INTRODUCTION AND BIO

Hello! I am the project manager of an upcoming RPG, coming out on the iOS and Android in late 2016 or early 2017. 

SERVICES WE NEED

We are currently in need of multiple different types of artwork:

• Monster sprites, which will be used as the enemies in the battle engine. These will all need to be side-view.
• Backgrounds for battle scenes, at a resolution of 1920x1080.
• Roughly 2-4 custom playable character sprites.
• Tileset designers (POSSIBLY)

 This is a long-time freelance job estimated to run anywhere from 1 year, to 1.5 years. We would want you to deliver content for us consistently during that time period, as it is requested.
Monster SpriterAs indicated, we need someone to serve as our primary monster spriter. At this time, we are estimating that we would need between 150-250 custom sprites. We would be looking for someone who can dedicate themselves to this project, delivering roughly 2 new sprites each week, as we request them (sometimes there may be more requests each week). We would prefer the turnaround time for each request to be 1-2 weeks after the request is given to you. Anything longer will slow the project down significantly. Again, we do not anticipate to submit more than 2 requests per week, on average.

This is what the battles look like in RPG Maker MV:

http://nichegamer.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/rpg-maker-mv-08-07-15-3...

We want you to replicate the art style that you see on the left-side of the screen. We are looking for someone with similar artistic abilities. As you can see, this art style combined the amazing "sprite" artwork we are used to seeing back on the Super Nintendo, with a modern resolution and added colors.

Battle Background Artist

As seen in the background of the referenced image above, each battle has a "background". We would want custom-made ones to match the environments that we create in the game.

For further ideas on what exactly we're looking for, please see the results for this Google Search.

Character Sprite & Battler Animator

The RPG Maker MV engine comes with an integrated character creation tool. However, it only works for humans! One of the main characters of our story happens to be a dog (A white husky, specifically). But one of the main plot elements of our story is something that dramatically changes animals when they are exposed to it. Most become highly violent and mutate; while in some rare situations they are unaffected or become intelligent. This character is one such case of the latter. To keep the details of our project safe, I'm afraid that's all I can reveal at this time.

With that said, we need somebody who can design both a walking sprite, as well as a battling sprite, in the form of a white husky dog. Later, when this dog becomes affected by the aforementioned plot element, his appearance will change: Black fur with a more wolf-like appearance.

For your reference, please view the integrated character creation tool seen below: 
https://youtu.be/fSJU3M2F3CQ

We are looking for someone who can make sprites with the same art style. It would need to match the sizes of the sprites created by that tool. The walking sprites created by that tool are 48x48 pixels. The battler animations sprites are slightly larger, as you can see. Therefore, you'd need to make a walking sprite for the dog that is either within or near those constraints, and a battler animation that is more detailed and larger in size; scaled up with the battler animations of the human characters. You will be provided with reference pictures of a real dog, as this character is going to be visually based off of the appearance of a real dog.

99% of our characters in this game will be made with that engine. We need someone who can replicate every single cell of spriting that is produced by this generator. You do not need to be able to do the facial art; if you can't, we have others who can. But if you can, you will get priority for being the character's designer. It would make things a lot easier if you could, but you won't lose out on the job for not being able to do a face design for when he's talking.

We may also need your services for other non-human characters, the details of which will be explained later when you are hired, and IF we need those characters made. 

Tileset Designers/Artists

We may even need the skills of a tileset designer/artist. For those unfamiliar with RPG Maker, the tilesets are quite literally the maps that the characters walk on when they are out of battle. There are many different situations and scenes that we are looking to make (IE: A rooftop) that we would like to have custom tilesets for. 

PAYMENT

If we can agree upon a fixed-price ("per-piece") payment system, we would pay you in a 50-50% model (half now, half when its done) for your work. In other words, half when we request it, and half when you complete it to our satisfaction. "Per-piece" meaning we would like to pay a fixed amount for each produced work rather than by the hour (negotiable).

We are open to all offers.

For monster sprites, we can establish a payment model for three monster sizes: "Small", "Medium", and "Large", with the price per completed work scaling with the size. Ideally, we would like that payment model to be: $10/sprite for small, $15/sprite for medium, and $20/sprite for Large. But we are open to other offers.

For backgrounds, we can also work on a per-piece basis, ideally at $20-$30/background. 

For the custom character sprites, we again would like a per-piece basis, ideally somewhere around $50-$75 per completed sprite set (including walking cell sprites and battle cell sprites).

We prefer not to have someone do hourly work, as this leaves a very open window for someone to take advantage of us. We will consider it, but please know that we greatly prefer paying per-piece.

Please remember this is an indie project and our funds are very limited. We're already spending a tremendous amount of money on the custom soundtrack. We would like to meet you in the middle somewhere that is agreeable for both of us. 

LEGAL STUFF

We are only willing to work with somebody who will sign a non-disclosure agreement, as well as a contract. 
This contract will state the terms of the agreement: Stating the payment model we agree upon, the expectations, expected turnaround time (between 1-2 weeks from the time of request), that you grant us 100% exclusive rights and ownership over the artwork after we pay you for each individual piece delivered, that either party can terminate the contract at any time for any reason without repurcussions, and that both parties agree to waive their rights to file any sort of lawsuit against the other party (unless the terms of the contract have somehow been explicitly breached). 

Further, we would want this agreement hand-signed and MAILED to us (we will reimburse you for the postage by paying you extra on your first commissioned work). I have been taught by my current job never to accept scanned signatures.

Thank you for your time. I look forward to seeing your samples and hearing your proposals!