Good day!
It has been some time since my last post and the project has steadily come along from then. The story has undergone some rework, but the underlying mechanics have stayed the same and been expanded. The UI is completely implemented, there is a world map piece that is explorable, you can change your equipment, level up etc.
A lot of progress has been made and here are a few screenshots showing it off.
New Exploration UI
Party Screen
Character Stats Screen
World Map Screen
On the world map, you control a cursor that travels over a variety of terrains to hunt for treasure and find new locations. If you run over water, a swim meter appears and if you run over rocks, a climb meter appears. If either meter empties, you end up back before you touched the water or rocks with no damage to your party. Enemy cursors occasionally spawn on the world map. When the player comes into contact with them, battle is started.
Mid-combat Screen
Combat is action orientated, with the player able to do basic attacks by clicking on an enemy with the left mouse button as fast as they can. Players can use a party member's skills by holding down one of the WADS and then pressing the right mouse button. Each of the WADS stands for a party member up to 4 party members max for battle. Once a skill has been used, a ATB gauge appears above the character's portrait and their skills can't be used till it fills.
The giant bunny looks a bit off because part of his idle animation is him rotating on the Z axis. As mentioned in the previous posts, characters and enemies are planes in a 3D space.
Dungeon Exploration Screen
Enemy Symbols in Dungeon
Bumping into enemies is a bit different in dungeons. They won't initiate combat, but they will surround you and block your path. Your job is to either take them all out or take out just enough to escape the room. The enemies are just symbols representing a full fight in this instance.
I am here again today because I am looking for a new background artist and a sound effects designer. The project is fast approaching the personal deadline I have set for it, Feb 14. The demo is almost complete and ready to show off to publishers to find someone to fund the full development of the game. In preparing for this, I started talking with each member of the project.
In talking with the sound designer, we came to the conclusion that they would be better focused on creating just the soundtrack for the game, hence the need for a sound effects designer. In talking with the background artist, it came up that they would not be able to commit to the project due to a loaded schedule, hence a new background artist.
For a sound effects designer, I am not too sure what I am looking for. I just need someone that can get the job done. Various combat sounds will be needed to add impact to attacks and bring to life the enemies, sound effects for the world map for walking on different terrains, dialogue sound effects to add impact to scenes etc. I cannot put a number on the amount of sound effects needed. There will be payment for work and the rate is negotiable. This payment will entirely be handled by the publisher if the game gets picked up. The project is looking to be in development for 1 year and 6 months to 2 years, starting from when a publisher picks up the game. Sound effects will not be needed for the demo and there is no expectation to have anything completed by Feb 14. I am mainly looking for someone to bring onto the full development of the game, when there is a publisher. This person will also need to work with the soundtrack designer.
The background artist is in almost the same boat. Background work for the demo is complete and I am mainly looking for someone to bring onto the full development of the game. The background artist would ideally be able to match the art style/quality of the previous background artist. If not, then they should at least be able to create backgrounds that match well with the characters, enemies and rest of the art styles in the game. Both for the sound designer and background artist, any and all assets of the game can be shared if it will help your work in the long run. A wide variety of backgrounds will be needed, some for exploration and some one off screens just for a dialogue scene here or there. Because of the unique nature of the game, extra work is needed for the exploration backgrounds. Two backgrounds at minimum are needed, a path and no path version, and the left and right ends of the backgrounds need to loop seamlessly with one another and the same backgrounds so a seamless cube can be created. Videos of this in action can be shared to further explain the idea. Backgrounds are 2048x2048, but 1920x1080 could potentially work. It does need testing though because the system is very specific. As far as payment, it will be handled by the publisher if one is found, same as the sound designer. The number of backgrounds needed is still up in the air, but rough estimates put it at 12 cube backgrounds with the path and no path version and then 15 normal backgrounds with just one version.
The images presented and the demo are still very much a prototype and are subject to change.
In summary, I am looking for a sound designer and background artist to bring onto a team for when a publisher picks up the game. The full development of the game will last 1 year and 6 months to 2 years. No immediate work is needed for either since the demo is very close to completion. Please share your relevant portfolios and you can contact me with any concerns or questions at:
erickakins98 @ gmail . com
Thank you for your time and I hope you have a great day!