Looking For Contributor Small Team/Lead Programmer for Sci-Fantasy Racer(Mobile, $22-44K(1-2yr) Beta budget)

About me? I filled in my profile here. Read it.

I am looking to partner with an established(at least 1 title previously released), experienced(8+ years, combined) team of 2-5 or a “lead”-grade Programmer ready to get into a new project. Experience with the Unreal Engine(or a willingness to learn C++) is a plus, since we may be switching from Unity if Epic Games is interested in getting behind another eSport project(and if the Unreal Engine/C++ is simply not your cup, you will be bought out of your shares/paid up).
I will also welcome interest from Concept Artists.

FUNDING: I am personally funding development, up to $44k in 24 months. I intend to apply to Indie Fund for an additional $6-8k(I am not expecting much, as it appears they have not funded a project since ‘19) and to Epic for a grant/sponsorship/partnership(their vast expertise with eSports would be invaluable). IndieGoGo and Kickstarter are also options I will consider in due time. More immediately, I do incline toward Patreon for 6-12 months of funding(through Beta).

MONETIZATION MODEL: Already laid out in detail for both Android and iOS, as well as PC. I was going to publish an overview here but, instead, inquire if you are truly concerned/curious.

TIMEFRAME: I want to have a playable prototype in 4-6 months, enter Beta in 7-10 and launch(at least the first Dev/release phase) on Android in 11-15.

PROFIT SHARES BREAKDOWN:
Programming up to 40%
Visual Design up to 30%
Sound Design up to 10%
Miscellaneous up to 12%
Mine: 8%

Feet Per Second is a 2D < 3D Top-down(Mobile vers.) < 1st Person(Online vers.) Sci-Fantasy Racer. It’s kinda like F-zero & wipEout were inspired by STAR FOX to have a badass, fuzzy love-child who grows up to come in behind and pounce upon BallisticNG & REDOUT/2, devouring them entirely. Lots of spilled fuel and scrap parts everywhere…

CORE CONCEPT: conceived and designed as an eSport, not as a traditional title with a wishful intent to ‘go pro’ if successful enough. Fundamental flaws in the designs of most “anti-gravity” racing games prevent them from becoming eSports, but are addressed in mine. Namely:
1) All/most of them feature a variety of Crafts with unique stats.
2) All/most of them feature Offline play against AI opponents.
3) Few put up cash/prizes until their revenue/sponsorship is considerable.
4) Most of their Events are hosted by players and held anytime/randomly.
5) Matching aside, all do little to winnow out talentless competitors.
6) Most of them are more ‘fun’ to play than entertaining to watch.
7) Most of them feature relatively few tracks and no track editor.
8) All/most force players into the role of a competitive driver/pilot.
9) All/most of them traditionally feature a variety of game Modes.
10) All/most of them impose no daily/weekly limit on in-game time.
11) Most of them do not place enough emphasis on Sponsorship.
12) Few/none have an in-game economy/trading system.
13) None have restrictions against (established) Pro players.

Feet Per Second features a uniquely inspired Craft/Track integration/maneuvering mechanic, introducing positioning in the vertical, on top* of the traditional horizontal. 4x non- & Combat ‘degrees’ of competition, 4x Classes of competition, 4x distinct Types of Track, 4x Weapon types, 45 weekends of Official Events in a Regular Season.
*punintentional

CURRENT DEV PHASE: conceptual design for visual assets and prototyping of the functional frameworks which will comprise the core components of the gameplay. I DO NOT have a GDD because I do not have the knowledge or experience to compose one which will be accurate and comprehensive enough to make a real difference to the lead time. Racing is, at its most basic, simple and straight-forward. It is only my concepts to revitalize the ‘A-G’ racing genre which lend the gameplay of FPS to any real depth, and I greatly prefer to confer upon and develop a GDD from, the knowledge and experience of my Dev partner(s). I will lay claim to being an inspired game designer and very good at solving design issues as they arise. The multiple development/release phases I have planned will also prove to be a huge help.

DEV/RELEASE PHASES
FPS: s-T(“4”) F2P non-/+Combat vers. exclusive to Android
FPS: n-C(“3”) Premium non-Combat/e$port vers. for Android
FPS: +C(“2”) Premium tactical Combat/D¡e$port vers. for Android
FPS: i0$(“1”) ~ Premium “n-C+C” SE-MMOG D¡e$port vers. for iOS
“FPS: 0” ~ Premium SE-LMOG D¡e$port vers. exclusive to PC

YOU SHOULD KNOW: FPS will have wagering with in-game currency.
50% of Net Revenue/external funding will be going into the Prize Pool.
25% of Net Revenue will be going to Charities; our $hares will be paid out of Net Profit only.
The SE-LMOG version for PC cannot be sold through STEAM(or other unlimited sales platforms), as only between 2-3k Competitor Accounts will be made available(in the U.S; the maximum number available will vary in other countries, as determined by the Regional League operators who license those rights).
Annual payouts from your Net Profit shares will be capped at 2x the potential maximum of my own: $158k for yourself(+ an additional $440k for your Dev Studio); overages MUST be gifted to your family/friends, sunk into 3rd party Indie Devs or donated to accredited Charities.

