DEV LOG v1.2:

These last few days were a bit fun. Toby and I have been putting in as much work as we can in all aspects. Without a designated pixel artists, we had to do the artwork ourselves.

A few things I can say about that image is that the grass came out better than I had expected. However, it could use a bit of work in terms of the slants and curves. I'll give it a whirl.

The sand, however, needs a lot of work. I just decided to leave it be in hopes that someone will either volunteer to provide a replacement or offer some aid.

We've also planned on keeping the house that the player may or may not start in with the story. How the story begins is already set. What happens after isn't. There are many possibilities. Perhaps we can make it random? Anyways, the house in the picture is not the final product. There will be furniture, a border for the house, and stairs leading downward. It is 2 stories, after all.

Something I enjoyed a lot was making the dungeon. I'm no pixel artist, but, this is pretty nice in my opinion. It could use some fillers, such as; torches on the wall, chairs, tables, cracks and crevices, skeletons, and even monsters.

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As you may have noticed, the player only has a South direction. I did manage to draw up a movement state. While it's not the best, I believe it's something and better than nothing.

To make things a bit interactive as well, I made an <i>attacking</i> state and an <i>attacked</i> state. These are just placeholders but allows you to know when they are attacking.

Attacking

Attacked

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Recently we also started getting in to the fun part of the game, devising algorithms for leveling, critical strikes, and stat points distribution.

While it's not tested fully, the level system is pretty unique. There is no level cap. However, there is no serious monster grinding involved. Yes, you may still have to grind. However, our plan is to include new quests and stories for everyone, no matter what their level is. This way there is always something to fill the void.

Quests will be the center of the game's leveling. Your max experience points is determined by your level and only your level. The algorithm is simple, yet effective. At level 100 you will still have a challenge. And, with our plan to release content for people of all levels, those who are so high up, such as level 100, will still have things to do to increase their levels. Skills will still evolve, even at level 100.

Here's a little bit about the stat points distribution, not skill points. Yes, we will have both stat points and skill points. When you have at least 1 stat point to spend you will have the option to click a button. You will be prompted with a dialog explaining some things. The dialog won't look like what's below. However, what's below is what content the dialog will contain.

After moving on, you have a few choice on what stats you'd like to spend your points on.

Once you've made your selection, you will be informed briefly about what your selection is, what it does, and how it can benefit you.

You won't be getting multiple dialogs like this. Instead, when you select your stat that you want to distribute your points to, an already visible prompting area will be changed to fit it's description.

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Finally, the last things we worked on was two logos for the game.

They will get some reworks done in the near future. But, they're good enough for now.

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In our next big update we'll work the following:

• Character creation,
• polishing the combat,
• combat damage overlays,
• NPCs and Monsters,
• transition using on-screen elements,
• and more!

The game is currently live for reserved testing and will remain so until the nearing of open testing. PM me to find out about participating in closed testing.

Hi...

Reading this my only though about the matter is, you reputation here is what is dragging you down. I bet if you had a cpl of thousand points people will lining up to apply.

Anyways best of luck.

Thank you. I would surely have spent time racking up reputation and learning who people are before posting if I felt like I would be a part of this community and like it. The site looks wonderful. However, the only forums I frequent are Unity3D for when I do 3D projects or (like my most recent successful project) mobile games in 2D or 3D. Other than that, I lean towards BYOND for 2D games. The plan is to make this game in 2D and when it is well-off, make it 3D. Something that has been done before and worked great.

I also noticed that Procrastinator was talking about the project having less than 50 "events". I recently saw something today, Construct. I am not using that. I am programming it myself from scratch. Combat is implemented, levevel and stats are too. This was all done last night. We decided to move on without an artist since apparently asking on 4 different sites hasn't gotten us anywhere. If anyone is still interested, check back here to see just how far we get in a week. The UI is up next since combat is functioning with a good level formula that works for an infinite amount of levels. I mean, you need a way to tell what your health and other things are at, right?

Why do more people expect artists to work for free than coders?

Not sure where you got that from. It must be different than from the communities I come from. Also, the word "coder" can get under some people's skin as well. I guess it's an approach towards the subject that makes it seem like more people expect it. If anything, I've worked for free on many projects. I've even taught people how to program from scratch and taught them how to teach themselves over time. I've done this for years over the internet, through Skype, video conferences, and even in my College programming classes. Not only that, I know a wide variety of marvelous programmers who know multiple languages like myself who would gladly program for someone for free, but would also gladly accept donations for their generous services.

