Adventures of Comik - Artists / Composers needed [PAID]

[Tulloch]

Hello,
This is my first time posting here. My name is Nate, I am a video game developer. I've been programming since before my teen years and it's been a passion of mine since I can remember. I am currently working on a project titled The Adventures of Comik! The project was originally supposed to be a short sweet game that showcased my portfolio of Art, Music and Programming--However that was in 2006. Since then the game evolved into a HUGE project that took many years of planning- It's finally 2014 and I'm as dedicated as I've ever been! I'm ready to make this game become a reality and I need your help to do so.

The Adventures of Comik is a story about a little character named Comik and his comedic adventure. The game starts off with our main villain, Dr. Rotcod. Dr. Rotcod is a mad scientist who's goal in life is to create the ultimate soldier. Back in his younger years he created many robots that were purpose-built for war--The only problem was-- these guys could not solve puzzles and generally got stuck in loops, rendering them useless. Dr. Rotcod decided to grow organic creatures with nothing more then what they needed, no arms, no legs, just a blob. He called these creatures E.E.B.O.S. It definitely stands for something but I don't have my notes with me.. ahem. These E.E.B.O.S are grown in giant test tubes filled with embryonic fluid and stem cells and released when they've fully grown. Dr. Rotcod always puts these creatures through a series of tests to calibrate their muscles and ensure they're properly working--The issue is, they've never succeeded his tests and he throws them away in a universal trash chute that leads to who-knows-where. Of course, he changes his recipe and methods each time but they can't complete the tests no matter what. Today is the day that our lovely doctor creates his 4,337th E.E.B.O. What's different about this one? Well, He has heart... Not the kind of heart that keeps blood circulating, the type of heart that gives him ambition. Dr. Rotcod is sure that he has successfully created his perfect soldier and puts him through the tests. Number 4,337 passes with flying colors and is finally put through his final test. Dr. Rotcod orders him to destroy the harmless robot at the end of the path. 4,337 takes a good look and says "No."--Confused, Dr. Rotcod presses his button and disposes of 4,337 into the trash chute. 4,337 finally lands on a pile of bones after what seems to have been an endless fall--To his surprise he sees an entire underground city full of creatures just like him. He eventually gets his nickname "Comik" and the greatest adventure begins!


The Adventures of Comik is a huge platformer game with a fantastic story narrated as you play. The game features comedic dialogue by fantastic voice actors and isn't afraid to break the fourth wall-- or break out into a musical for no apparent reason. The game will constantly keep you interested and wanting more, nothing else is like it. It's important to know that this game will be completely funded by KickStarter. As risky as it may be, it's also EXCITING as it offers the artists a fantastic opportunity to earn what they deserve. This is an indie game, but there are a lot of professional and exciting things going on that blurs the line between an indie and commercial title. Below are a list of open positions for this game. Please read them and feel free to ask any questions. If I do not respond here right away, just give it some time or drop me an email. As the rules of the forums state, any questions should be asked in this thread. Thank you!

IMPORTANT PLEASE READ
This game isENTIRELY funded by KickStarter. If the project does not reach it's goal there will be a secondary KickStarter.
In the event that the product does not get funded, there will not be a payment to the artists. This project will not give out any
up-front payment. In the event that the project is funded and you do not want to continue working on it, you will
be paid based on the total payment and amount of work completed-- You will remain ownership of your work and can refuse the artwork
to be used in any form by me, or the team working on the game. When this project is funded you will receive your payment upon
resignation or full completion of the game based on the total payment and amount of completed work.

You are not working on the full game at this point. The content you are creating is to prototype and display the game to the people funding.
Because of the amount of work and time involved in creating these assets we are not working on more then a few assets per person. This is to
avoid months worth of hard work going to waste. By running the project through KickStarter it will allow me to pay the artists for their
time and talent. This game has a huge vision and relies on the respect for the project and it's members and only with hard work can the project
be successfully funded. Please read below to get an idea of how the KickStarter will be updated.

KICKSTARTER
We are not going into a KickStarter project blind-folded. There has been months of preparing to get to this point. I have the full support and help of project leaders who have successfully funded projects and learned all they know to up our chances of a successful run.

- Step one -
Collecting backer's in advance. I am running a Facebook page and started sharing the game and spreading the word. The more likes we have, the bigger outreach we'll get when we share our video.
Based on the current outreach, we're getting 500 views a day. When we collect 1,000 Likes I will be in my comfort zone for the KickStarter.
- Step two -
Creating and developing our gameplay video. This requires asset creation.
The video will feature a level teaser, an animated sequence and me talking about the project. This will be submitted on the Facebook page, the KickStarter and several YouTube channels.
The game will be advertised in local areas and colleges around Colorado, Michigan, New York and Ohio for starters.
- Step three -
KickStart it! We will finish building the KickStarter page with the video and description and submit it for review.

