Marketplace Content - What would you like to see from the community?

Pine722 · November 13, 2019, 11:44pm

Updated list to reflect the marketplace a year later as it has almost been an entire year since my last in depth post:
I enjoy giving free advice because I have been around the game development community for years & when I have a to do so I enjoy observing what is going on in community and seeing it prosper. I have spent many hours over the course of years, researching and creating the following advice to assist the community when I’m able to do so. I’m aware that many may not realize how important it is for the community, including the marketplace to prosper for the advancement of entertainment & technology, even technology unrelated to entertainment, of all types. The success of the Unreal Engine marketplace **will **indirectly help to advance technology. Therefore most of my advice will be unbiased and focused on the point of view of advancement as a whole while taking into consideration many years worth of being part of community & having spoken to Marketplace Creators.

**What is needed in the marketplace & I’ve the research, I’ve been since 2015, I can guarantee as of the date of the post it is accurate!:

Marketplace Creator Tips:**

Tip: Create & market your goods towards indie developers instead of large professional teams. is where the majority of your customers will come from. An indie may be doing all parts of game development by themselves or with a few other people, may include models, textures, sounds, music, level design, programming, blueprints and more. You can reach more customers by losing the expectation that your customers have entire teams dedicated to implementing a difficult or frustrating product. They don’t want to have to rebuild lighting, fix your folder structure, rename your files, and any other number of issues that you should prepare for ahead of time. Technology & game development is constantly improving, and you should prepare your products for entry level developers who may not know enough already. (Don’t sacrifice the quality of the product, but means you may have to do more work to ensure an indie can use your product. However, your number of sales should in theory end up being higher if you took the extra time to do things an indie would need ahead of time.)
Tip: Make sure you create a proper file structure & that all your files are self contained in a single folder. (File structure is very important and many game developers will be dealing with many many files & folders, you will want to make things easier for them so they know what came from where!)
Tip: Make sure you choose a unique name for the folder your files will be in, to be sure, just add a number to the end of it. may not seem like a big deal but it is when your customers may end up overwriting important files because your folder is named the same as something else. (Example: “Big Island” folder is replacing another creator’s “Big Island” folder, therefore causing a huge problem.)
Tip: Keep a public list of updates you’ve made to your product that your customer can publicly access on a website at any time. (Unreal Engine does not currently have a good way of keeping track of which assets have been updated(Unless you have the cached files downloaded which takes up way to much space) & you generally don’t even know what the updates even were, so as a creator you need to keep your customers informed of what has changed and if they should bother updating or not.
Tip: Don’t just develop your content for Windows only, make sure your products work on other platforms as well such as Linux & Mac, will allow you to reach many more customers.
Tip: Bring your products to older versions of Unreal Engine, and not just the newest version. Many of your customers will be using older versions of the engine, generally the latest versions which are considered to be the most stable by the community, rather than considered as such by Epic Games. These potential customers won’t always be able to update to a new version without breaking their whole project for many legitimate reasons. means that if you don’t bring your products to an older version, they won’t have any use for your products at all. As of the time of writing post, Unreal Engine version 4.22.3 is considered the most stable version among the majority even though 4.23.1 is already out with many major unfixed bugs & 4.24.0 is almost released, which also seems to be looking like it may still be a very buggy release as much as 4.23.1 is.
Tip: Potential customers WILL read the comments left by others to see what problems they have encountered and if you’ve bothered to ever fix those problems in a way that fixes it for all of your current and future customers and not just the specific customer bringing the problem to your attention. The customer is always right in these situations, as much as it may pain you to concede on, if you disagree with your customers without attempting to fix their(Even if it seems like it’s not your problem to deal with) it WILL deter future customers. If you concede on early on before these situations ever occur, you will reap the benefits later because you will gain more net customers over time who are not deterred by negative comments since you end up fixing the issues that arise. The following will be an example of what NOT to do as a marketplace creator; Current Customer: Hello your product’s folders are such a mess why aren’t you organizing them better? Marketplace Creator: * isn’t my problem you need to figure it out on your own./I’ll take a look at it but I can’t guarantee anything… sorry, Maybe send me an email with your entire project and I’ll see if I can fix it for you. *These example scenarios would instantly lose a potential of at least 100 future customers who come across how you are doing business in a way that they would absolutely not like. 1. They want to know that the marketplace creator is going to guarantee that the problem is fixed and end up proving so, 2. and see proof that it was fixed in a reasonable amount of time, 3. not only fixed for the customer bringing the problem to your attention but to all of your current and future customers as well. 4 It is highly unreasonable to suggest to your customers to send their projects to you and potentially involves major legal issues depending on any contracts they’d be involved with in accordance to their projects. 's an example of how a marketplace creator should handle such a scenario; Current Customer: Hello your product’s folders are such a mess why aren’t you organizing them better? Marketplace Creator: *I will be taking a look at within the next 5 business days & will attempt to fix . If I’m not able to find or fix I will be replying to you in detail within the next 5 business days about why and ask that you send more more information about it. If I’m able to find the and fix it, I will be updating the product for all current and future customers to be able to download the fixed version of my product from the Epic Games Launcher. *Marketplace Creator: UPDATE: I was able to find and fix and have now submitted the fixed version of my product to Epic Games, it should be ready to download soon & I will update the description of my product to indicate the changes so that current customers are aware they need to download my product again. Thank you for bringing to my attention and if you ever find other issues with my products please let me know.
**Tip: **Packages combining more than one product at a significant discount will always end up selling more than individually priced items.