[quote:186uk0bx]Your game doesn't need great graphics yet. Looking at those screenshots, the game is most likely less than 50 events so far.

You're right. What you see there is the product of more work put in to art than programming. Since I had to spend hours making the art even bearable to look at, I didn't have much time to program in any game mechanics. I did the art in hopes that if the game had a good start off that it wouldn't be as hard to find a kind and generous person willing to give a helping hand to a person who would do the same any day. It doesn't seem like people take too kindly to that kind of thought these days as money as gotten to be something greater than joy. But, that doesn't matter. What matters is that my theory did not work. Putting in small bits of artistic work does not attract, even slightly, any willing participants.

[quote:186uk0bx]Why do you need an artist so soon? ...

Because. Procrastinating makes things harder in the long run. When you let work pile up, you end up with what becomes more work than what it would have been if you had done it in the first place. I'm not saying I don't procrastinate either. Because I do it all the time still. Heck, I wait until the last day to complete Final Projects for my professors. So, yes, I still procrastinate. However, I don't embrace it. If I embrace it, I simply move on to the next level of procrastination... Not caring at all. Which results in no work being done ever and the project being dropped as a whole.

[quote:186uk0bx]...Why can't you put the effort in to produce something that tempts artists like myself? Sure, you might not be able to afford a decent artist, but art isn't everything in the beginning. Gameplay is. And gameplay doesn't need fancy graphics. If a game is fun, then it can be fun no matter what the art looks like.

So, you're saying that I spend the next week programming the game and I fully complete all dialog functionality, quests, combat, skills, levels, etc... that you would willingly, freely, and without complaints, complete every last one of my requests on the project within a timely manner and (LETTUCE NOT FORGET!) make them in such a way that they fit accordingly to how I program so that I will NOT have to go back to change any of the scripting formulas that align the UI elements according to the user's screen size? I really mean it, because going back is the most boring thing to ever do when it could have been avoided long ago. And, in the event that you couldn't complete the art, or refuse to complete the art, that would pretty much solidify the whole reason why I am looking for an artist beforehand and why it is beneficial. Because I would have done all that work, wasted all that time, and also become disappointed (since I am a person who always has high expectations of everything) when I could have been working on something that completely did not require the needs of an artist in the meantime. That is, like I am doing right now. Yes, I've been live streaming game development of a game that uses 3D cubes, IRC chat to talk, and is hosted through the client. Highly efficient, doesn't cost anything (like how everyone always things you need $10,000 to start a damn game) and a lot of people are eager to see it completed. Sadly, that's not my biggest interest. I've done plenty of simple things like that. A game that features nice art is something I'd be more proud to see done... But, I don't see that happening since I don't have money to keep everyone happy. Since apparently it takes money to make money is the mindset everyone is in.

[quote:186uk0bx]The ironic thing is, you want an artist to prove how serious THEY are, yet, from what I can see, you haven't exactly proven how serious YOU are.

The fact that I put effort in to my post already shows how serious I am. I could have gone in to more depth in the post. However, I try to keep it simple since some people these days like to "TLDR;". As for wanting people to prove how serious they are, no. I don't. In fact, anything you see written relating to judging how serious someone is can just be taken as indirect words.

Let’s take a look at the form…

Skype – Asked because we want a friendly relationship. Not a, “Get back to work *whips* I don’t pay you for nothing,” relationship.

Example Art (min 3) – So we can see what kind of style you are in to. Whether or not you are crude, very unique, or just your typical likeable person. Yes, how you draw can determine these things. Whether or not you and a person would get along. That’s the beauty of art. I draw by hand.

How often will you be available? – Once again. Friendly relationship. Nobody likes a friend who is never there. They’re just not a friend then.

The rest can pretty much be self-explanatory. They’re question to figure out what kind of a person you are and whether or not you’d be very critical about everything or laid back, trusting, and ready to enjoy a good time with some pals as we work.

[quote:186uk0bx]How does anyone know you won't get fed up with this project and quit it. Your word is only worth as much as the work you've put in and I don't see much of that...

