I was looking for some advice on how to prepare a ninja model so it is a good fit for the asset store. I want to avoid doing work that hurts compatibility. In the past I have connected characters to the humanoid system, but I haven’t done much beyond that. I have some animation experience, but would like to avoid doing a full set.
Some of the tricky parts include:
-Cloth effect for hanging cloth
-Physics for bones on belt flaps
-Lots of weapons to equip/hold/throw/etc. Do these need custom animations?
-Morph targets are used for all head expressions. Best to rig eyelids and jaw?
-Morph targets are used to avoid clipping for the shirt and mask. The under layer is shrunk, and the over layer covers it. Should I make multiple versions with deleted under-layers?
-How to handle equipping the character with clothing and armor. Just use individual objects for each part and let the user hide them?
Any advice on what to include and skip would be helpful. I’ve worked with 3D model shops, but I’m new to game engine asset stores. Thanks
Good to know your realm of knowledge. If animation isn’t a strong suite don’t include animations in your character pack. It will only reduce the quality of the model pack.
With that said - if the character is not humanoid rig compatible - animations will be required for the character to be accepted into the asset store. So best to make sure the character conforms to humanoid rig - as you mentioned.
-Cloth effect for hanging cloth
This is either done using built in physics, custom joint set up or as an animation cycle to match the character animations.
This would require avatar masks and animation layers if set up as animation layers. Cloth physics and custom joint set up to work with humanoid will require extensive research. -Physics for bones on belt flaps
Same as above - but if the belt flap is short (3-4 bones only) consider bones and animation instead. Will require avatar mask and animation layers as mentioned above. -Lots of weapons to equip/hold/throw/etc. Do these need custom animations?
No include the weapons as separate objects in the pack. Asset buyers will set these up themselves. -Morph targets are used for all head expressions. Best to rig eyelids and jaw?
Unity supports this out of the box but research to include it with humanoid rig. I would either go 100% rig with eyelids and jaw or rig jaw only with everything else morphs, with eyelids as unique morph targets. My own personal preference with characters - no other reason. -Morph targets are used to avoid clipping for the shirt and mask. The under layer is shrunk, and the over layer covers it. Should I make multiple versions with deleted under-layers?
These morph targets will be a problem for the customers because they will be using custom animations. Deleted under-layer versions is kind of - last generation, but could be done. Clipping is an issues with custom clothing, but can be rectified with control bones, however this complicates the set up for humanoid and would not work 100% out of the box for the customers who are using mocap or custom humanoid animations.
The best set up for the customer would be to clean up the skinning in the areas that clip and remove any corrective morphs from the character.
There was a werewolf/van helsing look alike character in the asset store. The character is high quality - I think he may have used some custom morph fixes for the swapping of pieces, but the asset provider did not know entirely how the system worked, so the support for that character isn’t great, some unhappy customers. Consider researching that character to see if a corrective morph approach is a workable solution, but be prepared to provide support to customers who require aid with the setup. -How to handle equipping the character with clothing and armor. Just use individual objects for each part and let the user hide them?
That is one way to handle it, but not the best way. Consider letting the customer ‘equip’ the clothing and armor how they want to, OR reference other character system found in the asset store and provide a similar system that is best for the customers. There are multiple ways to accomplish this - one of the best ways is usually done with custom scripts from a programmer who pulls the accessories/clothing from a pool of meshes - to use the same rig and animations. This system setup is beyond the scope of this discussion. Also check out UMA for some helpful reference.