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[jrjellybeans]

This was an old post.

The Cherokee Indian is a platforming game that is best described as a platforming game crossed with Harvest Moon.

Gameplay Video 1:

"

Gameplay Video 2:

"

Originally, the game was to be released by the end of this month, but it turns out that we horribly underestimated the amount of art work that is in the game.  As such our budget was off and it affected lots of other areas.

The game is DONE (except for 1 element which we would need an artists help for).  By, "DONE," I mean that all of the programming is done (except for that single element), the levels are already in the game, all that really needs to be done is replacing the programmer art and sound.  There are over 150 levels in the game.  We are going to sell the game for 22.30.  It was created with Game Maker.

Download the Gameplay Demo:  http://www.megaupload.com/?d=QV2RMFB8

We are expecting to make a bit of money and cause a bit of a stir in the independent community with this game (story is very important).  We are basing this estimate on the fact that there seems to be a HUGE market (check out the number of searches in Google) for Harvest Moon Games and, again, our story is relatively good.

We hired an artist who did the following work:



He did a great job, we'd love to keep him, but, again, budget problems.  Ideally, we'd find someone who could compliment THAT style as we really thought it worked well.

WE HAVE EVERY INTENTION OF COMPENSATING ALL ARTISTS FOR THE WORK THEY DO, once the game is done.  Depending on the sales rate, however, that payment may come sooner or later, but it is really important that everyone who contributes get paid accordingly.

We understand that it's difficult to believe that you'll get paid considering that lots of teams say that, but, again, this game is DONE.  It is literally just a matter of replacing art (and sound) [and there is a LOT of art to be done].

If interested send me an e-mail at jrjellybean [at] live.com.

*********************************************************
If anyone's curious how payment will be determined, basically, we'll send you a folder of work and you'll send us a quote on how much you'd charge someone for it.  We'll add those totals up and try to stick by it afterward.

[professor dead]

go introduce yourself (and team?) in the introductions thread, then try again.

it seems you've made some headway with this project but i wouldn't tell people about how you're promising a cash return for "assistance" with the art.  instead, you should ask for volunteers.  the more you've completed (the more you can show, like that demo) and the more you talk to people is a sure way to find at least a few willing volunteers.  be cordial, friendly, and thankful.  you can find a good collaborator if they knew what you were made of.

as far as the demo...
what the fuck?  the art was trash.  i mean, i can understand and love games like "the shit game" but this is really, really ugly and really unappealing.  i'm going to assume this is programmer art, but really lazy shit at that. however, i did get a sense that you obviously know your way around game maker.  the main character's controls were pretty cool, i liked the mouse controls.  i think the platforming and level design was simplistic.  150 levels of mundane, left-to-right platforming?

Originally, the game was to be released by the end of this month, but it turns out that we horribly underestimated the amount of art work that is in the game.  As such our budget was off and it affected lots of other areas.

The game is DONE (except for 1 element which we would need an artists help for). 

i call your bluff.

We are expecting to make a bit of money and cause a bit of a stir in the independent community with this game (story is very important).  We are basing this estimate on the fact that there seems to be a HUGE market (check out the number of searches in Google) for Harvest Moon Games and, again, our story is relatively good.

not only do i not understand the harvest moon thing but this tells me you're looking to really make a profit.  a HUGE one? if you could just stir the "scene."


and, welcome to tigsource 

[Peevish]

Ragging on placeholder art is low, 'specially since they came here to find an artist.

Though, yes, asking for help without an intro is courting disaster. So hello! Come in, sit a while. What's up? How's it hanging? Making a game? That's cool, that's cool. Tell me about yourself.

[professor dead]

hmm, i stand by my argument 

[deadeye]

hmm, i stand by my argument 

It was a douchey argument.  It's fucking placeholder art.  Say what you will about the whole "we promise to pay afterward" thing, because everyone says that, but damn, dude.  Place.  Holder.  Art.

[Alex May]

Yep, deadeye is right

[professor dead]

forgive me    my apologies to sir jellybean. the assholery was because i sensed blatant lying. it was wrong to slam the placeholder art.  also, to nitpick, the placeholder art was confusing (i.e. the map system).

jrjellybean, where are you from?  is this your first gm game?  are there more things you have done?

