NOTE: Please skim through the last few pages of the thread before creating anything. This is going to evolve over time, but I%u2019ll try to keep regular updates.
Hey everyone! I've wanted to do some interface work for a while, so I've decided to put together a bestiary of all sorts of creatures. In essence it'll be a library with pictures and text descriptions of each creature.
Concept
The game/animation will run a lot like a futuristic handheld encyclopedia would. The main menu will list the different creature types (I'll decide how to sort them out once the content is all created), and from there will be a list of creature names that you click to bring up the bio. The bio screen will display the creature's name and picture or "video" next to a text description of it. At the bottom there%u2019ll be a line that says "Entry created by: {Name}" with a text link to the creator's user page. All of the menus will be animated. (Check out my website for an example: www.particlasm.com).
Setting
I'd like the setting to be post-apocalyptic. The basic idea is that most of the people on earth are dead from disease or natural disaster, and strange creatures have taken over. I didn't want to come up with the exact story yet so everyone who enters can help with the final version if they want.
Entries
This is going to be a serious collab, so I won't be accepting penis-monsters and vaginafish, sorry. If you don't feel like writing a bio, that's okay, you can just submit the art and I (or someone else in the thread) can write something up (just remember you can't protest if you don't like the description). If you don't feel like drawing, but want to write, that's cool too, except you might not make it in if no one makes a picture for it. If there aren't too many of these, I won't mind drawing a few.
All the art has to be sent to me as vector art in a .fla document so it can be sized appropriately and doesn't take up too much room. I'd like to have a lot of entries. If you're feeling ambitious and want to animate, I'd definitely accept that, just make sure the creature stays in one spot and doesn%u2019t move around the screen. Also, no backgrounds.
The text portion should be included in the email so I can keep everything together. For this, try to keep it in 3rd person format so it sounds like an encyclopedia entry. You can include things like weight, diet, what cities it%u2019s attacked, where it originated, etc. I have an example below. There%u2019s no limit to length.
You can make a whole species, or a monster that is one of a kind. They don%u2019t have to be violent or evil, either; a spiked lava squirrel is perfectly acceptable. Just try to be somewhat original, don%u2019t draw a centaur or a dragon. Humanoids are fine as long as they don%u2019t look human (i.e. no elves; refer to my example below).
Mainly, I%u2019d like people to spend some time on the art. It doesn%u2019t have to be amazing, but if you draw a circle with stick arms and legs I%u2019m not going to include it.
This will be open until the file is too big to submit to Newgrounds or everyone loses interest. Please send .fla files to Kajenx@comcast.net or you can IM me on MSN messenger at Kajenx@MSN.com.
Feel free to post WIP, ideas, etc on this thread, I%u2019ll be checking back for questions regularly.
Credit
Everyone who contributes art or writing that is used in the Collab will receive credit. There will be a credits page with links to user-pages, each entry will have a link to it author%u2019s user page, and I will collab everyone when I submit the file.
Example Entry
Name: Brockun
The Brockun is a massive monster made of seemingly solid stone. When it first appeared on the outskirts of Phoenix, Arizona, where a rather large settlement of humans still remained, people thought it was peaceful, though intimidating, and generally left it alone. However, when torrential rains struck the area, the creature went mad and rampaged through the already decimated city, killing hundreds. From that time onward, the survivors, having nowhere else to go, moved down into the sewers to deal with less intimidating monsters. The Brockun%u2019s name comes from a word the children made up to describe the deafening sounds of its footstep on the streets above.