Composer Looking to Team Up

Well hey there,

I’m Keith.

And as you can tell from the title, I am a composer looking to put together a team for an RPG project. Not just any project though-  the final product is to be one of,  if not the greatest freeware RPG games ever released.  I want gamers who’ve never even heard of rpg maker to be playing this game. 
Ambitious?  You betcha.

My roommate will be collaborating with me on the soundtrack. We are both currently enrolled at Berklee College of Music and will master the entire OST before the games release. We'll be creating the music using Reason 4.0 and Logic Pro 8- two professional digital audio sequencing programs. 

The music is influenced by a combination of hip hop (the good kind) and electronic music with orchestral techniques tied into the mix(think Persona 3 minus the Jpop). Therefore, the game’s world should have technology comparable to our present time or have a futuristic setting.
http://www.sendspace.com/file/dynqa6 is the link where you can download a 5 song sampler of what we’ve been working on. Keep in mind these songs are all demos and the mixes are not finished.

Now I want this game to be great, but what makes a classic RPG game??? 

We can agree the factors include an unforgettable storyline (particularly one where the player grows attached to the world and characters), balanced and FUN gameplay, a soundtrack that appropriately conveys the current mood or atmosphere, and a consistent graphical style that draws (hahahah! pun) the player into the world.   

Here’s the problem with most RPG maker projects- it’s one man trying to do it all. Examples include the music, animations, storyline, characters, and mapping.  Screenshots are generally the first impression potential players take note of. If they see what looks like a messy deuce of mapping and awful character portraits, they probably won’t even bother reading about its story description… no matter how phenomenal it may be.
   
No game maker is talented in all departments. So they borrow.

It’s hard to get sucked into a game when the town theme is an already familiar song. “Oh wait that’s an ff7 midi track”. Talk about an instant reminder you’re playing just another RPG maker game.

The same thing can be applied to graphics. How many times have you seen the same chest graphic in different games? How about two different games using the same main character sprite? All turn offs.

This game will feature a 100% original mp3 soundtrack and graphics. Anyone involved with the project will stick to what they’re best at.  Doing so will allow us to make progress at a much faster rate,  less work for everyone, and have a more polished game.

So….
Who am I looking for?


You’re a great story/scenario writer? GET AT ME
I won’t get into the specifics of what exactly I’m looking for, but I will say if it involves a 14 year old looking to save the world for no apparent reason- I’ll pass. I’m a fan of characters and storylines from game series such as Persona and Shadow Hearts.   


You’ve got skills in graphic design? GET AT ME


You’re a coding guru? GET AT ME- The project will be made in either XP, VX, or Toolkit.

You’re the hotdog eating contest champion of the neighborhood? That’s awesome. Unfortunately, it won’t benefit the project at this time. Sorry.


Have a skill (or know somebody who does) not mentioned that would help out with the development of the game? GET AT ME



Most importantly I’m looking for talented people who have the free time to work on the game and are passionate about game making. I’m willing to put in a huge amount time and effort to make a stellar soundtrack because of my love for music and RPGs.  I’m not the only one looking to release a game on this level so I’ll be posting this on other forums to reach as many people possible.  Experience is a plus and you must be able provide an example of your work.   
You can get in contact with me by sending an email to heyitskeith@hotmail.com or by replying to this thread.

Again here is the link to the soundtrack sampler.
http://www.sendspace.com/file/dynqa6


Feel free to leave feedback such as “that was awesome”, or “yep. boner!” or  “keith, this music sucks. i hate your face.” Note:  Picking option 3 may get you shanked. Yea.  eshanked.

DISCLAIMER: THE OPINIONS IN THE FOLLOWING POST ARE THE AUTHOR'S ALONE, AND DO NOT REPRESENT THE VIEW OF RMRK AS A WHOLE.

