Character Creator 2D - Editor & runtime character customization

That's great, I'll try that out. Ideally I need to have 50 of these head shot portaits in a scrollview so not sure how badly the performance is going to get hit but I'll give this a shot

 

Hi @Roygon
Thanks for your support!
Unfortunately, we don't have a plan for that at the moment. If you want to give it a try, please go ahead. We'd be ecstatic to see additional add-ons from other people! And it seems like a common issue that people encounter when dealing with portraits and UI.

Hi @_Eyesgood_
Thanks so much for posting your solution here!
I'm sure it will help a lot of people encountering the same issue!

 

Any news about the new pack?

 

EyesGood, thanks for the post. It works beautifully! Here are some updated instructions that get you there as simply as possible for anyone wanting to do this:

• Add a RawImage component to a Canvas
• Create a Render Texture object in your project asset folder
• Add a Character Viewer off screen somewhere
• right click on the Character Viewer and add a Camera with projection set to Orthographic and Target Texture set to the Render Texture you created. Set the Z position of the camera to -10
• On the RawImage set the Texture to the Render Texture object

When you run it you should see the characters legs - adjust the camera (the one attached to the character) position and size and adjust the Raw Image size until you get what you want. I'm not sure what performance will be like if you have 50 of these character viewers, each with their own camera and render texture but I'll be finding out!

 

Hi,

I bought this asset a couple of months ago and I'm really pleased with it!
Thanks for the quality, the regular updates and the awesome communication here

I'm also really interested by the Daily Pack and looking forward to it!

I know it's not planned (and super complicated to do, since you'd have to do alternative version of all your anims) but it's too bad we don't have face/back option also, this would allow us to use this in 3d world / top down (without weird design hack )

Oh well, 5 stars anyway, you guys are awesome!

 

I picked up the Oriental Pack. Just to make sure, I deleted the base, then made sure I had latest, then reinstalled the base, then installed the Oriental. I see the assets in the folders, but they are not showing up in the creator UI. Is there something special I need to do to show the additional content? The same is a happening with the free Glasses. Thanks.

 

Hi @ATeam_Production
Sorry for the delay. It's already approved by the asset store and ready to go, we're just waiting for the current sale event from Unity to be over. It supposedly end on 16th, so it's coming real soon!

Hi @SuryaEU
Thanks for the support!
Yeah, unfortunately, 4 directions/top down won't be coming to this asset. If we do make it in the future, it has to be a new asset completely. That said, there are plenty of top down games that only using 2 directions character sprite, and I'd say they can get away with it!

Hi @_Eyesgood_
You'd need to run the menu "Window/Character Creator 2D/Create Character" again to refresh the parts.
Sorry for the confusion, maybe we should include this instruction somewhere.

 

DAILY LIFE PACK

Hi everyone,
Daily Life Pack is now live on the Asset Store!



VERSION 1.60

Also, the base Character Creator 2D is now updated to version 1.60!
What's new in this version:
- New category: Skirt
- New randomization option in UI

With the new skirt category, we've also updated the sci-fi and oriental pack with a few skirts to start with!

Update your assets now:
- Character Creator 2D
- Sci-Fi Pack
- Oriental Pack
- Daily Life Pack

 

Ok, I was selecting the creator scene from the Project and running it that way rather than using the menu option. Thank you for clearing that up for me.

 

What games do you have in mind? All the reference I have (Stardew Valley, all the Prison Architect/Rimworld genre, etc) use 4 directions character sprite for top down games. If you can give me some reference, I'll happily check those.
Thanks a lot

 

Hey, looking at your list I realized something. When I said top-down, I was thinking more of top-down action/shooter games. I guess it makes sense, for simulation/management games you'd need the characters to face the tools/building they're using. In any case, here are a few examples of top-down games with only 2 direction characters:
Nuclear Throne, Crashlands, Juicy Realm, Blazing Beaks

 

Ok, now that the Daily Life pack is done, I am sure you are drawing your attention to the Post/Apocalypse-Survival pack, right, with tons of torn, ripped, and dirty clothing? <hint>

 

Hi,
The daily Life pack - is really outstanding! Great Asset!
I have bought all your 2D Character packs, all of them are high value and additionally can be perfectly combined to fit in different settings. Thanks a lot for those high quality assets with regular updates! Please keep up this really outstanding work! Thanks!

 

Hey @_Eyesgood_
For sure, there's a small pack that we wanted to try out first before we tackle that one!

Thanks for the support @BBET ! Really appreciate it!

 

Hey everyone!
Just added a little update to Character Creator 2D!

v1.62
Added menu to refresh parts & Add-Ons

 

Hey there!
First of all this is a great asset, and I'm still trying to learn it and its limits.

