Straight to the point, huh? I like it.
I'm looking to work with an artist (or artists of different skills, aka sprite, (bg no longer needed), cutscene, etc) for my up and coming VN called;
The VN follows a strong theme of human psychology, human conditioning, the dynamics of societies and growing up in a high school environment. It focuses on how people deal with their issues and their lives' circumstances, all whilst growing up and being in a forever-changing human environment, such as High-School. The common high-school environment for Japanese mediums of art has always intrigued me, so I wish to go into a realistic depth, whilst presenting the psychological elements in the VN in an artistic and symbolic way, whilst also conveying it through fantastic writing, phonics and freedom of choice. My priority here is to make sure the player has a huge role in shaping how Katashi grows as a person, and how he interprets the world around him.静かな舌 (Silent Tongues), A Psychological/Romance/Slice of Life visual novel following protagonist Katashi, who has been met with naught but painful misfortune throughout life, from his traumatic upbringing, his lack of parents and family, his neglect within his time at an orphanage, to his own social destruction in junior school, and his almost ever-lasting loneliness until the final summer holiday before High School. Katashi had been a victim of misplacement - simply being born among a life fated for futility. However, if his monotonous life were even to be broken by the grace of change, how would he evolve from his fractured and melancholic adolescence, and into his ascent through education and age? Katashi learns that letting others into his life for the first time could have an array of consequences and effects, good or bad.
TL:DR, imagine you have gotten used to a life where you're never graced with simple emotional events or elements, such as reason for happiness, intrigue, optimism, and excitement. All of a sudden, circumstances change, and your inner world of fixated fundamentals of melancholy and monotony are torn asunder, and suddenly, your life starts to form into one of normality and health. Those are the complicated circumstances I wish to convey through Katashi, and note the 4 romance routes I have planned will also convey different circumstances, stories and people.
"Hmm, sounds neat... Tell us more about the theme."
This visual novel, as gathered, is dynamic, and involves the traditional elements of following a story and making choices, ending up with an outcome, usually being a relationship that can go towards many directions, whether they be inclines of happiness, or slopes of disaster (very akin to the structure of Katawa Shoujo.) It sends a message that some among us are fragile, broken, and hurt, but yet, that uniqueness is what makes them themselves, and the personal strifes of overcoming these inner demons among the hardships of the outside world we live in is what creates a person, and moulds them. All the characters are created on this basis, making them as real and emotionally-connectable as possible, without babying anything.
Hmm, seems interesting, but what's your drive?
I'd like to name my biggest inspirations as the beautiful works that are Katawa Shoujo, Clannad/AS, CrossChannel and Fruits of Grisaia, as well as the culmination of anime and manga I have read and watched over the years upon years i've been a fan. Since, I have always tried to start a passion project in order to create a Visual Novel that really manipulates the players emotions, and a story that is very touching, with all the dynamic elements of Visual Novels like Clannad and KS.
Thing is, I myself am a Music Producer/Sound designer (my current education status is undergraduate for Music Production), an artist who works on both paper and digital format, a coder (been dabbling with Renpy for a while since GCSE computing,) a writer who writes short stories and has been working on a comic for quite some time, and a concept creator (which kinda brings them all together.) Reason I'm looking for an artist is because I believe I can deliver on quality for the other parts of the VN, but I have a big vision for the art. I can't deliver the amazing quality I want for most of the art, and so, I'm looking for an artist to help and/or work with me to create the assets. The perks of me also being an artist is that I can give my own art assets and concepts to the artist(s) in question so they have a strong base to work from. I have my own concept art of almost all the characters, as well as some BG art, so a collaboration would hopefully be smooth as can be. (FOUND POTENTIAL ARTIST, ANIMATOR AND COMPOSER CONFIRMED)
Well, that's fair enough pal. I'm gonna need some reassurance though, what's been done so far?
In terms of work done so far, I've worked a lot on the foundations; I have a fully completed character catalogue, almost all the characters have full concept art, and the story is taking shape, including later events, and I have most of the sound/music assets I need as of now but I haven't got anything fully completed due to lacking the ability. If I had an artist, I would work much faster on the story, the coding, and working on a flawless collaboration.
Well, okay. What kind of stuff do I/We have to do?
To add further detail on the collaboration/help I need, there will be a vast undertaking, as I'm looking for most of the BG art to be done, as well as the character sprites (with several variations of pose/expression, and a up to 2/3 variations of clothing for the four route characters, plus some side character/nonessential sprites, as well as cutscene art alike to that in Katawa Shoujo. I have a potential animator in line for doing main cutscenes for acts and an intro, so that much will be covered. The quantity of work needed should be simplified by the fact that I will give all the concept art and detail needed for the artist, as to cut down on time taken in other areas.
Development time is free reign right now, seeing as I'm at university, but I tend to have a good amount of hours to work every week, especially during times where I'm on holiday. However, as mentioned, the better the collaboration, the more time I'll be able to make to work on SS. For the artist, of course I won't be holding your leash, I'm very reasonable, and I'd be happy to let you work whenever it suits you, because duh, its a collab.
Well, what about my pa-
(P.S. I am almost certain I will sell this as a priced product, so yes, a cut can be negotiated, most definitely
)Oh, uh... Thanks.
So, if you're interested, want more information, want to see some assets, and so on, please feel free to reply or DM me, and I hope this was a sufficient post for recruitment! I'm happy to hear any offers and so forth!
TLDR: Sprite/CG Artist needed!!! Everything else is taken care of so far incl. background art now!!!!
From the SS Team.
Writer (Concepts, plot, etc), Coder, BG Artist, 1/2 CG Art, Sound Designer, Producer and Creative Director - SpeCTRL
Composer - JR
Sprite Art, 1/2 CG Art -Aimless
VVVV See below for snazzy title screen VVVV
http://imgur.com/a/FGMQu
