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Inhuman Resources

  • kentona
  • 06/16/2017 08:44 PM
  • 39853 views

Remaking all this will be a pain in the asset


Converting Hero's Realm into a commercial endeavour requires remaking a large swath of assets. When I was creating the game, I had access to the expansive RM2k3 RTP resources, as well as many, many (many) rips from Final Fantasy IV, V and V, and MIDI renditions of popular game tracks as well as a score of original works. As such, I was very liberal in my use of different assets when creating monsters, maps, animations, classes, etc!

Remaking these assets will require me to hire artist(s)/spriter(s)/composer, and this is an open call to see who might be interested in working with me to create a batch of new resources.

This is the first time I have attempted to commission resources. If I am missing any details, please feel free to ask for them in the comments.


I am looking for resources for RPG Maker 2003 for:
Tilesets, Panoramas, Monsters, Charsets, Objects, Battlechars, Battleweapons, Battle Animations, Battlebacks, Titlescreen/Game Over, Music, Sound Effects


I have a limited budget (like all indie game devs do, of course). In some areas (monsters, panoramas, battle animations) I am willing to scale back graphic fidelity to come under budget. I will also be willing to help with (and encourage) recolors, editing templates, minor tweaks and edits. The graphic style I am aiming for is somewhere between SNES Final Fantasy V and RM2k3's RTP. I have gone into greater detail for each resource below.


Tilesets (a.k.a. chipsets) ::..




Here I am looking for an ideally 1-to-1 match with the RM2k3 RTP edits I used in the game (to minimize any remapping clean up I would have to do).

Details:
480x256 pixels
256 colors

Assets Needed (6)
-Overworld
-Town (with small variations/recolors for Mountains, Swamp, Ocean, Sand/Desert)
-Indoors
-Ship
-Dungeon
-SciFi Complex (this can be a smaller set of graphics, and I can redo what I have with a new chipset)


Panorama-o-rama ::..


I used panoramas sparingly in Hero's Realm.

Details:
320x240 pixels (typically)
256 colors

Assets Needed (6)
-Mid-day lightly clouded sky
-Very Cloudy Sky (tiles horizontally, as illustrated above)
-Strange miasma (tiles horizontally and vertically, for parallel dimensions)
-Mountain range (tiles horizontally, as illustrated above)
-Dark abyss (tiles horizontally and vertically, used in a very fast-moving parallax)


Characters ::..



Characters are 16x16 sprites with 4 directions with a 3-step walking animation (left foot, standing, right foot) typically. A 2-step walking animation is also acceptable. I need a lot, though. Charsets for RM2k3 are a specific dimension and have a specific layout. They (like all assets in RM2k3) are limited to 256 colors.

Classes (46)
There are 21 classes that need a male and female variant, plus 4 hero classes.

-Daredevil M
-Daredevil F
-Assassin M
-Assassin F
-Joker M
-Joker F
-Bandit M
-Bandit F
-Engineer M
-Engineer F
-Harlequin M
-Harlequin F
-Ranger M
-Ranger F
-Templar M
-Templar F
-Warden M
-Warden F
-Champion M
-Champion F
-Black Knight M
-Black Knight F
-Paladin M
-Paladin F
-Ronin M
-Ronin F
-Shapeshifter M
-Shapeshifter F
-Channeler M
-Channeler F
-Sage M
-Sage F
-Shadowen M
-Shadowen F
-Druid M
-Druid F
-Mesmer M
-Mesmer F
-Warlock M
-Witch F
-Wizard M
-Wizard F
-Huntress
-Magus
-Ninja
-Monk


NPCs (54)(estimate)

Main NPCs (11)
-Child of Light (girl)
-Pablo (grand poobah)
-Wip (Chief Advisor)
-Great Red Spirit (Seer)
-Trihan (Captain)
-Lady Liberty (Lord Captain Commander)
-Archeia Nessiah (Guard and Overseer of the Child of Light)
-Dread Pirate Holberts
-Guru (male)
-Guru (female)
-Giant Golem

Evil (7)
-Balthalas (fat demon)
-Niddly Wormwood (sketchy man)
-Kakorotto (kung fu master)
-Murzhor (evil wizard)
-Spinidel (shade)
-Urok (muscle demon-captain)
-Mephistocles (tall demonlord)