One thing i'm still trying to figure out is the best way to create custom animations.
I've done a search on this thread and in one reply you mentioned you might write a a guide on how to create custom animations. Did you ever get around write it?

in case you haven't maybe you can share a few pointers? best case scenario would be able to use the prefab export with something like Anima2d, but maybe you got other ideas you can share?

 

Hi @TerryBell
Thanks for stopping by!

Unfortunately, I haven't got around to write a proper guide yet, thanks for the reminder!
In the meantime, I can share a quick step by step to achieve that.

• Save one character as prefab, can be just the default character
• Drag your prefab to a new scene
• In the inspector, click the 'Show Child' button. This will show all game objects in the hierarchy window. (you can also disable the 'Auto Hide Children' to make it easier)
• With the character selected in the hierarchy, open the Animation Window (Window/Animation)
• If you are not familiar with Unity Animation System, please check out the official manual from Unity: https://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/AnimationSection.html
• You can start editing or creating new animations
• Animate by modifying the location and rotation of any objects
• For best results and minimizing error, it's recommended to only animate objects with 'bone_' prefix on their name

To minimize dependencies, Character Creator 2D only uses the default Unity animation system.
And for the same reason, we don't use any kind of IK or helper for the animations.
You can certainly use something like Anima2D to help you animate, but you have to do some extra setups depending on the requirement of the tools you're planning to use.

I hope this answers your question!

 

May we ask what this small pack you afe working on is by any chance? ;-)

 

Hi everyone!
How's everyone doing?

Things have slowed down a bit due to current events. But here's a teaser for the upcoming pack:



Nobody asked for this, lol.
But it was something silly and fun that we want to try.

Stay safe, everyone!

 

Can you make some fur clothes to go with it? I think the guy on the right could pass for Bigfoot if he had something appropriate to wear! lol.

 

Hahaha awesome! I totally get a planet of the apes feel from the guy on the right.

 

Yes! That's exactly the plan, haha

 

One of the surprise creatures in my game is going to be a bigfoot. You have made my day!

 

yeah... Seriously... Just take my money now. Lol. This was the pack I never knew I needed so much of!

 

I think this will go great with the Post/Apocalypse-Survival pack! Still hoping you guys make that pack.

 

Hi, i need a Character Creator 2D but for isometric game, with 8 different diretion.
Can you help me?
Do you have a generator for this?

 

SaresITA, I have read where the developer has stated this asset will not be providing even 4 directional sprites, much less 8. It is to be 2 direction only.

 

Honestly, I wasn't expecting this kind of response. lol
Glad that you guys like it!

Might do a mini pack, there doesn't seem that high of demands for that. But I can see the benefits of this, and that it will expand the themes to larger audiences. We'll keep you all updated!

Hi @SaresITA
as @_Eyesgood_ said, Character Creator 2D can only create characters for 2 directions only.
There are some other assets in the Asset Store that provides 4 directions though, you might want to take a look at that.

 

I use Sci-Fi pack for my Cyberpunk Adventure Game mixed with the other themes. Your example with the Oriental Pack to have "Blade Runner" or "Star Wars" character style was a good example.

If you create a Post/Apocalypse-Survival pack, perhaps it could interest me.

@_Eyesgood_ What are you thinking about? Something like Fallout / Mad Max? Or something more like survivors in "Walking Dead" spirit ... then why not with zombies

 

"tons of torn, ripped, and dirty clothing" ... Ok I see.
Nothing I can use then.

 

My thoughts for a Post/Apocalypse-Survival pack include:

- Clothing that is torn, ripped, dirty. These can literally be modification of some of the existing clothing in other packs.
- Body parts that can show variations of wounds much like there are variations of tattoos now.
- Bigfoot, just because he certainly would have survived and it would be a great easter egg in any game.

My game is a survival game where the character starts out alone in a wilderness and must survive and eek out a living. Initially the character's clothes would be torn or tattered, but replaced over time through interactions and trade between native villages, etc. So, I am looking for clothing and character features that would compliment that scenario.

 

I said take my money now! LOL. Seriously looking forward to it.

 

The asset pack was released on itch. It must be coming soon here then.

 

Funny

 

Now that this seems released momentarily. Any chance of a super hero pack coming soon with super hero stances and animations?

 

I think for cyberpunk settings, you can fit just about everything into it. As long as you have the sci-fi pack. Even daily and fantasy pack can be combined with the sci-fi pack to produce interesting cyberpunk-ish characters.

Woah, you guys are quick!
Itch doesn't require review or verification, so it's pretty much instant. I have submitted to Asset Store as well, might take some time before it's approved and live.

As for what's next, we're currently experimenting with something right now. If it works, I'm sure a lot of you will benefit from it, and it will also open a lot more possibilities for the asset!
Can't say what it is right now, but we'll keep you all updated once we have more news to share!

