Working on a game

[SJSOFT]

Hello there!

I'm the co-ceo of SJSOFT and we're working on a game called inferno. I work on design, and my partner does programming. We need to get started on the soundtrack but we've only got 2 songs completed. What I'm proposing here is that you can make some 8 bit stuff, and if it's good enough, you'll get your name in the credits. Hope this can happen! Also it's a platformer so I want some calm 8 bit

-Sam

[SJSOFT]

And maybe some intense 8 bit. Send me both the file from famitracker/any other program and the MP3

[Skrypnyk]

Hello there!

I'm the co-ceo of SJSOFT and we're working on a game called inferno. I work on design, and my partner does programming. We need to get started on the soundtrack but we've only got 2 songs completed. What I'm proposing here is that you can make some 8 bit stuff, and if it's good enough, you'll get your name in the credits. Hope this can happen! Also it's a platformer so I want some calm 8 bit

-Sam

Wowzers! What an honour!!

No need to get into details or anything, I'm sure you'll be flooded with responses soon.

[jnWake]

Man it has always been my dream to make songs that may not get credit!

I'll send you some stuff soon

[Garpocalypse]

Wowzers! What an honour!!

No need to get into details or anything, I'm sure you'll be flooded with responses soon.

Honor. Skryp. Honor. You guys were supposed to be the creators of this language remember?

Spending time to possibly get my name as a credit sounds pretty cool but it depends on a few things.

1. How long is said credit list

2. What is the font of said credit list mentioned in #1

3. How fast are these credits scrolling

These should be at the top of everyone's credit negotiation concerns as suggested to me by Zircon. Or actually it might have been a fortune cookie I just had.

[SJSOFT]

Honor. Skryp. Honor. You guys were supposed to be the creators of this language remember?

Spending time to possibly get my name as a credit sounds pretty cool but it depends on a few things.

1. How long is said credit list

2. What is the font of said credit list mentioned in #1

3. How fast are these credits scrolling

These should be at the top of everyone's credit negotiation concerns as suggested to me by Zircon. Or actually it might have been a fortune cookie I just had.

The length of the list will depend on how many software programs, language support, design, etc. Also on the # of people who've submitted the songs.

Why does the font matter? it's probably going to be is some rustic times new roman/hectilva text

The credits will run as long as the ending song is. (I expect it to be pretty long)

[Rozovian]

Thread moved to recruit&collab.

Guys, stop trolling the guy. If you don't have anything reasonable to offer, get out of the thread.

SJSOFT, provide some screenshots or something. A lot of developers drop by with little more than a concept, and most don't get off the ground. Is there a game, or is there just "gonna be" a game?

You need to provide more information.

[Meteo Xavier]

Actual questions that would be relevant:

1. How many songs are you looking for?

2. Can you give Youtube examples of what you're looking for?

3. What does one have to do to become composer for this project?

4. How far on this project are you guys?

I had one or two more, but I forgot what they were in a distracting moment as I was typing.

[SJSOFT]

Thread moved to recruit&collab.

Guys, stop trolling the guy. If you don't have anything reasonable to offer, get out of the thread.

SJSOFT, provide some screenshots or something. A lot of developers drop by with little more than a concept, and most don't get off the ground. Is there a game, or is there just "gonna be" a game?

You need to provide more information.

We currently have our 3rd prototype out. Screenshots cannot be disclosed right now. Although I will post some prototype 8bit pictures of the sprites. The project is already close to a 1st level being completed. Once that level is done, I will post a prototype video on you tube (expect that to be out in late may to mid june!)

[Ethan Rex]

I'm interested, but I need a little more information:

1) Does it have to be purely 8-bit? I do a lot of chip stuff but I don't limit myself to a number of sound channels like with Famitracker. Sorry if that's confusing, I can provide an example when I'm not on my phone. EDIT: In these tracks, you can hear a classic 8-bit style, but there isn't any regard to sound requirements (i.e. I used more than 4 sound channels at once).

2) Does the composer retain rights to the songs?

3) You mentioned wanting a more laid back style, with a few intense pieces; could you give us examples of the style you're going for? (I know Meteo asked this already but it would be very helpful)

4) Are you planning on a free release or is this going to be for profit? If so, will there be any discussion of pay for the composer?

Like I said, I'm getting a good vibe and I want to do this (I can send you some of my work later), but I think there's a few details that need to be laid out first.

Edited April 29, 2013 by Ethan Rex

[SJSOFT]

Actual questions that would be relevant:

1. How many songs are you looking for?

2. Can you give Youtube examples of what you're looking for?

3. What does one have to do to become composer for this project?

4. How far on this project are you guys?

I had one or two more, but I forgot what they were in a distracting moment as I was typing.

I'm looking for songs that have a soft yet intense quality as well as some soft and smooth songs.