- Step four -
Continue to update our page multiple times a week. The community will be involved with polls and help develop the game.
There will be updates on the engine and features as well as fantastic announcements of involved celebrities and comic shorts of the
characters. The page will have weekly vlogs of the progress and fan submitted pictures/designs can be selected for in game use
and redesigned by our artist.
Some of these community activities require that you've funded at least $25
Each Friday will offer a new activity.
- 1st Friday- Design an E.E.B.O character. We will select the best design.
- 2nd Friday- Design an enemy character. We will select the best design.
- 3rd Friday- Design a boss character. We will select the best design.
- 4th Friday- Record a message. We will select the funniest and play it in the game at a fitting time.

If you have any tips or suggestions please let me know, every idea helps!



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ARTIST POSITIONS
============================
Sprite Artist -- POSITION FILLED
Sprite artist is in charge of creating all the character sprites and animations. Each main character has at least 25-75 frames of animation and NPC characters have at least 25 frames of animation.
The character sprites are fairly simple in design and most will generally be a recolor of the previous sprite.

There are also human characters in this game, first being the mad scientist Dr. Rotcod which has limited animation. Walking, Running and Idle. The other human characters are walking and idle and can be simple recolors as well.

Since the characters are so simple in design, expressive animation is a MUST. If you're a fantastic anime/manga artist and are familiar with the common expressions then that's perfect. The characters will have lip-synced animation but that is done by an existing artist so there is no need for the sprite artist to worry about that.

Finally, the sprites should be fairly simple with shading. The bodies should have limited shading and any accessories should have light shading from an above light source. The appearance of the sprites should appear hand drawn yet crisp with expressive movement. Since this game has potential to be released on home consoles such as PS4 and XBOX ONE, the sprites need to be a good resolution from the start so we only have to scale down.

NOTE: The initial job of this project needs the following assets for the prototype video;
- Comik Running Animation
- Comik Jumping Animation
- Comik Secondary Jump Animation
- Comik Scared Animation
- Comik Idle Animation

- Dr. Rotcod walking Animation
- Dr. Rotcod expressive stance Animation
- Dr. Rotcod Idle Animation

The sprites should be 128 x 128 for Comik and 128 x 256 for Dr. Rotcod.




Background Artist -- Successful KickStarter Funding = $5,000+ Payout for complete job.
The background artist needs to have a great attention to detail. The backgrounds need to be vibrant and pop out. The player needs to feel involved in the story. It's pretty straight forward. If anything can move, it should be on a separate layer. If there's a tree close up in the background it should sway slightly. You don't have to worry about animation. The game will feature parallax scrolling so layering the backgrounds is important, including a foreground in front of the level.

NOTE: The initial job of this project needs the following assets for the prototype video;
- Background with bricks and pipes.
- Foreground with destroyed bricks

Sample images provided for style and example (current in-game footage)
http://www.inviciousstudios.com/natha/c ... screen.png
https://scontent-b-iad.xx.fbcdn.net/hph ... 3967_o.jpg



============================
SOUND POSITIONS
============================
Orchestrated Sound
This game will feature both video game genre music and expressive orchestrated music. There's not much detail on this but I'm accepting demo reels. I am currently listening to the quality of the music.

The final game will features about 10 orchestrated tracks in a variety of emotions. Ambient, Action, Sadness and Silly for starters. Each track should range from 1:30 to 5:00 minutes.

Character Theme Song
This game has a theme song already in development. I'm looking for a theme song for our main protagonist, Comik. This song will be played on introduction and "epic" moments where Comik kicks butt. This is a 1 track job with lyrics.

Thank you everyone, I hope I've provided enough details. If anyone has any questions feel free to respond. An e-mail would be fantastic as well!
Nathaniel.Elwood@gmail.com

Also, don't forget to drop by out Facebook page and drop us a like! We're aiming for 1,000 likes before we launch our KickStarter so everyone counts!
Share our more recent post and we'll love you even more.

http://www.facebook.com/aocomik

Thank you everyone,
- Nate

[LeetMusic]

Sending you an email. Good luck!

[Tulloch]

Thank you everyone for your submissions. I will get in touch with everyone asap. I will update the opening post with this following information to avoid any confusion.

This project has not been submitted to KickStarter. We are in the planning and preparing stages to make it happen. I'm looking for great, passionate people to make this become a reality.

What I'm requesting is the bare bone necessity to get a KickStarter video up. Artists can choose whether or not if they want to continue working on the project, but they are guaranteed the position. We are not creating all the assets until the game is funded. Its a common misunderstanding. We do not want yours or our hard work going to waste.

Keep this in mind when you apply. I can't efficiently update the first post as I am on my phone.

Thank you everyone.
-Nate

[Tempus]

So to be clear, the payment of any of the given roles is wholly dependant on the success of the Kickstarter? Would the initial content needed for the Kickstarter video be paid for if it did not succeed? What sort of Kickstarter updates will the project provide during the funding period? It won't be all of the content, but will it be some of the content? How long will the Kickstarter run for?

Not trying to grill you or anything, but some people (myself included!) may want to know what happens in the event that they work for 2+ weeks and the project isn't funded. I realise nothing is guaranteed — I'm more interested in the contingency plans, if any. Either way, good luck with things and welcome to the forums

[Tulloch]

Tempus -- Thanks for the question, I have updated the opening post.