Aemon Games, LLC is seeking to hire a LEAD ARTIST and/or character/environmental artists for our story heavy monster tamer game.

The game (a very short summary)

Aemon takes place in the near future in the Tanaman Archipelago which was almost depopulated during a war where humans used Aemon (AI enhanced monsters) as weapons, driving humans to retreat to a nearby continent. Those which remained have rebuilt settlements in the island in relative isolation for the past several hundred years. Now others are returning to the island to recover lost technology, forgetful of the devastation caused by AI and genetic engineering. You will explore a story rich environment seeking for historic relics, interacting with various political and religious factions, and discovering hundreds of Aemon.

The game is geared towards veterans of the genre and seeks to correct institutional problems and shortcomings of the genre while providing players new and meaningful choices in team and moveset composition. We are striving for a more serious story than other monster tamers while still maintaining a healthy humor making it accessible to everyone.

Summary of game art scope

Below are short summaries taken based off the Game Design Document and game lore which can be shared upon request.

Environment: The nature of a monster tamer inherently lends itself to significant art services. Environments will range from icy regions to volcanoes, jungles to plains, beaches to swamps, and mountains to caves to name a few environs. Each environment will need battle background designs and overworld tile design.

Buildings and objects: The archipelago is divided into three primary regions which have distinct personalities due to the cultural influences of each. Kershan stems from a Mesoamerican heritage whereas Grappa and Ivatua indicate Polynesian and First Nations of the Arctic influences respectively. Architecture for buildings, particularly ruins from buildings prior to the war, will include influences from these heritages. Other features include bridges, boats, vehicles, shrines, arenas, building appliances, etc. these features are intended to have a semi-futuristic feel and alternative technological advances from the real world.

Persons and monsters: The people of the Archipelago consist of various religious, political, academic, and national groups which will flavor the identity of various NPCs throughout the game. The game is slated to consist of primarily 4 protagonist characters and 7 antagonists accompanied by their crew of henchmen. The monsters, Aemon, of the world are plentiful. The team has presently planned the overall idea for most of the Aemon to be found in the game and artists are conceptualizing them at the present time. Conceptualization progress is at roughly 50% complete.

State of the game

• The dev team consists of a dozen team members including four artists who are chiefly focused on completing the conceptualization of monster designs and a UI designer.
• The game world lore is well established and the game design document draft is complete nearing 65 pages to date. We continue to work through the design doc refining mechanics native to the genre and new alike.
• We intend to have an internal alpha build sometime Q3 of 2024 to begin testing and working out more marketing materials. To do so, we need to wrap up moodboards and begin work on the style guide, necessitating we hire a lead artist.
• As noted by the header, the project is a revshare project with the team working at their own pace due to real jobs, school, and other life commitments. I try to keep workload realistic and ensure family and health is not hindered by game development on the side.

Scope of services and qualifications sought for

• Familiarize yourself with the development team and the world lore.
• Some work has been done to prepare initial ideas for an art style for the game. As lead artist, you would have a large say in the development and finalization of the style. In general terms, it is anticipated the game will consist of 2D rendered art and may be completed in a 2.5D style allowing for dynamic lighting and shadows. Here is a link to art which we like and are considering modeling linework, textures, and tone after Aemon Style Mood Board subject to your input. See also this slideshow which illustrates some of the creature designs for our game.
• In conjunction with myself, organize a workflow for art development and coordinate workload between other artists presently on the development team based on expertise.
• Prepare conceptual and finalized art assets for the game.
• Prior lead artist game related work is preferred, although applications without prior lead artist roles will be reviewed.
• Key non-art skills include:
  • good communication, meaning timely thought out replies to inquiries from team members. Accommodating for work and life, within 24 hours would be preferred,
  • a willingness to work with others from diverse backgrounds,
  • organizational skills, which will be supplemented and supported by myself,
  • and passion to create a meaningful and fun project with a commitment to complete the project at a reasonable pace.
• Aemon is looking for individuals to work with, if you are representing an outsourcing firm for hire we are not interested in your services at this time.

Sounds interesting

If you are interested in working on the game please send me a dm and we can chat. I can provide more details to specific questions and send info from the game design doc upon request.

If you are interested in the game whether or not you want to work on it, you can follow our discord here: https://discord.gg/HhXfqSQtbW. Also, reaching out to me (PheonixSlayer) via Discord is a much quicker way to get a response to any inquiries.