Updated Version Posted
“Hey guys, I’m barely gonna tell you anything about my games, but I need you guys to sign up to work on them. Oh btw I haven’t done any work on them, that’s your job”
Okay, seems uncalled for especially since you don’t know me, I guess you’re trolling or whatever, but I need a team to help make the games, my job is to do what I can for the game as a writer, concept artist and project lead, which unfortunately is not everything. I wish I could do everything to complete the games but it’s not possible. I have however done a lot for the games and I have a small team working with me but I need more people to help me push them past the concept phase. If you’re not interested, please don’t comment, by all means skip the post, but don’t troll the post because you don’t agree or have issues with it. I am very much serious about creating these games and I don’t need random people talking down on what they don’t know. This might be an overreaction to a comment so I’ll stop now, sorry about the long rant, it was probably uncalled for.
“what I can for the game as a writer, concept artist and project lead” Problem is that some persons here assimilate those words as 0% of work in the game development, and i think they are right when it comes to “volunteer work” on an open forum. We get that alot here, “people with ideas”.
First up, I am not looking to volunteer for it… Just here to give some advice,
Games… Take a lot of work… A LOT OF WORK… I suggest you try to focus on one due to how hard it is to make one, making two at the same time will just make both of them nothing special, because you will split up half your time with each… and then more time just getting your head thinking in the two vastly different worlds… but focusing on one, making it the best you can, you could do something special. Do one now, and one when you finish… just dont try to do both of them at the same time.
The next thing, is getting people interested… Right now, it doesnt seem like you would be hands on at all… all you have produced is some prelim concept art… people need to see some cool visuals to get excited. look at http://portfolio.cgsociety.org/ for examples of imagery that would get me excited, also think about learning some of the skills yourself… many small studios have the leads actually doing hands on work as well…
Pretty much you need to prove yourself to people, for people to donate their time to you to help make the game… If they donate say 100 hours doing 3D modelling to you, and you do nothing… they have essentially invested a couple of grand into the project and nothing has come of it. The question is, why should they invest their time into you, vs their own ideas / vs someone else on this forum? you need to make your work stand out.
This is the 5th thread you’ve started in the Volunteer Work forum in the last two and a half months.
If they are for the same ‘job’ why do you keep creating new threads ?
If they are for different ‘jobs’ it wouldn’t give me much confidence any future ideas are going anywhere either.
Rather than trying to do two projects at once, concentrate ‘your small team’ on one project to a position where other people can actually see you’re committed to it. You can then use that to attract a wider team. A few pretty pictures on their own mean zero
I’m sorry if I came across as rude, but basically, I was getting at the same thing these guys are. Look through the volunteer work forum, and see how many threads there are with people who have “big unique ideas” with absolutely zip to show for it.
I hear what you’re all saying, but the fact of the matter is I’ve heard it all before. When I say that I am doing everything I can as a writer, concept artist and project lead, I mean that I am writing the story, characters, location details, weapons, items, equipment, enemies, stats for all of it, game design documents, what concept art I can do (because as stated above, I’m a beginner and I’m still learning), not to mention I am also learning modeling and animating, and I’m getting ready to learn programming so that I can contribute more to the development process. I didn’t add that above because, honestly my modeling and animating skills are crap at the moment and no one cares about what I’ll eventually learn.
The reason I’m doing multiple games at once is because I am constantly thinking of several ideas at once, all of which I can see in great detail and am writing in great detail. The problems I’m having are that I find the right people at the wrong time, like I find a programmer but no modeler, a modeler who works from concepts but not another concept artist who can do what I can’t, a music person but no visuals for them to work from, and so on. Because of these set backs, I find people who end up leaving because they don’t have what they need to continue. That happens because I find people who aren’t actually serious about creating games and leave before completing the first task I give them, (this has happened more times than I would like to admit). Then there are these forum replies.
Don’t get me wrong, I hear what you’re all saying and I appreciate the advice, I really do, but it’s nothing new, and it’s all under the assumption that I’m not doing the research necessary, or that I won’t be doing any of the work myself, which is all false. I’m constantly doing research, and I’m constantly working to get my skill to the level they need to be at, but until that point a majority of my work is in writing. You post these replies because you’re trying to help, but it’s not helping, you’re talking about what you’ve seen before, which will drive away people who see them because they will then believe that it’s just another post and skip over it.
