"In the Company of Men" - A Videogame Project *Help Needed*

[LeoJaye]

For a long time I've been toying with the idea of creating a videogame, gathering and creating all sorts of ideas in the process. Now I think I'm at a point where I'm ready to seriously start making this thing come true. This is a project that I truly want to do and am passionate about.

The game's name is "In the Company of Men" (Though it's only the working title, and is likely to change), and it's going to be a point & click esque (much in the same vein as "The Walking Dead" -game) crime drama. The game is about a small group of people working for a wealthy buisnessman operating a money laundering ring, following their decline over a period of time. The story takes place in Los Angeles in the year 2003. The story concentrates on the themes of greed, loyalty and betrayal. I am currently in the process of writing the script for the game. I drew influence from; Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, Guy Richie and Nicolas Winding Refn (I hate make these kind of comparisons, but at least it will give you the idea of what kind of storytelling will be in the game) among others.

At first I tought I'd be able to do the whole thing by mysels, but it's starting to look a lot more cumbersome. I started to use Adventure Game Studio (AGS) to make the game. It's in 800 x 600 with hand drawn comic-book style graphics. I've already created some art assets for the game including graphics and music (I've also acquired some public domain and creative common licensed recordings of classical pieces that take up most of the games soundtrack).

Now here's where I start needing assitance.

I am a musician by trade, and I only have a very primitive knowledge of programming and the other tools required to create an interactive program. Also, I've had some graphical education
but I am nowhere near a professional level.

So, the reason I created this thread is to ask if there are people interested in helping me in create this game?

If you're a graphical artist or a programmer interested in taking part in this project, please send me a PM or an email in this address: eggplant.machina@gmail.com (I know that address might not seem legit, but it's an old account and that name has a story behind it. I'll definitely create a new email account for this project if it kicks off).

And another thing I wanted to ask from the programmers out there, is there a better program or even an engine that would be more suitable to creating the kind of game that I've described?

I can't guarantee a profit if you decide to join, but I was thinking of charging a small amount of money for the game, depending on how big the project turns out in the end. It is even a possibility to go crowdfund this project and put it up on Steam Greenlight and or GOG.com's indie submission portal.

If you require more information about this game, just ask me and I'll tell you anything you want to know. I only described the game in a short synopsis to make this wall of text slightly less wall-shaped.

I'd like to mention again that I am very serious about this project and I am currently very busy working on it.

And finally to the people not interested or incapable of joining the project. Would you be interested in such a game / would you fund such a game?

I'd be happy to recieve any comments/advice/critique!

 

[LeoJaye]

Here's the current title card for the game:

http://i1303.photobucket.com/albums/ag159/eggplantmachina/IntheCompanyofMenTitle_zps2b397e88.png

Some info about the main playable character of the game:

Early headshot:
http://i1303.photobucket.com/albums/ag159/eggplantmachina/ThomasBaineheadshot_zps7a566bba.png

Concept art of him standing:
http://i1303.photobucket.com/albums/ag159/eggplantmachina/ThomasBaineFullBody_zps77e27725.png

Thomas "Tommy" Baines

Born in England in the year 1974 (age is 29 in the game).

A "short" background story of events before the game:

A child from a broken home, he lived half of his childhood with his mother from a moderately wealthy family and the other half with his dad in the east end of London. He lived his childhood and early teen years with basically two identities. Living with his mother he had to be well-behaved and sophisticated and with his father he had to be tough and streetwise, especially because of his reputation from his mother's side. When he was fourteen, his father was shot and killed under suspicious circumstances. He never found out why, but it's a question he often finds himself coming back to. His mother died a few years later from heart failure due to a previous heart condition. His family from his mother's side always resented him because of his father, so he had to move to New York to his uncle's family. His uncle gave him a job working for him at his bar. In time he earned a reputation as a quick thinker and a guy who could get things done, so started earning money on the side working as a sort of independent private investigator. Some of the people he worked for were criminals so he befriended a local thug named Anthony Wallace. Some time later Anthony was involved in a fairly major heist, and in the process of laundering the stolen loot he heard that a man named Mauro Epstein (an acquaintance of the man in charge of the heist) has had some problems with his money laundering buisness. Anthony told them that he knew a guy who could take care of stuff like that and recommended Tommy. Tommy then found out that one of Epstein's partners in New York had been doing buisness behind his back and had stolen some money from Epstein's operation. Epstein was impressed with Tommy's work and offered him a job saying that he could use a guy like him around. Tommy said he's do if Anthony could also come aboard. Epstein agreed and the two moved to Los Angeles to work for him.

 

[LeoJaye]

The last thing I'd like to share is the the "sort of" main theme for the game.

https://soundcloud.com/elephant-days/calibre-no-vocals

This version doesn't have the vocals yet, because I haven't had the time to record them yet.

This song plays during a graphically violent scene taking place in a club, which is an important turning point in one of the supporting characters arc. I also feel that this would be a good song to go with the end credits.