Custom Character: What is expected from buyers?

Development Character & Animation
1

Hey all,

I searched but didn’t really find answers. I’ve been through the submission guidelines and i get that (for the most part :wink: )

My question is more about what buyers expect in a character package.

I’ve got a character, 2 LoD’s, diffuse and normal map (he’s cartoony), and a few anims (spawn, idle, run, death atm, plan to add more). I also have all this in a flying version. He’s also got a backpack that I could delete for variation and export all the same anims.

I’ve got the mesh, materials and anims imported and packaged per Market place guidelines.

Is this enough? Do I need to add character control (could be player or NPC) or is having the assets imported enough?

Appreciate any feedback .

2

37 views and no thoughts at all?

3

Why not actually post a picture and some definite specs? Your post gives no info at all. You hint at what this character might be but nothing seems definite. Doesn’t even seem like you know what it is yourself.

4

Sorry, I don’t see the point in showing a picture of the character.

I guess describing the content I have isn’t enough? I am not looking for feedback on the character himself.

Animated character with 2 lod’s, a diffuse map, a normal map (cartoony : ie: not a ton of shaders-spec-metal-etc…)
idle, idle_rare, walk, run, jump anims. Plan to add more. And I’ve got a folder structure like the market place guidelines said.

No info at all? What else is there to a character (other than maybe sounds/particles/skins)?

OK, more info…
lod_0: 3500 tris, 2048 diffuse and normal
lod_1: 3000 tris, 1024 diffuse and 512 normal (of course these textuire sizes may change… right now I’m just getting the workflow down)

He’s about 3 feet tall (1.5 meters), is not human but humanoid, has a tail. I also have everything in a winged version (also has tail). He has a backpack (messenger bag for flying model to get around wings).
He was modelled, sculpted and I baked normals, ao, and lightmaps.

Some anims are 150 frames, some less. He also has a t-pose, about 52 bones. He is skinned.

This is even MORE info and yet, none of this has to do with the question, which is basically the title of the thread.

No, my questions was:

Is it enough for buyers to have all the necessary files in a package?
**Or should I also include a controller **so they can run around in game, and or transfer an already controllable character into their game?

It’s fine though, I’ve worked through a tutorial and have him working with a player controller. I suppose that the more complete the package the better off it is.

Still curious why naming every single asset I have to include in a package makes you think I don’t know what I have in the package.

It’s like baking a cake and asking if you want me to cut it too, then you ask for the recipe (which I already posted) and a picture of cake so you can tell me whether or not it would be nice to have it cut for you because I obviously don’t know how to bake.

5

I personally would set up a proper character bp and a gamemode so that everybody can use the character from the beginning without creating those things. :slight_smile:

6

I would be happy with your package but more is better.

7

Ok, thanks guys. Will try and make complete package with ‘demo’ level.

8

The reason I asked for a picture is because most of the characters on the marketplace are unusable in a realistic situation. Everybody that has purchased one of those characters will ultimately make a game that looks just like somebody else’s game. Literally. Also, the quality of the character matters. There a a billion-jillion websites with free characters that will work just fine as well. Blendswap alone has thousands (ranging from low-poly game characters, Anime, and film ready characters) already rigged and ready to go, some even have animations. So, unless you’ve got an extremely high-quality, generic character with a full set of animations that is completely set up (so all I have to do is create other assets) it’s something of a waste.

9

Not sure a ‘demo’ level would be needed, it would be nice but not a deal-breaker to most people. The character should be “ready-to-go”, though. That means capable of moving without much difficulty in setting it up, or provided a tutorial on how-to. The animations should be already set up (which you seem to have a few already) for however you envision it to basically function. Walking, running, jumping, flying, swimming, etc. I don’t think you need to have it make phone calls and play a guitar, unless it is designed to do that (some characters come with guitars but have no way of actually using them, big letdown).

You mentioned that it has wings and a tail, do those also work? That’s something people look for when considering whether or not to get or use a character.

10

Hard question to answer as figuring out the buying habits of any given marketplace is magic and if you can figure it out you would have a billion dollar solution.

I figure though my buying habits is rather typical.

  1. Does the asset save me time from having to build it from scratch?

As the saying goes time is money so buying off the shelf as an impulse purchase usually involves items that are unique even though ubiquitous. The perfect 2X4 for under a dollar as amortized as part of a complete package is of more value than an asset easily identified as being considered a hero model sold to a mass marketplace. Would Tomb Raider be Tomb Raider if you could buy Lara Croft off the shelf?

  1. How much pre work will need to be done to make the asset game ready?

It’s rare to find a game ready “hero” model that does not need additional work and the more popular the asset the more difficult it is to hide. The Mixamo package for example is of excellent quality but unmodified would make your game a Mixamo game.

  1. How much does the asset cost?

Hard love wise lets face the facts that you will be selling to a community of developers that although “quality” assets will always be appreciated pricing your product to a community developing their own game born from love can not include the ideals that your product is of equal value by putting a price tag on your “asset” that exceeds what would be consider fair market value. Granted this is flame bait but most of the items in the market place exceeds the fair market for similar items by at least 3 times excluding the need for pre-prep.

  1. The sum of all the parts is more valuable than a single asset?

A bit hard to describe but in context if you are making a character with wings and a tail then if the two items were part of a kit and can be used as a component of a character model then by themselves would be of more value than a fully assembled character model.

  1. What value has been added that is secondary as to intended use?

A good example is the “Urban Construction Pack”. At first glance a typical environment package but the value of making all assets and prefabs available via blueprints exceeds the value of the art assets if sold as is.

To state once again these are my buying habits but in general as the baker of my own cake what I’m looking for are the ingredients that I can put into my own products and not so much what I can buy off the shelf as ready mix and it’s really up to the supplier to demonstrate how their “products” can be used.

