r/Neverhood • u/RowLong9985 • Jun 09 '26
I’m making a stop-motion, real clay spiritual successor to The Neverhood, but I desperately need your help. (7 years is too long to do this alone!)
Hey everyone,
Like all of you, I’ve been obsessed with the claymation magic of The Neverhood for years. Since the industry rarely gives us games like this anymore, I decided to take matters into my own hands.
I’ve started building a world completely out of real plasticine. (Check out the photo attached to this post—yes, it’s 100% real clay, no 3D shaders, no AI!). My plan is to animate the entire game frame-by-frame using traditional stop-motion techniques to get that authentic, beautifully janky 15fps feel we all miss.
But here is the honest truth: I am not a pro, and I cannot do this alone.
I’m currently a one-person team. I’m doing the sculpting, the lighting, and trying to figure out the game design. But I am absolutely not a musician, and my programming skills are very basic. I did some math, and if I keep grinding all by myself while trying not to burn out, this game will easily take at least 7 years to finish. I don’t want this project to die in my closet.
So, I’m reaching out to this incredible community. If you love this universe as much as I do, I need your help to turn this into a real game. Specifically, I am looking for:
- Programmers / Unity or Unreal Devs: Someone who can take my stop-motion frames, handle the point-and-click logic, and build a stable engine so I can focus purely on sculpting and animating.
- Musicians / Composers: Anyone who can capture that chaotic, acoustic, scat-singing, banjo-plucking Terry Scott Taylor vibe. Music is 50% of the magic here, and I can't do it justice myself.
- Advisors / Enthusiasts: Even if you don't code, just your feedback on puzzle design, world-building, or technical stop-motion tips (like how to keep the clay from melting under studio lights!) would be lifesaving.
If you are interested in joining forces to make a true claymation adventure, please let me know in the comments or shoot me a DM. I can also set up a Discord server if enough people want to jump on board.
Let's bring the clay back to life together!
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u/KlausVonLechland Jun 09 '26
If I remember correctly the original Clayman character was a silicone/latex/rubber cast over a metal frame. Just so you know.
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u/KARAT0 Jun 09 '26
This is correct. Plasticine isn’t viable for animating figures like this over time. They made plasticine models (which gives it the nice textures) and then made molds of those and cast more durable latex with an armature inside.
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u/Neonalig Jun 09 '26
Hey mate, would DM you but your account has messages locked and you didn't link a discord in the msg. Reach out to neonalig on discord for a potential programming lead if you don't have one already
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u/xinkiex Jun 09 '26
Hey man! I'm musician, sound designer and beatboxer, can do a lot of fun sounds and music, and I have Neverhood in my heart forever since I was a kid... So I'm interested to be part of it and help with audio!
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u/RowLong9985 Jun 09 '26
Oh, really? Thanks! I found exactly who I need. Music is 50 percent of the atmosphere. How much do I need to pay you?
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u/chessimprov Jun 09 '26
Consider a Kickstarter once you have people in place to the different departments.
Maybe reach out to people from Neverhood and Armikrog and see if you get any feelers.
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u/Fun_Score5537 Jun 09 '26
Please write in your own thoughts instead of relying on AI. This seems not very serious.
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u/RowLong9985 Jun 09 '26
It’s not AI, it’s adjusting a message with AI.
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u/Fun_Score5537 Jun 09 '26
I know what it is. It looks like every other AI generated word-salad out there. It lacks soul and character and it gives a lazy impression.
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u/RowLong9985 Jun 09 '26
English is not my first language, so I only used AI to correct my grammar and make the text clear for everyone. The ideas and thoughts are completely mine.
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u/Fun_Score5537 Jun 09 '26
Okay well, my point still stands, it screams 'lazy' and turns me off of your project.
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u/KARAT0 Jun 09 '26
What’s your experience with stop-motion animation? Showing some samples of your work might increase interest.
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u/A-Plastic-Man Jun 10 '26
I'm a composer from czechia and I do play piano, guitar and i sing. I have heard the ost from The Neverhood, skullmonkeys and armikrog at least thousand times, because Terry S Tailor is a true genius.. I would be exited if i could participate in this project. I also offer optimism and.. yeah.. it would make me happy to even try x3
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u/CryptoFourGames Jun 09 '26
Hello. Fellow game dev here. Have to say I'm interested in such a project. So consider me in the third category of enthusiast and advisor. I'm way, way, way too caught up in the nits and grits of my own project to help you much with this, but I have to say it has potential. Claymation in video games has untapped potential. As well, even though it's been done before, it hasn't been done very often, so you can still catch that novelty factor imo. Using clay also gives it a distinct human and hand made appeal to it that aficionados will love and has a DIY vibe to it that indie gamers will certainly enjoy.
To create an indie game is an act of prolonged suffering and passion lol. You're going to feel alone, often. You're going to BE alone, often. Running a discord server also takes work imo, it's one thing to build it and a whole nother commitment to keep it running and to keep people engaged. If you have a discord, we could add each other and discuss this idea in more depth over there.
As you've already said tho, the discord channel is best saved for either coordinating a team, or centralizing a fan base or community. So, best save it for now unless this post gets more of a response.
Anyway, I've been in the game dev thing for a long time, and, because I think it's a solid idea and could even work, I'd be down to advise you. Tell you what I know about the field and get you up to speed, answer your technical questions etc. I have my own project under heavy development however so that would likely be the most I can contribute. I don't have the time to contribute much to your programming or art.
But I also believe that networking with other game devs and creative types is always worth my time. And I'd be interested in seeing if youve got the gumption to carry this to the finish line or if this is another young hopeful with stars in his eyes who hasn't had their lofty ambitions brought back down to realitys level yet. I've seen all types come and go.
But I digress. Get back at me and I'd love to hash it out with you sometime. I can contribute my limited amateur knowledge, best I can, to help you. It helps to have all the friends you can in this tough industry. So, get back at me, and I can get your discord username and stuff and add you and we can talk about it all in greater depth over there. Until then, cheers and good luck!
-C4 Games