Achron is the fruit of many years of hard work by the founders of Hazardous Software and has been entirely self-funded. Not only do we want to share Achron with the world and watch its development first-hand, but we want to give people a chance to contribute as well.

 

Achron still has a long way to go, especially with regard to art. If you submit your own work to Achron and we decide to use it, then, at a minimum, your name will be included in the credits along with the work you contributed (great for resumes), and you will get licenses for 2 free copies of Achron to give to your friends (you just need to give us their e-mail addresses). If you do enough quality work that we use, then we may, at our discretion, offer you monetary contracts or include you in the same profit participation program that Hazardous Software's founders use. If Achron does well enough, maybe your submissions will turn into a job at Hazardous Software or elsewhere!

 

With some exceptions, contributions will be primarily organized and discussed on the Forum under Community Contributions. Additionally, you may contact us directly at info@hazardoussoftware.com.

 

As of January 18th, we are looking for the following contribution roles:

3D models for in-game units and terrain objects: modeling, texturing, animating, etc.

Model concept art: ask about this on the forums; we will provide details about the units, style, etc.

User interface art: icons, notificatons, windows, etc.

Two programming roles: 1) helping out with the level editor rewrite (C and a restricted subset of C++) and 2) visual effects (GLSL, C, and a restricted subset of C++); note that these two roles will require a non-disclosure agreement. Only inquire if: you are an experienced developer that can write clear (easy to read, appropriate level of comments) and efficient code; are in a position that you are able to contribute (e.g., not prevented by current employment contracts); and can commit to contributing at least 10-15 hours per week on average.

 

You may upload your contributions through the contribution submission page.

 

From concept...

to model...   ...to in-game

For your work to be included, you need to:

 

create or improve work from a description or concept that fulfills a particular need we have for Achron (even though Achron is far from complete, it's pretty well planned out, and the remaining work is both outlined and budgeted in our contracts)

unquestionably own the work you submitted

transfer copyright over to Hazardous Software Inc. (our contract allows you to show your work in portfolios, etc.)

be at least 18 years old and above the age of majority in your jurisdiction (in some countries and states this is above 18 years)

 

Notes on creating 3D models

 

You can use almost whatever modeler you want (as long as you have a valid license to use it) to create your models, and then import them into the open source 3D editor Blender (Blender imports a variety of formats) and then export the file into a format ready to be compiled for use by Achron. The latest release of Achron includes the Model Compiler tool with detailed instructions for this process.

 

Once you are ready to submit your work, just upload it to our contribution submission page.

 

Exporting from Blender:

 

The Model Compiler reads in meshes from .robj files, which may be exported from the 3D editor Blender (http://blender.org) via our custom script:
http://achrongame.com/downloads/scripts/export_resequence_object.py. This script should be copied into the .blender/scripts directory, which, depending on the type of installation of Blender, may be in the main Blender directory where it was installed, or in C:\Documents and Settings\your user name\Application Data\Blender Foundation\Blender for Windows XP, or in C:\Users\Brendon\AppData\Roaming\Blender Foundation\Blender for Windows Vista and 7.

 

Once this script is copied in its proper location, the model may be opened in Blender or imported into Blender from a different modeler (if Wavefront .obj files are imported, make sure to select Import Smooth Groups on import), then it may be exported by first selecting the object (right-click), then go to File->Export->Resequence Object (.robj), selecting the file name, and hitting export. It may take several seconds to output, as all raw data across all animations is written out (not all of this is imported, but it is all made available in case the animation script requires it). Make sure the object only consists of single-sided triangles.