Last year, Idol Manager Idol Manager is a dark comedy game about Japan's idol industry. Last year, we raised $55,332 on Kickstarter; for more information about the project, you can read a more detailed description of the game on the game's Kickstarter page.
The game is nearing completion, but we'd like to hire some writers to help us add more content to the game before release. Writers will be creating mini-scenarios, or "events" that occur in Idol Manager. For visual quick visual rundown of how an event plays out in Idol Manager, see these example screenshots: Example 1, Example 2.
Payment
If accepted for the project, you will be paid for each event that you create. To start, we'll pay $25 for you to write 3 events, and if we're pleased with the quality of your work and you'd like to continue working on the project, we'll pay $10 for every event you create after that. You can submit as many as you like: If you have ideas for 20 different events, we'll pay you to create those events! Want to do 50 events? Even better!
Time frame
We're looking for a moderately fast turnaround -- at the very least, we'd like to have you fully on-boarded (have completed at least 3 events) by the end of September, and if we decide to work with you after that, we'd be looking for any other events to come before the the end of October. And hopefully, we'll be able to get you working even faster than that. Our team is working on this game full-time, so we should be available to answer questions you might have or check work that you've submitted within a day. We're ready to receive work from you as fast as you're able to produce it.
What you'll be doing
For each event, you will need to:
0. (Optional) Come up with an idea for an event that happens in the world of idol manager. (If are having trouble coming up with an idea, we have a list of ideas that you can work from, or you can come up with your own ideas that you think would be appropriate for the setting of Idol Manager.)
1. Write the event text and decide what conditions trigger this event
2. Write the possible player responses to this event (and the resulting outcome for each player choice)
3. Write the in-game social media posts from fans reacting to the player's choice
4. Input all of this into the editing tool we've created in order to generate the event
If you need help learning to use the event editor, we'll step you through the process of learning to use our tools for development, and it shouldn't be necessary to have a coding background to use the editor. If you're not able to do all of it yourself and need some help that's fine as well. If you'd like to try using the editing tool yourself, you can download the editor (which includes some example events for you to see how everything is formatted) here.
Who we're looking for
As the game's subject matter focuses on Japanese idol groups, we'd like for you to have at least a passing familiarity with the Japanese idol industry. Events subject matter will include things that real-life idol groups would have to deal with, such as dealing with possible scandals and other minor problems that come up in the day-to-day operations of running an idol group. See this image gallery of screenshots from Idol Manager for examples of some of the kind of things that might come up as possible events.
Idol Manager is a business sim, and the main purpose of events is to create interesting choices for the player, so if you have experience working on choice-based games that involve a lot of player interaction, great!
Events will also tie in with the gameplay systems, so having a basic intuition for what kind of events could create interesting gameplay consequences is also a big plus. (For example, suppose the latest CD was misprinted -- does the player spend money to issue refunds/replacements, do they do nothing and risk alienating fans, or do they come up with a creative way to spin the situation?
Please note that while this won't affect the content you are working on, Idol Manager's full release will be released alongside a patch for adult content that includes some nudity. (The nudity is kept purely in the story segments and romance scenes, which are being written by our main team, and separate from the events you will be working on, but we understand that some people prefer not to work with or be associated with projects that have adult content.)
How to apply
Send a PM, and please include the following info:
1. A link to a portfolio or a sample of your writing. (If you submit a writing sample as a Google doc, please remember to have public sharing enabled on the Google doc so that we can actually view it using the link in your PM.)
2. A list of other projects you've worked on, and any other relevant work experience. Our project is not limited to people who have gamedev experience, but if you've worked on other commercial projects, that's a definite plus! Also, feel free to mention any other writing experience that you have apart from visual novel or game work. (For example, did you used to write for your college newspaper? That counts as "writing experience", too!)
3. A brief description of how familiar you are with the type of subject matter Idol Manager covers. This could be as simple as "I've played iM@S and used to listen to Babymetal." Please note that we're not going to deny anyone on the basis of not being familiar enough with the subject matter, as we believe that a good writer who's interested in the project should be able to get themselves up to speed through research. This question is just for us to get to know you a little better, so please be honest!
4. An approximation of the volume of work you expect to contribute to the project. Are you looking to submit just a few events, or a lot? Please give us an approximate number or range. It's okay if this number doesn't turn out to be accurate; we won't be upset if you end up contributing more (or less) than you initially said you would; this is just to help us gauge how much content we should be prepared to expect from you.
5. In addition to all of the above, feel free to mention anything that you think might be relevant to our decision to work with you.
We'll aim to respond to all interested applicants within 48 hours.
