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[RMVX Ace] Looking for a few good team members!

(This is a repost of a recruitment thread I posted elsewhere - figured it couldn't hurt to get a few more views and potential applicants!)


Howdy, everyone! This is Admiral Styles, creator of Love and War, as well as a few other little things like C'est Lavie and a StarCraft campaign or two (but never mind that). I'm here today because I'm seeking a few good team members for my latest endeavor, a new RPG set in the LAW universe! The intention is to make this a commercial game after a successful crowdfunding campaign, so if you think you might be interested in joining Team LAW, read on!

About the project

Without giving too much of the setting away, I can say that this is intended to be an RMVX Ace RPG starring a character from LAW, fun loving teenager Lavie Regale. She'll be going on a magical adventure within a dreamy fairy-tale land, meeting colorful characters and getting into and out of a whole bunch of trouble... and all this, without ever leaving her room in Davenport! Action, humor, and a touch of romance will all be important elements. Those who have played Act I before will recognize some familiar faces, but no prior knowledge of the series will be required.

Some specifics: this project is intended to be a shorter game, roughly around 2-4 hours in length. It's also intended to be the first in a trilogy of similar-length games, if the first one is well received. Those applying for jobs are not required to stick around for the whole series, if you don't want to - it would be wonderful if you did, but if you would prefer to limit your participation to just "Chapter 1", then that's fine by me. :)

Here's a quick look at a couple enemies that Lavie will be encountering:




This brute is looking to pump Lavie up! Possibly by beating her down, which is not ideal when it comes to workout routines.



This is Two-Tale-Fox. He's a cool guy, but you can be sure that when he recites one of his stories (he only knows two), he'll inflict Confusion upon both allies and enemies. Yup.


A couple early screenshots:




Job Positions


Urgently Needed:
1. Battles/Gameplay Guru: I know my strengths and weaknesses, and one thing I struggle with are implementing fun, challenging battles and gameplay systems. This person will be in charge of game balance, seeing if my gameplay ideas are possible or entertaining (and if not, we toss 'em and try something else!) enough to implement, and overall ensuring that leveling up and battles are fun for the player.

2. RMVX Ace Battle Scripter: This may or may not overlap with the above, but I do want a side view battle system (ah, the old Custom Battle System of yesteryear!), and I believe such requires the use (and more importantly, the understanding) of various scripts. Do you understand this scripting stuff? Maybe this position is right up your alley, then!

3. Minigame Maker: I have ideas for fun little minigames, but don't have the know-how to actually put them together. There will probably be three or four in total, intended to be simple but fun.


Helpful, but Secondary:
1. Mapper (Parallax): I currently do have a mapper, but having a second one onboard would certainly help lighten the load and get things done quicker. We will be using parallax mapping for this project, so knowledge of that technique is required.

2. Composer: Not urgently needed just yet, but I do hope that this project will ultimately get its own custom-composed soundtrack.


How to apply


Send me an e-mail at ofloveandwar@hotmail.com and let me know what position you're applying for, what sort of monetary compensation you'd be looking for, as well as whether you'd be interested in sticking with the entire series, or just the first chapter. Please have examples of your work ready to show. I will wait for at least two weeks before making my final decision on team members - longer if need be, of course. Once the team is assembled I'll add up all the costs, determine the figure we need to shoot for, and launch the crowdfunding campaign shortly thereafter (probably using Indiegogo or Kickstarter).


Final Thoughts

It's been a long time (longer then it should have been, thanks to the machinations of "real life"!), but hopefully now I can return to LAWmaking. :) If you have any questions or comments - perhaps a detail that needs clarification, or maybe you have a skill to offer that I didn't list but could prove useful, send me an e-mail too, at ofloveandwar@hotmail.com. I look forward to hearing from you!


And so does Lavie!

Posts

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Looks cool, but the response doesn't seem especially enthusiastic around here. As much as I like the art and the overall tone, I think going commercial is premature at this point, especially since you hope to get crowdfunded first. Unfortunately, 4k downloads doesn't really translate into a lot of backers, and the impressive review numbers are an RMN-only thing.

I don't want to sound too discouraging, but it's definitely better to be aware of one's prospects now, and the reality of crowdfunding in general and Kickstarter in particular is that it's fundamentally conservative. Pretty much all the game backing goes to a) the people who worked on something that was popular/recognised or b) people who are trying to revive something that was quite popular/recognised in its day. Even the all-new exceptions, like Dex and FTL, succeed because they identify a void that plenty of people want to see filled, be it the desire for space roguelike before the genre's revival, or the concept of marrying a Metroidvania with dialogue-driven Cyberpunk RPG.

If your project doesn't fit into those three at first glance, then Kickstarter is a terrible way to enter commercial game world. We even have an example, with OMNIS: The Erias Line: very well-received on here, but utterly out of its depth on Kickstarter. To be fair, there are plenty of things that could've been done better with that campaign (to my mind, at least), but I don't think any of them could've pushed the project over the finishing line; the shortfall is just too much. In the same vein, people are unlikely to be very enthusiastic about backing a 2-4 hour game.

In all, there's a time and a place for going commercial, and for LAW, I don't think that time is now. It just has to become more prominent of a setting first. As difficult as it might feel, keeping the Lavie trilogy freeware, then going commercial with the next entry/project is probably one of the better ways to proceed.
Ah, thank you for sharing your thoughts. :) You raise some very salient points points, and I'm very much aware that it's not going to be easy. Even so, I think I'm at a point where I feel like I just need to take my best shot and go for it.

Looking at OMNIS - The Erias Line - phew, that's actually very sad... One thing that does jump out for me is the goal they're shooting for - I doubt my fundraiser will ask for anything near that amount. This is also why I'm leaning towards Indiegogo rather then Kickstarter; if there's a good showing there, even if the entirety of the money isn't raised, then work can at least continue (if at a slower pace). I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on where OMNIS went wrong though, see if I can dodge some bullets (and run into others, presumably).

In any case, thanks for the words of advice - they're much appreciated!
I do agree with NTC3 on what he stated, there are other multiple issues with trying to make this series commercial. From characters to story. I love LAW and when I was many years younger (in 20s now) I liked Lavia, but now as I'm older I find her kind of insufferable. According to the comments it seems most others and myself are bored at the part of the game where you control her for 2 hours it seems to be the least favorable part of LAW and was the slowest for sure. Also while I know the work and many years you put into LAW I don't feel like people would jump to donate on kickstarter for something they wont like. Considering I don't think anyone would donate especially if they don't know the game nor like the character (especially consider the RMVX games on Steam are a max price of $2. I can't think of many or any of the more loved games on here that would stand a chance on kickstarter our indegogo.
Focusing on the least favorable character from what we see in LAW I don't think would be way to go game wise. Good luck.
It is indeed a harsh world out there (for crowdfunding and otherwise), and success is by no means guaranteed. Sometimes you've just gotta take the shot, though... Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts, Kersh. :)
Professor_Q
"Life is a riddle I wish I had the answer for..."
3237
Hey, I'm late to this party! Let me join in though...

Not sure about the crowd-funding thing, but this sounds like a lot of fun. (Though if you pull the "It Was Just A Dream" trope again, I shall groan!) =)

Would love to help, but I'm hardly an authority on coding or mapping. Perhaps I could make Executive Producer? ^_^
Don't worry, it definitely won't be an "It Was All a Dream" ending. :) It'll make more sense when I reveal a few more specifics about the setting!

No worries, it looks like the team is slowly coalescing together. But yes, the "Executive Producer" slot is still vacant. :D
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