Project Gene [Looking for Background Artst]

Ideas and games that are not yet publicly in production. This forum also contains the pre-2012 archives of the Works in Progress forum.
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excellentcoffee
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Re: Project Gene [Need BG Artist!) (UPDATED AGAIN!)

#16 Post by excellentcoffee »

Thank you for listening/playing the samples. It's really exciting to see others actually having an interest in this project.

Progression so far!

Once we get someone to do the background art, then production can move along more nicely. The whole game is already playable, but it lacks visuals or sound.

Chimerical
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Re: Project Gene [Need BG Artist!) (UPDATED AGAIN!)

#17 Post by Chimerical »

The characters look amazing!

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Re: Project Gene [Need BG Artist!) (UPDATED AGAIN!)

#18 Post by bloodywyvern »

Sorry I didn't get a chance to talk about the actual game before, was pressed with time. I actually barely had time to throw those mirrors together (or I would have noticed the problem). Anyway your team has done an excellent job on every area, the art is beautiful...my compliments to the artist :)

I've already given my comments on the script outside this, so to reiterate very well done. The dialogue is much more fluid and consistent then most you see. Another compliments for that, and a final one for your composer who obviously has considerable talent. All around great work, and congrats on making it that far! BG artists and CG artists tend to be some of the hardest to find, the ones who ARE here make their own projects or take on so many there's no room for another. Keep trying though, never know.
Project - R.E.M: Reality's Dream - Team head/Lead Writer
Other projects - Jamais Vu (script 10k), Chronicles of Etemis
Scripts in planning- 1

excellentcoffee
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Re: Project Gene [Need BG Artist!) (UPDATED AGAIN!)

#19 Post by excellentcoffee »

Thanks for all the compliments. The character artist is a first timer to the VA genre like myself. I went ahead and directed him/her to this topic. Same with the composer. :lol:

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Re: Project Gene [Need BG Artist!) (UPDATED AGAIN!)

#20 Post by bloodywyvern »

Well your lucky to have gained such a valuable team! And I welcome them then, it's always good to expand the genre's base.
Project - R.E.M: Reality's Dream - Team head/Lead Writer
Other projects - Jamais Vu (script 10k), Chronicles of Etemis
Scripts in planning- 1

Jens
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Re: Project Gene [Need BG Artist!) (UPDATED AGAIN!)

#21 Post by Jens »

Oh! It looks like another promising project for me to pick on(,since that is what I do best after all)

I've a question purely out of curiosity, since the NYPD is such an unusual setting for a VN have you put much thought into the games overall style?
The character art and music already tell me about how things are likely to look in the end, but BGs will probably add a lot to it.
Just for example, what I thought it could be were the following:
1. An environment that looks pretty realistic, but has been drawn by hand to accentuate the more grim features, looking more shady than the real thing(think:Dividead)
2.Something to resemble film noir with stylized photography(think:something like the Sin City movie)
3.Something more familiar from manga, displaying NY as a technological metropolis with a more airy feel.
Or some amalgamation of the above.

I'll admit its a bit presumptuous of me since I lack the skill to create any of the above and have hardly touched the demo, but its something that piqued my interest.
Also congratulations on a job well done, the community needs more people like you who are capable of making the extra effort so others won't have to(look whose talking ;_;)

One thing I don't understand is why you're shy about using Dawkins as a reference, since the people who are put off by it are certainly worth it even if just one more finds it deeply involving. Its a popular book from what I understand and most of the anime fan community is pretty heathenish.
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excellentcoffee
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Re: Project Gene [Need BG Artist!) (UPDATED AGAIN!)

#22 Post by excellentcoffee »

I've a question purely out of curiosity, since the NYPD is such an unusual setting for a VN have you put much thought into the games overall style?
The NYPD is a pretty popular setting for a lot of movies and TV shows. I feel like it popped into my head because of them. While those settings are tense and dramatic, I chose to write the 3rd Precinct (the setting of the NYPD) as a more peaceful place that rarely sees a lot of action to contrast with the chaotic premise of the story. In addition, considering there are some characters who don't get as much screen time as others, the quiet setting allows character development to be much more fluid without a whole lot of scenes.

