Animation Application

[Amethyst]

We'll start with a story:

Once upon a time a naive little Ame thought that animations might make a good project for the community in the same way that the shiny sprites once did. Then the Ame looked at the existing animations, what was required in them, and realized that on average the people who made them in the past did not do a particularly great job. So, Ame decided the only way to make sure something gets done right, is to do it oneself. Right?

So the ambitious little Ame set out to redo all of the existing animations herself. And make the new ones. All 660 of them. She knew this would take time, but she didn't realize quite how much time it would take. And so she set to work and the world never heard from her again because it would take 129 centuries and she would die before she finished.

Okay, not really. But that's where we're at in a nutshell. Those of you who've followed the dev topic have seen where I'm at with this sort of thing, and have also probably heard me mention a few times about making a team for the business. Sort of a middle ground between doing it myself and having the community do it. That way I can still quality check everything, but also have time to work on actually making the game itself. What an idea.

So that's why we're here.

I'll be running this in a similar fashion to how Kuro put together the scripting team. Basically, I'm looking to pick a few people to help out with the animations in the project. My plan is to work with each person in the group, going over and demonstrating how to arrange graphics, how to use the animation editor, and so on. Those people will put together a few animations each week, I'll provide feedback for revisions, and on it goes.

I suggest the position for people interested in helping speed up development, for people who have ideas for the attack animations and want to make sure they get done well, or for those who just want practice in the matter. These animations -will- be made available for any other fan-games to use, so if you're involved in a project yourself that needs animations, it might be helpful to get into the action here so you can have a hand in crafting them. Plus, it's good practice in case you ever have to make them for custom moves.

I will not be expecting anyone on the team to create graphics for animations. I -will- expect them to arrange existing graphics into a format for RPG Maker, but I will teach everyone how to do that. I will also teach the basics of animation, the editor itself, and optionally for those interested, basic sound-editing.

Ultimately, no experience is necessary for this position. However when looking at applicants, I will be considering spriting ability, animation experience, and involvement in other fan-games or previous development projects (shiny project etc) as a plus. That said, a lack of those things should not discourage anyone from applying. I'm more interested in commitment and interest in the task than I am in prior engagements.

To be clear, here is exactly what I will be expecting from each team member:

• Communicates regularly via Skype


• Daily status reports stating what progress has been made (even if none) and any problems encountered


• Able to arrange animation graphics as necessary


• Willing to accept criticism and redo parts of or whole animations as necessary and asked to


• Implementing aforementioned critiques into future animations


• Works towards target goal of 5 finished animations per week

If by this point you're interested, then firstly, you're awesome, and secondly take some time to fill out these 10 questions (even if you're not sure of the answers, give it your best shot) and shoot me a PM on the forums with them:

• 1. What's your schedule like/how much free time do you have to work in?


• 2. Do you have any relevant experience as mentioned?


• 3. Do you already own or have experience with any of the following: Graphics Gale, RPG Maker XP/Pokemon Essentials, GoldWave


• 4. What FPS does RPG Maker run on?


• 5. When putting together an animation, what should it be based upon/built around?


• 6. When talking about "1x resolution" vs "2x resolution", what do these mean?


• 7. In a process like this, what do you think your weaknesses might be?


• 8. You're working on an animation but find that the graphics provided for you really just aren't working out. What's your plan?


• 9. You get busy and miss a few days and realize you won't be able to meet the 7 finished animation per week goal. What do you do?


• 10. Do you have any questions or concerns for me regarding all of this?

I'll go over all PMs late on Tuesday 9/22 so please have yours in by then if you're interested. I'll respond to everyone after that. Even if you're not picked initially it's possible I might call on you in the future if the need arises.

If you have any questions in the mean time, feel free to PM me. And in advance to everyone interested in helping out, thank you!