Pixel Joint Forum: A simple Inquiry

Message

Hello.

I'm a game developer with over 12 years of development experience in the game industry.
I am in no way one of those 15 year old kids looking to make the next “World of
Warcraft” using RPG Maker or anything like that.

I have worked on the Ultima and Crusader titles at Origin back in the 1990s. In
1999 I founded a company called Asylumsoft and I created and launched an
independent MMOG called Dransik which was sold to TKO Software in 2003 and re-branded
as Ashen Empires (www.ashenempires.com).
This game still runs today.

I have since moved on and started the groundwork on a new project. I’ve spent
the last year and a half building technology and a toolset for what will be my
next isometric MMOG. I have been looking around various sites trying to get an
idea if pixel artists are open to indi-projects or if they even take these
projects seriously. With all the noise of wanna-be game makers out there
boasting about their next big thing it is hard to filter out real projects from
vaporware, so I can understand initial skepticism. Right now I just want to get
a sense of how feasible it is to look for an artist or two on this site or
others like it.
Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,
-Jason Ely

www.lothgar.com

www.stygianworlds.com

Author	Message
Lothgar Seaman Joined: 23 November 2005 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 7	Topic: A simple Inquiry Posted: 14 December 2005 at 8:08am
	Hello. I'm a game developer with over 12 years of development experience in the game industry. I am in no way one of those 15 year old kids looking to make the next “World of Warcraft” using RPG Maker or anything like that. I have worked on the Ultima and Crusader titles at Origin back in the 1990s. In 1999 I founded a company called Asylumsoft and I created and launched an independent MMOG called Dransik which was sold to TKO Software in 2003 and re-branded as Ashen Empires (www.ashenempires.com). This game still runs today. I have since moved on and started the groundwork on a new project. I’ve spent the last year and a half building technology and a toolset for what will be my next isometric MMOG. I have been looking around various sites trying to get an idea if pixel artists are open to indi-projects or if they even take these projects seriously. With all the noise of wanna-be game makers out there boasting about their next big thing it is hard to filter out real projects from vaporware, so I can understand initial skepticism. Right now I just want to get a sense of how feasible it is to look for an artist or two on this site or others like it. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thank you, -Jason Ely www.lothgar.com www.stygianworlds.com
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PixelSnader Commander Not a troll! Joined: 05 June 2014 Online Status: Offline Posts: 3194	Posted: 14 December 2005 at 8:38am
	i would like to help you out on this, but alas, i am taken till about februari or something i dont know how long you are willing to wait, but if there's stuff to do in feb., just poke me =)
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Lothgar Seaman Joined: 23 November 2005 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 7	Posted: 14 December 2005 at 8:54am
	Snader, Thanks for the reply and the offer. I may or maynot have mentioned that I'm not ready for artwork at this time as I'm still very much polishing the tools and trying to get some basic game mechanics functional. I want to have a fully functional prototype after the first of the year. So Feburary/March is a perfect time. I will give you a poke as that time comes closer. Again thanks!
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Di0xygen Commander Joined: 03 July 2005 Online Status: Offline Posts: 401	Posted: 14 December 2005 at 8:57am
	oo i played dransik a lot, cool game btw Stopped playing when it became paying, didnt want to pay for that :P
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Lothgar Seaman Joined: 23 November 2005 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 7	Posted: 14 December 2005 at 9:02am
	Di0xygen, Thanks! :) I have Lothgar Online going right now which is in the spirit of Dransik (the tile version). It is running, but is rather empty as I've focused more on the new technology rather than adding gameplay. But feel free to download and play it. (www.lothgar.com) Lothgar Online and Stygian Worlds will be free games with Premium account options.
	-Jason Ely www.lothgar.com www.stygianworlds.com
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Shark Commander a.k.a. Feron Joined: 02 July 2005 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2136	Posted: 14 December 2005 at 10:20am
	you look like a serious guy, i can smell n00bs 3 miles away lol, what style are you looking for the game?
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Lothgar Seaman Joined: 23 November 2005 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 7	Posted: 14 December 2005 at 1:11pm
