Droplets
Art Contract Description
Overview
While the game Droplets is already on the market for Android, we are planning on making
several changes to the game to make the game more appealing to the general audience. The
first major change is to completely overhaul the graphics. Currently, the graphics in the
game are rather mixed, and don’t display a unified artistic talent, and that’s where this
contract comes in.
We are also initiating this change, as it will reduce the size of the overall game by reducing
the total size of all graphics included in the game.
This document will outline all the artwork that we need to have done. Ideally we would like
to have one single artist work on all of it so that it all displays the same artistic styling. If you
feel that you are not able to create all the graphics required, please let us know and we will
see what can be done.
General Guidelines










All graphics should have a border of just 1 empty pixel on all sides, unless otherwise
specified.
All images should have the same artistic style and be intentionally pixelated.
All images need to be able to stand out on a sky blue background. You may specify
the RGB values for the background.
The image sizes specified do not include the 1 pixel border.
When drawing images in greyscale, remember that Black does not change, but white
does. So if we apply #FF0000 to White, it becomes Red.
When drawing images in greyscale, please provide a recommended RGB value for the
White.
All background objects should be several shades darker, or otherwise easy to
distinguish from similar foreground objects, as background objects are not intractable.
The game screen will be rendered to 480x320, then dynamically scaled to fit the
actual screen. You can use this to get a good idea of how each image will look in the
scene.
All images need to be delivered in separate image files, this includes every individual
frame of animations as well.
When speaking of animations, we are referring to a series of images to be played in a
certain order to display an animated style effect.
Droplets
For the purpose of this request a droplet is a single drop of water.
We need 3 player droplets of sizes: 7x11, 11x17, and 14x22. Each image should look like a
larger copy of the smaller images. As the player picks up power-ups, their droplet will get
larger, hence the multiple image sizes.
We need 2 background droplets of sizes: 3x5 and 5x7. These should resemble the player
droplets, but be easily identifiable as background objects.
We need 1 power-up droplet. The player will have to pick this up to increase their size.
Clouds
As the player falls through the game, they will have to move left or right to avoid landing
upon the clouds.
We want to change to having multiple foreground clouds, and multiple sizes of foreground
clouds. We want to have a fairly good variety of clouds to display in the game. The largest
cloud should be 480 pixels wide, and the smallest cloud should be 100 pixels wide. The
clouds should not exceed 30 pixels tall.
The most difficult part of the clouds will be the top, as this is where the collision will occur,
so most of the top of the cloud needs to be near the top of the image. This requirement may
be rescinded in the future if I find a better method of performing collision checks. You are
welcome to have empty pixels anywhere along the sides and bottom as you see fit as no
collisions are checked there.
We will also need duplicates of each cloud drawn at half the size and darker for the
background.
Splashes
We will need splash animations for each size droplet, including background droplets. Each
animation can have from 3 to 15 frames, but will be played out over the period of one
second. These animations will be played when the droplets make contact with a cloud or any
other obstacles.
Bird Animations
As the player’s droplet falls through the sky, they will also have to avoid landing on birds that
will be flying through the scene from one side of the screen to the other.
We will need animations of birds facing right with their wings flapping. They should be drawn
such that all images of a specific bird have the body of the bird in the same location in each
image regardless of the positioning of the wings.
The animation for the birds should take about two seconds for the wings through the whole
animation back to their starting point.
The body of the birds should not exceed about 20 pixels height from belly to back. We will
also need birds drawn at least half the size for the background.
Ground with puddle
After some time of playing the game, the player will fall to the ground or into a water
puddle. Landing in the puddle will get the player extra bonus points.
This image should be 480 pixels wide. It should have the highest point of ground at the top of
the image, and have 320 pixels of earth rendered below the surface of the puddle. There
should not be more than 30 pixels difference from the highest point of ground to the surface
of the puddle.
The center of the puddle should be at the horizontally center of the image and should be 100
pixels wide. The puddle should be deep enough below its surface such that a player can know
it’s a water puddle.
You are free to create this as an animation if you wish, but it is not required. If you do
animate this, then you may need two animations. One for the water as it is undisturbed, and
the other for when the droplet hits the water. This may be a bit complex, as you don’t know
where in the puddle the droplet will land, nor do you know how big the droplet is.
Droplet Birthing Animation
At the start of the game, this animation will be displayed. In this animation, it should show a
water droplet forming out of the bottom of a cloud. The final droplet should look the same
as the smallest player droplet image. This animation should take no more than 2 seconds to
play out.
Creative Freedom
As with any project that I contract out, you do have creative freedom for this project. While
we have given fairly explicit instructions for most of the artwork requested, that does not
mean that we are not willing to change the requirements if you have a better idea. If you
don’t like the way it’s looking, or can come up with a better option, don’t be afraid to
communicate that to us.
Credits and Attritions
If you accept and complete this project, and any of your artwork is used in the final game,
your name will be entered on the credits screen as appropriate for your contribution.
Copyright Agreement
You will retain copyright ownership of all artwork you provide. However, you are also
granting permission for CupCode Gamers the right to use that artwork as they see fit with no
limitations. By agreeing to this project, you are acknowledging that you do not expect, nor
will you receive any royalties or additional compensation from the CupCode Gamers beyond
the initial agreed upon compensation amount.
Project Bid
If you are capable of, and intend to fulfill this project, you will need to submit a written
project bid to us, to be approved. That project bid should detail how long you expect the
project to take, a total estimate of the project costs, and a detail on any other assets you
may require in order to complete the project.
Once the project bid is approved, the total cost of the project will not be increased. If your
costs to complete the project exceed the agreed upon amount, you will have to provide the
additional cost yourself. With that in mind, remember you are bidding against other artists,
so bid low to improve your chances, but high enough to cover your costs and labor.