What do I do if I can do everything except art?

[ArKaN01D]

Okay, so I'm trying to make my own game so I can get some help with another project in need of artists. I tried to find free sprites online but with no luck. I'm pretty much stuck here. Any suggestions?

[Darth Mandarb]

Suggestions:
1) read the sticky threads/forum rules before posting (this is the wrong forum)
2) The Need Help With Your Game Thread is probably a good place to start

Good luck.

[voh]

Dave Gilbert (from Wadjet Eye) has a magnificent system.



Make the game with supersimple art, complete the game that way, and with complete but unattractive game, find an artist much easier

[Ghost]

Also be aware that these forums tend to rate a good story and nice writing higher than "super-duper render graphics with teh lens-flares". It's nice to have a game that's easy on the eye, but if you can make up for it, people will look past simple graphics.

[LRH]

Don't be afraid to try to learn how to draw line art and one point perspective either. You really can *learn* art to an extent. I'm no artist myself, but the difference between my very first AGS game and the games that followed it is fairly noticeable.



vs.

[Atelier]

Make steals on Contribution Thread. There is some pretty useful stuff there.

[ArKaN01D]

1) read the sticky threads/forum rules before posting (this is the wrong forum)

Ooooh! So sorry everyone! I said I wouldn't do that; that there was no way I was gonna be one of those gits posting that I just got a new puppy in the technical forum. But then I read all the forum rules in one sitting and confused which forum said what after that. It won't happen again.

Thanks, everyone, for your help! I'll use a combination of various people's suggestions.

[EnterTheStory (aka tolworthy)]

All the art you need is here:
http://enterthestory.com/sludge.html


This is all you need for a complete game. Anyone with average art skills can add to it - the style is very easy to copy. If you need an extra page or two just post a request on the right forum.

I made all this art for my first game, then ended up changing the art style. So none of the art was ever used. I made it all public domain i the hope that somebody else could use it.

You get backgrounds, sprites, animations, the whole lot. The main character is based on a video and walks in all eight directions. You also have aliens, a trotting horse, rippling waves, more than enough to get a game started. Backgrounds include Paris, Johannesburg, a Scottish town, shops, landscapes, underwater, outer space, lots of different caves, and more.

The images are TGAs, but Irfanview will convert them. The animations are in the SLUDGE format, but the page includes instructions for extracting the individual frames.

Enjoy!

[mode7]

I think it's not so much about being able to do art but how much time one is willing to commit in (1) learning and practising (2) as well as creating the actual art.
I think everyone is able to create at least decent looking graphics with a bit of practise and commitment, as it's a craft up to a certain degree. Of course especially when you're inexperienced you will spend a lot of time with trial and error an get frustrating.

So the question is not really are you able to do art, but are you willing to spend quite some time learning it?
If the answer is no thats fine too. No reason to spend time on something which you generally dislike doing. (My personal position is that you should at least consider learning some of this stuff when making a game). Theres actually a few ways to cheat your way around them...

Possibility 1: Stock Material
I always disliked games which use stock material 'cause even with a strong narrative they tend to look generic. I know you basically asked for places and there's some stuff out here like the Instagame materials or you could try to make a RON game which has provided material, but if you want to create your own unique story, you'll always find that something is missing.

Possibility 2: Cheating
Thats right! sometimes its easier to pretend you are a skilled artist than actually trying to become one.

The principle I like most is the process of stylizing your game. It means making your weakness a feature.
Can't draw colors? Make a B/W film noir kinda game
Can't draw perspective? Leave it out and make a flat kinda game like Nelly Cootalot (Just a style example, I'm not saying that Ali can't draw perspective)
Your art looks like a childrens drawing? Make it the innovative style of the game (Can't remember the name of this duck game - that was hilarious)
Can't draw perspective and colors and art to lazy to spend much time with graphics? Make dacey in th dark using only photoshop brushes from deviantart and some cheep cutout animations (psst, don't tell anyone)

Another example I can think of is DuzzQuest, which uses deliberately bad animations and photos, which makes it even more hilaroius.

You can do whatever you're comfortable with. My principle is always less is more. (simplyfying = stylizing).

There's onle one rulle here: consistency
Once you have established a graphic style, stick to it. There's nothing more graphics ruining than inconsistencies , like putting a rendered model in next to your crudely drawn character.

Well, I went a bit overboard with this post but, belive me most of this stuff is true

[EnterTheStory (aka tolworthy)]

Here's another idea. make a sci-fi game. Use Twisted Brush: I made this by just choosing weird brushes and swiping them across the screen.

It needs zero skill, and you can easily make a hundred weird images like this. There are also brushes for instant trees and flowers and pretty much anything. Twisted Brush Open Studio is free The full Twisted Brush Studio has tons more special brushes, and has a good "try before you buy" license.

There's onle one rule here: consistency
Once you have established a graphic style, stick to it. There's nothing more graphics ruining than inconsistencies , like putting a rendered model in next to your crudely drawn character.

Or if the rules are against you, change the rules. As mode7 says, it is easy to get hold of inconsistent art. then make a game where inconsistent art is part of the story:

*Edwin Abbott's classic Flatland. The main character can be a very flat stick man drawn on paper (very easy to animate - get a young child to do it for you!) who then walks around the real world.

* A game based on madness. Each group of images (photos, paintings, MSPaint images) represents a different mental state - serene, crazy, real, chaotic, etc.

* make an anarchic surreal game where different styles deliberately conflict in a montage. Make it look deliberate. Maybe you'll find you have a talent for montage.

* make a game about the Large Hadron Collider going horribly wrong. Reality breaks down, swirls and distorts. Get a copy of the GIMP (it's free) and experiment with weird filters. As the game progresses make the backgrounds more and more distorted as we al get sucked into a black hole and multiple universes collapse together. If you filter everything enough then photos and drawings look the same.

You have all the art you need! Just cut your coat according to your cloth.

[Crimson Wizard]

Possibility 2: Cheating
Thats right! sometimes its easier to pretend you are a skilled artist than actually trying to become one.

The principle I like most is the process of stylizing your game. It means making your weakness a feature.
Can't draw colors? Make a B/W film noir kinda game

The best advice ever!
Seriously, some time ago I myself thought I cannot draw, was always breaking my head trying to select correct colours, shading etc, until I tried to draw as freely and careless as possible. The result was this  


Also I agree with idea to use surrealism if you really can't draw realistic graphics right now. For example, make a game featuring weird creatures living in the weird world.
Another way is to draw tiny, miniature graphics. Check "Duty And Beyond" game to see the perfect example.


BTW, have you played Barn Runner series? Surely the author knows how to draw human figures, but the rest is quite simplisticly drawn (I won't be surprised if Ponch used MS Paint for that ).

[EnterTheStory (aka tolworthy)]

I myself thought I cannot draw, was always breaking my head trying to select correct colours, shading etc, until I tried to draw as freely and careless as possible. The result was this  

That's a great look! Sure, it's rough, but that's no worse than being too smooth. I find that even perfectly rendered 3D figures are unreal, especially if they feature impossible characters to start with. Your grungy looking people in coats are at least as believable as anything in World of Warcraft.

[mode7]

Good point there, I think most 3d chars lack character, thats the reason for me why I dont use 3d backgrounds. The amount it takes to make, texture and rig a convincing 3d character is better spent practicing drawing, IMO.

BTW: Another tip: SketchUp + cgtextures.com + Kerkythea, Is an easy way to do realistic bgs.

[mkennedy]

Unless you're selling the game then you could always rip sprites from commercial games. Also I think Reality on the Norm has made their artwork open source for use in AGS games.