Introduction

This article is for those game developers who have decided to stop wishing for the fabled Truly Incredible Graphic Artist Who Works For Free. It's for those of you who have realized that the dream truly is only a dream, and that if your game is ever going to be completed you have to "bite the bullet" and pay for the artwork you need.

For the rest of you, if you don't have an artist on your team already, assume that you are not going to get any quality volunteers. Very few artists (or people in general, for that matter) like to work on a contribution basis. They don't know you and they know only the barest information about your project. So go ahead and accept that you are going to pay for what you want done. It's possible that you might find a competent artist who is willing to work for a percentage and no up-front payment, but it's best to push the thought from your mind.

Contracting your artwork involves a bit of work on your part. First, you have to create a full graphical specification for your game (you had one of these already, right?). Then, specification in hand, you solicit quotes from artists willing and able to do the work, selecting the best one for you. Finally you agree upon payment and delivery and sign a contract for the work.

Preparation for Outsourcing

It's possible you've never really considered how much artwork even a simple game requires. This is where you change that. Before you can intelligently select an artist for your game, you have to know what kind of artwork your game needs. What is the nature of the artwork you require? Have you worked out how you're going to use the artwork in the game? And so on.

You cannot simply tell an artist "I need artwork for my game." And saying "I need 2D artwork" or "I need 3D artwork" is not even a little bit better. The artist is going to need as complete a specification as you can provide.

A good place to start is by comparing the artwork you want to an existing game's artwork. Collect screen shots of those games that represent what you want. While not technically a part of your specification, they provide a handy reference. For instance, it's much simpler to say "I want the terrain to resemble the terrain in WarCraft 2" than to fully describe what you're looking for.

Along the same lines, if you're going to need unusual objects, it's a good idea to collect pictures or photographs of the objects, preferably from several angles. If you say "mangonel" to an artist, she is more likely to think "weird fruit" than "catapult." With a picture to refer to, all such confusion can be cleared up before it starts.

Do you need any characters or creatures, animated or otherwise? Character and creature design is incredibly important. You need to at least have an idea of what these should look like. Create "background" material for all of the important characters and creatures to provide a conceptual framework for the artist. If a particular character or creature is extremely important to the game, then you might want to do a separate contract with an artist to do concept sketches and fully design the character.

If you need animation (and I assume you do), describe each animation sequence fully. This includes the duration of the animation and possibly the exact number of frames. If the animations should move or "flow" from one to another, map them out. If various animations need to "fit together" in sequence, this is something that must be stated up front. Correcting for this after the fact is nearly impossible.

Decide on the style and "mood" of the artwork you want. Determine how realistic, or how cartoonish, you want the characters and scenery. If you want a particular form of lighting or shadows, make sure you have this written down.

Create a list of every tile (or texture) graphic you expect to need. Include their dimensions and maybe a rough estimate of the number of colors you want them to use. The same goes for 3D models. List every one you expect to need and give an estimate of the number of polygons it should use.

Just as important as exactly what graphic elements you need is the final format you expect the artwork to be delivered in. If you require BMP, TIFF, PCX, or whatever, make sure you include this. If the graphic files are supposed to be True Color, High Color, or use a 256-color palette this needs to be specified as well. If a picture will include transparency information, you need to decide on a color that will be used for marking "transparent" pixels. If it's important that all pictures use the same "transparent color" then specify the exact RGB combination you want used. For any animation sequences you need, specify whether you want the animation as a single piece (e.g., an AVI file) or in separate frames (and possibly separate files).

There is no such thing as a specification that is "too complete" or "too detailed." Besides having something you can hand over to an artist, you will also have a much better understanding of how much work needs to be done.

Art Spec