(Visual Novel) Dustbin Dreaming: Need a Team

[Xuan]

Good day everyone.

As my title says, I'm currently searching for team members to create a short Visual Novel called 'Dustbin Dreaming'. Right now, I am both writer and programmer of the project, and am lacking artists and music composers.

Before I detail further about the story itself, I must first explain several special circumstances revolving around this project.

First, I am working on this Visual Novel as a Final Year Project. I have time up till mid-November or early November 2012 to complete this. As such, I am planning to first create a short version of the VN to serve as my Final Year Project, while working on the complete version on a much more leisurely schedule. That is to say, the short version is the one I will strive to complete now.

This means that I require at the very least some dedication, quick hands, and some decency to at least inform me that you're not free or leaving, which my current artist has neglected to do so and basically vanished into thin air. Hence the rather tight schedule I'm facing right now. -_-"

Continue on. Since the short version's target audience is adolescents and high school students, there will also be minor script differences between the short and complete version in terms of morality issues. So let's just assume this short version is a practice before the real thing.

The main themes are Bully, Crime and Love. The story will span over 3 days and feature from a young man's point of view the life of a bullied and the turning point of his life. The short version will cover this portion only. The complete version will include a young woman's point of view about the life of a bully, explore deeper into the high school's darkness and past, and the turning point of her life.

The engine used for this VN is the latest Ren'Py engine. Currently, the first and most urgent issue this project is facing right now is the lack of art resources. I am in dire need of working character sprites, background images (I've prepared for this but I need a real artist's help on this), and CGs.

This VN is meant to be morally educative while remaining unique in terms of storyline. I will be its sole writer for now, though that may of course change in the future.

So, for those who are interested please PM me or leave a reply here. I will provide further details once I've confirmed an interest and dedication to complete this project. There's a list of positions below, but I am inexperienced in recruiting and may leave out some titles so feel free to leave a comment below. Thank you very much for reading this!

Positions:
Urgent
Artists (~1 person) (Found 2, would prefer to have 1 more)
Music Composers (1~2 people)

Not So Urgent But Of Course Welcomed
Writers (1~2 people)
Ren'Py Programmers (1~2 people)
Interface Designers (Same as artist/programmers I guess? Never mind: 1~2 people)



Detailed Synopsis:
Him + Arc:
Ceiland, high school student, 15, and a boy who is looked down and jeered upon by almost all students of the same grade. He had lived a normal school life until one day, he accidentally stumbled upon a bully situation and since then found himself the fresh and brand new victim. Fearful of the leader of the group, Zhon Yang - the youngest son of the town's gang, with no lack of rumors of deaths and drugs - the student body turned on him and treated him like trash to protect themselves. However, unlike previous victims, Ceiland actively searched for ways to defuse the situation without resorting to violence behind the bullies' back, but so far nothing had seemed to work. He had two good friends in class who are undaunted by the bullies' presence and talked to him frequently, but Ceiland kept his distance for fear of their own safety. Also, there was a cafe whom he frequented and knew the owner - Maine is his name - very well. Maine taught him self-defense and he had learned it with great interest, but not once he has used them to protect himself because of a haunting past that would not allow him to fight to defend himself.

But he can longer run away from reality. With his final sanctuary invaded, with his friends threatened with death, there was no turning back: He will triumph over his fears, or be killed by them - forever.

Her = Arc: (Subjected to change and will NOT be included in the short version)
Hersa, high school student, 15, and the invisible queen of the school who lives only to fulfill her curiosity and lust for cruelty. Originally a gentle, innocent girl, her fairy tale-like childhood came to an abrupt end when an accident and brutal wound scarred her heart and changed her personality forever. She is usually calm and cool, but sometimes an overwhelming destructive impulse would overcome her mind, and when someone tries to talk or even walk too close to her in this situation she would attack the person with murderous strength. Over time Hersa learns to control her impulse by beating the crap out of some unfortunate students whom she disliked or crossed her, but even then the impulse is growing stronger day by day and she secretly fears that she would one day lose her mind completely.

