Presenting a brand-new game and looking for collaborators

[saimo]

Hi everybody,

since late 2004 I have been working almost without pause at a brand-new shoot'em up (working title: "uniVERSUS") which, I hope, should appeal to many.
The point I'm at now is critical, as I badly need graphics and level design.
As for graphics, since there are four different kinds (backgrounds*, sprites*, cutscenes and terminal GUIs** - *most urgent; **the current graphics can be considered final), the work can be done also by several graphicians (but, of course, no more than one pixeller per kind), provided they can make their styles match/blend nicely. Graphics are 2D and must be the result of a human hand driven by a human mind - I mean, no stuff where automated calculation is evident. Hand-pixelled graphics are preferred.
As for level design, I need people that have fantasy and patience to learn technical docs.
Anybody who wants and is able to seriously commit himself/herself to a demanding yet very interesting and promising project is invited to contact me privately (email: saimobvq%interfree:it). I will answer to each and every application and, of course, I will eventually choose those who impress me most and with whom communication is easier.

Now, I guess that such an announcement would be rather uninteresting if I did not disclose any other information, right?

uniVERSUS is a vertical shoot'em-up which aims at being highly innovative while sporting, at the same time, a great oldskool style - in a nutshell, it wants to be a "retro-innovative" game.
It is created with passion, love, careful handcraftmanship and a touch of bedroom-coding insanity; it features fresh ideas never seen before in the genre; it is based on and enriched by complex techniques and mechanics, which, however, do not affect playability in a negative way as the gameplay is engineered to let the player always feel in command and truly enjoy the progress through carefully designed levels.
It targets both newbies and experts of this semi-forgotten genre and, even if the reasons will be inevitably different, it hopes to provide both with lots of pure fun.

uniVERSUS is intended to be released commercially for AmigaOS 4, Linux, MacOS X, Windows XP and possibly other platforms (with AmigaOS 4 receving a "special treatment" as a helping push in this difficult moment) - note that, although developed mainly on AmigaOS 4, uniVERSUS is constantly tested on other platforms as well, so this is not just wishful thinking.
Compensations of all the team members (me included) will be proportional to the amount of work done and to the sales income.

Those who aren't happy with just words (who can blame them?) can surf to the project website and download a WIP demo for AmigaOS 4 or Windows. It is very important, however, to keep in mind that the lack of decent graphics and proper levels does not allow the demo to show the real potential, so I absolutely recommed to read carefully the enclosed design documentation.

Enjoy, and remember that my mailbox is ready to be crammed by your applications!
saimo

P.S. This is already being discussed on AW.net (this is the thread). Since it would be demanding for me to follow several threads (as inevitably I would end up being asked the same questions), I'd like to ask you to partecipate, if possible, to the discussion over there (of course, I'll actively follow this thread as well). Thank you.

[saimo]

Sounds amazing!

Thank you. If you can, check out the demo.

Do you need a musician?

Eventually I'll need one, but not now - you know, it takes time to coordinate more people, and ATM there are other aspects to take care of. Thanks anyway :-)

saimo

[saimo]

I can write any style you need for the game - techno, drum 'n' bass, electronica, classical :lol:

I'd like rock/metal progressive, indeed ;-)
Not to mention that during the action phases, I'd prefer having gazillions of sound effects and no tune at all...

Let me know if you want to hear some examples of what I can do and if you want me to start working on some music for your game.

Thanks for the offer. As said, ATM I have already my hands full. Moreover, it's incredible how easy is to find musicians (during these years many wanted to contribute, and I had to turn them down exactly like I'm doing right now) and how *impossible* is to find graphician :cry:

saimo

[saimo]

The Windows XP version needs SDL.dll to work. Asks me to reinstall the application to fix this problem.

Yep (BTW: it's documented in the demos subpage of the website).

Awkward controls.  I was using arrow keys to move and mouse button to fire...

To shoot with the normal weapons, use 'x'; to shoot with the special weapons, use the spacebar.
For more information about the controls, have a look at the "Controls" section of the documentation included in the "design" folder.

BTW: spaceship controls can be edited in the uniVERSUS/data/miscellaneous/configuration.txt file. As explained in several places, for now there is no configuration utility, however the game *is* configurable.

Why not move with the mouse?  Would be a lot better.

