Starting an Indie Game Project

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Hi all,

I'm going to start a commercial Indie-style Game Project based on Crystal
Space, Crystal Entity Layer, and AresEd. Going commercial isn't easy and
always has its risks and that's why I want to do this in a relatively
'safe' way. No commitments are made until we're sure that we will make it.
In this mail I'm going to describe how I'd like to proceed with this plan.


*The Game*

The game I want to make is an atmospheric, story-rich single player game
where the focus is on creating the right mood and atmosphere and not on
action. Puzzle solving should be an important part of the game. Shooting
and other kinds of combat should be rare or non-existant. People who know
Amnesia The Dark Descent know what I'm talking about.

Three important words I want to associate with this game: creepy, scary and
dark. With scary I don't mean monsters chasing you all the time (although
that *can* be present in some cases) but more like building up suspense and
making the player suspect every corner, every door, ...

I don't want a complex game. We're just starting so we're taking this one
step at a time. That also means we focus on the game itself and less on
advanced graphics and so on. Of course to get the right atmosphere we will
need to create good visuals but this is not the most important thing.

Sound (both music and ambient noises) are going to be very important in
this game to build up the right atmosphere.

The setting is not fixed yet. I have several ideas but I'm very open to
more suggestions. The game can take place in the past or in the present
(which is what I currently prefer). It will probably be mostly indoor with
a few small outdoor areas.

The interface of this game should be first person. Here we have the
possibility to use cinematic camera movement (all the time or perhaps only
at key moments to stress an important event). I would like to use physics
in the game if possible but if that's not feasable to implement correctly
then we can skip this. It is not top priority.


*In Practice*

I want to assemble a team to make this work. And since the plan for this
game is to go commercial everyone involved should be rewarded. Of course
this is risky. I don't know in advance if this will work or not so
unfortunatelly I cannot promise any money to anyone. At least not in the
beginning. Gradually as we progress and start to have more concrete stuff
we can perhaps try to get funding and ensure that some income will come.
But until that time I'm going to ask everyone involved (including me) to
work on this game voluntarily. How we are going to reward people is also
not decided yet. I'm open to suggestions in this area.

But what if this all doesn't work? To ensure that this project is not
wasted even if we don't succeed I want to make sure that all souce and
assets remain useful. So basically that means that:

- All sources we make for this game are going to be Open Source (most
likely MIT license).
- All assets (sounds, textures, models, ...) we make for this game will
have some kind of Creative Commons license. Which one we pick is also
something we should discuss but I would prefer as open as possible.
- However: to protect the game itself the actual game logic scripts (this
is the logic and construction of the game story as it happens in AresEd)
will be restricted in usage.

Basically this has the following two implications:

- If the game succeeds and we manage to go commercial then that means
people will be able to use all our sources and assets to make their own
games. However they will not be able to use our story line or expand on our
game logic *except* for modding the game itself which will be something
that I want to allow.
- If we don't manage to go commercial then also the (unfinished, most
likely) story will be public.


*The Team*

So now I'm looking for a team. I want people who understand the issues
above and are willing to work with me on an exciting (I think) game
project. For an artist I think this would be a good way to expand his/her
portfolio and for a programmer it is a good way to get experience in the
Indie game dev world.

The team will be split in four subteams: Coding, Story, Visual Arts and
Audio Arts. I'm going to be project lead of Coding and (at least) co-leader
of Story. Possibly I already have someone who will be the lead for Visual
Arts but that's not certain yet. Philip Wyett will be the PR and financial
lead. I don't want a really big team. Lean and mean is better here.

What am I looking for in a potential team member:

- Motivation and passion! This is important. Don't do this for the money
because it is not even certain you will get anything at all. Do this
because you want to do this. Because you like to do this and because you
have a passion for what you do.
- Sufficient free time. You can have all passion and motivation you want
but if you don't have time to work for us then that will not benefit us at
all. It is ok to have another job or other commitments alongsides this but
I don't want to wait weeks or longer for results.
- Professionalism: We aim at a good quality game. Programmer's art is not
acceptable! Things should look professional and you shouldn't be ashamed to
find your work published next to other big game titles.


*Conclusion*
Contact me if you're interested. I'm very motivated to make this work. I
hope you are too!