I can't say that the art style was something I thought of from the go, but the feeling I wanted to convey has always been in my mind. Still I'm very, very pleased with the work EccentricKarma has done as the characters are very expressive. It's even more impressive because I had very little input in it and he/she has been winging it based off two sentences per character.
1. An environment that looks pretty realistic, but has been drawn by hand to accentuate the more grim features, looking more shady than the real thing(think:Dividead)
2.Something to resemble film noir with stylized photography(think:something like the Sin City movie)
3.Something more familiar from manga, displaying NY as a technological metropolis with a more airy feel.
Or some amalgamation of the above.
It is very hard to find someone to draw the background art. I've looked around, and a lot of the artists I'm interested in require commissions and are pretty expensive. In addition to that, it wouldn't feel right paying one artist and not paying the other. I also need another coder who can assist me with the customization of the game windows and theme. Haven't found a single one yet.
Also congratulations on a job well done, the community needs more people like you who are capable of making the extra effort so others won't have to(look whose talking ;_;)
Thanks. I mean, I don't know a whole lot about VNs. I thought that Ren'Py provided a tool that could help make an adventure game without all the terrible pixel hunting that you see in point-and-click games. I played a bunch of VNs and kind of noticed a trend of some sort, so I wanted to take an unorthodox approach and make something that would stand out.

One thing that kind of troubled me during development was sex. Instead of using it as, say, a scene or interaction between two characters, I focused on making it more of a small theme in the story. No nudity or anything.
One thing I don't understand is why you're shy about using Dawkins as a reference, since the people who are put off by it are certainly worth it even if just one more finds it deeply involving. Its a popular book from what I understand and most of the anime fan community is pretty heathenish.
Mostly because it's the theme behind the book that turns people off. As I go from being a kid to a teen, then from being a teen to an adult, the question "why are we here" continues to pop into my mind a lot. Most people following an organized religion have morals against that kind of thinking. I'm not atheist, I kind of consider myself religious. But even then, I always think about our purpose in existence, and that is what mostly inspired this project. The main character questions their existence and purpose, just like myself.

And as for the comment about anime fans, I really don't know too much about anime. I don't know what makes an anime, anime. Is it the style of the art? I don't watch anime a whole lot, nor do I read comics or manga. Last anime I watched was Haruhi Suzumiya because of the way it presented the story. I like watching, reading, and listening to whatever is good and inspires me. And even though I don't really dabble in it, I really enjoy going to conventions and hanging out with anime fans. Some are too hyper, but I find a lot of them to be as expressive as the shows they watch.

bloodywyvern
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Re: Project Gene [Need BG Artist!) (UPDATED AGAIN!)

#23 Post by bloodywyvern »

excellentcoffee wrote:It is very hard to find someone to draw the background art. I've looked around, and a lot of the artists I'm interested in require commissions and are pretty expensive. In addition to that, it wouldn't feel right paying one artist and not paying the other. I also need another coder who can assist me with the customization of the game windows and theme. Haven't found a single one yet.
It's actually pretty hard to find any staff members at all, there's a lot of people but also a lot of projects. Plus must would prefer to work on their own, the whole 'why should I use their idea' thing. That also lowers the amount of people willing to work in a team. Personally if the WIP section wasn't so strict on showing some sort of work done, I'd like to one day make a "Community Game" in which everyone can dump an idea that WILL make it in to the story someway, somehow. That might make people more excited to help out, the "I'll see my idea in it also!". Just a thought.


excellentcoffee wrote:Mostly because it's the theme behind the book that turns people off. As I go from being a kid to a teen, then from being a teen to an adult, the question "why are we here" continues to pop into my mind a lot. Most people following an organized religion have morals against that kind of thinking. I'm not atheist, I kind of consider myself religious. But even then, I always think about our purpose in existence, and that is what mostly inspired this project. The main character questions their existence and purpose, just like myself.
I don't have a problem with the theme at all, just think it's pointless to waste time thinking about things we don't know for sure. I won't bother posting which I am, between religious an atheist because it isn't important. We are all human beings far before that. You may want to be careful though, if a game is too much influenced by your personal thoughts then many times it becomes a form of 'living through the game', with an answer you want to see. Still almost any game could be considered like that in some way...
Project - R.E.M: Reality's Dream - Team head/Lead Writer
Other projects - Jamais Vu (script 10k), Chronicles of Etemis
Scripts in planning- 1

excellentcoffee
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Re: Project Gene [Need BG Artist!) (UPDATED AGAIN!)