So you want to make an RPG Maker game that is going to amaze even the most jaded of gamers, but you need to recruit people to do everything but make the soundtrack? Good luck with that. It only took reading three lines of your post for my bullshit meter to go off the chart. I've known people like you in the past; self-congratulating folks who think that saying something is great makes it so. Ignoring the fact that your post is, at heart, a gallery of auto-fellatio, you'd most likely have better results if you found a project already in the works and tried to climb aboard. I'm not saying that your music is bad. I listened to the preview that you posted, and it shows that you're competent, if not original. I'm just saying that you'd have a better chance at finding a team without all of the needless hyperbole. We've all heard these claims of excellence before. I hope you do find a team, and I hope you do end up making something groundbreaking, but I can't help but roll my eyes at your choice of words.

people who start game projects usually do more than one thing themselves...

script + map
script + events
map + events
so on...

Forgive us.

This isn't the best place to look for a team, nor is RPG maker (or toolkit) the best tool for what you want to do.

People (Usually epic pieces of crap, not that i think you are, you actually seem to be alright) will post these ambitious projects, and then give up on them a week later. Before you start on this, be sure you're going to stick with it. Maybe you've made a few games before, that's awesome. If you have the drive, I'm pretty sure you'll be able to make a decent game, at the least. Alright, I've already started with the advice. Now let me give the advice i intended to give you: Try to learn a programming language. Find yourself some nice C++ or Basic or something. Sound too hard for you? Well then you are not ready for this project of yours, sonny. But after you've learned this language, go ahead. Make a couple of mockups, demos, maybe even a website. Then, find a team. Not here. Oh god, not here. Maybe you'll find some composers willing to work with you, but that's the extent of what you'll find here.

If you thought, oh god, i'm not doing that, too much work, then let me say this again: That point is completely moot. Go ahead. Give me a reason that you cannot do that. Maybe you don't think you're smart enough. Maybe you are under tight time constraints. Maybe you just don't want to. If you give me any of that, then you are simply not ready to do this. Perhaps you can try, but i wouldn't recommend getting a team toghether for something that isn't going to work out.

That's my advice. Sorry if i come off as too critical, I'm assuming several things here that may not fit you. If you are willing to go through with my advice, good luck. I'll believe in you :3

OH, AND AN EDIT: The reason i think you should learn a programming language instead of using a game maker is that people will take you more seriously. You're aiming to appeal to a larger audience than just people in the RPG making community, but the fact of the matter is that people who make online games with game makers play games made with game makers. Random people who play freeware games but have never used/heard of RPG maker will not play your game, they won't be able to find it. People like that just don't lurk in these corners of the internet, nor do they want to play those games at all. I doubt you will revolutionize a corner of the internet that is based around "AN EASIER WAY TO DO THIS!" because people with such vision usually move on to more professional things.

That's all.

Holk, you negative nancy you. 

I'm sure you guys get tons of, "Yo looking to team up for a great game!" posts in this forum. In that post they have nothing but 3 sentences of some whack plot description and they're already asking for artists. Don't let that give you tunnel vision on what I'm trying to put together. Whether you like the music or not is up to you, but its fair to say songs like these take wayyy more effort than a midi track.

If you thought, oh god, i'm not doing that, too much work, then let me say this again: That point is completely moot. Go ahead. Give me a reason that you cannot do that. Maybe you don't think you're smart enough. Maybe you are under tight time constraints. Maybe you just don't want to. If you give me any of that, then you are simply not ready to do this.

The project would stand out through original content. If I did an awesome job programming- the story and custom graphics would be awful. The reasons I want it to be a collaboration are explained in the first post. You never know, there could be talented graphic designer lurking on this board waiting to be a part of something like this.     


I'm going to do my best to have the soundtrack on the level of a commercial release- so why wouldn't I want people with the same mindset?

If you thought, oh god, i'm not doing that, too much work, then let me say this again: That point is completely moot. Go ahead. Give me a reason that you cannot do that. Maybe you don't think you're smart enough. Maybe you are under tight time constraints. Maybe you just don't want to. If you give me any of that, then you are simply not ready to do this.

The project would stand out through original content. If I did an awesome job programming- the story and custom graphics would be awful. The reasons I want it to be a collaboration are explained in the first post. You never know, there could be talented graphic designer lurking on this board waiting to be a part of something like this.     

?

