Rome: Truly AAA Quality Exterior Enviroment Pack for Unity

Oh it's just an example. Pay no attention to what the text says, but rather that it's just there to begin with. I develop my packs with modularity and tons of potential for variety. I want to make sure customers know what's possible and to take full advantage of the possibilities.

 

Variety is very good. Can't wait to try it.

 

I think it's a great idea, especially for non-artists like me who could really use pointers like this.

 

@TonyLi I agree. I'd much rather read documentation and tips from inside the editor than having to refer to a PDF or webpage. I'm going to do this more in my projects.

 

Do you already have some release date?

 

Hi Everyone,

So here's an update on RFP2:

I would say it's about 65% completed. A lot of material work has to be done yet for props and walls. All the modeling is finished. All the frescos, vine work, hedges, etc. are all done. I've authored several custom materials, but I think there may need to be more. The mosaics are, of course, done.

However, I've been offered some opportunities that will prevent me from bringing RFP2 to 100% for the next few months. I haven't taken a job though; I'm still self-employed, so RFP2 will still get done at some point in the future, presumably this year. It would be a waste if I just dropped it altogether.

I know this sucks to hear. I was hoping to finish it before these projects started but it was just not in the cards as there were also some family health issues last month that really delayed things.

Sorry guys! I'm still available for chat and forum posts, I just can't devote any work time to my UAS projects until these other contract jobs are completed.

 

Sad to hear about the delay on Rome 2, but happy to hear about your new opportunities.

 

Just checking in @QuantumTheory

 

Still alive!

Two projects should be completed by the end of this month (June). At that point, I will be freed up to resume work on RFP2 part time.

 

Awesome!!

 

Columns!

 

Gorgeous

 

Is this an interiors pack coming along?

 

Hi, shameless plug for a review that I made for this asset. Taking advantage of this weeks fantastic sale.

 

Thanks so much for that video. Looks like some prefabs broke at some point. I just need to relink the meshes in the scene. I'll fix that up right away. The objects themselves should be ok though.

and..uh..I have no idea what happened to those thumbnails in the project view. Yikes.

Great review!

 

Thanks man. Great asset. Yeh I guessed Unity was playing up with your thumbnails. I noticed the LOD's on the some of windows popped a sharply a bit.

Spoiler

I love the kit.

 

Hi!

I had two questions! How far are you along in the second asset pack?
And, how much interior space can we expect? I would like to use these assets for a rpg where player can explore inside the houses... or at least a few. I saw some previews on your site but I don't have a good idea of what to expect.

Thanks!

 

Hi @Grinl

I work on it off an on when I have time. This week I started on material work for all the furniture. I still don't have a timeframe for release.

The focus is 80% on interiors for this pack. There are still a large amount of exterior options too though.

 

Alrighty everyone! I need your vote!​

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Rome: Mobile Fantasy Pack I has been selected as a Asset Store Award for Best Artistic Content finalist for the 2017 Unity Awards!

Just click this link to get to the page and hit the little "vote" icon under "Rome: Mobile Fantasy Pack I." Don't forget to vote for the nominees in the other categories!

Thanks for your consideration! Voting ends 9/28 so hit that button!

 

I voted for you days ago! Good luck!

 

You rock @Teila !

 

You got my vote, too. All the contenders this year are fantastic (and those little dragons are crazy adorable), but Rome is top-notch quality. And I really appreciate the behind-the-scenes details you posted as you were making it. They gave me better insight into how to make the most of the pack.

 

Me too! Peter uncovered the mysteries as he created his art. I loved that. Made me look forward to coming to this forum thread.

 

I wish the Asset Store was also dealing with knowledge sharing. I'd love to do live or prerecorded classes on a multitude of Unity-related topics. I think a lot of people can benefit from it.

On a related topic:

Registration is open for the fall term for Material Creation in Substance Designer, hosted by me through Mold3D academy.

If you or your team needs to thoroughly *understand* Substance Designer and procedural materials, this course has been crafted for you. Don't expect a recipe book; You'll create awesome stuff but, more importantly, you'll understand why things work the way they do.

You get 8 hours of video lecture plus an hour of live Q&A with me every week for 8 weeks. Check it out!

 

Sounds great! I will look into it.

I used your World Machine and texturing tutorials and learned a great deal. I have used WM for a while now, but still something to learn.

Thanks!

Will your class be available for purchase later as pre-recorded? We are taking our entire team to Unite in October so will probably need a month to recover from the expenses in Austin. LOL

I will make a point of watching your website. I have two daughters, upper teens, who are interested in art as a career so these sorts of things would be fabulous for them. They get so little formal instruction in digital/technical art. Both are home schooled so we try to fit as much in as we can but classes like this are valuable.

 

Awesome thanks! I'm happy to hear that those videos helped you. I'm really proud of the Substance Designer course as its my most in-depth course so far.

The classes may or may not be available as self-directed. We haven't made a decision on that yet.

 

Meanwhile, here's some furniture!

 

<- more a gasp of awe rather than shock

 

Top quality work. The care that's gone into building these objects is evident, not only in texturing work but the careful geometry/normal building as well. I love watching your progress.

 

Gorgeous! Thank you, Peter!

 

Oil lamp is looking pretty cool.

 

It does! However, I think it could do with a bit less roughness overall.

 

Yea I had to redo it as I noticed a uv error. I added some gems to the base and brought the roughness down

 

Finally textured the brazier and the lamp

 

Experimenting with a portion of all the decals I made. Each of the frilly designs are flat planes that you can move, scale, and rotate around to design your own walls. You can see in the upper right how they're just randomly placed on the frieze.

 

cmon in!

 

Very nice! Quick question about the reliefs: Ornaments were commonly painted. How much of a hassle would it be to provide a couple of masks for colorisation?

