My new project: Dark Fantasy Side Scroller

I still haven't thought of a proper name. The working title is "Badass" but, well, that's not a very good name.

It's a sword and sorcery dark fantasy, meaning that it follows the story of an individual man very closely and over many years.
Dark fantasy eludes to the story being very dark and morbid. It'll definitely be PG-13 at best, more likely R-rated (M or AO game rating).

It'll be a side scroller in a style similar to the Super Mario or Contra games.
Actual gameplay will be closer to older fighting games like Street Fighter, VirtuaFighter, or Mortal Kombat. Except instead of one-on-one it'll usually be swarms against one.

The target platform for the game is Android phones, maybe iPhone later on. It will also be available on Windows and Linux, for those interested. I plan to sell it for $5. This is mostly to compensate myself for fees associated with developing, I'm not even planning on breaking even with this project (I've already spent $100 for a professionally developed font, will be spending $100 more on SDL1.3 licensing before releasing, and need to pay $100 to get it published on the iPhone (by becoming an iPhone developer as recognized by Apple... so at $5/ea, you see I'll have to sell over 50 copies to break even. I don't even know if 50 people will be interested enough to pay $5).

The game's dimensions, to match the dimensions of most Android phones and the iPhone, will be 320x480. This will not change for Windows and Linux versions.

I'm looking for graphic artists and musicians willing to contribute.
For music: death metal, power metal, and hard rock. Instrumentals are fine. I don't need exclusive distribution rights, but you need to have the right to give me non-exclusive distribution rights (basically, if you have a label, you can't. if you didn't write the song, you can't). Willing to negotiate royalties if needed, but don't expect for it to be profitable. PM me if you're interested.
For graphics: dark colors, blue or red tones depending on the situation.
Backdrops will be 320x320 or wider, depending on the situation. The 320x320 ones will be repeated as the game scrolls, wider ones will be scrolled in proportional to the length of the area (so if it's 320x480 and the area is drawn in 320x1760, then it will scroll horizontally 1 pixel for every 2 pixels of the foreground).
Ground will be tiled, but not like tibia. It'll be angled. I'll try to make an example when I have time.
Characters will be on a sprite sheet containing all of their actions/animations. This method is also used by RPG Maker, so if you've ever used that you know what I'm talking about. Characters should take no more than 64x64 area per frame (with exceptions I'll talk about only to those willing to work). Standing straight, the middle of their foot should be at about the 32nd pixel (horizontal). This is to not require adjustment the point of rendering for each frame of animation and for flexibility.
For the sake of collision testing not including loose clothing and hair, each frame of animation should be made with a pixelmask below them with a black pixel representing a solid portion.
I'm not too sure how I want the equipment menu and stuff like that to look yet, so I'll talk about those later.


Oh, to finish this post off, I'll give the same teaser story I've given other places:

The story starts with the protagonist's father, who was once a famous general of a large kingdom but who had "betrayed" that country and fled to another country to live a quiet life as a farmer with his wife. Well, he gets found right after the protagonist is born and both he and his wife are killed on the spot. The baby protagonist was thrown into a creek by his mother, and ends up getting carried by the water to a nearby coastal town where he is found by a poor farming couple who had just lost their own firstborn son to illness. So they raise him as their own, and he grows up as a poor farmer knowing nothing of his real parents or even that he was adopted.

Then, one day, his adoptive mother is attacked by wolves while his adoptive father is selling produce in town, and though he manages to chase them off the poor lady dies shortly after her husband returns home. His adoptive father then loses it and sells him in town to some black market traders, where some not-so-good stuff nearly happens... but he runs away and joins the circus (literally - some travelling performers take him in).

It turns out, though, that these fun-loving circus freaks were actually subordinates of his real father that the kingdom had been searching after for quite some time. Some more bad stuff happens and they get killed by knights of the kingdom, but he hides and keeps quiet so they don't even know he's there.

Then he wanders into the woods, and...... that's where the story really begins (though there's gameplay before that!)

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Aside for a few holes right in the middle (for entertaining filler more than for continuity of the story), I've got the entire story written.

38 views and nobody has anything to say, any assistance to offer, any comments/criticisms on the summary of the beginning of the story; nothing?

Vagabond said:

38 views and nobody has anything to say, any assistance to offer, any comments/criticisms on the summary of the beginning of the story; nothing?

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The reason no1 writes is because its all just a wall of text. How would you like sitting and reading thru this?:

Why does Vagabong want to ridicule the accomplishments of generations of great men and women? Because under the label of "warped" are those, like Vagabong, who suppress people's instinct and intellect. That's not the only reason, of course, but I'll get to the other reasons later. The question, therefore, must not be, "What is his secret agenda?" but rather, "Why doesn't he point a critical finger at himself for a change?". The latter question is the better one to ask because I realize that some people may have trouble reading this letter. Granted, not everyone knows what "formaldehydesulphoxylic" means, but it's nevertheless easy to understand that Vagabong would have us add insult to injury. May God, in his restraining mercy, forbid that we should ever do this most uninformed and disrespectful thing!

