Affordable Landscapes 2

Distribution UE Marketplace
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I don’t remember mentioning that I had no plans for putting AL1 maps out individually. In case such thing was said you might have heard it from other colleague. If such a thing was said by someone from our side, that saying is probably 1 year old now. Can’t we make new plans for a package after it has serves us and you for a year? :slight_smile: AL1 came out September 2015. It has given us the reasonable revenue it had to give (like with every package out there) and it makes sense to us to put out the maps individually now at 1/5 of the base package price, which after subtracting Epic’s 30% is virtually no money for us to count on. It’s literally about $13.99 per sale here and there. Whether $13.99 per sale is good or not is relative to the time you’ve put into developing the content you’re selling. With landscapes it’s not like a prop package that can be wrapped up in a week. AL1 has taken months and it’s still half way there, and AL2 has taken 2 months so far. It certainly doesn’t take that long for everybody. But I prefer to nail every little detail as much as I can and deliver my clients AAA work. You might want to consider that as well.

I’m not sure if you own AL1. But seems like you aren’t aware of the deal we gave to people. Those who purchased the base package at full price with 5 landscapes now have access to 14 landscapes. 4 More landscapes are coming out with the next update. At which point, there’ll still be about 10-12 more landscapes left to come. People who purchase an individual map today and don’t own the base package are not receiving these free updates. So with that much free content which has never happened with any package out there I don’t believe anybody regrets their purchase of the base package.

If someone wants one material out of the whole package? no it’s not worth it for them and certainly isn’t what we’re offering either. What you said applies to every package out there. What if I want just a fence from the whole Industrial Props package someone else has to put out? asking them to sell every item individually results in people picking up that one item for like $5 and move on which is essentially the creator burning himself. If we put out AL2 maps individually at the price you expect to see on an individual map, that just means we’ve burned down the hours of work we’ve put into this so far. Just as I explained up there.

I don’t see the price suffering from anything. Compare it with our previous package which has 14 landscapes and counting and costs $99.99 which is cheaper than some other landscape packages available on the market offering much less content. Each AL2 map is 4 times bigger than a typical AL1 map. They have much more work done on them and as a result having the cost set around 100-150 doesn’t sound like suffering from any issue. There are already landscape packages over $140 out there.
About the rocks, they are complementary assets. All are original work except 3 of the dark ones which are scanned lava rocks from Kite Demo, re-textured here to help demonstrating the lava landscape which is not a line we’ve crossed. As the marketplace team says you’re allowed to use a small amount of content from Epic’s content in your package as long as it’s not the main selling point of your package. Otherwise they wouldn’t have released other packages from other artists while covered in Kite Demo grass and flowers. But if I’m wrong, then I’ll be happy to hear that from Epic as well as seeing the other packages on the marketplace taken down.

A typical rock package on the marketplace costs ~$30. And the grass package we’ve added to this package as a bonus costs $30 by itself as well. You would have been seeing a price range of like $160-$220 if we were charging for any of that. With AL1 we’ve already proved that we do give content out for free to support our clients.

I wouldn’t name anyone or any package here because I don’t like to be named elsewhere either. But you can go on the marketplace, search the keyword *Landscape *, find the ones that offer 8x8k landscapes which is the same size as ours and do a comparison between the price, features, amount of content and quality.

I wouldn’t use the word “Force” there. As I mentioned earlier, it’s not the creator’s fault if they put out an industrial package consisting of 50 pieces and then someone wants 1-2 pieces of it and that’s all. I agree there might be some people (minority) out there who want only a small piece of the whole cake but that’s not how they sell the wedding cakes is it? If they purchase the package to have a small piece of it, it’s their “Choice” and they’re fully aware of it. And the rest isn’t absolutely useless content anyway.

Btw this is the only landscape package that’s setup using world composition so anybody who doesn’t want the entire 64 Square Kilometers loaded into the memory all the time and wants to save performance can easily setup tile streaming distance and generate an LOD per tile with almost 4-5 clicks.
And also, not making a promise but we’d like to do free updates for this package when we can as well. Like we’re doing with the other one.

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I can’t remember who exactly said they were not for individual sale so I don’t know. The point is a year old or not, if someone purchased the pack to get access to one material, now to find it is sold separately despite what they were told, that will cause remorse. And the packs price did rise as more content was added to it, so I presume its profitability did too?

It does not apply to every other package, prop packs can’t really be compared to landscape materials… However, a props pack usually has similarly themed items, “industrial” “Military” etc etc. They are designed for an environment. Landscape packs contain assets that are almost always mutually exclusive, for instance if I buy a pack for a desert material, I’m not also going to be able to use the winter material for the same purpose, I was made to purchase more than I need.

The previous package was much cheaper on release, and now you are looking to almost double that price. The creator you are talking about, I know who it is and yes they are a rip off merchant I think we all know, they had a package taken down from MP because of Kite Demo assets. They continue to swindle people with way over priced World machine maps. But from here it just looks like you want to get a cut of some of that action. Since charging more than a WM license for a pack seems odd.

