What's a good pathway into game dev if you are a horrible artist?

[Visibly Malding]

Hello everyone, I've been working on a game for a couple of weeks and after making all the systems work. And basically finishing the programming and writing side of my 0.1 build I feel stuck. I'm not an artist and even though I've tried 3D artwork I'm just not good at it/and I'm not into it. So with the build of my game ready and 0 art work done on the game (apart from GUI). And without a budget to hire somebody to do the actual artwork for me. What would you recommend me to do? Do I just give up on this project? I've tried looking for partners to work with me on said project and other projects but without direct financial incentives people (rightfully so) lose interest fast that we don't actually achieve something.

 

[Brosewood]

Your options are:

1. Learn art
2. Go text based
3. Use AI/Real Porn images

Option 1 is the most beneficial but if you're not willing to do it, then that's that.

Option 2 is more viable than you may think, but probably less than you hoped. If your game is really detailed, you can make good money (as an example, Course of Temptation rakes in $3k on Patreon), but that's a lot of work in and of itself.

The main benefit of this option is that you can treat your first game more as a learning experience and something to raise money for your next game. That was exactly my plan for Stuck in Sutton and now I have the ability to hire an artist + the prove I can commit to a project even if it's not exactly making me rich.

Option 3 is often controversial and divisive. To make AI art work you seem to have to have some art skills anyway, and real porn is something a lot of sites are cracking down on (such as Patreon).

 

[tanstaafl]

Your options are:

1. Learn art
2. Go text based
3. Use AI/Real Porn images

Option 1 is the most beneficial but if you're not willing to do it, then that's that.

Option 2 is more viable than you may think, but probably less than you hoped. If your game is really detailed, you can make good money (as an example, Course of Temptation rakes in $3k on Patreon), but that's a lot of work in and of itself.

The main benefit of this option is that you can treat your first game more as a learning experience and something to raise money for your next game. That was exactly my plan for Stuck in Sutton and now I have the ability to hire an artist + the prove I can commit to a project even if it's not exactly making me rich.

Option 3 is often controversial and divisive. To make AI art work you seem to have to have some art skills anyway, and real porn is something a lot of sites are cracking down on (such as Patreon).

Option 1 is my problem, lol. Anyone can learn the basics of creating the renders, but don't have the time, energy, or drive to do so.

Option 2 is incredibly dependent on the ability to use the chosen language in such a way as to be compelling. The ability to do this is even rarer than the ability to create 3d renders.

Option 3. I'm on board with AI as an information source, but not so much the art side of it. Though I do believe that within 5 or 10 years the art side will make everything else in this conversation moot.

 

[Geigi]

I want to make them too and text based option is the best for me. Twine is recommended.

 

[woody554]

daz.

you get better by doing it. obviously helps if you're good at art, but you instantly get prettier girls than you can draw after 5 years of serious practice.

approach it more like photography than drawing though, focus on learning composition, storytelling and a little bit of lighting. try to create single images that TELL A STORY instead of showing tits. ask yourself why are famous photographs famous, then aim for that. a burned crying child on a road. a sailor kissing a girl in a crowd. (they're not famous because technique, nobody cares about their technique. it's the story, always the story.)

you don't have to be a master of technique to tell an interesting story.

 

[lfgals1]

I agree with most of what Woody said, but...

you instantly get prettier girls than you can draw after 5 years of serious practice.

I'm not so sure this is true. Amature daz renders often have a bad case of crazy face, its a common enough issue that I think its got to be a sticking point with the software. If you commit to learning, I think you could probably draw 2d stuff that gets emotion and erotic energy across better in under a year.

Each drawing will take vastly longer though. And animation is a bit of a nightmare solo. So you might be better off putti g that time and energy into daz anyway.

 

[woody554]

I'm not so sure this is true. Amature daz renders often have a bad case of crazy face, its a common enough issue that I think its got to be a sticking point with the software. If you commit to learning, I think you could probably draw 2d stuff that gets emotion and erotic energy across better in under a year.

Each drawing will take vastly longer though. And animation is a bit of a nightmare solo. So you might be better off putti g that time and energy into daz anyway.

a lot of people apply the face morph on top of the already applied model without understanding they have it 2x, giving that developmentally challenged look. it only goes on a fresh genesis model. excluding that it takes some effort to ruin the daz babes.

I'm a classical painter for 30+ years and yeah you're not gonna have it down in one year without some master holding your hand daily through it (which is a thing, to be fair). 10 years is closer to normal but I already halved it just for the try-hards. but for someone who can't force himself through learning daz it's 0% chance. it just can't be done unless you have obsessive level resolve. these games in general can't be made without incredible levels of stubborness or obsession. I've said it before but writing books is like a couple of months work in comparison, just almost nothing.

that said, good drawing skills are not mandatory even if you draw everything yourself. there's a whole bunch of REALLY poorly drawn games here that are a delight to play and have their own fans. that's definitely possible, but it'll be visually vastly inferior to the average daz VN.

 

[lfgals1]

that said, good drawing skills are not mandatory even if you draw everything yourself. there's a whole bunch of REALLY poorly drawn games here that are a delight to play and have their own fans. that's definitely possible, but it'll be visually vastly inferior to the average daz VN.

I think with your background in the fine arts you might be overestimating how good a 2d image needs to be to be equally enticing as a 3d model for the average porn game consumer.

5 years to be good enough to draw quality cartoony porn fair a la Four Elements Trainer sounds like a massive overestimation. Especially with modern digital art tools.

But yeah, if you can't master daz you also probably don't have the chops to learn enough art to make a porn game.

 

[DuniX]

What would you recommend me to do?

