Tagline: A Dead by Daylight-inspired 1v4 asymmetrical horror experience. Grounded in gothic forensics. Built by emerging talent.
Are you a laid-off game developer looking for a structured portfolio project? Are you a university student needing a documented externship/practicum for graduation? Join our open-source development team and help us build a meaningful horror franchise from prototype to publication.
Play as Violet—a brilliant forensics examiner in London whose life is shattered by a brutal attack that costs her everything, including her unborn child. Driven by a dark ritual on Hallows Eve, Violet returns as an unstoppable supernatural force, wielding forensic science as her weapon.
In Violet's Revenge, you don't play as innocent survivors escaping a random monster. You play as the Guilty. Masked culprits are dragged into a purgatory dimension where they must process crime scenes and confront the evidence of what they did, while Violet hunts them through blood-soaked halls and moonlit ruins.
A 1v4 multiplayer horror game (PC first, console later).
- The Guilty (Survivors): Must locate case files, sanitize crime scenes, and feed evidence into incinerators to power the exit doors before Violet finds them.
- Violet (Killer): Uses forensic tools (Luminol to track footsteps, Nightingale audio traps, Grave Dirt to slow targets) to hunt down the Guilty and drag them to Autopsy Slabs (the "hook" equivalent).
We are building this franchise in iterative, achievable phases to ensure quick portfolio results for our team.
- Scope: 1v1 local multiplayer.
- Map: The Morgue (tight corridors, forensics lab).
- Goal: Prove the core loop—Violet places audio traps; the Guilty searches for keys to escape.
- Tech: Unreal Engine 5 / Unity.
- Scope: 1v4 online multiplayer, dedicated servers.
- Features: Progression system (The Forensics Tree), 3 maps (The Morgue, London Alley, The Hockey Arena), full cosmetic unlocks.
- Launch: Steam Early Access.
- Scope: Console ports, new Killer roster (The Intern, The Arsonist), transmedia lore expansion (web comics, ARG puzzles).
We are specifically recruiting students who need documented hours for graduation and laid-off industry professionals who need a current, shipped title on their resume to re-enter the job market.
What We Provide:
- Documented Externship: We will sign off on university practicum forms, provide official letters of recommendation, and verify employment dates for LinkedIn.
- AGILE Workflow: Real-world experience using GitHub Projects, Jira, version control (Git), and sprint planning.
- Mentorship: Senior laid-off devs will mentor junior students.
- Commercial Credit: Your name in the game credits and on Steam.
Roles Needed:
- Gameplay Programmers (C++ / C#)
- 3D Environment Artists (Gothic/Horror focus)
- Technical Artists (Lighting, VFX)
- UI/UX Designers
- Sound Designers / Composers
- Level Designers
We are a grassroots, bootstrapped team. No one is paid an hourly wage upfront. Instead, we operate on a transparent, milestone-based Revenue Share Model.
When the game generates revenue (via Steam Early Access, Kickstarter, or franchise licensing), the income is distributed via the following waterfall:
Before anyone gets paid, the game must pay back its initial operational costs.
- 100% of Revenue goes toward paying off out-of-pocket expenses (e.g., Unreal/Unity licensing fees, server hosting, Steam Dev Platform fee, marketing assets). All expenses must be pre-approved and documented in our Open Ledger.
Once expenses are recouped, 10% of all monthly revenue is held in a business savings account to fund future development (Phase 3, console porting, server scaling).
The remaining 90% of monthly revenue is distributed to the team based on a Rev-Share Point System (RSPS).
How Points are Earned: Every task completed (approved via Pull Request) is assigned a point value based on complexity and time.
- Example: Programming a core mechanic = 50 Points.
- Example: Creating a 3D asset = 20 Points.
- Example: Writing lore/design docs = 10 Points.
The Payout Calculation: At the end of the month, the total dollar amount in the Developer Pool is divided by the total number of points earned by the whole team that month.
(Total Pool $) ÷ (Total Team Points) = Value of 1 Point.
You are paid out based on the points you earned that month.
Vesting & Departures:
- If a member leaves the team before Phase 2 launch, they retain a static percentage of revenue for 12 months post-launch based on their historical point contributions, after which their share rolls off.
- If a member stays through launch, they are considered a "Founding Developer" and retain their dynamic point share for the lifetime of the game's sales.
All gameplay code, mechanics, and systems are licensed under the MIT License.
All original art, audio, lore, and character designs are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 (CC BY-NC 4.0).
IMPORTANT: Regarding "Violet" and Ren Gill's "Violet's Tale"
The character "Violet" in Violet's Revenge is an original creation developed solely for this project.
Ren Gill (independent musician) is the creator of "Violet's Tale", a separate and wholly distinct creative work.
By contributing to, forking, or distributing this project, all parties irrevocably agree to the following:
- No Intersection. No elements of Ren Gill's "Violet's Tale" — including but not limited to lyrics, narrative themes, character traits, visual designs, musical compositions, or promotional materials — may be used, referenced, adapted, sampled, or remixed in any form.
- Explicit Separation. The "Violet" of this project is a forensics examiner turned supernatural executioner. Her backstory, visual design, personality, and narrative arc are original. Any coincidence in naming is incidental.
- Contributor Obligation. Any contributor who proposes lore, dialogue, visual assets, or mechanics that could be construed as derivative of Ren Gill's work must disclose this to the team lead before inclusion.
- No Affiliation. Violet's Revenge is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to Ren Gill or his estate/publishers in any capacity.
- Character Bible. All approved character details for "Violet" and future roster characters are maintained in
docs/CHARACTER-BIBLE.md. If it is not in the Bible, it is not canon. Do not expand the character in-game or in promotional material unless the change is documented there first.
| Principle | Rule |
|---|---|
| Originality | All characters must be original. No real persons, living or dead. |
| Trauma-Informed Writing | Sensitive themes (assault, abuse, loss) must be handled with care. |
| Anonymized Assailants | The "Guilty" (survivors) are masked, anonymized archetypes. They are never given names, backstories, or humanizing traits. |
| Violet's Arc | Violet's story follows a defined 3-act structure. |
| No Crossover | No character may reference, allude to, or parody characters from existing horror franchises. |
- Join our Discord: Under Construction
- Submit a Portfolio: Drop a link to your GitHub, ArtStation, or Audio.com via Bluesky. Build In Public.
- Claim a Task: Check the
#good-first-issuesboard. Pick a small task, submit a PR, and let's see if we're a good fit!
This project is built on passion, respect, and the desire to create something terrifyingly beautiful. Let's build Violet's world together.
- CONTRIBUTING.md
- CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md
- docs/STORY-BIBLE.md
- docs/CHARACTER-BIBLE.md
- docs/SENSITIVE-CONTENT-GUIDE.md
- docs/TECH_STACK.md
- docs/ARCHITECTURE.md
- docs/COMMUNITY.md
- docs/EXTERNSHIP-AGREEMENT.md
- docs/AI-AGENT-BOUNDARY.md