Public Domain Art?

[Dilettante]

Forgive me if this is a stupid question, but I'm new.

One of the biggest obstacles to many of us who might want to create a game is the art - the backgrounds, characters, facial expressions, even the buttons. I notice a lot of posts where game designers are begging for artists to do their magic for their particular game. RPG Maker comes with its own art, albeit pretty poor, but users constantly trade it, and there are sites devoted to this sort of thing. Many artists will let their work be used in any number of games as long as they're given credit, or permission is asked in advance.

So, I wonder: Is there anything similar for Ren'py? Characters that can be used in multiple games, backgrounds that are free for anyone to use? I get the distinct impression that were I to take pictures from other games I'd be in deep trouble. On the other hand, I'm no artist - and without art, I may as well not make a game. I suspect I'm not the only one in this situation!

If there is no such repository of free art, would any of the artists who show up here consider making one? Modular if possible, so that people could combine hair, faces and bodies together to make semi-unique characters instead of having the exact same ones. Yes, it could lead to a dozen games with the same artwork in them - but I bet you that would be 11 more than get made without such a resource.

I'll go back to lurking now...

[DaFool]

Basically, ALICE dolls (emphasize: made because of Ren'Py, not independently such as with the case of Japanese character packs).

Anything else general-purpose you can find here (read: not much):
http://renpy.org/wiki/community/Resource_Links

The closest thing to extreme reusability would be 3D character models.

I get the distinct impression that were I to take pictures from other games I'd be in deep trouble.

My reasoning for this, at least, is because I took the time to customize the resources for each game, so that the game will be unique with them. The characters' appearances and overall art style and game presentation are designed specifically to create a certain atmosphere. That is the appeal of having everything customized per game.

If there is no such repository of free art, would any of the artists who show up here consider making one? Modular if possible, so that people could combine hair, faces and bodies together to make semi-unique characters instead of having the exact same ones.

Explored the possibility twice already ('Superdoll' feasibility study; "Jenny" Framework-tan project), and gave up both times. Too much work, because there are just too many possibilities.

[monele]

This makes we wonder : are there really people here looking for artists and not finding anyone to help?

[DaFool]

Uh... the thread right below this one >_<.

In fairness, though, art is one of the more expensive elements of a game (I can only think of music as more expensive, but it depends on the creator). Writers often assume they have their pool of artists who will submit their portfolios to them so they can pick and choose the best. Often it's the other way around when it comes to visual novels... artists will have their pool of stories so they can pick and choose the best.

[Alessio]

Finding an artist can be difficult if the game does not exist yet. Looking at the forum posts here, many a writer apparently prefers adding art already at the beginning and building the story from there. While that promises instant gratification, graphical artists will probably wisely choose to not get involved before a substantial part of the story has been written - because the game might never see the light of day.

Check the Ren'Py resource links for free art that we found so far.

[magi]

graphical artists will probably wisely choose to not get involved before a substantial part of the story has been written - because the game might never see the light of day

LOL, are you calling me a dumbass? :p

Speaking of public domain arts, I am working on a doll making thingy, where each elements can be switch out, its pretty premature at the moment, since I am using this specifically for my own games, but once I have accumulated enough variety, I'll put this out as a pack.




All of the elements in the file though, is put together using im.composite within ranpy when I write my game, both to save space and create greater variety by combining different elements.

[monele]

Uh... the thread right below this one >_<.

Oops ^^;... I'll admit I haven't followed this thread very closely ^^;...

[Alessio]

graphical artists will probably wisely choose to not get involved before a substantial part of the story has been written - because the game might never see the light of day

LOL, are you calling me a dumbass? :p

That would never cross my mind, after all I provided some of the music (assuming we're talking about the same project). Uh, I thought a substantial part had already been written when you joined...