Generic (18) + recolors/tweaks
-man
-woman
-old man
-old woman
-boy
-girl
-soldier
-exotic dancer
-priestess
-commander/elite soldier
-merchant
-bard
-bald tough guy
-king
-queen
-froggite (or similar small animal/gnome-like creature)
-sensei
-pirate

Animals (8)
-dog
-cat
-butterfly
-chicken
-sheep
-cow
-horse
-fish

Vehicles (4)
-skiff
-airship (I have a custom airship already, but may need tweaking to match style)
-seafaring ship
-ghost ship

Monsters (6?)
-skeleton
-beast
-dragon
-mummy
-shade/ghost
-fairy


Objects (32)
Chests, switches, doors, villages, castles, and the like. Some are static, some have animation frames (ie- doors and chests)

objects (18)
-chest
-ornate chest
-sparkles
-orbs
-blood spatter
-savepoint
-wood door
-reinforced door
-metal door
-jail door
-ornate door
-floor switch
-wall switch
-lever
-rock
-mine cart
-small spikes
-large spike

worldmap (14)
-village
-town
-manor
-hut
-temple
-castle (32x32)
-elegant castle (32x32)
-castle ruins (32x32)
-pyramid (32x32)
-shrine
-futuristic ruins
-camps
-tower
-cave



Battle Characters ::..



Like I mentioned earlier, I have 21 classes that need a male and female variant, plus 4 hero classes, plus a battlechar for the Child of Light, for a total of 47 battlechars. Battlechars in RM2k3 have a specific size and template and are limited to 256 colors.

These battle character sprites should reasonably match their accompanying 16x16 charset sprites.

I am looking for a Final Fantasy IV or V style. I need 8 poses (Standing, Attacking, Walking, Hurt/Crouch, Spellcast, Victory, Asleep/Dead, Defending), plus 4 poses that I can use universally (Invisible, Ghost, Statue, Wolf/Werewolf)

Assets Needed (47+4)

-Daredevil M
-Daredevil F
-Assassin M
-Assassin F
-Joker M
-Joker F
-Bandit M
-Bandit F
-Engineer M
-Engineer F
-Harlequin M
-Harlequin F
-Ranger M
-Ranger F
-Templar M
-Templar F
-Warden M
-Warden F
-Champion M
-Champion F
-Black Knight M
-Black Knight F
-Paladin M
-Paladin F
-Ronin M
-Ronin F
-Shapeshifter M
-Shapeshifter F
-Channeler M
-Channeler F
-Sage M
-Sage F
-Shadowen M
-Shadowen F
-Druid M
-Druid F
-Mesmer M
-Mesmer F
-Warlock M
-Witch F
-Wizard M
-Wizard F
-Huntress
-Magus
-Ninja
-Monk
-Child of Light
+Invisible, Ghost, Statue, Wolf/Werewolf



Enemies ::..


Final Fantasy VI style


Final Fantasy V style

So many monsters in this game. So many...

I have done an initial cull of the monster graphics used in this game, and can still do further consolidation based on the roles the monsters filled in battle. Currently, I have a list of 86 monsters and bosses. However, I am not particularly wedded to each specific monster's graphic or name - I simply used what was available from Final Fantasy VI rips and designed from there. For example, I used a bear graphic and made a bear-like enemy, but really any large ferocious beast-styled sprite will suffice. Thus there is a lot of freedom in what monsters can get ultimately designed and developed. I am also (very) open to artist suggestions, based on what they would like to try spriting!

As for style, I am shooting for a Final Fantasy V level of graphic fidelity. (Final Fantasy VI, though more elegant, is likely outside of my price range). I have showcased both above. At least, that is what I am envisioning. I am open to discussion and suggestions on monster graphic design.

The size ranges varies, from a low end of 35x35 pixels, to 50x50, to 70x100.

Mooks (66):
-This is a working list, and based largely on FF6 sprites I used.

