m96, on 20 December 2015 - 07:15 AM, said:
Though almost all of them had little to none portfolio and I accept them out of desperation.
That is probably the problem. You need to convince, somehow, more skilled and more motivated artists to join your project. Have you tried to ask some of the mappers here personally? You can't expect people to just read this thread and volunteer themselves. Someone may have some free time, or at least a piece of work already done that they could contribute to you.
m96, on 20 December 2015 - 07:15 AM, said:
I tried to tell him he would be pushed out if he doesn't show the maps but I think he just ignored it.
That is generally a very ineffective way to motivate people. If the guy does nothing, it doesn't matter if he's "officially" off the project or not. Apparently the people you have contacted did not feel they gained something from working with you, so they would lose nothing if they quit.
I think what you need to do is to work on the presentation strategy for your game. This kind of thing does not happen itself - you can't motivate people to play, enjoy and contribute to your game by simply telling them that it exists. I would suggest that you very carefully read and analyse the feedback you got - here, at the Doomworld forums, at RGB Classic Games, the review I mentioned earlier etc. Of course I don't mean the comments that simply state that the art quality/gameplay/etc. is bad. There has been a lot of constructive criticism, and some of the flaws people have pointed out can be fixed without external help, like the
inescapable pit in E1L1.
Once you have a clear idea of what the players perceive as flaws or weaknesses in your game, you need to think about its strengths. Unfortunately, there's only a relatively small segment of the gaming audience that appreciates your game being a DOS title - everyone else will regard the need to set up DOSBox, configure the game etc. as an unnecessary complication. Some cannot be bothered to set up DOS emulation at all, meaning that they will not play your game simply because of your choice of platform. So perhaps you should put a greater emphasis on the Windows port, and work with it as the primary version.
Further on, you need a very clear concept of your game's "
unique playing proposition" yourself, so that whenever anyone asks you, what's so special about
Shaw's Nightmare, you have a reasonable answer readily at hand. Without this, it will be
very hard to attract any kind of interest to your game.
If you don't have one, invent one.
Let's ask ourselves for a moment, what is
Shaw's Nightmare?
- It's a retro game
- It's free
- It's a Doom clone
- It runs on the Build engine
- It's moddable and comes with a level editor
- It takes place in the world of nightmares
I can't come up with anything else at the moment, but with the right wording this already can serve as the basis for a consistent presentation of your game.
BTW, there's another thing. You seem to take the entire project overly seriously. Perhaps it could be useful to add a bit of self-irony to the presentation, like in
this trailer of a retro game.
I'm telling you all this because I have a belief that your project does have potential for considerable improvement. You just need to find the right track for its development. Don't be afraid of setting higher goals. Admitting mistakes and drawbacks is a good thing, but saying stuff like
m96, on 19 August 2015 - 08:53 AM, said:
I was more likely to get a level designer than an artist.
m96, on 26 November 2015 - 12:32 AM, said:
I'm wondering why don't people look at the inner workings of Shaw's Nightmare instead of it's aesthetics?
m96, on 18 December 2015 - 01:57 AM, said:
Why is that when I do get somebody to work for Shaw's Nightmare, they stop responding at some point?
m96, on 20 December 2015 - 07:15 AM, said:
Though almost all of them had little to none portfolio and I accept them out of desperation.
is pretty much a defeatist attitude.
tl;dr I think you need to be more active in promoting your game and maintaining communication with potential contributors. Many people have reacted positively to the project and offered constructive feedback. Use it to make
Shaw's Nightmare more accessible to a wider audience, outline the areas you require help with, and specifically target the people who have the skills to assist you. Don't wait for someone to volunteer first.
Oh, and you also need to give those whom you ask for help a very clear idea of how and in what way their contribution will improve the project. If you have convinced yourself that the game has a great potential and is going to eventually become popular and fun to play for a wide audience, you will be able to convince others of that too, and thus motivate them. With this in mind, I believe that it is perfectly okay to tell people that you want to get better graphics, better levels or improved gameplay, especially if you describe in detail what you want and how you want it done.
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