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here is my problem. I am currently working as a freelancing designer for an Indie Game together with 2 scripters, 1 animator and another designer. Recently the team suggested I should do the Map Design and a ton of other stuff. On the one hand I am glad that I'll be more and more involved in the game and have more responsibility but on the other hand more work means I should get more % of the profits.
Last week we got a meeting and they suggested some numbers but I am not sure to accept it. So I am hoping someone here CAN HELP ME!!
To bggring my situation in a context: its a 3D game with a current graphic level of half life 2 but with my work it could look more like half life 3 or better ... My new tasks will be to remodel and texture basically the whole game and develop missing parts; 3 new maps (from grass/stone /clouds texture... to buildings) basically everything except the characters(maybe later they will follow)
LanderFree, you say you're a freelancer (not an employee). The question of how much a freelancer should charge is not within what the Job Advice board does. A freelancer is a self- employed businessman (he doesn't work a "job" in the classical sense), so I think this ought to be in the Business forum rather than the Job Advice forum. But I think I'll leave it here for now. We don't have a board dedicated to freelancing.
But moving beyond that, you mentioned "%portion" - which sounds like you are not being paid, but rather are working "on spec." That means you are working on the speculation of being paid if the game makes money. Note that I said "if," not "when." You should proceed on the assumption that the game will never make money. If you can't afford to do that, then you shouldn't. If you decide to work on this project, you should negotiate a reasonable payment in the eventuality that the game does make money someday. And this is the tricky part of freelancing: you need to price yourself in such a way that you get paid a fair amount, and not so much that the client looks for some- one else. I can't tell you how much that is.
Whatever you ask for, if the project lead accepts, you need to get it in writing. Since you are not getting paid but rather are working on spec, you don't need a consulting agreement (which is the contract type that contractors usually work under) but rather a collaboration agreement. The agreement must spell out in clear terms who owns what, who must do what, and the percentage (of what exactly) that's due you if the game ever makes money.
Working on spec is very risky, and I don't recommend you do it unless you approach this as a portfolio- building opportunity.