Ameboid-like goop
Bear
Beastrider
Beetle
Behemoth (very large demon)
Beholder
Buffalo
Cadaver/Zombie
Cat
Chestmimic
Coral
Crab
Dancer
Demon
Demonmage
Dragon
Dragonbones
Drake
Droid
Elemental
Enchantress
Fae/Fairy
Fighter
Flower
Fog
Ghost
Giant
Goblin
Hawk
Joker
Kappa
Knight
Lizard
Long Dragon
Mech/Robot
Nautilus
Ninja
Odonata (flying bug)
Pirahna
Porkus (fat pig-like beast)
Potmimic
Raven
Ray
Reaper
Rodent
Rogue
Sandworm
Scorpion
Seahorse
Seaserpent
Skeleton
Slime
Spek
Spider
Squirl
Telstar
Tentacle
Toadstool
Troll
Tyranno
Vines
Walkerbot
Whelk
Wizard
Wolfdog
Wyvern


Bosses (20)

Fatdemon (miniboss)
Big Fighter (miniboss)
Big Skeleton (miniboss)
Knight/Prince (miniboss)
Balthalas, 3rd form
Iron Gaia/Virus (robot boss)
Murzhor (wizard variant)
Spinidel (demon variant)
Urok (behemoth variant)
Niddly Wormwood (vagabond human)
Evil Wind
Xelob (giant spider)
Xelobite (spiderling)
Shadowstorm (Atma, from FF6 basically)
Mephistocles (has 2 arms, each arm has 2 forms)
-Mephisto Left I
-Mephisto Left II
-Mephisto Right I
-Mephisto Right II
Mephistocles, 2nd form


This will likely be the biggest component of my budget, and requires the most work, but it could also be the most fun and varied resource creation of the entire project, and the artist would have considerable leeway.


Battle Animations ::..



I don't even know where to begin with battle animations...

I haven't compiled a comprehensive spell list yet. I used a ton of different battle animations that varied greatly in style. This could potentially be a huge cost-sink, but I am quite willing to scale back in this area to meet budget.

I need someone comfortable with battle animations for RPGs who would be willing to advise me in how to approach this facet of resources.


Battle Backgrounds ::..



Ideally, for battle backgrounds, I would like to imitate a Final Fantasy IV or V style (or even an FFVI style). But the style will have to match both the FF5 style battlechars AND whatever style the monsters end up taking. Depending on that, I am even willing to simplify the battlebacks to do a mostly-black background with a stylized header, like so:


Details
320x160
256 colors

Assets Needed (22)

-plains
-forest
-desert
-wasteland
-swamp
-snowplains
-snowforest
-sea
-mountains/foothills
-cave
-snowcave
-catacombs
-dungeons
-ethereal
-scifi complex
-ruins
-village
-arena
-watercave
-ship
-sky
-matrix-style



Battle Weapons ::..



There are (roughly) 33 weapons needed for this game, though depending on how much it takes to make them, I can use more (up to 50). Battle weapons in RM2k3 are a 3 stage animation, and fit into a specific template.

Assets Needed (33)
(some consolidation/recolors are an option!)

-axe
-shortsword
-longsword
-greatsword
-elegant sword
-katana
-magicsword
-scimitar
-epee
-dagger
-ornate dagger
-whip
-magic staff
-wooden staff
-quarterstaff
-wand x2
-chakram
-spear
-hammer
-lance
-shortbow
-longbow
-ornate bow
-arrow
-club
-crossbow
-mace
-boomerang
-claws
-harp
-shuriken
-dice
-card



Miscellaneous ::..

Details
320x240
256 colors

Assets Needed
-Title screen
-Game Over screen
-Chapter frame


Music ::..

I may have music assets lined up, depending on how things play out. But for sake of completeness, I am looking for a list of music. I am not sure how pricing works (probably by the minute)

The style I am looking for is, again, SNES-esque, though I am not requiring a strictly chiptune instrumentation. If orchestral music fits, I will use it.

RM2k3 supports MIDI, WAV and MP3, though I would prefer WAV or MP3.

I can provide sample MIDIs. I will work on recording some samples of the songs I really like and posting them here soon.

Assets Needed (27)

-main theme
-hero's theme x4
-overworld (x5?)
-airship
-ship
-skiff
-battle
-important battle
-boss battle
-final battle(s)
-village
-town (x2)
-castle
-city
-cave
-tower
-dungeon
-creepy
-funhouse/casino
-other dimension
-final cave
-Intro music
-titlescreen music/Paranor



Sound Effects ::..

I don't even know how these are made, acquired, produced, or commissioned. I am strongly leaning towards making my own using something like bfxr because I am so unknowledgeable about sound effects, just to sidestep the hassle. But I did come up with a draft list.

