Hi,
I'm currently researching the possibility of creating an online art store specifically aimed at low-budget and open-source games. I'm still in the very early stages ("Do I even want to do this?"), but I'd appreciate any input you might have as to how such a store could help you the most.
Some of the things I'm currently trying to figure out are...
What sort of pricing would be most accessible?
The current price model for this is roughly based on a blog post I wrote a little while back. Essentially, a model/texture/etc is payed for by the community or an individual, and then the artwork is made free. This benefits both developers and artists in the way that the artists are being payed for their work, and developers can get better-quality artwork for little to no cost.
What format would be the best to deliver the content in?
No ideas here. The original source files will hopefully be available, so you can convert it to whatever you need, but I'd like to be able to give developers a format they can simply download and use without much fuss.
What sort of content is needed?
RPG items? Character models? Sci-Fi or Fantasy?
And the big question: Is anybody interested in this sort of store?
Anyway, I would appreciate any comments or questions anyone might have.
Looking for input on a game-art store idea...
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Clean3d
- Gnoblar
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sinbad
- OGRE Retired Team Member
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I think the main problem people have with existing repositories like TurboSquid are that the assets are often not designed for real-time use, or they are inconsistent - missing animation, missing textures, at random scales, are 'one-off' and can't integrate with any 'theme' etc.
Some independent providers supply 'packs' of assets and I think this works well since the objects are all designed from a thematic perspective and will work well with each other. Getting a group of independent people to do that without directly paying them is difficult (see TurboSquid) but it's really a must for the end result to be useful. But, the trouble with these is that your assets look like everyone else who has bought the pack too. There's 2 opposing issues obviously - in order to make money for their time at that price point the artist has to sell the same assets many times, but at the same time people don't really want to see the same assets in multiple games.
One option might be to offer a 'customisation' service - ie there's one set of base assets, but for a small premium the artist will personalise the assets for you - a new skin for example. I think it's possible to make that work commercially such that games makers get the fairly unique looking assets they want without having to pay top dollar for entirely unique models.
As regards licensing, I think the Creative Commons is a good basis for content licensing, since it's easily understood. Perhaps a free non-commercial version with a modest price for use in commercial works. Personally for a pack of static objects I'd be happy to pay $50-100, and for a single fully-animated character maybe $50-200 depending on quality & the range of animations. In both cases about a 25% premium for simple personalisation would be ok. Again having many assets consistent with a theme is essential.
Some independent providers supply 'packs' of assets and I think this works well since the objects are all designed from a thematic perspective and will work well with each other. Getting a group of independent people to do that without directly paying them is difficult (see TurboSquid) but it's really a must for the end result to be useful. But, the trouble with these is that your assets look like everyone else who has bought the pack too. There's 2 opposing issues obviously - in order to make money for their time at that price point the artist has to sell the same assets many times, but at the same time people don't really want to see the same assets in multiple games.
One option might be to offer a 'customisation' service - ie there's one set of base assets, but for a small premium the artist will personalise the assets for you - a new skin for example. I think it's possible to make that work commercially such that games makers get the fairly unique looking assets they want without having to pay top dollar for entirely unique models.
As regards licensing, I think the Creative Commons is a good basis for content licensing, since it's easily understood. Perhaps a free non-commercial version with a modest price for use in commercial works. Personally for a pack of static objects I'd be happy to pay $50-100, and for a single fully-animated character maybe $50-200 depending on quality & the range of animations. In both cases about a 25% premium for simple personalisation would be ok. Again having many assets consistent with a theme is essential.
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Clean3d
- Gnoblar
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- Joined: Wed Apr 13, 2005 3:52 pm
Thanks for the reply, Sinbad.
Having many pieces styled in the same category is definitely one of my goals in creating this store. It may not be as much of a problem with this as other sites, though, as artwork will be subject to an approval process before becoming available for purchase.
As for the customization idea, I think it's great, but not exactly what I'm aiming for with this store. One of my goals with this is to prove that "pay once and then it's free", or what I call "ransom marketing" is viable. I'd love to see a service like the one you described be put into action, but at the moment I think I should stay focused on this concept.
Perhaps in the future?
As for the licensing, Creative Commons is a good suggestion. I just want to make sure that the models that are available for free aren't ripped off and sold elsewhere without being put in a game or application.
Thanks again for the comment,
- Clean3d
Having many pieces styled in the same category is definitely one of my goals in creating this store. It may not be as much of a problem with this as other sites, though, as artwork will be subject to an approval process before becoming available for purchase.
As for the customization idea, I think it's great, but not exactly what I'm aiming for with this store. One of my goals with this is to prove that "pay once and then it's free", or what I call "ransom marketing" is viable. I'd love to see a service like the one you described be put into action, but at the moment I think I should stay focused on this concept.
Perhaps in the future?
As for the licensing, Creative Commons is a good suggestion. I just want to make sure that the models that are available for free aren't ripped off and sold elsewhere without being put in a game or application.
Thanks again for the comment,
- Clean3d
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old_man_auz
- Greenskin
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- Location: Australia
- x 3
I like the sound of this. Here are a few thoughts:
=> Can you have some kind of system where people interested in buying some artwork pledge $x amount of money with the pledge valid for y amount of time toward the artwork and once the total price of all the current pledges reaches the asking cost that the artist has set, payments are collected and the artwork is released with whatever license to the public for free ?
=> To expand on the above idea, can the members of the site cast votes and pledges of money on artwork they would like to see created by artists, so the artists can see whats in demand, and how much money they might make for creating an certain artwork.
=> As I think sinbad touched on, I think there needs to be a standard of quality set: ie models must be animated, textured, etc or what ever is appropriate for the artwork.
=> Can you have some kind of system where people interested in buying some artwork pledge $x amount of money with the pledge valid for y amount of time toward the artwork and once the total price of all the current pledges reaches the asking cost that the artist has set, payments are collected and the artwork is released with whatever license to the public for free ?
=> To expand on the above idea, can the members of the site cast votes and pledges of money on artwork they would like to see created by artists, so the artists can see whats in demand, and how much money they might make for creating an certain artwork.
=> As I think sinbad touched on, I think there needs to be a standard of quality set: ie models must be animated, textured, etc or what ever is appropriate for the artwork.
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Clean3d
- Gnoblar
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- Joined: Wed Apr 13, 2005 3:52 pm
Good thoughts, Old_man_auz. I'd been thinking about having a system such as the one you described, with people pledging money. I'm concerned about getting things too complex for the casual customer to want to deal with... Still, I'd like to have a method for multiple people to pay for models. I imagine character art could get fairly expensive.
I had also been planning on a voting system where people vote on artwork they need. Having a person offer to pay for a piece of art could certainly boost the incentive for it to get done, though...
As for the quality level, that is definitely one of my large concerns with this idea. Submitted artwork will be subject to an approval process before it is available for download, and there will be no untextured work, save for styles that need it that way.
Thanks for the reply,
Clean3d
I had also been planning on a voting system where people vote on artwork they need. Having a person offer to pay for a piece of art could certainly boost the incentive for it to get done, though...
As for the quality level, that is definitely one of my large concerns with this idea. Submitted artwork will be subject to an approval process before it is available for download, and there will be no untextured work, save for styles that need it that way.
Thanks for the reply,
Clean3d