I’m sorry for the long reply and I really don’t mean to rant but I really don’t understand these replies. What you write with good intentions only comes off as negative. The fact is, I’m very much serious and determined to make these games a reality, because myself and those who hear the details, believe they are great ideas and I personally believe they will make history and win awards, even if they don’t get many fans at first.
I’m going to end this soon but I have one more thing to say, and it may sound a bit cliched but, for everyone who has seen my posts and only give the, give up, lower your expectations, only do one game, do most of it yourself and then find people, etc., please keep watching. It won’t happen immediately and may not even happen soon, but these games will be released and they will be amazing. But until then, if you only have reasons why it may not work, or you just don’t want to join the team, please don’t reply, it takes less effort on your part and far less on mine. I’ve heard it all in a fairly short time, I don’t need the negative repetition, it really doesn’t help.
Well, you can’t say we didn’t try to warn you…
Thank you.
“I’ve heard this before, so I’m just going to ignore everything you said”
I understand where you’re coming from, I do. I myself have been toying with the idea of getting a small team of talented people together, I haven’t yet had the courage to take the step, but I know it can be a big decision. I’ve also been part of dead-end projects that looked incredibly well organized and promising at first, as I imagine a lot of people on BA have been. Therefore you can imagine the scepticism with which threads similar to this one are met.
As I’m currently working on my own project, I am unable to join your project. But what I can give you is this:
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When starting a collaborative project, outline the general idea of what direction you’re heading (without giving away your entire storyline of course).
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You say you’re a beginning concept artist; show people what you’ve done. It doesn’t matter how much of a beginner you are, or how much of a pro you are, you will always learn from the experience of working with other people along the way. And people will become all the more curious what you’re all about if you’ve got something to show for.
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I know you’re excited to get on with the project, hell… I feel the same way about my own! You want to make something big, you want people to be as excited as you are about the world you’ve envisioned. However, I myself would refrain from referring to prizes and recognition vefore you’ve assembled your team (there’s plenty of time to get excited as you’re discussing it with said team). First and foremost, it should be about passion, fun, and creating something that you can feel proud of. Get people excited about your project, and a team will follow!
That’s all I can give you at the moment, and I wish you the best of luck on your project!
Searching for your username, I see on conceptart.org earlier in the year you were working on 6 different game projects.
Looking for design teams for 6 Separate Game ProjectsHello Everyone
My name is Terran Thomas, I am a beginner concept artist and story writer. I am a student going for a degree in game art, and am currently working on 6 video games and I am looking artist and developing artist interested in working on a project for the experience. These are all non paying jobs meant to serve as a boost for ones resume, and to help all involved to gain experience, create something amazing and with any luck a payoff in the end.
Needed: 2D and 3D Set Designers, Level Designers, Animators, Character Designers, Concept Artists, Storyboard Artists, Programmers and/or any combination of the mentioned, of any skill level. Perhaps most importantly we need a Project Manager who can help organize the groups, give assignments an keep everyone inn touch without trying to run the projects. These games are all story driven games of different genres.
The games are:
A 3D Multi-Genre Shooter With 5 Mini Games- Long Term
A 3D Fighting games - Long Term
A 3D Hack and Slash Rougelike game - Short Term
A Side Scrolling Metroidvania game - Short to Long Term
A Side Scrolling Stealth game - Short Term
and A 2D Action Hero Platformer Game - Short Term
I understand that these may seem like a lot but I assure you all that they can be done very well and in a reasonable amount of time.
At least you are heading in the right direction.
The reason I’m doing multiple games at once is because I am constantly thinking of several ideas at once, all of which I can see in great detail and am writing in great detail. The problems I’m having are that I find the right people at the wrong time, like I find a programmer but no modeler, a modeler who works from concepts but not another concept artist who can do what I can’t, a music person but no visuals for them to work from, and so on. Because of these set backs, I find people who end up leaving because they don’t have what they need to continue. That happens because I find people who aren’t actually serious about creating games and leave before completing the first task I give them, (this has happened more times than I would like to admit). Then there are these forum replies.
