Tale of Arithea: Programmer & BG artist needed

[Dragonstar89]

Hey everyone. After everyone's comments and concerns about this topic's original description, I have decided to change it. Yes, so this is me, re-writing my recruitment proposal more properly and with the right amount of knowledge. I may leave out a few vital parts for anyone wanting to be a programmer, but they might be on the website soon to learn more. Here we go!

Tale of Arithea: Recruitment Proposal
Tale of Arithea is a game currently under development by me. It takes place on the continent of Arithea, in a medieval time. You play as Drenchin (of course, you can decide his real name. Drenchin is just the default one), a 15 year old boy who lives in the small Southern village named 'Kyoi.' His father is the lead Guard of the village, and his mother is just well...your average medieval mom Anyways, when several of the villages fall ill with a strange illness, Drenchin's mother and father assign him of traveling to the center city of the continent, Raegnaus, to find a medicine to cure it. When Drenchin arrives, he is greeted by a local carpenter and part-time blacksmith named Juro. He tells Drenchin that this illness has plagued the entire continent, and that the Royal Mages believe a new dark presence is behind it. So, Drenchin and Juro visit the Arch Mage of the West, and he tells them there is a cure. He then makes their task the one of finding the "Four pearls of the Gods" (one is at each of the four corners of Arithea). After that, the pearl of life can form, and an ancient ritual can harness the Water of Life from the Pearl of Life, the Water of Life being a substance that can cure any illness and darkness. Along the way, you meet other people who want to help cure the sick and injured, they join your party and such.

So, that's the story in general. Let's get down to more, shall we?

1)Deadlines?
Still, something I'm not too sure about giving the fact no one has actually joined the team. If others would prefer deadlines, or due dates or a time to finish to make sure we finish, I'll think of the best one. But I don't know if it's needed to be discussed publicly much, but with the size of the game and some of the systems needed (and background art needing to be made) I'd say a good time to finish would be 6-7 months. I'm not an artist, I dunno how long it usually takes to make backgrounds, or get permission to use them, so if this needs to be longer (or even shorter) just let me know. This way, we know we'll finish it by setting a time for it to be finished.

2)Features(Mechanics,etc. For programmers):
So, I've recently learned about Scope for games. This game, (being a sort of side project to me) won't have feature creep. In fact, it seems with the plans for features and mechanics that I haven't worked on yet, are pretty simple. So, here's what the game will need:

• One main story; The basic of Renpy. Just the main story. I've made it so the main story is broken up into 'scenes' with numbers, instead of all of it being clustered in the script.rpy. Same will go for side events as well
• A good amount of 'Side Events'; Side events are mainly focused on raising Drenchin's relationship with the girls. They are to be triggered when at random spots on the map, and fill the game in with more play time and keep's the player's interest at a good level. (And though they're side events, decisions in them may lead to an important final sort of thing in the game's end ;D)
• Decent Battle System; Thanks to the offering and help of the community of this forum, I've already gotten the battle system planned and developed some from the Dungeon Crawler basic framework by nyaatrap. Though I will admit, some customization with it is proving to be difficult. The battle system will trigger (hopefully) random foes everytime you go to a Battle Spot. Also, with the help of a programmer more familiar with Python, the game will allow seeing the party's screen, each member's stats, and be able to use equipment before battle. Plus, if Drenchin is killed during battle, or all party members are, Renpy's rollback will take you to the last event before the battle.
• Affection System; Something easy too. Throughout the game, you will be able to rise or lower your affection with the six girls (info on the girls will be up on the 'About Game' here!. And yes, at the end you will choose which girl to marry, etc., like any good ol' RPG.
• Shop, Gamble, and more: Right now, I've programmed one town script (well, about 50% of it) where the user will be taken too any time they reach a town. The towns have the following options: Shop, Infirmary, Gambling Hall, Oracle, Mailbox. SHOP: Your average shop. You will be able to see the entire list of available items, and purchase them, which will add them to your inventory. Anytime in the game, I've planned to allowed the user to check inventory (but I really don't have much of a clue on how to make pop up screens/overlays in Renpy). You can also sell items to the Shops for Silvers. INFIRMARY: If you have a completely wounded party member, you can pay to have them fully restored here. Else, you can restore on the road if you have an item called the 'Phoenix Emblem.' GAMBLING HALL: Mini-games to take a break from slaying assassins and creatures. Basic card games, etc. ORACLE: Let's you check "in-detail" what your relationship with ALL the girls is. It'll also give you a brief description of what each girl currently thinks of you (of course, it'll cost ya'!) and, everyone already (hopefully) knows where the mailbox program is coming from, no need to describe it.
• Region map: The game will need a region map using the Hotspot that works with Renpy. Unfortunately, I am not too skilled in making these, especially since some of the hotspots will need to be unlocked (the game will have a lot of unlock-to-use mechanics.)

