Let's Make An Indie Game! (Artists, composers, and idea-folks hither!)

I told myself I wouldn't do this, at first. "I already have a partner of sorts," I said. "We can do this!" I said.

Then I looked at the amount of people we have working on this project (mainly, 2). Great things have been done with less, yes. But then I looked at my skillset.

So I'm asking for help. Seeking it, in fact. For: An indie game!

What I'm working on:

For a long time (that is to say, a really long time) I've been working on my own little game project in Game Maker. It's called Kliktz, and it's a Mons RPG. By the time I petered out, I had most of the "framework" done. The items system was done (though somewhat inelegant), the stats system was... good, but needed tweaking, the beginnings of the story were there, and, my proudest achievement: The battle system. Hand-coded from scratch, and fully functional, though lacking in animations in most parts. It had nice AI, the system for learning moves worked like a charm, and items (the most awkward things to impliment) worked perfectly. However, it died off for three major reasons:

1. It required more graphics than a non-dedicated-artist like me could pull off.
2. I'm not a level designer, either.
3. The scope of the game had grown beyond the tiny screen size. For reference: The screen size I was using had the same resolution as the original Game Boy, which was, IIRC, 114 x 164. ...So Yeah.

But me and my original partner on it got to talking about it recently. And we want to revive it. But bigger. Better. Fancier. And to do that, you know what we need? Buddies.

As I originally stated, the game we'll be reviving is a Mons RPG. The world is already built. Like Earthbound, it's set in modern times. Also like Earthbound, it starts off light-hearted and cute and ends up dark as hell. The two main characters are two young adults of Vague Age: One protagonist, and one who's their "helper," which is always the opposite of the player's Purely Aesthetic Gender. But they're The Straight Will And Grace. The game world is set on an archaepelago with a vaguely elemental theme, and each world is set on one elemental island. The First Town isn't elemental, though. There are 60 monsters (Kliktz), as well as 60 "evil versions" of these monsters (Grimli). Those designs are already done, so that's not an issue. I'll go more into depth about the world if I can actually scrounge up some people.

The game is being made in Game Maker. For reference, so was Iji, so great things are in fact possible.

Programmers

I'm not too bad at programming. We're working within Game Maker, here, and an older version as well, out of my personal preference. Plus, copying and sending code is a pain. I still have a lot of code from the old game which is copy 'n' paste-able, too, so we won't be working entirely from scratch.

Primary Writers

Writing is one of my favorite things to do, yeah? Leave me that, at least. :P Editors, on the other hand, are graciously accepted.

Artists

We probably need more of these than any other group.

I'm... passable. Not bad. However, when it comes to purely computer-based graphics, I'm terrible. Ugh. No. Don't do it well at all. I also don't do animation well. So if you can do animation, that's great.

We also need at least some sense of stylistic consistency, so if you can even vaguely mimic someone else's style, that'd be really helpful. However, we will decide what graphical style we want to go with first. Originally, I was using a more "pixelated" approach out of inability to do anything else, but we could go with a hand-drawn look as well. It will probably depend on what final screen resolution we go with, too. It will be much bigger than the original Game Boy screen size, but I haven't chosen an exact one yet.

Stuff the artists are going to need to draw:

• System stuff: Menus, text boxes, cursor, all that good stuff
• Monster pictures: Neutral, happy, upset, battle, possibly speech portraits (haven't decided yet, and I want artist's input)
• Items
• Battle animations
• Tilesets out the wazoo

Composers:

These aren't necessary, since we can always play the "pull random songs from the Internet" game, but as I know we have in-house musicians here (Sand Josieph and Spain Sun come to mind), I figured I'd ask.

I'm thinking, fairly upbeat music. Any takers?

Level designers/balancers:

I'm good with concepts, but not as good at balancing some of them, or designing levels. I need people who can craft killer puzzles, stick together brainteasers, and help me stat and move-out various encounters to ensure they're both entertaining and won't make the player want to kill things. This is real nitty-gritty, game design stuff. Fairly tedious. This includes item stats as well, and probably, finally, finally helping me balance out the Kliktz's "overworld" stats, which are somewhat virtual pet-ish. But don't worry! There is also the fun puzzle-designing aspect.

Editors

I make typos. And sometimes, my attempts at being funny are horribly unfunny. If you can catch those kinds of things, you're gold.

Beta testers

Not until we get something more workable going, but we'll need them eventually. Your task is simple: Try your damndest to break the game.

Beta testers must either be running Windows or have a suitable Windows emulator, as Game Maker needs DirectX to run.

General idea people

If you can think, you can contribute.

Fun and satisfaction, mostly. We're not in it for the money. We're in it because we want to have fun. You do get a spot in the credits, though. And you can be an official member of Rainbow Dragon Productions!  ^*

So, uh... anyone wanna play along?

"Proto-Indo-European makes the damnedest words related. It's great. It's the Kevin Bacon of etymology." ~Madrugada

I'd be more than happy to be an editor/beta tester. I'm great at breaking games and I'm a Grammar Nazi.

dysfunctional human artistry

I'd offer composition, but I have my plate full at the moment.