I'm not sure how that statement in particular has any relevance to what you said.

Basically, what i'm saying is that RPG maker isn't right for this vision. You may want to revolutionize that, but what i'm saying is that there isn't much point in revolutionizing an engine that is basically made so that people who don't want to learn how to program can make games. This isn't something that is solid because these people either move on to more complicated things or give up the whole concept completely. I don't think the general public has ever taken RPG maker seriously, and there's a good reason for that: It's just a crutch. Some people learn to walk, and some people decide walking is too much work. Either way, no one's going to be using RPG maker forever.

And yes, we do get alot of project recruitment topics around here. That doesn't mean anyone gets any teams .

Holk, you negative nancy you. 

Yes, do not mind Holk. He is used to new people spewing bullshit all over the place :3.

And using the crutch metaphor again: There isn't any point in making the special olympics for people with crutches.

haha fair enough. You were saying how I should be getting into programming code. I'm here to be contributing music to the project. The fact that I can't program in C++ has nothing to do with what I'm trying to accomplish.

I've seen games made on these "crutch" programs with custom graphics that legitimately look like a ps1 game. Now take that graphic quality plus completely original mp3 soundtrack and great storyline.....I don't see anyone working together like that.

Alright, i can sort of see where you're coming from now, except it's probably a good idea to learn code in your position just because you should have some influence in that area. I assume you have some concepts going.

...

You're also probably not getting any help here, like i said before. Sorry 

How can you "see where he's coming from"? There's nothing of value being said in any of his posts. They're all just buzz words and catch phrases like, "plus completely original mp3 soundtrack". This isn't original. It's what every game should have.

Lol, I would be hating on this kid if his post was like:

HAI GUYZ I AM MAKING TEHIS GAME IT'S GONNA BE TEH BEST GAME EVAH!!!111

I'M JUZT DOING THE MUZIC THOUG AND NO I DONT HAVE PICSSSS.

But he seems sort of literate and he actually bothered to write down what elements he's implementing, even if they are what all good games should have.

And he wants to make a good game. So.

How can you "see where he's coming from"? There's nothing of value being said in any of his posts. They're all just buzz words and catch phrases like, "plus completely original mp3 soundtrack". This isn't original. It's what every game should have.

What percentage of Rpg Maker games do? Like .5%. Talk about saying nothing of value, Holk.

You also seem to be confused by the definition of "original."
As in the mp3s won't be taken from another game's soundtrack.

That's why he said its something every game should have. Hardly any actually do, and usually those never get finished anyway.

Anyway, this isn't a very good place to request for a team. There really isn't a ton of people who actually use RPG Maker often here. A lot of us are just here cause we like the community or something like that. Of those that actually use the program, only a handful are actually talented enough to help, and they're pretty caught up in their own projects.

an original soundtrack =/= having an original soundtrack is an original idea.

He's not saying having a unique soundtrack is an ORIGINAL idea, he's saying he wants to create an original (meaning unique) soundtrack for his game. Its no shit that he understands that every game should have a ORIGINAL (unique) soundtrack but lets face the facts, they dont.

your both confused on what the other is saying

Resolved? If so, add [RESOLVED] to the topic title by editing the title in the first post.

Here’s the problem with most RPG maker projects- it’s one man trying to do it all. Examples include the music, animations, storyline, characters, and mapping.  Screenshots are generally the first impression potential players take note of. If they see what looks like a messy deuce of mapping and awful character portraits, they probably won’t even bother reading about its story description… no matter how phenomenal it may be.
  
No game maker is talented in all departments. So they borrow.

No, the problem with RPG Maker projects is that they are RPG Maker projects. They're not meant to be full-blown, highly renowned successful indie titles that win awards left and right. Most people are intelligent enough to realize that RPG Maker is more of a toy than a software development platform, and don't take it as seriously as you're trying to. I think your ambition is great, it's just horribly misguided. Look for a real game development program if you really want everything you're prophesying, or as kitkat suggested, find someone who knows how to code.

As for your latter statement, there have been games made before by a one-man team. It's entirely possible, even if it's not probable.