Isometric Building Artist for MMO Flash Game

[nmalhot]

Subject: I have an MMO flash game in early Alpha testing and need some buildings. The buildings need to be drawn in isometric view and each will be 48x48 pixels in size. The game is a space-based RPG and so the buildings will all be futuristic in theme. There will be very little/no direction on the building other than the name so need someone that can be creatiove and run with it. For example .... "Bio-Engineering Substation", "Weapons Factory", "Terraforming Plant", "Mining Facility", "Driling Facility", etc.

Time Frame: ASAP (within a week) for the initial 12 buildings. Expect another ~100 buildings over the next several weeks.
Price range: $5-15 per building depending on complexity. Flat, non-animating probably $5 and then the ones with some more animation effects being $10-15. I'm hoping to have someone that is comfortable in flash, but if not, I might take a general vector artist for $5/building and then I'll pay someone else to make small animations on them in flash.

Contact Info: ultimaterank @ gmail. com

Additional Notes: Please send me some sample artwork, preferably an isometric building (even if you just whip it out to apply)

Thanks in advance!
Nitin

[nmalhot]

huh? not sure what your comment is meant to imlpy?

[Livingstone]

Two things hyver is going for here:

Pay is too small.

Deadline is too soon.:\

[nmalhot]

Well thankfully not everyone feels the same way. I'm not used to forum moderators posting degrading replies with no value.

I've had several artists/animators contact me and will be doing work with a few of them on this project. The first buildings were delivered quickly and suit the project well.

I've used CA to hire artists for a few projects now and in all cases the delivered work has been excellent and the feedback I have from the artists is that they enjoyed the projects and want to do more work with us in the future.

So, something to bear in mind in the future is that just because a project or pay rate doesn't appeal to you, doesn't mean there aren't other members here that would appreciate the opportunity.

[Hyver]

Well thankfully not everyone feels the same way. I'm not used to forum moderators posting degrading replies with no value.
My point was to raise a question about your offer. Granted, it was quite minimal in form but apparently not totally useless.

I've had several artists/animators contact me and will be doing work with a few of them on this project. The first buildings were delivered quickly and suit the project well.

I've used CA to hire artists for a few projects now and in all cases the delivered work has been excellent and the feedback I have from the artists is that they enjoyed the projects and want to do more work with us in the future.
That's great. Really it is. I've gotten a good deal of work here as well, and i'm glad to see that this part of the forum works so well for so many.

So, something to bear in mind in the future is that just because a project or pay rate doesn't appeal to you, doesn't mean there aren't other members here that would appreciate the opportunity.
True words, of course. Then again, my little comment, and Livingstone's addition to that, didn't stop the several artists/animators from applying and doing business with you.

This is a forum - one of the ideas behind it is to discuss. If my post came over as a flame then i'm sorry for that. Let's see what made me do it...

Your offer is way underpaid. You ask the artist to do concept, drawing, painting, animating and fx, for 5-15$, add to that the tight deadline which will cause overtime and possibly an all-nighter or two to crank it all out in time.
I wonder how per hour the artist will eventually get (after taxes) when he/she breaks it down.
I sincerely hope that you have found people who like this type of work enough to do it this cheap. Else i'm afraid you'll end up with just that: cheap work. No offense to whoever is actually doing the job (i don't know who you are and what your skills are obviously).

note: since the job offer has been filled, and this might lead to some more discussions, i'm moving this thread to the discussions area.

[nmalhot]

Yes, the job is filled so it's fine to throw it over here... and I'll give you my $.02 FWIW...

My main issue with your post is that you are a moderator here and there is a sticky that seems to condemn your type of response. You've made a lot of assumptions in your quick reply and IMHO it does nothing to improve this community for everyone.

I believe I've made 3 postings here to date and all have resulted in work being paid out to your members. Good for me. Good for them. I'm pretty sure all 3 have been students and/or trying to break into the industry.

Here's a quote from the last email from the animator that took this job:
You mentioned between $5-$15 per building - We didn't discuss the actual rate but I spent close to 16 hours on these first 12 so I'm hoping I'm at the higher end of that scale.
Thanks, looking forward to the complete list. I'm really enjoying this job and I think it will be great for my CV.
I did, in fact, pay $15/building and if the quality keeps up, then this person is going to get $1,500 paypal'ed to him over the next 2 months. While this may not be a lot to someone established, for a student or someone trying to get their first paying gig, or someone that does it part-time for projects they enjoy, it could be very acceptable pay.