Ecstasy is Sustained Intensity

I'd like to be a level designer, although I don't have much experience with this sort of thing.

also

You can't even write racist abuse in excrement on somebody's car without the politically correct brigade jumping down your throat!

I can do artist things, level design and general ideas, if you want. I can't do anything too major, though, since I'm already working on about 3 things, including Triality and my own spare time project.

I want to be a level designer someday; for now, I'm not sure I have the tools/experience to help you. If you need level concepts/ideas, I suppose you could let me know...

"I've come to the conclusion that this is a very stupid idea."

Cool. I'll browse the Game Circle thread and see if I can kidnap anyone, maybe.

Yay, level design people! I was worried no one would bite at that one. Blueeyed, consider it practice. Since we seem to have multiple volunteers, we can hopefully support each other.

@Pacific: Got a dA or something I can look at for arty stuff?

"Proto-Indo-European makes the damnedest words related. It's great. It's the Kevin Bacon of etymology." ~Madrugada

I did this.

I have a dA, but the stuff on it is hideously out of date.

I would be willing to at least try on the level design and balancing front.

Also, for collaboration, Google Wave is an incredibly good tool and I am willing to give out invites to all of you.

edited 17th Feb '10 10:41:43 PM by WilliamWideWeb

SHIKI is dead.

Woaaah! Pacific! You da man! *thumbs up* But I am heedful of your warning. I won't make you the prime artsy-dude.

"Proto-Indo-European makes the damnedest words related. It's great. It's the Kevin Bacon of etymology." ~Madrugada

I would love to go all grammar nazi on this.

Possibly composition and testing. Possibly.

I can possibly help with composition.

Artist here, I'll have a sample of recent work up in about sixteen hours from when this post has been made. Timezones, you know.

I'm not taking off my pants for a forum meme. -Nornagest

Just let me know when conversation starts on the actual game...

"I've come to the conclusion that this is a very stupid idea."

I'd like to volunteer to be an editor as well.

Also, perhaps I could evolve into an idea-person once I've seen some more material and have a better grip on the mechanics and setting.

Much agreed; I need to know what we're working with before I can develop any ideas. What's the gameplay like? What kind of elements will be used?  ^*

"I've come to the conclusion that this is a very stupid idea."

Made this◊ just now, but I don't know how detailed I'll be able to make the game stuff (or what art direction you're going for). I could make speech portraits or something, if you want me to.

I'm not taking off my pants for a forum meme. -Nornagest

I'm not that creative, but I would be willing to do some beta testing when the time comes.

If it's an editor you need, then you have my pen (or keyboard as the case may be) and coming up with ideas is my metier.

Existence Precedes Essence - I Create Myself - Turn on, boot up, jack in.

Well, I'd be willing to do something, though I'm probably only able to do beta testing or editing.

[[tvtropes.org/pmwiki/lb_i.php?lb_id=12919183980B30760200 Liveblog of]] John Carter Of Mars

I like it, Tom! And I think you, Pacific and I would mesh well together.

Anyway, a brief mechanical rundown:

• Uses the "generic" elements. I.E., Fire, Water, Air, and Earth. The final dungeon is themed on the Non-Elemental element, Cosmic. One "dungeon" per, in the order Earth, Air, Water, Fire. I have a good idea for what the "concept" of each one is:
  • Earth is a pretty standard "foresty world" dungeon.
  • Air is set on a mountain-city-island where the city is inside the island. It's urban. The primary enemy is the mob, and they "own" the boss.
  • Water, I have no clue. All I know is there's a beach and a City of Canals, and some part of it will involve catching and trapping the bosses' spawn.
  • Fire is a desert island. Its primary source of income is tourism from hot springs, but the springs have suddenly started becoming toxic. There will be an Inevitable Tournament.
  • The final dungeon has some Insert Solution Here puzzles based on the world's mythology, before getting... well, completed f'd up.

I'll do a detailed post on the world tomorrow.

"Proto-Indo-European makes the damnedest words related. It's great. It's the Kevin Bacon of etymology." ~Madrugada

Aww. I assume my idea is out of the question, then?

Ooh, you got anything in mind?

"I've come to the conclusion that this is a very stupid idea."

I think I'd like to design an f'd up level. I've designed some in the past.

Fire isn't a volcanic island?

I worry that having the story travel to the islands one after another would make elements come across as uneven in power; like, if all of the monsters on the Fire island were wimps compared to the deadly Earth island monsters.

There are a few different ways to handle this (if you decide it needs addressing.) For instance, your adventure could only take you through parts of each island. Say your first stop was the Water island; you'd only see part of it before the plot takes you to a more dangerous area on Fire island, but you could also find stronger creatures deeper in the wilderness if you keep exploring the Water island.

Another option: there could be a Bonus Boss for each element. It wouldn't be a problem if they were equal in power because you'd need to build up a different team for each.

edited 19th Feb '10 7:55:26 PM by Durazno

This topic was thumped by the Stick of On-Topic Thumping.

How about this? Each island has two dungeons— one regular dungeon each  ^*

, and then a different bonus dungeon each  ^*

^{which can, for the most part, be visited in any order}

. That way, we could include some more variety to each island.

edited 20th Feb '10 10:16:38 PM by Blueeyedrat

"I've come to the conclusion that this is a very stupid idea."