What are your "must have" Asset Store assets?

If you're targeting mobile and you really are concerned about optimization, the n°1 is Core Framework. Brilliant plug-in. It'll just boost your fps and still allow you to have awesome graphics on older devices like 3GS.

Then, +1 for PoolManager, a must have. Those two plus NGUI are the 3 assets I constantly import in new projects.

Meshbaker is also great if you're using Unity free or if Unity Pro's batching isn't just enough for your batching needs like it's the case for me..

 

Depends very much on the project, I think, but these are my favorites so far:

2D Stuff:

2D Toolkit
Ferr2D
2D Platform Controller

Input:

InControl
Finger Gestures

Music:

SoundManagerPro 3

Text:

TextMesh Pro

GUI:

NGUI

Other Packages:

CORE Framework
uFaction
HOTween

 

Core Framework looks interesting. Do you guys know if it works with Unity 4.5 (on the Asset Store it says "up to 4.3")?

 

I recommend our 'Mantis LOD Editor - Online Edition', it is a great script, supports both Unity 5 Personal Edition and Professional Edition, you can online simplify your 3d models and make LOD from within Unity's editor.
Most important: It is FREE!
Every developer should put it in his/her toolbox, click http://www.mesh-online.net/ to get it for FREE!

Penguin 3D model, original mesh has 14052 triangles, optimized mesh has merely 120 triangles.

 

It does work without any problems, we're using it and the results are great

 

I'm pretty sure the point of this post was not to tout your own assets... in addition you have created a dedicated thread to this in Unity Gossip as well. It really belongs in the Assets and Asset Store forum.

 

Hey just came back to add @jerotas Master Audio! I got it in a sale a while ago but never used it. Now I finally played with it a little and it's truly awesome, very well done and incredibly useful!

P.S. @BTStone good to know, thanks

 

Thanks Izitmee for the Master Audio vote as well . Ooops I misread Core Framework as Core GameKit. Deleting my question!

 

Decal System Pro
Lux – open Source physically based shader framework

 

Core Framework. We have it. And we don't use it. At all. We couldn't find any improvement in performance better than the Unity mobile or NGUI shaders on iOS. It may be that we have weird / complicated shader requirements for how we layer our UI (need certain shader features that aren't the fastest options), but we will not be using this plugin, probably ever. Even though the author is super awesome on support.

 

Regardless, I thank that user and will be checking out that free asset. Might be useful for something we're having a problem on right now.

 

Thanks for the suggestions. SceneMate looked great, especially when you suggested it. However, I am having a problem not being able to use it, and the documentation seems to be non-existent?

Thanks again for your suggestions.

 

I know, Scenemate has been fantastic for me. It felt like the missing toolbox that Unity should have included from the start.

Also, I answered your question in the Scenemate thread.

 

Its got to be InControl if you are deploying to anything other than mobile, It takes care of different controllers input out of the box. It would be a nightmare to have to do by hand for each platform(the mapping is different between PC and mac).

 

I had uScript for a while, and was a bit taken aback with it then I discovered this short course for using it and now it has become a standard in all my projects. https://www.udemy.com/unity-game-development-using-uscript
The course is like $8 or at least is was, and open my eyes to the power of uScript. So far I have not found anything uScript cannot do.

Also very addicted to a couple of other visual editors. iCode, formally Ai for Mechanim which is a fantastic state machine and has a ton of addons for integrating with other assets, and Blox2 which has been recently updated. This tool is amazing and can even access api data that is NOT based on a MonoBehaviour. So in simple terms can access API that is in DLL format by just using class dot notation in the required GET/Set fields.

 

We have reviewed >50 of our favorites ones, all tested with Unity 5. We add more everyday. Hope you can find some good assets you may have missed... http://assetsreporter.com/

 

My must have is RAIN. Most definitely RAIN. I can program the AI myself, but time is money and RAIN saves a lot of time.

 

None. Most of them are bloated in an effort to stand out in the ocean of other assets.

I make my own

I do own UFPS, but ultimately I feel like the quality could be reproduced through animations/states and be far easier to work with.

 

Spent lots of money on assets and and some of them, they've been good learning tools, or actually, avoidance of learning tools. I still browse the asset store occasionally, but not often, as I know have the assets I need so there is not a lot of sense in continuing to browse for another new asset store owner's take on a solution I've already bought an asset store package for.

 

Village Interiors and Village Exteriors by @S4G4N 3DForge. No bloat, and stand out from the crowd. Other than that, half a dozen packs from Michael O, Time Of Day, and Horizon[ON].

 

I just started using QHierarchy and digging it quite a bit. Very useful and well put together.
Also, DOTween. Always DOTween. That is one asset that I use in every project.

 

QHierarchy looks friggin sick, I might pick this guy up.

I tried Master Audio but ended up going with FMOD Studio instead, FMOD really ended up being a great decision for my project.

 

Woah QHierarchy looks awesome, and I like the iconography! I had bought Hierarchy2 and loved it, but then it started encountering tons of issues with each Unity update and I left it aside. Gonna try this alternate version soon.

