Good news for any fans: I’ve completed the programming necessary to facilitate an art overhaul. All that remains now is to find an artist. For anyone who’s interested, here are the details:
The following items have placeholders that are adequate for the final release, so new art does not strictly need to be produced for them:
3 food sprites + empty plate
4 sprites for door closed/open and in between
4 isometric floor tiles (light, dark, alert, vent)
4 level end cards
moon phase animation in background
These other items have to be done by an artist:
20 standing player sprites (5 weight levels with stuffed states, facing down-left and up-left with other facings produced by mirroring)
20 4-frame walk cycles (one for each of the above standing states)
10 crawling sprites for vents (5 weight levels, 2 facings, no stuffed states)
5 4-frame crawl cycles
2 jumping sprites (rising/falling, also to double as jiggle animation on landing)
5 2-frame animations for squeezing into vents (one per weight level, no stuffed states)
1 immobile sprite with 3-frame struggling animation for hidden ending
1 game over end card
1 title card
1 standard end card
1 hidden end card
2 enemy standing sprites (to cover facings)
2 4-frame patrol walk cycles
2 4-frame alert walk cycles
2 hidden end enemy sprites
Most sprites are 30x60, although some are smaller (e.g. floor tiles, food) and the player sprites are 60x60 (mostly for the sake of later weight levels). End cards are 160x80 (can be changed if necessary) and the background sprite is 80x80.
Certain things are negotiable here; for example, the walk cycles don’t have to be 4 frames if 2 can be made to look good. It’s fine if stuffed states are simple edits rather than original drawings, too. I understand that this amount of work is very demanding.
If you’re interested, contact me (in thread, by PM, or through e-mail) with an art sample, a list of which of the above assets you intend to draw, and a price (ideally phrased as either a percentage of the profit or a claim to the first $x made, since I’d prefer not to invest out-of-pocket on this project).
Maybe it’s a long shot, but I’m hoping I’ll get some favor for the fact that the programming is already finished. I’m willing to part with up to 50% of donations if the art is good enough, and I’ll readily add any plugs to the README.
Project thread: