I am working on a game that will require human characters with multiple armor/clothing options (medieval) and melee/ranged animation. I would like to leverage a base character skeleton/model that supports a large amount of 3rd party assets so that I don’t have to start completely from scratch. Just wondering what the best ecosystem might be? Unreal default skeleton+ asset store assets? Realusion’s pipeline/ecosystem? Something else? Again, I am biasing this choice towards a setup that would give me access to a lot of base assets that I could purchase and modify.
The UE4 default skeleton worked great for many years, and can be switched out with a ton of store assets. They mix with Mixamo characters as well, and very easily.
Sadly, the UE5 skeleton has a much more accurate bone structure when it comes to fine details in the digits or face. So if you would like your project future-proofed I would suggest using the UE5 skeleton, learning how to transfer from UE4 skeletons, and using store assets. There are some UE5-ready assets, but compared to the UE4 ones there’s still a very large difference in volume.
Alternatively, there is a plugin on the asset store that will convert your Mixamo skeleton/animations to the UE5 skeleton. Maybe that would be the route to go. Because you’re open to new products as they hit the market (including free ones), and you have the huge Mixamo database to pull from.