By Janette (PandaB5)  

If you want to be a game developer, especially an indie game developer, you’ll need to learn all these skills to create a game:

• Game design,
• Programming,
• Writing,
• Graphic design,
• Music, and
• Game promotion.

But did you know that you could skip learning graphic design by using software like Poser, Daz and iClone? Consider these five benefits:

1. They’re easy to learn

Learning graphic design can be a daunting task, especially if you’re more analytic than artistic, like many game developers. It can take months to learn how to create vector art, or paint using brushes. Alternatively, if you choose 3D, you might spend weeks learning how to model in software like Blender.

In contrast, Poser and Daz is useable after just a few hours. There are training videos that will teach you the basics so you can get started. Afterwards, you could hone your skills by posting your images in the Renderosity galleries and asking for feedback. You could also browse the galleries to get tips from other artists.

2. They’re a quick way to prototype

Game developers without graphic design skills will often use primitives, or hand-drawn images and ask gamer communities for feedback on their prototypes with the warning: please ignore the graphics.

Alternatively, they’ll use stock images which could make their game look incongruent.

In contrast, Poser comes with a huge content library including characters, props, materials, and animations. Daz also includes free content. And there’s the Renderosity freebie section which has thousands of products already packaged for Poser and Daz Studio.

Not only will you have all the content you need for your prototype, but they’ll also have a quick way to generate the images by rendering the content in Poser or Daz Studio.

With rendered images, your prototype could look polished and professional, which should make your game more appealing to funders and potential team members.

3. Your graphics will be unique

Game developers are starting to use AI to create images. But AI images tend to all look the same. For example, look at the AI images for baby dragons. They’re super cute, but also very similar.

Even those of us who regularly browse the Renderosity galleries can immediately spot the AI created images just from the thumbnails (try it – you’ll see).

If you use Poser or Daz instead, it will be easier for you to have a unique product. For example, if you want a unique baby dragon, you can:

• Choose a dragon from a variety of very different options,
• Apply the morphs included with the dragon to make it look unique,
• Apply one of the premade skins,
• Use existing shaders or materials to make an original skin,
• Use graphic-design software to make an entirely new skin,
• Pose the dragon,
• Change the scale of the dragon,
• Change the expression of the dragon, and
• Place the same dragon in different scenes with little effort.

Even though many artists might buy the same product, they’re not all making games. So even a little customization will ensure the character is unique to your game.

4. There are no legal issues

The world of AI is still in a state of flux. Some game development stores, like Steam, initially banned AI in their store, but are now allowing it to some extent, although they’re still being careful.

The main issue is that AI software uses other people’s copyrighted art or writing as a reference to create their own images or writing. This has the potential to lead to copyright infringement claims and class-action lawsuits.

In contrast, content at Renderosity is sold with a commercial license. That means game developers can freely use the renders in their games. There are no copyright issues. Nor do you need to pay royalties.

Asset stores sometimes limit the use of the asset to one game, or one team member. This is not a problem with renders. Once you’ve rendered an image, you own the copyright to that render and can share it as you wish.

(But remember, you don’t own the copyright in the 3D object, only the render. And be careful with products in the freebie section. Some of them don’t allow commercial use. It’s safest to only download products that allow commercial use.)

5. It saves time and money

If you decide to employ a graphic artist, you must explain your ideas to the graphic artist. You could opt to use an AI illustration, but that still requires a lengthy explanation. You could also waste hours refining it until the AI accurately produces your vision.

And once the graphic artist has the AI illustration, they must recreate the scene, but not use the actual image that’s in front of them (to avoid the issues inherent in AI).

In contrast, if you use Poser or Daz Studio, you can place the content exactly where and how you want it and render the scene. You may not even need a graphic artist, or you could hire one just to touch up the renders. This could speed up your production and save on labor costs.

If the game is 3D, you could consider buying game-development licenses instead of recreating the assets yourself. This step could save you a lot of production time.

See evolutionarycasualgames.com for examples of games where the graphics were rendered in Poser and Daz Studio.