I go back to what I said about making people buy more than they need. It probably doesn’t strongly apply here, but you have some props from packages you already sell, some that are taken from kite demo, and some made specifically for this? So we subtract those things and we have some WM maps and materials for 100-150. I’m not saying it’s even bad, but I think you need to give people choice, otherwise you will just end up being exactly like the landscape asset creators we all want to point out.

Yes they are rip off merchants. :slight_smile:

Like I said a pack of X theme props is not comparable to a pack of mutually exclusive environments.

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Well you should remember. You’re basing your whole argument on something you’re not sure about? Either way, I think you’re missing the point that we’re not offering landscape materials. We’re offering 5 unique environments. It’s precisely their own choice. Breaking it down and selling items for very cheap is just burning ourselves early on. Customer appreciation is one thing, which we try to maintain a good support and update rate, burning the creator is something else. Sure updates and the content we add over time are free for those who’ve already bought it. We put AL1 out with 5 landscapes at $75. It makes sense to charge $25 more now that it contains 14 landscapes and 3 revisions. I mean it has to worth your time after all otherwise there’s no point to do anything for marketplace.

If we were even selling an individual map and you bought it for it’s material only, you still have burned your money so I don’t see a point in this.

Your argument there is invalid. WM2 Pro License: $249 + Geoglyph Pro License: $300 = $549 > $100-$150. That’s without taking into account the subscription costs we’re paying for textures. So nothing is overpriced.
You might have just confused this with a prop pack. Landscapes take so much more time and hard work if they’re done properly.

85

No I am absolutely sure about it, I just do not remember who in particular said it. If you sell them individually at a higher price, and packaged together less expensive, then you are not burning yourself. Take a look at ironbelly, they sell individually and then create packs, giving the buyer choice. You are burning buyers with these huge 100+ dollar prices we see on MP now for content.

There is not a lot of value in a pre-made terrain without your own specifications, what you need to understand the materials is where the most value is. ¯_(ツ)_/¯

Depends on the quality of the props, doesn’t it? Properly done meshing, baking and texturing requires a very good workflow, with a fair bit of software and skill sets. I’m not talking about garbage made from basics and tossed through substance painter.

Anyway, I’m trying to make a point here for your benefit and buyers. I have seen people call these things a rip off, I still think there is value in them as long as you don’t start emulating “certain MP landscape creators that shall not be named” with the 100+ dollar packages of mutually exclusive environments.

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Then why would anybody purchase the individual map at a higher price while they can get the complete package less expensive?

Based on our sales stats for AL1 I conclude people see enough value in in pre-made terrains. If someone is interested in materials they’d have to go ahead and subscribe to CGTextures, GameTextures, Megascans and such services. But they’re not doing that.

Our pricing is always based on analyzing the statistics from our previous packages. AL1 has been our biggest success in our online store experience thus far, our clients have always been nice, appreciative and supportive of our work and for that reason we’re setting the AL2 price very close to AL1 while the landscapes are quadruple in size and the overall quality bar is set much higher. We’ve been doing this exclusively for UE4 Marketplace since somewhere in 2015 and had nothing but positive feedback. If anyone thinks this is a rip off they’re welcome to stay away from it. Though, I haven’t witnessed such a saying from any legit buyer.

87

You originally sold the pack of 5 landscapes for 75 dollars, now you are selling the individual landscapes for 20 dollars each. So you are charging more for the individual landscapes than the package. You are doing this already, and it makes sense, gives the buyer choice. Like I said this is what Ironbelly does. They can buy the complete package for less yes, but if they only need 40 dollars of content from a 100 dollar pack, what is more expensive?

Your pricing is just becoming the same as the other landscape rip offs. I’m sure people will buy it, there is no doubt. But how many will turn it around into a profit for themselves? You know and I know that selling them as a pack, for a large sum upfront is a marketing ruse used a lot in the world, gives the buyer the illusion the price they paid was justified due to the extras even though they were only after X. Overspending.

But it’s your thing and I’ll leave you to do business however you like!

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Hello docjor. There’s no ruse. If you find the pricing of the Affordable Landscapes 2 unfair, you can hire us to do landscapes for you at $35 per hour that the other development teams pay for our services. Otherwise this haggling that you’re doing is getting neither of us anywhere.

Let us do our jobs and put the Affordable Landscapes 2 up for sale. We’re offering you Battlefront / Battlefield 1 quality landscapes to you at a MILLIONTH of the cost that it would cost to hire DICE to do the work for you. Either you can buy it now, wait for a sale, or make it yourself. It’s as simple as that.

But our work speaks for itself and the hundreds of developers have used our services have been very, VERY happy with the results. Anyone who picks up Affordable Landscapes 2 will be privy to the BEST landscapes available anywhere on Unreal Marketplace, Unity Asset Store, Turbosquid, or anywhere else. Purchase it and your project will be immediately seen by all communities as being something worthy of a second look. And as our past year’s worth of free updates has proved, there is not another developer on the marketplace that will offer stronger support to their customers than Pixel Perfect Polygons. Our history speaks for itself.

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ಠ_ಠ

I’m sure your stuff is decent for sure but let’s not get too excited here.

