ID:118276
 
I just had a huge (And completely trivial) argument with a friend who argued it was always better to get the programming done before the art.
Obviously it doesn't actually MATTER, but it'd be nice to gather some insight, I personally prefer doing the art before programming it in, resulting in me having a lot of unused art lying around ;p

What about you?
Art before programming. I got many reason, but one of them is : 'I dont want to go back and rename every icon/icon_state because I chose to do programming first.'
As a programmer with next to no artistic skill, I prefer programming everything first using placeholder art. It allows me to get the game working and then worry about finding an artist when I'm ready to give a shit about the graphics.

It doesn't help that my artist is the biggest flake on the planet. He likes to randomly drop off the edge of the internet for months at a time with no warning or reason.
I prefer getting art done while ironing out the game concept and formulae and so forth.

It's somewhat motivating because then you get all of this nice art that's just sitting there, and would otherwise go to waste.
It depends on the type of developer you are, really. Some people are more easily stimulated by art which helps them think of ideas and gives them motivation.
Avainer1 wrote:
Art before programming. I got many reason, but one of them is : 'I dont want to go back and rename every icon/icon_state because I chose to do programming first.'

I tend to go back and forth. I get sick of programming for a little while, I go draw up something. I get sick of drawing, I go back to programming.
I do all the art I can think of that I need to do first. Then I program and if there's something I forgot to draw, I draw it up, code it in, and keep it movin'.
Having the art done first usually motivates me a lot more.
Kumorii wrote:
Having the art done first usually motivates me a lot more.

Being an artist i believe the art aspect should be start before programming,being concept art or other things that help iron out the game design. what im trying to get at is creating sprites usually takes longer than say; making a few lines of code. and for this reason im always ahead of the programmer im working with because i start making sprites long before theyve even started programming.(they'll always have the art they need waiting)

this in itself speeds up the development process a little. Also i can take breaks because im so far ahead when he has to work his butt off to catch up :D

But yeah,Art should come first at least in my opinion.

It's funny how most seem to go with Art before Programming, despite the fact that logically it should be the other way around.
It's much easier to quickly scrap some programming and re-write it until it's right then make the art, as opposed to having the art already made and then never used.

I mean I know overall the timing's still the same, but just food for thought.
I say it doesn't matter what order you do anything as long as you ship.

My best guess is that it happens in tandom as the designs get hashed out.

Everyone is studying the theme and prototyping art and systems.

Developers will get started using existing models and artwork and design a system that will easily accept new artwork.

Artists work on prototypes and get feedback from dev and the designers and in some cases, it requires the dev to play around with the art to see how it works. The artist works on the feedback and in most cases, the artist will be able to plug-in art without recompiling so they can see how their changes work in the environment. At some interval, the artist is going to upload the latest art and the devs will pick up the changes as they go.

With that said, as a primarily solo developer, I've trained myself to use place holder graphics until the end. I will reuse graphics and sound from other games which help. A few years worth of developments and you should have a decent arsenal of code, art, sounds, and interfaces ready to go.
Coming from a novice coder, I think coding the game's basic functions, then adding decent graphics is the way to go.

"Alright, got the basics of the code down. *adds good graphics* ZOMG, it's a game!?"
Truseeker wrote:
Coming from a novice coder, I think coding the game's basic functions, then adding decent graphics is the way to go.

"Alright, got the basics of the code down. *adds good graphics* ZOMG, it's a game!?"

Key word good.
I use generic placeholders, then if the game is fun start making actual graphics.