 

The way it works now is that you supply your own albedo which tiles across the surface. So I use wood, various concretes, brass. But that's a single material. I can setup the shader so you can put a coat of paint on them and blend the visibility of the paint based on the depth of the ornament. I hesitate to add more textures to the shader.

Side note: Those are typically for outdoors. I have an entirely separate set for interior frescos which allow you 3 color choices. Each element in the screenshot on this wall is a decal just like the concrete ones.


You can see the editorscript window in the second shot. You can create your own palettes and apply them to the meshes quickly. There is also an Age slider in the material which controls how chipped-away the frescos look.

 

Pretty cool idea! Sounds and looks really good. Glad to see you're already way ahead of my thinking there

 

For those interested in knowing how I made those statue texture decals and want to make your own, it's surprisingly easy.

I've put together a quick 35 minute video tutorial series on how it's all done. If you can drag and drop files and click a mouse button, you can make these.

Link: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/lQOrY
​

 

I love it when a vision comes together. Here's a series of almost final interior to exterior thresholds and how a common wall could look in your project with Rome Fantasy Pack 2. Check out the friezes and cornice work.

The approach of this pack, since there's so much, is to use base materials to describe the surface, then place a library of decals to give it the impression of detail. It's just as modular as the last one, so the sky's the limit.

 

When it will be finished?

 

I'm locking down all content development by end of January. It's a hard deadline. No excuses this time. From then on, it's a matter of making a demo scene, marketing materials, videos, etc. Late February looks like a good timeframe.

There are literally tons of "lego pieces" you can use to construct a building. Instead of making huge, huge prefab objects with the meshes in them, I'll probably make a few scenes that show off what can be built. You can copy/paste it into your scene or use it as inspiration to make your own.

Looking at all the content, this pack is truly unmatched in the store. It's the best art I've ever made. When the demo scene is put together, it will stand on its own.

It's been a great run and the release of his pack with likely mark the end of my Unity Asset Store publishing experience. Fear not; Bug fixes and support will always continue. It's my view that after 5+ years, growing their store and supporting major publishers is not in Unity's business model. If that bothers you, let them know.

In the meantime, here's a new shot. More to come!

 

That is sad. Maybe you can find a way to sell assets outside of the store! I will miss seeing such quality artwork.

 

@Teila Yes it's sad. It's hard to blame publishers like@QuantumTheory though. The amount of work that goes into an art product such as this is far and beyond other assets on the store, and the way Unity treats these efforts is no different than how they treat any old $5 art asset from your crazy uncle. There's not much support for this types of production, unfortunately.

Selling it on your own website is possible, but you're going to lose 99+% of your potential sales by not being on the Unity store, since all eyes have been trained to look there exclusively. So in that light it's not really worth selling, unless you're selling in the store.

In any case, the work here is amazing and truly inspiring. Congrats on getting into the home stretch, I hope it does well when it's published next year!

 

I absolutely understand. The culture here is like the mobile game sites...cheaper is better.

However, there are many of us who are willing to spend for really good models but are not in the position to hire artists for non-exclusive work. While yes, all eyes are trained, there are many of us who would and do go elsewhere.

I often see assets, especially art assets, advertised on the Unity forums that are not on the asset store. It is a risk to go outside the store of course. But with established people like Peter, Roser from Protofactor, and WillB, I think they could build up a following even off the asset store. I purchased all my Protofactor animals from his store and I now buy all my UMA clothing from Will's store.

I am fairly sure I am not the only one. It is the presence in the community that makes me trust these guys off the asset store. I figure if I buy from them on their store, I am saving them some money. I still buy plenty from the Unity store, so I am not leaving them out. But quality items are special, and I like to support the developers.

I am guessing that some will continue to sell on the Unreal Store. Is it possible for us to use models from Unreal store in our games? I would do that if I had to, even if that meant I have to use different shaders. I just hate to lose the quality assets. I learn a lot from those assets, honestly!! It is not just a bit of artwork to put in my game, but a piece of work that teaches me something, makes me better at what I do. My daughters too...as they are new to modeling and texturing. You guys give us a lot! I would support you too, on Patreon for tutorials and have purchased some of Peter's in various places.

I am not at all trying to talk Peter out of retiring from the AS, just sorry that so many will probably follow.

 

It's possible, but in most cases you would have to go through some kind of manual conversion process. And definitely would have to setup your own materials/shaders. But if you wanted to get the models and art into Unity it is technically possible. However, I believe Unreal has a stipulation in their license that assets bought on their store are only for use in their engine... so... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

A person that goes the extra mile to search for a developers own website, and purchases there instead of the asset store, is truly a diamond in a sea of plastic toothbrushes. On behalf of all asset developers everywhere... thanks Teila!

 

I wish you the best Peter, and look forward to seeing this package finished and in the store!

While the other Rome package is good for adding rustic classical accents to modern country villas, estates, and resorts, this one looks more like what I need to add some classical gravitas to my modern civitas.

 

This is not only problem of asset store, but whole Unity. Unity business model is simple, sell as many licences as possible to kids and wanabe studios, who will never ever publish anything and so they will have no big requirments on stability and performance. Add as much features as possible to attract everybody, who cares it does not work or is not much usable in reality. And if by some miracle bigger studio decides to go with Unity, they will buy source licence anyway and pay for private support. I am completly OK with that, such business model makes sense. We found that many years ago and left Unity because of that. Best decision we ever made.

Try Unreal store, community there is much more mature, overall asset quality is 3 classes higher than on Unity store and they are not cheap skates like Unity kids, so there is far bigger chance, they will appreciate your fantastic product.

Anyway you can count with our money, this kit is must buy.

 

No, UE4 or Unity does not have exclusive licence for their store. It wouldnt make any sense.