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Then don’t buy it. We’re proud of the work we’re doing, and the price we’re asking is an absolute steal for the quality of work that we’re offering.

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But saying it’s the same quality as the industries gold standard of landscapes is a bit misleading man.

93

Two of the terrains in AL2 look like they could in fact fit in battlefront. The volcanic terrain (sullust) and the desert/rock terrain (tattooine canyon). The quality of the AL2 pack is definitely similar to that game. =)

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Looks worth it to me. When are you targeting to have it on Gumroad?

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Not misleading at all, I saw some of the screenshots of AL2 and thought they were just reference pictures from Battlefront, at a second glance I realized it was actually the AL2 pack and not reference pictures.
The quality can’t be denied, if you doubt it I suggest you keep in mind that post processing would need to be tweaked to fully emulate that feel, but that’s up to the user to do anyway.

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It’s more that anyone who has tinkered around with this stuff a bit, and done reading on EA’s lighting and rendering stuff knows that Unreal Engine currently can’t create that kind of quality and remain playable.

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That’s not a texture, mesh, material issue though, that’s tied to the lighting engine and shader methods, AL2 can’t be knocked for that. Meaning that if these assets were dragged into Battlefront and rendered with its engine, it wouldn’t look out of place in the least.

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@MrMrC, We’re trying to put this on UE4 Marketplace exclusively but… would have to put it on Gumroad if it get stuck in the process somewhere and start taking long to publish.
@SE_JonF, [MENTION=33476]Aumaan Anubis[/MENTION], Thanks. :slight_smile:

As for performance, here’s a couple comparison screenshots (Tessellation is on in both)

Without directional light:

The major performance cost comes from the directional light which is the same case for every other UE4 project that has a movable directional light. That said, doesn’t mean everybody would have to use the movable directional light. You can bake the lighting and enjoy your +100 FPS experience.

At the same time you can turn Tessellation off and have a small performance boost.

With movable directional light:

Without directional light (as if lighting is baked):

Edit: The pictures having movable directional light are also with LPVs (G.I) active.

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Whats your ETA for submission?

And whats your spec/resolution for the performance test?

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Files are currently being uploaded. I’m not sure if it’ll pass the review at the first try. We’ll have to see what happens with that.
The screens above are at 1920x1080 resolution on a GTX 970, 4790K and 16GB RAM.
Btw textures are all 4K as well, we didn’t downsize them and let the user decided if they want to downsize anything and how much. Usually downsizing the texture to 1k-2k still has a good quality depending on what it is, but we let the buyer to do that if they want.

101

This would concern me a like too, I’m likely only going to only use two of the pack which I could have gotten for $20 bucks each, I buy a bundle for a much larger price. beautiful as they are and well worth it, it’s really hard to buy something and then a month after see one could have save 2/3rds of his cost.
If a package has items from Epic’s give away’s in it there NEEDS to be disclosure I feel and Epic should be on top of this they after all are taking money from these sales. Tho in saying that things like honor and integrity do not seem to fit in Corporate business models often times

OR the same assets at different views to make them look different I notice as an example on the Mega scans site the NEW Norse environment has a lot of assets that which make it hard not to know if they’er new assets or assets from other packs being resold, they look the same

I am NOT saying that any of this is happening here but I’d hate to get that feeling, seeing that I could have gotten “Arid Mountains” and feeling like “Island” and “Lowlands” maybe in time for $20 a piece and having spent $100/150 instead does NOT taste well. Its hard when one buys version 2 and finds it’s 2/3rds re-constituted version one with new textures, it hurts especially when we rate it, which helps with the ripoff if that’s what the seller has done. Things like honor and integrity need to be kept in the Market Place

At this point I’m still very very happy, I just would not like that to change and feel things where taking a turn I realize there is extra content comming and that’s a choice bonus,… thanks for your hrad work guys

KUDOS

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We started selling AL1 maps individually 1 year after we started selling them as a bundle. Just making it clear for the readers that we didn’t start selling the bundle and then a month later selling them as pieces. And the only reason we didn’t start selling the maps individually since the beginning was that the marketplace rules say each package should contain 5 pieces, and by our interpretation from that we released the package with 5 landscapes. We just found out very recently that we can submit packages with 1 landscape only and so we started doing it.

If someone is selling a rock pack and includes Epic’s rocks in that pack I would consider that a fraud. Or if someone is selling grass pack and includes the Kite Demo grass in it it’s again ripping people off because they’re charging money for what they didn’t create.
But if someone is selling for example a vehicle pack and also has the Kite Demo grass in it so the ground doesn’t look empty, that’s fine because they’re not selling the grass. They’re selling vehicles and using the grass to help the images. That’s not my words. That’s what the Marketplace team say.

Not sure about the megascans… but we haven’t rotated anything to make it look like there’s more assets. I will post our Technical Details below.

Technical Details:

PBR: Yes
LODs: Yes
Texture size: 4K
[5] Landscapes
[53] Meshes
[29] Materials
[73] Material Instances
[31] Material Functions
[119] Textures

Also to clarify we’re not going to submit AL2’s content individually, at least not until 2018.