Again -- It looks like perfectly-acceptable work to me. Don't put too much stock in the behavior of some internet trolls and a thoroughly unprofessional group of devs. Its executed well and the pieces are consistent in design and character. Maybe its not ready for the major leagues, but I think many indie teams get really hung up on needing major-league art and forget entirely that, as a whole, they're only playing in the minors at best -- and with a beer-league attitude it sounds like.

If I could draw 1/10th as good as that, I'd be so happy ...

Thanks for the feedback, that really helps.

I'm the first to agree that there's room for improvement in the art. I mean I respect high standards even if everyone is working for free. But they should have known there's a limit to how detailed the work is going to be when there is one person working on all game art and they're hoping for a summer-ish deadline.

The brief I got was 'do it your way' with the art. I think it would have been better if they shown me some examples of exactly what they wanted/expected. Plus they needed to realise, they accepted me based on art I showed them before, and on my ongoing contributions over about 3 months, so yes it's weird then to support a troll over your own team mate.

But like people here are saying, it was an experience, I learnt a lot, I got some examples for a portfolio maybe, I pushed myself really hard and proved I could learn Blender to model and animate too. I mean this was all in 3 months part-time unpaid.

Anyway, I really do appreciate the feedback, this seems like a friendly, supportive place!

When you join a team, it's probably better to try and get detailed answers about when and why other developers had "left" the team. You might just get a bad vibe from the answers, and realize that the guys and gals who left, were right about doing so.

If you don't, however, just remember that art (including coding) is like any need. Once they get it, they develop higher expectations, and become less appreciative of having it.

It takes effort, awareness, and a positive mental attitude to avoid the apathy downfall. So don't let this be about your art. It's not.

Hi,

Sorry about the rough experience you've been through. This kind of things is always hard.

I think there are all kind of teams and leaders, from the very friendly ones to the assholes.

...well, I think nobody is an asshole on purpose. But this "don't care about anonymous others" attitude over the internet can be a jerk.

On the other side of the fence, it's never easy to politely say "your art is not good enough" without hurting feelings.

I also think your art is not lost. On the contrary. I urge you to share it on the internet, on places like opengameart.org . Perhaps it would make someone happy and find a useful ending. :)

Cheers,

Arnaud

I saw they were looking for an artist and contacted them. It's all unpaid voluntary.

If it's an unpaid, voluntary position and there's no contract formalizing your relation with the ones that recruited you, then they were free to do what they did with you.

I didn't have much experience and offered myself as an apprentice.

If the reason for you joining that project as an unpaid volunteer is that you did not have much experience, you need to change your mind urgently.

If you want experience in art, then do art. You don't need to participate in projects for this and you don't need the risk of being dismissed like you were, which only serves to demotivate you.
The experience that you get in projects as an artist involves doing what someone else asks you to do - realizing their concepts and ideas - and revising your own work based on their feedback. This sort of experience is not that difficult to get, and means nothing if you can't produce polished art.
The technical experience that you would be getting with your art in a project like that is the same that you would get on your own, with creative solo projects that challenge your artistic comfort zone.

Once you have experience with art then you will certainly have a portfolio that you can use to get freelance work that is not only paid, but will involve contracts that provide at least some form of protection for you.
When you start turning down opportunities of paid freelance work because the contract terms are abusive or because the client doesn't want to pay the 50% upfront for the first milestone (as in, he doesn't trust you), then you have become a professional.

I saw they were looking for an artist and contacted them. It's all unpaid voluntary.

If it's an unpaid, voluntary position and there's no contract formalizing your relation with the ones that recruited you, then they were free to do what they did with you.

I didn't have much experience and offered myself as an apprentice.

If the reason for you joining that project as an unpaid volunteer is that you did not have much experience, you need to change your mind urgently.

If you want experience in art, then do art. You don't need to participate in projects for this and you don't need the risk of being dismissed like you were, which only serves to demotivate you.
The experience that you get in projects as an artist involves doing what someone else asks you to do - realizing their concepts and ideas - and revising your own work based on their feedback. This sort of experience is not that difficult to get, and means nothing if you can't produce polished art.
The technical experience that you would be getting with your art in a project like that is the same that you would get on your own, with creative solo projects that challenge your artistic comfort zone.

Once you have experience with art then you will certainly have a portfolio that you can use to get freelance work that is not only paid, but will involve contracts that provide at least some form of protection for you.
When you start turning down opportunities of paid freelance work because the contract terms are abusive or because the client doesn't want to pay the 50% upfront for the first milestone (as in, he doesn't trust you), then you have become a professional.

In theory that is true, but working on someone else's project provides challenges that you can't really predict, and that was exactly what I needed. I'd been working by myself for a while. Doing this project made me learn 3d modelling and animation which I probably would not have jumped into otherwise. ...Unfortunately it also provided a rejection which I didn't see coming, but there you go.

"anonymous feedback forum with a lot of cursing" sounds like 4chan. That's just what they do there[0]. They'd tell Salvador Dali he sucked because his paintings weren't realistic, then turn around and tell Da Vinci he sucked because his work was too literal.

You've learned a valuable lesson that most people suck. When you find good people, stick to them. When you learn someone isn't good, dump them like a sack of lego bricks on their bathroom floor where they will likely stumble into at night with the lights off for a midnight pee and step on the bricks with their bare feet.

[0] well, I don't mean to say that to get them off the hook. "Those silly Nazis, killing Jews is just what they do". But lacking the power to change them, it's better to recognize what they are and just stay away.

"anonymous feedback forum with a lot of cursing" sounds like 4chan. That's just what they do there[0]. They'd tell Salvador Dali he sucked because his paintings weren't realistic, then turn around and tell Da Vinci he sucked because his work was too literal.

You've learned a valuable lesson that most people suck. When you find good people, stick to them. When you learn someone isn't good, dump them like a sack of lego bricks on their bathroom floor where they will likely stumble into at night with the lights off for a midnight pee and step on the bricks with their bare feet.

[0] well, I don't mean to say that to get them off the hook. "Those silly Nazis, killing Jews is just what they do". But lacking the power to change them, it's better to recognize what they are and just stay away.

Actually I believe it was AGDG, which is some sort of Twitter thing which I don't understand the format of to be honest.

Really enjoyed your metaphors Capn' Midnight!

That sucks, but is the sad nature of unpaid indie projects. I've been on the reverse with my first indie game - designer looking for unpaid artists, it took me a long time to find and filter through all those who'd promise but not deliver or just stop responding to me after a while. Luckily I was finally able to find some awesome dedicated guys who stuck to the schedule, and things turned out great.