Art Related:

**Tip: **It’s all about doing what hasn’t already been .
Tip:* Do not put your name, logo or the name of your business on your models or textures! For instance you may be selling a model of a basketball that has the name of your business on it, and is a bad idea because your customers will not want their project associated with your or any other business’s name’s or logos. Many games often struggle with their customers remarking that they are using asset store products instead of creating their own and you don’t want to make situation worse than it already would be, as it will prevent potential customers from wanting to deal with such situations.*
**Tip: ***Make ****SURE ***to include individual meshes for EVERY object in your product. For instance you may be selling rocks, in which you have some which are all grouped together as a single mesh instead of also including a version where each different rock is a separate mesh. is commonly seen with trash objects as well, many marketplace creators tend to group all trash items together as one mesh, but they should also be including each individual trash object as it’s own separate mesh to give the customer the ability to decide how they want to place those objects. You should always include a separate individual mesh for every object, so if you are selling different rocks, you need to also include each different rock as it’s own separate mesh so the customer can use them as they’d want to instead of the way you might have grouped them together.

Interior AND exterior, large spaceships(enterable spaceships) with multiple traversable rooms, all in one. A year later and we’re still lacking .
Very tall(Skyscrapers, apartment complexes, cityscapes etc), large, highly detailed, enterable buildings that are not simply exteriors/facades. Still seems impossible to find them even a year later. (You will notice there is a lack of these, I don’t think I was able to find even one high rise building that was high quality & both exterior/interior.)(They don’t necessarily need furniture in them, so don’t worry about furnishing them if the task seems difficult!)
More high quality accessories for character models. Like glasses, earrings, jewelry etc. Especially sci fi tech.
More models/meshes with moving/moveable parts. For instance doors & drawers can open. Propellers spin. Knobs can turn. Blinds can open/shut. Leaves can bend.
Even though there are already things available from some of these themes, having more options would be great & I know there are many people interested in having more from the following popular themes/genres: Grunge, Retro, Art Deco, Post Apocalyptic, Antique, Survival, Abandoned, Synthwave/Vaporwave, Cyberpunk, Jungle, Futuristic & Sci Fi. Perhaps even some environments that combine some of these themes for instance an abandoned building full of retro items in a sci fi jungle. A good artist will find a way to combine these popular, sought after themes.
There’s a total and complete lack of surreal environments & props. These would be highly sought after as well. What type of environment would Salvador Dali make? A year later and we’re still lacking .
More Fantasy landscapes, for instance types of different colored, different materials fantasy flowing liquids on a landscape, new types of different colored fantasy plants, new types of fantasy land/rocks/dirt etc. We need more ideas such as naturally floating plants, types of lava or other liquids/materials flowing out of plants, landscapes based on different types of gravity, landscapes based inside of different substances(for instance we have many landscapes based in oxygen, outerspace or water, but what other substances or fantasy substances could new landscapes be made in? For instance what would a landscape fully immersed in fantasy “mana” look like? Or a realistic planet where somehow things thrived fully within lava without burning up? How about a landscape fully submerged in ectoplasm?
More types of animated fantasy creature models.

