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[Zaratustra]

Idea: A package of pre-drawn game objects (like the stuff the Lost Garden dude produces) put on the public domain so fledging indie gamers can use them for fast development. Probably you'd need 8x8, 16x16 and maybe 32x32 tile sizes, with entities sized 1x1 tile and 1x2 tiles.

[pgil]

Someone on Pixelation is doing a project like that.

Clickety-click!

Looks like they even have a big database and upload system. I'm sure there's room for more stuff like this though... They seem to have mostly jRPG-style sprites on there, so it would be cool to see things with a different look, for a different kind of game.

[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

The license is different, though. In that link, they're free for use only for open source projects -- you would not be able to use them for anything commercial or even for closed-source freeware (and the majority of freeware is closed-source), whereas public domain graphics can be used for any purpose.

Anyway, this is a fairly good idea but I myself would probably never use something like this, since it'd make the games feel samey and generic to use graphics that others are also using.

[Zaratustra]

The idea is that this could 'unify' several games into a sort of mythology like Mario does across a variety of platform/kart/puzzle games.

[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

Yeah, but even the Mario games don't use the same graphics for every game, just the same characters. I wouldn't feel like much of a *video* game designer if the video portion is designed by someone else.

[Tenderfoot]

I really like the idea of http://opengameart.org; I've already grabbed a thing or two off there.

[lendrick]

The license is different, though. In that link, they're free for use only for open source projects -- you would not be able to use them for anything commercial or even for closed-source freeware (and the majority of freeware is closed-source), whereas public domain graphics can be used for any purpose.

Just to clear up a potential misconception: It's true that not all of the material on the page can be used in non-open-source software, but anything that's licensed under the CC Attribution license or the LGPL.  Just be sure you check the license before you use it.

Peace,
Bart
http://opengameart.org

[nihilocrat]

There's always the Lostgarden art packs, but they are sort of restrained in terms of their domain.

[bitbof]

I like the idea, but most devs just *borrow* artwork while prototyping no matter what the copyright. Just look at how shamelessly 2DBoy stole a scene from family guy while working on WoG!

I mean if you use stuff from a preset it will suck the individuality out of the visuals. So you end up remaking them at one point.

I guess something like sfxr but for graphics would be great. So that the all the stuff gets procedurally generated. The simplest form would be to allow custom colors.

[pgil]

I guess something like sfxr but for graphics would be great.

Something like this walkcycle generator, but with a bit of randomization would be pretty useful.

[Stegersaurus]

The problem I have with this is being "Sure". If I'm making a product that's going to be sold at retail, I'm not sure if I'd trust a site full of publicly submittable art, just because I'd be afraid the users of it weren't submitting their own works all the time, resulting in some that aren't actually PD, because the person who initially held the copyright on it didn't actually put it into the public domain themselves.

For example, a LONG LONG time ago (we're talking probably a decade here so don't judge me!) was doing pixel art for a Graal Online official expansion that never saw the light of day. Now, do I own the pixel art I made back then, or does Cyberjoueurs? There are so many abandoned projects out there where the artists did "some work" but then stopped that the repository of abandoned art is huge, but that art is of questionable ownership.

[hamvvar]

Check out my new blog which I've created for just this very purpose!

http://pdpxart.tumblr.com/

Long live freedom!