Quote from Warbyhessi your metaphor breaks down a bit once you realize that "billions of people" (literally) are paying for beer every day
@brisco yes i am also looking into selling assets on turbosquid and all their competitor websites in parallel.
billions of people buy computer games that consist of levels... (i still see the flaw you want to point me to)
If you want artistic freedom just keep working on mods/indie games You are doing fine imo working at a kickass dev and still creating kickass stuff at home... what more can you ask?
I tried to start my own business last year and it´s not something I feel like doing again. There´s so much trouble involved and bureaucratic stuff to deal with that it can drive you crazy. Not to mention dealing with other people (specially if you both are owners). That can be quite a pain in the ass. I like the feeling of realizing other people´s dream for a living, I can still work on my personal stuff at home and vent my creativity there.
Of course I´m very young in this industry but I´d never start my own business again. I want to create stuff instead of having to worry if I have money to pay my employees or if my partner is a liar.
koko if you cant get a job maybe you should add more things to your portfolio. just an idea 
it looks kind of empty and last gen (no offence, just some advice)
":1c4mi70f]And sure, a game artist / game designer salary is nothing extraordinary, but It's more than enough to keep you going. Besides, it's a matter of time until you grow up on the company's hierarchy and get a better salary.
but the one who started with 4x the salary than yours will probably earn still like 3x than you do (because he can be promoted too). so imo your only justification is that you don't want to live a life filled with goods. probably you might change your opinion some time later. maybe not.
Klein i hear you, and i'm thinking the same.. that's what i'm trying to do but it's hard to plan some months sitting at home working on the making of "next gen" stuff when you want things to move .. but hey, it seems i don't really have the choice ? 
I think everyone wants to have creative freedom really, but it really isn't so easy to get. If it were, everyone would be doing so.
Your best bet is to go into indie games, because that stuff you can sell. You do need a dedicated programmer for that, and that usually makes me give up on that idea
If instead of making maps, you would invest the same amount of time into stand alone games, you would be able to sell those. And if you were to build up an entire library of those games, then it should become quite profitable after a few years.
It is perfectly doable to make money out of custom maps, but only indirect money and will it be enough to live off? Prolly not, but it is not impossible either. I make money of whatever mod stuff I do because every time I release something for free, I am advertising myself basically, and that gets me other stuff. Opportunities, workshops, couple of people buying my books, and so on. That is where the money is, the indirect money. So instead of looking on how to cash in on levels, look at how to make your levels advertise whatever other thing that does make money. Levels are only the means...
Just charging people money directly will never cut it.
What about advertisement in maps :s I am not really liking the idea, but it's a possibility.
You search for sponsors who want to invest in this, and then you got your money.
It would work with a commercial title (it's done all the time) but I doubt any company would be interested in spending money on advertising in a custom map. there are easier and better ways to make (more) money..
Quote from kleinlukaIt would work with a commercial title (it's done all the time) but I doubt any company would be interested in spending money on advertising in a custom map. there are easier and better ways to make (more) money..
regarding my economics course at university online advertising in games is a new way that addresses a specific group of the society that is hard to catch via TV or classic adds. since this is still a new idea we have to wait for coca colas first adds in a game (not talking about games that were made for the purpose of being an advertisement product)
Another thing I wanna point out...
Working on a gamedev company ain't a labor dictatorship or something. Obviously you don't have the same so called "creative freedom", some of you previously stated, but It's not like you don't need to be creative!
Yes, you will have to follow rules. Yes, you will need to be faithful to the design doc, and to the visual style of the game you are working on, but jeez some of you are making it sound like It's a robot job!
Of course, if you're working on a FPS, you can't transform it into a side scroller shooter, but as a part of the team it's your duty to be inventive, creative, etc.
And yes, I do agree with Hourences. Making maps was always about "long run investment", make your portfolio better, gain experience, etc.
If you really wanna make some extra bucks, do some 3DArtist freelance job, if you think you have enough free time to do it. there's shitloads of companies looking for outsourcing.
And the rules are only there to organise a full team if I am right ?
I don't have experience in the gameindustry, but sounds logical to me.
In theory yes but it is not that black and white. You can run a team in a bazilion ways, each way impacts creativity differently, etc. Too much to go into right now.
Short version: I can fully understand how you feel.
Quote from hessiregarding my economics course at university online advertising in games is a new way that addresses a specific group of the society that is hard to catch via TV or classic adds. since this is still a new idea we have to wait for coca colas first adds in a game (not talking about games that were made for the purpose of being an advertisement product)
yes but what you are explaining already exists in games today.
Battlefield 2142 was one of the first games I ever saw with Adverts in it. Didn't bother me so much really as the maps were big and the Ad's placed well enough not to annoy you.
Quote from duxBattlefield 2142 was one of the first games I ever saw with Adverts in it. Didn't bother me so much really as the maps were big and the Ad's placed well enough not to annoy you.
i actually thought them cleverly placed; one of the very few games where it indeed was appropriate.
Quote from Warbythat was what i was thinking and yet fileplanet and many other sites weasel themselves out of this by charging for the "bandwidth" !
Fileplanet and those similar sites are deplorable, but what they charge for is download priority- you get to skip their artificial download lines and limits. The only thing on Fileplanet you can't get with a free account and patience are the exclusive open beta deals they occasionally sign with publishers (last one I remember was for Quake Wars).
Quote from Warby@brisco yes i am also looking into selling assets on turbosquid and all their competitor websites in parallel.
I think your best course of action would be to make your own site and sell them and get 100% of the profits rather than the greedy 50%+US tax that TS demands.
Yes and then keep on making levels to advertise your site. You will not earn more than pocket money though.
Unrelated, we should all start up a mapcore second life group, and make crap buildings there and sell them
Cant be too difficult.
Quote from HourencesYes and then keep on making levels to advertise your site. You will not earn more than pocket money though.Unrelated, we should all start up a mapcore second life group, and make crap buildings there and sell them
Cant be too difficult.
A friend of mine codes up stuff for second life and sells them and makes enough money off of it to support buying games and running a website and server. Apparently it truly is piss easy to get people to pay for simple things in SL. Some of the stuff he makes is teleport pads. You can teleport natively in Second Life, his products just let you do it without having to use a menu, and they sell like hotcakes.
seriously it'd be an interesting experiment at least.
[Blocked Image: http://www.xstreetsl.com/modules/Real_Estate/images/37879.jpg]
cant be hard to beat that standard 
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