Same goes for the pixel artist. Don’t see me complaining. Have faith. As for proof that I won’t get fed up, I’ve completed several projects on my own. I don’t get “fed up” provided YOU don’t get “fed up”. When I get “fed up” is when someone starts bossing me around about every little thing when they should respect boundaries. I don’t ever, EVER, critically control the way a pixel artist shades or produces any art. I draw a mock-up. I give it to the artist. They produce from it what they can and try and match it up with the theme, which is set by the lead artist. And the lead artist can very well be the person who applies for this position. I don’t enjoy pixel art. So, by all means, someone can take the part. But, a secondary artist who can polish the art is more than enough. A helping hand is all I need. I feel as if I learned a lot in the 2 or so weeks it took me to produce the art and variations of the art you see above. If you saw my initial attempts, you would be in awe with how much progress I have gained. Once again, it all depends on the pixel artist whether or not I get fed up. Because I am a man of high expectations. If I am disappointed, it deeply affects me.

The project currently being worked on is not yet planned. Instead, things will be done on a whim until the base story line is set. Meaning there may be minor changes here and there. But, nothing major.

[quote:186uk0bx]Not yet planned?? Minor changes but nothing major?? Now, from that alone, you seem very inexperienced in gamedev.

No, I’m just not some prick who follows the standard rules everyone else follows. I’m self-taught. What you’re saying right now is no different that the dumb crap my English teachers have been telling me for multiple years. “Brainstorm.” Yet, I pull of the highest grade in terms of writing essays and long papers in all of my glasses, without even reviewing the paper, performing it the night before it’s due, and with little knowledge on the topic. Who does that? Follows the instructions of someone else? Are you that set to follow the rules that society has placed on you? You realize that’s just to keep you from even being creative? Wow. It’s called “coming up with your own method of doing things. Herp derp.” Yes, I literally just dropped my standards for even writing to you now. Don’t call me inexperienced in gamedev. I’m sorry to get all pissy with you, but, that’s a low blow. You may not know anything about me, which may have led you to say something like that, but, contain yourself next time.

So, as a pixel artist, you are eligible to receive a portion of the money in the case that what is profited is enough to pay for you as well as all other necessities (multiple servers, other's who are working on this project, etc).

[quote:186uk0bx]So basically, others who work on the project will get paid before the artist? I've either read that wrong or you've really worded it wrong.. :}

It was worded wrong. Percentages of a whole earning will be allocated. Whereas expenses for servers and other things will be prioritized in the allocations. But, that’s not that much since I have multiple VPS servers that I donated towards a programming community along with an application that Toby and I programmed to make it user-friendly. These VPS servers can easily house 30 or more servers for just this one game and they pay for themselves.

[quote:186uk0bx]I admire your honesty that it's not yet planned, but seriously..... and I hate to quote the old cliche but "fail to plan, plan to fail".

Thank you. However, quoting someone’s words when you haven’t fully experienced them has been shown to be utterly… well, you know. Fail to plan, anything can happen. I didn’t plan to program the server application that I talked about a bit earlier. I found a person who was interested, Toby, it didn’t require an artist, so, we did it. We added bits and pieces each day. From May to September we developed. It was already fully functional the second day we started. The reason why it’s until September is because we had no pixel artist to do any other work and text-based projects aren’t fun. So, we took our free time and polished it. This is the point where going back to the code is fun. Not when you’re forced to because you rushed through things. It is now an application where users can request a server, and, if accepted, can then host their game projects on it freely. If they’d like to skip the application then they can easily do so by paying for as low at $5.00. Not only does 20% of that payment go towards the owner of the Game Engine (who is very well not money hungry), it also goes towards funding the servers again for the next month as well. And, as it grows even more, it also goes in to purchasing new servers for housing even more games. So far, there are around 40 games being hosted. A fair number for a small community. And it’s cheap and efficient. Spare cash goes in to donations to charities of my choice and directly to people who have earned the donation. But, the spare cash isn’t all that spare. Its pocket change.

I hope I don’t come across as rude. Yes, there were bits in my post where I did get flustered and showed a tone of disagreement. But, overall I am not angry. I’m just being expressive to show just exactly how serious I am about game development. I’ve been doing it since I was 8. Therefore, it is my life. Not a job. A man who lives only to pay bills and die is not living. He’s torturing himself. I hope this post changes your idea about me and truly shows that I am very much serious.

... opengameart.com ...

