AuthorTopic: [PAID] Assistance with very small 2D project including normal maps  (Read 2697 times)

Offline BlueMonkMN

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Greetings, I'm brand new to this forum, but have been a game development hobbyist for 20+ years, and am the author of Scrolling Game Development Kit (SGDK) versions 1 and 2 (http://sgdk2.sf.net/).

I have just introduced the ability to apply real-time lighting and normal maps to projects created with SGDK2 and would like to release the next version with a flashy but simple demo project. I have a very basic one that I created myself, but I feel like someone with more design and drawing experience could help me make a much more interesting demo (start from scratch if you like).

SGDK2 has a built-in graphics editor designed for drawing 2D texture graphics / tilesets oriented around pixel art, I think. I have worked with an artist in developing many of the features in SGDK2 (and who is actually the one who suggested I add these lighting features), who guided me to this forum for assistance because he's got some other challenges in life right now, and won't be able to provide any graphics in the timeline on which I'd like to release SGDK 2.3.0. The new release supports applying normal maps, but it doesn't have a lot of built-in support for editing normal maps, so an external utility like SpriteIlluminator might be required. Of course you would also be provided with a pre-release copy of SGDK 2.3.0 (a relatively small program) to work with. The only practical means of editing a normal map within SGDK2 (and it fits in with the pixel art way of doing things I suppose) is to have a spherical normal map handy (which I do in the images below) and color pick the parts of the sphere you want to apply to other graphics.

Here's what I have so far for the graphics and normal map

And a sample of how they look at runtime with lighting applied:


I just threw that together in a few hours I think, so I have very little attachment to it, and would encourage you to start fresh unless you think this is a good starting point.

Since this has always been just a hobby for me (almost 20 years of SGDK work now) I can't afford to pay a lot right now, but I'm willing to pay 0.1 BTC, which, given the current value of Bitcoin, is worth about $100. If BTC isn't good for you, I can also pay via PayPal. If you do really good work, I might be persuaded to pay extra. But in any case your work has to be better than my demo, of course.

Alternatively, I could add your name to the credits and even include it in announcements of the new SGDK 2.3.0 release with prominent display of screenshots of your demo project.

Is it fair to ask you to choose between payment or credit/publicity?

Edit:
Time for some clarifications:
I'm very limited on preconceived notions for this project. I know what technical aspects I want to show off, but I don't have any firm requirements about the subject matter or type of graphics used. I want the artist to work on something they find inspiring because that's how I expect I'll get the best demo. That said. These are the technical aspects the demo should include (all of which are made relatively easy by the toolkit):
  • Ambient lighting (shown in screenshot)
  • Directional lighting with soft edges (shown in screenshot)
  • Rotating directional lighting
  • 2D shadows (selected tiles can block light from reaching the far side of the tiles)
  • Parallax scrolling (suggested in screenshot)
  • Alpha blending / translucency
  • (Optional) real-time 2x up-scaling

Anyone who wants to try out a pre-release version of SGDK2 before committing is welcome. Since it's not formally released yet, just send me a message and I'll send you a link where you can download the pre-release version, tutorials and all.

Some skill with normal mapping will be required, but I'm not sure how much since I'm new to this myself. It's possible a skilled artist could work out some normal maps on the job without prior experience. It's up to you whether you want to take that risk if you don't already have experience with normal maps. But I am expecting normal maps to be part of the delivery.

I would like the artist to deliver not only graphics and normal maps, but also assemble them into an aesthetically pleasing sample scene in the toolkit's map editor. I assume this will be a relatively small portion of the work, and part of the "testing" process in verifying the graphics work together anyway. The toolkit will make this relatively easy.

It's up do the artist whether they think they can provide higher quality work with pixel art versus high resolution art. Many things are up to the artist on this project. I'm looking for someone who knows how to show off a 2D engine with these features, and don't have many specific ideas of my own on how to do so.

