[PROGRAMMER NEEDED] Sonic Gemini

[DMAshura]

Greetings, everyone.

First of all, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Bill Shillito, also known in other communities as DM Ashura. I'm a musician for Konami's "Bemani" series of games, specifically Dance Dance Revolution and beatmaniaIIDX. (More info at www.dmashura.com) But that's not why I'm here. I'm here because I'm also an avid Sonic fan, and I've begun development of a Sonic fangame called "Sonic Gemini." I recently talked to Slingerland, and according to him I have enough material at this point to be able to request help, so here goes nothing, I suppose!

First off, an explanation of the game. Sonic Gemini is a 2D, Genesis-style game, though with a twist. You play as a tag-team of two characters, able to (and required to) switch between them at will to complete the game. The first character is of course Sonic, but the second may be a bit of a surprise... Metal Sonic. The two bitter rivals, through interesting circumstances, end up forming a strained but rather effective alliance as they try to stop the newest nefarious plan of Dr. Eggman and his newest creation (and Metal's replacement), EggRobo-2.

You can have a look at ER-2 here, thanks to SonicWarriorTJ: http://img211.imageshack.us/img211/7383/eggrobo2finalfvxcak9.png

And now, for the proof I suppose. The latest revision of our engine can be found at this link: http://www.mediafire.com/?mlwggtblzkd The engine is based on Damizean and RogueYoshi's 360 degree engine for Game Maker 7 Pro, but AeroGP and I have already begun making modifications, also with Damizean's help. The switching mechanism (which is pretty much the crux of the gameplay) is fully functional. Hit the Z key to try it out. (Other controls include X for special attacks, C for jumping, ASDF for adding bursts of speed, and Q to rotate gravity 90 degrees.) Metal's special abilities are mostly implemented, and the unique shield powers he gets are also implemented. Also, you can see (though incomplete) the Sonic and Metal sprites being made for our game.

Other than this engine, we have an ever-growing library of concept art (thanks of course to SonicWarriorTJ) and a lot of fleshed out, detailed design (though in textual form because I have absolutely zero artistic talent). I've already been working on a number of aspects of the game, from a detailed list of gimmicks for each Zone to the method of obtaining Chaos Emeralds to specific (and very unique!) boss mechanics to the evolution of the endgame. Mostly by myself.

So . . . what I'm looking for is primarily two things.

First off, we could use a little more programming help, because I'm not the best GM7 coder (though I'm trying my best) and I don't want to dump everything on Aero, or he'll likely castrate me with a cheese grater.

Second off, and most importantly, we're looking for level artists. I admit that the game is rather ambitious in the aspect of number of Zones, but with the right help I don't think this would be a problem. I already have some help from Ayla, Mobethian, Jayextee, and others, but I most definitely need more help.

Anyway . . . if you have any questions about the project please let me know. Feel free to contact me at any of my messengers, I'm often online.

I hope that some of you may take an interest in the project and help bring it to a reality!

Bill Shillito

~DM Ashura~

E-mail: [email protected]

AIM: AstralAshura

MSN: [email protected]

YIM: DMAshuraWolf

[Streak Thunderstorm]

Good luck.

[Mobiethian]

I am enjoying the stoyline of the game. This project has a great list of zones and descriptions of each. We have some talented artists to help with them too but we could definitely use more help. I am currently offering my services as an atrist but at the same time, i'm juggling multiple projects. I'm mainly focusing on Nexus right now and working on zone art. I have yet to contribute art and ideas for Project: Sonic Retro after I stepped down from leader. I did make a commitment to help Bill with Sonic Gemini so i'll be working as much as I can to meet satisfaction of all projects. We do need more help with this one.

[CrypticSailor]

Welcome. Your project is looking really good so far. I would help with programming, but in terms of with the actual tag system I don't have time to do that kind of extensive help >_<. Hard enough finding enough time to finish my own engine heh. Anyway be sure to post your progress : D(unless it's a secret)

[Aerosol]

There's nothing wrong with asking for help, especially when you've done as much as you have. I can't imagine why anybody wouldn't want to lend you a hand if they could.

[VectorSatyr]

First off, we could use a little more programming help, because I'm not the best GM7 coder (though I'm trying my best) and I don't want to dump everything on Aero, or he'll likely castrate me with a cheese grater.

I prefer hedge clippers, they're a lot cleaner.

[The SATAM Sonic]

Good luck finding your help!

[DMAshura]

Sorry to bump an old topic, but we need help.

Our programmer has backed out.

We need a main programmer. GM7 is preferred but if we can't find one MMF2 is fine.

[OverbounD]

GM7? Learn it like the rest of us did buddy there is already premade engines even you just have to learn the basics.

[DMAshura]

GM7? Learn it like the rest of us did buddy there is already premade engines even you just have to learn the basics.

If I were a master at GM7 I wouldn't be posting asking for help now would I? I understand the basics, but I would not consider myself "skilled", especially with an engine like Sonic Dash.

