Rocketboat - The Game is currently being developed primarily by a small team of dedicated volunteers. As of now, we do not have investors or a publisher and are relying solely on the backing of fans and volunteers for both promotion and continued development.
Our goal is to create a game that mixes the nostalgia and timeless formulas of classic retro games with the appeal and possibilities of modern computer processing. Not only do we wish to create a game that is both fun and visually appealing, we are also attempting to create a work of art that is both thought-provoking and subversive.
In a world full of growing inequality, environmental degradation, and social instability, we are aiming to shine light on some of these issues by offering people a perspective they might not have otherwise considered. That said, even though we intend to be as satirical as possible, our number one priority is to create a fun and challenging game that everyone can enjoy.
Android, iOS, Windows, OS X, and Linux versions of our pilot will be made available as a freeware download. Beyond this initial release, we have much planned and a lot of pre-production has already taken place.
Things ANYONE can do to help us out:
Step 1 - Connect
Step 2 - Share
Step 3 - Donate
Though the development team has been able to get a considerable amount accomplished via its own means, to truly realize the complete vision of this project will require money for both promotion and for any future outsourced contract work. Since we do not currently have any sort of external funding, we are limited to how much we can invest.
So please, if you support what we’re doing, feel free to send a contribution to our PayPal account. One dollar? Five? Twenty? Any amount is extremely helpful and appreciated. :)
Can’t afford to contribute monetarily or are you still looking for additional ways to help out? Worry not! There is still much that can be done!
Things SPECIALISTS can do to help us out:
Business/Industry Experts
This is our first game, and we honestly have no idea what we’re doing outside of actual game development. If you or someone you know is knowledgeable in any of the following areas – business management, accounting, industry relations, press relations, promotion – we are interested in working with you/them as either a volunteer or a paid* consultant. Contact us and let’s start a conversation.
Content Creators
We love hearing people’s thoughts on the game and obviously the additional exposure is always appreciated. If you or someone you know is a gaming journalist, music journalist, YouTube video author, or even an illustrator who would want to send us some fan art, we would love to hear from you and will be as accommodating as possible. Contact us!
Development Team
As mentioned prior, we’ve been able to accomplish a lot with our tiny all-volunteer team, but to truly realize our full vision, we are going to require the time and skills of additional passionate artists and developers. We are primarily interested in working with people who are willing to volunteer due to their sheer support of the project/vision though we will offer financial compensation* if available. We are primarily interested in working with socially-conscious people who are fans of the Mega Man, Super Mario, and EarthBound/Mother series. We’re looking to add people to the team for the following positions:
Do you like what we are doing? Have you always wanted to be involved in game design? Prior directing experience not required. Think you can help expand upon our established foundation?
We envision a game universe that is vast, colorful, animated, and full of variety. We are interested in working with pixel artists to help create animated sprites, world/background textures, and full screen cut scenes. Must be able to emulate the design styles of the classic NES games mentioned, though be original enough to appear new. Stylistic consistency is a must.
Though future levels and cutscenes, characters, and enemies have been planned. It would be extremely useful for us and our pixel artists and level designers to have access to some fresh creative perspectives.
We are looking for artists to help create character, background, and combination pieces to use as promotional art for online, print, and press materials.
Our level design team currently consists of director/producer Josh Hanchar and the talented Peter Sjöstrand, lead developer and level designer for Mega Man 2.5D! We are looking to add other artistic and gameplay conscious designers to this team.
Though we already have all of the music taken care of, we are interested in working with someone to help us create original NES-style sound effects.
We have a great outline for the story for the future levels of the game, but we would really like to take it to new levels (no pun intended.) Seeking individuals who are supportive of the concept and willing to help flesh out the specifics.
This website is a temporary solution. Can you make something just as good or even better?
Please help us out so our web and promotional writing sounds better than this!
We plan on releasing the next version of the game in multiple languages. We currently have German, Portuguese, and Italian translators on board (though we could always use backup translators!) We are looking for people to help translate into Spanish, Hindi/Urdu, Bengali, Arabic, Mandarian, Russian, Japanese, French, and Korean.
If you or someone you know would be interested in helping out in any of these roles, or if you feel like you have something unique to offer to this project, please don't hesitate to contact us!
* If we end up getting proper financial backing via donations, crowd-sourcing, or investment, that money will be spent paying new volunteers, hiring contractors, attending events, and for press and promotion.