(Can I just use the RM2k3 sound effects? Is that allowed?? Problematic??? Legitimate question here)

Assets Needed (draft list)(37-ish)

-menu
-select
-cancel
-success
-fail
-fall
-steps
-find item
-chest
-warp/teleport
-switch
-roar
-levelup
-evillaugh
-bark
-meow
-moo
-neigh
-baa
-item
-dodge
-spellcast
--ice
--fire
--explosion
--quake
--lightning
--energy
--healing
--reviving
--poison
--bite
--punch
--slash
--wind
--buff
--debuff







If you are interested, please respond in the comments below or via Private Message. Contact me with any questions, pricing, payment options/arrangements, or suggestions. Thank you for your time!

Posts

yo yo kentona,

I can help you out on graphics but most notably, battle characters, objects, enemies.
And if absolutely necessary and you got nobody else for it, tilesets and characters.

However, if the art is going to be a collaborative, will there be a style guide and do you have any plans for an art lead or...?
Someone may have mentioned this, but can you use the CharasProject rmk2k3 sprite generator? Can give you sprite mashups with their own palettes that look nothing like any copyrighted.
author=Faenon
Someone may have mentioned this, but can you use the CharasProject rmk2k3 sprite generator? Can give you sprite mashups with their own palettes that look nothing like any copyrighted.


I wouldn't be so sure about that though? I remember there was a dragonball hair in the charas generator at one point.
Cap_H
DIGITAL IDENTITY CRISIS
6625
author=Archeia_Nessiah
author=Faenon
Someone may have mentioned this, but can you use the CharasProject rmk2k3 sprite generator? Can give you sprite mashups with their own palettes that look nothing like any copyrighted.
I wouldn't be so sure about that though? I remember there was a dragonball hair in the charas generator at one point.

I find charas from the generator being ugly a bigger problem. FFV styled sprites would look much better.
Zeigfried_McBacon
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
3820
I'll try to throw some money at you when I can to help offset the cost of commissions. Also, I doubt you need a testers at this point, but if for some reason it does need a round of testing and people don't flock to the call, let me know.
I would def like to help with charsets and battle charsets. The last major charset work I did was stuff for this game: http://jellypaladin.com/blog/art-assets/ and I enjoyed doing the style a lot. Also do like the idea of doing class designs justice.

But as others said, will probably need some style guide or consistent basis to work off of. The problem with say "just use this palette from x game" is people can use it different ways.
pianotm
The TM is for Totally Magical.
32347
Just like to say, I'm offering my music for free if you decide you want it.
author=Archeia_Nessiah
yo yo kentona,

I can help you out on graphics but most notably, battle characters, objects, enemies.
And if absolutely necessary and you got nobody else for it, tilesets and characters.

However, if the art is going to be a collaborative, will there be a style guide and do you have any plans for an art lead or...?

ummmm... would it shock any of you to learn that I wasn't expecting this kind of response in less than 24 hours, and that I hadn't thought that far ahead?

author=Zeigfried_McBacon
I'll try to throw some money at you when I can to help offset the cost of commissions. Also, I doubt you need a testers at this point, but if for some reason it does need a round of testing and people don't flock to the call, let me know.

I have a few tentative offers for testing, but I haven't made any concrete plans yet.

author=Darken
I would def like to help with charsets and battle charsets. The last major charset work I did was stuff for this game: http://jellypaladin.com/blog/art-assets/ and I enjoyed doing the style a lot. Also do like the idea of doing class designs justice.

But as others said, will probably need some style guide or consistent basis to work off of. The problem with say "just use this palette from x game" is people can use it different ways.



Ocean made these as a kind of proof of concept about a year ago. I will hit them up for the palette and start from there. I like it.

Would it surprise anyone to learn that I am not experienced in developing a palette for custom game pixel art?

author=pianotm
Just like to say, I'm offering my music for free if you decide you want it.

this is a very competitive rate.
Cap_H
DIGITAL IDENTITY CRISIS
6625
author=kentona
author=pianotm
Just like to say, I'm offering my music for free if you decide you want it.

this is a very competitive rate.


Anyone willing to pay to be able to make music for this?

This got all my support btw. Shitty advices are all I got right now. I can help you with a trailer later on. Live action trailer would be cool, wouldn't it?
Also before anyone gets too invested, I must tell you that this is a lot of resources on a fixed budget and without any rates from prospective artists (yet) I can't be sure what and how much things will scale back
I don't mind working for free on it...as long as I don't lose rights to the assets (and well we'll have to talk about contracts on this huh?).

