[PAID] Steampunk Turn-based Tactics Game Needs Art
Printed From: Pixel Joint
Category: The Lounge
Forum Name: Job Offerings
Forum Discription: Looking to hook up with a pixel artist for a project? Post here and ONLY here with job requests.
URL: https://pixeljoint.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=12379
Printed Date: 18 December 2025 at 2:07pm
Topic: [PAID] Steampunk Turn-based Tactics Game Needs Art
Posted By: Sinister Design
Subject: [PAID] Steampunk Turn-based Tactics Game Needs Art
Date Posted: 20 June 2011 at 8:41am
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I'm creating a multiplayer turn-based tactics game in the style of Disgaea, FF Tactics and Fire Emblem, but with steam-driven automatons, psionics, high explosives, destructible/constructible bridges, walls, barricades, etc. The setting is steampunk fantasy. I have a devlog for it http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=14260.0 - here if you want to read more about the game's mechanics. The game is playable--I've been playing it with friends, and I even http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1OxVKSLksc&t=5m47s - demo'd it a few weeks back at the Chicago Games Showcase. The problem? My pixel artist left to go work with a company that told him in no uncertain terms to cease all outside work. Which means that the art has been left very much unfinished. Here is how the game looks right now:  As you can see, the game uses a projected overhead perspective a la Final Fantasy 6, but with a more realistic, anatomically correct style. Are you a bad enough dude (or dude-ette) to do the art for this game? The project consists of the following: - sprites for 20 different character classes (64 x 80 pixels) with animations (rest, walking, taking damage, dying, and skill/attack animations) - a 100 x 100 pixel portrait for each character class - sprites for various destructible battlefield objects (trees, boulders, walls, doors, etc.) (64 x 80 pixels) - six tilesets (Grasslands, Desert, Snow, Cave, Castle, Town)(64 x 64 pixel tiles) - GUI (icons, buttons, menus and such) Compensation will be several thousand dollars. If you are interested, please send me a PM, or email me at sinisterdesign at gmail dot com with links to some samples (please include at least one sample of an animated character or characters). |
Replies:
Posted By: Sinister Design
Date Posted: 21 June 2011 at 9:53am
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Something I forgot to mention in the original post: I want the art to use double size pixels. So 64 x 64 tiles will essentially be 32 x 32 tiles viewed at 200% magnification. Likewise, the characters and objects will effectively be 32 x 40. Thanks to everyone who has emailed me so far! I'll post here when I've settled on an artist. |
Posted By: PixelSnader
Date Posted: 21 June 2011 at 10:59am
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This is a big project, so I've got a lot of questions to get a better idea of the scope. I hope you don't mind. I'm also sending this to your email, but I'm thinking it'll be useful information for anyone else interested in taking up your offer.
Right now I don't have a working portfolio site, but I have a folder with some examples. You can find it http://pixelsnader.nl/stuff/___Pixel%20Art____/ - here . Anyway, onto the questions: How many frames are we talking about for each character? 4 frames per animation? How many attacks/skills? Is it OK to recycle animations, for instance make 1 template walk and put clothes and a head on it for different characters. Or does each class need its own type of walk? Or a middle-ground (example 7 light walks 7 normal walks, 7 heavy walks) Do the battlefield objects need destroyed versions? How many? Do the portraits have damage indicators too (think DOOM guy) and/or animations? Are those sprites you're currently using the ones that will be used in-game or standins? Do you have the rights to them (I ask because they're far nicer than the buildings and grass) And if so, do you have any concept art for them to be used as a guide for the animations, skills and portraits? How large are the tilesets? 16 tiles? 256? Are they animated? Do you allow layering for terrain (this allows to make a single road set and water set with transparency) Are GUI elements supposed to be all pixel art, or can they be regular CG too? ------------- ▄▄█ ▄▄█ ▄█▄ ▄█▄ |
Posted By: Sinister Design
Date Posted: 21 June 2011 at 11:55am
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Originally posted by snader
This is a big project, so I've got a lot of questions to get a better idea of the scope. I hope you don't mind. I'm also sending this to your email, but I'm thinking it'll be useful information for anyone else interested in taking up your offer. I don't mind at all! Clarity is important. Let's go through these one by one. Originally posted by snader How many frames are we talking about for each character? 4 frames per animation? How many attacks/skills? Each character has between three and eight attacks/skills. However, most skills/attacks will be projectiles or "spell effects" animated separately from the character. So you can reuse the actual character animations in most instances. As for the number of frames, I can tell you this: this game is based on an established Flash game series that uses vector character animations running at 45 fps. I won't insist on anything crazy like that, but I'd still like something smooth (ideally in the neighborhood of 16 to 24 frames per second). But I recognize the difficulty of animating pixel art, so this is negotiable. Originally posted by snader
