Harvest Moon fan game looking for BG artist(s)!

[AnoelDreamer]

Greetings Visual Novel people! I am Anoel, a programmer and writer. I am making a Harvest Moon fan game and I need an artist!
http://www.fogu.com/hmforum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=130282 <-- This is the thread on the forums at Ushi no Tane (an excellent Harvest Moon community and help site) for this fan game. There's a lot of information there about this project and a download of the current testing version.

Please duly note that this isn't going to be a Visual Novel. However, I need some Visual Novel style art. That is, character portraits! And backgrounds.

In case you haven't heard of the game series Harvest Moon, here's a quick run down.
I consider Harvest Moon a farming and family building game. The player moves in to a small town, starts a farm with crops and livestock, and woos the local singles. For a long time you could only be a guy, and a few times where there was a girl option your game ended when you got married. But that bit of unfairness is in the past.
The dialog in Harvest Moon games is very Visual Novel-esque. There's a text box, a name tag, and a portrait. For the local singles, there's also some sort of indication of how much they like you.
There are many Harvest Moon games for the Nintendo DS and 3DS, two for the Wii. I recommend several if you're interested; Tale of Two Towns (for NDS and 3DS, the 3DS version can freeze and isn't very 3D), A New Beginning (3DS, and the beginning season is pretty much one big tutorial), and Animal Parade (for the Wii, and I have no criticisms for this game).

Now, down to brass tacks, as they say.
I need an artist for backgrounds! I need at about 50 backgrounds done, and if possible variations for time of day and seasons for the outdoor ones. Some can be as simple as a store counter and others should be very map like.
I understand that this is quite a bit of art to do! So I'm open to more than one person helping me, so long as art styles mesh.

Now, here's the skill trade part. I'm a programmer and a writer. I am making this game in Visual Basic, and I'm good a writing stories.

One last thing, as you can see by the section this is, there will be no paycheck for you. This game is a free download after all, and I'm not profiting from it.

Thanks for reading all this, and I hope people will be interested!

EDIT: Hello all! I have decided that I really need backgrounds. So, check the info a few paragraphs up and let me know if you are interested! I am willing to help write or program in return.

[pocoscon]

I'm a huge Harvest Moon fan and would love to see fans make games of them, but I'm not sure this is going to be doable for an artist, especially if it's free. 54 characters is quite a lot to draw along with those expressions. For your trade, I'm not sure you should post that till you learn basic coding. A lot of artists here use Ren'py, so it's a skill one has to be decent at. If you want more info on coding, just go here http://www.otome-games.com/index.php/ma ... otome-game

I highly suggest that you start on a small game, and either use free resources in the creative commons or get an artist who will help you. I know there are friendly artists here who will help you with a small game for free. This however is very big and even for yourself it's not a entirely good idea to start out with so many characters, trust me, I know form experience. Maybe you'll get someone though. If so, I take it that it will be a while for them to do the art. Still, this is a lot for your first game. I really think you should start out small. If you don't, then I wish you the best of luck.

[AnoelDreamer]

Hello, pocoscon! Thanks for the quick reply!
I studied programming in college. I have made some iPad apps that are on the App Store. Coding is my thing. (Well, one of them.) Heck, I've got the crop system working smooth as silk in the Visual Basic that this project is made in. It's python and Ren'py I've never worked with. I'm sure I can pick it up quickly.
You do have a point about a demonstration of coding prowess... I guess I'll draw up a quick VN to prove my stuff and get in practice.

[pocoscon]

Hello, pocoscon! Thanks for the quick reply!
I studied programming in college. I have made some iPad apps that are on the App Store. Coding is my thing. (Well, one of them.) Heck, I've got the crop system working smooth as silk in the Visual Basic that this project is made in. It's python and Ren'py I've never worked with. I'm sure I can pick it up quickly.
You do have a point about a demonstration of coding prowess... I guess I'll draw up a quick VN to prove my stuff and get in practice.

Oh okay. Cool =). Then I think you can easily get Ren'py if you've done that kind of coding. And alright. I wish you luck with both. I really would like to see a style type harvest moon game. Maybe you could tone it down to 15-20 characters. I know someone who is making a fan game and only has about 15 characters. Still, good luck with everything =).

[AnoelDreamer]

Thanks for understanding.
The thing about removing characters is which characters to remove! I have 22 marriage candidates of various sexualities, and that's more than the number you mentioned. And you can't very well have a town populated by only bachelors and bachelorettes!

I have been remiss in not mentioning this, but I want this to be a relatively full game. There won't be a sprite character walking about doing farm work and talking to people. Instead the player will press buttons to buy seeds, care for animals, and talk to people. Time will go by in increments as you do things like forage for flowers and herbs, milk cows, and hoe your fields. Every action, in fact, has a time set to it.
Talking to a NPC will bring up a rather VN-esque window with the character portrait, heart (if applicable), name, and dialog. That's about the only art I need. Backgrounds will be extra. Here, I'll upload a picture example.
[attachment=0]art example.png[/attachment]
This is the high end of the art that I have. I have plenty of portraits that aren't very clean and aren't colored.

Hope this helps people.

[Elze]

Okay I'm super psyched about this because I've been a HUGE fan of the franchise for years. 54 sprites is really ambitious though, but portrait sprites would definitely take up a lot less time than full bodied sprites. I might need someone to help me out with GUI coding so I'm interested in this, but do you have a timeline in mind for when you intend to release this game?

[AnoelDreamer]

Hey Elze! I actually have a (hopefully) working download and more information at the link in my first post.
That being said, I have no timeline at all. I have been working on this for ages, it was my senior project in college. It's very much a work in progress.

[AnoelDreamer]

Have an update bump! I'm looking for artists again!

[SilverHyena]

I love Harvest Moon and after playing around with what you've already got going on, I'm convinced this is a worthwhile project. 54 characters is a lot, but I'm pretty sure I can do it. Of course, I am working on other stuff as well so I might be a little slow, but I still think I could get at least two characters done a week. Here's my DA account so you can get an idea of what I can do: http://silverhyena.deviantart.com/

Anyway, let me know if you'd like my help. (Oh, and I'm no good at backgrounds so I'd just be helping with character art)

[AnoelDreamer]

I love Harvest Moon and after playing around with what you've already got going on, I'm convinced this is a worthwhile project. 54 characters is a lot, but I'm pretty sure I can do it. Of course, I am working on other stuff as well so I might be a little slow, but I still think I could get at least two characters done a week. Here's my DA account so you can get an idea of what I can do: http://silverhyena.deviantart.com/

Anyway, let me know if you'd like my help. (Oh, and I'm no good at backgrounds so I'd just be helping with character art)

Hello! I would love your help with the characters. Your art is quite nice and two or three characters a week would be excellent!
I'll PM you some information on the characters. Welcome aboard!

[AnoelDreamer]

Hey folks! Check the updated first post!

[AnoelDreamer]

Just a bump! I still need background art!