Hey guys I want to recommend using fiverr.com. It seems pretty good website if you want to prototype something (especially if your a 1 man band). I picked up a few custom made 30 seconds music tracks for $5 (and if i like them I can get the guy to extend it for more money). Or if you want to get add some one liners - I found 100 words (for $5). Its pretty fast and if you dont like it (or decide to go a different way) who cares its only $5.
I had someone write up a story for a game i was working on but decided to scrap that project (so who cares only $5).
I have finished a few projects in the appstore (not as a solo dev) . Although I do like the idea of being a 1 man band myself (because then you dont need to comprise your vision) and now with the asset store and things like fiverr its getting abit closer.
Suppose your working on your project and eventually you hit a point where there’s almost no progress, well by having a constant of new music (or whatever) it can help you feel motivated to keep working on it.
It adds up very quickly. I don’t know how good the results from Fiverr.com will be, but I do know the quality from certain publishers in the Asset Store. I would rather save up those $5 and buy from them.
Plus I agree with @wccrawford1 . If the results have never benefited you, it is basically throwing away money.
Probably not a terrible idea, especially for a programmer non-artist making a fairly simple game. You could send a rough draft to a fiverr, have them send you back a psd mock-up which you could then use the layers/pieces/etc. to add art to your game.
Outsourcing can be hugely efficient, it is just not common or considered normal. Prepare for an onslaught of naysayers.
While personally I’d rather have fellow devs working on a project with me, sometimes as a solo-dev it isn’t feasible based on your personal schedule to rely on others, so outsourcing (such as fiverr) becomes a pretty swell time-saving option.
Sure, but “this” is such a small part of an overall project that it’s hardly relevant. A more useful question for something of this scale is how many tasks he’s finished with it that he couldn’t have, wouldn’t have, or which would have cost more otherwise.
I think we’re saying the same thing, you’re just getting more detailed.
My concern was mainly that until you’ve finished a project, you don’t really know the value of the things that happened during the project. At any moment, you might have to completely scrap something. There could still be some value in having had something to work with in the mean time, but I’m of the opinion that I could have made something myself in minutes that fit the bill and wouldn’t have had to spend time and money on fiverr trying to get someone else to do it. (Because my time isn’t free, either, and taking time to explain what I want in the first place could be as hard as doing it myself. There’s a chance they’ll do higher quality, but I’d not gamble that it would be final-product quality.)
Still, I haven’t used Fiverr, so I’m interested in this, which is why I asked the question in the first place. Knowing others have actually had success with the idea makes it more compelling.
Sure, but whether I finish the project or not, if I scrap something I’d rather have spent $5 on it than an hour of my time, or more than $5, or whatever. You don’t need to finish a given project for increased efficiencies within it to have given you benefit.
Obviously. But did it actually increase efficiency, or was it just $5 wasted? Did it really get you any further along in the project, or did you just throw money at it and get nothing from it?
These are the kinds of things that are only 100% clear after the project is done. Thrown away or published, it doesn’t matter… What matters is that it’s over and you can see the big picture and know there are no surprises coming.
Honestly I think it’s a valid avenue if you really want to blow the $5. I’m sure it absolutely increases productivity and provides benefit even if the project isn’t finished… however I’m basing this on the fact that the post topic clearly says “for prototyping” so the result really is all throwaway… it’s just for prototyping.
Prototyping is a means to an end, and it costs time and money. A business can’t just do it for free somehow, and it has to be factored in.
If someone’s doing it on their own time, it’s still not free, unless you consider your time to be free. (And I’ve not met any professionals who do. I am personally very aware of how little free-time I have and how I spend it, and I very much dislike wasting time or money.)