The school could not kick her out because her family is very rich and influential, and thus it became an unwritten rule to ignore Hersa at all times as if she does not exist. Hersa comes and goes whenever she pleases, and she usually spends her time in the library. On Day 1, she is reading in a dark corner in the library as usual when her only friend, the school librarian scolded her for duplicating the library's keys and drags her to class (though they're of different classes). This school librarian happens to be Ceiland's friend as well. After a while she got bored and went out without permission, met a few delinquents, and proceed to beat the one didn't recognize and crossed her, then left school out of boredom. She went to a familiar cafe and met the cafe owner Maine, and asked for one of their usual sparring session. Just then the rain began to fall, and she has no choice but to give up.

After a while, Maine had went to the back seemingly expecting a 'customer'. Curious, Hersa hid herself behind the counter and a few minutes later a soaking wet Ceiland came right in, as Maine shooed him upstairs to take a bath. Curious about the boy, Hersa warns Maine to keep his mouth shut as she continues to hide herself behind the counter and listens to the duo's conversation when Ceiland returned. She took an instant dislike for Ceiland because she finds the problem stupid and its solution. Her mood turned for the worse and she almost lost complete interest in him, when Ceiland made a final, questioning remark about 'another person's presence' in the cafe before falling asleep, and thus joining the two person's fate in an inescapable game of hope and loss. Will they find release in the end? Or will a darker tragedy awaits at the end of the tunnel?


Protagonists' Description:

Ceiland:
A peculiar young boy, 15 years old, weight 60kg, height 170cm. Messy jet black hair, black eyes and could’ve been handsome if he bothered fixing his attire. His uniforms are always dirty and torn due to bullies picking on him.

He is extremely gloomy, depressed, hates contact with most people and paranoid about his surroundings. He was unlucky enough to be picked by the school biggest bullies, and tortured mentally by his classmates. He learns self-defense from a café owner, but strangely never thought to use them for his own protection. He has two close friends; the girl coincidentally also a friend of Dustbin Girl’s, but he always keeps his distance to avoid rolling them into the situation. He has a clear definition of the right and wrong things in his mind, and he follows them blindly to a fault.

Hersa:
An enigmatic young girl, 15 years old, weight 39kg, height 155cm.Her attire is eccentrically neat, tidy, to the point that her school bag is filled with large amounts of tools solely dedicated to fix a certain portion of her body and clothing. She often wears a pair of black-framed glasses over her blue eyes and carries around a disproportionately huge, seven-colored school bag. She has long, smooth, to-the-shoulders black hair, a beautiful face and an attractive figure.

Strange is the only word to describe her. The sole child of a rich family, her entire life has been one of extreme pampering by her parents, but she was never interested in wealth or social contact. Moreover, she has a cruel disposition and would not hesitate to retaliate against anyone whose actions or words displease her. Her methods are so extreme that in school, it became an unwritten rule to ignore Dustbin Girl as if she’s invisible unless they would like a boot to the face. Her only close friend is the school librarian, who coincidentally is a friend of Dreaming Boy’s. She especially despises people who push their own responsibility to someone else.'


Art Needed:

Background:
School
School Exterior Appearance (Daylight)
Classroom
Classroom Corridor
School Rooftop
School Gate

Cafe
Cafe Exterior Appearance (Daylight)
Cafe 1F Interior (Might x2)
Cafe 2F Interior
Cafe 2F Bathroom
Teacup on Table
Cafe Backdoor
Cafe Entrance (Include lone teacup and open umbrella, another without)

Streets
Backalley
Road

Lighthouse
Lighthouse Outerview
Lighthouse Peak

DBoy's House
DBoy's room
Living room
Bathroom

DGirl's Mansion
DGirl's room
Living room
Bathroom

Character Sprite:

Required
DBoy (Not needed in Short Version)
DGirl
Cafe Owner
Girl Friend
Boy Friend
Police Inspector

Tentative
Big Bully
Bully 1
Bully 2
DGirl's butler/caretaker

CGs Needed:
Note: Only 5, 9, 11, 12, 13, 15 are deemed to be absolutely necessary; the others are tentative. Moreover, there may be additional CG requests added into the list in the future.

