Any interest in quality SciFi characters? [Screenshots included]

[Jezcentral]

I’ve got to echo franktech. I would buy this pack just to look at the tech behind the customisation. The fact that it comes with art assets would be a bonus.

[SaviorNT]

@FrankieV;201929

Ah OK gotcha.

Sure always room for more stuff but I still think the initial pricing is outside of the current fair market pricing for similar items already available that are far less expensive.

Example.

Space Hunter for Genesis 2 Male(s) | Daz 3D

Not to be discouraging but it’s not how good it looks, sorry your not selling art, but how many units you can sell in bulk.

As part of your marketing plan you might want to see what it takes to be a merchant on Daz3d’s market place as it is rather massive as compared to Epics. For that matter some of the products you are current selling on the market place could be sold over at Daz with a bit of repackaging.

The main concern with using Daz3D as a character modeling program is the fact that there is a $500 license fee for use in Indie game development, and this only allows use of items created by Daz3D. You still need to purchase those characters as well. There are a couple of other content providers for Daz3D, and they are all $500 license fees.

You can only imagine what the end costs would be. Not too mention that these are not “Game-Ready” models, as they still need to be decimated, which can cause issues with the texture layouts. It turns out to be a bloody nightmare… if you want to do it right.

[anonymous_user_2a09f2b7]

Also can be nice with Interchangeable parts for a customizable light and heavy mecha armor with helmets, bracelets, boots, jetpacks…

The main concern with using Daz3D as a character modeling program is the fact that there is a $500 license fee for use in Indie game development, and this only allows use of items created by Daz3D. You still need to purchase those characters as well. There are a couple of other content providers for Daz3D, and they are all $500 license fees.

You can only imagine what the end costs would be. Not too mention that these are not “Game-Ready” models, as they still need to be decimated, which can cause issues with the texture layouts. It turns out to be a bloody nightmare… if you want to do it right.

PS.: A good artist only needs a very simple low poly base

[SE_JonF]

@franktech;310420

• Interesting discussion… The challenge here is that meshes and textures can be highly-customized and placed in scenes in such a way that they’re a vast departure from your original work. Whereas characters well, they’re just a hell of a lot harder for us to customize. There’s custom anims, custom modular-skinning and a clever way to handle face and hand details without resorting to visors and gloves [yawn]. If you can solve that by including tools to help us customize the characters you’ve designed, so that we can use them without fearing we’re all making the same-game-clone, then that would be something. Because even in FPS, the look of a game is inherently tied to the look of the characters…

• I don’t want to blow steam here, but that the kind of tool that would be worth paying a lot for. I’m talking here about at least several hundred dollars worth, because you know you’re not just getting something that’s already in hundreds of other UE4 games… You’re getting something that can be reused and be still quite unique, the kind of thing that usually you have to wait for a custom modeler to do, and only after fully-understanding the requirements… Am I asking for the world here? Probably…

• There’s also a vast need for more cars (GT-Exotics, Detroit-Prototypes, WRC) and many other vehicles including aircraft and spaceships. The marketplace is dead right-now in this regard. The Asset Store even with all its faults is a vast library of possibilities. I’d also like to see Chinese Assets along the lines of the game here and Italian / French town environments like in the film Ronin (1998)… But as always SE_JonF, good luck with whatever you decide!

Agreed, that was the issue that was raised when this thread was initially conceived. Again, nothing is set in stone - but if I were to go through with characters I would want to make sure that I can meet a high standard of modularity and customization so as to avoid the clone issue. Things like that take time, and careful planning but would be worth the quality. Vehicles are something I hope to be able to bring to the Modular SciFi series in the future. Spaceships would be another cool addition. Working in other styles is something I’m excited to do in the future as well. I appreciate your input in this matter Franktech, thanks!

@ShadowKindGames;310689

Yeah, I’d buy them as long as you don’t mind them being re-sculpted and re-skinned?

Decent base models are hard to come by, which maybe not your intention for use as such. So for me the biggest factors would be the quality of textures / .SBAR files and base mesh integrity that can be turned into whatever else.

