Hi guys, I'm currently developing a prototype for my first game(well in 5 years) , and I'm wondering how I'm going to approach getting artwork. It's going to be a very simple game, I keeping the scope tight as possible so it's nothing over the top. And 'endless' style game. I don't anticipate it'll make much if any money. Just looking to gain some experience, maybe use it for cross promotion in the future. So anyways I need some artwork/assets. Obvious pro of a partnership is there's no upfront investment. But downsides are, it's hard to insentivise people to work if they feel they are working on spec. Also lets say the game is bringing in $40/mo. And they get %20 of revenue, it's kind of just a pain to cut a check for $8 every month and keep track of it. Also it's a more complicated relationship to manage. And of course the con with paying someone is.. it costs money. But the Pro is that you get what you want and are done. Would anyone be willing to share their experience with either scenario? Thanks.
I would say that without having much background/history with developing and releasing previous games it would probably be difficult to get someone to do art work for 50% let alone 20% of the stake. If it's your first game as well, it's probably easier to just outsource whatever assets you need. I think partnerships come in handy when you and the artists have visions for games that align with each other (or as a Studio) and you can work on multiple titles. In my opinion, having a great game requires a good programmer as well as a great artist. I think both go hand in hand and I wouldn't put one above the other as far as share of the stake goes. (I am a programmer myself)
Thanks for the response tosty. I agree that polished artwork is a solid contribution. I came up with that number because what I'm making requires much less artwork than programming. And I'm the one throwing money down for everything else, Apple developer fee etc. That being said I agree that without a proven track record there will probably be underwhelming interest in helping me out for such a small piece of the pie. How do you find artists generally? Services for hire here, do you ever use things straight out of the unity asset store(assuming you use unity)?
I sometimes look in the services for hire section here or on the unity forums. I don't haven't used Unity, but I am just getting into it. Finding good artwork that fits your game needs can sometimes be fairly time consuming!
I would say hire someone as it's your first game. If you personally know the artist then maybe parter up. You mentioned the art input will be small for the game so it doesn't make sense to give away 50% of the game for a small piece of work anyway... and as the other contributor said it will be hard to attract someone to work on your first game.
