The gaming project that we are seeking artists for is...
OCTOFORCE - The Paradigm Experiment
Who are we:
We are Silicon Sorcery Studios.
We started out as a father and son team from the San Francisco Bay Area.
We're both anime and gaming fanatics so doing something like this, together, was a no-brainer.
We are currently a team of four.
Scott Montgomery - Game developer, Writer, Coder, Novice Artist
Scott studied how to write fiction at a university then spent 15 years mastering the art of writing fiction.
Scott studied how to code at university. Uses GML.
Scott is in charge of all forum activities, project management, and coding.
Anthony Montgomery - Concept Artist, Novice Pixel Artist
Despite being very young and learning how to draw quite recently, Anthony has designed several awesome concepts for OCTO FORCE.
Sander Vanderbon - Low Res Pixel Artist
Sander hails from Belguim. Sander has taken several of our sprite concepts and detailed them.
Matthew Adams - High Res Pixel Artist
Matthew hails from Australia. Very talented artist. Matthew is credited with doing all of our current female sprites. Matthew is currently working on our mecha designs.
Game Concept
Category:
Action, Platform, Adventure, Mecha, Shooter
3 Different Views:
Top Down, Side Scrolling, Mode 7 Simulation
What is OCTOFORCE?
OCTOFORCE is a story-driven 2D game that incorporates an intense sci-fi story about love, loss, betrayal, mobile suits(piloted mecha robots), cybernetic zombies, metallic monsters, platforms, Mode 7 Simulation using 3rd perspectives, and WWII-style dog fighting.
The OCTOFORCE story is a trilogy that revolves around military affairs, mecha fighters, nano-machines, alternate realities, and multiple universes.
Game Elements
Why would gamers want to play OCTO FORCE?
Aside from a load of incredible artwork....
OCTOFORCE has all of the common elements, functionality, and movement that is expected in platform games, such as:
- A slick easy to use weapon-changing system
- Transitions between human movement and machine movement during game play
- Realistic (360 degree) Sprite Movement
- Functioning Radar Systems
- Complex AI
- Complex Weapons
OCTOFORCE also many elements that are not commonly seen in platform games, such as:
- Jet Fighters (sprites) that move like real aircraft (no stopping and no backward movements) creating a higher level of difficulty and realism
- WWII-style Dog Fighting like you would find in a simulator ('Run N Gun' and you won't live long!)
- A vast number of levels (we're talk roughly 21 levels)
- View Points that change during game play (Top Down, Side Scrolling, and Mode 7 Simulation)
- Feature film Special FX
- Sprites that talk to you (with voice) throughout the game
- Action-packed movie-like fight scenes that happen during game play
- Deep, emotional, and well thought out dialogue and story-driven events
Game size:
Roughly 21 levels total!
As previously stated OCTOFORCE - The Paradigm Experiment is a trilogy.
We will be selling each part of the trilogy separately and then when it is all done the finished game will be repackaged and sold as one unit at reasonable discount. However, each of the smaller parts will still be sold separate, for marketing purposes.
Part 1 - The Arrival has roughly 7 levels
Part 2 - MIA also has roughly 7 levels
Part 3 - Escape also has roughly 7 levels
Level Design: Part 1 - The Arrival
In general:
While the game is played straight-through, from one level to the next....
Three of the levels in The Arrival are purely action levels where the player must survive against razor sharp odds in WWII-style combat.
Four of the levels in The Arrival have areas that require keys and switches to activate passages
The specifics can be found in the Background Artists section
Game Development
Progress
The game's engine is 80% complete
The level designs are 40% complete
The sprites are 20% complete
The backgrounds are 5% complete
Additional Art, screen shots, and an old demo (of level 1) can be found in the following links.
Our blog page for OCTOFORCE
Sssindieprojects.blogspot.com
Our Gamejolt link for OCTOFORCE
Gamejolt.com
OCTOFORCE DEMO:
Mediafire.com
***NOTE:
IF you play our demo keep a few things in mind.
- It was made over a year ago.
- None of our latest art work is included
- The art that is included were concepts, rough drafts, and mocks ups drawn by our coder, Scott, who is only an amateur artist.
What we are looking for in our artists.
General Art Requirements:
We need artists that can draw backgrounds, level designs, monsters, robots, human sprites, well drawn faces, weapons, random assets and so on.
- We need pixel artists that can produce high res images with a consistent amount of quality.
- We need pixel artists that understand what makes a background or sprite design 'interesting' and 'dynamic' as opposed to 'flat', static, and 'boring'.
- We need pixel artists that know how to do proper shading and detailing.
- We need pixel artists that understand that when working for someone else or with a group all of the art is done in stages.