1) Childish Drawing: Two Children Stationary Position
Character: Two (one boy one girl)
Themes: Innocence
Setting: Playground
As the title says, the kind of drawing you’d expect from a child. Scribble-like. Two kids facing each other.

2) Childish Drawing: Two Children Make Friends
Character: Two (one boy one girl)
Themes: Innocence
Setting: Playground
Same as above. Two kids shaking hands.

3) Childish Drawing: Two Children Playing
Character: Two (one boy one girl)
Themes: Innocence
Setting: Playground
Same as above. Two children playing the slide. One sliding down, another waiting on top.

4) Childish Drawing: Children Hurt
Character: Two (one boy one girl)
Themes: Broken Innocence
Setting: Playground
Same as above. Girl gets hurt badly, bleeding from head, crying. Boy panic.

5) Running in the Storm
Character: One (DBoy)
Themes: Hopelessness, Despair
Settings: Streets
DBoy running under a ferocious storm. The surrounding buildings seem like monsters about to eat him. Even though it’s just afternoon the sky is so black it’s like nighttime/evening.

6) Discussion Over Tea - DBoy
Character: Two (Cafe owner, DBoy)
Themes: Calm, Peace
Settings: Cafe
DBoy talks with cafe owner over a cup of tea. Raining.

7) Discussion Over Tea - DGirl
Character: One (DGirl)
Themes: Calm, Peace
Settings: Cafe
DGirl sits near the front entrance and drinks her tea, looking outside the window. Raining.

8 ) The Two Friends
Character: Two (One boy one girl)
Themes: Friendship, Daily Life
Settings: Classroom
Introduction to DBoy's two friends.

9) Police Station Madness
Character: Two (DBoy and one very shocked policeman)
Themes: Reality, Funny yet Eerie
Settings: Police station
DBoy goes to police station to make a report, but the counter guy seems uninterested and bored. So DBoy takes off his high school white uniform, showing that his back is blue and black with many thin scars running everywhere. Policeman looks in shock of his sudden actions. Preferably with shadows showing other people’s presence.

10) Drugged and Bound
Character: Two (one boy one girl)
Themes: Dark, Shock, Despair
Setting: The top of a lighthouse, facing the sea
A girl (high school uniform) tied with ropes with empty eyes and saliva dripping down the corner of her mouth. A boy beside her looking at the ‘audience’ with an absolutely terrified face. Evening.

11) The Peculiar Steelbar Wielding Psycho Girl
Character: One (DGirl)
Themes: Dark, Violence
Setting: The top of the lighthouse
DGirl barges through the door and arrives with a bang. She holds a steelbar in her hand with a murderous look, walking towards the ‘audience’. Evening.

12) Scream/Anger
Character: Two (DBoy and DGirl)
Themes: Dark, Violence
Setting: The top of the lighthouse
DGirl grabs DBoy by the collar and screams at him. It is raining. The steelbar is still in her hands. Evening.

13) Finale: Broken Souls
Character: Two (DBoy and DGirl)
Themes: Dark, Violence, Despair, Defeat
Setting: Somewhere in school
DGirl stomps her feet onto DBoy with a horrible, gave-up look on her face. DBoy simply crouches and takes the relentless blow looking utterly lifeless.

14) Fall
Character: One (DBoy)
Themes: Redemption, Release, Horror
Setting: Lighthouse
DBoy falls from on top of the lighthouse, about to drop into the sea. Have a peaceful look on his face. Evening.