@zombiegorilla Glad to hear that ^_^

 

Unitz 2.0

heh.

 

For me it's definitely uscript just saying

 

Script Inspecto v3
Now with Auto-Completion for C# - this thing is beyond essential for any Unity Developers!

 

It does seem like it is well done. Though "essential" is a bit of a reach.

 

shader forge x10000000000

 

Absolute first asset I import:
UnityVS

And then Temaran Messenger.

And another nod to Universal Sound FX though I usually install this asset the end of the dev cycle, since the asset is so huge.

And NGUI. No need to link that one...

 

I absolutely love this thread. Any chance of getting it pinned?

 

I'd agree, sifting through the store and finding the gems is tricky. It's nice to know what others found useful.

 

For sure, I've added like five things to my wishlist from reading this thread. (Thanks, btw).

 

Well the problem with this thread being pinned is that it takes away UTs ability to deflect questions about the quality and selection of level11 assets. If this thread is pinned then they know what pro users want.

Maybe your opinion will sway them a little since you're such a significant figure in the field

That's only 0.85% of the original triangles. Not bad.

 

For me ProCore tools and ShaderForge. Don't have $$$ for any of those, but when I'll do, these will be one of the first things I'll purchase.

 

Any serious loss of quality (which is bound to happen when decreasing triangle amount)?

 

https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/en/#!/content/14356

I think the only concern you would have is if certain armature movements would warp lower triangle meshes for that in between LOD. I'm not an art person so I have no idea, but from personal experience when you have fewer vertices and you try weight painting the model you either have vertices in a moving group that you don't want there or you have some vertices less.

Maybe that's only vertices and triangles won't affect it, no idea how LOD works either

 

Full Inspector

By far my most used asset.

 

Is NGUI still as good as people state.. there a seem to be some bad reviews on the asset store? is it still supported?
everyone seems to go about it so thinking I might get it as to extend unity UI.

cheers

Daniel

 

It still has a daily support on the dedicated NGUI forums.

 

Definitely have to add Editor Console Pro to my previous list. I'm now using it since a while and it's marvelous. It even manages to evidence code inside my own DLLs (if I have the solution on the same computer), plus the author is very nice.

Also, I now moved to QHierarchy as suggested by @frosted and I can't live without it (even if it throws some errors now and then): very well thought of both functionality-wise and design-wise.

 

I found this really useful - http://www.puppet2d.com/

 

Wow, glad to see someone on these forums recommend it. I was shown this tool in a unity class at college ~2 years ago. I never used it, but I like that my college is staying current.

 

Depends on the game, but for my main project . There are a lot of really great assets, but they have a limited scope depending on your project.

SimpleLOD is just incredibly easy, fast and powerful for combining meshes, atlases and creating LODs. Normally I am one of the people who says to optimize at the end of a project, but it literally takes 5 seconds to optimize a model after you put it into your game.

Universal Sound FX A huge collection of sounds, saves a lot of search time for finding minor sound effects. Well worth the money

Prop´s Animation A huge collection of human animations that cover everything you can think of, and constantly growing.

Skele Allows you to tweak or create animations inside the Unity editor. Where it shines in my project is taking a creature model with 2 or 3 attack animations and creating 5 derivative animations. In 5 minutes, that orc with 2 basic attack animations now has 7 attack animations which makes it much more interesting for your players. I was also able to add a ´stunned´ and ´rooted´ animation to dozens of character models in just a few hours.

A few freebies worth mentioning

Nobiax - A ton of free textures for ground and rocks. I am also close to owning all his plant packs which are amazing.

PointClickPlacement Tool - Maybe there is a better version or people have other solutions, but I find this little extension extremely useful for painting stuff on maps. One of the best features is that you can set an offset, so you can easily sink rocks into the terrain, or sink trees into the ground when painting on slopes.

 

some nice tips on here, i hope it keeps going.

destroyit is one of my picks, its ace https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/en/#!/content/18811
a few good vids on youtube for support (i wish there was more tho) great for pooling all the bits, integrating with ufps fine with abit of code off the forums lol

its a shame there is a lot just gone from the market place.
Core Framework
Shooter AI
there was another but i cant remember it

i would be interested if some of them assets still work and worth setting free to me hehe. anyone know of a good library for these old dead relics that might still be ace or after tweeking still ok.

gosh been looking at all the top/high end stuff lately and its still all the kinds of things unity should have for free.

hmm better multiplayer tools im hoping for to make everyting ace and free to upload a server pack auto no lag n that lol

hoping u guys have some inspiration for me.

 

For real. Can we get this thread pinned, please? It's basically free advertisement for the asset store, and a goldmine of info for devs.

 

Not sure if anyone already mentioned it, but I've found Panic Button to be a real frustration saver.

I dont have to ctrl alt delete a frozen unity anymore, no matter the issue.

https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/en/#!/content/40167

 

No, @Not_Sure did not mention that. Good post.