Fleet Database and answers to some FAQ

This thread has the purpose to answer some of the most common questions about my models/packs (available here: https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/en/#!publisher/1611). You can ofc also post your own questions; I’ll try to answer them as best as I can.




Can we buy packs directly from you with a discount?

No, I don’t have my own shop and also don’t sell directly. Reason is that if I do so I would have to deal with collecting VAT and submitting it to my financial authorities - something I'm not keen of. Besides that the asset store publisher agreement doesn’t allow selling assets for less than on the asset store.


Can you make a bundle of all your weapons/ships/etc. and sell it with a discount on the asset store then?

Yes bundle packs are available on the asset store. Search for the "Mega Packs". Each bundle has a 25% discount.

I bought something but it didn’t download/imports with errors/something is missing. Please help.

If there are download related problems you should contact the asset store. It’s not that I don’t want to help you but more so that I can’t do much about it. I have no access to any functionality of the asset store besides uploading/managing my packages. Nonetheless here are a few suggestions that may help (no guarantee that it will help):

- Oldest and often best advice ever: restart your PC and try again.

- Upgrade to the newest Unity version.

- Be sure you have enough free disk space.

- Re-download from the asset store the right way. If you have downloaded something from the asset store it is stored on your hard drive and will always be imported from there into your projects. If you open the asset store inside the unity editor and go to an already downloaded product it will say “import” and not “download”. This means if your first download was somehow corrupted, unity will always import the damaged package from your hard drive and not re-download it from the asset store itself.

Unity stores everything that was downloaded in User/AppData/Roaming/Unity/Asset Store. And unity 5 uses a slightly other path:.../Asset Store-5x (at least on Win7, can’t say how it is on Win8).

Open these folders and delete the downloaded packages (save the packs somewhere else, just in case). Now re-download from the asset store.

- Some of the files are already in your project. I had once a case that a customer had models missing from a pack if he imported it into his project yet if the pack was imported into a fresh project everything was fine.

The Problem was that he had models from another source already in his main project that are named the same way (this was purely by coincidence). So every time my pack was imported Unity thought that these models are already in the project – and didn’t import them.

To solve this problem you can rename the conflicting files and folders (all of them) in your project, e.g. by putting a “1” behind all. This will change the meta files and should solve the conflict. Now import the pack again.


Can your ships be used in a space fighter sim (e.g. like star citizen/wing comander etc.) ?

I DON’T RECOMMEND using my ships if you plan to make a space fighter game where the player sits inside the cockpit of a small fighter and can fly close to the capital ships (first person view). If the camera comes too close the texture will start to look blurry. Also the ships aren’t detailed enough for that.

You probably want details like in a star wars movie where a small fighter flies over the hull of a kilometer long spaceship and you can see details of the capital ship hull everywhere, right? If you want that level of detail then DON’T buy my ships because they are made in a way that doesn’t support such a close up view.

Their intended purpose as stated in each product description is real time or turn based space RTS games (like e.g. homeworld), sidescroller or top down games.


Can you make some sort of fleet comparison pics that shows the ships in relation to each other?

Yes, I can and I have – look at the pics below. I used the capital ships (battleship, carrier) as a benchmark with 2 unity units in length. I choose this scale because a larger scale usually means larger distances (e.g. movement) and this can lead to floating point problems when it comes to programming – at least I was told so.

In any case the scale can always be changed, e.g. you want the fighters to be bigger – no problem, simply scale them up. You don’t have to use the scale/size relation I gave them.

 

Just wanted to the pirates collection looks great! I'm digging the texture scheme!

Here's a question though. Do you do commissions? So far we've been using your asset store props for prototyping but sooner or later we'll need unique go to market assets. I would think commissions wouldn't be against the publisher agreement as long as it's original work.

 

Replied via PM.

 

Screenshot with all pirate fleet ships to scale? my next collection when I can scrounge up enough $$

 

Will come soon. I think I'll add some resource ships first.

 

I keep checking your Facebook page and asset store to see if you have new previews of Resource Ships... Like twice a day! I think I'm addicted!

Keep up awesome work! Looking forward to next packs!!!

 

Thx. It will most likely come next week. Must concentrate on updating the existing stuff atm.

 

Overview pics for the pirate fleet.

 

You really should create a proper website. I never buy an asset that when I click on the Publisher's Website link it takes me to twitter or Facebook. It shows lack of professionalism, a possibility of no support, or of a shyster who can just pick up and run from problems.

 

Tokyo, let me assure you: MSGDIs work speaks for itself. I've already purchased almost every model he's put on the asset store, and the quality is top notch. He also responds very quickly to any questions on the forums, and is very receptive to requests. I've requested a few unique models over time and MSGDI has come through well above and beyond my expectations. Just look at this massive collection on this page and you can see the styling and sheer volume of models to populate any massive space armada of ships.

