project if we decide we need it.
• Narrative:The visual novel's tone is being approached as a "black comedy"! Light-hearted humor with a healthy dose of satire all around. And yes, this will be one of those "dating sim" romantic interest VNs. I eventually want to add in "platonic" options, though, if we have the ability.
• Setting: This modern world is similar to our own -- except it is populated by both humankind and monsterkind, and they co-exist more or less peacefully. I.e. A vampire boy that plays video games in his mom's basement all day is completely normal, just like a siren who tries to sell people timeshares. Everyone is pretty much OK with this.
• Plot: Our human protagonist dropped out of college to pursue his/her dream of becoming a professional photographer, moving out of their tiny middle-of-nowhere hometown and into the big city. She/He is overwhelmed by the much higher number of monsterkind and the overall change from small rural community to bustling metropolis.

That's the basics of it. I have more information here in my DA forum thread if you want to know more, and as always, commenting on the thread (I promise I'll keep better track of it this time) will grab my attention easily, too.

Link to DA Forum Post:

http://forum.deviantart.com/community/projects/1845073/

Please let me know if you have any questions!! And if you're interested, please post links to at least one interior and exterior shot that you've done recently. Thank you!!

Oh, just one more note -- this position is unpaid *initially*. The team I have assembled and I have been figuring we may do a kickstarter or something to that effect. If we have spare money from that, awesome, we'll pay the team. But it's not something to count on.

Annnd position is filled.