Workshop artists, these are the people who design all your in-game costumes and while they often squeeze all their brain juice to bring you the next hottest in-game item, many may not know about their existence and how vibrant of a community it is.
In an effort to shine light on these your budding artists, Valve had Kaci interview Anuxi (7:55 of the video above), one of the brightest stars of the workshop scene, and this undoubtedly turned some heads and opened some eyes. Apart from Anuxi, many other workshop artists were also invited to the event in Seattle to showcase the hero costumes they made as well as their upcoming invention. Some even designed their costumes live and according to our correspondent at Seattle, it was an amazing sight to behold.
Getting started with the workshop
Photo by Penny Arcade
There are many reasons why an individual would be willing to spend so much time, usually up to a week, to design items for Valve. While the general perception may be the money they could earn, most workshop artists we talked to stated their love for the game and their joy of seeing them get their items published on a huge game such as Dota 2. To be honest, at first I had no idea that designing 3d cosmetics for Dota 2 could be prosperous. My initial intentions were to obtain my very own "Self-Made" cosmetics with custom particle effects so I could wear them in game proudly while I obliterate the opposing team and make them very jealous of my one of a kind sparkling cosmetics", said Brandon ':3' Le.
Brandon is a fine example of how someone totally new to the workshop scene can end up producing high quality in-game items with a little hardwork and dedication. Brandon told us that he did not have much idea about 3D designing and learned most off it through Youtube and also Steam's workshop community.
However, most designers of the current in-game items are unlike Brandon. The bunch of them came from designing Team Fortress 2 items. Kyle 'Frump' Parson told us, "to go way back, I started by making a set of TF2 Spy items for the Polycount TF2 competition in 2010, which led directly into the TF2 Mannconomy update. None of the items I ever made for TF2 made their way into the game, but I continually updated them as the workshop was opened and updated. I also created a few other items after that met just as limited success". Kyle continued designing in-game items for Valve and finally had his Sven sword made it into the Sithil's Summer's Stash chest. "I was hooked," Kyle added.
Designing the costumes
How long does it take to make an item or a hero set? 5-8 hours per item and 1 full week for a set seem to be the general consensus between these veteran artists. Obviously it would take a longer time for new artists.
How much can you make designing Dota 2 costumes? According to Gabe Newell, some artists are making around $500,000 a year. It is no surprise that more and more professionals are hopping into the designing business. Realistically speaking, these artists are able to make a normal full employment salary assuming some of their designs hit the store. "You definitely can't make a living with only one item", said Arthur 'OninLolz' Palmeira.
Valve and the workshop community
While some people prefer working on their costumes alone and share it with close friends., the majority part would normally dwell in the Polycount Dota 2 forum, exchanging ideas, commenting on designs by others, and also the usual chattery. When asked on whether there are any rivalries between the artists, almost everyone shook their head in disagreement. Brandon said, "Surprisingly, there is little to no rivalry between these artist probably because of the large selection of heroes to work from. These artists are often collaborating with each other because all these artist offer something unique to the table and can help each other out to achieve something grand".
The workshop community are definitely pro-active and friendly in many ways because Valve does not personally give feedback on what needs to be improved. These uninformed rejections could be frustrating for a lone ranger like Sebastian. "I work a bit in the dark and it could be frustrating. I would much prefer Valve to send me a feedback like 'this will never get into the store so don't make a third version stupid'".
At the end of the day, Valve will take main stage and select a few designs to be included into the game. With all the designs being published, it is definitely hard for one's designs to be selected and included into the game. When prompted, Brandon stated he had extreme difficulty getting his first item out but eventually, he figured out what Valve would like to see after his success with "Alchemy Essentials". Kyle disagreed. "This is a complete mystery, and we've all tried to analyze it at one time or another. There's no real formula".
Valve is reported to not only look at the new submissions but also at the old ones, sometimes more than a year long. "As I am aware, plenty of the cosmetics shipped in the TI3 update were submitted in the workshop a year ago. Never lose hope if your submission does not ship into the game early", Brandon stated. Assuming some items were not picked to be sold in the Dota 2 store, designers could either bury it or re-work on the concept before publishing it again.
What is this all about?
GosuGamers is on a mission to glorify these behind-the-scene hard workers that are constantly making us empty our wallets. Over the next few weeks, we will be conducting more interviews and talk to more workshop artists about their work and their inspiration. We will also be showcasing some of the products these cool people are producing in hopes that you will continuously support them.
