I may have really messed up on the Prototype with the announcement, but here goes:

Starting this summer, I will be working to make a NEW Full Motion Video horror video game. The project has a director, and a programmer, who will add to the plot along with me.

Before we set start filming and coding, we'll be doing a quick beta of a simple "scene" or random task involving your character breaking a vase to open a locked cupboard. (with two or more secrets.)

What we're going for is pants-shitting horror, mixed with B-movie sensibilities and a touch of exploitation. Think Tales from the Crypt, or House of the Dead: Overkill. It's going to be a hard "R" and have blood, violence, and possible nudity with simulated sex. (Phantasmagoria is a good example of this) Though this being America, if people are oogy about sexual stuff, we'll just balance it out with more murder.

So far, this is how the project stands:

We have a Director, who has written plays, movies, and has a few years under his belt living and working in New York.

We have me, the idea guy/plot outline/video editor/actor/whatever.

We have a Programmer who wants to test gameplay mechanics, and was on with the word "horror."

What we need:

Low budget special effects help, crazy characters, people who want in on this kind of crazy atmosphere. People who have no problem with the macabre and women who don't mind being topless a +. (NOTE: we only ask once, after that, we never ask about taking your top off ever again....if it helps you can ask to murder me in a scenario if you're angry you're asked)

The locations: Basically we'll be working in DC and NYC. We can't really operate anywhere else for as cheap as we need to. We may have to film parts of the game in both cities, so the ability to travel to both cities is a huge help and will make us figure out who we can use more of. In fact this is the MOST IMPORTANT reason your character gets more screen time.

The schedule: From mid-march to June, we'll be trying to piece the plot, characters, setting, and what roles people will want to play. We'd like it if we could meet people in person to play video games, hang out, and brainstorm.

Just remember, not marijuana bullshitting, actual SOBER brainstorming. If you're gonna toke up to help your "process" do it and write some ideas on some other day. I'm allergic to Marijuana, and I'd like not to be coughing, sneezing, and feeling like shit. Tobacco's bad too, but if you go outside and come in, I'll be ok. I hate to be a dick about this, but I'd rather not be sick every time we get together.

SO...

Knowing all this crazy crap, if you want to help out, or have advice, or just want to donate stuff to the project, contact us at:

fmvgame@hotmail.com

As someone who grew up in the 80s/90s I can tell you I LOVE FMV games. They are one of my guilty pleasures and the cheesier the better! Dude, if I lived anywhere near NYC or DC I would so want to be in this! Maybe I can help out with some brainstorming. I want first dibs at trying this game though. Make FMV games cool again dude!!

We'll be doing a scrum build using 1 or 2 play mechanics.

It'll be a scene involving trying to get out of a room with 2 or 3 "hidden" interactions. We plan to get it done before the end of March.

I'm really lucky in that I have a programmer who wants to try out different game mechanics. So we won't be tied to one if we can avoid it.

NEWS:

We've started scouting locations for filming and are assembling our team. There will be a full listing of people involved in the project after we release our beta "test" scenarios for anyone who wants in. They will be mini puzzles featuring a glimpse of what the finished project may look like.

I, personally have been given the director's chair, as my previous director has other commitments, so he'll be editing the thing together. It means that filming will be done in DC, and not New York.

Right now there is a rubric for how the plot will go, it's going to be a cross between exploitative fare like Phantasmagoria, while borrowing elements from movies like "The 9th Gate." The script is something I'll be hammering out, and gathering help from two friends, one for puzzles/stamping out horror cliches, and another who has psychosexual elements from her writing to add.

WHERE I NEED HELP:

If anyone knows where I can learn about cheap special effects and costuming so I can make the gore overwhelmingly fucking insane. Please do (I feel like a little Riki-oh here and there will give people a glorious fun time)

Also, this game will be a hard "R" and we want to add nudity, and messed up degenerate goodness. So if anyone knows how I can run a casting call without looking like a skeevy fuckwit, it would go really far.

If you feel you have any input, want to help (especially if you're in the DC Area, or willing to drive) give me a heads up. We're trying to have weekends where we brainstorm and play games, with "guests" on skype as well.

