Ethereal, a deep psychological thriller/horror/adventure game (Unity4) Thread

Hello everyone! I am in need of finding some talented individuals to join me in creating a beautiful new First-Person experience, powered by Unity 4. Ethereal is a game that I have been concepting for about two years now and just recently I came across Unity3D. I have been programming now for the past 3 years in JavaScript and after moving to Unity3D, I was very surprised at how easy C# was to get into. That was 6 months ago. I can now code pretty well in both languages, but I primarily use C# as I find it a little more efficient (you may disagree). After tinkering around with the engine for this long I have decided that it really is the best engine for a new Indie game due to its developer-friendly environment and no-royalty obligations. It also opens up quite a few doors for multi-platform. But enough about Unity, allow me to introduce you to Ethereal.

The following is an extract from the beginning of the game. It is all work in progress and will most likely be changed. Just to give you an idea of the narrative.

The game begins with a single line from the protagonist while the screen remains black, “I have no memory of that which brought me to this vile
place.” The screen will then flash immediately into gameplay with a transitional sound playing to emphasize the sudden change. The player will be able to gaze at their surroundings while the narrator continues the opening monologue, all the while he will be led to the platform by two hooded creatures carrying crude weapons. "It feels as though the life has been drained from my fragile existence. Darkness surrounds me at every turn, blocking out all hope of escape. These creatures have yet to utter a word, but their intentions are clear enough. I cannot help but gaze into the abyss as fate stares back at me with a cruel grin. Death's voice grows louder with every passing moment and I fear that my time draws near. It beckons to me, this well of lost souls, but never does it extend the courtesy of saying my name. The glow from the rancid waters below offers little solace in such a cold and unforgiving place. A bubbling mess that has consumed so many before me. Their souls swell around in the green liquid, begging for forgiveness, cursing their misfortunes and crying out for loved ones that have been lost to them. All the while I continue to ask the same question over and over again; how did I get here? I barely remember anything of my life, my own name even escapes me. Perhaps whatever lay beneath was a far gentler fate than waiting for answers that never seemed to come. Is this truly all that I have left? A final step before plunging down into the unknown? At least I had these few moments, no matter how small or insignificant they may seem. A final chance to reminisce about a past I cannot seem to recall. It feels like time wasted, time I could have used to admire
the somewhat subtle beauty of this place in my final minutes. Yet I suppose one cannot ask for anything more in my situation. I can think of few words with which to leave this strange world...but these will just have to suffice. (Pause, words said slowly) Adieu and farewell." The player is presented with a prompt to move forward, but as the protagonist takes his foot off of the platform, a blinding light pierces the area.

The game cannot really be placed into a specific genre, hence the title of this thread, but rather it plays around with so many themes that it becomes an ever-evolving experience for the player. The world in which the game is set is a fictional world that opens up seemingly infinite gameplay and story possibilities. The narrative will play out in sort of a mix between Max Payne 3, Alan Wake and Bioshock Infinite. There will be other characters met inside the game, but I don't want to discuss that now as it may spoil some of the story. I am not revealing too much about the story here as the game is very story-focused. The game will be played out in first-person, but I have thought of a few great ways to make the gameplay feel original without treading entirely on familiar ground in the FPS genre. The game will also be a deeply emotional experience and I hope that it will hit players pretty hard at the end with all of the symbolism and things I am going for.

How I plan on approaching development is quite casual for this year until December 2013 where I hope development will go into full swing once the team is put together. We will release a few teasers and things before hitting Kickstarter later in 2014. I hope to be able to make the game available on Windows PC, Mac, Linux and PS4 as well as support Oculus Rift. The money from Kickstarter will be used to pay wages and salaries for everyone working on the project as well as purchase ALL assets we will be using such as Unity licenses, additional packages, PS4 Devkits, Oculus Rift Devkits (if the stretch goals are met for these two of course). Once the game has been released, everyone will receive a cut of the profits based on how much work they put in. Naturally, lead positions will receive a much bigger cut than someone who only pushes out a single asset once every month or two.

I would love to add in so much more information, but I want to keep it brief here. If anything, I hope something here caught your attention. I have been hard at work these past few months trying to put a team together and designing everything around the game. I will be taking the position of Creative Director, programmer(unless we get quite a few programmers to help out) and lead writer and designer. I will also be managing assets and organizing various elements of the game's development.

A bit more about me. I am 18 and I live in South Africa. Writing and story-telling have always been a passion of mine, and coincidentally, so has video games. Therefore I recently realised that the two fit together pretty well haha. I will be studying computer-engineering from next year, but I have already been dedicating most of my free time to this project and will continue to do so. Game development has always been something I wanted to do and I dream of starting up my own studio if this project does well (hell I probably will, even if it doesn't!), which I truly feel it has the potential to do. I have a lot of great ideas for games and the ability to help make them a reality, but naturally I need a great team of people to help me out if it is going to be of any merit. I have been writing for 9 years now. Yes. I started pretty early haha. It has just always been something that I have enjoyed doing and over the years my writing has improved exponentially. I even have experience writing for camera (which is quite useful for this!). I have worked on an unannounced horror project (which I am under NDA for, so no further details can be given.) and I have gathered quite a bit of experience from it. I have also been playing games practically all my life and I definitely know now where the industry stands and what is considered 'good and bad'. I really enjoy programming as well, which I hope to improve on as time goes on. If you need more proof of my abilities, I will be more than happy to send you writing samples (I have quite a few). It is quite a funny thought that computer engineering is actually my fall-back plan haha. Oh well I look forward to meeting all of you that are interested in joining the project! Perhaps when I start up my studio, we can continue working together. It will definitely be an adventure worth having!

I am looking for:
Programmers, preferably experienced with Unity 4 or other engines.
3D-Artists and texturers
Concept artists
Sound designers (for dialogue and in-game effects)
Level designers
Animators and riggers
Voice actors:
Lead protagonist (male): Slightly gruff, should sound around 28-35 years of age. If you have an awesome voice, don't be afraid to apply! I am keeping my ear open for the perfect fit.
Women: I need quite a few voices for women in the game. One in particular should sound very pleasant and rather mystical. (We can edit it to do so, but generally should sound elegant and intelligent.)
Various roles: Please send in applications! I will review every single one.
I am in communication with quite a few composers already, so I don't think I will really need one. But show me what you've got if you think you are the perfect one for the job!

If you are an experienced developer (either having shipped/worked on a AAA or indie title before) I am looking for lead positions, such as Lead programmer, Lead level-designer, etc and you will receive a bigger cut of profits and my eternal gratitude. DirectX 11 experience is a massive plus! So is any experience developing for multi-platform.
If you are interested, please contact me at:
etherealthegame@gmail.com

Thank you for your time! I hope we can create something truly beautiful, something that we can all be proud of.
Kyle

Edited by: PixelatedChaos