Looking for artists for a new game

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><font size="5">THE DEAL</font>

I am looking to assemble a team to create a sequel to a previous game of mine that had ~50k players in 2003. It is a sci-fi strategy game, and my initial target platform is Facebook. I am planning to have iOS, Android and WP7 follow soon after (whether mobile versions would be HTML5 or platform specific is not yet decided). The game is being created using Bitgap's work-in-progress HTML5 framework (closed source, internal developments only, very lightweight) and the target age range is 25-40.

<font size="5">PAYMENT</font>

No payment available now.

Once we have a working prototype, I have a list of 30k players who I'll be inviting to kickstart us. I plan to pay you from that money. If you have the skills and want to extend your portfolio, this might be a good chance.

I am going to do my best to also financially motivate every team member, but I don't have a budget for the game yet nor can I promise anything about what sum we'll be able to get if we get any at all. Once the game launches on Facebook, I am going to use the money remaining (after maintenance costs have been deducted) to pay everyone on the team for all their work on the game (past and present) and hopefully some extra. I can not make promises on how much money we'll have for developing the game and if we'll get any at all. I also have other means of getting funding for the game, but they are not yet worth considering, I'm still working on more options.

I am going to use my own money to pay for server costs until the launch to make sure the game gets a chance at earning your wage.

<font size="5">THE GAME</font>

The player is a robot-programmer, a celebrity of a futuristic sport who has a huge robot and an entire base and its crew at his/her disposal. Either alone or as a member of a corporation, you enter tournaments where you program your robot to fight other robots in teams. The game has strict rules, so it's not necessarily about exterminating the entire arena.

Through the "API" you are able to communicate with other robots on your team and work your way to victory as a grid of sensors and lethal war machines. I wrote "API" because I am planning to make it easy to program the bot, so much, that my mom will be able to play it.

The arena itself is a procedurally generated maze - with walls and corridors, large open areas and narrow alleyways. It is always of a given size, but with random features each time it is generated. The blueprints however are available hours before a fight begins, so that players can customize their programs in time if need be.

You upload your program, send in your robot, and the arena is sealed at a given time. Once the fight is over, you can watch it as a movie downloaded from the robot's black box (from its own perspective).

There's also base building and micro-management, equipment of weapons and gadgets, script market, (counter)espionage and sabotage, and open world exploration - you can board your robot and leave your base to discover the scorched Earth surface and look for salvage, special arena fights, etc... All this using an endlessly scaling backend architecture through Amazon Elastic Beanstalk and Amazon DynamoDB.

I'll gladly share more details with anyone who is interested in working on the game, but this is the basic idea.

<font size="5">WHAT I HAVE SO FAR</font>

I have a work-in-progress HTML5 framework. (This is not a Construct 2 project.) We have a pretty good animation system in place along with integrated cross browser audio. The engine also has a camera system and basic libraries for creating procedurally generated content.

I have a framework for the no-sql DynamoDB system that makes it very simple to do basic database operations on it using a simpler-than-sql query language.

I also have a fan base from the first installment of this game with over 30k people who are interested in hearing more about this new game which I think is a nice way to start a project.

I am hoping to also get some attention / help with promoting this new game from a certain, rather cynical brit, who has been an avid fan of the first game a few years back.

<font size="5">WHAT I OFFER</font>

A position on the team, name in credits, and hopefully very good payment for your work. We can discuss what that means in private, but again - I can not promise anything yet because this project does not have an investor so far. It only has a very good chance of success.

Regardless, the project is a serious venture, my goal is to make everyone's time pay off and create a great game. You still need to sign an NDA when you start. I'm ready to prepare legal agreements that bind me to pay you once I am able to do so through the income generated by the game or it's kickstarter campaign.

If it becomes a success, I would like it to give all of us a reliable, continuous flow of work.

I also provide the team with servers for development, tools for managing workflow, arranging team communication, and I work as a designer / programmer on the team.

<font size="5">WHY I POST THIS IN SUCH DETAIL</font>

I can't create it all alone. I understand that not everyone finds it appealing with the dubious payment scheme, but I can either give it a try now, or bury it for years until I can fund it alone.

If you find it interesting, please let me know. Ask away in this thread, or contact me at konrad at konradkiss dot com to discuss the more sensitive details.

<font size="5">WHAT POSITIONS?</font>

I'm looking for the following people for the team:

2D Graphic artist

   * Creates simplified icons for robot commands

   * Projects 3D objects into 2D (tools are available, can use own) using predefined angles and lighting

   * Reworks 2D images to fit the overall mood / art direction of the game

   * Creates sprite sheets from 3D animated objects (tools are available, can use own)

   * Some examples of previous works required

3D Graphic artist

   * Plans and creates simple low poly models for robots and buildings

   * Chooses models from the existing Bitgap 3D models pool and creates new ones to meet 2D gfx requirements

   * Basic texturing skills required

   * Basic animator skills required for robots (we have example rigs and animations that you can use)

   * Examples of previous works required

Game designer

   * Will work on filling in the gaps for the game design doc

   * Will help with balancing the game

   * Will be using Bitgap tools to create / generate new content for the game

   * Great writing skills

<font size="5">HOW TO APPLY</font>

You can contact me at konrad at konradkiss dot com. Please include references to your past works and how much time you'd be able to spend on working on the game each week.

<font size="5">FINAL WORDS</font>

I know it is very unconventional to look for a team without funding, especially a team that works on a commercial game without funding. But the difference I can offer here is a very high chance of funding and success, eventually, at which point I will start paying you your hourly / weekly wage. For this reason, be sure to give me an hourly / weekly rate which would be motivating for you. Please also consider the risk you take by working for free on this project.

Please only reply to this thread if you are seriously interested and accept the risk of working for only experience and game credits. It can only get better than that.

I'm hoping that we'll have the team set up and ready for work in about 3 weeks. Development time is roughly estimated to be 3 months.

Thank you very much for reading through, I appreciate any question or comment you might have.</font>

A quick update:

We now have 9 interested, potential members for the team. I'm still looking for

* 1-2 artists,

* a coder with strong PHP skills

* a designer who would help me work out the details of the rules of the game based on the older version (though I'm more than open to new, exciting ideas)

So far so good! ;)

I'd like some assurances that the game will be done, other than "your word"

I understand. Do you have something specific in mind, Fimbul?

Also, what position are you interested in?

It is my goal to create this game until it gets securely funded. As you've probably read in my post, I am bound by a legal agreement to pay everyone's fees.

I would not be asking for help if I wanted to start a game but not finish it. I can do that alone pretty well I imagine. :)

But.. how could I guarantee that it will ever be finished? The very reason I'm looking for a team is to make it very likely that it will be done. If I didn't have doubts I would do it alone.

It might be possible that I misunderstood the question. With all due respect - it doesn't make much sense.

Nothing is ever 100% certain regardless. The game might not ever end up being made or finished, but how would that be any different than what happens at big game companies that scrap projects 1/2 or 3/4 of the way through? Risk is always part of the business no matter what.

Where i can find your first game?

I hate to be so mysterious, but that I can't share publicly just yet. I'll be happy to share any and all the details once you are interested and your portfolio fits the tasks waiting to be fulfilled.

This week I'm wrapping up the team so if anyone is interested, please let me know now - 3 days from now the latest. I need to get to individual task proposals within a week, so time is really pressing right now.

I appreciate everyone's messages / emails and enquiries in general. I'll be sure to share more information publicly once work has started on the game.