Development Stages for Artwork
- Concept Stage
- Editing & Approval
- Prototype Stage
- Editing & Approval
- Finishing Stage
- Editing & Approval
Art Standard:
The market are aiming for PS 3 and 4, X-Box, Wii, and Steam, therefore our art standards have to be high.
Art Complexity and Realism:
We are aiming for a Unreal Tournament 3, Hawken, and Megaman X8 level of realism and design complexity
The specifics are categorized (below) by what we need from each artist.
2 Background Artists
[/spoiler]Level of artist:
intermediate to expert
In general:
Artists must have a keen eye for realistic backgrounds, details, and shading.
Artists must have an imagination that eats and bleeds science fiction.
We need artists that can digitally draw scenes from their favorite sci-fi flics and people will say: "Nice screen shots". (but they are not screen shots...)
We want our gamers to forget that they are just playing a game.
Furthermore, we need background artists that can take rough drafts (like the one below) + level designs and create breathtaking level art.
Particulars:
We need 3 levels with top down views:
For the levels with top down views they have a resolution of 1200x900y.
While the resolution allows for more preparation of the player, during combat, the levels are much bigger in size, requiring the player to fly long distances and scout out areas to achieve victory.
Each of the top down level is 1 Room each. Size: roughly 5000 x 5000 y.
Concepts for levels 1 and 2 are already completed.
Of the 3 top down levels...
Level 1 is in space above and surrounding the planet wherein the remaining game takes place.
Level 2 is located in a desert with high cliffs, sandy dunes, and laser fencing.
Level 7 takes place above a technologically advanced city.
We need 2 levels with side scrolling views:
For the levels with primarily side scrolling views they have a resolution of 1200x800y.
For the most part we do not want dead space in these levels.
Each of the side scrolling levels is a multitude of interconnected rooms, tunnels and switches that open doors and activate vertical lifts.
We need 2 level that combine side scrolling with Mode 7 Simulation:
These 2 levels will have a resolution of 1200x800y.
Each of these levels require an integration between side scrolling aspects with fake 3D viewpoints.[/spoiler]
1 Mecha Sprite Artist
Level of artist:
intermediate to expert
In general:
We need several piloted and several non piloted robots for The Paradigm Experiment.
Artist must have a keen eye for interesting, science fiction-based mechanical designs
Particulars:
We have roughly 20 vehicles that will transform into mecha robots.
Most of the sprites will be between 50 and 250 pixels tall.
For those vehicles we need transformable robots with a side view, front view, and rear view of each robot with an approximate size of: 80x170y.
We also need 12 non transformable robots with side view and front view with sizes ranging from 60x85y to 80x200y.
2 (non-mecha) Vehicle Sprite & Asset Artist
Level of artist:
intermediate to expert
In general:
Artist must have a keen eye for proper shading and details and mechanical designs
We have roughly 30 non-mecha vehicles that need detailing and shading.
Basically, these vehicles are still in their respective concept or prototype stages.
Particulars:
Some of the vehicles that are still in their concept or prototype stages need to be expanded to bigger size (2x their current size).
Additional Assets
We need some animated machines for The Paradigm Experiment. Aside from robots we need animated machines for the foregrounds and backgrounds.
We need forklifts, boilers, furnaces, conveyor belts, and all manner of futuristic machinery.
What kind of compensation are we offering?
1. Credibility
Your name will be in the credits at the end of the game.
2.
A fair share of profits and royalties
Each artist receives a percentage of the profits and royalties that is equal to the amount of contribution they make toward the project's completion.
Every game can be broken down into four equally important parts:
- Background art
- Sprite and asset art
- Code
- Voice, Music & Sound FX
Given that we will most likely get music and voice for free and sound effects at discount rates, we won't place a percentage on the music and sound effects.
However, if each of the other three parts are 33% each...
background art 33%
sprites 33%
code 33%
...and you as an artist do half of the sprites then your share would be 16.5% of the game's profits and royalties.
Contract Agreements
Our leader has experience writing contracts, so if you wish to have one (to guarantee payment upon successful marketing of game) that will be no problem.
Submissions:
[spoiler]
When you contact us please include the following info:
- A link to your online portfolio
- A detailed outline of why you believe you would be suited as Artist X
- A summary of your self as an artist.
- A list of the previous gaming projects that you worked on and what you contributed towards those projects
- Whether or not you use Skype, Dropbox, or Twitch
- The best method for contacting you online.
- Your time zone
Contact:
For the sake of convenience and quicker replies from us, please contact us through email:
neurothougthmachine@gmail.com.
We will not answer to replies in this post. There are simply too many trolls and pessimists on the net.
If you have any questions please don't hesitate to email us.
Edited by: retro_epiphany
