Come on Stanley... I was considering your services at some point, but lines as above really make me think twice if I want to be called dick. Yes, I don't pay much for art too. There are people that are happy to make custom work for prices that you are selling non-exclusive stock art. Keep that in mind. If you're not happy about discussion about your prices then it's fine, say something like "Those are my prices and you're welcomed to not like them, but I won't change them". Anything else you write make you look like non-pro artist even if your work says otherwise. So, just because you have the right to set your prices it doesn't mean we don't have the right to set our own (sometimes very low) budgets... and that doesn't make us dicks!
I never mentioned $15. heavycat said a custom version of one of your clouds would be $50. I called him on it. The 15 I used was the number of seconds it should actually take to make one. I do try only to be dickish to people who are being dicks. If you and heavycat think I'm so wide of the mark that my comments just make me sound like a hater, then I can guarantee your order book is going to be pretty empty. You ought to care more about that than any perceived insults.
The guy below saying he'd charge tenfold for a more custom version. I started this thread trying to make the point that for $50 I'd expect that amount of art to my brief, not from reuseable stock art. And then some idiot came along saying that would cost tenfold. Well, it wouldn't in my world. And yes, I did also pick out the charge of $1 for four green lines as being ridiculous.
That said "cool story, bro" in my email. I wouldn't work with anyone like that. Hopefully you'll find some that will.
I beg to differ. There is a gulf between what many indie. titles earn and the cost to make those titles. We can let this scene whither or we can have real conversations about the nuts and bolts of how we make compelling experiences at costs that don't require us to mortgage the house and roll it all on one title. I'll repeat something I've said plenty in the past. There is a place here for small/midlin advances against royalties in the interests of getting cool projects done. It requires an artist to buy in and trust that the primary dev. will really complete but the alternative is less projects/less work to go around. It's a sanity check for all involved about what would be nice to see in a title and what is essential to make a commercially successful indie. title and it allows content creators the chance at the gravy for that once in awhile project that does make $$$ for the primary dev. who typically carries all of the risk. Applewood isn't being a dick at all. He writes the checks and carries all of the risk (as do I and others you will meet on these board). I routinely run into artists that I meet through these boards that want $35-$100 an hour. That's lose your house territory if you add up all of the asset costs to create a compelling game. You may not like the message but it doesn't mean the message is wrong or that we shouldn't be having the conversation. Hopefully we get to the best, most equitable and commercially promising deals amongst fellow developers that we can.
Deleted. Guilty as charged, dunno how I've managed to pull the wool over so many eyes for so long with my draconian expectation.
I've deleted a lot of my post as I caught myself making a defence to a ridiculous charge. If you can get $4-500 for the work in the top picture then who am I to argue really. I hope your order book runneth over.
Nice one. You might be interested to note that the single artist who did all that work has so far earned over $65,000 for it on a backend cut. With ongoing sales and a sequel around the corner, he'll easily pocket a six figure sum by this time next year and who knows how far into the future we'll still be getting a dribble of sales. As lennard was saying, it makes more sense for everybody to work on a royalty. Just don't get caught by pretenders who'll never bring the game to market - of which there are many, I'll admit.