I'm looking for at least 25. I've already got 4 down.

The requirement for a song is that it must be 8 bit.

There will be a choosing of which songs are good so the 25 or so songs will be evaluated. This game has unique gameplay qualities so I want a unique soundtrack. (Note that the game will be for PC, Mac, and Ubuntu and later on, for next gen consoles like the PS4, XBOX infinity, and possibly the Wii U. The project started in early January but we're pretty far in considering our tight schedules. At this rate, we'll have the entire game done by holiday 2015. (Yes, it's a big project).

[SJSOFT]

I'm interested, but I need a little more information:

1) Does it have to be purely 8-bit? I do a lot of chip stuff but I don't limit myself to a number of sound channels like with Famitracker. Sorry if that's confusing, I can provide an example when I'm not on my phone. EDIT: In these tracks, you can hear a classic 8-bit style, but there isn't any regard to sound requirements (i.e. I used more than 4 sound channels at once).

2) Does the composer retain rights to the songs?

3) You mentioned wanting a more laid back style, with a few intense pieces; could you give us examples of the style you're going for? (I know Meteo asked this already but it would be very helpful)

4) Are you planning on a free release or is this going to be for profit? If so, will there be any discussion of pay for the composer?

Like I said, I'm getting a good vibe and I want to do this (I can send you some of my work later), but I think there's a few details that need to be laid out first.

I listened to what you had and I think that TITLE is a good one. It has a good balance of tracks but it kind of seems a bit repetitive. But still very nice. I'd love to use it if possible. You can use as many tracks as you want, and if you don't use famitracker then that's fine. Just send me the base file and let me know which program you used. I want to use songs like Necrophageon's Cast Adrift, and Neon Starlight as well as songs like Fluidvolt's Pallid Underbrush. This will be a "group effort" while you may not get paid, you will get high honors in the credits at the end, or at the credits option on the main menu (I don't know if there will be a main menu though). But you'll have high honors. And yes, you'll have rights to the song. I will not be selling the songs under my name. I will specify where to find the people who made the songs but will not take accountability for the songs. They are yours to do what you want with.

[Meteo Xavier]

That's a pretty heavy workload for something you want for free. I was interested in giving it a shot, but doing 21 songs is hard enough without having the risk that a majority of them will not be used because they weren't "good" (and usually if someone is using a vague term like that as the benchmark for quality, it means trouble). It seems like you're just trying to find a sucker who is somehow talented and wanting, yet not experienced enough to know when he's not getting a good deal out of it.

And how is an 8 bit track supposed to be "soft" yet "intense" at the same time?

If you'd like to relax these standards to a reasonable degree, you'll have a much higher chance of getting a high quality chiptune soundtrack, on time, that gamers will enjoy once your game is finished. As it is now - yeah, this has "BAD DEAL" written all over it. Whoever gets this job is going to waste a lot of time and energy.

[Ethan Rex]

That's a pretty heavy workload for something you want for free. I was interested in giving it a shot, but doing 21 songs is hard enough without having the risk that a majority of them will not be used because they weren't "good" (and usually if someone is using a vague term like that as the benchmark for quality, it means trouble).

If you'd like to relax these standards to a reasonable degree, you'll have a much higher chance of getting a high quality chiptune soundtrack, on time, that gamers will enjoy once your game is finished. As it is now - yeah, this has "BAD DEAL" written all over it. Whoever gets this job is going to waste a lot of time and energy.

This is my sentiments exactly. 21 tracks is a lot to ask of someone without any payment, and since indie games are a dime a dozen nowadays, it's hard to justify credit space for that much work.

Meteo hit it on the head with the relaxing your standards bit. Hopefully you guys will see that.

Either way, good luck with the search.

[Theory of N]

1) Tell me a bit about your company. I can't find it anywhere. All I'm seeing is St. James Software, which I'm assuming isn't you because they don't delve into games.

2) Have you made a game before?

3) Is anyone on this project getting paid and why/why not?

Send me both the file from famitracker/any other program...

4) Why do you need this?

[Meteo Xavier]

Some games that work in chiptunes actually want/need the tracker files to work - so I'm told.

[Rozovian]

Some games that work in chiptunes actually want/need the tracker files to work - so I'm told.

Actually, that's more about how the music is implemented. This guy wants a chiptune - as in a chiptune format, hence the famitracker file. Doing it that way means the file with be so much smaller than an audio file, and still sound the same.

And he probably also wants an mp3 to listen to, as it's more convenient when most OSs have some kind of shortcut for listening to mp3, while a .nsf or whatever is more of a niche format.

