Unless you’re lucky enough to have the skill of a coder and the talent of an artist (d@$# you!) you’re going to have to find your game art somewhere else than under your pen.
While hiring an artist to create the game artwork exactly the way you want is the best way to go, sometime you just want some art right now to get started in creating a game.
In the following (admittedly long) video I walk through three web sites that offer some great artwork — especially for people who are just getting started in game development. You have available professional artwork for free (or real cheap).
And while you can use stick figures in your game (at least initially), I always think it’s more fun to be working on a game that LOOKS like a real game. Placeholder art just doesn’t have the same feel.
Grab something to drink and watch the video below. Like I said, it’s kind of long at 15 minutes — but if you’re a coder who wants to work with nice-looking art, I think you’ll find it worth watching.
PS – Look around the second site I mention — there’s a LOT of artwork that Danc has created under the same license as the stuff I show in the video. RPG art, shooter art, etc.
PPS – Feel free to add links to other neat game dev art sites in the comments below.
I was wondering if you need photoshop to extract individual images or can pixelmator, gimp, etc work?
I don’t own Photoshop and so far haven’t had any problems. I use Preview for a lot of my graphics manipulation. I also use Acorn which does a decent job of reading (and letting me hide/show) Photoshop layers in PSD files.
Most of the graphics in the above sites come in PNG files, so you shouldn’t need specialized software.
Jay
Thanks Jay that was really useful
Thanks a bunch, I was browsing just a few minutes ago trying to find free art work or cheap online. When I first started using Corona SDK I did not know a thing about programming and after almost 4 months studying very hard I made an app call
Dragging Physics I did all art work by myself and I am horrible at drawing lol. Make Story short I hire a designer so my upcoming apps have much better graphics and also met a designer who is designing for free as long as I credit her on my app. But those websites you mention I will definitely take a look at them I saw your full video and those website look very useful. Btw I downloaded your match game a while back and its great.
Thanks,
LeivaGames
Hello
I read your post and I am kind of like you.. meaning that I am stucked in my career and I am too old to change it, besides, I am supporting a family; but I always wanted to do a game and I had cdreams where I was independednt, doing games instead of working in an office.
My wife nags me all the time, she thinks that I am loosing my time on that..
SO my question to you is .. because you said that you already posted some games..
Do they give enough money?
First, sorry for the delay in replying. Second, nope, the apps I have in the App Store do NOT make a significant amount of money.
Yet.
Watch for a new posts here on GDN with more of my thoughts on games and making money.
Jay
I can draw and code, but everything in life comes at a cost, and I already pay enough in time to stay a relevant coder. I find myself needing to outsource art, and so I thank you for your video 🙂