If you want to be a successful project lead you need to learn to focus. I’d rather make 1 decent game than 2 or 6 really crap ones.
I’m going to end this soon but I have one more thing to say, and it may sound a bit cliched but, for everyone who has seen my posts and only give the, give up, lower your expectations, only do one game, do most of it yourself and then find people, etc., please keep watching. It won’t happen immediately and may not even happen soon, but these games will be released and they will be amazing.
You do realise we’ve heard the same thing countless times from countless enthusiastic people. These are precisely the kind of projects that go nowhere. You need to focus your effort, put some kind of demo together (graphics can be crap, the gameplay is the important thing) to attract other like minded people who feel it worth their while getting involved. Then, and only then, you may end up with something
^^^ This. It captures my opinion perfectly.
This thread actually has a lot of good advice for anyone who has a project to list in the volunteer subforum here. I’ll certainly take it even if the OP doesn’t.
A while ago I was part of a volunteer group who were trying to make 3 games at the same time. Even though they had the best of intentions, it all fell through because the person directing the team couldn’t keep up with everyone on the team. He knew how to make a game, but he wasn’t able to manage 3 large, ambitious projects by himself.
In the description of one of the deviations you posted (this one), you say it took “Weeks I believe, maybe a month.” This was followed by “My work ethic sucks big time. I really need to step it up.”
Do you really have the drive to manage two rather ambitious game projects?
There is a reason why you’ve heard it before - it’s good advice. We aren’t saying that you should give up, we are trying to suggest you make a smaller project to get a taste for project management first. We’ve seen many, many people make the same mistake before.
First to Disfixional, thank you very much and best of luck to your project as well. Second, at the moment I’m a concept artist, writer and project lead. I can’t make much progress with the teams I have because The teams I have are missing people from necessary areas. The people I’m working with are great, and serious about the projects, but without certain people, we can’t go too far.
A prototype is the very first step. I know that once I have more to show, I’ll find more people, but without the people to help with that, it becomes a problem. That’s why I’m creating threads on forums, so I can find the people I need to move the games ahead.
I stopped posting for the other 4 games because I couldn’t enough people who were really interested in those particular ideas, that doesn’t mean I myself am not working on them, it just means I’ve picked the ones that people wanted to work on the most to post for and chose to find teams for the others later, possibly after these ones are done, or when they’re farther along, I don’t know yet.
If you feel like this is just another post, that’s fine, you don’t need to reply to it, but I don’t feel that way. I’m focusing my efforts on making these games the best they can be. I know the risks that come with doing multiple games, and I know how it looks to others, but I also know, it has been done before, I’m not the first to do this and I won’t be the last.
The worst that’ll come from doing this is failure, which I see as experience, a learning lesson and a reason to try harder and do better the next time. So I ask, and I don’t mean to come off as rude or whatever, and I’m sorry if that’s how it seems, but please, if you’re only going to say the usual, we’ve seen this before, your post is nothing new, it’s a dime a dozen, or whatever other negative thing you choose to say, don’t. I’ve said what I have to say on it and I don’t feel like defending my posts to people who don’t know, don’t want to know and just don’t care about the projects. There’s no reason for you to reply, you’re only taking up space on the threads, it’s just tiring to see and debate, and it’s a waste of time and focus on all sides. That said, if you are interested and serious about games, please feel free to contact me, I would love to hear from you.
At the time I posted that, I was the only one on the team showing any work, plus I was switching back and forth between other concepts that are on the site, mainly the one’s just before it. So to answer your question, yes I do know that I have the drive to and can lead these teams, but I also have others with me who can help with leading the teams. I am the project lead, but it’s not just me, the teams I have are that, teams. We are and will work together to make progress on the games.
I didn’t see the reply before the one I put up a few minutes ago.
I’m going to stop now. This is taking too much time and attention away from working on the games. Thank you all for the advice, it has been noted. If you’re interested in the projects, please reply to the post, private message me, email me or Skype me, if not, don’t. Thank you.