15) Finale: DBoy, DGirl
Character: Two (DBoy and DGirl)
Themes: Happiness
Setting: The Corridor Outside The Classroom
Themes: DGirl sits with her back against a dustbin, wearing glasses, reading a book, smiling, seemingly talking with her mouth slightly open. There’s a pair of blue scissors on her lap. DBoy leaning at the wall beside her looking at the skies with a faraway, dreamy look on his face. There are a ring of white clouds circling his neck (as in really a ring of clouds, and he’s not smoking).



Small Portion of Script:

“Hahh… Hahh…”

This is bad. I hadn’t expected the rain to be so huge; this must be one of those super downpour my mum always talks about.
“Uh – woooow, damn, nearly slipped there…”

I kept a steady pace as I ran along the streets with my bag strapped tightly against my shoulders, but the howling storm seemed almost intend to tear my limbs apart with just water and wind. Of course that is just my wild, depressing imagination, or it could be the warning signs that I’m eating way too little and infrequently as of late, but damn it all. All I’m concerned about now is to get underneath a shelter as quickly as possible. My entire body was burning up with unbelievable pain and fatigue. If I fall – no, if I even stopped to take a breather, I probably will not be able to take even another step.

… But really, is that such a bad thing?

“Ugh, I can’t see anything… Just what the hell is this rain; it’s been ages since there’s one so big…”

I’m so tired. So cold. I hardly had any strength left in my body, and it’s a miracle I could still feel my arms. Isn’t this enough already?

“A few more minutes… Just a little further in, turn right…”

This storm is unnatural; an impossible phenomenon. I have never seen one this huge in my entire life. This is a dry town with more walls worn down by sunlight than rain clogged drains, and yet this storm is so huge and furious I could hardly see a few inches beyond me. Everything was shrouded behind the grey black darkness.

“Where is it? I can’t be mistaken, the café should be right around the corner… Aah, my eyes, this rain! Just where is it…?”

Ah, I understand now. This must be my punishment. My sin. All of this pain, this misery; they are the only way for me to make retribution. Isn’t this unnatural storm the biggest proof? I should just stop. Lie down onto the ground. Surely a lightning bolt will fire and burn me into a crisp, or maybe the rain will drown me in a slow, watery death. No matter. Whatever. A horrible person like me should just –

[Applegate]

As for your own dedication to complete this project, have you already written a substantial amount of the script? Do you have sketches or similar of the characters? Do you have the plot worked out and such? What work have you already completed, and can this be used as a show of dedication? Your story synopsis is more of a concept, lacking explanation of events that will occur, the young man's disposition, the girl's disposition, who bullies who, what shape does this bullying take, how does crime factor in this, what are the ages, what is the setting itself (bullying can occur outside school, after all)?

[AxemRed]

Why is this tagged as VNovel? It doesn't appear to have any relation with VNovel the company/engine/website...

[Xuan]

.... There's a company called VNovel? I'm tagged it that way just in case someone mistakes VN for Vietnam...

Plot summary is complete long ago, completed Day 1 of script (About 30% completion) and only 2 Days left. No drawings, I can't draw for my life. I'm not posting them here because I don't want to spoiler the entire story. If you're interested I can send you a PM with the details.

[Kuroneko_rg]

I can understand that you don't want to spoiler the plot of your story, but people will find it very hard to be attracted to a project
they know little about.

A short synopsis of it should be enough to get the attention you want. It doesn't have be too much, it just have to light that little
spark to drive people into wanting to join you on it :3

[FragmentedBergyo]

I'll have to agree - a short summary would be a must. Otherwise, it's unlikely to get people interested in working with you without even knowing the genre or target audience.

[Xuan]

Thanks to your advices! I have included a short summary on the two arcs of the story, as well as their character description.

I will continue to include additional details to this thread on my needs. Please tell me if there's anything else I should add. Once again, thanks!

[Sharm]

Approximately 30 backgrounds, 9 characters, who knows how many expressions, and 15 cgs, 6 of which cannot be done without, all finished by November? That's a lot of work! I don't think you're going to find what you need in time even if you were paying. If I were you I'd start searching for free resources, especially for those backgrounds and concentrate your energy on getting an artist for those cg's. Either that or find a way to cut it down by a lot for this short version.

