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I’m making a free demo for a game in GameMaker. A good chunk of the programming has already been done so far, all by me. But, I need someone else to do the coding so I can have more time to work on other aspects of the game like the art and music, which I’m doing myself.

Before I’m able to get a professional GameMaker coder to pay, I really need someone to do the coding for free in the meantime. You’ll need to be able to build off of my own code (written in GameMaker’s own language) and not have to get me to help you too often, as the reason I’m doing this is so I can have more time to focus on the art and stuff. Do you think you can do that?

Also, you'll need to have a GitHub.

What kind of stuff can you do? What kinds of games have you done?

Would you be willing to do programming for a GameMaker project for free?

I wouldn’t call it “urgent,” so you can take your time. However, I’ve been revising the script after getting feedback from someone else, so I need to finish the parts I was working on. On top of that, I’ll have to familiarize you with my game. I don’t know if there’s any specific kind of project you’re looking for, and my game is pretty weird, so I can send you an email explaining what it is, and I can also provide you with the demo’s design document. How’s that sound?

I have a script for a game demo I'm making. However, it is almost 130 pages. How long do you think you'd take to read through it, proofread it, and give a critique?

I have a script for a game demo I'm making. Would you want to proofread and give a critique of it?

Would you be able to do programing for a GameMaker project?

You'll need to send me an email with the list of things you did translations for. My email address is jakerileygamedev@proton.me.

I have already picked the Portuguese translator.

I have already picked the Italian translator.

I have an important message for potential team members.

I released a post on my blog giving an update on how the game's development is going. I'll give a truncated version here. Feel free to read the blog post after this.

I'm finally seeing actual progress with the demo's development, despite not yet brining outside programmers onboard. I began to learn more about programming, and this, along with asking AI how to program certain things in GameMaker language, helped me get a good bit of the coding done myself. I still need one or two GML programmers to do the more advanced stuff.

Here's the important thing. I'm still in the process of looking for the right coders for the game. I debated to myself whether or not the work should be paid, since it will be for a free demo. After asking for advice, I concluded that I must give some compensation.

However, I'm not doing that well financially right now, and I won't be able to offer any pay at the moment. Though, I really want some professional programmers to come onboard right now. I ask of you, if you're a GML programmer who wants a game to work on, please consider working on this game now. I will pay you eventually. If you don't want to be paid and just want to build a portfolio, then that would be good too. 

As for the translation, a good number of translators have applied since I initially asked, though, the process hasn't begun yet, since I haven't fully finalized the demo's dialogue at this point in time.

Here's my blog post that gives a more detailed update: https://jakerileygamedevblog.com/2024/07/17/my-indie-game-development-update/

I released a post on my blog giving an update on how Randy's Crazy Mission!'s development is going. I'll give a truncated version here. Feel free to read the blog post after this.

I'm finally seeing actual progress with the demo's development, despite not yet brining outside programmers onboard. I began to learn more about programming, and this, along with asking AI how to program certain things in GameMaker language, helped me get a good bit of the coding done myself. I'll still need to get one or two more GML programmers onboard to do the more advanced stuff. I'm still in the process of looking for the right coders for the game. I debated to myself whether or not the work should be paid, since it will be for a free demo. After asking for advice, I concluded that I must give some compensation.

However, I'm not doing that well financially right now, and I won't be able to offer any pay at the moment. Though, I really want some professional programmers to come onboard right now. I ask of you, if you're a GML programmer who wants a game to work on, please consider working on this game now. I will pay you eventually. If you don't want to be paid and just want to build a portfolio, then that would be good too. Just read the full blog post for the list of requirements and my email address.

As for the translation, a good number of translators have applied since I initially asked, though, the process hasn't begun yet, since I haven't fully finalized the demo's dialogue at this point in time.

Also, I recently changed the colors of the Atari sprites I made for the game to only use colors from the 2600's 128 color palette.

Here's my blog post that gives a more detailed update: https://jakerileygamedevblog.com/2024/07/17/my-indie-game-development-update/

I also reveal some more stuff about the story in that post, so if you're interested, please read it.

