Ultima: Return is a long and ambitious project. As a result we are constantly looking for new team members to strengthen our ranks. Keep in mind that Return is freeware game made by fans, for fans — there will be no compensation besides the satisfaction of a job well done.
So we are currently in need of:
Dialogue Writers
Whether it consists of crafting NPCs from scratch or developing a character from an existing outline, writing dialogues can be an exciting prospect. Keep in mind that it will also involve writing numerous layers of conversations, keyword dialogues with multiple choices and taking into account numerous dialogues and triggers.
Book Writers
Beside Dialogues, we also need some people to write the numerous books that will be found on the Serpent Isle.
Editor
We need someone to act as a Book/Dialogue Editor — which implies proofreading every single text written for the game, and notably in term of Elizabethan English.
Artists (Portraits)
Return will have a lot of NPCs. A whole lot. As such we will need of several portraits artist to help in designing the numerous character faces based on the descriptions of each character while staying consitent with our lead Artist established’s style.
Artists (2D/Stills)
Keeping in tradition with old school Ultima games, Return aims to use drawn stills as the basis for the introduction and endgame sequences as well as multiple cutscenes during the game. As such we need a talented artists to actually draw these.
Artists (3D)
As we intend to do the most we can with the Unity engine we will need several 3D artists to retexture existing objects, and to create many new objects and buildings from scratch, as well as the numerous creatures that live on the Serpent Isle.
Interface Designer
The role of the Interface Designer will be to design multiple GUIs for the numerous systems of Ultima: Return and well as many icons for various objects and items in the tradition of GUMPS used in various episodes of the Ultima series, considering the title will use a system similar to the original Serpent Isle.
Worldbuilders
As one may guess, Worlbuilding involves constructing the Serpent Isle with the use of Unity. Worlbuilding involves various aspects: crafting landmass, building cities, adding NPCs and we will obviously need a lot of people for that purpose.
Designers
The role of designers will be to help crafting actual content for the game : POIs, quest or puzzle ideas, gameplay mechanics : you name it. While the role of designer often merges with other tasks, it remains one of the most important.
Level Designers
The role of Level Designer is akin to a Worldbuilder, but mostly focusing on dungeons. Most importantly it is not so much about building the dungeon within the editor, as it is about crafting dungeons and levels from scratch, including content, puzzless, creatures, loot, level maps and everything a good dungeon require.
Coders
The role of Coders is basically to craft and integrate the various gameplay systems and mechanics inside the game. As we are focusing with a Unity Framework, many will need to be created from scratch, so extensive coding skill is a must.
If you are interested, feel free to contact us directly. In your mail explain what domain you are interested in, as well as your Ultima experience and an example of your work if you have some. A good knowledge of Ultima is not necessary, though it can always help.
Let me ascertain again that this will a time consuming job –- so think carefully when offering your help — but that any helping hand will be most welcome.