MY ROLES: Financier/Fundraiser, Lead Designer, Basic Concepts Artist(traditional mediums), GUI/UX Design, Level Designer(let’s face it, even a smart monkey can be taught to lay track), Promoter/Copy Writer, Lead Playtester, Balancing/Game Mechanics Tweaking.

Pleased to enter into a partnership agreement with the right Team/Programmer ASAP, but I also won’t mind waiting/taking up to 6 weeks to shop around for a great fit.

CONTACT ME: here 1st > or skylervane@gmail.com if necessary

Here, have a link to the best ever Opening in the genre: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eoCWvETKEvs I have written theme lyrics for a vocal opening to FPS as well…

 

RE: “CC #6” ~ Most eSports have no real stakes. If players do not place at or near the top in a single event or tournament series, all that happens is, they win less/no money. eSports are all about the money. Games which do not have a large enough player base to attract advertisers/sponsors(or otherwise generate enough revenue to sustain their own prize pools internally), do not become eSports. And spectators are only interested in viewing those events which feature the top 1-2% of a franchise’s players(and ‘wildcard underdogs’), in tandem with a huge grand prize/large enough prize pool. Without top tier players and if big $ is not at stake, spectator interest simply isn’t there. How about KILLED players and cash prizes on a weekly basis?

Leave out respawning, add in permadeath. Cut off any player from competing in all official, cash prize events if they die while doing so. Feet Per Second 0(nline) will ban ‘deaded’ players from the current season and the next two. FPS 4(F2P, Android exclusive), will have after-event respawning, but cut players off from official events for days after they die in one. And FPS releases 3-1(all Premium or Subscription-based, for Android & iOS), will feature PK hiatuses of weeks in length. As their Regular Seasons progress, the pressure not to die will increase.

Starting with “FPS: 3” on through to “0”, official events will award slightly tiered $ prizes to all survivors, 45 weeks consecutively. Week 46 - and, eventually, weeks 47 and 48 - will feature the bigger money Regionals, huge money Nationals and the massive money World “Dagger” Finals, also slightly tiered(e.g. a $5.5mil prize pool for a single event with 10 finisher/survivors would be tiered in 100Ks down from 1mil). No “45%” to the top finisher. That’s just insane.

FPS’ core prize pool funding flow will be from its Net Revenue(eventually relying heavily on sponsors), 50% straight up. Fortnite generated $9bil in revenue in 2018-‘19 and Epic opted to put a mere $100m of that into prize pools. According to esportsearnings.com the prize money Epic has awarded to-date is $155mil. Fortnite has made Epic nearly $20bil by this time. My prize model would have paid out somewhere around $10bil. Money is like manure, meant to be spread around. Successful eSports should give back to their players. A lot. And the simple truth about $10bil v. $155mil is, the former spreads around hella better.

 

RE: “CC #1” ~ In a Futuristic/Sci-Fi racing game, it is hard not to go with Open v. Spec. But you have to, if you want the majority of potential spectators to take your live competitions seriously. F1, IndyCar, NASCAR, MotoGP and even Sim racing, all are spec. because more casual viewers want a competition to be about the skill of the drivers, not the builds of the vehicles. More organization, less chaos. FPS will have plenty of chaos in its 2x Armed degrees of competition, and competitors can even die in the fastest/safest Unarmed degree. However, its crafts, known officially as Draggerjets, will share the same overall design. And while competitors - or their Techanics - will be swapping out parts for weight advantage and durability, upgrading systems for capacity and efficiency, and loading out for greater punch per pound, they will be doing so within parameters per degree of competition and according to any specifications imposed by Event Hosts per race. Literally up to spec. crafts, with unique builds/loadouts. Tweak, tweak, win/win. The only way to fly. Or, in this case, to defy gravity.

 

RE: “CC #8” ~ FPS adds Support roles such as Tactician and Techanic, as well as special access modes for spectators and sponsors. Spectators can join fan clubs for their favorite competitor(s) and sponsors can host events. Content creators(avatars, craft ‘drobing, soundtracks), cam drone operators and officially paid assassins can also earn real $.

RE: “CC #9” ~ The various roles available in FPS aside, competitors do just a few things: practice/qualifying runs, study their opponents(raw statistics, live feeds and recorded event footage), maintain and modify their crafts, and compete. All within a few hours(5-7) every week. Live and repeat. Die and be done.