<CLOSED> - Now contains advice for applying to jobs. (was pixel art position)

[Avo]

 - THIS POSITION IS NOW CLOSED -

Thanks for everyone writing me. You guys have amazing portfolios. I've sent each an email too, but thought I'd write here as well.

I got contacted by a lot of artists, and it was actually a pleasure going through all the portfolios.

In the spirit of community I would like to offer a bit of advice. Take it or leave it, and it's just personal opinion. I only write this to perhaps help some of you, please don't be mad.

1) Don't just write a one-liner. - Personally I wasn't just looking for a skilled artist, but also someone who it seemed would understand what I wanted. Communication is good! Some people had an obvious copy'n'paste message, but that doesn't actually matter much as long as it makes me know you better.

2) Portfolios does really matter. Some people only had 2 images in their portfolios, other had 40+. If you only have a small amount of images in your portfolio, then it's REALLY hard to judge your skill. And while I did take the time to write some of the first people who wrote, asking for more examples, then after 40+ emails roll in, and some of them are really good, then the other emails just kinda get buried.

3) First impressions matter. Some people attached a few images to their email, which means I will see their skill right away. This helps to stand out from the crowd.

4) Mention a bit about the project - A copy'n'paste message is better than a one-liner. But if you weave in just a line or two about the project, then you seem like you've done your homework and that you care.

5) Cost. Some people don't mention prices. At all. Not even in follow-up-emails. That makes the buyer nervous, and you will probably not be prioritized as high as those who're up front about it.

6) A few examples of cost. - Even if you name your hourly price, then a few examples, like how much it would roughly cost to make a character. How much a walk cycle for that character would be. Maybe some environment examples too. That would really be icing on the cake, and look very professional.

There's of course also other matters that have played a role, like cost. I'm afraid that it just plays a big role if some people are 100% or 200% more expensive than other talented people. I can't really give a lot of suggestions for this one. Some people live in expensive countries and will just be more expensive. For an indie developer that unforunately just matters.


Thanks again for everyone applying. I hope you can use my tips to improve yourself.

Best regards,
Martin.


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Hi everyone,

I'm making an indie game. It's self funded, made in Unity, and I have a budget of around €300-600 a month for the pixel-art needed. I'm a programmer myself, and I have 20+ years of experience (although not in game development, so that part I am still learning as I go).

I have previosuly worked with people on sites like Fiverr for the 3D part, and while I've actually gotten good cheap results, I would prefer if I could find one artist I could have a longer working relationship with for the next part, to ensure consistency in style etc.

The game will be a mix of genres. It's science fiction and will take place on mars, and several alien planets + spacestations.

There will be a 3D part, where the player builds his bases.
Here's a work in progress video of that:



There will also be an exploration and a combat part, which will be in pixel art style. I haven't decided 100% on the art style yet, but I have some ideas/inspiration for the style, like:
http://store.steampowered.com/app/367080/Songbringer/
http://store.steampowered.com/app/413150/Stardew_Valley/

The reason why I imagine the combat to be pixel art instead of 3D is both because I love pixel art (I guess grewing up and playing all dos games available will do that), and also because I imagine being able to get a better result with the budget I have.

I am going for the game to be professional looking, so whatever artstyle we decide on together (even if it's even simpler than the ones I linked to) has to be consistent.

I am also open to being challenged on the whole top-down approach. I have though about several other styles, like isometric/"dungeon crawler" (like Lands of Lore - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKdBs7Pc1JE ) or even sidescrolling, so if you're more experienced in those genres, you're welcome to send me an email as well, and we can talk about it.

I would prefer to pay per assets probably, at least until we have a good working relationship. I consider myself pleasant to work with, I am polite, and I don't mind paying up front for the assets.

I can be contacted on: martin@martinmouritzen.dk

If you feel like I haven't covered everything, then just ask and I will answer!

If you think my budget is also unrealistic, then I wouldn't mind hearing about that either, and I will rethink my approach or go back to Fiverr

Thanks for taking the time to read,

Best regards,
Martin.

[Bacrylic]

It's cool that your up for the challenge of different points of views for your gameplay, but which one are you going for? You state it like you'd change it based on what the artist can do.

[Avo]

Hi Bacrylic,

Yeah, that's exactly what I'm stating!
I'm pretty sure I can program any style, so I'd rather decide on the style when I see the various artists that applied (thanks to those who already wrote me btw!), and how the fit might be.

It does however seem that (at least those who already applied) are pretty varied in their skills, which makes it a lot easier, and of course I do have an idea in my head already of how I want it to be, I just didn't want to limit myself entirely

Best regards,
Martin.