Long Term project - 2d character sprites artist needed
Hi, Everyone!
I am reaching out to look for people to help me with a top down RPG game I am developing through Unity. I estimate the game will take about 3 years for me to complete.
This is volunteer and a labor of love, hence not posting it in commissions. Hopefully I got the right area.
I have actually been learning coding for about two years and this is part of it, but my knowledge is good enough that with the help of my teacher, Regentine, I am making some good progress! (Though most of the visible progress is in the scripting.) Regentine is co-lead on the project and we both have a lot of optimism about it!
The game will be a fantasy/Victorian RPG, but the underlying theme is anxiety as a mental illness.I am using my own experiences, plus input on implementation, etc., as well as how I've seen it affect family members, to implement it as the primary message and storyline. This isn't about the hero curing anxiety either, it is about coping.
Almost all graphics are placeholders at the moment, I have an artist to do background furniture and such that has been doing good work, though it might be good to get another to work with him as scenery probably needs about two. Right now I am looking for one to two pixel artists for PC/NPCs/Mobs. We have a few writers and programmers and an artist for portraits and boss design, as well as an amazing sound person, so the team is partially assembled.
If you want to just help out or work in any of these roles I can invite you to the server I've made for this. Just DM me with what you can do to help and I can throw you an invite. You don't have to have prior experience. Even just input and interest in the game is enough at the moment.
One thing I am struggling with right now is the design aspect. I am not very good at seeing the big picture, so putting all the graphical assets together to make pretty scenes is difficult for me, and working with someone who has a better eye for that would be great!
Thanks and hopefully this is the right place and it is okay to post this!
Oh I forgot to add, I am best reached on Discord by friend adding me under the name SpicyDinosaur#2019
Have you had a look around to find something you like? LPC assest are pretty good:
https://opengameart.org/art-search?keys=lpc
It also has many variants and settings, I doubt you will find something better for free.
I don't want to use free assets. The idea is to assemble a team (I've got a "lot" of people already) and collaborate to create something really great.
Some of the free art is really top notch, but I just don't feel comfortable using something that is sitting to be downloaded by others on the site.
Selling the anxiety issue is rough without the proper art/music/writing already.
Someone has contacted me today, but people come and go, so the team I have now may not be the team I have in a year. I am really hoping this artist pans out. The theme seems to be drawing people in.
You're right though, those assets are very good!
You don't want to use free assets but you're asking for free assets to use?
I get where you're coming from, but the artists you're asking to work with you will have control over any content they create. Most artists working on a 'labor of love' project (aka not-paid, profit-share, 'free') prefer to release for free (non-exclusive) any assets they create for the project. I think you're going to have to decide which is more important; using assets that are free to everyone, or paying for exclusive assets that are unique to your project.
Remember that using non-exclusive assets doesn't remove the uniqueness from your game. The things that set your game apart are the gameplay, narrative, how you are using the assets... not the assets themselves. Also keep in mind you browse game assets, but your players do not. Players don't care that they could download the assets found in your game. Well, some do, but they tend to like your game more because of it.
If you can't pay money for assets, you'll want to have something else you can pay with. for 'labor of love' projects, that's often the shared passion for the project. People can't see the vision you have, though. You have to share that passion, not just expect it to infect others naturally.
Which is the primary purpose for this sticky post: https://opengameart.org/forumtopic/how-and-when-to-write-a-good-art-request
One of the more important points on the post linked above is:
You mentioned most artwork is currently placeholders. Perfect! :D Use free art found here on OGA to flush out those placeholders and share a playable demo. A demo that looks like garbage will attract far more artists than a pristine looking game that no one is allowed to see.
--Medicine StormI see where you are going, and I appreciate the time and advice responding to me.
I actually have drawn in some people now, hence just needing one or two artists so that no one has to attempt to do all the different art parts. The theme of social anxiety seems to resonate with people in and of itself.
I am working on a tutorial that I have bumped up to priority one so that I have something to show, even if just to the people on the project that won't see anything clearly if I show them the scripts I have, hehe. It doesn't really inspire much to look at code by itself.
If I have to release it with partial placeholder art I will, but I've been just trying to get anyone interested in the meantime.
I'm at a crossroads where a team will make getting all that done much more feasible. Obviously people come and go in a volunteer project though.
So I am sort of working towards both angles, getting team members who are willing to volunteer, but also filling my time working on getting the project in a state where I have something to show people to draw them in.
a good compromise between "i want free stuff" and "i want the art in my game to not be identical to free stuff" is to make heavy modifications to assets. so long as the assets you are modify are cc0, oga-by or cc-by you are not required to share your derivatives, only give credit to where you got the original and who made it.
of course sharing your derivs is a good thing to do anyways, as oga is a community kinda centered around sharing stuff.
good luck at getting other people to love your labor of love.
I live on disability in the US, it isn't about wanting to have free stuff so much as it is I can't pay anyone or I have to start eating less meals.
I find it difficult to believe there's aren't artists out there that haven't experienced crippling anxiety like my own.
