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[Hollow Gourd]

[Removed]

[platonicheart]

I'm interested to be your artist

[Hollow Gourd]

Might I see some examples of your work?

[platonicheart]

hai dozo

[platonicheart]

my works are not yet colored, but if you want I could get to work to color it

[Hollow Gourd]

Unfortunately, your style isn't quite what I'm looking for for this project.
I will say, though, that it will not be necessary for the character artist to actually color the sprites.
Lineart only.

[platonicheart]

okay

[kinougames]

I'd like to offer some advice for your project, perhaps.

For one, the style you're asking for is more time consuming than generic anime style. I know you asked for just lineart, but the picture you linked isn't linearted at all, and if that's the style you're looking for as far as color, you'll have a bit of a time.

Second, if this is your first game, I would advise that you perhaps do it one part at a time, Eleanor's, and then Aimon's, to cut the work in half. Some artists are okay to work if they think the work will be finished, but the longer they go without that, the more likely they are to quit. Even me personally, I'd love to do this because I am a total rabid RAGING dark fantasy fan and while I'd be interested in a short project with a few characters, there's no way I could commit to a long unpaid project when I have my own group's games and also paid work.

Lastly, it will undoubtedly be difficult for you to find someone at commercial level long-term without paying anything upfront. =/

Good luck, and I hope you get this off the ground since I do love dark fantasy, but the project is might just be too much to ask for unpaid.

As far as the concept and all that: It sounds fabulous. I am a total diehard sucker for games done in medieval times that involve alchemy. I would just suggest that you don't go the "girl is a healer while guy gets all the actual powers" route because it's a touch "medieval" for lack of a better word. If you do decide to split it up, more so as far as that. Or, what you could do is sort of merge the characters so that there is a max of maybe 8. I'm assuming this isn't a romance/dating game of any sort, so I think sticking with a set number of main characters is the best idea. I know that a commercial JVN I played that was dark fantasy had 3 "major" main characters who have the most expressions, then 3 "minor" main characters who have less expressions, then a couple of one-offs, another 3-4 characters who only have 1-2 facial expressions.

[Hollow Gourd]

Forgive me for the terribly late reply; I've been without computer access for the past few days.

The purpose of the example I gave is simply to give an idea of what was meant by 'semi-realism with an anime feel'. Neither the coloring nor the lineart (or lack thereof) style utilized in that illustration are guidelines for potential artists. I will locate a few other similarly-styled examples to give a better idea of what I have in mind. However, as mentioned above, that is not the only style I'll consider.

So as not to bombard the artist with too great of a workload, I definitely would not have a problem completing one set of characters before the other. However, the stories are too interconnected to be released as standalone games (assuming that's what you were suggesting).

While it is not feasible for me to pay the artist upfront at present, this is not an unpaid project. I've a couple of different funding options in mind which I will discuss with potential artists. I do understand that it may be difficult locating an artist willing to commit to such a large project when payment is forthcoming rather than immediate, but I do not believe that it will be impossible. That is, if I manage to locate an artist who is particularly interested in the concept.

Lastly, the types of potions both Ellie and Aimon brew will largely depend on what the player decides to focus on. So, no need to be concerned about Ellie falling victim to that particular stereotype...XP
And, I do not intend for there to be a large cast of major characters with dozens of poses/expression each. I would find that to be neither reasonable nor necessary. What you mentioned is probably more along the lines of what I'm going for, though I'm curious as to what game your referring to?

Thank you very much for the luck!

[kinougames]

Unfortunately, I know a fair bit about the funding options for these types of projects, and most projects that try them without some serious real life pavement pounding end up simply not making the cut. The only person I know personally who managed to get funding for their kickstarter-type project was someone who held fundraising dinners and walked around the major city they lived in to promote themselves, as well as going to gallery openings, and museums and all sorts of things.

If you wanted to go that route, I would advise you just pool together your money best you can and hire an artist to do some AMAZING basic pictures of a cover and your characters and then use those as tools to promote your kickstarter in your town/city.

Otherwise, without a 100% guarantee of payment, it is, to artists, an unpaid project.

The game I was mentioning is called "Animamundi." There is a cast of about 3 main characters with several expressions each, then there are somewhat more minor characters, 4-ish, I'd say, with only a few expressions each, then there are maybe 4 one-offs, who each get 1 or 2 a piece. Unfortunately, that was also in addition to the game having about 1 CG every 10 minutes of play, and the game takes about 8 hours for just one final ending, so probably 15 in total if you skipped everything you already did, meaning you're looking at 80 to 100 CGs at least.