Just add support for Image Packs. Character sprites first, sex scene image support with proper tags second.
Make it a Platform where players customize their own stuff.
Of course that depends on if your gameplay is good. To be a platform you have to provide the gameplay while they provide the images.

 

[♍VoidTraveler]

Use AI

 

[woody554]

I think with your background in the fine arts you might be overestimating how good a 2d image needs to be to be equally enticing as a 3d model for the average porn game consumer.

5 years to be good enough to draw quality cartoony porn fair a la Four Elements Trainer sounds like a massive overestimation. Especially with modern digital art tools.

no I'm comparing it to daz model level, not generic anime slop. the daz models are just vastly superior to any japanese crap out of the box. they have their problems but they're still near photorealistic.

it can be done, but it can't be done at the level daz makes it possible even without art skills. that's all I'm saying.

 

[lfgals1]

no I'm comparing it to daz model level, not generic anime slop. the daz models are just vastly superior to any japanese crap out of the box. they have their problems but they're still near photorealistic.

This right here is where we have a strong disagreement. The 'near photorealism' of daz models is a big part of their problem. Like most 3d models [edit: used by amatures] they end up in the uncanny valley more often than they end up being actually attractive. Most daz games look like garbage. Which is why before ai became a hot button issue 3d pre-made models were the general whipping boy of the consumer. Because it takes more skill than you are giving credit for to make them actually work.

There are practically no hyper realistic 2d porn games for a reason. Style and feel are vastly more important in a porn game than realism is. 2d porn games don't suffer from bad art. They succeed because the art they use is simplistic and stylized to serve its purpose.

You're responses have been built around reaching a level of artistic skill that isn't necessary and wouldn't be useful for this purpose.

[Edit: Hell, look at the arc of 3d model usage in film, the film industry gave up on photorealism nearly a decade ago and has been steadily pushing 3d films closer to a 2d animated aesthetic since. The video game industry has also been making moves in that direction.]

 

[Dr. Ronald Leopold]

Hello everyone, I've been working on a game for a couple of weeks and after making all the systems work. And basically finishing the programming and writing side of my 0.1 build I feel stuck. I'm not an artist and even though I've tried 3D artwork I'm just not good at it/and I'm not into it. So with the build of my game ready and 0 art work done on the game (apart from GUI). And without a budget to hire somebody to do the actual artwork for me. What would you recommend me to do? Do I just give up on this project? I've tried looking for partners to work with me on said project and other projects but without direct financial incentives people (rightfully so) lose interest fast that we don't actually achieve something.

Try Koikatsu/Honey Select, it's simpler than DAZ3d but you can still manage to do good shit.
You can try AI image generation (Someone could hate you).
Or yeah, just abandon the idea.

 

[Ying Ko]

[Edit: Hell, look at the arc of 3d model usage in film, the film industry gave up on photorealism nearly a decade ago and has been steadily pushing 3d films closer to a 2d animated aesthetic since. The video game industry has also been making moves in that direction.]

I probably wouldn't use the last few years of these industries as model to follow, given that both industries are in free fall.

 

[lfgals1]

I probably wouldn't use the last few years of these industries as model to follow, given that both industries are in free fall.

That's nonsense. The animated film industry is making more money than ever. Three of the top 5 highest grossing animated films of all time were released in the last 5 years. 4 of them in the last 10. I don't know a ton about the videogame market, but a casual review shows growth.

There is a difference between "companies are doing shady and exploitative shit" and "the product is failing".

 

[Ying Ko]

That's nonsense. The animated film industry is making more money than ever. Three of the top 5 highest grossing animated films of all time were released in the last 5 years. 4 of them in the last 10. I don't know a ton about the videogame market, but a casual review shows growth.

There is a difference between "companies are doing shady and exploitative shit" and "the product is failing".

Fewer big budget films being made, fewer aaa games. Relatively few hits among them. Studios try to focus on the formulas that work: "pixar" type animated movies and "fortnite" type games. Pretty boring, really.

 

[woody554]

You're responses have been built around reaching a level of artistic skill that isn't necessary and wouldn't be useful for this purpose.

my responses have been built around what is a reasonable pathway to make a game in a visual medium for someone with horrible art skills. you're the one who keeps insisting 'git gud' is the way to go.

 

[lfgals1]

my responses have been built around what is a reasonable pathway to make a game in a visual medium for someone with horrible art skills. you're the one who keeps insisting 'git gud' is the way to go.

I want you to go back and reread. I generally agree with you on daz being an easier avenue. At no point did I contend that at all. The only part I disagreed with was your claim that it would take 5 years to get good enough at art to draw porn for a game that is as appealing as most daz model games are.

I have never once said "'git gud' is the way to go' or anything that could remotely be interpreted that way.

 

[PsychicStress]

Have a friend, online or IRL, who is an artist - it might help. Learning art is a steep endeavour, and it requires a lot of different disciplines, including the ability to critique your own work seriously. Not an easy climb, but it is achievable.

 

[Deleted member 4193532]

Hello everyone, I've been working on a game for a couple of weeks and after making all the systems work. And basically finishing the programming and writing side of my 0.1 build I feel stuck. I'm not an artist and even though I've tried 3D artwork I'm just not good at it/and I'm not into it. So with the build of my game ready and 0 art work done on the game (apart from GUI). And without a budget to hire somebody to do the actual artwork for me. What would you recommend me to do? Do I just give up on this project? I've tried looking for partners to work with me on said project and other projects but without direct financial incentives people (rightfully so) lose interest fast that we don't actually achieve something.

AI, it's really quite good these days and it is copyright free. people are boycotting it now but they will slowly give in over time like everything new.

Paying an artist is better if you have boat loads of cash, but make sure they send you evidence that you have permission to use the art. getting sued by a dickhead is never fun.