LOOKING FOR HELP FOR HTML/JAVASCRIPT COMMUNITY RPG MAKER

Hi everyone! I am currently working on a RPG maker that could be very useful for this community, so I decided to make a post here requesting help in making it.

Here is some information about the project:

The idea of the project is an online, collaborative tile-based RPG maker in javascript/html. An extension from a previous project of mine, HTML tactics, the idea of this project is to allow multiple users to collaborate on and build RPG projects through their web browsers. Users will be able to create their own project, add other users to help them create their project, and enable/disable mods, which allow users who are not a part of the project to create "modules" which add additional maps and content to the project. The RPGs themselves will be hosted on a web server, and will run in modern browsers without any plugins (aside from a java applet needed to play the music/sound).

The game engine is based on my previous project, HTML Tactics: http://sourceforge.net/projects/htmltactics/. HTML tactics covers the basics of an RPG maker, along with a tactics battle engine (I made that first because it is my favorite battle engine), however, there is still quite a bit of work needed to make this a full featured RPG maker, and we also need help with creating graphics and resources for use in the game maker.

The benefits of this rpg maker over other rpg makers:

Easily modifiable - all the code will be available and changeable, and almost everything is in javascript. This means that everything can be easily changed, from menus and battle systems to the underlying renderer itself.

Collaborate with ease - managing teams and team members is easy, other members can instantly modify the game and test it, no emailing assets back and forth, and the project is automatically synchronized between the team members.

Allow mods to your game - mods are new games that "extend" your game if you allow them. The mod maker can create a modified version of your game with new content, features, maps etc for others to play, allowing your game to continue even after you finished it.

Players don't have to install anything - the game, when done, runs in a browser without any required plugin support (except for the music), you just have to give players a link, and they can play the game. You can also let players download the resources and play the game locally when they have no internet connection, and I have no problem with users hosting games on their own servers.

Additional features can be added upon request - you can easily contact me and request new features for the game maker, including things that cannot be done in some RPG makers like multiplayer modes.

The RPG maker is planned to be Open Source, meaning that the code will be free for others to download, extend and contribute to the project. Non-code resources (graphics, music, etc) do not have to be open source, and the games users create do not have to be open source either.

Right now, I am looking for help in the following areas:

Pixel Artists - create several graphics sets (tiles, characters, animations, etc) that users can use in their projects.
Composers - create MIDI music scores that users can use in their projects. MP3s could be added as well, but since the games load in a browser, we want to keep the filesize down.
Sound Effect Developers - create sound effects that users can use in their projects.
Programmers - anyone with experience in HTML, javascript, ajax, CSS or PHP could help me out with all the new code needed for the project.
Game Developers - create several demo and initial RPGs using the engine for people to get excited about the project, and also to teach people how to use all the features of the engine.

This project does not yet have a website, but you can contact me by emailing me at terra0nova@hotmail.com. My AIM sn is terra0nova. You can also post here or PM me to contact me.

This is a free and open source project, as such any help will be volunteer only, no pay or revenue. However, the project will be fun to work on, and will create a useful tool for the RPG maker community.

Previous work:

To test the HTML Tactics engine and show it off, me and my friend, RedOwl, made a simple parody RPG in HTML tactics that you can play here: http://sot4.aerosphere-studios.com/

Here are some screenshots from the game:

The battle system:

The menu system:

Here is a running example of HTML tactics' map builder: http://sot4.aerosphere-studios.com/builder.html

The above contain resources from RPGMaker XP, copyright Enterbrain. I sent them an email, but they never got back to me, so we should not use these graphics for this project (unless Enterbrain gives us permission). However, we can certainly use external resources as long as they are free or we have permission to use them.

Any feedback is appreciated - whether you wish to offer help for the project, or want to give ideas for features you would want to see in the engine.

Thanks Kentona. Having a bunch of initial/demo games will help create a community around the maker and encourage others to use the game maker, so it really does help. I'll let you know when I have enough tools ready for creating a demo project.

The project is a little ambitious, but I've learned from experience not to take on more than I can handle (after working on projects that were too ambitious and failed). Taking a project one piece at a time is the way to go, and HTML Tactics probably represents about half of the code needed for this project, so I have high hopes for this project being completed.

Also, if anyone has resources that they don't mind this project using, or knows of free resources, I could include those in the project for everyone making games using the maker to use.