I have begged Vagabong's bedfellows to step forth and enable all people to achieve their potential as human beings. To date, not a single soul has agreed to help in this fashion. Are they worried about how Vagabong might retaliate? You know the answer, don't you? You probably also know that if we don't operate on today's real—not tomorrow's ideal—political terrain right now, then Vagabong's ruses will soon start to metastasize until they cause hypersensitive subversion to gather momentum on college campuses. The facts are, succinctly, these: First, what he is doing falls just short of giving handguns to schoolchildren. Second, separatism has served as the justification for the butchering, torture, and enslavement of more people than any other "ism". That's why it's Vagabong's favorite; it makes it easy for him to fuel the censorship-and-intolerance crowd. As a final, parting thought, I assert that we must do something about the continuing—make that the escalating—effort on Vagabong's part to use terms of opprobrium such as "disgraceful anthropophagi" and "wretched despots" to castigate whomever Vagabong opposes. This is a long road and not one for the fainthearted, but if pursued with integrity and conviction it could lead to a world in which people are no longer afraid to report as best as possible the facts and circumstances surrounding Vagabong's disorganized programs of Gleichschaltung.

Rather than engage in a point-by-point response to the textual interpretation of Vagabong's analects, I want to respond to the more general issue at hand. I'm sure that everyone reading this is already familiar with Vagabong's mindless conclusions so I'll spare you the sordid details. Instead, I'll simply summarize with the comment that Vagabong presents himself as a disinterested classicist lamenting the infusion of politically motivated methods of pedagogy and analysis into higher education. He is eloquent in his denunciation of modern scholarship, claiming it favors ethically bankrupt adolescents. And here we have the ultimate irony because I'm convinced that he will commit acts of immorality, dishonesty, and treason by next weekend. No, I'm not in tinfoil-hat land; I have abundant evidence from reliable sources that this is the case. For instance, I'd peg the odds at about six to one that Vagabong will slander those who are most systematically undervalued, underpaid, underemployed, underfinanced, underinsured, underrated, and otherwise underserved and undermined as undeserving and underclass sooner or later. If I'm wrong, I promise that I'll gladly feel disconnected from reality.

I actually sat and read through it just fine.

Just because you don't like a "wall of text" doesnt mean others might not want too. You see, not everyone just trolls around reading one line and moving on.


And for your next question: "If you read it, why didn't you reply"
Well, thats because I already replied on his TibiaUG thread. A community with literally 70 times less activity and his thread filled up to three pages in the time he bumped this one.

That goes to show how much shit and trolls Otland is made of.

that there is a pretty terrible childhood. i dont think u could get more unlucky then that. what age is that kid by the time all of that is over?

soul4soul said:

that there is a pretty terrible childhood. i dont think u could get more unlucky then that. what age is that kid by the time all of that is over?

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He's 17.
And more bad stuff happens a few years later, but that stuff's too important to my ultra-secret plot.

nevalopo said:

The reason no1 writes is because its all just a wall of text. How would you like sitting and reading thru this?:

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I read through technical manuals for a living and read through college textbooks as a hobby, and on top of that I read quite a bit of fiction too.
That post was nothing compared to what it could have been, and anyone could've read through that just fine. Perhaps you're just illiterate and assume all others are the same.

Why does Vagabong want to ridicule the accomplishments of generations of great men and women? Because under the label of "warped" are those, like Vagabong, who suppress people's instinct and intellect. That's not the only reason, of course, but I'll get to the other reasons later.

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First, I love the insinuation that I must be stoned. You are aware that I serve in the United States military and am piss-tested both quite regularly and completely at random, correct?

The question, therefore, must not be, "What is his secret agenda?" but rather, "Why doesn't he point a critical finger at himself for a change?". The latter question is the better one to ask because I realize that some people may have trouble reading this letter.

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I didn't use any big words, or any words that anyone here should be unfamiliar with. Assuming people are illiterate, again?
--as for why I don't criticize myself? My own criticism went through before making this post. I'm looking for additional filters.

Granted, not everyone knows what "formaldehydesulphoxylic" means,

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Nor do you, Google insists this word does not exist in the English language.

but it's nevertheless easy to understand that Vagabong would have us add insult to injury. May God, in his restraining mercy, forbid that we should ever do this most uninformed and disrespectful thing!

Click to expand...

What now?

I have begged Vagabong's bedfellows to step forth and enable all people to achieve their potential as human beings.

Click to expand...

Say what?

To date, not a single soul has agreed to help in this fashion. Are they worried about how Vagabong might retaliate?

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Your illiteracy may be dulling whatever point you have to make. You're saying people are afraid to my response for what I'm asking for?

You know the answer, don't you? You probably also know that if we don't operate on today's real—not tomorrow's ideal—political terrain right now, then Vagabong's ruses will soon start to metastasize until they cause hypersensitive subversion to gather momentum on college campuses. The facts are, succinctly, these: [big old wtf?]