[Auro-Cyanide]

It's good that you provided a detailed art list so artists can see the requirements. Thank you for that
However, you might want to consider filtered photographs for the backgrounds? Background artists are pretty rare and that is quite a few backgrounds. It took me 2 months to do around 25 and I was churning them out at a decent rate. There are a number of places where you can get free photos which is nice, especially ones belonging in creative commons. If it's cut down to 5 simple sprites and 6 CGs that isn't too bad I don't think.

[Xuan]

Filtered photographs as in this one?

http://katawashoujo.blogspot.com/2009/1 ... ounds.html

If they are the same, then yes I was planning to use just that. In fact I've taken quite a lot of photographs, though I'm still lacking decent ones for the majority backgrounds in cafe, and school rooftop. However I have no idea how to manipulate them. >_>

So tentatively asking, can you help me?

[redeyesblackpanda]

If you do a bit of research, you should find some good techniques for photo manipulation. If you have Photoshop, its filters can be very useful. If not, there's also GIMP that you can look into (it's free). This happens to be a very good example of the things that you can do, but there are simpler things too, although that also means that your results probably won't be as nice.

[Xuan]

Still lacking:

Artist: Found 2, preferably to have 1 more.
Music Composer: 1~2 person.
Writer: 1 person.
Programmer: 1~2 person
Interface Designer: 1 person.

Small Portion of Script:

“Hahh… Hahh…”

This is bad. I hadn’t expected the rain to be so huge; this must be one of those super downpour my mum always talks about.
“Uh – woooow, damn, nearly slipped there…”

I kept a steady pace as I ran along the streets with my bag strapped tightly against my shoulders, but the howling storm seemed almost intend to tear my limbs apart with just water and wind. Of course that is just my wild, depressing imagination, or it could be the warning signs that I’m eating way too little and infrequently as of late, but damn it all. All I’m concerned about now is to get underneath a shelter as quickly as possible. My entire body was burning up with unbelievable pain and fatigue. If I fall – no, if I even stopped to take a breather, I probably will not be able to take even another step.

… But really, is that such a bad thing?

“Ugh, I can’t see anything… Just what the hell is this rain; it’s been ages since there’s one so big…”

I’m so tired. So cold. I hardly had any strength left in my body, and it’s a miracle I could still feel my arms. Isn’t this enough already?

“A few more minutes… Just a little further in, turn right…”

This storm is unnatural; an impossible phenomenon. I have never seen one this huge in my entire life. This is a dry town with more walls worn down by sunlight than rain clogged drains, and yet this storm is so huge and furious I could hardly see a few inches beyond me. Everything was shrouded behind the grey black darkness.

“Where is it? I can’t be mistaken, the café should be right around the corner… Aah, my eyes, this rain! Just where is it…?”

Ah, I understand now. This must be my punishment. My sin. All of this pain, this misery; they are the only way for me to make retribution. Isn’t this unnatural storm the biggest proof? I should just stop. Lie down onto the ground. Surely a lightning bolt will fire and burn me into a crisp, or maybe the rain will drown me in a slow, watery death. No matter. Whatever. A horrible person like me should just –

[ComposerKuandohan]

Are you still looking for composers?

Here's our website.

https://thesearethetwins.wordpress.com/

My brother and I can do the entire OST for you, including an OP, ED, and Insert songs if you like.
Please send us an e-mail about details and the like by looking in our "Contacts" section of the website, we'll also talk with you about the requirments in using our talents.

Thank you very much!

Keep pursuing your dreams! ~ Wynn

[Xuan]

Yeah, that would be much appreciated! I've already sent an email to you, please read the little details there!

[harleesayshey]

If you still need a character artist I can help! I'm willing to do it completely free!
Here's a example, which is unrelated but i go on:

email me at chickenchupachup@gmail.com if your intrested!