Greetings,



-- 
Project Manager of Crystal Space (http://www.crystalspace3d.org)
and CEL (http://cel.crystalspace3d.org)
Support Crystal Space. Donate at
https://sourceforge.net/donate/index.php?group_id=649
Personal page: http://users.telenet.be/jorritTyberghein/Hi all,

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<div dir=3D"ltr"><div style=3D"font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"=
>Hi all,</div><div style=3D"font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><b=
r></div><div style=3D"font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">I&#39;m =
going to start a commercial Indie-style Game Project based on Crystal Space=
, Crystal Entity Layer, and AresEd. Going commercial isn&#39;t easy and alw=
ays has its risks and that&#39;s why I want to do this in a relatively &#39=
;safe&#39; way. No commitments are made until we&#39;re sure that we will m=
ake it. In this mail I&#39;m going to describe how I&#39;d like to proceed =
with this plan.</div>
<div class=3D"im" style=3D"font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><di=
v><br></div><div><br></div><div><b><u>The Game</u></b></div><div><br></div>=
<div>The game I want to make is an atmospheric, story-rich single player ga=
me where the focus is on creating the right mood and atmosphere and not on =
action. Puzzle solving should be an important part of the game. Shooting an=
d other kinds of combat should be rare or non-existant. People who know Amn=
esia The Dark Descent know what I&#39;m talking about.</div>
<div><br></div><div>Three important words I want to associate with this gam=
e: creepy, scary and dark. With scary I don&#39;t mean monsters chasing you=
 all the time (although that *can* be present in some cases) but more like =
building up suspense and making the player suspect every corner, every door=
, ...</div>
<div><br></div></div><div style=3D"font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:1=
3px">I don&#39;t want a complex game. We&#39;re just starting so we&#39;re =
taking this one step at a time. That also means we focus on the game itself=
 and less on advanced graphics and so on. Of course to get the right atmosp=
here we will need to create good visuals but this is not the most important=
 thing.</div>
<div class=3D"im" style=3D"font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><di=
v><br></div><div>Sound (both music and ambient noises) are going to be very=
 important in this game to build up the right atmosphere.</div><div><br></d=
iv>
<div>The setting is not fixed yet. I have several ideas but I&#39;m very op=
en to more suggestions. The game can take place in the past or in the prese=
nt (which is what I currently prefer). It will probably be mostly indoor wi=
th a few small outdoor areas.</div>
<div><br></div></div><div style=3D"font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:1=
3px">The interface of this game should be first person. Here we have the po=
ssibility to use cinematic camera movement (all the time or perhaps only at=
 key moments to stress an important event). I would like to use physics in =
the game if possible but if that&#39;s not feasable to implement correctly =
then we can skip this. It is not top priority.</div>
<div style=3D"font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><br></div><div s=
tyle=3D"font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><br></div><div style=
=3D"font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><b><u>In Practice</u></b><=
/div>
<div style=3D"font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><br></div><div s=
tyle=3D"font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">I want to assemble a t=
eam to make this work. And since the plan for this game is to go commercial=
 everyone involved should be rewarded. Of course this is risky. I don&#39;t=
 know in advance if this will work or not so unfortunatelly I cannot promis=
e any money to anyone. At least not in the beginning. Gradually as we progr=
ess and start to have more concrete stuff we can perhaps try to get funding=
 and ensure that some income will come. But until that time I&#39;m going t=
o ask everyone involved (including me) to work on this game voluntarily. Ho=
w we are going to reward people is also not decided yet. I&#39;m open to su=
ggestions in this area.</div>
<div class=3D"im" style=3D"font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><di=
v><br></div><div>But what if this all doesn&#39;t work? To ensure that this=
 project is not wasted even if we don&#39;t succeed I want to make sure tha=
t all souce and assets remain useful. So basically that means that:</div>
<div><br></div><div>- All sources we make for this game are going to be Ope=
n Source (most likely MIT license).</div><div>- All assets (sounds, texture=
s, models, ...) we make for this game will have some kind of Creative Commo=
ns license. Which one we pick is also something we should discuss but I wou=
ld prefer as open as possible.</div>
<div>- However: to protect the game itself the actual game logic scripts (t=
his is the logic and construction of the game story as it happens in AresEd=