Given the mechanics, that would be just unpractical. There will be support for joypads/joysticks, though.
Thanks for the suggestion anyway :-)

saimo

[saimo]

Well keep me in mind if you need me to do some title music, even if you don't want anything in-game :-)

Honestly, I have also a couple of friends here in my town that could help (and I could also do something myself with my guitar). If when I need music they will not be able to help, I'll post another announcement, which you are of course welcome to respond to ;-) - I can't be the other way around (i.e. *me* contacting *musicians*) as it would take too much time and energies (I've already been through that with pixellers, that's why eventually I went for the public announcement). I hope you understand.

saimo

[saimo]

Intro and game menus are very good. Like professional.

Thank you :-D
The cutscenes, indeed, are meant to be just temporary stuff to fill the void what would otherwise appear on your screen ;-)

But ship movements in the game are awfull. I think requres hard work in coding.

I hope you don't get offended if I post the reply I wrote to a similar remark on AW.net:

:rtfm:
The game simulates physics, so there are lots of factors involved: inertia, friction, spaceship weight, engine power, etc.
Pick a different ship, and you'll notice a different behaviour (well, actually, among those that I have prepared, only the one named "F-L-A-S-H" really stands out, as it mounts a special braking device). Or try the same ship in the void of the space, and you'll see that it moves differently.
Since in the final version it's up to the player to build the spaceship that suits his needs according to the scenario to face, this makes for a great strategic aspect.
(As for the :rtfm: above... just kidding )

saimo

[saimo]

@thread

Thanks to the heads-up of a user, I realized that in the previous release I gave only generic indications as regards the controls. This has probably caused troubles to those who bothered checking out the demo and maybe did not even make them enjoy it to the fullest. I'm very sorry about that. It is now available for download a new version that shows the list of controls right at the beginning. Among other (small) things, it also:
- fixes a bug that would cause the game to suddenly quit under Windows;
- allows to choose whether to use the clones once and for all from the main configuration file (in the file uniVERSUS/data/miscellaneous/configuration.txt, the "CLONES_MODE" line accepts the values: "ask", "always" and "never").

A couple of additional hints:
- since the game simulates physics, the first times it may be difficult to play; the spaceship called "F-L-A-S-H" mounts a special braking device that makes life a lot easier;
- for those who want to get to the action almost immediately, this is an example of settings for the abovementioned configuration.txt file:

Code: [Select]


KEY.UP              up
KEY.DOWN            down
KEY.LEFT            left
KEY.RIGHT           right
KEY.SELECT          tab
KEY.FIRE0           x
KEY.FIRE1           space
KEY.SPIN            s
VIDEO_MODE          fullscreen
HERO_NAME           Isao Ota
CUTSCENES_MODE      never
RECRUITMENT_MODE    never
CLONES_MODE         always

Enjoy,
saimo

[saimo]

@thread

Hi again,

I'd like to inform you that the currently available version now features the following improvements with respect to that released at the time of the announcement:
 * the spaceport is now 99% complete: spaceships can be built from the scratch, parts can be bought/sold/mounted/dis-mounted/re-mounted, etc.;
 * there are new weapons and spaceship setups;
 * there is a brand new scenario (Lithlet);
 * joystick/joypad support has been added;
 * finally there is a configuration utility;
 * lots of internal improvements, bugfixes, etc.

You can download the latest version from the website, where you can also find a new section showing many screenshots.

Unfortunately, development has slowed down considerably (practically stopped) in the last two weeks because of lack of collaborators - honestly, it looks like the project is going to die soon. I'd love if you could help in any useful way to keep it alive.

Cheers,
saimo

[saimo]

Sorry, double post.

saimo

[saimo]

Nice.

Thanks :-)

On the screenshots page, the last screenshot looks like one of the bosses off of Radiant Silvergun on the Sega Saturn.

I don't know that game. Anyway, the graphics of that boss (and of all the other enemies) is absolutely temporary.

saimo

[saimo]

motorollin wrote:
Any chance of a MorphOS port?

It would be of course welcome, but I ATM don't have a MOS machine.
For that, the following are required:
 * libSDL (and SDL_mixer in future if/when audio will be implemented);
 * gcc + make;
 * a trusted way to compile everything (no, I'm not going to let sources freely float around the net).
Anyway, I've heard that the previous version of the demo already runs on MOS thanks to OS4Emu, although I don't know how well - comments about this are highly appreciated.

