This position is no longer available.

Contact:
nathan@NathansUniversity.com

Deadline:
May 20, 2013

Max price:
$120

Deliverables:
One 800x600 background (warehouse floor)
One 100x160 sprite (warehouse robot player) (single frame, no animation)

Quality level:
"Digital game prototyping" level

Style keywords:
2D overhead view
Dirty warehouse

Final delivery format:
Digital files
XCF (Gimp format) with layers preferred, or PSD with layers, or PNG, or other image file

Copyright:
Release work as Creative Commons - Attribution 3.0 (CC-BY 3.0)
No exclusivity required
No copyright assignment required

Payment:
PayPal, 1/2 on first sketches/any signs real work is started, 1/2 on final submission

DESCRIPTION

I'm running a beginning programming class this summer where students create simple games that run in the browser. I have a few demonstration games running now for the class, I'm looking for better art to make the demos look more impressive for the class and to demonstrate how to go about getting art for games.

Here is some more info about the class:
http://igg.me/at/games101/x/1806987

This commission is for the Pong demonstration game. Currently it runs in a window of 800x600 pixels, black background, with solid white rectangular paddles and square ball (like the original Pong!) My idea for the first step in upgrading the graphics is to set the game in a futuristic abandoned robotic shipping warehouse. The robots there normally push around stacks of boxes, but they're feeling restless in the dark hours alone without human supervision. They put away their boxes, clear off a flat area of the floor and play some soccer with their plasma deflectors.

GRAPHICS

The graphics I need are an 800x600 background image of the grimy warehouse floor (overhead view). The floor has some soccer paint markings and maybe a tiny bit of clutter pushed to the edges. The paint markings don't have to be correct soccer markings, they should be simpler and more in line with a furtive game played after hours. The background does not need to be entirely hand drawn, I'm OK with tiled/textured areas with some hand drawn details.

I also need the robot itself. The robot image is a single static image (they hover to move). The robots have "arms" that they normally use to push boxes around in the warehouse, but they have repurposed their arms to hold a plasma deflector. The plasma deflector is an electric blue lightning animation that is 20x128 pixels (not part of this commission). For the player on the right, the arms of the robot face left holding out a vertical plasma deflector which bounces the ball. The robots will be shown with the plasma deflector turned on and off.

Here's an example of electricity that shows what the plasma deflector looks like:
http://opengameart.org/content/lightning-shock-spell

The robot player image needs to work when flipped horizontally. I will do any flipping/recoloring/decorating needed for different teams. I use the Gimp so I prefer XCF files organized cleanly into layers, but I can also deal with PSD or any common image format if that is your preference.

PRIORITIES

In general I care most about meeting the deadline and the art fitting the correct size requirements to avoid code changes, and about style consistency between the background and the robot image. Within those boundaries you have artistic freedom to go any direction you want, my description is just one idea that seemed fun. There is no existing artwork or storyline that you must match. The main thing I'm hoping for is a "wow" factor so that when you see the before/after versions of the game you see a huge difference even though the actual Pong gameplay is 100% the same.

WHY YOU SHOULD APPLY FOR THIS COMMISSION

Your work will be seen and used by more than 50 enrolled students in the class, and potentially thousands of people when I advertise the class online. Your art will be released under a permissive copyleft license allowing any up-and-coming game programmers to see and use your work.

If you're interested in this commission please email me a link to your portfolio and a link to a specific piece you have done that shows what style you would use for this work. No attachments, please.

nathan@nathansuniverity.com

Edited by nwhitehead - 07 May 2013 at 9:34pm