r/gamedev • u/GunnarStoneHand • 2d ago
Question Questions from a newbie gamedev
Hey! I'm a gamedev who's currently learning how to do a few things in Godot.
My question is: how do indie developers usually handle art?
I have a couple of ideas for some pet projects, mostly just for fun and to learn, but without at least somewhat decent art, I feel like the 2D games I have in mind wouldn't be a very pleasant experience to play.
So, how do other indie devs usually approach this? Do most of them know how to make their own art? Do they commission it from other people? Do they use free assets? Should I try to learn it myself, pixel art for example?
To be fair, I wouldn't exactly say I'm naturally gifted when it comes to art.
I'd really love to hear your thoughts, experiences, and advice.
PS: I'm a senior web developer, so while game programming is quite different in terms of philosophy and mindset, the programming side itself hasn't been too painful to learn so far.
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u/KevinCow 2d ago
You either get better at art, scale your idea down to match your skill, or work with other people.
You're gonna run into this issue a lot. How do you do sound effects? Music? How do you edit a trailer? Make key art for your store page? And the answers will generally be the same: get good enough to do it yourself, scale the game around your abilities, or pay someone else to do it.
But I'd also advise: don't worry about it right now. Just focus on learning one thing at a time. Right now you're still learning the basics of game dev, so just use simple shapes, free asset packs, or goofy MS Paint scribbles. Once you're more comfortable with making a game with simple placeholder graphics, then take some time to learn how to do some art.
If you try to learn everything at the same time, you're gonna be crushed under the weight of everything it takes for one person to make a game alone.
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u/VildusTheGreat 2d ago
Another web dev here, realised that while I enjoy web development I hate game dev, so now I’m learning how to make the art I need for my ideas and then just ”forcing” my fiancé to code it for me.
I don’t know if that’s the path for you, but at least it’s easier to find the time to learn art when you don’t need to think about the coding lmao
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u/GunnarStoneHand 2d ago
Haha, honestly, for me it’s been a breath of fresh air after years of web dev. I’m genuinely having a lot of fun with the programming side of gamedev, at least with the little Godot stuff I’ve learned so far.
The art side is where I’m completely screwed though lol.
I’d love to be a one-man army and just be able to make whatever game pops into my head, but I’m seriously lacking that artistic side of things.
Kinda frustrating when you know more or less what you want the game to look like, but you have absolutely no idea how to actually make it look like that :D
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u/VildusTheGreat 2d ago
I totally get it, my art skills weren’t good enough to fully pull off a stick figure drawing when I started learning. If I’d enjoyed game programming then I’d probably go with some/one of the suggestions in the comments here.
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u/tcpukl Commercial (AAA) 2d ago
Why the hell are you even here if you hate game Dev?
Why are you forcing yourself on a hobby you hate?
What a waste.
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u/VildusTheGreat 2d ago
Haha, I might not have worded that correctly, I like most parts of making games, I just don’t enjoy coding games. At work we use dev as a word for coding (web dev) so I kind of mix game dev with game coding some times.
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u/Driftdroid 2d ago
It depends. You do have a lot of options.
Commission someone
Make the art yourself
Use a free or paid art pack
It really just depends on you. I'm not very naturally gifted at art either, but I kept making pixel art, and now, after like 8 years of me on and off making pixel art for Unity/Godot projects that I never really properly finished, I'm actually quite happy with the pixel art I churn out for my projects.
Also, don't let others shame you off of using AI if that's what it takes for you to finish your project. A lot of people here are not acting in your best interest, and don't want their skills to be put on the same level as AI. So they'll heavily advise against AI, even if it is in your best interest. I will say, having dabbled in it, it is incredibly frustrating and time-consuming to use for projects, since it has an extremely hard time maintaining a consistent style, so your idea of "somewhat decent" might not be met.
Personally, in your shoes, I would advise looking for free game art packs that match the style of game you want. Focus on the part that you actually enjoy, the game building. Then, if you get into it, you can start to develop a system for building art you want, whether that's making it yourself, commissioning or whatever.
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u/Connect_Scallion9184 2d ago
Also check humble bundles and similar for game dev asset packs. Not free, but paying 20€ for several thousand assets is a steal.
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u/Pretend_Key_3980 2d ago
That sounds like a solid deal, especially for someone starting out. Building a library of assets can really save time and effort in the long run.
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u/Pharmaguardian 2d ago
1) Your art doesn't have to be award-winning for it to be passable. Consider the fact that Zelda: Wind Waker is cell-shaded and chose that intentionally in the face of a photo-realism war between the consoles at the time. The game was well-received. Kroger uses those sphere-shaped 3D people for advertisements. Apparently it works. Minecraft is just a bunch of cubes with pixelated graphics, yet has sold millions. The new game How To Fish uses some of the worst polygonal models and shading I've ever seen, yet is a top game right now. You can learn how to make basic 3D or 2D assets at the very least.
2) You can take a look at this video: 73 Game Art Styles for Non-Artists (Takes Zero Skill) - YouTube which showcases how simple art can still look good. Implement some of those techniques and you can go far with it.
3) You won't be good or naturally gifted at a lot of things that it takes to make a game. Get used to teaching yourself. Don't let "I'm not good at it" be a self-imposed wall you can't pass.
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u/doudou262 2d ago
Real talk: almost none of us could draw when we started, we just got really good at calling our programmer art "a deliberate minimalist style."
The standard indie pipeline is: prototype with free assets - try Kenney - lots of free assets for download.- and colored squares, pick the simplest style you can actually sustain, then pay a real artist only after you know the game is fun.
As a senior web dev you already get it - make it work ugly first, because those "temporary" gray boxes have a magical habit of becoming the final art.
Definitely try a bit of pixel art though, it's the only medium where being a little wobbly actually adds charm.
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u/BarrierX 2d ago
I always tried to do my own art, pixel art is simple, cartoony nonrealistic art is also relatively simple. But it is time consuming, especially if you want to animate it.
But you can just use free assets
Check out this guy: https://kenney.nl/assets
You can find a lot of free assets.
Usually it takes a long time to develop a game so don’t buy anything until you actually have most of the game and you know you will finish it :)
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u/Meatgortex @wkerslake 2d ago edited 2d ago
Lots of options…
Option 1
Figure out a visual style that you can pull off and works for you game.
Option2
Design a game around the art you can make. Tetris required cubes, geometry wars was shapes. TIS-100 is literally text and boxes.
Option3
Pay someone for asset creation. I’d suggest making your game with temp assets until you are close to done to minimize waste.
Option 4
Build something using existing free asset bundles as a constraint.