   Seeking Artists and 3D Modellers for Proof of Concept (Tech-demo)
Team name:Dark Silo Team (working title).Project name: Dark Silo: The Enchanted Land's (working title)Brief description:We are working on a tech-demo to present to investors (in just under a months time). The demo obviously contains drastically reduced functionality as we keep our goals realistic and obtainable. The tech-demo will only have PvE game-play (explained below) and only contains the very beginning of PvP game-play (mainly just to showcase persistent worlds).The game is a 3D fast-paced online FPS/RPG. The game-play is strongly based around the ideals of an RPG but will be entirely unique in the regard that all combat takes place in real-time. The obvious limitation is the number of players that can be connected to a server in real-time game-play. As a result there is no singular world as such but rather a bunch of individual zones that are hosted on servers located around the world in order to minimise bandwidth.There are two main types of game-play:PvP (competitions, tournaments etc.): This is not your standard PvP gameplay as the game is not an MMO as such. This type of game-play is more in line with your standard FPS, death-match, capture the flag etc. Money tournaments are planned in which players pay a small fee to enter and prize money is awarded to placing players.PvE: These are long-term games much like your standard MMO game. Players level-up against AI, build skills, complete quests etc. There are many zones hosted on different servers, each zone contains a maximum of 300 players. Some of the zones have PvP fighting enabled but in a typical MMO fashion.Target aim:RetailCompensation:Portfolio referencing for tech-demo art. If our tech-demo gains interest my employer will pay for all art added to the retail game.Technology:C4 Game Engine (Retail: Myself and my employer are registered developers.)C++ (C4's native language)Lua [Planned] (For customisable GUI and quest scripting)Max, Maya, TrueSpace exported in collada format (C4's 3D model format)C4's World EditorPhotoshop exporting 32-bit targa (Converted to C4's native texture format)Talent needed:Concept Artists:Concept artists should be proficient at free-hand drawing and are the creative masterminds. Concept Artists are responsible for designing characters, in-game objects as well as art to be displayed on the official game website as well as forums such as this. Hence, concept artists will have great publicity for their work.2D Artists (and Texture Artists):Must be proficient with 2D graphics software (Photoshop, GIMP etc.). 2D artists are responsible for GUI, item icons, menus etc. Texture Artists will be responsible for texturing 3D models created by 3D modellers.3D Modellers:3D modellers are responsible for converting concept art into 3D models to be placed in the game world. Skill level may vary as we require a wide variety 3D art. Ranging from basic objects (chest, barrels etc.) to highly detailed and shadered 3D models (characters, weapons, detailed items etc.)Level Creators/Editors:Level creators must be creative and good communicators. You will be using C4's in-house world editor which is available for free and comes bundled with the C4 demo. You will be responsible for placing objects in 3D worlds and creating interactive environments.Effects Artists:Responsible for creation of detailed in-game effects. Explosions, particle effects, special lighting effects etc. Effects Artists will use the C4 Effect Editor plug-in as well as 2D graphics software. Effects artists must be able to communicate with all the other artists.Team structure:Myself - Lead ProgrammerI'm a university student studying a Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical) and Science (Computer Science and Mathematics) at the Clayton Campus of Monash University, Australia.I am responsible for implementing all game features as well as making modifications to the C4 engine (eg. The support I've already added for dedicated servers and SQL databases).Chris C - Game Designer / Team LeaderResponsible for designing the game and business strategy. Jobs include writing detailed design documents, publicity and communicating with investors.Danny - 3D ModellerResponsible for creating 3D models. Understandably he has limited to time contribute to the project until we're able to obtain some funding.Randy - 2D ArtistResponsible for creating GUI. Randy also requires assistance very much for the same reason as Danny.Website:No public domain available at present.Contacts:Myself - boredom [period] inc [at] gmail [period] comFeel free to e-mail or PM me.Previous Work by Team:Undeniably this my first MAJOR project as only recently have I had the time to undertake such a project. Chris has been involved in game design and leading game development teams before.Additional Info:At present I have programmed a master server (responsible for persistent data and member accounts), a game server (responsible for hosting individual games/zones) and a client (logs into the master server and is forwarded to a game server upon selecting a game to join). The game is in a playable state and is on track to be presented to investors although we are obviously lacking art.The game has been under development (in the programming stage) for over 2 months and planning began long before that. Below are some very basic screen shots.  These should be taken as proof of the development and by no means reflect the final game (or even the functionality of the tech-demo).Feedback:ENCOURAGING ONLYConstructive criticism of this post and the project are more than welcome and I'm happy to answer your questions to the best of my ability. Obviously we do not wish to give away too many details as this is a retail game.[Edited by - BoReDoM_Inc on January 29, 2010 1:07:05 AM]
  What sort of artwork do you need? I am a 3d modeller and animator. (I work old-school) I am also a 2d cartoonist. I do not have any work I can send you, as I have recently decided to begin a digital portfolio, which is a work in progress.I might be interested, depending on storyline.   ;Quote:Original post by dragon_smurfWhat sort of artwork do you need? I am a 3d modeller and animator. (I work old-school) I am also a 2d cartoonist. I do not have any work I can send you, as I have recently decided to begin a digital portfolio, which is a work in progress.I might be interested, depending on storyline.I'm not quite sure what you mean by "[you] work old-school" but I have no doubt you'd be useful if you chose to join us. I can't give away much about the story-line you're probably better asking Chris about that anyway (if you e-mail me I can forward it on to him.)Basically the game is set in a future-like environment with both high-tech gadgetry and magical abilities. The full-fledged game will feature ground battles, air-battles, under-water battles and space battles. Obviously we don't intend to have all this done for the tech-demo. The tech-demo will focus on on ground battles. Artists are given a huge range of freedom to work however they're most comfortable.If anyone else is interested as well don't hesitate to let me know.Thanks,Ben   ;  We're still seeking graphics personnel, in particular concept artists, texture artists and 3D modellers. As I mentioned in my original post we are happy to accept people over varying skill levels as there is a substantial amount of art with varying levels of complexity that is yet to be created.If you're an artist and you think there is some information I'm missing please let me know, I'll see what I can do to improve the quality of the post.   ;  I have received e-mails from two 3D modellers but we are still looking for more artists, particularly texture artists.The game engine we're using (C4) can be found at the Terathon website. You can freely download a demo of the engine which contains a demo game and all the development tools that come with the engine if anyone is interested.   ;  Thanks for the replies everyone. We've taken on board another two modellers and we have two more that have shown interest in the project.Unfortunately this leaves us short on concept art and texture artists. So we're desperately seeking the help of any concept or texture artists who are willing to work with our 3D modellers.   