Reference Table:

• Social Media Links and Patreon
• Introduction
• Chaos Riders
• What you can do
• Achievements to date
• The contributions of others to date
  
• Silvermine Studios itself and its founder
• AI art disclaimer

Social Media Links and Patreon:

To keep up to date with this project, as well as my narrative, world-building and game design work for it,  follow me on my social media's, where I will be posting soon about these (as well as other things) weekly.

Social Medias:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chaosridersgame/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/chaos_riders
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SilvermineStudios
• Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ChaosRiders

Introduction:

Hello everyone, my name is William. I am the founder of Silvermine Studios here in Cork, Ireland. Silvermine Studios is a small, indie studio, with which I want to realise my video game ambitions. 

Last year, I was fortunate to have received some financial support for my business/studio. This came primarily from the New Frontiers programme, as well as as my Local Enterprise Office.  In addition to this, I couldn't have gotten to where I am now without the support and guidance of Ardán (based in Galway) and Technological University Dublin's Game Design course, as well as my friends and family. 

With the funding I possess, I have enough for a Concept Artist to do some vehicle sketches and art direction work (if this is you, please reach out via the contact details  below), and to support myself and my teammate for several months. With these individuals, I want to develop my prototype further, in order to:

• Find the right team for developing this video game.

• Convince a publisher to fund and market the full development of this video game. 

The prototype I have currently is very early days, and so requires further development. For this reason, I do not have a playable version of it here (for now), as I would like to polish it further. That said, I do have a trailer I made (with my limited video editing skills), which you can see on this page. More work is required, but I do believe this trailer and the temporary art I have here gives a good indication of what this game could be, as well as the foundations of something really fun and enjoyable.

But enough introductions, you've no doubt seen the art, description, etc, I have here, so let's talk about the game: Chaos Riders!

Chaos Riders:

Set on a dystopian desert world, Chaos Riders is a Racer Shooter, where pairs of Drivers and Gunners must compete in perilous, adrenaline-fuelled races, in order to win.

With Chaos Riders, I want to recapture the magic of Couch Co-op gameplay, which I feel has subsided in the modern video game landscape. There are of course some games that still champion Couch Co-op and feature it successfully. Examples such as Hazelight Studios' fantastic It Takes Two and Milestones' Hot Wheels Unleashed series comes to mind. In spite of this, Couch Co-op is starting to feel increasingly archaic or 'old-school' to me, which I don't believe it should. I feel that the accessibility of online multiplayer, especially over the last decade or so has contributed the most to this decline (not to denigrate online multiplayer and all that it has given  video games of course). I personally think the two are best experienced together, and with Chaos Riders, I intend to demonstrate that.

The character concept art I have here on this page, as well as the concept cover art for the game itself, were all made by myself using Stable Diffusion (for more about why I am using Stable Diffusion, please scroll down to the bottom of this page).

Regarding the character concept art, from top to bottom, these characters are: 

• Dreagan Max
  
• Fang Liu
• U.A.D
  
• Alina Kowalczyk 
  
• Somchai Chakan
• Loup Boucher
  
• Alizeh Iskander
  
• Mahir Bhandari
• Lucia Gonzalez
• Uzoma Obi

To see each of these character's backstories and abilities, as well as some of the backstory to the game itself, follow me on my social media's, where I will be posting about them soon.

The first five characters/Chaos Riders listed above are Gunners, and the second five are Drivers. Drivers must get both themselves and their Gunner partner past the finish line alive, whereas Gunners must protect both themselves and their Driver by killing off the competition. 

With regards to my vision for Chaos Riders, when completed to a publishing standard, I would see it featuring upon release:

• 3-5 Driver characters, each with their own unique Capabilities, vehicle, customisation skins (for both their character and vehicle models), challenges (for unlocking experience and customisation skins) and backstories.
• 3-5 Gunner characters, each with their own unique variations of the Gunners' long-range, medium-range and close-range weaponry (which are variations of energy weapons, missile launchers and chemthrowers respectively), customisation skins, challenges and backstories.
• Roughly 5,000-10,000 words spoken between all characters and Scavenger/Scrapper enemies (in the form of one-liners that are triggered by specific scenarios for example).
• 6-10 maps/racecourses to play in. These would feature shortcuts, traps, bullseye targets, breakable barriers and spontaneous enemy ambushes. These maps/racecourses would also take roughly 6-9 minutes to complete (over 3 laps for example).
• A Ranked and Casual Race mode (which is comparable to the Ranked and Casual play modes found in other contemporary video games).
• A Custom-Race mode, where the rules and features of a map/racecourse can be altered. Custom-Race modes can also be enjoyed in single-player and Couch Co-op. 
• Couch Co-op options for all race modes.
• And more!