While we can't get to them all at once, please keep the pack/theme suggestion coming!

 

[QUOTE="mochakingup, post: 5708224, member: 605596]

Woah, you guys are quick!
Itch doesn't require review or verification, so it's pretty much instant. I have submitted to Asset Store as well, might take some time before it's approved and live.

As for what's next, we're currently experimenting with something right now. If it works, I'm sure a lot of you will benefit from it, and it will also open a lot more possibilities for the asset!
[/QUOTE]

I said take my money!!! Lol, seriously cant wait. Have bought all your packs so far.

 

Really???

 

Hello there, I'm interested in your character editor, but I would like to know first if we can put our custom shaders on the character sprites ? I suppose there is already one on your own to be able to handle color swaps, but if I skip this part and use only the sprite swap system, is it enough to make my own shaders work ?

 

Hi @Razouille
You are correct! currently, it's using custom shaders to apply all the colors. You can technically do that, but please be aware that then the default parts won't be colored at all (the default sprites are all in grey).

 

Wow that was quick !
Indeed I checked the package content, so basically if I change directly the base sprites it should be fine for me, so I guess I have no excuse now to buy it ! Thank you for your help et keep up the good work, I will definitively stay tuned to future updates

 

This is very cool, and I'm excited to see more

I've attempted to add new armour and weapons per your guide, but can't get it to work.

Unity 2019.3.11f1

I've tried a gun and armour, I can see them in the custom tab, when I select them, they are just blank.

I've tried with and without a color mask, I've tried with and without the slight alpha.

I've tried restarting unity too, and nothing.

Here's some screenshots:

Https://imgur.com/a/uiQ1KxK

If you need any more info, please let me know.

Edit: the issue is that Unity is treating my images as a regular texture instead of a Sprite, so no image is being added into the Sprite array by your script, the issue comes about because your import script is looking for a texture, while your render script is looking for a Sprite, so either make them both use Sprite, both use texture, or make it covert the texture into a Sprite.

I'm still trying to figure out how to add a Sprite.

Edit2: I copied the png and meta file with it into a new directory, that now imports correctly, please update your documentation to mention to copy the meta file too so that your new image will also be a Sprite.

Edit3: I am now failing to create another Sprite :/ I don't understand what counts as a Sprite and what doesn't.

 

Hi @ash47

I wouldn't recommend copying meta files manually for any reason.
To turn your texture into a sprite, you need to select the asset and in the inspector change the 'Texture Type' to 'Sprite (2D and UI)'. (for more reference: https://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/Sprites.html)

Or you can switch your Unity project to 2D mode. In this mode, all textures that you put into the project will be set automatically to Sprite. To change between 2D and 3D mode, please follow the steps here: https://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/2DAnd3DModeSettings.html

This is a fair point though, and we'll update the documentation to make sure the texture is set to sprite.
Thanks for pointing that out!

 

ANIMAL COSTUME PACK

Hi everyone,
The Animal Costume pack is now live on the asset store!

 

@mochakingup

Hello.
Are there any plans to create an "hide" weapon animation? And slots "weapons at rest"?
When writing about slots - I mean a weapon by the belt (two slots on the sides) and one on the back (as in The Witcher)
Possibly two more slots next to the thighs for knives / guns, but this is probably too much I demand ...

 

Hey @Szaruga
Hide animations should be easy enough to make, but at what stances? Idle, walk, run?
if you want more flexibility, I think it's easier to unequip the weapons temporarily.
Sheathed weapon slot is an interesting idea, but might not be possible right now with our current setup.

 

Idle.

Yes, I know, but currently you have two states:

- no visible weapon - an appearance suggesting that the character isn't a warrior
- with a weapon held in hands - a posture suggesting aggression/combat readiness

Definitely there is a lack of a state where the weapon is visible (so it can be seen that it's a warrior), but it's attached to the belt or on the back (two-handed), so it's a peaceful state

 

Is it possible to have more than one skin detail? As far as i can tell you cant have a tattoo and dirt, is that correct?

 

Ahh, I think I may have misunderstood you.
I thought by hide animation, it means the exact same animation but with the weapons disabled. But that's not what you meant, right? This would require some overhaul, so I can't promise anything, maybe when there are enough people request it.

---

Hey @HarmonicAffinity
Unfortunately, that's not possible. We try to limit the amount of slots for performance reasons.
You can, however, combine any skin details you want using external image editor, then save it as a new part.

 

I'm looking at the files right now and I'm wondering how hard it will be to add that functionality myself. It looks like i'd need to add a new gameobject to the body for handling that, if i still use your custom shader. Something to think about for later.

Thanks for the speedy reply! great asset btw!