Level art for an RTS...

[marque_pierre]

Hi there,

Got a freelance contract to produce art for a medieval action puzzle game. I suppose the art will closely resemble what you would find in your run of the mill RTS. Does anybody here have experience making such stuff?

It seems that at every turn I have to keep asking myself, whether to make this or that in 3D or 2D. It seems the workflow is very much a balance between these two. Like make something that looks bearable in 3D, then touch it up in 2D, and produce the sprite from there...

[Defrag]

It'd probably be better to ask that question in the other 3d modeling forum. Congrats on the contract

[kleinluka]

Who cares where it's asked.

I would say that you should discuss the details with your art director probably.

[marque_pierre]

My art director? lol I wish...

Well, this is a small company consisting of some ex-industry coders. I think they worked on City of Heroes, who are trying their hand at indie games released and sold over the net. So I am pretty much... the art department. Don't think there would be work enough for more people in this title I am working on. Such projects are many on the net, but this paid! Like cash up front and all + royalties. Still can't believe it... Anyway compared to the first title they did it shouldn't be too hard improving on the art, but I want it to really shine. You know something more than what would impress a programmer...

[ReNo]

So is this game played from a fixed isometric perspective? I know what you mean about impressing programmers; seems to be far easier than impressing the general gaming public for some reason

[marque_pierre]

Yes it is from a fixed perspective in a 2D engine. The suggestion was to make it pure top down, but do you have any idea how hard it is to make things look good in pure top down perspective?

[ReNo]

Hehe, I do indeed I did a fully top down turn based strategy type project on the playstation a couple of years ago, and everything looked absolutely god awful. Then again, I made the sprites in flash, in an afternoon, so what did I expect!