inXile and Unity crowdsourcing Wasteland 2 3D models

WorstUsernameEver

WorstUsernameEver

But best title ever!
In a "coming out of nowhere" moment, inXile has announced that they're partnering with Unity to crowdsource some of the models they'll use for Wasteland 2. And yes, before you ask, the artists that made the model will be both credited and paid.

Here's how it will work out:<blockquote>Submission Notes

1. Download and read our Art Style Guide to get a sense of the Wasteland 2 visual style. (link here)
2. Check this site weekly for the gallery of art assets we are currently looking for. Pick one (or more if you’re quick!) that you’d like to work on.
3. Spend the week creating the asset and try it out in our test scene available for download in Unity (link here).
- This test scene will give you a sense of how it looks under our lighting and from our approximate camera view.
- If you don't already have the free version of Unity, grab it here. http://unity3d.com/unity/download/
4. Submit it to the Unity Asset Store as you would normally, but make sure to clearly put "hold for inXile entertainment" in the description.
- Unity will send us all accepted assets and we will select the best ones for our game.
5. If yours is selected, we will pay you for the asset and you will receive a special "As seen is Wasteland 2" badge to place on your icon in the Unity Asset Store.
- You will also be credited in the Wasteland 2 game for your contribution (not to mention the satisfaction of showing this off to all your friends!).
- Please keep pricing in line with the normally accepted range in the Asset Store. Entries will be rejected if the price is too high.
6. Whether or not your asset is selected by the Wasteland 2 team, it will be available for purchase in the Unity Asset Store by any other developers using Unity.
</blockquote>We're also taking the liberty of rehosting both the concept art for the models they currently have on the contest page and the screenshots and concept art present in the art style guide:

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Anyone feel like loading up that test scene and taking some shots? The quality of the shot from the .pdf is kinda wack.

We've had some talented modelers over the years here. Hope some of our community guys are willing to give this a try, make some models. Post em on our fan art forum too! I'll make sure the inXile guys don't miss stuff coming in from our community :P
 
I'll try it out on the weekend. Don't have the time right now, sadly, but it looks pretty good.
 
Anyone else feels like this is a bit of a trick / ripoff, from the artists point of view ?

They're trying to get both the advantages of contracted design work (that is, an asset designed specifically to meet their requirements, but costlier), and generic store design work (a cheap asset, but not tailored for the game).
They pose their specific requirements, but they also set the low price of generic work.

The only advantage I see on the artist side is a push in popularity since the asset will be used in a renowned game.
BUT that is also a disadvantage, because it could deter reuse of said asset.

I'm skeptical, and if this practice is popularized I fear a downward shift in artists wages...
 
Arr0nax said:
They pose their specific requirements, but they also set the low price of generic work.
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Because they're not buying the asset for their ownership. They're purchasing it for their use, and then it's still yours for sale on the Unity store. Other post-apocalyptic games may pick it up, or similar-looking games, or hell if it's rocks anyone might buy it.

I don't really get your objection. They're offering standard Unity store pay and ownership. Sure, the assets you're crafting are less generic and might thus sell less well, but I'm assuming people make less generic assets for sale on the store anyway. Not everything on the Store has to be generic and bland.
 
I can't tell for sure, we'll see what happens. But they're trying to get the best of both worlds and the disadvantage will land on someone's side. It will either be the artist if the asset doesn't get reused (they will have been underpaid), or wasteland 2, if the assets gets reused a lot (and maybe before the game even gets out)

Brother None said:
They're offering standard Unity store pay and ownership.
Click to expand...

That's the tricky part.
To give you a parallel, if I wanted a clothes designer to design a piece of clothing specifically according to my needs, but allow him to sell it again as ready-to-wear, I would expect him to ask a higher fee than the price of ready-to-wear clothing, because I'm the one contracting him to do it in the first place.

In the end, I'm asking for a service because he wouldn't have done it otherwise. So I'm expected to pay for this service.
 
That parallel doesn't work mostly because you're making it sound like you're thinking of a specific clothes designer. The Unity Asset store doesn't work like that kind of specific contract work, it's an open call where it's the artist's choice to pick it up. Maybe the artist wanted to do post-apocalyptic assets anyway. Maybe he really wants his name on a professional game, where the odds of that happening when making generic assets are lower. You're making assumptions about the artists' motivations, but it's an open call, so that's a decision for the artist himself to make.

It really is win-win. That's not to say it works out perfectly for both sides, but it is saying both sides profit from the deal.
 
Even as an open-call to all the clothes designers of the world, I would set a price for such a service, because it would still be a service. I'm not buying something which already exists, I'm asking for someone to do it for me and then maybe sell it again.

You're right that they are other factors that may make it worth it for the artist. But it's still assumptions at this point, whereas the fact they're asking for something to be tailored but sold cheap is not.
And you're right that they will get a strong response anyway and they will probably find the good stuff, but they would also get a larger set of submissions if they added a design fee to the competition.
 
Shiny, might give it a fiddle over the weekend, or several weekends depending on how much Unity differs from ol' 3dsMax.
 
So despite making 200% more money than anticipated in the Kickstarter they don't want to fork out to employ animators, and instead want people to do the same job but for a much lower price. Design documents need to be read, a theme needs to be adhered to and specific art needs to be used for inspiration. Cheap labour basically, not cool.
 
Man, I didn't expect this kind of stuff from NMA. Seriously?

Fargo talked through the buildup, pitch and afterwards about wanting to keep the crowd involved, use crowdsourced submissions throughout development. Missions ideas, scientific consultations, veteran consultations, and, yes, 3D assets. It has nothing to do with running out of money or lacking a team that can do this, it's about utilizing the crowd beyond just asking for their money, getting their feedback and input on the game with various rewards for the crowd.

It takes some effort to construct that into a bad thing.
 
Walpknut said:
I just hope it doesn't end up looking all patchwork stylewise, like a cheap mod.
Click to expand...

I was more worried about that when they talked Unity Asset Store, like they would just pick and choose assets. Now they unveiled this part of the plan it's less of a concern.

It's still a concern, and I suppose there'll be a few parts when things look a little weird, wouldn't shock me, but this gives me more hope they're dedicated to a more consistent style.
 
Arr0nax said:
I can't tell for sure, we'll see what happens. But they're trying to get the best of both worlds and the disadvantage will land on someone's side. It will either be the artist if the asset doesn't get reused (they will have been underpaid), or wasteland 2, if the assets gets reused a lot (and maybe before the game even gets out)
Click to expand...

I totally disagree. It's more of a win-win for the producer and artist. If the artists don't know the kind of work a developer is interested in then they just make "interesting stuff" and hope that they get sales. But if developers say "hey we'll pay for people designing X, Y, or Z" then the artists can make models that have at least 1 likely sale & if their art is really good possibly many more to follow.

So basically this gives the artists some framework that should lead to a likely sale - which is a win if compared with making random pieces that no body purchases.
 
Well, I've just downloaded Unity and imported this test scene by InXile. Seems like it is a test scene indeed, nothing really special or remarkable. Just proper lighting and camera view. Look for yourself.
 
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