I want to better clarify something I didn't get across well at first regarding getting programmers. When I said it will be a while before work can begin, I mean it will be a while before the "commitment" part of the job starts. This is due to me needing to finish my outline for the demo. That doesn't mean preliminary work (basic stuff that doesn't require following to the outline) can't be done right away. I have edited the blog post and excerpt to include that.

Update: Japanese, French, Greek, Polish, and Italian translators have been picked.

I need some programmers and translators for the game I'm making, Randy's Crazy Mission! Here's a thread about the game on itch.io: https://itch.io/t/2836145/randys-crazy-missiona-70s-inspired-game-based-on-the-1...

Here's the game's Game Jolt page: https://gamejolt.com/games/randyscrazymission/836946

And here's a post on my gamedev blog about the job offer:  https://jakerileygamedevblog.com/2023/12/20/video-game-programming-job-offer/

Some of you might not be so comfortable about a random guy relying on you visiting his website for info. So, even though my site is safe, in case you don't want to risk your computer getting a virus, or be tricked into going to a site you didn't want to go, I'll give you some excerpts from this blog post. If you’re a video game programmer, or you can professionally translate English to another language, please read this.

"Here is the list of requirements I need for potential programmers:

• You need to have worked on at least one game before.
• You need to know how to code a 2D platformer, but should also be versatile in what kind of stuff you can program for games.
• Preferably you should know how to program for a GameMaker project.
• I want at least one of you to know how to bug fix. Both of you would be ideal. [I need about two coders]

I think that’s everything."

"I also want to have all of the game’s text translated to a slew of other languages, so that Randy’s Crazy Mission! could have as wide of an audience as possible. This is also a video game translation position offering. I want to get someone who can (professionally) translate English to a bunch of other languages too. With that said, please consider applying.

On a somewhat related note, I want at least one of the people I hire to look at the game’s script and see if it needs improving. I have a weird writing style, so bouncing-off ideas with someone could help. If none of you consider yourselves to be good at telling what decent writing is, I might possibly get someone else to solely help me with improving the script."

"My email address is jakerileygamedev@proton.me. To apply for the programming position, you need to email me your resume of games you worked on. For the translation position, you can show me the games or other projects you’ve converted to other languages, and tell me all the languages you work with.

It will be a while before anybody can do real work on the game, maybe around a few months. I have to finish outlining the demo. That doesn't mean preliminary work can't be done right away though."

I would still like for you to read the whole thing if you're willing, so, again, here's the post: https://jakerileygamedevblog.com/2023/12/20/video-game-programming-job-offer/

While I'm currently learning more about programming, I still probably won't become great at it anytime soon. So, I am still desperate at this point. I want to release the demo and gain an audience for this game as soon as possible.

By the way, I was originally going to have this game's programming be done in C# back when it was running on Unity, but upon researching GameMaker after downloading it, I found out the engine doesn't seem to support C#. It can only use its internal coding language (GML). So, you'll need to know how to program within GameMaker. Also, someone already reached out to be the potential Spanish translator for this game, so keep that in mind. Though I originally thought of just getting one or two translators who can work with many different languages, I later changed my mind. If you can translate English to any other language, even just one, please consider applying. Like I originally said, it will be a while before real work can begin, but you should still apply now.

Two months ago, I released a blog post asking for help on this game and shared a link to it on other parts of the internet. Later, I realized that maybe it wasn't such a good idea to just give a link to a post on my website rather than reiterating the job requirements here. Some people might not be so comfortable about a random guy relying on them visiting his website for info. Possibly a little suspicious. I know they might not want to risk their computer getting a virus (even though my site is safe). So, I decided to give them excerpts from my post. I’m doing the same here. If you’re a video game programmer, or you can professionally translate English to another language, please read this.

"Here is the list of requirements I need for potential programmers:

• You need to have worked on at least one game before.
• You need to know how to code a 2D platformer, but should also be versatile in what kind of stuff you can program for games.
• Preferably you should know how to program for a GameMaker project.
• I want at least one of you to know how to bug fix. Both of you would be ideal. [I need about two coders]

I think that’s everything."