What you can do: 

If you like what you see/read here or on my social medias, you can support this project in a multitude of ways. For example, liking my social media posts, commenting on them, giving constructive criticism and/or donating to my Patreon are some of the multiple ways in which you can show your support. 

If you would like to lend your time/skills to the project as a show of support, that would also be greatly appreciated. For those that are interested in this, and bar the position I mentioned already, I can’t provide anything monetarily (unless the Patreon or other things change my monetary situation) for work done. That said, what I can offer is:

• If you wanted/needed work experience for example, this is something that I could facilitate. 
• If you’re passionate about the project or video game development in general, you could join and hone your skills as much or as little as you like with us. 
• Lastly, if I find a video games' publisher, I will be in a position to give the people on my team professional positions, along with substantial pay to match.

It has to be said that for anyone offering their time/skills, I would only ask that you do/give what your comfortable with. At Silvermine Studios, I do not want anyone feeling as though they have been taken advantage of, or uncomfortable providing work relative to what I can offer currently. If you are interested in joining and contributing in these early days, all I ask is that you do/give as much as you are comfortable with.

If you are interested in joining, then please get in contact via the email below and reach out to me, as no matter your skillset or the time you can give, there’s very likely a place for you here on this project. 

Email to write to: SilvermineSocials@outlook.com.

Achievements to date:

With Chaos Riders, I:

• Was sponsored by Ardán to attend Gamescom 2023 (Ardán is a non-profit, independent organisation operating across the West of Ireland and beyond. Their principal aim is to support creatives within the audio-visual industry, as well as in the mediums of filmmaking, television, animation and games, through enabling access and providing opportunities).
• Was accepted onto New Frontiers' Phase 1 (in Waterford) and 2 (in Cork)Programmes (New Frontiers is a national entrepreneurial development programme, and its Phase 2 programme is a full-time, six-month intensive course).
• Received a First Class Honour Degree from Technological University Dublin (2021).

The contributions of others to date:

The remaining images/assets pictured on this page were made by my teammate during our time in Technological University Dublin together (TUD) in 2020/2021. He, as well as my other teammates during this time, who have each agreed to me continuing Chaos Riders' development, are greatly appreciated for their contributions, and I wish them the best of luck with their endeavours. To see their work, their Itch.io pages are referenced below: 

Conor Tapley (Programmer): https://tapley.itch.io/

Mayowa Akinola (Artist): https://mak-sensei.itch.io/

Oisin Roycroft (Programmer): https://oisinr.itch.io/

The theme music used in the prototype trailer shown above comes from the composer 'ZOiD'. He has generously allowed me to use the music he created for Chaos Riders.

A link to him and his work is here: https://zoidcomposer.com/

Silvermine Studios itself and its founder:

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/william-hulshof25/

Given what the video games' industry has witnessed and been subject to over the last few years (in particular), Silvermine Studios stands firmly against: 

• Workplace harassment of any kind.
• Manipulative and exploitative microtransactions and practices.
• 'Crunch culture' and excessive working hours.
• Poor quality and 'under baked' video games.
• Mass layoffs

AI art disclaimer:

I have made the concept and cover art featured on this page in Stable Diffusion, as I unfortunately don't have the resources yet to hire Illustrators, Concept Artists, Character Artists, etc, that could make these better and provide a more consistent art direction. I hope that with what I have created thus far, however, I can convey a sense of who the characters are and what they will look like once Chaos Riders is further developed, as well as the direction and style of Chaos Riders in general. I hope as well that as time goes on, and perhaps even through the support my Patreon and/or business receives, I can hire the artists capable of providing Chaos Riders with a more clear and concise art direction.