Brutally honest post incoming. I can’t be bothered to read all posts above me and get depressed about it so forgive any repeated points.
In my honest artists opinion: The Unity-Linked Landscapes look better, by a very large margin. Being open to heavy criticism is something any developer should get used to so here’s mine: The one you posted looks like it’s straight out of World Machine with tiling textures and a bit of weather erosion (which let’s be honest, World Machine does all that hard work for us). Unity version looks more colourful, unique and useable, whereas I know I’d have to spend a lot of time with those other landscapes making them look good with more detail. I don’t really like slagging peoples work off, especially as I know how difficult it is to get to a good level, but unless you’re told, how do you know where to improve.
Frankly, posting these kind of assets (not just landscapes, it applies globally) that have virtually no re-use value whatsoever and nothing people can learn from is what kills the usefulness Marketplace, and what will stop you getting decent sales. Landscapes like these take less than half a day and precisely one copy of World Machine to create, and I can do whatever I want with and get something completely unique. That is, just my opinion and therefore shouldn’t be taken to heart - but for me, I wouldn’t buy anything on Marketplace that I could make myself with just a few hours work. Anybody who does is either (again, in my opinion):
- A) Lazy & has more cash-monies[SUP]tm[/SUP] than sense
- B) Doesn’t care about originality (acceptable for some people, cringe worthy for many others)
- C) Prototyping, and therefore doesn’t need to worry about the above.
The main I have with Marketplace is the voting. People usually post a thread first, and everybody who is one of the above expresses interest in it without actually thinking about it, and instead just trying to give themselves more options. Items should only be up there if there’s a genuine need or real desire for people to have them, or if they have real value. Can’t really get around that because everybody’s definition of value is different, so it’s a null point. Moving on…
Back OT: Marketplace prices are based on what the developer thinks that work is worth. Epic could police them a bit, but that will then prevent developers from using it at all, and they’ll sell it through their own websites. That results in less widely-available content and more insane prices. Seen plenty of that happen already. The thing is, if something is overpriced then don’t buy it… do it yourself. The developer of the content shoots themselves in the foot and doesn’t sell anything, and in turn you get a unique asset that you have 100% control over, and you bloody learn something too.
Just guys opinion / rant.
PEACE - And good luck to all devs with your sales.