I also want to have all of the game’s text translated to a slew of other languages, so that Randy’s Crazy Mission! could have as wide of an audience as possible. This is also a video game translation job offering. I want to get someone who can (professionally) translate English to a bunch of other languages too. With that said, please consider applying.

"On a somewhat related note, I want at least one of the people I hire to look at the game’s script and see if it needs improving. I have a weird writing style, so bouncing-off ideas with someone could help. If none of you consider yourselves to be good at telling what decent writing is, I might possibly get someone else to solely help me with improving the script."

"My email address is jakerileygamedev@proton.me. To apply for the video game programming job, you need to email me your resume of games you worked on. For the translation job, you can show me the games or other projects you’ve converted to other languages, and tell me all the languages you work with.

It will be a while before I’ll hire anybody, maybe around a few months. I have to finish outlining the demo. I’m just doing this to build a portfolio of potential programmers and translators to hire. If I waited, it could take longer to assemble a small team, so it’s better that I do it now. "

I would still like for you to read the whole thing if you're willing, so here's the post: https://jakerileygamedevblog.com/2023/12/20/video-game-programming-job-offer/

While I'm currently learning more about programming, I still probably won't become great at it anytime soon. So, I am still desperate at this point. I want to release the demo and gain an audience for this game as soon as possible.

By the way, I was originally going to have this game's programming be done in C# back when it was running on Unity, but upon researching GameMaker after downloading it, I found out the engine doesn't seem to support C#. It can only use its internal coding language (GML). So, you'll need to know how to program within GameMaker. Also, someone already reached out to be the potential Spanish translator for this game, so keep that in mind. Though I originally thought of just getting one or two translators who can work with many different languages, I later changed my mind. If you can translate English to any other language, even just one, please consider applying. Like I originally said, it will be a while before I officially hire people, but you should still apply now.

Here's the musical theme of a character named Gene the Simpleton.

https://jakerileygamedevblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Gene_Theme_Beta.wav

 It was an exercise in making a song that sounds intentionally bad, but not completely unlistenable. Remember, this is just a temp track using placeholder samples. The finished version will sound better. Well, as better as it can be.

I just released a post on my website talking about Gene, alongside discussing the enemies that will appear in the demo and how they'll work. It is a lot more insightful than just showcasing characters, so please check it out. If you want to see art of Gene and more, please read it. Here's the blog post: https://jakerileygamedevblog.com/2024/02/07/misc-character-showcase-3/

Development update:

Today, I released a post on my blog about Randy's Crazy Mission! offering a couple of coding jobs for professional video game programmers. I'm not very good at programming, and so I need professionals to help me actually make the game. I also offered a job for people who can translate the game's text into a bunch of other languages, so that it can have as wide an audience as possible. I shared the post in a few different places. My intent is to hire people when I finish outlining the demo. Hopefully, enough people are interested. I want to build a catalogue of potential people to hire soon. I want to get the programming started and release the demo as soon as possible.

I just released a post on my website discussing a couple of this game's characters, and in the post, I shared the musical themes I made for those characters, which I'll share here too. These are the first songs I'm revealing for this game, and two of the game's earliest tracks I conceptualized several years back. These aren't the final products of the songs, as they're temp tracks using the SGM soundfont. I'll eventually use better samples.

Below is the theme of a duck character named "Quackers". There's not that much to say about him, he's generally just a funny character you mostly meet in level 1 who likes to play instruments, like the accordion concertina. He doesn't talk, only quacks, so most of his humor is visual. There is one hilarious scene I came up with involving him and another character. I don't want to spoil it though. Just wait for the demo. Here's the song:

https://jakerileygamedevblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Quackers_Theme_Beta....

Below is the theme of a squirrel character named "Corny", short for "Cornelius". He's actually one of the main characters of the game. His role in the game within the game is that of the antagonist, as he is in the cartoon commercials it's based on. And as the characters point out, he's a pretty "lame" antagonist at that. He likes to act more sinister than he actually is. Here's the song:

https://jakerileygamedevblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Corny_Theme_Beta.wav

Feedback on the songs would be appreciated. If you want to see more information and artwork of these characters, below is the blog post covering them. If you're wondering about the huge gap in-between this blog post and the last, I explain why in this post. There are a few reasons. Maybe one of them being my good old depression flaring up to cripple me again lately? Here's the post:

https://jakerileygamedevblog.com/2023/12/12/misc-character-showcase-2/

There's also a bit of new development info in that blog post as well.

