Do you like blue cat-like aliens or tiny forest fairies? Are you familiar with apartments as rancid and cockroach-infested as Joe's? Do you ever find yourself laughing maniacally when cute things die? If so, you've come to the right recruitment thread. What we've got here is a project that's FernGully meets Joe's Apartment meets an unfortunate amount of death with a dash of bleak humor. If those references still fly over your head, I'll break things down for you another way.
I am recruiting a small team for a visual novel about a group of fairy friends trapped in a disgusting apartment. Quite often, we see stories in the reverse—humans are shrunk down to size and learn how important the natural world is (FernGully) or Sigourney Weaver helps them go blue & they hang out with a Zoe Saldana alien and they learn...the same message, basically (Avatar). Nature rules.
I wanted to write a story where nature's beauties have to survive in the squalor of a post-breakup apartment. Will they make it home, or will tragedy meet them in the form of microwaves, garbage disposals, toasters, and electrical outlets? This will be done during NaNoRenO. Yes, I'm a last minute recruiter...but maybe you're a last minute recruitee because you're checking out this thread. Hi.
I've got an outline that shows the first 5 scenes here. More documents are available to anyone who wants to join up. I can also reveal more upon request to anyone who feels mildly interested. I have to say up front that I'm not fully finished my outline but it, along with a good chunk of the story, should be done by the end of this week.
I am primarily looking for:
A Production Assistant to help keep me on track, assist me with project direction, make sure everyone is well-fed, etc. Would help with updating threads, maybe filtering photos as needed (you'd be taught how to), and managing the team (but most importantly, managing me, haha). Bonus points to anyone who also has skills in other areas, such as coding in case we need you to be a pinch hitter during the final week rush.
Less of a priority:
CG Artist - This is only if someone wants to volunteer as tribute. I put this on low priority because I believe we can get by without any. They're nice but we can survive without them. CGs can always be saved for another version.
BG Artist - The trickiest thing about these might be that the fairies are so small. Weird perspective. BGs are primarily "white wall and wooden floor" with wonderful variations such as "put a stain in that corner, okay now draw a crack over there. Great!" This is less of a priority because I might end up crawling on the floor and taking photos of my apartment.
Musician or SFX Artist - I'm hesitating on this because I'm so early in the writing process.
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So why work with me? I'm an experienced visual novel developer. As a non-artist and non-musician, I 100% solo'd NaNoRenO in 2012 to the detriment of many eyes and ears. I completed The Mishka Effect last year for NaNoRenO with a team. I'm not a stranger to harsh deadlines and I have some personal reasons for seeing this project all the way through. I'm invested in this. I've got more information about me and my work on my website over here.
What happens if I don't get enough people? I'm going to charge ahead with the writing anyway and release an imageless demo by the end of the month.
Warnings for too much death and not enough cake. Please excuse any typos or weird grammar. It's almost 6 AM here and I need sleep. You can PM me or post in this thread if interested. Can also email me at kaleidofish[at]gmail[dot]com. Sprite artists, I am willing to skill trade and write for a future VN of yours. We'll work out the details.