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11

I hear ya, and I have thought about that before. It’s the reason I never put anything on the Unity marketplace. So I make a cartoon house, how many people want that house or does it fit the style?
However I also don’t want to create yet another anim for the marketplace.

Still, if Unreal limits market submissions to items that will only fit in EVERY project, then Unreal market place will never be used for anything than humanoid animations and realistic characters/vehicles. And ALL GAMES WILL LOOK THE SAME. There currently are a few packages on low poly monsters on the market, and they don’t fit the ‘standard content’ at all.

And submitting it can’t hurt. It’s either gets accepted or not, sells or not. But right now there isn’t much on the market place and I plan to continue to make assets that fit the same art style. If they aren’t accepted I am still working towards having the assets I would need to make a game if I get to that point.

But still, that has absolutely nothing to do with the question I asked. And whether or not it’s a ‘complete waste of time’ is really for me to decide and not you right? It’s not YOUR time so why do you care? I’ve looked at others posts of yours and I have to say quite a few were just as useless. If you don’t want to be helpful and answer the ASKED question, then it is a WASTE OF EVERYONE’S time, including yours.
So why bother?
Much less insult me and tell me I have no idea what I am talking about.

12

too late for multi quote :wink:

Thanks. I guess the bonus of the demo is that users could quickly import, or just tweak the character rather than going through all of the steps themselves. I just used the Unreal video series, so if they want to learn or tweak what I did they can reference those videos and go from there. I think I’ll go back and add comments to which video specific parts are from.
Right now it’s basically a boring room to run around in and a stair case for higher jumps.

If nothing else this is a good exercise in figuring out Unreal (I’m really liking it so far).

The tail and wings do work, but the winged version is a completely separate mesh. (same textures) This way you could have either a walking or flying character. Or possibly upgrade to flying mid game, etc… Possibly just having attachable wings would be a better way to go. Haven’t got that far yet.

13

Fair enough and thank you for the well thought out response.

14

There are no limits on the marketplace as far as characters are concerned. I’ve actually messaged the curator on the. He says that since you can’t fit every character type to the UE4 skeleton you are allowed to use any skeleton you want so long as you specify that it does not use the UE4 skeleton. I would, however, include some animations as a static character is useless.

15

really? You haven’t read a single post I made have you?

16

Hi , for years, I’ve been advocating for Modular, Interchangeable, Customizable Character Asset Packs in Online Marketplaces. As a Solo Game Dev with a deficit in the 3D Art Dept (and budget), I desire a means to pre-fab a large variety of pseudo-unique entities and support Player customization in my games.

Although my 3D arts skills are lacking, I’m a proficient programmer/scripter and started BP APP Gurus to develop BP-based Editor Applications to assemble customizable entities: Characters/Creature|Face|Body, Armor, Melee & Fire Weapons, Props|Furniture, Crafts/Vehicles/Machines/Hybrids, Level Architecture/Structures. I’m also the inventor of the ‘Collage Construction’ methodology](https://forums.unrealengine/showthread.php?55150-GOLEM-Entity-Construction-System).

BP Editor Apps coupled + 3D Asset Parts (visa versa) would provide Unreal Developers with a powerful content management system. Editor + Assets has been a winning business model for DAZ3D. They practically give away their Editor, generating continuous revenue from producing upgrades, base-models, wearables, and accessories 3d assets and materials packs/bundles. The monetization model is similar to Item Malls found in games. This is my inspiration.

I would be interested in collaboration. I’m seeking Art Vendors to continuously supply these Editor Applications with new high quality Modular Asset Parts, Parts Packs, other Bundles. Please Skype:techlord_on_skype or PM at your leisure. Look forward to a discussion. Thanks for reading.

17

@ As far as your original question goes I believe I did give you a valid answer. I asked for a picture of the character, which you still have not posted. That would be the first thing anyone would look at. That is also the most difficult thing to fix so posting that and getting a reaction would be far more useful than telling everyone what your character pack includes. Anybody can follow the youtube tutorials and create a character. Even Epic has stated that they will reject submissions that are just finished tutorials. How your character looks is the most important part of it all. A perfectly set up ‘Minecraft’ looking character is pointless and wastes EVERYBODY’S time. There would be solid character sets waiting to be reviewed while Epic wasted time just looking at it. As for the marketplace I was just pointing out that, as far as characters go, you can sell anything you want so long as it adds functionality. There USED to be a sort of rule that they had to work with the UE4 Mannequin but that is gone since not everyone has the ability to make a character like that and the fact that some characters just won’t fit that skeleton (like say a giant or a spider). As far as anything else goes it’s a good idea to include as many animations as possible. Otherwise what limitations are there? Any character should, in theory, work with any version of UE4 just like any static mesh would work with any version of UE4. Nobody ever said that a character had to fit into ‘every project’, in fact one of the first products was a pirate character. So your statement sounds insane. Adding any type of version specific functionality is crazy as new versions are released on a fairly regular basis. All you need is your locomotion. I would even go so far as to say that you don’t even need to set the characters up seeing as how the UE4 character doesn’t come with a huge comprehensive set up.

18

You’ve obviously got some issues dude so you can stop posting. leave it at that.

19

I’m not sure what to think of this thread.

I was kind of hopeful that it would give me some useful information, And I did learn some. But are there any FAQ’s or 3rd party websites anyone can recommend on this subject?

20

no need to get rude. He makes a valid argument…

I have a model, I have a skin for it, I have no picture of it, WANT TO BUY IT? <---- basically what your post is…

I wouldn’t buy anything from you because you don’t even show what your character pack has in it.
AND when someone asks about it you get rude with them…