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I'm a former modder-turned-AAA designer who's been thinking of making some asset/systems for the UE marketplace, and I'm trying to gauge interest in a product idea I'm turning over in my head. I think most indie/small team UE devs have some experience with ALS4 and how convoluted it is. It seems like ever since it released back in 2020/2021 most smaller teams have tried to integrate it into their own projects with mixed results, and I'm thinking of making a more properly-coded and easily readable locomotion system with an emphasis on polish. Most of the other assets I've looked at on the marketplace are either way too big to be reasonably integrated into a project, very poorly set up/coding practices, or often both. But the biggest thing I've noticed is that almost none of them come close to even good-enough results in terms of making a character run around on screen; animations are janky, the controller itself can get into broken states with rapid fire movements, etc.. There's also little, if any, emphasis on a high quality camera system, which I believe is one of the most important complements to a locomotion system. Long story short, a system like this is something I would have really appreciated having when I was starting out, and I'm wondering if it might be worth being the change I want to see in the world, etc.
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Apr 24, 2024 18:03
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aardvaard posted:amyotrophic lateral sclerosis-4? Apologies, it's this: https://www.unrealengine.com/marketplace/en-US/product/advanced-locomotion-system-v1
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Apr 24, 2024 18:50
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jizzy sillage posted:I've had students ask about whether it's worth pursuing tool or asset production for UE/Unity marketplaces, and the answer is most commonly "no", followed by "it depends". I really appreciate the thoughtful response and perspective. quote:I think if you make a tool like that with the intent that it's an internal tool as a baseline for a game you want to make, and then you tidy it up, document the gently caress out of it, and release it, then it's fine. My primary job in the industry is writer and quest designer, but in my own projects I've found that I also really enjoy working on the "3C's" for a game as well. To your point: my most recent personal project feels especially solid in this regard, so that's what is making me think about doing as you said, cleaning it up, and possibly releasing this aspect of it for other people to use. quote:I wouldn't go this route if any of these apply: Absolutely not, LOL. quote:b. You're unwilling to provide a vast amount of technical support to an endless stream of wannabes This is a good point that makes me feel pretty 🥴 about the prospect of babysitting the next generation of MMO Crafting CEOs. quote:c. You actually want to make games, rather than tools for making games (or subsystems for games) I really do love making games, but sometimes I get burned out working either in a large, majorly structured studio setting, or else entirely on my own. Where's the middle ground.  quote:Also you need to strongly consider the price bracket you're aiming for. If it's cheap and easy to work with, you'll have a huge number of wannabe developers buying it and then asking endless questions about how to make Fortnite with it. If it's expensive and professional quality, you might not get many purchases, because pros will often roll their own bespoke solution. Also very good points. If I do this it would definitely be aimed at a more experienced/expensive audience. I've been thinking a primary pitch would be that the 3C's seem to be an overlooked aspect of the design for a lot of games (hell even larger AA titles), and since the controller and camera are one of the very first things a player will play around with/test once they get their hands on the game, it'd be worth having a solid foundation to expand on, without having to be an expert in any of those areas. quote:Having said all that, if you're doing this, take a look at Character Mover 2.0 and the new Motion Matching plugin, and write your asset to work with those (plus probably support for a more traditional AnimBP). I've been considering more of a full ABP approach, mostly because I think there's a lot that can be done with UE's technical animation/blending/IKR tools. And for sure motion matching is insanely powerful but almost feels like overkill for the more stylized/fast movement types that seem to be currently in style. quote:To compete or replace ALS, you'll also need a good library of locomotion animations you have a license for/quote]  You are living the (my) dream! Running around like a weirdo doing MM dance cards seems like an absurd amount of fun. Thank you for all the help, and for the head's up about general movement and character mover, as well. I will take a look there and see if there's anything I can do to make something more worth the while. I definitely haven't decided for sure yet if this would be worth the trouble, and hearing this kind of perspective is helpful.
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Apr 25, 2024 18:22
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jizzy sillage posted:I think the path there is to stay at the big company, make a few friends with a broad set of skills, discuss around the water cooler how you all want to make an indie game, and then all go do that together. Sorry, I should have been more clear, I recently quit the last studio I worked for and have been trying to decide what I want to do from here. At my first studio I actually did try to do what you suggested about talking about making a game together, etc. but people were absolutely terrified of that; this was a studio well known in the industry for having an airtight moonlighting/talent-sniping/don't-you-even-dare policy about literally anything other the work you were assigned, even on your own time and equipment. quote:Also helps if you have a significant other who supports you and can cover the financial necessities because gently caress if you'll make any money doing that for a few years lmao I am fortunately very lucky in this regard, plus I've saved up a lot from my previous career. I've seen enough to know that striking out on one's own is almost always a fool's errand, but to be honest AAA is in such bad shape these last few years that it was getting impossible to believe I could un-crush my soul if I didn't at least take a break. Where do you teach? I've always been interested in how game development and design is taught, but have never talked to anyone who's done it.
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Apr 26, 2024 14:59
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jizzy sillage posted:Teaching info This is all really interesting, thank you for sharing. Education in game dev and design has always been sort of a black box to me, but that's probably because I learned most things in the worst and most chaotic/brute force way possible, and it's difficult to imagine doing it in a structured manner. quote:they need to reach workforce with enough technical skill to fill a junior role and enough theory to be able to discuss the "why" of what they're building, and I'm not sure they always do. This is something I've seen a lot of as well, just from talking to aspiring designers and developers, and sometimes I wonder if most people even want to learn the why. Many I've talked to want to get into the industry but seem fundamentally incurious about how anything works (even on the level of individual systems) except for whatever theoretical idea is currently occupying their mind. The best people I've worked with, in this industry and others, are curious people who enjoy zooming out to get a look at the bigger picture, how and why everything works together--at least sometimes. Alterian posted:One of the more important skills you learn in a game dev program is how to learn. I majorly agree with this as well, and feel like it applies in almost any given profession but especially in gamedev. quote:Welcome to the wonderful world of tech art! You are the one that has to solve the problem! One thing I dislike about my career is that I've never gotten to work at a studio with a strong tech art department. I've been lucky to be able to talk to some of those guys/gals at Naughty Dog for awhile, and from everything I learned from them I could swear that good tech artists are the glue for so many disparate areas of a game.
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Apr 27, 2024 18:53
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