) will be restricted in usage.</div><div><br></div><div>Basically this has =
the following two implications:</div>
<div><br></div><div>- If the game succeeds and we manage to go commercial t=
hen that means people will be able to use all our sources and assets to mak=
e their own games. However they will not be able to use our story line or e=
xpand on our game logic *except* for modding the game itself which will be =
something that I want to allow.</div>
<div>- If we don&#39;t manage to go commercial then also the (unfinished, m=
ost likely) story will be public.</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><=
b><u>The Team</u></b></div><div><br></div><div>So now I&#39;m looking for a=
 team. I want people who understand the issues above and are willing to wor=
k with me on an exciting (I think) game project. For an artist I think this=
 would be a good way to expand his/her portfolio and for a programmer it is=
 a good way to get experience in the Indie game dev world.</div>
<div><br></div></div><div style=3D"font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:1=
3px">The team will be split in four subteams: Coding, Story, Visual Arts an=
d Audio Arts. I&#39;m going to be project lead of Coding and (at least) co-=
leader of Story. Possibly I already have someone who will be the lead for V=
isual Arts but that&#39;s not certain yet. Philip Wyett will be the PR and =
financial lead. I don&#39;t want a really big team. Lean and mean is better=
 here.</div>
<div style=3D"font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><br></div><div s=
tyle=3D"font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">What am I looking for =
in a potential team member:</div><div style=3D"font-family:arial,sans-serif=
;font-size:13px">
<br></div><div style=3D"font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">- Moti=
vation and passion! This is important. Don&#39;t do this for the money beca=
use it is not even certain you will get anything at all. Do this because yo=
u want to do this. Because you like to do this and because you have a passi=
on for what you do.</div>
<div style=3D"font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">- Sufficient fre=
e time. You can have all passion and motivation you want but if you don&#39=
;t have time to work for us then that will not benefit us at all. It is ok =
to have another job or other commitments alongsides this but I don&#39;t wa=
nt to wait weeks or longer for results.</div>
<div style=3D"font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">- Professionalis=
m: We aim at a good quality game. Programmer&#39;s art is not acceptable! T=
hings should look professional and you shouldn&#39;t be ashamed to find you=
r work published next to other big game titles.</div>
<div style=3D"font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><br></div><div s=
tyle=3D"font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><br></div><div style=
=3D"font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><b><u>Conclusion</u></b></=
div>
<div class=3D"" style=3D"margin:2px 0px 0px;font-family:arial,sans-serif;fo=
nt-size:13px"><div id=3D":3ty" class=3D"" tabindex=3D"0"><img class=3D"" sr=
c=3D"https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/images/cleardot.gif"></div></div><div=
 class=3D"im" style=3D"font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">
<div>Contact me if you&#39;re interested. I&#39;m very motivated to make th=
is work. I hope you are too!<br></div><div><br></div><div>Greetings,</div><=
div><br></div><div><br></div><div><div style=3D"color:rgb(34,34,34);font-fa=
mily:arial;font-size:small">
<br></div><span style=3D"color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial;font-size:sm=
all">--=A0</span><br style=3D"color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial;font-si=
ze:small"><span style=3D"color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial;font-size:sm=
all">Project Manager of Crystal Space (<a href=3D"http://www.crystalspace3d=
.org">http://www.crystalspace3d.org</a>)</span><br style=3D"color:rgb(34,34=
,34);font-family:arial;font-size:small">
<span style=3D"color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial;font-size:small">and C=
EL (<a href=3D"http://cel.crystalspace3d.org">http://cel.crystalspace3d.org=
</a>)</span><br style=3D"color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial;font-size:sm=
all">
<span style=3D"color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial;font-size:small">Suppo=
rt Crystal Space. Donate at <a href=3D"https://sourceforge.net/donate/index=
.php?group_id=3D649">https://sourceforge.net/donate/index.php?group_id=3D64=
9</a></span><br style=3D"color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial;font-size:sm=
all">
<span style=3D"color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial;font-size:small">Perso=
nal page: <a href=3D"http://users.telenet.be/jorritTyberghein/">http://user=
s.telenet.be/jorritTyberghein/</a></span><span style=3D"color:rgb(34,34,34)=
">Hi all,</span><div style=3D"color:rgb(34,34,34)">
<br></div></div></div></div>

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