	Shark, Thanks! :) I want to stay away from a rendered/realistic look. We did that with Dransik/Ashen Empires and it made us look like Lineage and all the other Korean MMOGs. We were not able to stand out at all and the visuals were too busy for the eye. I want a more stylistic approach, something easy to look at and right with color. I love your medieval room. Check out the front page of www.stygianworlds.com, that should give you an idea of the style. Here are some other links of some of the proto-type artwork we have worked on... http://www.stygianworlds.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=300&a mp;whichpage=1 http://www.stygianworlds.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=832
	-Jason Ely www.lothgar.com www.stygianworlds.com
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Shark Commander a.k.a. Feron Joined: 02 July 2005 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2136	Posted: 14 December 2005 at 1:16pm
	wow that work is impressive, although it doesnt seem to be pure pixel art. will the graphics be like your pieces or will they be pure hand pixelled. also will it be another medieval type game?
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Lothgar Seaman Joined: 23 November 2005 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 7	Posted: 14 December 2005 at 1:33pm
	The game will be made up of pieces. In fact most things in the game are movable in every aspect. Books in the bookshelf, forks, plates on a table, and so on are all movable. Things are not bound to tiles or a grid. Everything can exist on a pixel level coordinate system. Everything has a cubic footpad as well. It is a medieval game but not a treadmill or hack/slash game. I have had ideas for other genres, but nothing seems to grasp the community that has been following me like a fantasy world. I know it is hard to break away from the mold and not seem like a "Me Too" type of game. However, after looking at some of the art on this site it would be very interesting to make a good QUALITY MMOG in a modern genre using the pixel art styles that are seen all over this site.
	-Jason Ely www.lothgar.com www.stygianworlds.com
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butcher Seaman Joined: 18 August 2005 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 2	Posted: 14 December 2005 at 1:37pm
	I'm game. My website is here: http://www.cleancutstudio.com My e-mail is here: rbpilotboy@hotmail.com I'm available for work immediately and look forward to hearing back from you. Thanks for your time!
	- Ryan Butcher
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Shark Commander a.k.a. Feron Joined: 02 July 2005 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2136	Posted: 14 December 2005 at 1:50pm
	i am also available, if you need to contact me please pm me/email me/add me to msn/ by clicking the profile buttom under this post. i would also be happy to make some trial graphics for you, to see if you like my style/ if im good enough for you.
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Lothgar Seaman Joined: 23 November 2005 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 7	Posted: 14 December 2005 at 2:32pm
	Shark, Thanks! I'll get in touch with you. I may not be doing much of anything over the next few weeks due to the holidays, but I will touch base with you before Christmas.
	-Jason Ely www.lothgar.com www.stygianworlds.com
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Shark Commander a.k.a. Feron Joined: 02 July 2005 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2136	Posted: 14 December 2005 at 3:14pm
	ok thanks! look forward to it.
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Demon Commander Joined: 16 March 2005 Online Status: Offline Posts: 562	Posted: 15 December 2005 at 4:15pm
	What language is the game being programmed in? Im guessing C++?
	"At least we killed some boredom..." - Death Note.
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Lothgar Seaman Joined: 23 November 2005 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 7	Posted: 19 December 2005 at 8:30am
	Demon, Yes, it is written in C++. I have also written a scripting language that all handles all object "Usecode" and much of the game logic.
	-Jason Ely www.lothgar.com www.stygianworlds.com
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randomblink Commander Joined: 13 February 2014 Online Status: Offline Posts: 403	Posted: 19 December 2005 at 9:00am
	Lothgar, I am very interested in what I have seen so far. I am still what I would call a newb to pixel art, but I have 10+ years in programming, technical writing, manual design, as well as other editing skills. I would love to help out some, time is my greatest enemy, but if you think you could use some help from someone with my skillset? I would love to see what you got... My website is: www.ninjasquirrels.com (currently down) My e-mail is: randomblink at ninjasquirrels dot com Let me know if I could lend a hand...
	www.randomblink.com I am me... no! Really!
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