Living in my family, I've learned that there's nothing worse than unrecognized talent... Just kidding, there are worse things. Anyway, to give the project some more visibility, I made a thread about it on, fittingly enough, the AtariAge forum. I also made a page for it on GameJolt today. There'll be DevLogs over there too. I even made a bunch of new gameplay mockups for this occasion!

Remember earlier when I said I was working on something that will hopefully get this game some more attention? Well, that was it... Though, at the time, I was actually planning on making a teaser trailer using all of the mockups I made. But then I figured it would just be unnecessary considering its simplicity (I mean, it would mostly be just mockups) and the time it would take to make it. Getting all of this ready alone has sucked up most of my free time, as does working on other things for this game.

I also made a footer image for my website to spruce up how it looks a bit. I want to give a wider audience a good first impression, after all!

Oh yeah, here's the link to the AtariAge forum thread about the game: 

]https://forums.atariage.com/topic/355257-im-making-an-atari-themed-game-based-on...

And here's the link to the game's GameJolt page: https://gamejolt.com/games/randyscrazymission/836946

You'll find the new mockups I made over in those places.

New thing to probably add to the docket:  Move the project to another engine, for, well, reasons... Might switch it to GameMaker or something.

Soundtrack Composer Announcement

I just released a post on my website talking about this game's soundtrack. It's high time I reveal who's composing the music. The soundtrack is actually being composed by me. Yes, I'm also making the music for this. I get a little more detailed about the soundtrack in my blog post, but basically, it mostly won't sound like Atari 2600 music. Though there will be instances of the 2600 sound being used in the OST. Sometimes for entire songs. But overall it will sound more like "real" music. It fits, since the game's art style is mostly hand-drawn, rather than resembling 2600 graphics.

And, for the most part, I've been trying to make the music fit the game's visual style. I say "for the most part" because some songs will sound intentionally out of place. This applies to I'd day about 1/3 of the songs in the game. Get ready, you're in for the surprise of a lifetime with that 1/3 of the soundtrack! That may be hyperbolic, but whatever.

The game will be silent when you play the six levels for the first time. The part when the actual the in-universe 2600 game is being played. This is because Atari games of the time didn't have music for the most part. Like I said before, the game's real story begins after beating these six levels. You'll replay improved versions of the same stages, and there'll be actual music. The addition of real music will really highlight the shift.

I'll eventually share some songs on my website (and possibly here). I've got a lot to choose from. There's actually gonna be a lot more music in this game than you would expect. The songs I'll share for the time being will mostly be character themes, as the "Miscellaneous Character Showcase" series I'm doing there will occasionally feature them. Like I've said before, most of the songs I share for the time being will be temp tracks. I've yet to get all the perfect instrument samples for the soundtrack.

Here's my blog post regarding the soundtrack. I get slightly more in-depth there: https://jakerileygamedevblog.com/2023/07/06/randys-crazy-mission-video-game-soun...

Earlier I said that I'm soon going to post on my website about this game's soundtrack and who's composing it. Well, it, along with a character-related post that will come before it, has been slightly pushed back. This is because recently, after getting an idea, I started planning to work on *something* related to this game. Not a blog post or anything, but something that might help get the project some more exposure. Hopefully that'll come within two months. By the way, regarding the soundtrack, the composer happens to have my name.

Also, here's this bit:

