Why do texture artists always get shafted?

a lot of people seem to think that texture artists run around with a digital camera and bam, somehow pictures are automatically textures, they dont realize how much is done to make a texture, or how many textures there are

Kleiney, I hear you, the first developer interview about Age of Empires 3 the lead designer told gamespot that "even if the game is RTS game, I said to our programmers that I want them to do the best looking game ever.." or something thick like that.

But like I said, that not one single component of a game make it what it is, so the programmer part is right for some part, without great engine there won't be a visually great game, but without the people who do the visuals for the great engine the game will be shite.

And if this thread was about "why graphic artists always get shafted over programmers" then I'd agree 100%

There are not enough time to list all the times where programmers have hogged all the glory like, Peter Molyneux this and John Carmack that. Besides, every time you look at job applications and their target salary, the programmer gets twice the mulah any of the artists do, and it is not tied to seniority or talent, they could hire the worlds best artist to do their sprites and just a basic programmer and still the programmer cashes in.

I also might add, that if there were such a texture community, I'd sign up immediately, my texture work sucks and I really need the guidance of those who can get panties wet with their hand painted textures. I'm a modeller, but these days just being a modeller takes you absolutely nowhere.

texturecore ahoy

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Even when I tell people I do game development for a living I get questions like "Oh so you're a programmer?"

I get that a lot too heh

I'm doing some textures occasionally, whenever I feel like doing a different themed map. Which hasn't been a lot recently, but anyway.

A texture artists community sounds great to me. Sharing techniques, idea's and commenting on each others work as well as offering the work to mappers and modellers to get more publicity... sounds good.

This is actually really close to what we talked earlier, about making mapcore more popular or updating the image, so maybe we should be something more like the "a game design community" suggest and tad less mapcore, tho I'm pretty confident that the focus of mapping won't change to anywhere, but in addition we should consider making more work on the texture are, it is important part of being mapper.

It's definitely important. Personally, I find the HL2 texture set uninspiring. Too pushing for a certain style, a style that's not mine. So I would definitely like a site that encourages some texture work.

Not that one cant do without, but it'd be a great thing to have.

I'd like to see some texture resources that explain the whole process. Any time I try to learn the basics I just end up finding shitty PS tutorials on how to make specific materials using a million filters. They're no use at all. I have a ton of respect for people that make amazing art

The reason exclusive "texture artists" get shafted is because the people who get hired as "artists" for doing textures usually can also, UV map complex shapes, skin humans, animals, weapons, misc. objects, and understand more than just making good looking textures, and usually have a brief knowledge in 3d modeling and mapping so they can better understand how to make textures that are put to good use, easily, and look well together.

Quote from marque_pierre

I would love nothing more than sitting and discussing everything from tilable environment textures and alpha mapped decals to specularity maps for characters and plugins for unwrapping, the entire day long. Am I the only one who burns for texture work to the exclusion of most anything else(okay that's not entirely true)?

Hear ya, Yeah u go ahead and start that brand new world,

and the rest will follow you into the promissed land, go now...

Quote from spine

Hear ya, Yeah u go ahead and start that brand new world,

and the rest will follow you into the promissed land, go now...

If you build it, they will come..

I don't understand your frustration as I see it the other way around. I think that in general the texture artists are the most respected and the most wanted.

As a level designer I know how extremely much a texture guy means and I am pretty sure most other people do too.

I think the reason why texture artists are so looked up to is because that a good texture artist is very rare. There are plenty of level designers, programmers and such, but not that many texture artists.

In my experience texture artists have for sure been the hardest ones to find to recruit for Sands of War. As it is now it is the same situation as ever, texture artists are what we really need.

One way of seeing things is that texture artist is prettymuch the only one that really makes the feel of the game, and his work is needed by modellers and mapmakers, it's very rare that one person can do that much of an impact on a game, the same texture artist can make a texture for a character, a gun and a map, so how many things animator can work? Or mapper? Small portions compared to a texturer.

Quote from Pericolos0

lol rockstar has the worst texture art ever in their games. Everytime i see one of the GTA games i feel sorry for them

I'm sure they have shitloads of talented artists there, but the platform is limiting the texture resolution and detail in every fucking way. Playstation rocks.

Maybe it has to do with them having to texture entire cities

Well, I don't know about GTA world textures, as a modeler I usually pay attenttion to the models. But I have to say that some of their character textures really suck ass, and animation in all the 3d GTAs is worst I have seen in so commercially succesful game ever, some mod team quality shit there.

Quote from Pericolos0

lol rockstar has the worst texture art ever in their games. Everytime i see one of the GTA games i feel sorry for them

Well, after marque_pierre's explanation, now we know why that is...