How to follow the project

we currently have two email addresses:
fmvgame@hotmail.com
fmvgame@gmail.com

A new youtube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/fmvgameX (yeah, this is so fucking weak at the moment)

(twitter will be as soon as we start rolling film)

Check out IndiMogul on youtube. They've got a feature, Back Yard FX, that's nothing but practical special effects on a budget.

UPDATE:

We started to experiment with expanding one plot, and planning it out to the end as a plot. Just to see if we could craft a full narrative.

After I finished it, we decided to change the direction of the project into three smaller games that could be expanded if we got a good buzz.

The three smaller games have names, a good amount of plot decided, and we have puzzles planned out. We'll be releasing them around the same time.

Project #1 Noir 48 -- In the years after WWII, Jack Murphy made a name for himself as a private detective solving murder cases and exposes paranormal hoaxes. Amidst the pain of a recent divorce and nursing war injuries, he finds himself caught in the murder of his father's best friend. A murder that seems to be connected to supernatural forces.

Project #2 The Bloodening II: The Bloodening -- A complete tool named Steve and his buddy Kevin are stuck fighting "draculas" in the early 1990s. Expect bad acting, horrid sets, hypercolor shirts, pump sneakers, and puzzles that make no sense, like using a rubik's cube and a mackerel to... (expect lots of 4th wall breaking)

Project #3 (No title, but tentatively called "That Johnny Depp one") A gothic horror tale involving a man solving the mystery of whether he's going mad or actually dying many times every day. Each day, a new hallucination, each night, a new nightmare. What's real, and if he's not going mad, how can he stop something that can use him as it's morbid plaything?

Also, we'll be starting a podcast where we talk about developing the game, and rant about this and that.

Once we get the camera we'll shoot some teaser trailers, and get to the business of designing puzzles. We were originally going to write a script, shoot, and then make the game, but we realized QUICK that without thinking about the game and puzzles actively, we were going to shoehorn that in which would destroy the game, so we're working backward, then writing a script, then seeing if that works. Or trying out scripting while designing puzzles.

PROJECT UPDATE:

It's been a rough few months for us in terms of getting the project off the ground. Our editor/director of one of the games lost two well paying jobs because the businesses went under. My programmer is saddled with more work because of layoffs, and while I started the year employed, I've been looking for work for a while now, and that took a lot of my time.

With work not being available, I've come to one conclusion. Fuck these idiots in charge of hiring/the economy/money/etc. They won't give me a piece of the pie, I'm baking my own.

I'm going to go all in and try to make this project into a studio. It means the projects will be delayed until I get the right team and create demos to show to investors. People have expressed interest, but I said I didn't feel comfortable taking money without a solid backbone to this project.

Yes, people said something to the effect of "Shut up and take my money" and I said "no."

What's really surprising is all the support I'm getting from friends. I guess they've been worried about me for so long, that when I tell them I have an idea, and ask for advice or help, they bowl over crowds to get it for me. That or they're now established enough to take some free time out of the day.

I'm glad only this forum knows about the project because it's been several false starts over the last few months, and if I announced it all over the place it would have a vaporware reputation at this point. However, we do have general plot outlines, and in a rare moment of awesome we figured out what we hope to be one of the most fun boss battles ever. I can't really say what it is, but it's something I've wanted to do all my life, ever since I saw the concept done in TV and movies.

In the next month we will be incorporating, and be setting up a web presence while I work on scripting and testing my acting chops. I also want to spread the love for the several people who signed on in addition to the core team, as it's not just us who are hurting with cash and bullshit. Ideally we'd have main actors we can pay, but as it stands now, the brunt of the main character work will be my friends and I.

I will give out a freebie though. We don't just want to make an interactive movie, we want to really use film techniques in terms of digitized actors. We want to be careful not to step on patents, because we want to use film in genres it's never been used and mix them into one game.

The way the projects look right now

Noir 48- Green screen a little Myst style gameplay and a little like Deja Vu on the NES. Solstice and Equinox would also be good examples of the kind of investigation and puzzle based gameplay.