So, the game is just going to be a neat, decent indie-developed game with a [impactful] story that is distributed for free. So recruiting questions now? Of course:

Can you pay me?:
Unfortunately not a lot. If those words set you off, then that probably means your a professional with costly services. I'm really looking for some programmer good with Python and Renpy who would be willing to do a free job. I barely preserve any money I make from software online, because I have to help pay for groceries and my phonebill, etc.

Where did you get your ideas?:
A lot of the ideas for the game is inspired by the following two games: Records of Agarest War Zero, and Fire Emblem: Awakening.

Give me progress details man!:
OK. Here's what I've estimated (this is just off the top of my head FYI):
Code: 2%
Music: 1.5%
Artwork: 50% (background art is what's dragging me)
^ These things will be updated on a regular basis, at least I hope.

Current Screenshots?:
Can't get them, but I'll upload them after I finish writing the topic.

Website with more details?:
http://arithea.jake-brunton.com

You're in highschool?:
Yep! Though, my school hasn't started yet, so I'm still fine. I'm also in the process of moving, so working with a team on the game won't affect anything important.

Director, eh? What's your philosophy for directing a team?:
I want anyone who joins the team to feel comfortable to work on the project. I respect that everyone has their own life to live, and so I don't push much for finishing a feature/background in a day or minute (which is why I still haven't come up with an official time to finish the game by). I prefer to work with people who have a good spirit for life and like to do things to make other people happy and feel good.

So, there's my *current* recruitment proposal. I'll tweak this to anyone's liking if you still have some problems with it. I prefer to be asked questions off of threads, it's easy to keep it this way:
Email: jake@weeshare.ws
Or, just PM me on here.

Oh, one last thing! Before anyone points out the crowdfunding for it;

I know hardly anyone will entrust 2k with a 15 year old in high school, but seriously I do my best in managing money when it comes to projects. I know I'm most likely not going to receive anything, but it's nice to see if someone may have determination and hope in me and donate something, so I can get some professional services on the game. So, I just keep it there for the worth it is. I'm not really wanting any money for the game, it just helps to get backers to make it better. (Also; I'm using resources from the Bass novel resource list for item and character artwork. Credit the author of the content, and you can use the image in anything like an rpg. Confirmation here: http://save-point.org/thread-3271.html )

[leon]

I might be intersted in joining as a programmer and BG artist, but assuming this project is still in the idea stage, IMHO it's too soon to be recruiting a programmer and composer. Unless you have completed at least a couple of games or have at least the bulk of the story finished, I think most people will be cautious to join a such a long-term project. Most projects don't ever get completed...

For backgrounds; we could really use a background artist to make a 800x600 background, but for characters, no. Why? The bass Character Resource directory is a place with neat anime-styled characters with multiple expressions and can be used freely. So, characters are covered.

Do you have a link to where it says they can be used freely and under which licence? Also, unless you are planning to develop primarily for phones, 800x600 is kind of obsolete...

It sounds like an interesting project. Good luck with it!

[Dragonstar89]

I've gotten the story figured out already. I've also got some artwork and more. Also, the 800x600 was the defaults I used when I worked on several games using Ren'Py (because it was easier to find backgrounds with that size). I've made (if I can recall right) 3 games in Ren'py, but two were about 90% finished and one was complete but I never decided to make it public, most likely because of making them within several weeks I didn't feel the story of it nor saw the potential.

Also, about people being weary about joining a long term project; I understand you. I often like to get stuff organized before projects (including art, info, story, and a team) before actually doing physical work on it. It's my meager determine-type of personality that is to blame for that, haha And for the character images from the BASS resource (I believe the link is http://bassnovel.com/select_resource.php ) each image is noted as being graciously created by users. I'm 100% positive I'll be linking to the artists' links in the game somewhere in time :3

[Taleweaver]

BASS resources may be used with the Bassnovel software. They are not licensed to be user in any other context.

