Tbh, if I wasn’t so busy and if I trusted anyone, I think I wouldn’t mind being a coder. The part of writing that takes me so long is getting the dialogue and plot straight, and finding/making any extra art. If I had more time, I’d probably code for someone who:
- Had an interesting story idea and seemed like they’d follow it through (a good writer, a devoted writer)
- Provided a good screenplay with good dialogue, most/all animations/sounds, detailed instructions for character placement and zooms, and provided all the overlays/backgrounds (basically, so I didn’t have to search for anything or really think at all)
Sample of what that screenplay could look like from a non-coder
(In a flash of light, Makayla appears in FAERIELAND1, standing to the left of the toadstool)
Makayla (talk_afraid): Where am I? What’s going on?
(3 dragon overlays provided, one for flying, one for sitting, one for talking)
(Small dragon flies in, does a loop, lands on the toadstool, zoom on dragon in 1 second)
(Zoom back on Makayla in 0 seconds, she screams)
Makayla (scream_horror): Get away from me!
(Zoom on Dragon in 0)
Dragon: You don’t want to yell here, human. Keep quiet and follow me.
- Story is a reasonable length, likely <35 episodes
- Seemed to have a genuine reason why they didn’t want to code (busy schedule, dyslexic or other other learning disability, old computer or no computer so they don’t have access to the writer’s portal and preview window, etc) rather than just not wanting to learn new things
- Tolerable to work with, and can tolerate me in turn (someone who wouldn’t rush me, didn’t mind me cleaning up their grammar, willing to compromise if a minigame they envisioned is disproportionately difficult or impossible)
- Gave credit where credit is due
I don’t mind coding and programming, I guess I have a robotic side to my brain and am easily entertained by simple tasks that require little creative input. Donacode is straightforward enough that I don’t have to apply a lot of thought, it’s mostly place the overlay here, spot the character there… and all are simple if you can handle the RAM-gobbling preview pane.
The only reward I’d need is the feeling of bringing a quality story to life, it’d probably have to be a story I really liked and believed in, not just clickbait or cliches, something with plot twists, not meandering.
The problem is that I think I just described a unicorn lmao. Someone with a magnificent story, ready to pull all the weight except the coding for some reason… I’ll believe it when I see it.
I mean, it doesn’t bother me when someone wants a coder but doesn’t seem ready to present a kick-ass story and meet the coder halfway, it’s a free country (or so to speak), people can ignore a request if they don’t feel it’s worth their time. And if the partnership falls apart because one or both partners weren’t doing what they had to do, then both have learned a valuable lesson.
To be clear, I’m not accepting writing partners at this time, even if you check all the boxes above, sorry.