Do you like randomizers? Specifically, multiworld randomizers where you play two or more games at once? Would you like to see what a game based off of the multiworld randomizer experience would be like?

Would you perhaps even want to work on such a project as a volunteer?

Introducing: Project Rando!

Here's my official pitch:

In Project Rando (temporary project title), you play as Stella Puerta and The Traveler, separated by worlds but connected by the spacetime distortions plaguing them both. The game is designed from the ground up to feel like a randomizer; loading zones send you to unexpected, disconnected areas, and items needed for progression are clearly not placed in what one would assume to be their "original" location. Without the preexisting knowledge of how their worlds are set up (like you would with a randomizer of a pre-existing game), exploration becomes a puzzle unto itself.

(Don't worry, there will be plenty of maps)

As the only two people who seem aware of what's going on, it falls on Stella and the Traveler to do something about it! By working together, they'll progress by getting each other items to help solve puzzles, power up in combat, and ultimately solve the mystery of what happened to their worlds - and how to fix them.

Joining Stella on her adventure and acting as her primary connection to the Traveler is Palette, a mysterious, magical creature known as a Riftling. A terrible tragedy befell its kind in its homeland, and to protect themselves, the rest of the Riftlings reverted back into eggs. If you hatch them, and raise them back up with different elemental energies, they may just become invaluable assets to your adventure!

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The Traveler explores a fantastical kingdom, using a magic rod and learning spells to complete dungeons as an homage to classic 3D Zelda games. He can bring any two Riftlings with him on his travels, each one bestowing different skills depending on their associated element.

Meanwhile, Stella bats her way through retro cityscapes and their surrounding areas, with a much heavier focus on movement and combat similar to something like Kingdom Hearts. While she can't bring other Riftlings with her, she always has Palette by her side, who can obtain all sorts of abilities of any element!

The game is meant to have a low-poly 3D art style, primarily invoking games from the early 2000s. I, however, don't currently have the skillset for 3D modeling or animation - my specialty lies in writing and character design.

Which is why I'm looking for volunteers! Unfortunately, I don't currently have the income to pay anyone with, though I do plan to get this game on Kickstarter eventually. I assume this'll be most appealing to people who just want to get some experience or think it'll be a fun side project, and I'm okay with that.

But if any of that does sound appealing (and you like the idea of working on a game with a lot of queer, non-white, and disabled representation at its core), then let me know! Currently, I'm looking for:

3D modelers and/or animators

Programmers familiar with Godot

Environmental artists

SFX/audio designers

Here's a whole bunch of concepts for the spells that the Traveler can use in the game with the help of the Riftlings! It's most likely that not all of them will make it into the game, and I may come up with more spells to use later on, but I'm really proud of the variety I was able to come up with all at once.

The goal is for each spell to have both a combat and a puzzle utility; for example, summoning a large rock that falls from above can do solid damage, but it also creates a platform that you can climb on or use to hold down switches, with the caveat of only being allowed one rock at a time. Maybe you could even use it to block enemy attacks?

This might look like a ton of spells to work with, and it is, but you can only have up to four of them available to you at once. Remember, these spells are enabled by your Riftling companions, of which you can only bring two with you at a time. And a fully-evolved Riftling can only have a maximum of two elemental types, meaning two spells it can grant you.

There'll be lots of places to swap out your Riftlings, so it's not too much trouble to try out different combinations on the same area, but it's not so convenient that you can just do it from the menu. I want people to be experimenting with multiple builds, rather than just swapping between items at the earliest convenience like in traditional Zelda.

That being said, below is a transcription of my notes in these pictures just in case they're hard to read:

Some super basic HUD concepts for the game! This was mainly just to get an idea of how I wanted to proportion things on the screen, and it's all still open for adjustment.

In the first image, we have the Traveler accompanied by two Riftlings; one in its base form, and one that's evolved into the Stone-type element. Their icons are displayed underneath his health bar, which I made all swirly since he specializes in wind magic.

By contrast, Stella's health bar is sharp and accentuated by a big heart, since she has those featured prominently in her design. Palette gets a health and mana bar, too, though I haven't decided if regular Riftlings would or not.

On the bottom right corner, you can see how much money and element pieces you've collected. Each character has different elements they can collect pieces for; wind, water, stone, and darkness for the Traveler, while Stella gets fire, wood, electricity, and light.

It's these pieces that you can use to upgrade Palette and your Riftlings. You can think of them like skill points for Palette, and like Chaos Drives from SA2 for the regular Riftlings. They're the primary resource you're going to have to manage, and you'll get them mostly from defeating enemies, or by interacting with the environment.

Realized I should probably post my primary art of the Traveler, Stella, Palette, and the default Riftling in isolation rather than being attached to the entire pitch for their game