[Hobby/Equity] Turnbased JRPG - Multiple Openings (Unreal Engine 5) Thread

Hello guys! I've been a long-time lurker but took the plunge into building my game, Symbol of Sacrifice. It's a narrative-driven game in a high-fantasy world and comes from a story I've worked on for a long time. In my mind, it's Final Fantasy XV x Witcher 3 in terms of aesthetics. And FF7 x Bravely Default in terms of gameplay. Colorful and vibrant but with dark themes and a lot of "reality" for a fantastical world. My main skill is world-building, lore writing, game theory/mechanics, narrative/dialogue writing, etc. You can read the synopsis of the first half of the game here: Docs.google.com

I've nailed the story and gameplay and have begun building in Unreal. I have the gameplay core done, but I am looking for contributors willing to help the world and other necessary functionality. I'm looking to have a playable vertical slice out by the end of the year and use that to generate traction (festivals, grants, community) for a mid-late 2024 release.

Technically I need a lot of help, so there are many possible ways to contribute. The following are some of the stuff off the top of my mind. But if you come up with something I didn't list would still love to hear it! I'm mainly looking for people who can dedicate at least 5 hours weekly. I'm also fully open to how to structure ownership and licensing of content!

Technical Advisor: A developer who can help guide me on my approach to determine the best methods and tools to achieve our goals.
Unreal Developer: who can work with Blueprints and Templates.
Junior Unreal Developer: to pick a task or contribute however they want. (untrained devs who want to contribute to something for funsies)
Unreal Scripter: I have a *lot* of dialogue written and no system to implement it yet. I would love some help/advice here
3D Modeler: Need models rigged to the Epic Skeleton for various NPCs and Enemies
2D Animator: who can help create our cutscenes. Open to various styles.
Environment/World/Level Designers: I quickly learned I have no idea how to make an environment look "real." I'm interested in learning it so I can hopefully fill the role myself.
VFX designer: Create cool effects for the skills/abilities.
Concept Artist (Character or Environment): I'm a mediocre artist and so my character's physical concepts are unfleshed even though their personalities and dialogues have come a long way.

This position will include payment in the event of the game making it onto marketplaces.

Essentially we would agree on a % ownership in the profits generated by the game size depending on your contribution. So if the game makes $500k after any publisher/marketing fees (our target), then an Unreal Developer who made, let's say, a bulk of the core mechanics of the game and owned 10% of the project. They'd be sent $50k and would continue to be paid out quarterly for any sales that occur after the first year is over.

If you're interested, DM me on the forum and add info on your background and how you'd like to contribute.

Thanks for reading, and happy building!