Hiring for map project (potentially)

[muzan]

I'm wanting to make a game, or some games, similar to Lords of Conquest (it's an old Commodore 64 strategy game, based on a 1982 board game called Borderlands, which is something like Risk and Settlers of Catan mixed together, but more complex in most ways), although I want it to be vastly extended and network-worthy. The game I want to make itself is still to play out similarly to a board game, and not like Warcraft or anything.

Anyway, I figure Löve is a good choice for the project.

However, I've never made a game with Löve—although I'm more familiar with Lua—and I haven't done much work with drawing and interfacing with graphics.

I'm wondering if I could hire someone to make the map functionality, while leaving the rest of the coding to me. I would need the license to do whatever I wanted with it afterward, including sub-license it as I will. I do plan the game to be open-source, free-software (something like LGPL, or public domain with the original source available)—so anyone should be able to use this map code for free (even me), whether for commercial purposes or not. The license should be LGPL-compatible.

Here's a link to a clone of Lords of Conquest, if you want to have a better idea of how the inspiration for this project works:
• http://members.cox.net/rgettman/index.html

Here are my requirements:
• I need a map editor that can save the maps to be loaded in the game (as well as load and re-edit old ones).
• You'll need to make the portion of the game able to load the maps, and show me how to interface with it (you could choose to make a map component, rather than a separate program for the map editor; the map component would be the same thing used to display the map during game play).
• Types of area include land and water
• Both land and water should be divided into territories with visible borders that are smooth and not sharp-edged (with the option to have water just be a boundary for the land, if you don't want water territories, and vice versa for land if you want a sea-only game); territories should be able to be marked as uncharted (I'll use this to prevent users from choosing to own that particular land at the start—it needs to be colonized before use)
• I'll need to be able to reference and alter territories from within the game (and they should then be able to take mouse clicks, and/or focus from the arrow keys); every territory should be represented by an object, I mean
• I should be able to add and manipulate my own variables to territory objects (these won't be visual)
• I should be able to change the colors of territories from within the game and the editor (although it shouldn't be required in the editor)—to any color, from a color chooser. (Each player has a color, and players choose territories at the game's start). So, what this means is that the territories should be returnable from the map as objects, with alterable attributes, or something.
• Maps should be able to be of any size within the limits of processing power, with any number of territories (i.e. not limited by a set grid); add scrolling if it's too big for the screen (even in full-screen mode)
• Users should be able to draw custom maps
• Various resources should be allocatable to map territories, and although this should be able to be done in the editor, it's often only done in the game
• Resources should include at least the following: gold mine, coal mine, iron mine, tree resource, stone mine
• Lands should be able to have the following assets/developments (in or out of the editor): weapons, horses, dragons, stockpiles
• Developed resourced (these should be like normal ones as far as the map editor is concerned): pasture (to develop horses), cities, boats
• Resources, assets and developments should be very simple, small graphics taking up one grid unit of a territory each (no more). Although, you can do stripes or something for such as cities, like they did in the original Lords of Conquest, if you want. They should look the same for every player so that you don't have to make tons of them.
• The map editor should be able to generate randomized maps given certain parameters: parameters can include such as number of territories, kinds of land, kinds of resources included, amount of islands, number of uncharted territories, how regular the territory shapes are, etc.

Features that I want, but aren't strictly required:
(If you can't or don't want to add these, try to make your code able to adapt to their addition later without problems.)
• Sub-types of land/water, including at least the following: plains, forest, swamp, desert, mountain, fresh water, salt water; these aren't the same thing as resources, although perhaps they may imply that they have certain ones
• Additional resources: oil land
• Additional assets/developments: warplanes
• Developed resources: farmland, training grounds, etc.
• Training grounds include such as for knights, magic users, food, management, etc.
• Territories should be able to have the following conditions: fire (i.e. it's on fire), radiation, disease
• Make multiple kinds of weapons
• A territory should be able to have as many resources/developments on it as the map-maker desires. It would be nice if it would only show the first three, but you could click on it to reveal them all.

You don't really need to know this, except for the assets included in these (horse, dragons—since they're visible), but here is a list of possible things produced by the resources every production phase which are not visible:
• coal, gold, iron, wood, stone, oil, food, water, people, revenue

Anyway, feel free to give quotes and bids (to be paid by the project, and not by the hour). If multiple people want to work on this, or contribute, feel free to say so. Volunteers are certainly welcome. Ideas and input are welcome, too. I realize that this seems fairly complex—so if you're willing to do something similar, but simpler, let me know. If it turns out that I'm too poor for this, take this as a call for volunteers. I don't have a deadline or anything.

I would probably pay by electric check (or a normal check through mail). I'm just an individual who wants to make a game (not a business)—so you'd have to work out the taxes and all that. You could hold off on making the license what I want until you receive payment if you're concerned about that.

[Avalon]

If you're still looking for someone to do this, shoot me an email on ryan@avapi.eu so we can discuss the finer details.