Zero Impact - Paranormal Game Looking For Artists

[Luxtizer42]

EDIT: A sprite and CG artist has been found, as well as a composer. I am still looking for a background artist and a GUI artist.

Hey there, folks. I'm a writer/coder with some experience making purely text-based interactive fiction. I've decided to give a visual novel a try, and I'm looking for an artist or artists to help me with a fairly simple first project.

This is going to be a free product, so unfortunately I can't afford to pay anyone.

The writing and coding of the game is about thirty percent complete. I have a playable prototype done which is just over eight thousand words. It introduces the setting and main characters, and will hopefully give an impression of my writing style. I'd be happy to send the prototype to any interested artists who want to have a look.

About The Game:

In most interactive fiction, the story ends if the main character dies. In Zero Impact, that's where the story begins. The main character is a recently deceased individual who finds themselves in Purgatory, awaiting their final judgment. Expecting an eternity in Heaven or Hell, the MC is surprised to discover that they've been forcibly recruited into the bureaucracy of Purgatory itself, doomed to spend centuries in a menial office job sorting through the case files that keep the afterlife running.

Purgatory turns out to be much more like Earth than the MC expects. In no time at all, angels and devils go from being terrifying supernatural creatures to just being your co-workers. Will the MC join their ranks and become part of the workforce of Heaven or Hell? Will the MC try to make a daring escape back to the land of the living? Or will they just resign themselves to an eternity of drudgery, spending their free time drinking and reminiscing about their time on Earth?

Zero Impact has both comedic and dramatic elements. While it deals with the subject of death, it finds moments for humor as well as seriousness, overall keeping a fairly light sort of atmosphere. The tone is somewhat inspired by Grim Fandango and the old Lucasarts game "Afterlife". While your character's relationships with the people they meet in the afterlife are critical in determining how the story ends, it is not really a "relationship" or "dating" game, and romance is not a major objective.

What I'm Looking For:

I'm looking for backgrounds, sprites, and ideally CG art for the endings. If you can do all of those things, great, but I'm not expecting it. Please PM me if you're interested in doing any of it. I understand my goals may be a little ambitious for a free project, and I'm prepared to use Creative Commons materials if I can't find artists to supply all of this. I am still looking for the following:

Sprites for six characters, each with between two and five poses, one with two outfits.
CG for five endings and one for the main title screen.
Between five and eight backgrounds.
A custom GUI.

The game's content is probably 13+. No nudity, violence, or anything of that nature will be present in the story or artwork. If you are an artist who might be interested, please PM me. I am happy to answer any questions about the project and send out the prototype.

[gekiganwing]

Hey there, folks. I'm a writer/coder with some experience making purely text-based interactive fiction. I've decided to give a visual novel a try...

Sometimes it's kind of difficult to say where interactive fiction ends and where visual novels begin. Generally speaking, IF includes text commands, and quite a bit of player interaction. Generally speaking, VNs only have a modest amount of interaction (occasional decisions, perhaps statistics and schedules). There are exceptions... One middle ground between IF and VNs would be the relatively obscure category of interactive adventure games.

In most interactive fiction, the story ends if the main character dies. In Zero Impact, that's where the story begins.

That's a pretty good elevator pitch or trailer line...

The notion of a celestial bureaucracy has been around for at least a few hundred years. Therefore, be sure to learn about stories that use this kind of setting, and then think about how you can make your purgatory distinct, detailed, and so on.

Good characterization can go a long way. Please let us know what sort of people and beings will inhabit your world.

The tone is somewhat inspired by Grim Fandango and the old Lucasarts game "Afterlife".

Since I had very limited computer access until my mid-20s, I was only vaguely aware of most computer games from the 80s all the way into the early 2000s. That includes Planescape Torment. Its themes and concepts sound vaguely similar to what you've written here, though I believe it's probably quite different in many ways. Read up on it just in case.

[Luxtizer42]

There's a lot of overlap between IF and VN, but there are also some distinct differences. I think you're absolutely right to say that the difference in the level of player interaction is key. I am aiming to make a VN, not an interactive adventure game or some sort of 'IF with pictures'. Still, I'm hoping my experience with IF will add something to my writing.

I'm aware that the whole 'celestial bureaucracy' idea isn't new, to say the least. I'm hoping this will put a more modern spin on the idea. It's very much a character driven story, focused on how the MC adapts to being suddenly dropped in the middle of this unfamiliar and sometimes frightening environment.

The MC will need to manage relationships with co-workers who died decades or even centuries ago, and still carry the values and perspectives of their eras. He'll also have to deal with people working in different parts of the afterlife. The folks who work in Heaven are quite different from those running Hell, although they do turn out to be more similar than one might expect.

I am a big fan of Planescape Torment, but I wouldn't say that I'm aiming for a similar sort of tone. A lot of the humor in Zero Impact comes from how very mundane the afterlife turns out to be, and just how very human the problems of angels and demons are. I feel like Planescape aimed for a more sort of extraordinary high fantasy feeling, which isn't quite what I'm going for.

[Luxtizer42]

Update: The game now has a sprite and CG artist as well as a composer. Writing and coding is probably around forty percent complete.

I am still looking for a background artist and for anyone willing to help with the GUI. I'll be posting a WIP thread once I have some art to show.

[Luxtizer42]

Update: I am back to looking for artists for all parts of the project - sprites, CG, backgrounds, and GUI. We have a lot of writing done and some great music in progress, so the project is otherwise shaping up well. Please PM me if you are an artist who might be interested, I can provide a working prototype of the game, minus art.