[edited]. TokyoDan, definitely if you're working on a space game, pick up MSGDIs Carrier & Fighters pack as a sample (the price can't be beat). You'll soon become addicted to this collection and want more.

 

That's good to know. Thanks.

BTW. I wasn't accusing MSGDI of anything. I was just giving some advice and letting him know what kind of thoughts and feelings a service who's website is twitter or Facebook makes me have (and I know I'm not the only one who feels that way. I'm not that unique).

Of course there are always exceptions and I guess due to your testimony, MSGDI must be one.

 

Well. I'm an artist not a programer. I don't have the skills to make a website. I also don't see the necesity to have my own website for the sole purpose of showcasing (portfolio). If I have new releases I would put up the news on my website - same as I do now on FB.

Also the asset store itself is kind of a portfolio. You have preview pics for every product and in most cases a webplayer that shows the model(s) in unity - so you can always see how they look in-game. If I had a website I would place the same preview pics/webplayer there.

Finally if you have any concerns or pre-purchase question just drop me a line on the forums or FB or per email. Will do my best to help you along.

 

I am sorry as coming off as such an ass. I can see now that you are a professional serious designer. I guess I had a knee-jerk reaction. I first saw your asset on Facebook (if I remember correctly), clicked it and was taken to the Unity asset store as I expected and desired. Then, as I always do, I clicked on the Publisher's Website URL and was taken back to Facebook. This annoyed me instantly. This is my litmus test to see if the asset is being sold by a serious person or some fly-by-night 'publisher' from which I can expect no support. I should have read your Unity Forum posts to see that you do indeed give good support. I guess I am just conditioned to think that way by the state of things these days. e.g. the hundreds of cloned/copied games with no website (or at best a farce of a website) to promote their cloned junk.

So if you desire, so as not to bring suspicion upon your reputation, I'll delete my post that started this issue.

 

No need to delete anything. I wasn't offended. In fact this answers the question why I don't have a website in case others had the same question.

 

Excellent assets! Thanks for posting so many well-designed ships; found them when looking for Spaceships (obviously).

1. Do you have your textures in a larger base format (i.e. vector graphics, or higher resolution?) I wouldn't need more details, as I love the blocky aesthetic of the ships. It fits very well what I had in mind in a project I'm currently budgeting.

I'm asking because I am trying to improve the crispness of the larger ships' textures compared to those of smaller ones. I will mitiFor a 3rd person space game somewhere between X3TC, Homeworld and Freelancer, I'm scoping out my options, and I need better resolution source material for that.

(some might add greebles in a detail map, but I'd rather see mostly smooth faces, maybe even flat shaded, the way you color your ships makes them good candidates for a multi texture shader idea I have)

My ideas might require some additional texture processing for certain color channels, hence the question for the "base material".

2. Re: Commissions, I might be interested in some custom weapons. What are your rates, if applicable?

3. Last, but not least, are you planning on adding more small or medium size spaceships?

 

1. Unfortunately no. Larger Textures are not available. I also think that it wouldn't give you the result you're looking for. The reason is that the size difference between smallest and largest ship is most likely still too much. If you fly a small one man fighter in 1st or 3rd person view close to a very large capital ship the capital ship texture will still start to get blurry even if you use a 4096 or a 8192 resolution.

The best solution would be to reduce the size of the capital ships even if the scale relation to a small fighter is off then but this will increase the texture sharpness if a small ship comes close to a big one.

2. Answered via PM.

3. Not at the moment, there are plenty of fighters, bombers, corvettes and frigates available now. But will add some new races (factions) in the near future.

I also have a "Fighter+Corvette Construction Kit" available. With that you can kitbash dozens of different looking small crafts.

 

Thanks for your reply. I already got the construction Kit to see where that gets me in terms of customizability. Still in prototyping, and I think your great assets will last me a long time.

I think the dreadnoughts and large stations are a bit over the top in terms of scale , so it was more about everything up to carrier level. I'll do some R&D about how to deal with texture pixelation myself, but I can do this much later, probably in Alpha or Beta.

Keep it up, your work is greatly appreciated.

 

Yeah you can simply scale stations and dreadnoughts smaller. Scaling things smaller will always help in terms of texture pixelation. The other big factor is: how close will your camera come to the objects. If somehow possible keep the camera away from objects and there's no blurryness.

 

Can't wait to see the Thaalian Fleet set here in perspective! I have to admit, I "sneak peeked" at the full range of models already in this set (the webplayer previews, I can usually guess the standard class ships URLs by naming convention ), and love the style! Especially the destroyer and fighters!

Is there a chance you might do a "50% off sale" anytime soon? I'm dying to pick up the entire set of Pirate and Thaalian fleets, but altogether, the total price is outside my pocket right now...

