So I just wanted to make a quick announcement about a new policy we have for our submission process. As some of you may already know, we’ve recently updated our mannequin from the blue guy to the new silver guy in 4.8. Since significant changes have been made to the model and skeleton of this we’re now making the requirement that all submissions that are using the UE4 mannequin for any reason must use the 4.8 mannequin.
This includes: Animations, rigging weapons, character packs rigged to the Epic skeleton, any mannequins used for scale or in a showcase map and your screenshots.
If you are making something for marketplace or have sent something in please start making these changes and send them over to us. I know this is a new change and that some of you might have to do a bit of work to adjust your packs for this but we are currently working on a conversion guide to help you along with this.
Please note that this also extends to old submissions, if you currently have something on the Marketplace using the 4.7 mannequin or skeleton please send me an updated version of your files and screenshots. You can send those files here: marketplace-support@unrealengine.com. I know some of you have already done this and we will be reach out to people individually as well just to be sure we got everyone.
For all animation packs, please note that your pack will not be considered compatible for 4.8 unless this change has been made.
If you guys have any questions about this please either message one of us here, ping this thread or send us your questions here: marketplace-support@unrealengine.com
I have a submission where i am waiting for the release (i thought this would have happened yesterday ): )
Is this the reason for the delay, because i haven’t got an answer to my emails for 9 days straight now.
Do i need to change the model for the release to happen or is it fine if i just send this to you after this is done
and you update the files?
When will we see packs removed for not updating? I don’t think it’s fair for people to buy outdated animation packs that won’t be updated for awhile. There is no guarantee they will get updated down the road and retargeting doesn’t have desirable results in most cases between the two skeletons with certain packs.
This would hopefully promote updates to be released sooner than later for us owners who would like to move to the new more accurate skeleton size.
One issue that I faced that was not mentioned above:
Your mannequin has to use the same material it comes assigned with. You can’t put a new material on it. Otherwise I’d ship Generic Shooter with team coloring enabled by default and not require any additional setup.
Thank you for reminding me of this! Yes, when you ship please keep the mannequin to his default color. This was asked to be done for presentation reasons, however, if you would like to have the option for a color changer in your pack for different characters (eXi I know yours does have different character colors) then that is allowed. Basically what we’re looking for is that in the presentation on the Marketplace (ie. Demo levels & screenshots) that the mannequin be left the default color. You can absolutely advertise an option to change the color of your “team” or character in your descriptions if your submission has that but the initial presentation has to be the default color.
eXi: If you have concerns about this please message me over the e-mail thread so I can see if we can resolve those concerns.
So I just wanted to clarify something. We’ve spoken about it and it seems that quite a few of you need to show you have different colors in your packs. So the solution we have is this: You are allowed to change the color variable in the material instance of the mannequin. So everything else should remain the same, his textures, normal maps, gloss, etc. but the color can change. There are some restrictions with this, please try to keep the focus of your screenshots with the default mannequin but you can include screenshots with the different colors.
Allar: I’m really sorry you ended up having to change so much, if you want to add the colors back in this way you certainly can, just let me know.
If anyone has any questions about this, please contact any of us here or at the marketplace support e-mail.
Just wanted to say that i’m happy that you are considering our needs and adjust the rules. Although it would still be nice to know why you (Epic) are so determined on keeping this character
in its base form. I can only think that you want him as some kind of a trademark? I don’t get the thought behind this. I hope it is ok to ask about this here (since it is not related to my
submission), because i can’t see the suddenly bad thing about changing him from now on.
Also you (Epic) have made a new updated series of the youtube tutorials where you changed his color to yellow. I mean, now you allow us to change it too, but with this tutorial series,
i gets more confusing that you are limiting us here.
So the reasoning we have behind this is to create consistency on the front end of the Marketplace. Since the animation packs have to have this in order to be considered fully compatible for 4.8. In keeping with this level of consistency, it’s also easier for your buyers to make sure you’re updated to 4.8 and easier for you guys to stay updated with whatever changes happen from this point on. So this mainly just a stylistic, consistency choice on Epic’s part. The color changing thing, is again, only the color variable in the material instance and not changing the material of the mannequin itself. So, as long as his main material stays the same, he can be a slightly different color.
This is a little frustrating AND confusing. What if I have a new character? I use Blender and therefore cannot create a character that would be compatible with the UE4 Mannequin as Blender just won’t do that for some odd reason. Does this mean that I can’t make a submission? I have a ton of stuff I’m putting together and this new policy could potentially mean all that work was for nothing.
I hope it is ok to ask about this here (since it is not related to my