I think that would fall within the use of the license agreement, so long as you are using it in UE4. Anyone feel free to correct me if I’m wrong though.

@;310717

I’ve got to echo franktech. I would buy this pack just to look at the tech behind the customisation. The fact that it comes with art assets would be a bonus.

I have to look into how I would do that. Character design/modeling is something I’ve been doing for a bit, but implementing them into UE4 and further setting up the customization menus is something I would have to research.

Thank you all for your feedback, I truly appreciate it! =)

[BarisT]

SE_JonF, I think you are a very talented artist, you should keep providing content for marketplace, in different forms, be it meshes or npc characters.

[SE_JonF]

Thank you BarisT, that is the plan. =)

[n00854180t]

@SE_JonF - If these characters have mouth and eye bones and a separate upper/lower jaw they’d be a must-buy for me. I have a VR audiobook player and scifi narrator characters without a helmet are hard to come by, but I personally need to have a separate/openable mouth (for lip sync).

[SE_JonF]

Does the epic skeleton include those? I’m not really an animator/rigger. Character design for me had always been confined to the design, and setting up materials/textures. I may even look into the possibility of enlisting aid for characters, to handle the animation/rigging side of things.

[FreemanCIT]

hi, just to bring my 2-cents.
I am exactly looking for this kind of assets. I target prototype or preproduction phase, and I choose a modular approach to level design.
With your pack, in this price range, it fits my needs and beyond : it’s modular and I feel that I get production-grade assets (or near to it), which make a prototype far more convincing, without exploding my budget.

Regards,

[SE_JonF]

Hey FreemanCIT, glad to see the packs are suitable to your needs! =)

[SaviorNT]

@lunyBunny;310817

PS.: A good artist only needs a very simple low poly base

You could be the best artist in the world, but time is money. I could create some good models (I think), but… I would like to release a game at some point this year I only have 2-3 hours a day to work on the game :S

[JoeWintergreen]

Your proposed price is extremely reasonable, anybody who says otherwise is likely to be speaking from a place of inexperience.

[SE_JonF]

@franktech;312824

• No worries, cheers for listening.

• As long as there’s basic rigging and animations I’m still game!

• Have you seen any of CobaltUDK’s work here? This is UDK and the properties would be different for Sci-Fi obviously, but its a neat system…

Anytime, I enjoy talking to you all about feedback! Were I to do this, it would definitely be rigged to the epic skeleton. I used to follow Cobalts work on UDK, definitely inspiration for what I could do in terms of customization. =)

@JoeWintergreen;313007

Your proposed price is extremely reasonable, anybody who says otherwise is likely to be speaking from a place of inexperience.

Thanks. I try to be as reasonable as I can with my pricing without underselling the work. Characters take quite some time, especially for the quality I would be striving for. =)

[anonymous_user_2a09f2b7]

@;309819

… So why Unreal 3rd party artists are so keen on making scifi?

… games like Bloodborne, Darksouls, The Evil Within, The Order: 1886…Resident Evil’s…Outlast, Daylight, Until Dawn, The Forest… List keep going.

So is there a possible that we could see your amazing work in other type of environments. Space is so old and we saw that in Atari

If the specialty is Sci-Fi, then it should continue sci-fi. Why not, gothic/medieval sci-fi, steampunk sci-fi, cyberpunk sci-fi, HR Giger’s tribute sci-fi, post apocaliptic alternative sci-fi world, alien world/ship sci-fi, old movie sci-fi aka Dr. Frankenstein’s laboratory…

@SaviorNT;312834

You could be the best artist in the world, but time is money. I could create some good models (I think), but… I would like to release a game at some point this year I only have 2-3 hours a day to work on the game :S

Give me a few hours, with a “simple base mesh” (an anatomically correct lowpoly model) I can create an entirely original UVed character. And this is only one approach.

But of course. As you said, coadjuvants and casual NPCs, ready to use may even come in handy, but in first place should allow to be possible to easily converting it to something unique.

:3

[Jezcentral]

Is it just me, or would a properly rigged example of what SE_JonF is aiming for actually be a working character creator?

[SE_JonF]

I don’t know of I would call it a character creator, more a highly modifiable set of armor. =)