[Dragonstar89]

BASS resources may be used with the Bassnovel software. They are not licensed to be user in any other context.

Alright, thanks for updating me. I'll use the characters I got then for testing purposes, and try and find a artist later.

[Dragonstar89]

OK, here's a basic list I came up with for the type of team I'm looking for:

-Programmer:
The programmer(s) who are willing to join will be assigned the following task:
-Creating a battle system (A battle system viewed in the basic Visual novel, character by character format. It will need a decent Enemy AI that will attack it's targets depending on their HP left, and their in-battle status (Like Stamina, Magic, etc.) Also, the player will get to switchout who is battling if there are other characters in their party. Each usable character will also have a level system, gaining EXP from battles, leveling up, and then using LVL Up points for raising their permanent skills. The system will also use 'Moves' and each character (foe and playable) will have an Ability that helps them in battle. In the 'chars' directory of the current game directory, I've included text files of each character, creature, and foe (including their history, personality, and ability).

-Currency system & Sleek inventory system (A currency system should be easier. The player can sell items from their inventory at town/village shops to gain money, or earn money from beating monsters/foes. They can also purchase items with their money and gain items in their inventory. The inventory will need to be an accessible feature (perhaps included in the bottom right control area of the vbox), it'll show the user's inventory. Items like potions (there is a Health Potion [Raises a selected character's health by 25%], Magic Potion [Raises all the selected Character's Magic Points by 10 points], then there's Two that can ONLY BE USED in battle. Stamina Potion [Raises the selected character's In-battle stamina by 25%] and Stats Potion [raises the selected Character's in-battle stats (all) by 25%].)

-Equipped Weapons/Armor (Basically, when you're not in a battle or event, you can choose an 'Equip' menu and Equip/Remove Armor, Weapons, and Spell books from the party's character's. Armor will raise the selected character's DEF by whatever amount it gives. Same set up for Weapons and Spell books. Weapons will raise the ATK, and spells will raise the MAG. These are treated as 'Permanent Skills.' Armor, Weapons, and Spell Books can be purchased at the local stores, or acquired from foes beating.

-Assistance development on the Affection levels (Throughout the game, the main character will have a chance to meet and pair up with 6 girls that can join the party. Throughout the game, based on choices, your relationship will raise and lower with the girls during side-events with them. The choices made in those side events will rise/lower your affection with one, two or more of the girls at once. Around the end of the game, the one(s) with the highest affection will be the girl(s) you can woo as your wife. Through the entire game, we will need a extra screen that shows your affection with all the girls by showing a bar of progress. It will only show the girls that have joined your party.)

-Artist:
-Stunning backgrounds (I'm working on a laptop with a resolution of 1366 x 768, so I think it'd be a good idea to make backgrounds that size, so people can enjoy a full screen, and if they're on bigger computers, the rest of the background can fit or just cut off a little bit. The game is intended to be played in fullscreen also.
-Character Portraits (For extras only. Illustrate some portraits of the characters doing things like playing games, watching the sunset, drinking, etc., to use as unlockable art.)

-Composer:
-Striking music (The project will require about 4-6 different striking sound tracks [that are most likely 3-5 minutes in duration]. I don't care if you use Audacity or Soundation, as long as the music is beautiful!)
-Good menu theme (A good, decently lengthy menu theme that really captures the art of war in the mid-evil times)
-Theme setting music (mainly for the side events. The game will need some light, unintrusive tracks that set loving moods, funny moods, and sad moods)

That's the updated list for now. Feel free to reply or send a PM if you wanna know more and/or join this team.

[Dragonstar89]

The team is still short, unfortunately.

The following still need to be recruited:

• Programmer
• Background Artist

Just PM me if you wanna know more. Thank you.

[CheeryMoya]

So let me get this straight.

You are crowdfunding this project which is barely out of the ideas phase. It's unclear what this money is for because you aren't mentioning anything about paying the artists, programmer, or composer (for all we know, you could easily buy royality-free music and pre-made art). You aren't revealing any information about the "6 totally unique, beautiful girls" or how much writing has been done up to this point. You claim to have finished at least one full game, but never released it publicly. And, judging by your age, you are still in high school.