Also, are the artists going to design all the concepts individually for monsters, or are you going to have concept designer?


And I guess the most important thing is, Do you have a projected date on when you want to release it?
If you're looking for sound effects, try Maou Damashii. They're free to use with commercial products, and they got some retro NES SFX (as well as a bunch of menu sounds). I used them for the menu sounds in Night of the Lapinoids, and they sound great.
I offer music services and people start jumping that gun as well. face_dead

I do want to point out that I am willing to do the soundtrack for free as well. I'll try to get my own sample out as well. Since my mouse is really being weird about actually working right now, I made not be able to finish a new song today and if that's the case I'll send you a pack of my old stuff I made.

Edit: I'll wait and see on the artists. I can do tiles about to the level of Final Fantasy 5 so if all fails there I might be able to help there.
Ebeth
always up for cute art and spicy gay romance
4390
I could definitely do characters (like all of them)! I'll require some pay but I'll do it for really cheap.
I can't figure out how to embed soundcloud, so I'll just link it directly:

https://soundcloud.com/zds-2/heros-realm-village-sample-zds

I made that for the small villages of the game. When I played a little bit of Hero's Realm, I noticed the villages reminded me how Dragon Quest did it so I just went ahead and made what I would make for it.

Edit: I made the song in about 30 minutes and I think it's half complete.
TFT
WHOA wow wow. two tails? that is a sexy idea...
445
author=Archeia_Nessiah
I don't mind working for free on it...as long as I don't lose rights to the assets

I can contribute enemy designs for free to make the process easier for you, old friend...



60+ is..a staggering amount tho.

Just nudging you my interest! : D
I've recently started working on a per hour / stream basis for Feldslacht as you might know and I found it to be most comfortable for both me and him (as it keeps a steady body of work like that)
I could totally work like that with you. My price is $25/hour and we assign a number of hours per month / week -- usually a small number to be budget friendly where I will give 120% of my focus to creating the best and quickest assets I am physically capable of lol.

Some assets in particular can be really quick to me while lending me really interesting work -- I think monsters in particular are things I can do fairly quick as there's no need to animate or sticking to an anatomical / size template. 16x16 sprites are quick as well, except for defining the template / aesthetic which can take a small bit longer, i LOVE doing player battlers but I tend to want to do them way more elaborate than they need to be (see: feld's battlers which I decided basically on my own that I had to animate every single strand of hair and acessory -- granted, this is no slower for me than coming up with really good but few frames key frames, but it's still not exactly fast, im generally taking 5 hours per character not counting weapons or spell casting effects (but counting spell casting poses ) but given the sheer size of battlers... it's probably better to get someone quicker for this XD I can do base templates + 1 battler though!


anyway tl;dr:
give me tasks and i'll work for X hours per week / month while streaming stuff, if you're happy with it. Also, free promo! :3~

PM me if you have any suggestions or requests! ´v`)b
As it stands right now, I have Avee starting on charsets.

Archeia_Nessiah expressed an interest in helping me coordinate art assets, along with Ocean's and Darken's help. First up is developing a style guide. Ocean was going to start building one based on the mockup work he did a year ago. Avee based her palette on that. Avee has started a base Character Template, which fits the FF5 style while still remaining unique.


I know that a lot of you have offered to help, and I really appreciate it! As things solidify I will contact you.


Thanks @Healy for showing me that sound effects link. I will check it out.

@pianotm and zDS: how well do you guys think you can coordinate making music? I liked both of your works.

Thanks again everyone.

author=TFT
60+ is..a staggering amount tho.

I know. I will work on that.

My concern is...
author=hedge1
Please don't reduce the enemy graphics count so dramatically. Repeated enemy graphics got wearing in old games when they were used more than three times, and based upon your enemy count, you're planning on reusing graphics an average of eight times, and (given that bosses and others will be reused less) perhaps 10-12 times. I guess if you're really that concerned with cost you could do the reduced amount and then update it once you have money from sales, but please don't leave the game in such a reduced state.

3 to 5 times to reuse an enemy is okay, but 8 to 12 gets excessive...
pianotm
The TM is for Totally Magical.
32347
(Looks back at the previous three McBacon Jams, and Winterruption)

I think I work pretty well with people.

Also, your avatar looks super familiar. Where have I seen it before?