GAMER LOUNGE 20XX (NO CASUALS!!)

[DragonDePlatino]

So I've always wanted to make a fangame but I'm only capable of making sprites. How can I get people interested in helping me make something like that?

Start programming the game yourself and if its good, contributors will flock to it. People will not buy into concepts or mockups, but if you have something tangible and playable they will feel motivated to contribute. Just look at big projects like MOTHER 4.

It started out as a little pet project in RPG Maker by a couple of dudes, and has since ballooned into one of the best-looking and highly-hyped fangames ever. And that didn't happen overnight. Over the course of several years they switched engines multiple times, had people enter the project and now they have a fully-fledged team of spriters, composers, programmers, writers and PR guys. It's unlikely such a development cycle could ever be replicated by another fangame, but I've seen it happen often on smaller scales everywhere. In particular, that's how 99% of roguelikes were started up and many continue to be updated today decades later.

If you're willing to learn programming, I would start with Python/Pygame or C++/SDL 2.0. Until recently, I was in your position as a person who knew how to sprite but didn't have a lick of formal programming experience. I knew that if I used RPG Maker/Game Maker/Multimedia Fusion, I would eventually outgrow the engine and have to waste time learning a new one. So to skip that process, I decided to jump right into making my own engine. It's a much bigger struggle than using existing engines, but it's certainly worth it since you'll never have to switch and your game will ultimately run a lot faster.

Pygame is the easier of the two to learn, but it has some restrictions like a lack of vsync support. It's what I started with and it can certainly work for games, but its poor OpenGL support might dissuade you. However, since pygame is just a Python port of SDL 2.0, everything you learn about it can be applied to SDL 2.0. If you want to learn pygame, Bucky's Python tutorials and this book series are fantastic places to start.

If you're feeling masochistic confident, starting with SDL 2.0 is the way to go. It's a very powerful library that's used in many commercial games (just refresh this to get an idea) but its very difficult to learn. But if you decide to take that route, Bucky's C++ tutorials and these are pretty good.

Alternatively, you could try SFML which is harder than pygame but easier than SDL 2.0. I've never tried it myself but I've heard it's the newest of the three and very beginner-friendly.