Maybe I missed something, but you haven't posted that much information about the story on any of your websites or started an Ideas thread here. It would be reassuring to potential recruits to know a little bit more about the characters or if they could see some of your past work.

[Dragonstar89]

So let me get this straight.

You are crowdfunding this project which is barely out of the ideas phase. It's unclear what this money is for because you aren't mentioning anything about paying the artists, programmer, or composer (for all we know, you could easily buy royality-free music and pre-made art). You aren't revealing any information about the "6 totally unique, beautiful girls" or how much writing has been done up to this point. You claim to have finished at least one full game, but never released it publicly. And, judging by your age, you are still in high school.

Maybe I missed something, but you haven't posted that much information about the story on any of your websites or started an Ideas thread here. It would be reassuring to potential recruits to know a little bit more about the characters or if they could see some of your past work.

First off, does no one have curiosity to ask questions? I'm recruiting and I obviously asked for people to contact me off the forum through email, or at least through a PM on here for more details. It's not like I'm saying "hey, I've got an idea for a game, join my team." Also, it's not an idea anymore, I've been working on the script and I've gotten the dialogue ready. Also, it's not that easy to find pre-made resources, or even recruit people. I've found that the only good royalty free music you can buy is about $40 per license, so I don't purchase it. I have two free songs for non-commercial projects in use right now. Secondly, about the crowdfunding, that's not to make the game happen. That's to make the game better. Wouldn't you want to be able to raise money to to hire professional services to offer an amazing, free game to players? The only true composer who has contacted me charges, and his music is amazing, which is a good reason to raise funds. Also, you may have thought it's still an idea because I haven't changed the beginning post. As I already said, it's already in development. And yes, I'm in high school, you make that sound like something bad? If it is a bad thing, I mustn't have caught it. Plus, if you did visit the temporary site, you'll notice on the 'Download' page the game is going to be free. Another reason to raise funds, because I'm making a free game, but I need help from people who don't work free.

And finally, the whole point to recruiting a team is that we all work on it together. Everyone asking to see my past work makes it seem like they want to know if I'm good because they think I'd do everything. I deliberately mentioned I'm still a rookie with programming. If I was good, I wouldn't need to ask for people to team up. I just want some people to help me make a great game, and I can't help it that I can't make facts clearer in the top post. This game is a side project that I want to accomplish, I've got a social network, and two online groups that make software with customers to take care of.

[CheeryMoya]

Also, it's not an idea anymore, I've been working on the script and I've gotten the dialogue ready.

How much of it is done? The Recruitment rules say that you need "a description of what work has been completed on the project, if any."

Also, it's not that easy to find pre-made resources

You'll find a plethora of Creative Commons assets at the EVN wiki and the dedicated board. It'll be hard finding a sprite set with many characters in the same style, but finding individual things is rather easy if you know where to look.

Secondly, about the crowdfunding, that's not to make the game happen. That's to make the game better. Wouldn't you want to be able to raise money to to hire professional services to offer an amazing, free game to players?

If you plan to pay the people you recruit, you should put that in your post. I should also mention that LSF's rule on crowdfunding states that you need a "nontrivial playable demo" before you can link it.

And yes, I'm in high school, you make that sound like something bad? If it is a bad thing, I mustn't have caught it.

Not many people will trust a high school student with 2K to make a game, especially if this is your first public one.

Everyone asking to see my past work makes it seem like they want to know if I'm good because they think I'd do everything.

We're not asking you to be a jack of all trades, we just want to see what you're capable of. It's easier to measure when there's a portfolio of past work.

I really suggest making a thread about your project's progress so you can direct people there for more information, no one will steal your plot and claim it as their own.

[TwilightOfTheSoul]

Secondly, about the crowdfunding, that's not to make the game happen. That's to make the game better. Wouldn't you want to be able to raise money to to hire professional services to offer an amazing, free game to players?

You can always do what I'm doing. Make placeholders to use in place of resources you lack until you decide how to replace them.

And yes, I'm in high school, you make that sound like something bad?

Not "bad" per se, but it does make you something of an unknown quantity. You have decided to take on a major responsibility while still dealing with your responsibilities to school, which is cool...if you can pull it off. If this project starts affecting your schoolwork then you will probably either abandon it or indirectly take it out on everyone working with you.

