I have a way of designing my products: they are parts which can be combined into a larger system. Call it a “modular framework”. People can choose which parts to buy to use in their own projects.
Instead of putting a single “game framework” up for sale for XXX euros that buyers might need 20% of for their specific project needs, they get access to reusable parts, saving time and money. This is in my opinion the best approach to designing the software.
Here’s the problem. I have 10 years invested into this engine and made a ton of such plugins to share with the community. FAB declines all of my product submissions because their “build pipeline” does not support one of my plugins referening another of my plugins as a dependency.
These first plugins I attempted to publish, all depend on the “Utility Plugin” and are declined for that reason:
“Declined” means, I don’t even get to access any of the content I wrote on the listings or adapt them, I only get the option to fully delete them from existence. I clarified my approach to FAB support and… 3. 2. 1. nothing.
Let me clarify why my modular design is of importance to you.
I built plugin “Custom Settings” which is a framework to control game settings and comes with a main menu UI of sliders and such widgets to control the settings in-game. It depends on “Utility” for a thin layer of access to engine methods (Slate), widget geometry, math and such. A common shared library. It also depends on “UI Additions” which are UMG components. It also depends on “Central UI” which makes it possible to centralize Slate widget styling to datatables.
Doesn’t that sound complex? It’s absolutely not. It means I separate my code into plugins which stick to their own function, so that they are incredibly easy to combine and reuse. In the above example, you’d be able to use centralized Slate styling separately from the UMG additions, separately from the main menu plugin, instead of getting them fed into a single plugin soup FAB encourages.
Now some users would only be interested in the Central UI, or the UI Additions, and not in larger systems like the Custom Settings. I want them to be able to purchase just one of them without being forced into buying the entire framework. There would be nothing “modular” about that if the end user is forced to buy and download the entire pack, only to find himself removing half he doesn’t need.
FAB forces me (and all of you) towards that direction. They don’t offer a different solution. You either publish a single product the size of Half Life or you can’t sell its individual features as plugins with dependencies on other listings.
I have put so much effort into work on this engine, all intentions to put some quality sh"t on the marketplace and restore at least some trust between buyer and that marketplace. how much do I need to lower my expectations? At this point, do I seriously need to launch my own webshop to release my plugins while there is FAB, the “successor”?
Listings out there are my motivation to post my own work. Because I want to share quality and with that restore some trust in the marketplace. Many listings out there are clearly stolen files, copyright violations, ai generated (and said not), contain viruses, and FAB just takes the sellers word for it that the seller’s listing is OK.
Meanwhile, me, who doesn’t wake up and decide to rip a DragonBallZ model and put it up for sale, I work 24 / 7 on stuff I love attempting even to perfect the code, splitting up code with separate purposes into separate plugins, gets kicked by FAB for just uploading it, because their “pipeline” chokes on it. Well FAB, take my word for it then as well, my code works.
I truly want to get this stuff (and much more than on screenshot) online to share it with you all, sell it to at least earn back some of the time spent. WTF is going on with the marketplace not supporting a modern approach? Is it time (already) to leave and go for an alternative? set up my own webshop, of have some of you already moved to popular alternatives? I can’t imagine this is the way it’s got to be in 2025.
Currently, I can’t share sh"t even for free on FAB, so I can’t be the only one being petrified by the stupidity of the marketplace design.