Here Be Dragons is looking for a concept artist [no pay - yet]

[Dragon Hunter]

Here Be Dragons is looking for an artist to spearhead the conceptualization of “Rikki”, an action RPG set in a (future) world where turning the climate-change tide has been abandoned, and adapting or maybe just surviving, in an increasingly more hostile world, is the only thing that matters. It is no longer a world working together to prevent disaster - it is a planet terrorized by extreme heat and drought, floods and torrential thunderstorms, where fractured communities fight against each other over the remaining inhabitable land and resources, and where a declining population desperately cling on to what’s left of their dwindling future.

At the center of all this is Rikki, a young (soon-to-be) eco-terrorist who discovers that the reason why nature has gone crazy is something very different from the official reason, as it is repeatedly told by The Apparatus, a self-appointed ruling class of industrialists and politicians.


A couple of the game's main features:

The Hoverboard
Rikki is a brilliant electronics engineer who is able to craft all kinds of gadgets, including a self-made hoverboard used to travel the city. The architecture of the city, in which the game takes place, is extremely well-suited for hoverboard travel. There are countless ledges, outcroppings, half-roofs, baldakins, etc. which can be used for hoverboard travel just above street level. An important part of the game play will be to find paths through the city, and where no path can be found, create one. This is done by altering the state of game elements like lampposts, wires, planks, etc. in order for them to provide new paths for Rikki.


Narrative novelties
We are working with three mechanics that will create a new way of experiencing the stories embedded in the game world. They all have to do with information accessibility:

• Languages: As foreseen in Bladerunner, future languages will be a mish-mash of old languages. Not being fluent in all these languages will mean some information will get lost when talking to various NPCs.

• NPC goals: NPC will not just be static entities, but they will have goals and agendas of their own. Rikki might be the one triggering certain NPC actions or may be the sufferer of NPC prioritizing their own goals. In either case, NPCs will be alive and going about their business, and not just waiting for the player to arrive. This will also allow us to make the PC into the quest giver from time to time, being sought out by the NPCs who need the player's help to progress their own agenda.

• Dialog types: Not many dialogs take place in a perfect soundscape, where every nuance is easily heard and understood. In many cases, and more so in an action game setting, one would assume, dialogs might be shouts between people on a busy street or across rooftops, or almost inaudible whispers in a dark alley. Or they could be heated argument while on the move, where proximity between PC and NPC defines what’s being heard.

There are a lot more details to share - and a lot, lot more that is still in the making - but hopefully this teaser has made you curious. If so, please get in touch:


jeppe@here-be-dragons.dk
www.here-be-dragons.dk