It also implies a lack of life experience to draw upon for inspiration since school life is extremely sheltered and controlled. If your subject is school life, that's fine, but I wouldn't go buy a novel about the hardships of a single working mother written by a high-schooler unless it already had rave reviews. Even then I would be more critical of it than usual.

Another reason to raise funds, because I'm making a free game, but I need help from people who don't work free.

I know you are a student, but if your goal is to make a "good" free game, perhaps you should be willing to put a personal investment into its success before asking others to put money into it. This project will cost you in some way or another by the time it is done, and believe it or not, money is one of the easiest investments to make.

Everyone asking to see my past work makes it seem like they want to know if I'm good because they think I'd do everything.

No. People want to know that you have the drive to *finish* a project that you start, even if it isn't the most professional thing ever made. There are tons of people who start projects, grab a bunch of people willing to work for free, and then the project never sees the light of day because someone craps out on it.

It also helps since you are a novice programmer. You probably haven't learned the "code twice, release once" paradigm yet (and most people won't until they have made a huge mistake), so having a "complete" experience with ren'py scripting will throw all the curveballs you have to work around at you before they end up as huge messy patches in something you would be otherwise proud of.

If I was good, I wouldn't need to ask for people to team up.

Also not true. Someone with the entire skill set to create a visual novel will rarely succeed alone. Splitting your focus everywhere is a nightmare and every time you start on one task you end up adding another to do later. You either need a team or amazing organizational skills to succeed.

[Dragonstar89]

OK. Also though, this game has no dead lines. I just simply want some people who are willing to help to work on it with me. It's just a game I wanna make, and being no dead lines and it'll be finished when we want it too, it shouldn't sound all bad. I don't care if it takes us several months, just as long as we could get some work done on it.

Also, I know no one would buy a novel about a single mother written by a high schooler, this game is going to be free. I know when you said that, you were talking about people donating. I don't intend for that to be successful, it's just nice to raise donations to make more quality content like sounds, art, etc. get included in the game. And for personal investments, of course I will add my own money towards it. The problem is though: I only make about two to three sells of the little software things I make every 2 to 3 weeks, and their cheap to being only around $5-$15. Also, no matter how mushy this may sound, I (like a lot of other people in America) am of a poor family who lives paycheck to paycheck, so when we usually run out of food, I have to go and use the money I make online to take care of my family first. This game isn't a problem, nor will it be a problem in my life. I just simply want to make an awesome game with awesome people and distribute it freely to the world.

[SundownKid]

I recommend abandoning the whole RPG part and programmer to start with, if you have no money to spend on the development. You can make a perfectly good first game with action and adventure without having to go into the complexities of designing and balancing battle systems, not to mention the programming time involved by someone working for free. Probably not going to happen.

In my opinion, you should start using Ren'py to create the game with everything except the battle system, then find an artist and musician (after it is complete and you have a demo with placeholders), then after you have managed to create that game, explore adding stuff like the RPG Battle Engine.

If you absolutely must have RPG battles, perhaps an engine like RPG Maker would let you make them yourself without needing a programmer.

[Dragonstar89]

I recommend abandoning the whole RPG part and programmer to start with, if you have no money to spend on the development. You can make a perfectly good first game with action and adventure without having to go into the complexities of designing and balancing battle systems, not to mention the programming time involved by someone working for free. Probably not going to happen.

In my opinion, you should start using Ren'py to create the game with everything except the battle system, then find an artist and musician (after it is complete and you have a demo with placeholders), then after you have managed to create that game, explore adding stuff like the RPG Battle Engine.

If you absolutely must have RPG battles, perhaps an engine like RPG Maker would let you make them yourself without needing a programmer.

Thanks for the advice. Again, this is a side project of mine. If I can't get a programmer to help out with the game, then I'll just look into how to change the interface of the RPG Battle Engine for Renpy (which is an idea I thought of not too long ago). In fact, the battle system hasn't even been started, I've only done codes for the letters, main events, side events, towns, character levels, and affection.

[doudoulolita]

Hello,
i've not read all the topic but I went to see the website and found the characters were nice.
Just to say there is a problem with the link in the menu More games. The website seems out of order.

Keep on !