Artist looking for feedback: What 2D assets do you need?

Hey guys I'm an artist currently working on some free assets for the community. I have some ideas in mind but instead of wasting time taking a shot in the dark I thought it would be better to get a general idea of what the community needs the most.
Is it a particular art style, game genre, etc?

Let me know below!

 

Well, I'm currently drafting a GDD on a 2D space simulator game. If you had something that fit that genre I might take a look.

 

If you're doing 2d then i could do with some decent completely top down modern shooter animations, most I see are isometric. Just walk shoot and die (sounds morbidly poetic) that's all I need. Although I'm probably a minority...

 

If you go to my site bravelybear.com you can see what I'm currently trying to do (trying being the operative word lately given my work schedule).

But speaking for me personally, I would love to see more painted 2d objects.

Also, some high def painted versions of 16 bit era tiled graphics would be nice.

Like question mark blocks done up in sketchbook or kirta.

 

What about if you made some parts like eyes noses and mouths so people could build their own characters?

 

I mention this every time an artist posts a thread like this asking what to make. Don't think anyone has yet and also no idea what happens to all of the artists. Seem to just disappear.

Anyway... I suggest you take a look at the 2D art on the Asset store. Identify styles that you can work with. By that I mean styles that you can approximate very well.

Then start creating complementary art packs that work with an existing one. One good way for example is to find images / tiles currently available for making levels / environments. Most have no sprites available that work with them. So we have a situation where there are a lot of quality assets on the store that are basically unusable in an actual game right out of the gate.

So you start knocking out player character sets for those. Make sets. Think run n gun, castlevania/Indy Jones whip, etc. These sets would contain all of the animation images for one player character that will fit with one or more existing 2D background art assets on the store.

Then you do the same for enemies. Make crawling enemies, walking enemies, flying enemies. Maybe Enemy Set #1, #2, #3, etc. Then you do the same for collectibles. Health, powerups, gear, etc.

The whole idea is to build a niche business around filling the holes on the asset store. And there are a LOT of holes. Been that way for years and always will be until some smart person starts doing this.

I've thought a few times now about starting a business doing this myself. Hiring artists to create these complementary art sets. Didn't want the hassle of running a business again. But my mind has been going back in that direction the past 6 months. I say this because if I do it at some point maybe I could hire you for some of the work.

Of course, you can also just do it yourself. We could have 10 to 20 different artists doing this full-time and what a heck of a difference it would make to resolve the problem of having so much awesome art on the store that is unusable because nothing to very little is available that works with it.

 

I think that one very useful thing would be UI buttons and panels, especially those that are cut into 9 slices. Basically, all kind of UI related images and sprites with different themes.

 

I'd like to see them come with good animations, too.

 

I can't blame them. What you describe sounds like a soulcrushingly boring task, with risk of insignificant payoff, and even if it is successful by assetstore standards, it will probably still be way too little money to be financially viable. I don't dispute that there is a niche to be filled, I just think it's probably too small.

 

Hey guys Thanks for all the feedback! I'm definitely taking all of these into consideration. One common theme I'm seeing is that theres a huge demand for all in one 2D assets. Any possible 2D art needed for a particular project that doesnt require custom art such as character design, promotional art, etc. is what my pack will cover.

 

About a year ago I would have payed good money for a decent nautical pack.

 

Soul crushing? lol I see spending time scanning the store analyzing and identifying holes a very enjoyable thing. It's why this idea keeps coming back to me I guess. Seems like a great little business to hire some artists and do it.

All is good except that bit about the business. Having had businesses before that part sounds like a pain in the ass. Means I need to devote time and energy to it. But other than that I do like the idea.

Maybe I can dabble in it. I always enjoy dabbling and doing experiments.

 

That sounds dull to me as well, but I was mainly referring to the "making the artwork" part. When you just crank out generic stuff that fits to other generic stuff, and you're not involved in making this for a specific product, and just try to "fill holes in a marketplace", I don't see how anyone could find intrinsic motivation to do that. Even extrinsic motivation will be hard to maintain, because it'll most likely result in an absolutely terrible hourly wage if you do the math.
As an artist you're most likely better off doing something cool for your portfolio with no pay at all.

 

Have you considered documenting your analysis and selling it to asset creators?

 

No. Because it is one of those things where you know you have an idea. You enjoy doing something. You always save it for that day in the future where you will do something with it. And that day often never comes. That is basically a crazy thing I know but that is the truth of it.