The Weasel Manifesto > Looking for 1-2 Artists

[podperson]

Project Weasel is coming!

I've got the second draft of a formal design document, have proven to myself that I can do all the stuff that, technically, needs to be done, the only question is time. I think if I end up doing all the art and programming this isn't going to get done fast enough...

To that end I'm looking for 1-2 artists to help get the necessary content done. (I already have a programmer -- me -- and a second programmer if needed, a composer/SFX person, and playtesters lined up.)

Compensation

There will be no up-front compensation, but very generous and easy-to-understand back end royalties. (No "Hollywood Accounting" -- net proceeds will be income - processing fees and clearly stated expenses.)

Why do this rather than pursue your own project?

We'll actually ship this sucker. We could make ... hundreds of dollars. We have a design document. I've done this before (several times). I know how to toss features overboard if they're holding a project back.

Aside from that, no reason other than you like the design and think it will be fun.

Goals

We intend to ship the first Weasel game in time for Christmas 2007. This may turn out to be impossible, but that's our target. We expect the game to take about 4h to play through from start to finish, but with lots of replay potential.

The game will ship for Windows and Mac OS X, but we also hope to get the interest of Nintendo and ship for the Wii. Other platforms will follow. We want this game to be a first rate calling card for all those involved. As such, we will focus on quality over quantity of content, gameplay, etc. We'd prefer the game to be 30 minutes long and incredibly cool and fun than 20h long and boring.

Philosophy

The game should be kid-friendly, attractive to casual gamers, very easy to play (and win), fun and funny. It should also be educational (but not in any way that detracts from being fun) and idealistic (i.e. promote positive social values).

This isn't a "me boss, you peon" project. All opinions and ideas will be considered respectfully. That said, this is a game about a space weasel not, say, World of Weaselcraft. And, someone has to have final say or we'll never get anything done.

Working on the game should be fun too.

OK, I'm interested ... what do I do?

If you're interested, contact me (tonio (a) loewald D0T com).

If you really want to impress me, send me a model or test animation of a 3d figure based on one or more of the attached sketches (yes they're terrible!). Try to stay below 10,000 polygons (triangles, not quads) -- although you can use more for hero renders of course.

Notes on the Sketches

Moon buggy is with or without operator. If you add an operator, that's not part of your polygon budget.

Guy in spacesuit should have a reasonably cute face etc -- not a blank sphere with dots for eyes, anyway.

And yes, that's a Septopus at the controls of a small hovercraft inside a water-filled dome.

[squareitround]

"World of Weaselcraft" LOL

There is a possiblity I could be interested. I will have to think on it.

[hairball600]

If we help, do we get a free copy of the game?

[squareitround]

Podperson - I have a few questions if that's OK? I thought I'd ask near rather than by PM, as perhaps others might like to know.

The example models - textured or untextured?

Do you have a style in mind, or is that open to interpretation by the applicants at this stage?

Artwork done for the game - is it OK to use in a portfolio or for self promotional purposes?

Cheers

Square

P.S Shouldn't the Wii version be called "Space Wiisel".

[hairball600]

I'll do it, (If you'll have me) Just tell me what to do! Also, I might be able to program, if you need another programmer.

[DaVinci]

I would not say 'no' as well.

[podperson]

If you work on the game you will obviously get a free license (and a bunch to give away). You'll also receive a royalty for every unit sold once project expenses have been covered (this will be straightforward expenses -- e.g. cost of Fedexing copies to reviewers, not some kind of mirror maze of Hollywood accounting). You'll receive full credit. You will retain certain rights over your contributions. I don't want to get into gory details here.

The example models - textured or untextured?

Textured is obviously better

Do you have a style in mind, or is that open to interpretation by the applicants at this stage?

I have a style in mind. It should be fairly obvious from the sketches that I do not want "ultra-realistic steroid swilling grotesquely muscled neckless grunts with bandanas" ... this is a kind of whimsical kid-friendly game that will appeal to both casual and hardish core gamers, and adults. Think: The Incredibles or the Wii game Rayman: Raving Rabbids (closer to the former than the latter). I've attached some existing assets from the game -- an unrigged slime creature, an earthlike planet, my weasel , and the weasel's rocket plane (they're all in different states of incompleteness).

Again -- as per my original post -- all opinions are respected but not necessarily accepted. If an artist joins the project with a strong opinion on the direction the art should go ... I'm somewhat open to that (within reason).

Artwork done for the game - is it OK to use in a portfolio or for self promotional purposes?

Oh definitely. And more besides.

If you read above, the purpose is for the game to serve as a calling card for everyone involved in the project. Let me tell you that someone who shows you great stuff they did in art school or while learning to use a package or just for fun is not going to impress most employers a fraction as much as stuff they did as part of a project where they were handed requirements and met and exceeded those requirements. (And not least because when you work on a project and have a deadline you will shock yourself at how much you get done.)

Look at Innerdreams's stuff on these boards. He is learning to do stuff because he knows what his customers want. I'm sure he could cheerfully do stuff for his own pleasure, or while doodling, that would blow our socks off, but it wouldn't show that he can see something that he needs to do but doesn't know how to do, learn how to do it, and do it, the way his work on architectural rendering and lighting does. There's a discipline in working on a real project for which there's no replacement.

I'll do it, (If you'll have me)

Let's see your stuff

[hairball600]

Here is the moon buggy I modelled. It obviously needs alot of work, but it's my start!

[podperson]

hairball600

Thanks for your effort.

This makes me realise that, because many folks here don't do realtime applications, I need to give a better idea of what the requirements are for game and other realtime applications.

Polygon Count

The polygon budget is very very serious. And we're talking about the budget for the final geometry, not the budget for some rough shell that you plan to add a ton of detail to later. (There is a place for high-definition geometry in realtime applications, but that's another story.)

Note that hairball's model is only ~5200 triangles, but that's with no real detail in the hull. Most of the polys are, frankly, wasted on the wheels and tracks.

Animation

One thing you need to think about is how would this be animated? There are two obvious ways to animate tracks. One would be to use the chain creator to make a series of links along a path and then animate them moving along the path. Another would be to build a fixed object with simple geometry and animate its texture (and possibly distort it a bit). Using a highly detailed sweep uses a ton of polygons and gives you no real option for animation. (In general, sweeps are not going to be your friend for realtime work.)

Texturing

I would also get the model pretty much right before I did anything with textures. Half-baked (no pun intended) textures are worse than no textures at all... and for realtime applications a model generally needs to use exactly one material. (This is because realtime rendering is done object-by-object and texture-by-texture ... if an object uses three textures, it takes three passes to render it; if you have 100 guys running around and each is built out of several textures ... ouch.) This means UV-unwrapping the model carefully and then painting on the result directly. This means building separate color, bump, specular, transparency, and emission maps if required. In any event, doing a good job of UV-unwrapping is the hard part, not assigning textures.

I hope this helps.

[hairball600]

I was wondering, what do you mean by 'one material'. Do you mean all the models should be colored the same way? Sorry if my question seems dumb, but I just got cheetah a few months ago, so I dont know a whole lot about some of the features. Also, what kind of textures do you want for the moonbuggy?