RE: Direction of Linux games...

[Erik <br0ke@math.smsu.edu>]

On 15-Nov-99 Gareth Noyce wrote:
>> If you find graphic artists who are gurus in windows but are 
>> willing to devote
>> their work and energy to better linux, that's great. But my 
>> guess would be most
>> of the graphic gurus use macs and/or windows exclusively, 
>> especially for the
>> kinds of graphics necessary to games. People generally won't 
>> exert a lot of
>> effort improving a project they won't benefit from :) 
>> Obviously, if there's a
>> windows port, that subverts that obstacle, but adds to the 
>> effort of the
>> programming team. The few gimp gurus are in high demand, and 
>> doing game gfx is
>> a HUGE undertaking. 
> 
> Well, just in case this helps the argument along:
> 
> I /could/ be considered a GFX guru (but I'm not saying I am). I've done the
> GFX for three games, /alot/ of stuff for print and web and I handle all of
> the multimedia design and programming for our company. As readers will
> notice I'm more than happy to help on GFX for a project. I've already had a
> discussion with a couple of people to do just that.
> 

cool :)

> Any decent GFX artist will be used to developing GFX on one or more machines
> for his target APP. I personally use an A1200 and PC for GFX, occasionally
> using the GIMP as well if suited. Photoshop is my main platform, and thats
> on MAC and PC anyway so I can move to whatever. It makes no difference to me
> what platform it is developed on. I only look for the application for me to
> use to get the job done, and thats a case of horses for courses...
> 
> The target OS does not affect the platform used to do it's GFX on. Hell I
> used an Amiga for the GFX for a SNES project, isn't that a similar argument
> to whats going on here?! Admittedly alot of designers will have a problem
> working for free, but you seem to be arguing that a windows GFX artist won't
> work on a Linux game. This to me is nonesense. A GFX artist likes a project
> to get her/his teeth into, and for me it seems that Linux has an abundance
> of such gems...
> 

I'm going to take a wild guess and assume that you HAVE a snes or snes emu.
When all was said and done, you could sit down and play the game and see your
graphics in action... If you didn't have a snes or emu, would you have done it?
If I make a game that only runs on unicos (another assumption, I'm assuming you
don't have a cray in your living room), would you work on graphics for it? I
highly doubt it :) My argument isn't that people usually won't contribute to a
project unless they benefit from it (get to use it). If you have both windows
and linux, and you like the tools in windows more than linux, you should use
windows to contribute to the linux project. A large majority of graphics
wizards use windows and/or macs EXCLUSIVELY. Those're the best platforms for
doing what they love, and it happens to fullfill their other needs to a degree.
For the most part, they don't have a need for linux.

> If they aren't interested in a good project then they wouldn't be any good
> for it anyway...
> 
>  
>> To date, the best way of enticing a graphics designer is to get your
>> programming team together, draw straws, and send the loser 
>> over to the art
>> building of a college or university with a bag and a 
>> blackjack... :) College
>> students are often eager to have some kind of 'real' 
>> experience to slap on a
>> resume, the trick is to find one that can produce the gfx you 
>> want and get them
>> into a digital form (cuz I won't wanna be the sorry sucker 
>> who's playing
>> scanner jockey for weeks)
>> 
>> > But, it would give me a lot of pleasure to be proven wrong here.
>> > 
>> 
>> proof is tricky, but I can conjecture all day for ya :)
> 
> Well, as I've offered before, I'm happy to work on any project that
> interests me. Does that count as proof, or do I have to hide the bag and
> blackjack?! ;)
> 

now I wish I had a project that was at a stage where a graphic artist would be
handy :) 

A quick observation: When projects I've worked on have been in dire need of
programmers, they drift in without even having to be asked. I get emails out of
the blue with patches and/or requests for rights to a certain part. When
projects I've worked on have been in dire need of a graphic artist, I posted
requests in public forums, begged for help on the webpage and in the apps
themselves, etc, and the only response there I've gotten was a contribution
from non-artist as a placeholder to make something work right... Due to my
limited experience, that's probably an extreme, BUT if you look on most game
pages, there's usually a flock of people contributing to code and MAYBE one who
does some gfx... I beleive most commercial game production entities have more
graphic artists than programmers...

> 
>> ---------------------+----------------------------------------
>> --------------
>> >  Jan 'Chakie' Ekholm |    CS at Åbo Akademi University, 
>> Turku, Finland
>> >     Linux Inside     | I'm the blue screen of death, no-one 
>> hears you scream
>> > 
>> > 
>> 
>>         -Erik <br0ke@math.smsu.edu> [http://math.smsu.edu/~br0ke]
>> 
>> The opinions expressed by me are not necessarily opinions. In all
>> probability, they are random rambling, and to be ignored. 
>> Failure to ignore
>> may result in severe boredom or confusion. Shake well before 
>> opening. Keep
>> Refrigerated.
>>         
>> 
>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
>> To unsubscribe, e-mail: linuxgames-unsubscribe@sunsite.auc.dk
>> For additional commands, e-mail: linuxgames-help@sunsite.auc.dk
>> 
> 
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> To unsubscribe, e-mail: linuxgames-unsubscribe@sunsite.auc.dk
> For additional commands, e-mail: linuxgames-help@sunsite.auc.dk
> 
> 

        -Erik <br0ke@math.smsu.edu> [http://math.smsu.edu/~br0ke]

The opinions expressed by me are not necessarily opinions. In all
probability, they are random rambling, and to be ignored. Failure to ignore
may result in severe boredom or confusion. Shake well before opening. Keep
Refrigerated.