Need Graphics Artists - Chasing The Blue Sky


CyruzDraxs

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I am beginning a series of graphic novels that will be released on the Pandora and hopefully will eventually become a full fledged game when my game engine is completed. I have decided to put the game engine on hold for now, and to do this project as a prototype of sorts, so I will have a better idea of what I want to do with the engine. The engine will also be rather advanced, so it wouldn't be ready for awhile yet anyway.

So, what I need is artists to make backgrounds and character art for this graphic novel. For now I'm using placeholder graphics just to make sure everything is working right. All the graphics need to be replaced, but here is a screenshot and a basic intro demo to give you an idea of the mood and story.

chasing-the-blue-sky.jpg


http://rapidshare.com/files/187474531/test.zip.html

Chasing The Blue Sky is a visual novel following the life of a character named Megumi who lives in a world where there is never a blue sky--just storm clouds. She has journeyed all over, following the winds in search of the blue sky that she heard so many legends of as a child. She is also one of the few 'Land Walkers' chosen by the Wind Spirit to be granted the right to fly. Land Walkers can only fly to a small degree though--not much more than simple gliding.

The art style doesn't really matter to me that much. Surprise me, I might like it. I'm mostly just concerned with setting the right mood. The start of this game will be somewhat dark and hopeless and will progressively shift to more bright and colorful tones along with a more optimistic mood.

Background images should be saved as jpg and be a minimum of 800x480--I would very much prefer that most backgrounds be larger for the sake of panning and zooming flexibility. Character art should all be less than 800x480 and many poses will be required, along with partial graphics for special scenes such as hanging out of a window or other such things. For now I only need basic front shot character art just like your typical visual novel.

The game is intended to be episodic and each episode will be about 2 hours long. This means that graphics work will be done in waves. Much of it will likely be reusable, but some things may need to be added at a later point. The good thing about that is that I don't need much in the way of graphics right now.

What I need currently is a few character designs for Megumi;

-One similar to the screenshot where she is standing in a field facing away and gazing up at the sky--one that matches the grey tones of the ugly sky and another that would match a beautiful blue sky.
-Another where she is facing the screen and looking down (to match to the brief scene at the end of the demo)

Backgrounds needed;

-The grey sky scene at the start needs to be redone and also needs a matching blue sky background. Basically different sky, but the same field vegetation at the bottom of the screen
-Replace the burning london picture with a picture of a small forest village being burned down. It should have somewhat traditional oriental stylings and a visible river with a bridge over it where Megumi is standing in the character design where she is looking down.

You can try and make these graphics for me to demonstrate your abilities, or you can show me samples of previous work, whatever works for you.

I may consider making this a paid contract if you want, though I don't have much money to pay you very well. I'm more willing to part with some money though, than to have mediocre graphics. Also; I would really like lots of use of layers in the backgrounds so I can do a bit of faux-3D sort of like Braid. That isn't required though.
 
Have one version af a character design done. I need to find a scanner to put it up.
 
Consequence9 said:
this project sounds really sweet. what sort of a gameplay would it have?
Well, for now I'm making a prologue that will essentially function as a backstory demo and will basically just be a linear visual novel. I will then continue work on my game engine and release chapter-based games when the engine is functional.

The gameplay will be like a sidescroller with RPG elements and cutscenes It will be somewhat puzzle-heavy...sort of like a Zelda game as a sidescroller. No, not like THAT Zelda game. :p

It won't quite be full side-view though...think of it this way; sidescrollers place the camera level to the ground, while RPGs place the camera directly above in a birds eye view--this game will place the camera about halfway in between, making it have somewhat of a sidescrolling style, but still having the freedom to have large open areas and a bit of divergence from a one dimensional path...think Super Mario RPG. I also want to avoid the 'mysterious hovering platform' effect of typical sidescrollers unless it makes sense at the time.
 
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there are no cool printers at my access so I'm going to start using a smaller notebook. you may be able to see something soon.
 
Eniko said:
Sounds like the word you're looking for is isometric? >_>
No, isometric would be a corner view of everything, while this is just moving the camera up a bit from a usual sidescroller. The graphics would not be anywhere near isometric. When I mentioned Super Mario RPG I was just referring to the vertical position of the camera. It'd look more like a typical side scroller than anything really.
 
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I may be up all night with nothing to do but these sketches. I'll get the character design I like the most down in a few sheets and then I'll scan it and do my GIMP touch-ups and post it in the morning.
 
CyruzDraxs said:
Eniko said:
Sounds like the word you're looking for is isometric? >_>
No, isometric would be a corner view of everything, while this is just moving the camera up a bit from a usual sidescroller. The graphics would not be anywhere near isometric. When I mentioned Super Mario RPG I was just referring to the vertical position of the camera. It'd look more like a typical side scroller than anything really.Something like the view in a beat-em-up like Golden Axe or Streets of Rage?
 
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Yamara said:
CyruzDraxs said:
Eniko said:
Sounds like the word you're looking for is isometric? >_>
No, isometric would be a corner view of everything, while this is just moving the camera up a bit from a usual sidescroller. The graphics would not be anywhere near isometric. When I mentioned Super Mario RPG I was just referring to the vertical position of the camera. It'd look more like a typical side scroller than anything really.Something like the view in a beat-em-up like Golden Axe or Streets of Rage?

Yes, it would be similar to that, but without being quite as much of a sraight horizontal path. The path could diverge upwards or downwards, or even spread out into an open field-like area that you could wander about in. There would be many places where the path forks to 2 entirely different places and you'd have to go through many areas multiple times if you want to do any treasure hunting.
 
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CyruzDraxs said:
Eniko said:
Sounds like the word you're looking for is isometric? >_>
No, isometric would be a corner view of everything, while this is just moving the camera up a bit from a usual sidescroller. The graphics would not be anywhere near isometric. When I mentioned Super Mario RPG I was just referring to the vertical position of the camera. It'd look more like a typical side scroller than anything really.


Perhaps Super Mario RPG wasn't the best example to give. Definitely isometric:
smrpgbattle.gif


Are you sure you didn't mean Paper Mario (working title before release was Super Mario RPG 2)?:
ign-aus-top-10-virtual-console-games-mk-ii-20071128074431830.jpg


Anyway, good luck with your game CyruzDraxs, sounds interesting. The artwork in your original post looks great IMO.
 
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Sorry bout that. epic fail.
I'm trying a new approach, but need a good upload spot to link to. have one?
 
Zeno Arrow said:
CyruzDraxs said:
Eniko said:
Sounds like the word you're looking for is isometric? >_>
No, isometric would be a corner view of everything, while this is just moving the camera up a bit from a usual sidescroller. The graphics would not be anywhere near isometric. When I mentioned Super Mario RPG I was just referring to the vertical position of the camera. It'd look more like a typical side scroller than anything really.


Perhaps Super Mario RPG wasn't the best example to give. Definitely isometric:
smrpgbattle.gif


Are you sure you didn't mean Paper Mario (working title before release was Super Mario RPG 2)?:
ign-aus-top-10-virtual-console-games-mk-ii-20071128074431830.jpg


Anyway, good luck with your game CyruzDraxs, sounds interesting. The artwork in your original post looks great IMO.

EDIT: Nevermind.

Sounds like an interesting project none the less.
 
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