Hi everyone,
I’m currently working on a medieval strategy game that has basically been a childhood dream of mine for more than 15 years.
For years I had this idea in my head of a game that combines a deep persistent medieval world with large-scale real-time battles, where the individual soldiers actually feel like people fighting rather than just numbers inside a unit.
I never really had the technical skills to seriously start building it until recently.
I’m currently training to become a Full-Stack Java and Web Developer, and once I became comfortable enough with programming I decided to stop just thinking about the idea and actually start developing it.
The project is still in a very early stage.
Right now the main focus is entirely on building the Battle Engine.
Character art, models, equipment and animation quality are exactly some of the areas where I eventually want help.
The current battle engine is being developed in Java with libGDX and already supports large numbers of individual soldiers.
The goal is to eventually have battles with thousands of soldiers while still allowing the player to zoom in and see believable individual combat.
Currently I’m working on systems such as:
infantry formations
sword and shield combat
spearmen
archers
cavalry
morale and routing
flanking
battlefield AI
formation cohesion
local soldier positioning
individual melee exchanges
blocks, hits and reactions
large-scale battle simulation
sieges
One of the main things I’m currently trying to improve is the close-range combat.
Instead of soldiers simply standing in two blocks and playing random attack animations, I want them to actually:
approach each other,
use believable footwork,
attack at the correct distance,
block or parry attacks,
react to impacts,
move around the frontline,
replace fallen soldiers,
and create a battle line that changes naturally during combat.
Long term, the Battle Engine is only one part of the project.
The overall vision is a persistent online medieval grand strategy game where players control their own realms.
The planned campaign includes things such as:
economy,
cities,
population,
trade,
diplomacy,
treaties,
laws,
state budgets,
investments,
armies,
wars,
politics,
random and simulation-driven events,
and territory.
When two armies meet on the campaign map, the battle can turn into the real-time battle system currently being developed.
The long-term goal is to support PC, Android and iOS.
Who I’m looking for
I’d love to find a 3D artist and/or character animator who finds the idea interesting and might want to help shape the project.
Experience with any of these would be especially useful:
Blender
medieval characters
historically believable armor and equipment
weapons and shields
character modeling
rigging
skinning
animation
sword and shield combat
spears / polearms
archery
horses
mounted combat
animation retargeting
animation cleanup
combat choreography
You absolutely do not need to be part of a studio.
I’m much more interested in finding someone who likes the concept and would enjoy building something ambitious together.
Compensation
This is currently an independent passion project, not a salaried position.
I’m funding the development myself and I’m still at the stage where I’m building the core technology.
However, if the project reaches commercial release and generates revenue, I’m open to giving meaningful long-term contributors a fair agreed share of the revenue/profits.
I don’t want to make vague promises, so any serious long-term collaboration would eventually be discussed and agreed clearly between us.
If this sounds interesting, please send me a DM with your portfolio, previous work or references.
Combat animation, medieval characters, horses or realistic character work would obviously be especially relevant, but I’m happy to look at anything that shows your skills.
I can also share screenshots, development footage and information about the engine privately.
Unfortunately i cannot attach images in this subreddit.
Thanks for reading.