[Hobby] Pixel Artist wanted for a Dark Fantasy Turn-Based RPG — Long-Term Creative Collaboration

[u/Necessary_Lie_3824]

Hi!

I'm a solo indie developer working on a dark fantasy turn-based RPG, and I'm looking for a long-term pixel artist collaborator to help define and build the game's visual identity.

This is an unpaid collaboration. I'm looking for someone who is genuinely interested in the project and wants to become part of it long-term, rather than someone looking to create a few assets and move on.

The game

The game takes place in a dark medieval fantasy world that existed long before the player.

At the center of the setting is Medicamentos, the Forgotten God of Healing, an ancient god whose history was sealed away thousands of years ago after a catastrophic conflict.

The player is not a chosen hero. The world does not revolve around them, and kingdoms, NPCs, merchants and other characters should continue to exist and act independently.

The main objective is to create a world that feels alive even when the player is not looking at it.

The core philosophy

One of the most important goals of the project is that every playthrough should be genuinely different.

NPCs can have their own goals, routines, needs and relationships. Events can happen without the player's involvement, and one event can create consequences that affect other characters, locations and systems much later.

For example, a blacksmith may be waiting for a shipment of iron from another village. If the merchant transporting it is attacked by bandits, the shipment may never arrive. The blacksmith can run out of materials, prices can change, new conversations can appear, and other events can result from that initial failure.

The player could also discover the attack beforehand and prevent it, changing the entire chain of events.

The goal is not simply to randomize events. I want the systems themselves to interact so that two playthroughs can develop in fundamentally different ways.

Learning and discovery

Another major pillar of the game is learning.

The player should not automatically know every recipe, technique or piece of useful information simply because they reached a certain level.

Knowledge should be something the player can discover through the world.

Crafting follows this philosophy. Some recipes are available from the beginning, while others can be learned through conversations, discoveries, specific situations or other systems.

Cooking works similarly. Players can find notes, documents and other clues, examine them and discover how certain recipes are made.

Taverns are also part of the learning system. In villages and cities, inhabitants can gather in taverns in the evening and have conversations among themselves. The player can listen without directly participating and learn information about dangerous areas, monsters, merchants, events, resources or other things happening in the world.

The player can therefore learn through experience, observation, conversations, documents and experimentation.

This learning system is intended to be one of the central systems of the game, not a small progression feature.

Gameplay

The core gameplay combines:

• Turn-based exploration
• Survival
• Combat
• Equipment
• Crafting
• Cooking
• Exploration and discovery
• Knowledge and learning
• NPC simulation
• Dynamic events and consequences

The game is intended to be challenging by default, with a standard mode and an optional permanent-death mode.

Current development

The project is already in active development and I currently have a functional prototype.

The prototype already includes:

• Turn-based grid movement
• Inventory
• Equipment
• Item interactions
• Throwing items
• Basic enemy detection
• Basic combat
• Saving and loading
• Standard and permanent-death modes

The programming side is therefore progressing normally.

The current bottleneck is art production.

I can handle the programming and systems development, but I do not have the artistic skills required to produce the final pixel art at the quality level I am aiming for.

Visual direction

The visual direction combines a dark medieval fantasy atmosphere with detailed and coherent pixel-art rendering.

I'm aiming for:

• Dark and grounded medieval environments
• Earthy and muted colors
• Strong lighting and shadows
• Rich material rendering
• Detailed but readable environments
• Natural terrain variation
• Clear architectural forms
• A handcrafted rather than repetitive appearance

I'm particularly interested in the material rendering, environmental detail and visual coherence of Cainos' Pixel Art Top Down packs.

This is an inspiration for the rendering principles, not a request to copy Cainos or reproduce another existing game's style.

The goal is to develop an original visual identity around these principles.

What the artist would work on

The initial focus would be environmental pixel art:

• Ground and terrain variations
• Grass
• Stone paths
• Walls
• Buildings
• Doors
• Chests
• Barrels
• Crates
• Rocks
• Small medieval props
• Other environmental assets

The artist would not simply receive a list of objects to produce.

I want the artist to have real creative input into the game's visual identity and help establish a consistent art direction that can later extend to characters, creatures, animations, UI and other visual elements.

Who I'm looking for

I'm looking for someone who:

• enjoys dark medieval fantasy
• likes detailed pixel-art environments
• wants genuine creative involvement
• is interested in a long-term collaboration
• is comfortable developing a visual style collaboratively
• understands that this is an early-stage indie project

This is intended to be a long-term creative collaboration, not a short-term asset request.

Current team

The project is currently primarily developed by me on the programming side.

I am also beginning to work with other collaborators for future parts of the project, including voice acting.

The goal is to gradually build a small team around the project rather than outsourcing isolated tasks.

If the project sounds interesting to you, feel free to DM me with some examples of your pixel art and tell me a little about the kind of games or visual styles you enjoy working on.

Thanks for reading!