My opinion is that you shouldn't make assumptions on the quality or time or payscale requirements of people posting in here. I would welcomed questions regarding the level of detail or even some attempt to make me aware if something in the post seemed out of line so I might rectify it or clarify it.

I know this section has "professional" jobs that pay top dollar, and then there are jobs like mine (and from browsing I see quite a few) that are paying, but not paying "real" money but that can serve as good entry projects for people.

If smaller jobs like mine rub members or moderators the wrong way, then maybe you should have another forum for "Paying Jobs - Entry Level and/or Under-Paying" ?

[Hyver]

thanks for replying

again, i'm glad both you and the artist found what you were looking for. life can be swet like that indeed.
and you're probably right about my initial post being too minimal to be good - i should've made my points earlier.
otoh i still stand by my thoughts on the task/money ratio. i talked to a few other mods/pro's around here about it, and they all shared my view on this. not to make this a them vs us type of discussion, god forbid.
there's been plenty of discussion on low-rate work around here before, and i guess my reaction is partly rooted in that.
that said, let it be clear that i don't have the slightest thing against non-top-dollar jobs, at all! I've found and enjoyed both types right here as well.

It's not quite clear to me however exactly where i was making assumptions?

[Regal]

nmalhot - you seem like a genuinely nice guy, and I'm happy that you've found a relationship that is equally beneficial for both parties involved.

To me, that is the point right here. An off-handed comment, no matter how mild, was not really deserved in this situation. $15 for this artwork is definitely on the low-end of the scale, but it's still on the scale. If you have any experience with pixel art, you'll know that you could almost "wing it" at 48x48 pixels, and still achieve decent results.

Furthermore, nmalhot was very direct in his post. He didn't try to sugarcoat the fact that this was a low-paying, experience-earning job. He gave us no unnecessary (and insulting!) excuses or lame reasoning, he simply gave us the terms of his situation.

All the best nmalhot...I hope you find success in this and all future projects!

[nmalhot]

Thanks for the kind words Regal.

Hyver, this is your forum and so you're free to run it any way you want. I don't want to blow this out of proportion, I am just saying I didn't expect this type of put-down comment from a mod.

Here'a a real world analogy:

I'm an ugly gal going to a school dance. Even though I'm not traditionally "good looking", I'm self-confident and I know some guy at the dance is going to get past my looks and like me for who I am. Nevermind that there are going to be supermodels at the dance with names like "ROCKSTAR GAMES" that every guy is going to be drooling over. I'm not competing with them, but just hoping someone's going to be there that's a good match for me.

When I walk in I know I'm not the prettiest girl in the room, but I'm still hoping for some respect. If the class jock who's kind of an ass gives me a little snicker as he walks by, I'm used to it. But, when the school principal does it, well, that's just not expected.

:tihi: I don't know why but I find that little analogy quite amusing (and very on target).

[Regal]

haha, you nailed it :)

[Castor]

I understand both positions, I feel both of you have a strong point, but still I end up feeling just like the post Hyver replied. As an illustrator I feel plenty of employers always try to underpay us and make us work like crazy.

I like what I do but sometimes people offer so little for a ilo (yes i know that when we start its always like that) that it becomes frustrating because that money won't even cover what you spend to make the ilo.

The problem is that there is always someone that needs the money and will always accept the job and so there will always be people making very slim offers to concept artist.

Just my two cents.

[Hyver]

in reply to nmalhot's words

how could i ver argue against that piece of proze :)

i think we've basicly covered everything in this discussion, and everyone had some worthy cents to put in, so yay to that. The way i see it now is that we have a win-win-win situation here. You got your artist, the artist got a job he enjoys, and the forum functioned as an inbetween to that, *plus* the added value of decent discussion. thanks.

oh and for what it's worth, i'm more the guy staying outside the prom, obligatory sketchbook in one hand, reefer in the other, gazing at the moon and realising it's made of creamcheese. although i do wear a suit sometimes, i'm not one to hand out hallpasses.

[xeno]

How is this game coming in development?

[Justin.]

Uhm.. this was sorta kinda posted in JANUARY man...