Audio Related:

Text to speech systems/audio. A year later and we’re still lacking . Must work on both Windows & Linux. (Be able to type text lines in the details tab(NPC lines) and have the text sound like an actual real voice when speaking to a non player character.)
VOIP. Voice Over IP system that works on Linux & is able to be self hosted. (Encrypted & player’s IP protection is a bonus.)
Music creation tools in the editor.

Code Related:

**Tip: **It’s all about that replication & procedural generation, & doing it better than anyone else.
Tip***: *Making sure your code & blueprint products work with other’s code & blueprint products is a major secret to success, go the extra mile to show your customers how to integrate your product with other products. Don’t let potential future customers think to themselves ‘I already have some blueprint or plugin systems from the marketplace set up, & I don’t know how to integrate it with product or I don’t have time to figure out how to so I’m going to pass on getting new blueprint or plugin from the marketplace’ Instead you want them to think, ‘wow, looks really easy to implement with the systems I already have, they’ve made it so easy to understand how to implement it with what I already have!’

More replicated voxel options, I currently only see one on the marketplace itself, which lacks to many features. A year later and we’re still lacking .(I’m aware of the two that are not on the marketplace.)
Replicated Virtual Reality System & Interface that works on Linux.
Replicated Web Browser that works on Linux & can be used in a virtual reality system.
More MMO(Massively Multiplayer Online) options, as far as I know there are currently no MMO options on the marketplace at all. A year later and we’re still lacking . (Apparently there are 1-2 that are not on the marketplace, nor are they what many are looking for in an MMO system)
Replicated system to be able to upload/import models, textures & audio during runtime, on Linux.
Replicated system to be able to edit meshes, textures & audio during runtime, on Linux.
Any blueprint/code features that haven’t been multiplayer network replicated on the marketplace yet, there’s still quite a few that haven’t been!
Any blueprint/code features that haven’t been brought to Linux yet. There’s a TON that are Windows only, so if you think that all the blueprints & plugins etc were created already, then think again you still have a to port similar features to more platforms!
Repurposed blueprints/plugins with better support/features. Many sellers on the marketplace don’t update their products, add new features or fix bugs, means you have many opportunities to do it better. One simple way to check is to look at product’s comments sections, reviews and legacy comments to see if their customers were not satisfied or had unanswered questions, is a huge opportunity to gain new customers by offering the services & products that competitor would not.
More magic/spells multiplayer network replicated systems.
Even more intuitive blueprints for ease of use of those who aren’t proficient with coding. (An advanced system that people can’t figure out how to use is not worth much to anyone.)
More ways to procedurally generate high quality models & textures.
Replicated action based skills system that has experience bars and levels for each individual skill instead of a single experience bar and overall skill level. (Example: Chopping a tree gives woodcutting experience, and gaining enough experience gives you a level to woodcutting.)
Replicated multiplayer world extension system that works on Windows & Linux, that would allow you to create a multiplayer open world game in a real life sized, galaxy sized world with multiple planets. It’s currently only possible to do in single player games & is not possible to do in multiplayer games, due to lack of floating point precision in the engine, so if someone was able to make possible for multiplayer games, that’d go a very long way, in fact would be such a huge business opportunity for anyone who is able to do it, you’d likely end up with thousands of sales, because it is a that many games need at a foundational level.
Replicated water features of swimming, diving, currents, splashing, floating npcs, players & meshes.
Replicated Volume based gravity system. Place volume boxes of any size in your level, and adjust the gravity within that volume box in its detail’s tab. Example: Two players enter a room with a sudden gravity change due to entering the gravity volume and start to float upward.
Replicated magnetic pickups. For instance you smash a container with a weapon and gems drop out of it, which if you walk within 5 feet of them, they all fly into your player character which obtains them in their inventory.
Porting plugins to blueprints. Although plugins may offer better performance in some cases, in terms of ease of use however plugins are generally more of a hassle to deal with and cause many more incompatibilities than blueprints, therefore finding ways of porting any plugin products to blueprints will always be a way to make more customers. Finding a way for your individual customers to decide between using a plugin or blueprint version of your product would be the most ideal.

Feel free to contact me, I’m always willing to give advice on future products or even current products, be aware that I am straightforward so you should be able to take criticism even on a bad product or bad idea.