Hey Hey,

So I've been messing around with game development for about a year or so now,..

I use Construct2 for 2D games and Unity for 3D games, My PC won't really manage massive games so I haven't done a lot of full 3D work just practice and theories... I've got tonnes of ideas for games and I've started on quite a few of them but I don't do art too great :/ So I'm looking for some advice or maybe a point in the right direction.. Where should I properly begin? I've got ideas, plans and a few prototypes but how do I convince someone to come and help me, where do I find these people?

Thanks,,

You've got several options:

1-Do a prototype with placeholder art and try to find someone who is interested in working on the art

2-Buy assets from the Asset Store

3-Learn some art skills and scale the game/concept down to the level where your limited art skills would be acceptable

4-Get a team and build something from the ground-up

I would suggest #3. Graphics don't have to be super-amazing for a game to be good. If you're wanting to work as an indie solo or with a very small team, very basic art is going to be the norm. That doesn't mean it has to be ugly though. Basic art can still be appealing. Also, if you're working on the art yourself you'll learn the effort it takes as well as the technical issues behind implementing it.

As for finding a team - there's a place on this forum for recruiting team members. If you're working as part of a team you won't have creative control. You'll have to be willing to compromise or work on an idea that you may not 100% like.

When it comes down to it - if you want to maintain creative control you either need to do the work yourself or be willing to spend money to hire artists to do the work. There's very few people who will work on a game with no creative control or pay.

It's common to use placeholder art until bigger and better is developed, especially until later versions of your game.

As for the 3D and other art assets themselves, there are websites with open source assets. The licenses very from restricted under certain conditions to absolutely free for any use. There are sounds, effects, 2D, 3D, and other assets. I usually make my own, but once in a while I use an open source asset.

Simply put, if you want a artist to work for you, you have to pay him 99.9% of the time. It's very rare that a artists accepts a deal like sharing profits. You have to keep in mind that it is your project and they are probably not as interested as you in it. Obviously they have to put in a lot of time and work for you and unfortunately most "beginner" projects don't even finish. And since there time is money too it's pretty normal they ask money and that you should simply pay for what you are asking for.

Amazing artists ask for a lot of money and my guess is that you don't want to spent a lot of money. There are a couple of options for you.

1. Use free or cheap art. There is a lot of cheap art out there online but keep in mind it can be bought and reused by anyone. Also keep your eye out for bundles, I managed to buy a ton of 2D/3D/Sound in the last couple of years for not even $100. You can at least use them as placeholders.
   
2. Finish your game with placeholders. If the game sucks then good art won't make it better. If it's a great game already then invest a good amount of money into a artist and setup a good looking crowdfunding campaign where you can try to fund the art you need.
   
3. Learn to draw yourself. Yes this will take you another year or perhaps just 6 months: http://imgur.com/gallery/Ij65E/new

Thank for the advice!,,

If I buy the assets from a store, Am I still allowed to make money from the game with someone elses stuff? (I'm not only trying to make money, but if it happens that one of my games works well with IAP or just selling the game as a whole, Will I need to own all the assets myself?)

I do very very very basic image work, But I'd never attempt to use my own art :O ,

As for creative control, I'm not really a creative person, I'm more of the smash guy so what I mean is, I'll put together squares and circles or google clipart images and then the artist can decide how its going to look, Because I'd have to trust the artist if I've got them on my team..

In terms of paying, Its a terrible loop :'( Can't pay an artist without earning the money, Can't earn the money without paying the artist LOL... Ah well, The advice so far is great :D, Going to take art lessons ;) I'll keep hunting for art people but perhaps I will need to invest my money a little bit :P

Truth of the matter is your next step is to just jump in. You will quickly learn what you need to know as you encounter it. Experience is as always, the best teacher.

If you are looking for projects to start with (and what you will learn from them) try this list. If you are happy with Construct and Unity, stick with them, nothing wrong with either engine. If you want to switch, I've done a review of several of the most popular game engines, although switching generally isn't in your best interest. Learning a little about a lot of things can bite you in the ass, a bit of focus is your friend early on.

As to art assets, many people start with kenny.nl or opengameart. The second is a great resource, but I really wish it was curated better. You just end up wasting so much time on garbage, which is frustrating.

If you buy assets, the license is stated when you purchase. Generally a game asset is licensed to use in any game you want but read the license!

Some allow perpetual use while others don't, some allow modification whilst others don't.

Art and assets depicting brand names also require additional permission from the trademark holder, e.g. a model of a firearm, car or can of coca cola.

Be careful to always read before buying!

I recommend turbosquid, 3dmodels-textures.com and opengameart.org.

Enjoy!

As for creative control, I'm not really a creative person, I'm more of the smash guy so what I mean is, I'll put together squares and circles or google clipart images and then the artist can decide how its going to look, Because I'd have to trust the artist if I've got them on my team..

Creative control also includes your general game idea. "I want to make a FPS RPG" is still a creative decision.

If you don't care about that, or the look, gameplay elements, etc, and you're just interested in the general challenge, then I'd really suggest working with someone else. I mentioned the "creative control" aspect because in my experience, aspiring game-devs often have an attitude that "i have a super-awesome idea and i REFUSE to compromise on it because it's a gauranteed million dollar idea" (hint: it isn't - no idea is).

And while i stand by my mocking tone there, creative control is still a serious issue. Most origional ideas sound stupid, and non-origional ideas sound sterotypical when on paper. Creative issues can tear teams apart and cause projects to fail - especially "profit share" projects.

If creative control really isn't a concern and you've got some skills at coding and prototypes/examples to prove your skill, then you can afford to be picky about what you work on. You should be able to find a good artists who's fumbling clumsily around code by themself and would be happy to have someone with any level of skill join their project. This would have been me about 7-8 years ago :-)

"i have a super-awesome idea and i REFUSE to compromise on it because it's a gauranteed million dollar idea" (hint: it isn't - no idea is).

Ha ha, I like this ...

I read somewhere that a lot of "new" ideas plummet and never really get the credit until someone else come's along and remakes that idea, A great approach is to just modify or amplify an existing "idea", And then it went on to talk about that flappy birds and how so many people made another version that got some interest and then one guy came along and blasted them out of the water.. (I don't read as much as I should and I forget half the important details) Would you agree to that?

Yeah I didn't actually think that "FPS RPG" would come under creative control, but I guess it does lol. I suppose I do care to some degree BUT I still will make anything, I don't wanna sit back and demand a specific style to be made, I like the idea of teams deciding together (Which doesn't always work out well :P )

Great advice, Thank you all :),,

Truth of the matter is your next step is to just jump in. You will quickly learn what you need to know as you encounter it. Experience is as always, the best teacher.

If you are looking for projects to start with (and what you will learn from them) try this list. If you are happy with Construct and Unity, stick with them, nothing wrong with either engine. If you want to switch, I've done a review of several of the most popular game engines, although switching generally isn't in your best interest. Learning a little about a lot of things can bite you in the ass, a bit of focus is your friend early on.

As to art assets, many people start with kenny.nl or opengameart. The second is a great resource, but I really wish it was curated better. You just end up wasting so much time on garbage, which is frustrating.

Thanks for the list! Its actually really good :D And yeah a few people have pointed me to opengameart but I always seem to forget to give it a proper go BUT that kenney.. WOW :D Thanks! That will certainly keep me busy!! I've got millions of things from there now!! (Not millions but you know) Even if they just serve as placeholders to show people the plan.. :P Awesome sauce!! :D