That "Johnny Depp" 90s gothic horror one- A more unsettling take with more emphasis on story, very similar to early FMV games and trying to unsettle/scare the player. A little heavier on dialog trees, but also an experiment in what amount of gore and psychological impact we can make.

THe bloodening 2: the bloodening: The clusterfuck to end all clusterfucks. This is our ambitious one. We don't want to do an interactive movie, we want to take live action, and digitization to new places. This game is our love letter to the 90s gaming scene, so we want to pull out all the stops.

Plotwise our three main characters are as follows:

Noir- H. Michael "Mick" Masterson is loudmouthed, visceral, SOB, who gambles, drinks, and sleeps around. The only good thing about him is he's a hard worker and a professional. As a PI he's put away murderers, con men, and made a name for himself solving crimes that people previously thought were "paranormal." When a close friend of his father's dies before they can talk about "a most disturbing secret," Mick find himself a person of interest when he's questioned outside the scene.

Gothic Horror: Marcus Alistair, a former antiques dealer, is stuck in a cycle of self loathing and hate after an accident caused him to lose everything. He has long since felt cursed, as machines, simple and electronic always seem to break around him. Without any structure left in his life, he smashes what little of his "treasures" he has in a glass case. Soon after, he starts having vivid hallucinations of his own death, followed by phantom pains. He's starting to question his sanity, could he actually be dying over and over again?

Bloodening: Brody "Brodawg" Breyerson lives in an apartment with his roommate "Sticks," playing video games maxin' and relaxing, basically being awesome dudes! While trying to return some clothes that got switched at the laundromat he discovers a bunch of Draculas are trying to take over Upper Sunnyside! Will he stop playing "Boom Room" "Preantepenultimate Fantasy" or "Jean Claude Von Death" long enough to save the day? Who cares! Let's eat Nachos, amigos!

Dammit...I'd kill to take part in something like this! Why must I live so far away with no money?

I want to second this statement. FMV games are the greatest and if I had time/money I would totally be a part of this. I've barely had time to do anything lately due to work.

You know, there may be a way you guys can help.

If you guys have weird props and costumes, or miniature furniture like dollhouse type stuff. Also, if you could break out a camera and take a picture of a beautiful background that seems amazing or otherworldy, or just plain cool.

Also, not going to say why but a .gif or a small video of you filmed walking in place facing, walking away from, and facing left and right of the camera from a good distance away (maybe 30-40ft) would work for a particular level we're thinking of.

***Project update***

My only programmer is taking several months to work for a friend of his father to do an extracurricular computer project. (Yeah, I know, right? FML)

Also, my health got hit like a squirrel on the interstate when I caught a virus that destroyed "the natural flora" of my gastrointestinal system. I'm now temporarily lactose intolerant and only able to eat bake, boiled, or steamed food that only a toddler could digest. Which means no roast whole pork, cuban sandwiches or turrones. WHHHHHHHHHHHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?

I would feel disheartened, but on a lark, I brought up my project to a lab tech who was drawing my blood, and his eyes lit up. We talked about all sorts of fmv games, and even TEXT BASED games, while I told him a few scant jokes from the game and he burst out laughing. I know, that even with all these setback, I'm on the right track. Once I get my body in order, I'll have an opportunity to get started, and look for part-time work.

I know that once I have a demo, I'll get funding, and this snowball will be rolling again... even if this last year has been a Sisyphean effort.

***UPDATE***

I've lost a lot of weight, not AIDS weight, but enough to warrant some concern. I've decided to take this opportunity to get my house in order. 2011 was a SHIT year with 4 bright spots. I realize now I've been stuck in a depression for the better part of several years, I just had "life issues" happen to distract me from getting through with all the shit from the last couple of years.

Because of this, and because I've ignored some health problems, I'm taking a hiatus from a project that didn't get past the "cool ideas on a page" phase, and I'm taking time to:

A: Be a legit person with a life/get out of my bed/stop "keeping up appearances."
B: Fix my health once and for all
C: Get a fucking job.

Also, no "Duke Nukem forever" syndrome. I'm going to research and write during my recovery, while still posting here from time to time. I hope to get all my friends ready by summer, so we can shoot while there's plenty of sun and free time.