Hello I'm new and seeking help.

JesterTheCat

Im not sure if this is the right thread for this post or the audience im looking for to read this thread but ill continue anyway. A little background about me that relates to my question before I ask. Ive always wanted to be a game designer since I started getting interested in the behind the scenes of video games. This passion for game development started in 6th grade when I would always draw and create character art. Although people said I was pretty good(Not conceited or anything), I dropped my pen and started picking up my mouse to create pixel art in 8th grade. Since then Ive lost some of that skill in drawing. After I got somewhat decent at the art, I was hired to a company called toonslab or back then, eurocenter and they created pixel art mmorpgs and examples of their games would be iEra, GraalOnlineClassic, and their newest one to the app store, iZone. There are plenty of more servers who have not yet made it to the app store but are getting there. Just a little background about the company, it was founded by Stefan and Nintendo had sued him for his idea of ripping the tiles(GraalOnlineClassic) from Link To The Past. Not sure exactly what came out of that whole legal business but his creation is still up and running legally. Anyway, since then, the players make the games and Stefan just keeps the servers running. As for me, I work for GraalOnlineClassic and create a bunch of work for the players to use. Its been about 3 years working with them and now that I am about to go to college soon, I need to make sure I am going in the right direction toward game development. Working for toonslab greatly encouraged me to seek a career in the field but pixel art isnt really the thing any more. Aside from that, I came to these forums to hopefully find some help in the gaming field, mainly the art aspect of it. Many people already have been helping me while I waited for approval to make this thread and have been very helpful but now I can open it up to more people. Im looking to do concept art and 3D art. When looking for colleges, should I look for just game design or should I look for something in that field? What would be courses or programs that are greatly involved in game design? If I wanted to be a concept artist, could I still be one even tho I haven't drawn in awhile? For the concept artists out there, did you practice and study art to get good(I dont mean naturally talented artist, I want to know from artist who had to build up)? What are some good videos or tutorials I can look into about concept art, and what should I do to improve in that area? As for 3D artists, what are some of the things I should know and be able to do as a 3D artist? Is 3D art really hard? Do you really need a concept drawn to make a model? For everyone, although I really have no experience with 3D art and havent done art since 8th grade, could I still get back into drawing or learn how to make 3D art and expect a good outcome if I try hard? I know for things like dance, its either you have had years of experience and can make it big or you have little experience and there isnt a chance for you at all. Some Pixel Art: (For the tiles, the house and the chair arent mine, its just the guide I use since I am attempting to remake the Graal tileset.






-If you took the time to read this thread then thank you because I know I can be confusing and im sorry about that but it might be clear that I am generally confused right now about the game design field and need as much help as I can get.

Lamont

Hopefully the right help can get past the wall of text... your keyboard has a return key right?

MartinH

I was going to write something really snarky but since there's art in your post ill just echo what Lamont said. Make your post readable

NegevPro

Well for starters, you should assess whether or not you should actually attend a college. College can be a great source of education, but you have to remember that at the end of the day, a degree doesn't mean anything. You will only be skilled if you put the time into improving your work.

There seems to be a lot of schools out there that charge ridiculous sums of money for little to no education also, so before looking into specific courses I would suggest looking up the reputation of any of the game related programs at your school. There are also a great number of cheap online workshops you can take to improve your skill, and services like DigitalTutors, Eat3D, and 3dmotive can be great for beginners too.

In terms of 3D art, what you should focus on depends a lot on what type of 3D art you'd like to be doing. Character artists for example, should focus on learning things like human anatomy whereas those same ideas are a lot less important for people hoping to do environmental art. If you haven't decided on which path to follow, I would suggest trying to make different kinds of work (one character, one environment, etc.) to see which you enjoy the most, although you did say you enjoyed making characters.

I don't know much about dance, but in game art, the most talented people are always the people that put in a lot of time and effort to improve. "Natural talent" will only take you so far.

Also, as others have said, you might get better advice if you break up your original post into smaller paragraphs. While it isn't a lot of reading, the internet has conditioned everybody into hating walls of text

PyrZern

I think many ppl recommend to avoid the game art schools or such because tuition fee is way too high compared to regular colleges. Probably because many artists here are self-taught, I presume ?

Have you tried making the effort of picking up 3D ? Like, download Blender and give it a shot. Or try demo/trial of other software to see how it goes ? Many free resources online to get you started as well.

beefaroni

Hmm. As a student currently in school, I wouldn't recommend it too much. If you can swing it, I think you would improve MUCH quicker at like Gnomon or Futurepoly or something like that where you are ONLY doing 3d stuff and not Math and Science core requirements that get in the way.

JesterTheCat

Thanks for the feedback and taking time to read what I have to say despite my "Wall Of Text". Actually its weird because you guys are the first people to ever mention that to me and on another forums that I go to a lot, that seems not to be much of a problem. To the responses, I know its basically worthless to question whether 3D is for me or not but I dont have $1,000 to buy a nice computer for the art and so Im trying to at least get my head around it the best I can before I actually invest in something like that. Also, ill look into some colleges for game design but someone I know told me that a lot of developers get laid off and thats not something I want to have happen. Game development is a passion I have as I had already said but its not worth risking my wealth and income.

Tobbo

I would suggest you try a digital tablet out if you haven't got one already? It looks like you have a handle on painting programs, despite everything being pixel art. It also sounds like you once enjoyed drawing.

The digital tablet will help marry the two together!

If you do go the 3d route, you might want to try the hand painted, low poly style.

All the best!