Most of my game projects have been Mario fangames, but ever since I started making games in GM, I've really wanted to create a big game with all-original characters. The main hangup was my lack of actual spriting skills, but I recently found someone willing to help with that, and besides, I've gotten a bit better in that department as well. There's no guarantee that this will grow beyond a short demo, but here's a really rough outline for it, in lieu of actual screenshots or engines:

Gameplay: Basically a Mario-ish platformer, but with some elements of the Megaman weapons system and a touch of Zelda-like puzzles and maybe even a DKC tag-team system. Might also include an unusual life system.

Levels: I've already drawn maps of over 100 usable levels, which would only need minor tweaking when used in the GM room editor.

Story: The original versions either involved saving the world from an evil wizard who transformed everyone into money, or else thwarting a terrorist snowman who was plotting to turn into a Gaddafi-ish nuclear madman. The story isn't the centerpiece of the game, but I still may be able to improve on this.

Characters: The original version starred myself, but that's kind of vain and I can probably come up with better playable character(s). Contributors to the project will end up getting a cheap cameo or two, though.

Enemies: I've designed a very nice assortment of original enemies and level features.

Style: I'm still not totally sure what kind of graphical style I want, but I want a higher resolution than what you see in a lot of amateur games (probably 640 x 480).

Music: If all goes well, most of it will be done by me. Many of the songs have already been partially composed already.

And if you'd like to help, there are several different things you may be able to contribute.

It sounds okay. If the story was more detailed, it would probably catch people's attention more (That's mainly why Cave Story was so successful). But if the story isn't the centerpiece of the game, what is?

The gameplay. If things start getting really serious, though, I'll spend some time developing a more intriguing story.

Give me the designs of a character and I'll see what I can do. What style do you want and do you have a color palette in mind?

Oh, OK. Here's a grayscale frame of one of the beta enemies:


Try spriting one of the killer birds. It's just a red bird with a long yellow beak that swoops at you. 64x32 is a good size.