If you're curious what has been done with the same toolkit in the past, and the kind of inspiration I'm hoping to achieve, look at the Legacy of Kain Revival project that was created with SGDK2. I don't expect I can get anything quite this inspiring for $100 because there are a *lot* of graphics in that project, but let these videos inspire you, keeping in mind that the new technical aspects are what I want to demonstrate:

https://youtu.be/iAfnxLh3l2Y
https://youtu.be/PyzL43C7o4Q
« Last Edit: February 11, 2017, 03:52:24 pm by BlueMonkMN »

Offline eishiya

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Your SpriteIlluminator link is broken because you put quotes around the URL.

You haven't been very clear about what you want. Are you looking for a pixel art tileset that includes a normal map, or should it be high-res? If you want pixel art, should the normal maps also be pixel art (allowing for "pixelated" shading to match the aesthetic), or smooth, to "hide" that it's pixel art?

As for your last question, it's fair to ask, but don't be surprised if people value publicity via your project far below $100. Even credit in far-better-known projects rarely amounts to enough publicity to generate work on its own. Fortunately, $100 should get you 3-5 hours work by an intermediate-skill artist, which should be enough to get you what you need.

If money is an issue, have you considered using art from OpenGameArt, and then creating normal maps for that? There's lots of good stuff in a variety of styles there that should be excellent for showcasing your normal mapping tools. If you can't do good normal maps yourself, you only need to hire them to create the normal maps, which means you can either pay less, or pay the same for more care put into just the normal maps and get a better result.
With OpenGameArt there's always the "risk" of using the same art as someone else, but I think for tech demo purposes that's not only fine, but potentially beneficial - if people see the "same old art" looking great with normal mapping, they'll be more impressed than they would be with art that's new to them.
« Last Edit: February 11, 2017, 03:03:25 pm by eishiya »

Offline BlueMonkMN

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Thanks for pointing out my broken link; fixed.

I'm not sure what I want, and I'm hoping that an artist looking at the options here will be inspired and think of something better than I could come up with if I tried to be any more specific than I have been. I can be more specific on what technical aspects I want to show off, though. I think a project that takes advantage of all these features could be impressive:
  • Ambient lighting (shown in screenshot)
  • Directional lighting with soft edges (shown in screenshot)
  • Rotating directional lighting
  • 2D shadows (selected tiles can block light from reaching the far side of the tiles)
  • Parallax scrolling (suggested in screenshot)
  • Alpha blending / translucency
  • (Optional) real-time 2x up-scaling

I guess I can also try to address your specific questions:
  • Are you looking for a pixel art tileset that includes a normal map, or should it be high-res?
    Apparently I was unclear on the definition of pixel art. I take from context that it means preemptively scaled up by 2x. I don't have a strong opinion on whether the graphics are pixel art or high resolution. The artist I was working with was (and is) planning on someday making pixel art, but that's not necessarily the only way to show off this toolkit. I'm looking for a tileset (pixel art or not) and a normal map to go with it, but I'd also appreciate it if the artist used the IDE to assemble the result into an aesthetically attractive whole since I'm not sure I could do it justice given just the tiles. I should clarify that the tiles should not necessarily be scaled up because SGDK2 can do that in real time as of version 2.3.0. Hopefully that answers the question.
  • Should the normal maps also be pixel art?
    I suspect based on comments from "my" artist, that pixel art normal maps will look better than high-res normal maps if the tileset is pixel art, but I'm open to the artist's opinion on that. I assume whatever inspires them most will look best. I think I'm looking for not just an artist but also a graphic designer who knows how to show off.

OK, I won't be surprised if the artist just wants to be paid. I know it's rude to ask an artist to work just for recognition. And I'm perfectly happy to pay for quality work if I can get it. Also, was there more to your sentence after "barring"?

OpenGameArt is good for raw material, but I need someone inspired and competent with design if possible. I'm terrible at advertising! :) The artist is welcome to pick up art from OpenGameArt, but I just don't know how to inspire without some help.