EDIT
Also, I notice on your web site you are advertising for pixellers. Well actually I really like the in-game graphics in the screenshots. The cell-shading style gives it a retro, comic-book feel, while at the same time keeping the graphics simple. It makes a nice change from the pseudo-industrial look adopted by pretty much every other SEU on the planet. If it was my game, I would keep the graphics as they are :-)

Thanks for the nice comments, but the current graphics suffer from the following problems:
 * the background styles are mixed (there are three different styles: The Chaos Engine's, Lithlet's and Solar System's);
 * I cannot use the graphics ripped off The Chaos Engine;
 * the objects graphics have a totally different style from the backgrounds;
 * the objects graphics are a rough/simple/bad/whatever - they would need much more work;
 * the amount of graphics is absolutely insufficient;
 * I can't anyway draw all that's missing even if I kept the current graphics and style.

As for the overall style, I agree: I don't want the game to look like any modern one: I don't absolutely want rendered graphics! What I'd love is anime or oldskool-demoscene (think of Banshee) style graphics.

saimo

[saimo]

motorollin wrote:
I'll try it on my PegII and let you know.

Thanks, that will be helpful and interesting.

saimo wrote:
 * the objects graphics are a rough/simple/bad/whatever - they would need much more work;

I disagree here - I think the objects (ships/enemies etc) look great. I love the style.

Well, what can I say... can't debate tastes. Anyway, I'm the one who made them, so I know they could be better ;-)

saimo wrote:
 * the amount of graphics is absolutely insufficient;
 * I can't anyway draw all that's missing even if I kept the current graphics and style.

Ahhh, hence the need for a pixeller :-)

Precisely ;-)
Indeed, I think that at least 2 pixellers are needed, plus a graphician for the cutscenes.

But Banshee has already been made :-)

That's true, but of course I did not mean I want a copy...


[/quote]I really love the cell-shaded graphics. I think they make the graphics really stand out and if done well can look very classy. Play XIII on the XBOX/PS2 and you will see what I mean.[/quote]
I know that very well ;-)
It's years I've been thinking of that... way before it was implemented the first time... I remember once seeing a DreamCast game that applied that technique to just the main character (IIRC it was a skateboarding game) and was very happy to see my idea was so cool ;-)
That's basically why I say I'd like anime-style graphics and why I drew the current graphics that way :-D

saimo

[saimo]

motorollin wrote:
The game does run under OS4Emu on MorphOS, but it's a bit unstable (tends to hang at random point).

OK. Thanks for trying :-)

I haven't actually got in to the game yet as I find the "setup" section very confusing. When I try to press OK it tells me "Modules missing". What do I need to select to let me play the game?

This game lets the player build the spaceship exactly as he/she pleases so, before any level, it is necessary to build/customize the spaceship. At first this may be confusing, so I recommed you choose a pre-defined setup (recommended ones: F-L-A-S-H for ease of use, TechForce for power).

saimo

[saimo]

motorollin wrote:
I clicked on "F-L-A-S-H" and the little red wedge thing appeared on the right hand side, but when I press OK it still says "modules missing". On the Spaceship page only the Wedge is listed  :-(

It looks like the building process of the spaceships fails.
When you hover with the mouse on the setups, can you see the spaceships in their entirety (f.ex., see this screenshot)?
I'm afraid I can't help much, as the thing works flawlessly on both AOS4 and Windows. I will look into it when back home, however.

saimo

[saimo]

motorollin wrote:
No, when I hover over the setup I only see one component.

Ah, OK. Then the building process is definitely broken.

I added the HelioCompressor and it allowed me to proceed, but then the game hung.

Well, no wonder... who knows how corrupted the spaceship in memory is... in fact, if the only piece actually mounted were wedge (as it seems), you would not even be allowed to mount HelioCompressor.

It's obvously not compatible enough with OS4Emu to allow it to work.

That seems likely, although I can't rule out that maybe there is some hidden bug that pops up only in particular conditions...

If you want me to test a later version which may fix it at any point, let me know and I'll give it a go.

Honestly, I don't think I'm going to work on the code anymore... not until I find some collaborators.
I will only have a quick look at that part of the engine when back home and also ensure I have properly built everything.
BTW: I just tested the Windows version also on this machine, which in the past did give me problems, and everything just works.

saimo