Seeking well-rounded game artist and designer to collaborate on a stellar game job

Are you an amazing artist and game designer in the Los Angeles or Orange County area looking to make a game that is so unbelievably fun that you’ll work completely for free? I didn’t think so, but please read on…

--- About Me ---

I have a background in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Systems Engineering, and Video Games. I am looking to create a stunning game that has no choice but to be played and enjoyed! A am currently days away from finishing a doctorate at USC and I am also a radar systems engineer at an aerospace company. I also own a small business that makes a widely used non-linear dialogue, used by 2K Games and other AAA studios. Free time is hard to come by, so I like to make the most of it by creating amazing things and making money off of them.

--- About the Project ---

The project is as of yet untitled and currently lives entirely in my head. I am a huge fan of casual games, turn-based strategy, base-building, immersive storylines, and stunning graphics… and wouldn’t you know, that’s what I have planned for this game! The target platform is all tablets, but if it ends up working on phones too, that’s great. I plan to release on iOS, Android, and Windows Store.

The theme of the game is a sci-fi base-building, resource collection, crafting, trading, exploring, puzzle game in a persistent world with other players. The battle mechanic centers on a unique card game that is known throughout the game universe, which is similar to the game “Triple Triad” from Final Fantasy. This also brings in elements of card collecting, which everyone loves, right? Battling NPC characters and winning will get you new cards to add to your custom decks that can be used to challenge other players.

Other activities include mining, exploring, crafting, and trading with other players. Each activity will have a fun and meaningful mini-game to provide a variety of gameplay options. My goal with the economy is to make it feel like you are accomplishing a goal, including character leveling, home planet building, and ship upgrading. For example, rare upgrades for your ship and home planet will be exclusive and expensive and everyone will wish they had them. The game will be integrated with social media and will have an extensive achievement list.

--- Mobile Game Pet Peeves ---

I HATE in-app purchases. I know that they can make you rich, but I don’t care… this game will NOT have any in-app purchases that will allow you to progress faster or easier than anyone else. The only exception to this may be purchases of expansion storylines.

I also hate linear storylines, unless they are amazing. How about we create a non-linear storyline that has incredible replay value, but that also has amazing content? As I mentioned, we have a custom tool to do this and it integrates nicely with Unity 3D.

One more thing I hate… overly complex user interfaces and egregious use of high-poly 3D and particle effects. No one wants to play a slow and choppy game with a UI that is impossible to read. Our UI will be simple and modern, and 3D will be used sparingly. One example of subtle 3D that I’m shooting for is how the cards are modeled in the game Hearthstone.

--- Technology & Funding ---

We will be using Unity Pro with all the fixin’s including iOS Pro, Android Pro, and Windows Store Pro. I am a long-time .NET developer and that’s where I’m most comfortable so Unity is a great fit. Since I will essentially be handling 100% of the game programming and scripting, hopefully you don’t mind. I will be personally funding the licensing of the engine, as well as any add-ons we may need to aid development. Unity 5 is on the horizon, so Unity 4 will be used for proof of concepts and the main project will be finished and published using Unity 5 when it is released. I have my own copies of Photoshop, Illustrator, and Cinema 4D, so those would be my preferred art creation tools.

As for the labor, we would be going for a profit share in perpetuity once the game is released. Because the game will be released on three platforms and exposed to a huge number of people, it should be no problem for us to be paid at least for the work we have done. I realize that the art in a game has everlasting impressions on people and I feel that it is an integral part of the game. Because I will be managing the project, paying for the engine, and doing most of the writing, I propose a 2/3 – 1/3 profit split once the game is released.

As a side note, I am not particularly interested in going through crowd funding sources such as Kickstarter but I would be open to discussion.

--- About You ---

I am looking for the right person for this collaboration and trust me, I’m willing to wait! I am looking for someone who identifies with the project and feels like it is something for which they would actively want to help design and create art. I am also looking for a very talented person in areas of 2D art, 3D art, and game design in general.

I am looking for a partner to bounce ideas off of and to argue about the best game mechanics. You should be an avid gamer and have opinions about what works and what doesn’t work in video games. Hopefully your pet peeve list looks similar to mine.

Because this is an unpaid profit share, I expect things to progress fairly slowly but very steadily. Weekly or bi-monthly meetings would be expected, so you should live in the Los Angeles or Orange County area. I would be happy to host the meeting space and provide food and any other supplies that may be necessary. I am also currently looking for office space in the Long Beach area that could serve as a work space on some weekends.

To Apply

Send an email to ben@urbanbrainstudios.com