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None of those are facts.

Rather than engage in a point-by-point response to the textual interpretation of Vagabong's analects, I want to respond to the more general issue at hand. I'm sure that everyone reading this is already familiar with Vagabong's mindless conclusions so I'll spare you the sordid details. Instead, I'll simply summarize with the comment that Vagabong presents himself as a disinterested classicist lamenting the infusion of politically motivated methods of pedagogy and analysis into higher education. He is eloquent in his denunciation of modern scholarship, claiming it favors ethically bankrupt adolescents. And here we have the ultimate irony because I'm convinced that he will commit acts of immorality, dishonesty, and treason by next weekend.

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Now who's making a wall of text?
You're saying that I'm an old-fashioned don't-give-a-fuck and am planning to somehow bring down the modern education system?
How the hell did you gather that?

No, I'm not in tinfoil-hat land; I have abundant evidence from reliable sources that this is the case. For instance, I'd peg the odds at about six to one that Vagabong will slander those who are most systematically undervalued, underpaid, underemployed, underfinanced, underinsured, underrated, and otherwise underserved and undermined as undeserving and underclass sooner or later. If I'm wrong, I promise that I'll gladly feel disconnected from reality.

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My mother and father both worked in factories until I was about 12.
My father is currently a letter carrier, my mother managed to get her bachelor's degree in Accounting and is at present an unemployed CPA.
I grew up in Lyons, NY; which if you ask anyone who has lived there, is not a nice place to grow up.

The fact that I speak intelligently and have a level of knowledge surpassing most college graduates despite never having attended college has nothing to do with my upbringing or personal beliefs, it only speaks to my own incredibly focused efforts and resourcefulness.
And seriously, wtf is with your post?

Oh wow.. Did i get pwned.

Im sorry, But i can't take wall of texts but i guess Wall-Of-Texts are no problem for some people.

My text what i wrote was just a random Wall-of-Text generator. I can't believe u red through it all.

Sorry for my rudeness.

nevalopo said:

Oh wow.. Did i get pwned.

Im sorry, But i can't take wall of texts but i guess Wall-Of-Texts are no problem for some people.

My text what i wrote was just a random Wall-of-Text generator. I can't believe u red through it all.

Sorry for my rudeness.

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I had a feeling I'd be doing myself a favor by not bothering to rebut your post.
But, well, the opportunity to make you look like an idiot arrived. ;o

So, I'm taking this to mean that in the entire OTLand community there's 1 person actually interested enough to post seriously that hasn't done so elsewhere already?

That's kinda sad...

DarkstaR said:

Its OTLand, what do you expect?

You shouldn't come here unless you want to train your flaming skills, or get a lot of noobs to use your programs.

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Well, I was wanting to believe that was all smack-talk and that OTFans and OTLand were actually similar communities. Suppose I was too naive?

that said, I can't say too much about the topic on TibiaUG either. Although it got more attention; half of the replies were between you and I, a few were an exchange about the events of the story having "been done before" and only a handful of posts actually constructive to the topic... x/
OTFans wasn't much better either. About half of the posts were asking how to help, which ended after my reply unfortunately. There were a few saying it was interesting, and one guy actually helping (though he didn't really help much). Not much different from TibiaUG, really.

but at least it was not met with the inanity of the first reply to this topic, here... x_X

maybe post directly in the small art section of this forum.

Vagabond said:

Well, I was wanting to believe that was all smack-talk and that OTFans and OTLand were actually similar communities. Suppose I was too naive?

that said, I can't say too much about the topic on TibiaUG either. Although it got more attention; half of the replies were between you and I, a few were an exchange about the events of the story having "been done before" and only a handful of posts actually constructive to the topic... x/
OTFans wasn't much better either. About half of the posts were asking how to help, which ended after my reply unfortunately. There were a few saying it was interesting, and one guy actually helping (though he didn't really help much). Not much different from TibiaUG, really.

but at least it was not met with the inanity of the first reply to this topic, here... x_X

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You also have to consider how much smaller TUG is compared to OTF and OTL.

As you can see from some research I did in the past for TUGBot sales, OTF and OTL are the two largest communities, of the three. TUG was so unpopulated that it did not even have 1% on the pie.




Anyways, more ontopic-ish, its probably because of the title of your thread. Here, people tend to try and "stick to their own," so to speak. The forum is way too busy for someone to read through the new posts every day, especially when a good portion of those posts are about things they don't really care about. Basically, as posted above, if you want the attention of graphic artists, post in the graphics section. If I were you, I would give a short sweet explanation and then link this thread and let them know it has more information if they are interested.

Alright then, I'll try that.

DarkstaR said:

Its OTLand, what do you expect?

You shouldn't come here unless you want to train your flaming skills, or get a lot of noobs to use your programs.

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Yeah guys, lets head to TuG ..where Caid and his gang will make decisions for us! Who wants to be a tool!!

Haha... welcome to my problem with that gang (though I guess they're my friends anyway).