[SJSOFT]

That's a pretty heavy workload for something you want for free. I was interested in giving it a shot, but doing 21 songs is hard enough without having the risk that a majority of them will not be used because they weren't "good" (and usually if someone is using a vague term like that as the benchmark for quality, it means trouble). It seems like you're just trying to find a sucker who is somehow talented and wanting, yet not experienced enough to know when he's not getting a good deal out of it.

And how is an 8 bit track supposed to be "soft" yet "intense" at the same time?

If you'd like to relax these standards to a reasonable degree, you'll have a much higher chance of getting a high quality chiptune soundtrack, on time, that gamers will enjoy once your game is finished. As it is now - yeah, this has "BAD DEAL" written all over it. Whoever gets this job is going to waste a lot of time and energy.

it's not going to be free. $4.99 a pop and there will be a 50% off sale during the first 3 days. And not 1 single person is going to work on the soundtrack. It can be multiple people working on the soundtrack songs. Just listen to the songs on the earlier posts and you'll know what I mean.

[SJSOFT]

1) Tell me a bit about your company. I can't find it anywhere. All I'm seeing is St. James Software, which I'm assuming isn't you because they don't delve into games.

2) Have you made a game before?

3) Is anyone on this project getting paid and why/why not?

4) Why do you need this?

The reason why you can't find us anywhere is because we haven't created our website yet. This is our first project. And yes, me and my partner are getting paid (hopefully).

[SJSOFT]

actually, that's more about how the music is implemented. This guy wants a chiptune - as in a chiptune format, hence the famitracker file. Doing it that way means the file with be so much smaller than an audio file, and still sound the same.

And he probably also wants an mp3 to listen to, as it's more convenient when most oss have some kind of shortcut for listening to mp3, while a .nsf or whatever is more of a niche format.

exactly!

[SJSOFT]

So, is anybody in?

[Meteo Xavier]

it's not going to be free. $4.99 a pop and there will be a 50% off sale during the first 3 days. And not 1 single person is going to work on the soundtrack. It can be multiple people working on the soundtrack songs. Just listen to the songs on the earlier posts and you'll know what I mean.

I wasn't able to find your examples, do you mind to post them again?

I'd like to be in, but I still can't get over this feeling that, with the way you seem to describe actually working for you, I'd put in two weeks of work on several tracks, only for it to have a good chance of being rejected because you didn't think it was "good". Now obviously you can't just accept any chiptune shit that gets sent to you, but the compromise of free work is you have to give your artists some pretty good freedom to create. There is no incentive to try to work for you otherwise.

Certainly you could understand why working for free for someone who is more than likely going to waste your time by throwing your tracks away and saying "Nah, these aren't what I had in mind, try again. :D" would viciously suck.

Also understand that I'm not going into detail here so much to criticize you, I'm just better trying to establish working for you as you're still not very specific on a lot of things here.

[Theory of N]

The reason why you can't find us anywhere is because we haven't created our website yet. This is our first project. And yes, me and my partner are getting paid (hopefully).

These are all reasons not to do this. First off, this is incredibly ambitious for your first game. Six platforms? That's crazy. I assume the game itself is huge as well. Excuse me for being skeptical but I highly doubt this will see the light of day unless you cut some things WAY back. I could very well be wrong and I'd love for you to prove that to me but with my experience in games, it likely won't happen how you think.

Second, you and your partner getting paid without sharing any of that profit with the artists putting work into contributing music specifically tailored to your game is really shitty. Even a one time price of $10 per song would show you're at least trying. If you're going to put such little value on your artists, stick with music in the public domain or free music that's already been made.

[DiGi Valentine]

Even a one time price of $10 per song would show you're at least trying.

I have to agree with this. It's a similar thing that happens with getting artists to draw art on board for our personal albums. You wouldn't expect them to draw something for nothing, you have to pay them ...and usually this means out of your own pocket.

Same with getting someone to do your music. Making music can take a long time, depending on what you want, and if you're asking for 20something tracks then that's someone's time completely taken up to accommodate your requests all for the 'possibility' of it being featured and no compensation in the slightest for the work aside from a credit.

If there's two of you working on this project then seriously consider saving up between the pair of you and offering something for these peoples time and workmanship. You might attract more people in the long run too, this way.

Just a suggestion

[AngelCityOutlaw]

Have to agree with the others. This sounds like a classic case of indie-dev inexperience which can (not always though) lead to disappointment for all involved.

Music, voice actors sound effects, etc. are pretty much the last things that games need. After being burned a few times in the past, I have this policy that I believe all composers, voice actors and sound people in general should have: Don't agree to do the project unless it is mostly finished and at a stage where it actually needs you.

Since it's your first game SJ, I would suggest saving up a few bucks and licensing some cheap, royalty free tracks; there are tons out there. That way, you have music and no third parties have to worry about the project not being released. The downside for you is that you don't have an original, high quality, exclusive score.

Just some thoughts to consider. Good luck!