BEAUTIFUL models, MSGDI! They'll all look good together, the different styles compliment each other as faction based fleets!

 

Glad you like them.

Srry but I don't do sales in general. Also I would never reduce the price by 50% - 15-25% at max. Only exception may be the asset store sales (but even then only at 25%) but on such a sale only one pack will be picked.

 

Hi, how modular is Verdun Class Battlestation? For example, can the 4 shields (top plates where turrets are placed) be seprated from the main body?

 

No they can't be removed. The station body is one piece, the turrets and other equipment are seperate meshes as well as the four main doors.

 

OK. Could you update it to be more modular? It will be very helpful.

 

srry but no, the top part could be made a separate mesh but then the parts below will have missing faces because these faces are deleted. You could basically see the inside of the station. It would have to be closed up, but to do that the new faces must be unwrapped to the texture map and there is no room for new UVs so the whole texture map would have to be remade.

 

Just bought the asset. Could you help to create a modular version?
If it's too much for you. Just seprate the 4 top platforms seprately from the main body, reuse the existing UV without redoing the texture map. Can you do this favor? Much appreciated.

 

contact me on msgdi@yahoo.de, also send the invoice plz.

 

Add pic of all Thaalian ships together? I like to use these as reference pics for which ship factions I still need to complete my sets...

Looking forward to seeing the Dwarven City when it becomes available on asset store! I won't need those models for this particular game, but always impressed with your models! The sci-fi ones are awesome, can't wait to see what you come up with for fantasy! Dwarves, obviously. Then... Elves? Orcs? Humans? Wizards? Undead? Creatures...? Dragons? Castles? Endless possibilities!

 

Yeah totally forgot about this, here it is:

 

Hey, maybe this was mentioned but I missed it... I'm thinking about purchasing some of your model assets on the Asset store for a Shump Bullet Hell project I'm about to start aimed for mobile devices and the new Apple TV. Do you provide low poly versions of your models? Space ships used in shooters are not typically rendered large enough (except Bosses!!) that all the polygons will visible or useful and just waste memory and cause the GPU to work harder. And I need to preserve resources where ever possible.

Also, are you open to participating in such a project and provide some exclusive designs?

Thanks,
Manny

 

srry but no, there aren't lower poly versions, besides they are already quite lowpoly I think.

For lower poly count you can open them in a 3D software and delete all model parts you think are too small to be visible, then re-export to unity and switch to the pure albedo texture (with no baked AO) which is also included in every pack.

Exclusive designs will cost some money because i can sell them only once and the time to make one stays the same.

 

Progenitor Fleet Summary

 

Loving this set!

 

The summary for the scifi fighters

 

After I buy Download not down
Changed versions of different engines
Always end here
Any other project is OK
Is there a problem with uploading files?

 

If I understand correctly you want to download and it always stops at 93%.

It's a download problem so you must contact the asset store. I can't help with that because you're downloading from the asset store and I have no access to any of the server hosting functionality.

In any case the files are ok, other people have bought them too and I never heard that there's an issue with them. It might simply be an asset store problem that is resolved soon. Maybe try downloading again in a few hours.

 

Could you please ask me? I really don't know how to contact them
Thank you very much

 

You can get customer support here: https://support.unity3d.com/hc/en-us/requests/new?ticket_form_id=65905

on the top left you can change to chinese/korean.

But again: try to download again in a few hours. sometimes the asset store servers simply have a little problem. But usually it gets resolved quickly.

 

Hey MSGDI!!!!

I just wanted to say, keep up the great work, and I definitely plan on fully exploring all of your wonderful assets. It may take a while, but every asset you sell will eventually be MINE! > MUAHAHHAHA

 

First, I want to say that your work is amazing and really useful, the SciFi serie is so complete, great work!

I'd like to know if you are planning to create civilian ships (mining ships, cargo, etc.) and space stations, jump gates, etc.
Without them a faction cannot be complete.

 

Thx.

I'm already offering cargo/mining ships, stations and jumpgates.

But I assume you mean if there will be some for the current ship line? Yes, there will be.

 

Yes, I already have most Sci-fi and Thaalian military and civilian ships.
As you presumed I am interested in stations and non-military units for your recent work, the Enkar Republic and the current serie of ships you're creating.

Thanks again for your amazing work.

 

Is it recommanded to use Linear color space or Gamme color space for these models?

 

With linear they look better because the standard shader is a PBR shader. However they can also be used in gamma space with a non-PBR shader (e.g. unity legacy shaders).

 

Are you doing commissions? I'm currently using a lot of your assets for a mobile game. I need a few more ships such as different resource collectors. I am also in need of some additional docking port buildings.

 

srry, but at the moment I don't have time for commissions.