Plenty of us can identify with your theme. It isn't a lack of understanding for what you're proposing. It's a lack of passion for a project we can't see. Like i said, most artists want to know their work will be put to good use. You haven't linked to any part of your project that shows this is different from the hundreds of other projects that said similar things but only wasted the artists time. YOU know this project isn't like that, but I don't.
I also understand having no funding for a passion project, but just change where Ragnar said "I want free stuff" to "I need stuff to be free". We know you're not greedy, but nothing else changes.
No one is saying "I don't want to participate". But I'm guessing no one is saying much else yet either because no one can tell enough about it. Allow me to demonstrate the point I'm making: I'm offering you (or anyone who reads this) a job. Right now. No joke, I'll hire any takers on the spot. Paying job. EEOC Certified compatible with multiple types of anxiety disorders. Do you accept my offer? It's difficult to believe there is anyone who doesn't want such a great job.
--Medicine StormOne thing here, Music is not pointless @smeeprocket. Wrong, source of life.
-on other hand, any Art created is experience in all dimensions. Mastering self.
"eating less meals", ..out of low bunkers with custom made food like me. Plenty of food for whole family. Just be sure that tunnels are made in triangles so that gravity force not affect them at all.
totally agree that music is not pointless, i didn't understand that statement, just didn't want to remark on it. i spose if its irony, then both revenge and music are not pointless, but rather pointed. or do you just not like music?
and i am also disabled, only i haven't got ssi yet. so i am living on $0 a month is my childhood bedroom. i get it dude. i have all sort of mental health problems, including anxiety, depression, etc etc. and on top of that i have a broken spine. my doctor's orders are "no stretching, no bending, no prolonged sitting, standing, walking, no lifting more than 10 pounds." what kind of job am i supposed to get?
i am sorry if i came off as inconsiderate. but it's just like i said, good luck at getting someone else to love your labor of love. noone is gonna make assets for rynosaur land or any of my other projects for me. would i like to have pro artwork and have it be commercially viable? of course. do i have the funding to hire artists to make pro assets? no, of course not. so i hack together art from OGA to make it into something new. i have made shit that is almost unrecognizable as a derivative, unless you compare sprite to sprite and zoom in to analyze animation patterns and proportions. and i am no natural artist. i wanted to do something so i did it. and i have to take a break every hour or 2 to lay down so my back can decompress or the pain makes me want to kill myself.
life sucks for alot of us, i wasn't and am not trying to be a jerk. my style is caustic, that's just me. i honestly wished you good luck at getting someone to love your labor of love. i still wish you good luck. it wasn't meant as sarcasm.
as far as "you want free stuff" that is plain english. you want something that doesn't cost you anything because you can't afford to pay for it. i get it, i am in the same boat. i offered you a viable alternative based on my exact experience with being your shoes like, literally the same shoes: disability, no money, creative drive to make something you give a crap about. good luck at getting someone else to give a crap about it as much as you do. i know that sounds like sarcasm but it's not. that's just how i speak. i mean in all sincerity. good luck!
Isn't that just his signature?
___________________________________________________________________
No mind to think;
No will to break;
No voice to cry suffering.
Yes it is, I guess I should have some way of separating that.
It's a quote from the insane scientist in Borderlands. It's from the second game, and she says it in the recordings of her expedition as she slowly loses her mind.
Replying to Ragnar Random, guess the reply button doesn't quote.
This post is so wholesome, thank you.
Just to be clear, I understand if people don't want to offer their time and effort for free. I've just been posting in places I know of in hopes of finding some who just might be willing.
I do have most of a team assembled, and they do actually seem passionate about the project so far, but also I know them from the Warframe clan I run, so there's a rapport that's already there.
I'm not trying to be unappreciative of the help and advice or be belligerant. That goes for everyone, I appreciate the comments and responses in general. Better than radio silence.
This has actually encouraged me to focus on the tutorial for my game as priority #1, even if I need to use free assets.
The only problem will be remembering who made the assets, as I would spend hours some nights downloading stuff just trying to find the perfect assets just so I could express to any future artist what I'm kind of looking for. Hard to keep track when you download a ton around the same time. But due credit is important so I will just spend time on that when I get it all set up.
That is good to hear, and I am curious about the project. I would love to see more of what it is about when you're ready for me to see it.
That's interesting about the Borderlands quote. I interpreted it not as "music is pointless, just like revenge" but more like "music is powerful, and so is revenge" :)
--Medicine StormTwo things that help with this:
1) I always download assets into a folder named by the last part of the OGA url, e.g. I would download https://opengameart.org/content/lpc-ship into a folder called "lpc-ship", that I way I can find it again.
2) If you go to your user page, there is a hidden collection called "My Downloads" which you can use to see all the assets you have downloaded. This is helpful if you remember downloading something but can't find where it came from. Super helpful feature of OGA that I think most users are unaware of.
Obviously there will be scenarios where these tricks don't work, but I have found them helpful temporary solutions.
oh that's clever, I think I've found most of them, but I will definitely check my downloads and see if there's anything I missed!
The tutorial will take a while, the project has only really recently started. I'm doing most of the programming with my mentor helping me on Tues and Thurs.
I have never made a game before, so it's all very daunting, but also exciting. I am a good writer, but coding is where I really start to enjoy things.