I have to ask if you've even bothered to look at the top post, where you'd see that we already have a preliminary engine. I've already been doing a good bit on this game and am trying to find somebody else to do what I am not personally good at.

So unless you're offering to help, I'd appreciate if posts like this would be kept to yourself.

[Sonic Warrior TJ]

If I were a master at GM7 I wouldn't be posting asking for help now would I? I understand the basics, but I would not consider myself "skilled", especially with an engine like Sonic Dash.

I have to ask if you've even bothered to look at the top post, where you'd see that we already have a preliminary engine. I've already been doing a good bit on this game and am trying to find somebody else to do what I am not personally good at.

So unless you're offering to help, I'd appreciate if posts like this would be kept to yourself.

Agreed. Sorry, I know this is probably my second or third post ever, but yeah. Fangame visionaries get enough lip on Sonic Retro. I'd like to think an entire sect of the community dedicated solely to Sonic fan games would be a bit more open minded. Bill's put more thought, creativity, and energy into the ideas behind this fangame than most fans put into entire projects. He's dead serious on getting this project running smoothly, and so am I.

We're not just some random-ass slackers. That's just a taste of the visual development assets we have up our sleeves.

Bill may not be a GM7/MMF2 genius (though he knows much more than I do, trust me), but that's why projects such as these tend to have teams behind them: because everyone has their own specialty. Bill's a constructive thinker and composer, and I'm an artist.

I apologize for any "attitude" I may have let slip. If anyone would like to dip their hands into this ambitious project, please drop one of us a line.

[Blue Emerald]

Looking at these works of art, I'd surmise that to put these levels into fruition would require a heck of a lot of tiles. I'd recommend you to either try to find someone who loves spriting and would have a field day making those tiles (maybe someone who sprites at the Mystical Forest Zone website; someone there might jump at the chance to work alongside one of the artists from DDR), or simplify these so designing the level becomes way less time-consuming.

I'd heard about this project for a while, but since I have no experience in the Game Maker language, unfortunately I can't help you with this. However, as a form of minor aid, I would be happy to supply some advice to this project whenever I can.

[OverbounD]

If I were a master at GM7 I wouldn't be posting asking for help now would I? I understand the basics, but I would not consider myself "skilled", especially with an engine like Sonic Dash.

I have to ask if you've even bothered to look at the top post, where you'd see that we already have a preliminary engine. I've already been doing a good bit on this game and am trying to find somebody else to do what I am not personally good at.

Where the hell did I say you were a master? I said learn it for yourself. Look take me for instance, I'm a terrible GM programmer I know enough to get by but I'm not good at all. Yet I am making one of the better fan games around here.

All I'm saying is if you want something done do it yourself. If you looking for help programing something specific or if you need help with a background or two and a sprite there people are willing to help. However if your looking for someone to program your entire game for you, you best either look somewhere else or learn it yourself. Everyone here is either making their own game and if there not doing that they create examples, engines, and tutorials to help the community as a whole not just one person.

You've already seen what asking someone else to do it for you ends like. Generally you don't get exactly what you want and they end up bailing on you. Anyone who would make that kind of commitment without any sort of personal relationship doesn't understand what they are getting into. Which is why pretty much the only group project around here is Nexus made by a lot of oldbies who all like and know each other from the forum.

[Rael0505]

Overbound, dmashura is NOT being unreasonable with his request. He actually has made decent progress on his project - and if you ask me, it's looking fantastic. He's not like the loads of newbies we get who demand we all do the work for him (read: make his game for him). It's unfortunate that their programmer had to back out, and hopefully they'll find a suitable replacement.

I can understand why it may be best to learn how to do stuff yourself because it is not always possible to rely on people, but his request for a new programmer is perfectly acceptable. It is true that finding a replacement here is unlikely because everyone is busy with their own projects, but there's no harm in trying. If your posts were a little less offensive, you could have been more helpful.

Also...

Yet I am making one of the better fan games around here.

You might wanna get that ego checked out; it might be a tumor

[OverbounD]

One of the better fan games was said with me thinking that any decent game was one of the better ones. Games off the top of my head would be like Sonic Fusion, Sonic GEDA, Spikes Sonic game, The Fated Hour (though it will probably bump up when more gets done). Of course games such as Emerald Ties, Nexus, and XG are in a league of their own. Also if you play that test I gave you and add the couple of months I have until Sage I think you will find my Ego well in check.

DMAshura's request isn't outrages or anything and I'm sorry if I made it sound that I thought it was. I simply think he could make better use of his time learning on his own and highly doubt this thread will lead to him getting a productive programmer. After all there's tons of people here willing to answer questions if you stuck while learning. Believe me checkout my Xmas thread O_o.

[Rael0505]

I do agree with your posts, it is always best to try to learn stuff yourself because other people are unreliable. I just didn't like the way you said it, if you get what I mean. Requesting help isn't a problem here.

And I would consider Time Warped one of the better fangames here... we just aren't supposed to say that about our own projects