Currently a friend and I would like to make an app in the future and right now we are slowly preparing for it since it will be a side project for us.
Right now, I am majoring in computer science and ill learn everything I need to know in due time. But this isn't about me, this is about my friend who is an artist with no programming skills what so ever.
She is an amazing artist and knows how to use art tools such as photoshop and other known tools. She is interested in making the art for the app, but has no idea on where to get started. Basically, i'm just asking if someone can just give a quick list on what she needs to have, buy, and learn. I told her in the future ill just do all the programming while she can just make the art work for the game since i'm god awful at drawing.
In the game, I would like to use sprites so if there are any programs on how to make sprites and implement them in the game that would be great.
Well how complex are your art and animation needs? If you're making very simple animations and dealing with simple designs, then photoshop could handle it.
But if your game includes characters with multiple directions of movement, several different animations, and you want the ability to easily change/tweak things, I'd reccommend building in 3d, even if you intend to use sprites. Does your friend know 3d max? It's a commonly used 3d modeling and animation program... Its expensive ( a few k) but it can do everything you need and more. There may be other cheaper 3d software available that can do a little less and cost much less, but to be honest, I've used 3d max since '97 so I'm most comfortable there.
The reason I'd reccommend using 3d for characters of any complexity, is for the simple fact that you can change things without a lot of "by hand" work. If you don't like an animation you can tweak it and re-render it out. Much easier than painting it over. In 3d max, you can set up a camera at whatever angle you want and render out each frame. I usually create a max script to render out all frames of animation, plus all directions of view, and then use a photoshop action to assemble these sequential images into a "walksheet" per animation.
For the UI art, I think phtoshop should be all she needs. Hope it helps, good luck!
Well how complex are your art and animation needs? If you're making very simple animations and dealing with simple designs, then photoshop could handle it.
But if your game includes characters with multiple directions of movement, several different animations, and you want the ability to easily change/tweak things, I'd reccommend building in 3d, even if you intend to use sprites. Does your friend know 3d max? It's a commonly used 3d modeling and animation program... Its expensive ( a few k) but it can do everything you need and more. There may be other cheaper 3d software available that can do a little less and cost much less, but to be honest, I've used 3d max since '97 so I'm most comfortable there.
The reason I'd reccommend using 3d for characters of any complexity, is for the simple fact that you can change things without a lot of "by hand" work. If you don't like an animation you can tweak it and re-render it out. Much easier than painting it over. In 3d max, you can set up a camera at whatever angle you want and render out each frame. I usually create a max script to render out all frames of animation, plus all directions of view, and then use a photoshop action to assemble these sequential images into a "walksheet" per animation.
For the UI art, I think phtoshop should be all she needs. Hope it helps, good luck!
Thanks for the reply, this first game will be very simple. The characters will really be moving in one direction. So I don't know if i'll be using the 3D max; it's also very expensive so i'll look another direction but keep it in mind for the future.
Also, one more simple question. Will my friend need to buy a mac, SDK, and cocos? Really all she will be doing is just the art while I program the rest. I figured that she can just draw the sprites, animations, and backgrounds while I import it. Any advice?
a macbook pro 13' costs about $1000 (with student discount).
Xcode and Cocos2D are free.
Artwise, you can use GIMP and Inkscape (free)
All other tools, like texture packer, etc are also free ( the last time I checked ). But pro versions cost a bit more, so allocate another 100 dollars.
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