Help needed for Flash beat em up game

Team name:
Kicked in the Pants Entertainment (not a registered company)

Project name:
Concrete Jungle.

Brief description:
Concrete Jungle is a side-scrolling beat-em-up game akin to arcade video games and video games popular in the 1990s (examples include Streets of Rage and 2 Crude Dudes and Final Fight). This game will be a throwback to those games that are hard to gain access to since video arcades are diminishing and the old home game consoles are no longer in production. The game will utilise all the advantages of modern gaming technology (in terms of visual art, audio production and programming) to engage the user in long-term play.

Concrete Jungle will use a simple Role-Playing Game function, where the player can customise the appearance of the avatar, and at the end of every stage, tokens gained can be exchanged for skill upgrades and new weapons. This will ensure that after the player has stopped playing the game for the first time, they will want to come back to the game, as they have become involved in their avatar’s progression.

In order for this game to work, engaging the player into a believable world and characters partnered with sophisticated and exciting game-play will be crucial to the game’s design and development. This is because many of today’s popular offline games require an average of 20 hours to play, while popular MMORPG's require months play.

The art style in Concrete Jungle will be similar to games like Streets of Rage where exaggeration was widely used to make a visual impact within the game. This game will utilise today’s technology in order to produce a believable 16-bit

Target aim:
We have not made specific plans in terms of making money from this project. We are working on this project because we have a strong affection for games and the games industry as a whole. We appreciate the hard work other developers put into their craft, and our direct aim is to put our passion into practise by creating a game for others to enjoy. If in the future the game is successful we would definitely like to make more and hopefully start a small flash based gaming company.

Compensation:
This is a purely volunteer project, but if all is successful, with the game and people demand more. We will certainly work out a payment plan for each person that worked on the project. If they wanted to,and any future projects done with us.

Technology:
We want to release our game via web browsers and flash game portals such as newgrounds, armor games etc etc. We have played other flash beat em up games, and have found this to be a great means for independent developers to release their products. We are currently looking at using Flash.

Talent needed:
At this stage we are looking for people to help us so we can start development. We need 1 illustrators for the conceptualizing, 1 flash artist/animator/programmer to put it all together and make it work, No commercial experience is necessary, we are primarily looking for people who put passion for interactive games ahead of commercialism and the wanting of wealth. For illustrators, we need one person for the stage backgrounds, items and weapons the other for the character concepts and character moves. For the flash artist/animator/programmer, we a looking for someone with a deep understanding and knowledge of games and flash.

Team structure:
We are a small team of amateur designers who are passionate about what we are working on and interactive games in general. We have no commercial experience, but are taking a leap of faith and attempting to make a game that will be enjoyed by many people. There are two of us in the team who have been around since day one.

Website:
We haven't a website at this moment, as we are in the design stage. However, we do plan on showcasing the progress via a development blog if the team member agree to having there work viewed there.

Contacts:
You can in touch with us by contacting Simon. Simon is the man who talks to all our new members and introduces them to the project we are working on. He's been on board since day one and knows the project inside out and back to front. His email address is simon.mucha85@gmail.com

Additional Info:
We don't want to give away too much at this stage, but we are serious about what we are doing, and if you have a passion for games, or just want to help out the 'little guys', feel free to enquire!

Feedback:
Any feedback is welcome as long as it is intelligent and constructive. Calling us idiots will not help us improve our design skills, so don't bother.