Is it OK to recycle animations, for instance make 1 template walk and put clothes and a head on it for different characters. Or does each class need its own type of walk? Or a middle-ground (example 7 light walks 7 normal walks, 7 heavy walks) It is perfectly acceptable to recycle animations among characters of a certain type. Most characters are regular humanoids who can share a walk cycle. Certain characters fly, and such, do not need distinct walk animations. There is a single mounted unit which probably needs its own walk cycle, and three heavy Golem units that can share a "heavy" walk cycle. Originally posted by snader
Do the battlefield objects need destroyed versions? How many? Do the portraits have damage indicators too (think DOOM guy) and/or animations? The portraits are static: there will be no damage indicators or animations. While it would be cool to have destroyed versions of destructible objects, it isn't essential. Originally posted by snader
Are those sprites you're currently using the ones that will be used in-game or standins? Do you have the rights to them (I ask because they're far nicer than the buildings and grass) And if so, do you have any concept art for them to be used as a guide for the animations, skills and portraits? I do indeed own the rights to all of the art appearing in that screenshot, as well as to certain other sprites which I can provide to whomever ends up taking over. However, I am concerned about maintaining a consistent style, so I am not set on keeping them for use in the finished game. I also have plenty of concept art, including portraits and finished, full-motion attack animations from earlier games in the series. Originally posted by snader How large are the tilesets? 16 tiles? 256? Are they animated? Do you allow layering for terrain (this allows to make a single road set and water set with transparency) All objects in the game are destructible: bridges, trees, rocks, chairs; even walls and doors. So these will all be separate images with transparency layered onto regular tiles in-game. As such, I expect that each tileset will be no larger than 52 tiles. For things like chasms, water or lava, the game engine needs each tile to be a single raster image (though, of course, feel free to use layering when making the tiles--I'm not a purist about method, so long as the results look good). Originally posted by snader Are GUI elements supposed to be all pixel art, or can they be regular CG too? That depends. If you can make GUI elements using regular CG that fit with the rest of the game's art stylistically, then go for it. I just want the game to have a coherent "look," as it were. |
Posted By: PixelSnader
Date Posted: 21 June 2011 at 1:20pm
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Originally posted by Sinister Design
the characters and objects will effectively be 32 x 40 The sprites you have in that screenshot are considerably larger. So for doublesizing to work, those sprites would need to be redone. It'd be a bit more work, but still more efficient because it saves so much time on everything else. Also. I should probably start refreshing pages before I post something after a break, to check if the there are new posts in the meantime. ------------- ▄▄█ ▄▄█ ▄█▄ ▄█▄ |
Posted By: Sinister Design
Date Posted: 21 June 2011 at 1:26pm
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Originally posted by snader The sprites you have in that screenshot are considerably larger. Yeah, I know. It's strange: the previous artist asked me if we could double size the pixels, and I said yes, and then he went ahead with 1-to-1 anyway. It looked nice, so I wasn't going to complain about it, but I'm not expecting that from whomever steps in next. |
Posted By: Sinister Design
Date Posted: 23 June 2011 at 12:11pm
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Small update: I'm nixing one of the character classes, bringing the total down to 20. The pay, however, will remain the same. Just thought I'd let you all know. |
Posted By: PixelSnader
Date Posted: 25 June 2011 at 10:07am
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I've sent you an email two days ago, did you receive it? I've been having some issues with Gmail lately (not using a client - just the website) such as emails not being sent, and all email being put into spam, even after I've manually moved them to the inbox.
If you didn't get it, I'll try using another email provider. In short my email came down to 'yes' btw. ------------- ▄▄█ ▄▄█ ▄█▄ ▄█▄ |
Posted By: Sinister Design
Date Posted: 28 June 2011 at 12:44pm
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Update: As of right now, it's looking very likely that I will split the job up, offering one person the tilesets and objects to do and someone else the characters and animations. Because the latter job is the more difficult of the two, I'm reserving the lion's share of the pay for whomever I select for that. Also, I'm extending the deadline a few more days. There are so many talented people emailing me, it's hard to decide who to go with! I'll post again when I've made up my mind. |
Posted By: Sinister Design
Date Posted: 01 July 2011 at 8:43am
| All right, I've now signed an artist to do the tilesets and destructible objects; I hope to do the same with a character artist quite soon. |
Posted By: Sinister Design
Date Posted: 03 July 2011 at 8:35pm
All right, I've selected a character artist/animator--no mean feat, considering how many of incredibly talented artists emailed me. Seriously, I wish I could have selected all of you!  Needless to say, I'm keeping all of the emails I received from you guys so I have ready references when the day inevitably comes that I need another artist for another paid gig. Thank you to everyone that messaged me on this! |