How to price a Tile set

[cloverskull]

Hi

I am a n Illustrator and recently I have been commissioned to create a tile set for an upcoming video game.The client asked for a flat rate. Since I am new to the subject matter I am not sure how to price my work to ensure "fairness". Any input about the matter would be extremely helpful.

Here is the list of what he would like me to do:

 Grass: base, plus 3 or 4 variations 

    stone: base, plus 3 or 4 variations 
    dirt: base plus 3 or 4 variations 
    Snow (overlays for other tiles - transparent) 3 or 4 variants.
    water, plus edges, and inside and outside corners, plus directional "arrows"
    walls (straight vertical, straight horizontal, single section vertical and horizontal, +, corners for each directions, T for each direction.
    lava, plus edges, and inside and outside corners, plus directional "arrows"
    vegetation (various vines, trees and bushes, etc) (10)
    overlays (details, flowers, and plants, bones, and other random stuff that could work over the other types of ground as decoration)
    bridges
    wood planks
    pits (holes), plus edges, and inside and outside corners
    trap door
    teleporter
    tunnel entrance
    broken wall
    ruins (multi-tile)
    waterfall overlay (for water edges)
    spring
    goal tile (amazing gem / crystal)
    treasure

Thank you so much in advance!

 

[Andar]

That isn't an easy answer as it has to include a lot more info - info that you probably don't have yourself yet.


Check the classified offers for some base prices for tiles.


Then you have to think about how many edits you agree with your client - first if you can give him edits or if he wants completely original work, second how many changes and edits he can request after you finished the tiles.


Because if an client asks for dozens of minor changes for each tile, no "flat fee" will ever be enough to cover your time.


And the list doesn't even mention autotiles (which are a lot more work than regular tiles) or how many different positions for each tile are needed...


Just for info: a full custom tileset takes months to make and if sold exclusively usually costs several thousands - the shop tile packs are only cheap because they are sold non-exclusively to hundreds of users.

 

[Sharm]

It depends a lot on what style you use, what skill level you're at, how long it's going to take you, things like that.  But considering how much is being asked for I think $2k is a minimum.  You're probably getting in over your head though, making a fully custom set is way, way more work than people realize.  You should start out with smaller commissions or do a set for yourself before you consider it.  That way you know how much effort and time it'll take and know not only if it's something you want to do but also have a much better idea of what it should cost.

 

[cloverskull]

That isn't an easy answer as it has to include a lot more info - info that you probably don't have yourself yet.

Check the classified offers for some base prices for tiles.

Then you have to think about how many edits you agree with your client - first if you can give him edits or if he wants completely original work, second how many changes and edits he can request after you finished the tiles.

Because if an client asks for dozens of minor changes for each tile, no "flat fee" will ever be enough to cover your time.

And the list doesn't even mention autotiles (which are a lot more work than regular tiles) or how many different positions for each tile are needed...

Just for info: a full custom tileset takes months to make and if sold exclusively usually costs several thousands - the shop tile packs are only cheap because they are sold non-exclusively to hundreds of users.

Thank you so much for your advice!I will checked the classified section as you said.  I think negotiating the edits it would be a good first 

What are auto tiles if I may ask?

 

[cloverskull]

It depends a lot on what style you use, what skill level you're at, how long it's going to take you, things like that.  But considering how much is being asked for I think $2k is a minimum.  You're probably getting in over your head though, making a fully custom set is way, way more work than people realize.  You should start out with smaller commissions or do a set for yourself before you consider it.  That way you know how much effort and time it'll take and know not only if it's something you want to do but also have a much better idea of what it should cost.

Thank you so much for your answer Sharm. The style would be somewhat cartoony. I have to say I have already created a set of tiles in the past that you can look at here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.randomice.mazeaholic

 That was for a "fun" project with a friend, completely unpaid. It has it flaws, a lot of them, but It gave me an  slight idea of how much time and effort goes into this type of work. I have   been commissioned for other art related projects since then, but this is the first time I have been ask to create a tile set professionally so I thought it was a better Idea to ask around people who actually do this professionally rather than just shooting myself in the foot

 

[Wavelength]

I personally think Sharm's $2000+ estimate is too high.  I'd estimate about $750 to be a fair price for the tileset described if you're approaching RTP-level detail and quality for all tiles, and about half of that amount if you're using the level of detail and quality from the "fun project" that you linked (not that you did a bad job by any means, but there's relatively little texturing and it looks like a very good "for fun" tileset rather than a professional one).

You should consider working out terms where you can sell the tileset to others though - tilesets are a very popular item that people have shown they're willing to pay for (and if your work is good enough you might even be able to partner with this site to sell your work through the store).  It is reasonable to expect a much higher price from your client if they need the tileset to remain for their use only.

 

[Celianna]

cloverskull, please avoid double posting, as it is against the forum rules. You can review our forum rules here. Thank you.
 
I wrote about pricing tilesets here, Though this was more geared to those looking to hire someone for tilesets, not the other way around.
 
It largely depends on three things:
- your skill level (you cannot charge high if your work isn't of industry quality work)
- how much you need to make
- if it's exclusive

If you don't know what autotiles are however ... why are you here on an RPG Maker forum?

 

[Sharm]

@Wavelength:  You're basing that estimate on what, exactly?

 

[Wavelength]

@Wavelength:  You're basing that estimate on what, exactly?

Based it on what I think is a fair price from the requests I've seen taken and not taken, and on how much time the few tiles I've made have taken me to make, and on what I'd realistically be willing to pay for that amount of work.

I will admit it's totally unscientific and I could very well be wrong.  My opinion is probably not worth as much as yours here.  But I think it's good for clover to have as many reasonable opinions as possible.

 

[Sharm]

I was assuming this would be for the client only because that's the way commissioned work usually works.  Since this is a site that usually talks about RM stuff I also assumed they'd be RM tiles, but I keep forgetting that there's also IG maker and that changes things.  If they're tiles for a sidescroller or a simple top down POV like Bomberman it would be cheaper since it'd be so much faster to make.