.org -- And thank you. I'll still be looking for others willing to work with me while keeping your reference in mind.

petapixel.com/2014/11/19/consequences-working-free

I feel it's a risk to take on both our parts for something that is enjoyed. If requested, I can privately send a list of my already completed work that has been done without an artist and strictly through programming in multiple languages and game engines. However, for this project, I require a pixel artist. Since this is my first project out of many that I am aiming to be a commercial project, I don't have much money to give.

Don't get me wrong. I understand where you're coming from with your post. However, I'm giving a partnership that includes residual earnings. So, if a person would like to take a risk then by all means, send me a message. I will e-mail you with game plans if you are interested.

*Hello. While this job is unpaid, there may be something to come from it in the future (subscription payments and such). Be sure to read the requirements before applying and remember that the art presented is not final. It is was is currently capable by myself, a fresh starter (literally only a few weeks of actually performing pixel art).

Contact Info: (email) quaint.shantykav@gmail. com or PM me.

Form

The reason why there are so many questions is because we want to know how serious you are.

*Be sure that your timezone is EST or somewhat close.*

Skype (required to talk to team):

Example art (min. 3):

How often will you be available?:

How determined and willing are you to produce some quality art?:

For basic art, like tiles and walls, what is your usual completion time? How about trees and props? And bases/animations?:

Do you mind working with others?:

What are your expectations of your teammates? And of yourself?:

Would you like to remain as a secondary artist or just simply take over as the primary artist?:

Requirements

I'd like to just see at least 3 pieces of your work (should consist of bases and tiles if possible, being able to do both is a plus). imgur or puush is best when applying through the pager. Or, just link an entire zipped portfolio.

Skype.

Available at least 5 days a week (does not mean I need to have you working for an hour or anything everyday. Just need you to at least say hi so I know you're alive or haven't ditched). Exceptions are holidays and such. Simply just let me know that you'll possibly be gone. Nobody likes a no-show, right?

About this Project

A world created by two powerful mages, Allia & Gilleon, flourished for many years. In the year 250, that all came to an end.

*Lightning strikes -- Rain pours*

An altercation between the two mages caused the nature of their world to change. What was once a world of only humans is now a world that invited monsters, thanks to Gilleon. To compensate for this unbalanced nature, Allia bestowed a selected few of the human populace with a portion of his magic.

And so, it began...

Here's a few pictures of it's current progress.

Current Progress

The project currently being worked on is not yet planned. Instead, things will be done on a whim until the base story line is set. Meaning there may be minor changes here and there. But, nothing major. Don't worry, it's not going to be "dropped" like most. If there are people capable of good (or decent) art on board, things will progress. There's no doubt about that. So, no worries!

The current state of the game is very new. There isn't any content since I am struggling to produce art that doesn't just utterly rape your eyes when you move around. That's why I need a secondary artist. Not to do all the work, but to help out when there is a struggle to move on. If you, the artist, are up to the task, you can just take over completely, allowing me to fully program, create music, and do other things instead.

Future Propositions

First off, this game will not be simply BYOND based. It's aimed to support BYOND, WebClient, and BYOND Standalone/Steam. So, users may be able to play on their phone if they choose, on their web browser for Mac/Linux, on BYOND as a BYOND user, and on Windows without installing BYOND.

We're planning (yes we, because I'm not the only one working on this) on making this a game for profit with monthly subscriptions. The game will still be F2P but subscriptions will have a different feel than your standard subscriptions.

The plan is that subscribers get to access content that has recently come out while non-subscribers have to wait a bit before they can access it as well. This includes cities, weapons, etc. While they can own weapons, they can't equip them as a non-subscriber. Same thing with animals and such. Everything new is subscriber only ranging from a month minimum to a year maximum.

So, as a pixel artist, you are eligible to receive a portion of the money in the case that what is profited is enough to pay for you as well as all other necessities (multiple servers, other's who are working on this project, etc).

The Team

This team is pretty much small. It doesn't need to be big to be successful. All that's needed is for every member of the team to, as stated before, keep in touch. Communicate and respect each other's boundaries. We really do look forward to having you with us and we hope you meet the expectations of the project.

Programmers: Myself and Toby

Pixel Artists: Myself (capable) and Toby (capable), more needed.

Sound Engineer: Myself, more needed but not urgent.

Game Designer: Myself