"H̴͖̭͉̗̬̖̑̂̉͂̕ͅe̶̤̬̬̰̹̥̺͂͛̀̾̈́͌̿͋́̓ĺ̷̖̟͌̒͗̊͆͗́̓l̴̢̛̪̗̀̾̂̍̓́͒̐̚o̸͍̪̖̫̯̽̓͐̎͂́̚͝.̴̥̞̬͔̤̎̍͜͝ ̸̼̟͉̥͍̠͕̄̏̂̍̓́M̵̩͙͕̖͔̤̔̓͜ẏ̷͈̫͚̤̰̺͇̀̊͆̄̌̏̎͆̚ ̴̨̩̞͙̹͖̱͋n̵̖͍̩͑͗͘a̸̛͇̖̩̤̼̟̲̝̫͂͌̓̒̈͒m̶͇̮̙̹͂̑̍̀̉̈̚ȩ̶̨͖̜͇͓̠̍͆͘ ̸̨̮̟̳̪͖͍̱̩̬̉́̒̈̉̋͂͂͘i̴̪͇͓̳̍̉͛s̷̱͎͖̳̆̓̈́͝ ̴̜͇̗̫̠̽̈̑̚R̸̡͉̱͗́o̴̧̻̥̐̎́͗̒̋̐͜b̴̨̛̳̺̹̯̽̈́ͅe̵̡̱͕͉̘͖̝͕̥̿͗̆̈̋͜r̴̤̙̻͙̺̣͕͙̼͂̓ț̵͈͈͓̳̫̙̦͈͗͐̈͑̃̑̚͘͜.̸̹̭̟̝̞̼̮͉̄̅ͅ"

"Uh, can you speak up man? It's kinda hard to tell what you're saying."

"Ah don't care if we can't hear him, feller! Ah just like his face! With them blue, white, yella, black, OOOOH, RED, excetera! 'TS DONE GOOOOTTEN MEEEEE EXCIIIIIIIITED FOOOOR-

I might as well showcase some more of the game's art here. I've shown these pictures before, on my other DevLog on TIGSource.

Here are some of the Schoolhouse Rock!-style onomatopoeia and the like which will appear all over this game:

Just one of the many, many, many different faces Randy will make when taking damage.

This is Mr. Racoon.

This is Clay, an NPC who appears in the first level.

"This little game of mine is pretty flashy. Watch this!"

This is Barry. Try to guess what he is.

...No comment...

Also, I'm at some point going to release a post on my website talking about this game's soundtrack and who's composing it. When you play the six levels of the in-universe Atari 2600 game this story's set in, there will be no music playing. But, after you beat that and the real game begins, music will play in the previously-silent levels when replaying them. Work has already been done on the songs. I've been debating whether or not to share songs early on. If I do, they'll be temp tracks.

Hello. I'm Jake Riley. I’m making a game based on the video game crash of 1983. The idea for this project has been in my head for quite a while now. It's been in inactive development during that time. Recently, I've decided to get more serious about making it and actually talk about it. This game takes place in a Wreck-It-Ralph-style universe where video game characters are sentient. It's a story-driven 2D platformer that will take you into the world of a poorly made Atari 2600 game during the video game crash of 1983. The project is called “Randy’s Crazy Mission!”, which is also the title of the Atari game it's set in. The game was made by a fictional sucker company to tie-in with their brand’s cartoon commercials. Think something like that old Tootsie Pop ad. It’s like how Coke and other brands made tie-in games for the Atari.

Aesthetic

As you're about to see (or have seen if you've already scrolled down), even though this project is set in an Atari 2600 game, it won’t look like one. Considering this game has a lot of dialogue and humor, and considering my background in hand-drawing, I didn't want it to have the very basic visual style of the 2600. I decided to give it a 70s animation art style instead, since the game within this game is based on 70s cartoon commercials. That’s how the characters actually perceive their world. Sources of influence include the classic cartoon Tootsie Pop commercial, Schoolhouse Rock!, and The Point! (not sure how many of you’d know about that last one). There'll even be a filter to make the 70s-style animation look older and more authentic. The 70s cartoon style fits the time period of the Atari 2600 well.

The presentation will still have elements of the signature pixelated 2600 look however. The HUD and text will look like they came straight from an old Atari game, some sound effects will use the Atari 2600 sound, and the characters' Atari sprites (what they actually look like on TV screens) will come up in certain places. Dialogue prompts will use NPCs' Atari sprites. Randy's 2600 sprite will appear on the grey HUD bar on the top of the screen when players can interact with something. And, the very beginning of the game will look like an actual Atari 2600 title, before flashing to the 70s cartoon style seconds later to highlight the contrast. The 70s cartoon style and retro Atari look both come together to create an interesting blend of aesthetics. Here's a picture of some of the characters' Atari sprites I made:

Story

Randy, the player character of both this project and his in-universe game, is a living mushroom. He's the mascot of the brand that created him and his advergame. He's also partially an analogue of myself. Sadly, he's sometimes pushed-around, insulted, and even outright ignored by his family and treated differently than his brothers, even though he's the main character of the game they live in. Unfortunately, this is based on how my own family have always been to me. Randy wants to put an end to the insulting treatment his own family gives him, and get even with his brothers .