#24 Post by excellentcoffee »

It's actually pretty hard to find any staff members at all, there's a lot of people but also a lot of projects. Plus must would prefer to work on their own, the whole 'why should I use their idea' thing. That also lowers the amount of people willing to work in a team. Personally if the WIP section wasn't so strict on showing some sort of work done, I'd like to one day make a "Community Game" in which everyone can dump an idea that WILL make it in to the story someway, somehow. That might make people more excited to help out, the "I'll see my idea in it also!". Just a thought.
Yeah, but then there is the issue where someone chips in an idea that is too zany, or conflicts with another. It's called Cowboy design/coding in the game industry if I remember correctly.
I don't have a problem with the theme at all, just think it's pointless to waste time thinking about things we don't know for sure. I won't bother posting which I am, between religious an atheist because it isn't important. We are all human beings far before that. You may want to be careful though, if a game is too much influenced by your personal thoughts then many times it becomes a form of 'living through the game', with an answer you want to see. Still almost any game could be considered like that in some way...
Even though we shouldn't think about things we will never understand, we still do. Just how human nature is, or how I see it.

Jens
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Re: Project Gene [Need BG Artist!) (UPDATED AGAIN!)

#25 Post by Jens »

excellentcoffee wrote: Even though we shouldn't think about things we will never understand, we still do. Just how human nature is, or how I see it.
...I was thinking more along the lines of the player going: "Oooh! The authors read a BOOK? Funky!"
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bloodywyvern
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Re: Project Gene [Need BG Artist!) (UPDATED AGAIN!)

#26 Post by bloodywyvern »

Well most people who *write* stories, have read them as well...or they would be really bad writers.
Project - R.E.M: Reality's Dream - Team head/Lead Writer
Other projects - Jamais Vu (script 10k), Chronicles of Etemis
Scripts in planning- 1

excellentcoffee
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Re: Project Gene [Need BG Artist!) (UPDATED AGAIN!)

#27 Post by excellentcoffee »

bloodywyvern wrote:Well most people who *write* stories, have read them as well...or they would be really bad writers.
Most of my reading and research is done via wikipedia 8)

Small update to the opening post. Basic change was the addition of a .png version of the second piece of character art.

excellentcoffee
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Re: Project Gene [Need BG Artist!) (UPDATED AGAIN!)

#28 Post by excellentcoffee »

It's been quite some time since the last update, but the project is still very alive :)

This is where PG stands right now;
-The game is completely playable, just without background art
-I'm just putting on the finishing touches as far as sound and transitional work goes
-Menu customization will be right after
-Once the background art is done, it's as simple as putting the files into a folder and BOOM; all done.
-Overall progress? 75%. That last 25 is all art.

The only problem? We STILL don't have a background artist. I've been using test images to see how things go since the beginning of the project. I really don't want to use pictures or art from sites offering them for free as I want this game to be every bit as "original" as can be.

monele
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Re: Project Gene [Looking for Background Artst]

#29 Post by monele »

I stumbled upon the demo in one of my directories and tried it. I think it's the first visual-less demo I actually enjoyed ô_o.

Now I'm curious : people talk about graphics in this thread but I've seen none ^^;

excellentcoffee
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Re: Project Gene [Looking for Background Artst]

#30 Post by excellentcoffee »

Looks like I'm a little late with this. :shock:

Yeah, I'm actually working on the game still. Rewrote most of it. It's not really a visual-novel so much anymore. I'll still post it here once it's finished, but I've moved it over to another site.

This is what the art looks like now.

Image

The game plays like an adventure game, just instead of pointing and clicking (or pixel hunting, as genre enthusiasts call it), everything is done via text options.

Hard to explain.

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