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TIGSource ForumsDeveloperArt (Moderator: JWK5)How much would this cost me? (Art for JRPG battles)
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Author Topic: How much would this cost me? (Art for JRPG battles)  (Read 2728 times)
randomThrowAway
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« on: March 12, 2016, 10:25:44 AM »

I'm making a JRPG and will need assets for the battles. I want around 100 "fighters" (heroes and enemies) and ~15 battle areas / stages / whatever they're called. Not looking to hire anybody just yet, but would be interested in price range, if anyone could give a guesstimate that'd be great.

As for art style, it's a mobile game and doesn't need to be high resolution or realistic, pixel art would be fine but not the ugly blockiness of final 7 for example.

Is it even likely to find the same guy doing the backgrounds and the fighters?
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zombieonion
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« Reply #1 on: March 13, 2016, 06:22:55 PM »

Do you want 2d or 3d?
Can certain characters share animations, if this is 3d?
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randomThrowAway
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« Reply #2 on: March 13, 2016, 11:48:31 PM »

2d, and yes they can share animations for sure, in fact for many enemies a single "move forward", "shake a little", "move back" would be enough as "attack animation" and the "shake a little" can probably double as "got hit" animation as well.

Actual heroes should have their own, more specific animations, but still nothing too fancy, one for basic attack, one for casting, winning pose and so on, so maybe 5 per hero? Can be re used ones as well, as long as it's not too obvious.
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randomThrowAway
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« Reply #3 on: March 14, 2016, 04:50:43 AM »

For example something close to FFVI




maybe a bit sharper / more pixels per character but that's about the level of detail and animation I envision.
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randomThrowAway
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« Reply #4 on: March 14, 2016, 01:08:55 PM »

In picture one, I'd want the scorpions to move their tail forward (like a sting) for the attack animation. Legs, tail and claws move a bit for idle, and when moving the scorpion, only the legs move (but in the same way as idle, so less extra work). Extras like "get hit", "die" animations would be cool, but I wouldn't pay 20% more for them.
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b∀ kkusa
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« Reply #5 on: March 14, 2016, 02:05:29 PM »

what's your budget?
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randomThrowAway
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« Reply #6 on: March 14, 2016, 02:12:51 PM »

Meh, I really don't know, like I said I'm not planning on hiring someone yet, I want to finish more of the game first. I'm posting here to get a real general sense of the costs - I've seen recent-ish posts about someone taking $25 an hour but I have no idea how many hours let's say one enemy is. Another one said $10-$20 per 32*32 area, but I'm not sure if that includes animation or if that would be for every sprite, so it could be $10 - $300+ for one enemy; the upper range of that is certainly too high, for me.
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Cobralad
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« Reply #7 on: March 15, 2016, 12:15:06 AM »

that pretty much depends on artist skill, age and country. Non-student dudes from USA-europe will charge $20 hour, but you can also find some young enthusiast who can work for free
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Zorg
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« Reply #8 on: March 15, 2016, 12:21:16 AM »

Are you a programmer? Did you finish and publish a game?
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randomThrowAway
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« Reply #9 on: March 15, 2016, 02:16:57 AM »

No, I'm just an idea guy Cheesy

I guess I would call myself a self thought, crappy, beginning programmer, haven't shipped anything, which is why I wouldn't ask for profit share instead of paying. I'm very ambitious though, working on this about 4 hours a day on average for about 2 months and have learned a lot.

I have the game engine and networking stuff about 50 pct done, it's also way smaller in scope than a true jrpg and uses procgen, so adding content after the engine is done will take less time than what you'd think if you heard "jrpg". 

From current pace I'm guessing 2-3 months until the engine is "done-ish" and then I'll get into balancing, but I'm already at a point where I'm adding a lot of placeholder content and this is taking time from my actual development; I have to look for the least crappy free assets and do stuff to make them fit - yesterday I wasted two hours looking for 3 new enemies, that's just counter productive.

From that POV, paying someone 20 an hour not only gives me their work, but also frees me to do more work, myself, that's why I'm starting to think about hiring someone already - my initial plan was to finish the game (not just the engine) to 70 pct before that but I now see that'd mean a lot of redundant work.

I will finish this game one way or the other, but before I'm paying mid five figures for the art, I'd rather learn it myself, or pay a friend to learn it haha
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b∀ kkusa
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« Reply #10 on: March 15, 2016, 04:36:58 AM »

seeing your case, i'd recommend you getting Rpgmaker and use its assets first. I doubt you'll find quality in your case as "100 heroes and enemies and ~15 battle areas" is quite huge.
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randomThrowAway
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« Reply #11 on: March 15, 2016, 04:41:19 AM »

Yeah I've talked to a couple of artists and not sure how I'll progress, I'm willing to pay 4 figures for sure, but not 5.

The rpg maker assets for place holders  idea is great for now though, I will get right on it,thanks.

Edit: I guess I can also do a lot of "blue slime", "yellow slime" and so on, to cut the number of truly individual assets, oh well.
« Last Edit: March 15, 2016, 04:48:16 AM by randomThrowAway » Logged
Peace Soft
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« Reply #12 on: March 16, 2016, 01:05:00 PM »

From your description of what you want for the scorpion enemy, I'd ballpark it at 6-8 hours minimum for each guy designed from scratch, assuming that you and the artist are both happy with the first draft of everything. With 100 of them at $20 an hour, that's like... a full-time job for one person for several months. It's going to be pushing 5 figures even if everything goes perfectly according to schedule.  I'd recommend doing everything you can with placeholder assets first.
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randomThrowAway
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« Reply #13 on: March 17, 2016, 04:20:53 AM »

Yes I see I was too optimistic. One thing I'm not that optimistic about though, is the whole "build it with placeholders first and then try to find an artist who might want to partner up" thing. I'm confident the game will be of ok quality because the technical challenges aren't very big (and the biggest ones I envisioned to come up, I already cleared), but I don't see a quality artist risking working a couple of months for free with me, no matter what I deliver, since I have no experience under my belt at all - and I don't blame them.

So I'm guessing I'll have to pay in the end, anyway, but for now I'll just focus on making the game - finishing it just so I can play it with a group of friends who are already waiting on it isn't a terrible outcome for my first real game, after all.
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TitoOliveira
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« Reply #14 on: March 17, 2016, 08:26:37 PM »

Have you considered buying an asset pack, or several, that suits your needs?
There's also this: http://gaurav.munjal.us/Universal-LPC-Spritesheet-Character-Generator/
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mesmith
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« Reply #15 on: July 06, 2016, 12:55:39 PM »

Have you considered buying an asset pack, or several, that suits your needs?
There's also this: http://gaurav.munjal.us/Universal-LPC-Spritesheet-Character-Generator/

Wow. This is awesome. Thanks for sharing this. From first glance, it seems perfect for at least prototyping.
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