[edit]

Hello.

I'm Roberto and I'm working for Jr. Jellybeans.  We're just wrapping up our first indy game "The Chesapeake Indian," and are really excited to be working in this field.

ah.  who is jr. jellybeans?

i saw you had replies on gamedev.net, any luck?

[tylerjhutchison]

...I actually think that this game looks really cool with the place holder art.  It is like being on some sort of bizarre alien world.  part of me likes it better than the fancy pixel art that you guys got (Although that does look nice).  I think it is pretty obvious from the youtube videos that this game is pretty polished. 

There are clearly lots of things going on, and despite the fact that there is placeholder art, I think it is obvious that this game has a good amount of work and polish on it.  I was still able to tell from the basic actions and animations that there is all kinds of cool gathering harvesting and chopping of trees... some really kind of neat things for a 2d platformer.

I am excited to see how this project works out.

[ElTipejoLoco]

I feel, as a fan of the Bokujo Monogatari series, the need to mention that from what I've seen, the game feels more of a platformer slash Lost In Blue game than a platformer slash Harvest Moon/Rune Factory game.

This is not necessarily a bad thing, but if the idea behind the project is to try to appeal to 'fans of the Harvest Moon genre', I would suggest just making your own fanbase, or re-evaluating what type of game you have on your hands.

For example, though you DO smash Rocks and chop Stumps in Harvest Moon games, you never use the rocks for anything other than freeing up soil for harvesting, and the lumber is safely stowed away until you contact a carpenter to upgrade your house- using materials to build statues and fireplaces fall more in line with Lost in Blue/Survival Kids mechanics than anything else... additionally, one of the biggest allures that ensnare Harvest Moon fans are the game's "marriage" system, where there are several Bachelorettes (or Bachelors in "for Girls" versions of the games) that you may court by learning what their favorite objects are, where they hang around at certain times of day, etcetera.

Just... Just commenting. I'll dash back into obscurity, now.

[jrjellybeans]

Hello all,

Listen, RIGHT NOW, we've got an art budget of 4000.  We were looking for an out sourcing company in China or something along those lines, but were unable to find one.

In terms of finding someone to do the work, that isn't really a big problem.  What we need is 1.  to find someone to do the work AND 2.  To do it insanely fast AND 3.  To do it in the style that we are looking for.  Ideally, we're looking for someone who'd be able to complete 2 months of work that would take a single person possibly 60-80 hours per week ASAP (we'd hope to get it done in about 1 months time).  In addition, that is the MAXIMUM amount that we can pay.  Basically, once we pay our next artist, they pretty much have to agree to stay on for the completion of the project regardless of how much work it is (if anyone has any experience estimating times, you can understand how these numbers could be off).

Ideally, we'd find an art company or a group of art friends that work together or something along those lines that can complete this project in 1 months time.  We've got about 10.9 MBs of pixel art to complete (all saved as .PNG) ranging from 16X16 to 128X128.

If anyone knows anyone or anyone has any suggestions on what our next move should be, we'd love to hear them .  Or, if you know anyone, we'd love to hear from them.

[Oh, and to answer your question about gamedev.net, the results were rather dissappointing.]

[Completely off topic as well, but has anyone bothered to get to the second zone yet?  That's really where the games elements fall into place.  Although, essentially, the first zone is a good indication of the entire game - collect resources and build statues/other stuff]

[As for Lost In Blue - point noted!  Thanks for the suggestion!]

[professor dead]

hmm, i'll play more tonight (second zone thing).
why the rush?  sounds like lotta work 

[kyn]

I saw this face on the thumbnail and laughed hard. _(sorry)

[JLJac]

I'm totally impressed that you have managed to make the whole game without any grafics, but is that really a good way to go? I mean, sometimes you want to code stuff accordingly to the grafics and animations, that is why people put their grafics in gradually during the process. If you make the whole game and then just slam pictures on top of it... it don't know, but it seems to me that it could get a bit stiff-looking.