As things are going well for Dig or Die (575 reviews now, with 95% positives !), I'm thinking of hiring an artist to remake all the game visuals. Sprites, anims, backgrounds, UI - and most important, the art direction.
So if yourself (or someone you know), are interested by this task and think you have the skills, please send me an email to [email protected] ! And if you have any question ask them as a comment here.
- Caution - this post is not a promise that this will be done. If I can't find the very good person to do the job, I'll keep my current arts. They satisfy me enough... But I feel that if the game had a better and more enchanting looking, it could improve so much the player experience, and take the game to a higher level...
About what I plan: I'll first finish the solo version (v0.2 update) with almost all the final game's art content. Then it will be the good time to redo all the arts, while myself will be doing the multiplayer. So that would be in August or September: nothing urgent here, for now I'm only looking for possibly interested contacts.
And very important: I'm talking of a real freelance job, with a correct pay (to be discussed), not a volunteer help. The duration would be about 1 or 2 full-time months, but that will depend of the final content and the arts design/quality proposed by the artist.
And here is some points about the design I whish for the game:
- No pixel art. Some are really beautiful but I think there are too many in indie games (by pixel art I mean a game that become horrible when rescaled or anti-aliased).
- The feeling should be calm, enchanting, alive (during the day - the night easily becomes stressful with the music & attacks).
- The design (and animations) will have to be "cost effective", fast to produce, as I have limited funds and time.
- I'll gladly discuss with the artist how to change some of the game technical rendering, to find compromises between technical constraints and final look.
Below are some my thoughts about some other games' art I find very interesting, so you might better understand what I've in mind for Dig or Die:
- Bastion: its design is very close to what I have in mind: colourful, joyful, very enchanting.
[img=http://i.imgur.com/tgYmat7.jpg]
[img=http://i.imgur.com/7OJBvVx.jpg]
- Braid: I don't particularly like its overcharged design, but it's a very good example of an indie game that got a full relooking.
[img=http://i.imgur.com/UAaISwq.jpg]
- Dofus: like Bastion, it really has the enchanting feeling I would like for Dig or Die
[img=http://i.imgur.com/zW6IyvE.jpg]
[img=http://i.imgur.com/tW2x8E6.jpg]
- Don't Starve: this game has such a special and original design! Even if i'm not sure I would be ready to go this far for Dig or Die, as it could repel a lot of player (and I've already a lot of gameplay mechanics that can repel players).
[img=http://i.imgur.com/6i2sF0I.jpg]
- Fez: I added it even if it's pixel art because it also has a very unique design.
[img=http://i.imgur.com/ecI2BTA.jpg]
- Gaia Defense: that's one of my old flash games. The arts were done by a very talented artist friend, Aurélien Marck . They are side-scrolling tile-based arts and very close to what could be done for Dig or Die. With a less dark design this could give something really nice.
[img=http://i.imgur.com/13nVgNe.jpg]
[img=http://i.imgur.com/4tezlnb.jpg]
- Machinarium: an example of a very original and unique design.
[img=http://i.imgur.com/EmXQJjC.jpg]
- Rayman: a classic that has a very joyful and enchanting looking.
[img=http://i.imgur.com/de7fuva.jpg]
- SteamWorld Dig: as Gaia Defense, a side-scrolling tile-based game that is very close to what I have in mind for Dig or Die.
[img=http://i.imgur.com/KU5uqTu.jpg]