There's a conflict that's happening while Randy's game is on the shelf in yet another disappointed buyer's home. Yeah, the game was returned to the store repeatedly. Randy wants to solve this conflict to gain the respect and appreciation from his family that he should have. Randy figures that solving this conflict himself without the aid of his family will make them end their negative and dismissive attitude towards him. The times he's been controlled by someone in the real world accomplishing a fake, programmed plot don't count as something Randy meaningfully did.

Also, bringing the video game crash of 1983 into this, the characters who live in the game within this game are aware of the video game industry. A big focus of this is the reactions that certain creeps who live in the game have to the then-current video game c****, and how it affects Randy's mind. That's all I'll say right now. I'm keeping a lot of the story under wraps for the time being.

Oh, one more thing though! After the start of 1983, the characters, through a few things, discovered even more of how broken their game is. This is relevant as well.

Gameplay

Moving on to the gameplay, the game within this game is poorly made, as I said earlier. When players boot this game up for the first time, they get exactly what the game is in-universe. Though, it's using the 70s cartoon art style, just as the story is. It starts out purposefully frustrating and shoddy, what lots of people associate with games around the time of the crash. If you can tolerate beating the six levels, the real game will begin. It's actual story will start after the game's put on the shelf by disappointed customer number whatever.  

The interesting thing is that, during the story, you replay all six levels (with a few more courses thrown in), but they'll be better. Stuff will be added to the levels to improve them, and alleviations to the previously frustrating gameplay will take some edge off. On top of that, story cutscenes will take place in them, you can talk to NPCs (who just stand there in the in-universe game), there'll be new NPCs, and there'll be actual music playing in the stages. There'll even be moments to take advantage of the game's shoddiness, and there'll also be gameplay nods to classic games of it's time period. There will be a couple of creative liberties when it comes to it actually being on the 2600, but not too much.

Closing Words

I will admit, this is a pretty strange concept for a game. That's why I'm planning to make a demo as a sorta proof of concept. To help me get more consistent with the game's development, I created a website focused on discussing Randy's Crazy Mission! in detail. Hopefully, that'll lead to the project entering active development. I get more into where the game's currently at in development and why it hasn't been in active development yet in the first blog post of my site. I talk about things not mentioned in this post over on my blog, so you should go read it. Also, I made another DevLog on the indie game development site TIGSource. Hopefully, you'll follow along as I talk more about this game about the adventure of a mushroom, moth, squirrel, and dog! Yeah, again, this is a weird game.

Here's the link to my blog: https://jakerileygamedevblog.com/

Art

Here's the game's logo:

Now here's art of Randy himself:

I particularly like the way he looks when he's ducking.

Also, there's going to be a ton of different over-the-top faces he makes when getting hit, each one being randomly selected every time.

Y'know, I originally created Randy for another game idea I had brewing in my mind until I started thinking of Randy's Crazy Mission!, to which I then scrapped the old idea. He wasn't going to be the main character in that game, but he was still fairly important. He was also going to look a little different. I may or may not talk further on that old idea in the future. There's a reason why I scrapped it after all. I liked the Randy's Crazy Mission! concept more. I decided to reuse a few things from the old idea for use in this game though.

Anyway, here are some mockups I made of what this game will look like: 

Now, this may look like standard 2D game fare, but I'm planning for the cutscenes to be quite dynamic. There'll be zoom-ins, close-up shots, cutaways, and all that fancy stuff. It'll almost be like you're watching an actual cartoon. Fitting, considering that the game within this game is based on cartoons.

That's all for now.

“Y’AAAAAAALL DONE GETTIN’ YERSELVES PREPAAAAAAARED!?!?!?!?”