Is it possible to simplify models from Kitbash3d to be suitable for mobile?

hi.

posted this a few hours ago to World Building but didn’t get any nibbles. thought i might try here. i didn’t see any rules against cross-posting, but if i’m breaking such a rule, i’ll fix it, just let me know. – thx

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hi.

although this isn’t my first post in the forums, i’m mostly a lurker, who enjoys everyone’s helpful info. i’m stumped by this question, and thanks to everyone in advance to taking a look at my query.

for context, i’m a coder and writer working on an ambitious mobile game and i’d like some advice on using the prefab models from https://kitbash3d.com/. their stuff is on sale in the asset store and i was blown away by the level of craftsmanship they have put into their models. it’s clear these folks know how to make beautiful stuff, and i’d like to find a way to put their work into my game. if you haven’t seen it, you should have a gander here: Unity Asset Store - The Best Assets for Game Making

before you say it, i know this is a ridiculous request, but i’d like to explore it anyway.

i’ve done the work to convert their free sample from the built-in render pipeline to URP, and taken the step to test a scene with our mobile controller and runtime asset management code. it was clear from the tests that without a lot of simplification of the models and reduction of the size of the textures, this was a no-go. so i’d like to get a few opinions about how best to proceed. i figure i have the following options:

  • forget about it and find some mobile-ready assets that could look just as good;
  • hire someone to simplify the models and reduce the size of the textures and hope for an outcome that comes close to the originals; or
  • learn to do the model reductions myself, and put in the time to get what it is i want.

maybe there’s another option, but i’m not seeing it.

in my heart, i think i’ve eliminated #1, 'cause i’ve been looking for the last 18 months, and only now have i found something i felt i could really get excited about (kitbash). if #2 makes sense (can you even hire people to do this?), how do i go about finding someone with the right skills who can do the work reasonably quickly for a reasonable rate? if #3 makes more sense, should i attempt to do this kind of work in Blender or some other tool, and where can i find training for this kind of task?

any input would be appreciated.

thx.

My first instinct would be to fire up blender, decimate a good chunk of detail away from the mesh, and just use unity to size down the textures to a more reasonable level - perhaps controlled in game with settings so users can have “high” or “low” res textures. I’m a bit rusty these days, but you may or may not have to redo UV mapping after decimating.

hey.
thanks for the swift response.

so you’re recommending #3, and have given me some good details to start googling on.

i’d thought about reducing the textures in something like graphic convertor, but i really like the idea of giving the user the ability to increase the resolution. i’ll have to learn how to do UV mapping. is this something that can be done in Blender as well?

again, many thanks. i feel a bit better knowing that i’m not completely crazy.

@MD_Reptile – just another thank you for encouraging me to try my hand at solving the problem. i’d have spent a bunch of money unnecessarily, as it turns out that i’d misdiagnosed the problem. the problem wasn’t the vertices so much as it was the size of the textures, and Unity has a nice tool for resizing a texture, as an override during builds for Android. on my first try with the tool, i reduced the size of my Asset Bundles from 950MB to 50MB, and still got phenomenal image quality on the prefabs. runtime performance on the device was almost too zippy, which made me realize that i needed to perform a similar step on my built-in textures as well. again, many, many thanks.

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No problem, glad you got it sorted out!

First, read the kitbash3D licenses carefully before you buy anything from them. If you then want to create a game and release it, you need to buy Studio licenses. And I assure you that it is not cheap.
I was also horny about buying their assets at first, but after reading their licenses carefully and other people’s doubts, I gave up.

@cybersoft – thanks for head’s up. i actually did take a look at the license details and the EULA on the website, given your suggestion. however, i wasn’t able to find the specific legal language you mentioned. fearing that i’d missed something obvious, i reached out directly to KB3D to ask them about your statement.

they sent me a very nice email (Steve is pretty approachable there) to reaffirm what’s in the EULA. the only event that triggers your needing to pay for an additional, Non-Individual license, is adding even one more artist to your game dev team. if you’re an indie, with some developers but an art department of 1, then the Individual license is all you have to pay. straight from the horse’s mouth.

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The one-man studio is still a studio. Look at the AssetStore licenses of Kitbash3D.

Hobbyist, student, not staffed at a studio only!

Pretty sure the Asset Store terms doesn’t allow them to have a different license, so that’s only an issue if you buy it directly from them.

If they’re trying to run a different license than the one they’re supposed to on the Asset Store, somebody should complain to Unity.