I would politely suggest that you take a look at the Coldstone FAQs. There's a lot of info there, but specifically applicable here:
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Q. But what if I can't even draw stick figures?
(Features) submitted by andrew -- 10-12-2000 07:13 PM
A. Then, you will be pleased to know that Coldstone will come with a set of graphics that you can use to create your dream game.
PS: Admins? The FAQ still states that "Coldstone is not in beta yet." I seem to have misunderstood somewhere... 
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“If a little knowledge is dangerous, where is the man who has so much as to be out of danger?” - T.H. Huxley
1. To my knowledge, us mere moderators cannot update the faqs. I wouldn't want that responsibility anyway. That's a job for Andrew or Dee.
2. It has been stated that Coldstone will come with a bunch of pre-made artwork, too. Check out the "Premade Graphics" thread for more info on that.
If you don't want to use the premade graphics, find an artist and team up with them. I'm not aware of any game these days that was created by just one person. I plan to do it, and I think a few others on this board are, too, but as you might be able to tell by my handle, I have something of a sanity issue (kidding!), and I can't speak for anyone else.
Seriously, though, it's important to know what you are and aren't good at. If you're not an artist, you can team up with one. Even if you're not planning to release your game commerically, there might be some budding talented person out there who will make sprites for your game because they want to get into the gaming industry.
Also, if you're planning to put music in your game, find someone who can do it well if you can't do it yourself. Or think about just leaving it out.
Good luck!
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"insert signature here"
(This message has been edited by sanehatter (edited 01-03-2001).)
Yep. As a game artist, I know exactly how you can find artists.
You wave cash around. It works, you'll be amazed how many artists/wannabe artists crawl out of the woodwork when they hear the sound of money.
There are two other ways...
You are already friends with an artist, and convince him/her to help you...
Or... You have a mindblowingly great idea that will attract thousands of gamers, and artists sign up with you just because your idea has merit.
But it's got to be a GREAT idea. Most artists are very creative people, and can think up good ideas themselves, so you've got to have an insanely good concept to get artists to join you based on the concept's merit alone.
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Originally posted by J.Ace21:
**65.4.86.190
the coldstone hotline server will hopefully have some stuff in it soon....
(This message has been edited by J.Ace21 (edited 01-03-2001).)**
Doesn't seem to be taking off does it? 
I don't know whether it is even worth it to keep it up.
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"Bond, GlueBubble Bond."
"To reach the Order I have attained, I traveled deeper into Chaos than I wanted. Now, as I stand upon my shelf of Order, and see the Chaos swirling around me, I realize I haven't come up at all."
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Originally posted by theGlueBubble:
**Doesn't seem to be taking off does it?:p I don't know whether it is even worth it to keep it up.
**
Well I don't know if it is really worth it. Nobody is ever there besides me, you, and skyblade. Maybe you should take it down and put it back up once coldstone is released publicly.
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Was it the Chad?
Tree
All depends on a LOT of factors.
If your game has potential to be an Ambrosia official release, I expect less at first and more once the game has been released. (And yes, I'll deliver graphics at Ambrosia or better quality.)
How big your game is. If it's an epic undertaking, it'll cost you more.
If it's short, it'll cost less.
Though I can't say for sure, but if you can't afford a $300 3D program, you'll find that I can't provide a whole lot, a short scenario of gfx maybe... Probably not worth your time though...
Now if you're going to create something better then Ambrosia could ever pull off, and you can sell your project well, and you can prove you've got the technical expertise (minus the graphical expertise) to pull your project off, and you can prove that you're dedicated to progress... Then it's possible to convince me (and other artists) to join merely for the reward at the end.
Artists are willing to "invest" if the reward at the end is big enough.
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Yeah, I have a buddy who I drink/write mods with. but both of us are only learning to use photoshop and quark. In the mean time we'll get drunk and see if we could come up with anything in the way of a storyline, it's easiest after you've washed down a pint of scotch, but if you're underage, watching a lot of cartoons and doing other things for inspiration works well, it's also a nice time killer!
Worlds two greatist TV rerun addicts/alcohoics
--Madman and Cute Puff Ball
--Still working on our ares scenarios in major frustration as hera puts bugs in our stuff and corrupts data.
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You don't have GameRanger? Get it! (url="http://"Http://www.GameRanger.com/")Http://www.GameRanger.com/(/url)
And here's a good way to get a good idea of what people should look like, for charicters.
Step 1. Look in the mirror
Step 2. Make a model of yourself, only thiner and taller
Step 3 make a texture resembling your face's skin tone, but leave all of the shiny red dots out
Here's a (I)better (I) Way.
get some clay from an arts and crafts store (if you don't know any good places to buy clay you can make a good compound out of salt and flour and some junk, I'm sure you'll figure it out)
go reading through magazines and watching TV shows, look at a lot of people.
draw pictures of people until you know all of the basic parts of a body that most newbies tend to leave out making things look strange (Things like ears, hair texture, facial expression, and so on)
Make a clay model of a human figure, keep it in as warm a place as possible so it's easily changed. Knead it throughly before starting
Alter it as needed until it looks like something you can live with.
use a 3D modeler to make a model of it.
If you don't know how or don't have a good 3D modeler, ignore all above instructions and use the premade graphics. They'll look the same as most other people's graphics, but it will be much better than a newbie like you could ever make.
I believe madman meant to say Better
0wn3d.
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Originally posted by Lt. Et'he:
**
Now if you're going to create something better then Ambrosia could ever pull off, and you can sell your project well, and you can prove you've got the technical expertise (minus the graphical expertise) to pull your project off, and you can prove that you're dedicated to progress... Then it's possible to convince me (and other artists) to join merely for the reward at the end.
**
Don't even try to make something better than the pros at Ambrosia, you'll just be wasting your time, maybe they'll hire you though for your ability to use a convienient program and use other people's work to create stunning masterpieces.
Tch tch...
If there's one thing I've learned, making stuff better then a game company is more then possible.
I first learned this back with Marathon, where people would make stuff that was much better (maps especially) then what Bungie created. Double Aught being foremost amongst these individuals that created insanely cool stuff. They got hired by Bungie later to make Marathon Infinity.
Half-Life was an excellent game, but other 3rd parties made CounterStrike, which by many is considered much better then Half-Life.
Ambrosia is an excellent company, and they create very nice games, but it's more then possible to create better stuff.
Then, when it comes to ideas, a lot of people can have some awesome ideas, and if they're motivated, they can pull them off.
I would strongly disagree with the above post, and urge you to try and create stuff better then Ambrosia. If it couldn't be done, Ambrosia would own the gaming market, but they don't do they?
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Originally posted by sanehatter:
**1. To my knowledge, us mere moderators cannot update the faqs. I wouldn't want that responsibility anyway. That's a job for Andrew or Dee.
**
Well, you can post a comment saying "As of a week ago, this question was answered and the answer is..." or something like that because I'm sure Andrew's got other things to do than rush to the FAQ every time the programmers put in another line of code
But then anyone can do that, even people who aren't registered but I'm sure the moderators have more useful information than ppl who are seeing the web board for the first time 
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