It’s no secret that the models will eventually need to be replaced. Unvanquished chose the path of recruiting any experienced artists they can to replace their models even if they use [color=#00ff22]PRO[/color]prietary tools and formats and never release the sources, but in my opinion this path is contrary to the spirit of [color=#00ffff]Free Software[/color]. I think that Tremulous should choose the true path of empowering its players’ creativity, even if it means settling for lower quality models and simpler art style.
The art style should not be too difficult to pick up: it should be relatively easy to make a model that doesn’t look completely foreign in the game. It shouldn’t be WAY too primitive either though.
Require the use of [color=#00ffff]Free Software[/color] tools and [color=#00ffff]open[/color] formats. Using a [color=#00ff22]PRO[/color]prietary tool but exporting to an [color=#00ffff]open[/color] format also suffices, but only if little or no modifiability is lost when exporting to the open format.
There should be an emphasis on modularity: procedural textures and non-destructive techniques should be preferred, as well as interchangable model parts. Ideally [color=#44ee22]Granger[/color][color=#22eeff]Hub[/color] should eventually accumulate its own little library of modular assets which all fit its art style, for everybody to use.
Ask artists to document which special tools, plugins and techniques they use (and thank them very much if they do). This should of course not be necessary for a model to be accepted but I think that asking wouldn’t hurt.
Free software is more great benefits to save your own money, at least the features should able do many things of functions for proprietary artist as suitable.
But if you want to do proprietary with great art project, you should take a look for about premium software (like Adobe Photoshop or others) that the price isn’t quite cheap. Only good benefits are much more features for making great art project.
Even if you pay thousands for some softwares, someone with enough time could do the same for free.
I’ve been using Krita for the past few years and as of today my drawings are better than all my friends who learned Photoshop and used it. What’s really important is how much you dedicate yourself to the job. I would personally choose someone on whether he’s good with the tool more than if he had the money to buy it and pay for a course that in the end showed nothing more than self training.
The pipeline for making art and assets for Tremulous involves a relatively complex series of tasks, and each artist’s creativity is limited to their own ability, knowledge of required tools, and time and effort spent on preparation and pre-production, and then making things.
I think a common pitfall and barrier to entry when starting out is trying to rush your way through the process, maybe unknowingly skipping steps, and ending up dissatisfied with the end result. Patience and practice pay off, and developing your own style is it’s own reward.
Artists should use any tools they like, permitting those tools don’t have any incompatible (anti-freedom) licensing requirements.
New models in new formats won’t work with old clients, but any replacement assets (iqm or md5 etc) could also be served up, optionally to 1.3 clients, based on protocol (similar to “semipure” code and fs_pk3pairs).
Assembling some reference materials and tutorials for asset creation can demystify the process and maybe we can package a fancy cross platform container with FOSS tools and plugins for “1 click” asset and code developer environment.
Some basic prefabs and a sample library for models, maps, and shaders, etc would be extremely helpful for rapid prototyping.