Hi there!

We are Matthias and Oliver from "Project Paranoia". That is the working title of our current project: A Point & Click adventure in classical "LucasArts" / "Thimbleweed-Park" style.

Currently, we're looking for people who want to collaborate and to supply graphics (pixelart).

What is "Project Paranoia" about?

Alice Baker, the protagonist, just finished her training as profiler and agent, but her first day at the agency didn't go nearly as expected: Her new boss questions her abilities and would love nothing more than to get rid of her as soon as possible. Or is there something else going on that can explain his strange behavior?

Before Alice can get to the bottom of that, things are going haywire: Alice and her boss are assigned to investigate an obscure suicide of a publicly renown, though very eccentric scientist. But the longer the two involuntary partners continue their investigation, the more mysterious this whole case becomes: There is a second dead scientist. Was his death really an accident? Is there a connection? Did the two know each other? What project did they work on? What is really going on here? The player will find the answers to these and many more questions over the course of the game and can change its outcome by Alice's decisions and actions.

Is there a demo?

There is no playable demo for the public right now, but you can find a short video under: https://project-paranoia.com. Of course, nothing in this demo is finalized, but you can already get an idea of the overall intended style of the game.

Why do you want to make a Point & Click adventure?

Point & Click adventures have moved from mainstream in the early to mid-1990s to niche since the early 2000s. There a several reasons for that, but our point is: Adventure games focus on story-telling and atmosphere and allow for a very intense experience. The great classic titles of the 1990s and recent newer games like “Thimbleweed Park” or the WadgetEye games prove that even nowadays, classic Point & Clicks are still a great way of telling interesting and sometimes very complex stories. And this is exactly what we wish to do with “Project Paranoia”.

What is the current status of the project?

About a year ago we came together to make this dream of ours a reality. Within that year we were quite productive and mostly finished the engine and level editor. In parallel, we developed the story and created a comprehensive storyboard. Now we could finally start scripting the actual game, but we are still lacking the artwork.

For now we focused mostly on the story and engine development, which is why the artwork came a bit short, plus we do not really have the talent to create awesome pixel art backgrounds ourselves.

We hired a freelance artist to create 2 rooms, but we don't have sufficient budget to pay a professional to do backgrounds for the whole game.

Since we both work full time, the project technically classifies as a hobby project. However, we are very determined, so the project has our full focus. In general, we are working towards a commercial release one day, but that depends to a great deal on finding the right people who are willing to join us in order to provide the artwork.

Who are you looking for?

We are looking for a graphics artist/pixel artist with the necessary passion and ambition to work on such a project for the necessary amount of time. Style-wise, we are oriented towards pixelart. You can get a first impression from the video on our project page: https://project-paranoia.com.

From past experience we are aware that many people are very euphoric at the idea of working on making a game, but then fail to deliver at all or only deliver at a very slow rate at best. We are looking for people who are actually passionate about the project and are able and willing to work on this with us for a prolonged amount of time (2-3 years). Obviously, it's hard to tell what will be in 1-2 years, but you should at least be aware of this.

According to our experience, you should find the time to work at least 5 hours a week on the project to create a beneficial contribution to the project. Otherwise, the overhead is just not worth it and a quick integration of new content is not feasible.

What about payment?

As indicated above, this is a crucial point: Since we fund the game ourselves, we do not have a huge budget. Generally, we are looking for people who are in this for their own motivation. Maybe you are in a similar situation of always wanting to make a game, but lack programming skills or the skills to write a good story. This could be a great way to collaborate.

Should the game actually be released commercially, we will provide a fair revenue share, but we are fully aware that we still have a long way ahead of us, so this is all speculation for now.

On the other hand, we *do* have a budget, so we do not want to rule payment out completely. But it is fair to say that the amount of money we could pay per background will not be competitive (at least in Germany). We can discuss details about this topic in person if you like.

How big is "Project Paranoia" going to be?

An average of approx. 60 different locations ("backgrounds" or "rooms").

When do you plan to release the game?

It's hard to tell at this point and depends a lot on how fast the artwork can be provided. Ideally, we aim at 2 backgrounds per month, resulting in a total development time of approx. 2-3 years.

Sound and animations for characters are also needed, but could be done in parallel. Nonetheless, this will be a longer project.

On which platforms will "Project Paranoia" be available?

We will definitely make a release for the PC offering support for both Linux and Microsoft Windows. A version for Mac-OS could also be created with small additional effort. A port for Android could be an option for later, but that is currently out of scope.

What tools do you use for collaboration?

We regularly chat using "Signal" and do voice chat using "Discord". Additionally, we host a web server providing information regarding our storyboard, API documentation, etc. We use "GIT" for handling our source code and graphic assets. Bug tracking is done with "Bugzilla".

How can I reach you?

If you are interested in the project and want to join as a pixel artist or if you have any questions, please contact us via:

artist@project-paranoia.com

Please use that email instead of contacting us via the forum, since this would make communication a bit cumbersome on our side.

If you already have a portfolio or other references, feel free to add them as attachment or link in the mail. A little background about you and what motivates you to join us would be nice as well.

Cheers and hopefully we'll hear from you!