   The Ditty of Carmeana commissioning small art and music jobs
Team name:Tampered EvidenceProject name:The Ditty of CarmeanaTarget aim:I am working on a demo of the first two levels (the "tutorial" level, and the first town and dungeon).  After that I will release the demo freely to the public to gauge interest, and when nobody cares about it I will finally be able to forsake this hopeless vain endeavor without guilt.Brief description:Comic parody of The Legend of Zelda series (and of other video games, and of life in general).The King of Bowtudgel's beautiful, redheaded, and obnoxiously thin daughter, Princess Carmeana, has been kidnapped and held ransom.  The King doesn't want to incur the expense of deploying the army, so he decides to recruit a "fairy boy" to go on the Glorious Quest to Rescue the Princess(TM).Meanwhile there lived a poor farm boy named Kai (pronounced "Lance") from the Town of Borrington.  One day as he was trudging back to town after the morning threshing, he encountered a fairy named Tabitha, and rescued her from another fairy who was trying to sell her subprime-mortgage-backed bonds.  Tabitha decided to tag along with Kai for awhile (it was the least she could do).As luck (or Destiny, depending on whether you believe Tabitha or Kai) would have it, they soon encountered a recruiter who was looking for a fairy boy.  Kai's Glorious Quest to save the hot rich skinny redhead had begun.Current status:The game engine, which I wrote myself, is in quite good shape.  All of the major features of the game engine have been implemented (graphics engine, collision detection, infrastructure, object management, scene graph management, 2D layout, etc.)  The game engine includes a spiffy conversation engine that allows conversations to be written in a format similar to a screenplay.  I'm working on a graphical flow chart conversation editor as well.  The conversation engine is even powerful enough to be used for many cut scenes.  The game engine includes provisions for common objects found across a variety of games like doors and ladders.(Incidentally, if you are looking for an easy to use, straightforward game engine for your game, I would be very willing to license it for free to a decent project.  I've spent a lot of effort keeping game-specific and game-generic code separate, so the engine can be easy adapted to other games.)What the game lacks is breadth.  I have features.  I don't have many of places to go or many people to meet, and the places I do have to go and the people I do have to meet aren't too good looking.Talent needed:I posted this project before and it didn't get a good response.  Well actually it got lots of kudos and admiration, but no offers to help.  Probably because I didn't know what the hell I really wanted.Then I posted it again when I did know what the hell I wanted (some 3D artwork) and got a better response, and did I did end up giving small contracts to two artists.Now I'm posting it again, because I have more money work.The imminent work is:- Some background music loops- A few structure models of the King's palaces (interior and exterior), for some early cut scenes- A set of icons- Character texturingMy very nice web site has some more details.  If you want to be notified of future updates, subscribe to the very nice RSS Feed.I have a well-paying day job, no life, and no vices (at least none that cost a lot), so I have money to throw at this.  I budget a part of my income to this game exclusively, plus I throw in my occasional overtime earnings.  My plan is to commission small jobs regularly, about every month or so.  You know, to bite off a little chunk at a time.  So even if you're too busy right now, you should keep me in mind for future small jobs.Compensation:It will be paid; we'll negotiate exact prices.  I'll accept no volunteer work because of an aspect of copyright law called consideration.I will pay a flat fee only, not by the hour.  If you are a good enough artist that you charge by the hour, you are too good for this game anyway.Technology:Python.Seriously, people, the day is here where your PC is easily fast enough to run the average 3D indie game in an interpreted language like Python, with only critical sections written in C++.  Currently the only parts of the game written in C or C++ are the collision detection, character skinning, and some other graphics routines.  Everything else is Python.The toolchain is also entirely written in Python.I've been using Blender to make models and integrate them into the scene.  (Hey, it started as a hobby! Did you expect me to spend ten thousand dollars for 3D Studio for a side hobby?)  The toolchain takes the Blender models and converts them into the format used by the game engine.Team structure:I, Carl Banks, am working on this game alone.  I have commissioned artwork a few times before, however.Website (including contact info, screenshots, more details):http://www.tamperedevidence.comBehold the power.Contact info:You can reach me at info@tamperedevidence.com.I'll try to remember to check for private messages left here but your best bet is through email.My very nice website has a very nice RSS Feed.  You can subscribe to the feed to get future updates.Previous Work by Team:I am an IOCCC Laureate.(IOCCC is the International Obfuscated C Code Contest, which I won in 1998 with an obfuscated flight simulator.)I've participated in PyWeek twice (before I got fed up with the hippie-like management of the contest) and the result was two quickie games.Additional Info:The overall arc of the game is a parody of Zelda, but different levels parody other games.  For instance, the first temple is a spooky mansion where you have to kill all kinds of walking skeletons (sort of): it's a parody of Resident Evil.  Other levels parody GTA, Metal Gear, Tomb Raider, and Prince of Persia, with lots of minor references to all kinds of games (Myst, Toejam and Earl, etc.).As for gameplay: it plays like the game it's parodying, of course.  So Kai freely roams the Kingdom, bashes things with a sword and other weapons, buys stuff at shops, talks to people, collects power-ups, and so on.  Aspects of other parodied games come into play as well: hijacking oxcarts, doing acrobatic flips, etc.  His fairy, Tabitha, has a spiffy graphical menu interface that Kai can use to do things like manage inventory, visit MyFief.com (yes, I do own that domain) to see profiles on his friends and enemies, receive text messages, view maps, etc.  Combat is kind of like Kingdom Hearts with the targeting.Here's a couple screenshots of my own crappy artwork:My very nice web site has many more screenshots.Feedback:Yes.  Anything to keep the thr.... I mean, yes, I thrive on all forms of feedback.[Edited by - aerojockey on July 29, 2009 5:29:28 AM]
  hey nice project you have here. I specially like how you throw in personal money to get your game done, something I'd like to do myself when the day comes that earnings are comfortable to live :)anyway I'm an artist and I could be interested but right now I fit in the category of too busy right now, but could keep it in mind for later (probably available in about 2-4 months). so I'll just write down all the info and your email and keep it for later.good luck!   ;  I sent you a PM about the project.   ;  Send you a pm.   