Who buys models from the asset store?

What on earth would someone intend to do with a 3D model used by others?

 

My guess it depends on the model. What if you just want a larger variety of background/extras for your game?

And in alot of cases, what are the odds that someone will play to small indie games that happen to have the same models?

 

Modify / learn and use of course. Textures alone can be worth it some times and as I see CGTextures and Quixel in AAA games, it's not like re-using textures is frowned upon.

 

Prototyping. Plus not everyone can afford or justify the cost of exclusive models.

 

• For prototyping
• If you do not intend to sell a game
• Sell a game and have no budget for an own artist
• Sucks at modelling/texturing him/herself
• Wants to save time
• One has not the expensive tools oneself
• Because one likes a certain asset
• To learn how it has been done
• ... and about 431 other reasons

 

Or for that matter be able to recognize them at a glance.

 

I can understand the purchase if it's a real world object, like a specific tree of gun etc. I just don't get how anyone would drop money on a unique model that's available for all, like a character etc.

 

Probably for the same reason that EA continues to successfully sell their sports games despite only having minor incremental changes. Gamers don't seem to care.

 

I would only buy a model I intended to use in a game... Ive brought a bunch of various models in fact that will end up in games at some point. Didnt buy them from the asset store but that's not relevant.

 

Yeah I mean god forbid that Kevin Spacey would dare be in anything else except his first film.

 

I've got better things to do than model rocks, like anyone can tell once you re-size and shove them in other rocks anyway ..

 

Think about redoing skins and you would never know what model it was in the first place.

 

OOooo I'm sure I've seen mount Everest in another film. Can't use it again!

http://www.slashfilm.com/lol-the-reoccurring-prop-newspaper/
http://www.totalfilm.com/features/30-reused-movie-props/handheld-m134-minigun
http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/13962/50-assets-hollywood-re-used
http://mentalfloss.com/article/58217/10-props-have-been-used-more-one-movie
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PropRecycling

So yeah, films reuse props non stop, all the time. They reuse actors, everything. It's cheaper and nobody notices or cares except a minority of geeks. Also, nobody minds. As games get progressively more detailed and difficult to make, reusing assets becomes a priority.

 

The only thing that matters is they match.. mis-matching assets can look a bit unprofessional if they all have different texture styles, topology, etc.

 

I bought a lot of models from the Asset Store for my current project. I don't care if people recognize them or think I'm cheap because... well, I'm cheap but I won't let that stop me from making a game that people might enjoy.

I just refuse to be sitting on my ass expecting that some good artist(s) comes to my rescue or that some funding falls from the sky and I don't like programmer art so there's that.

We can all discuss if that's unprofessional or not but at the end what matters is if I get my project done or not.

 

i buy models and stuff in the asset store all the time...

non commercial use

good for hobbiest playing around, have to do something with ones free time and money...

its either that or going to the bar and drinking until i puke this at least good for the liver, if not the wallet

also the stuff not that bad and lots of it very affordable

and with it you can create fun little games to play with...

 

I've used assets from the asset store in a bunch of commercial projects, nobody cared. Personally I buy stuff all the time, when you're pitching a project to a potential client, the difference in their reaction between showing them cubes or something from say, Michael O, is massive. You then explain it's x thousand for custom characters or x hundred to tweak something off a stock site.

Worked on a $350k project that used $7k in stock assets earlier this year.

 

I've recognized quite a few Unity assets in indie games I've played, and I'm sure there have been others that I didn't recognize. I wouldn't necessarily use a main character from the asset store, but I've used barrels and trees and crates and rocks.

 

You should search for "Unity" on Google play and see the mountain of games out there featuring the "Unity Chan" model that have moderate success.

https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/#!/content/18705

 

Good example with the actors. Though in earlier times of the asset store, when models were sparse, it happened a lot that you thought: "oh it's that model again..." - but now with the asset store growing larger every day less people will recognize when you use the same assets, or you reskin/retexture them to fit your game. Of course that also requires more asset store crawling time.

 

You should look up the idea of "digital actors"

 

Do you think advertising pre-made custom models in a Job Seeking thread would be attractive if only the sole buyer had the file for use?

 

Who buys models from the asset store?

Those who no artistic talent like me.

 

or who have better things to do...

I mean you cant do it all. its the same reason why you would hire a bunch of employees or outsource or contract out. Not necessarily that you can't do it. It's often the case that your willing to trade some money for some time and be able to move quicker on things. Alternatively you can do it all. Which often means it will take longer and/or the quality won't be that good since you can't be pro/specialize at everything and even if you were you would be under pressure to cut corners so you could get it out in reasonable amount of time. Basically your leveraging others time and talents in exchange for money in hopes of getting it out quicker and at higher quality.

 

This one is pretty brazen

 

I think this sums it up. Basically anyone who is not an artist needs either 2D or 3D graphics assets. Remember, not everyone is an artist. So we build our games using programmer art or free resources then need to reskin it all later. I am contracting out work to an artist. If there were more (like MUCH MORE) 2D graphics sets available on the asset store I would be buying them. When I last looked there was nothing for what I wanted for my game. It will be the same for 3D. I am actually surprised someone is not making a killing churning out graphics packs full time.

 

I'm a good modeler but a terrible artist. If I've got a good reference or measurements, I can make something Unfortunately I'm a horrible 2D artist so I never have my own drawn references. And it's not easy to find orthographic views of something I want to model. I tried to model big foot off the top of my head and it came out looking like domo...

'Programmer art' though I can do anything lol.

Have you worked on an indie game before in a team? I only got to once before, and there were 2 dedicated art people and 1 guy dedicated rigging and animation. I'm not sure what they were being paid but I know it was more than $1000 a month for a handful of models.

 

when I have to build a prototype to sell idea, I use paid artwork.

 

Never to completion. I attempted it a few times but the projects always stopped. So many people seem all Gung-Ho in the beginning and then just days or a few weeks into the project they lose interest or outright disappear. Left a bad impression on me about working in a team for a long time.

What I am doing now is just paying an artist to create graphics and it is working out excellent. I would never pay $1,000 per month. When I first started looking for artists I found their prices range from very affordable to ridiculously high for basically the same quality of work. Naturally, I went with a very affordable artist. I may find a second in time. I don't mind paying for the art and can keep paying them weekly as long as they are delivering and not expecting to "get rich quick".

 

I've thought about making 3Dd model packs, but I heard that models don't really make a lot of money on the Asset Store. That, and I have absolutely no idea what kind of models are generic enough to appeal to a wide audience that aren't already well covered on the store.

Out of curiosity how much do you consider to be "get rich quick" pricing?

 

It all depends on what the content is and how much it is priced.

I just had a quick look at the Asset Store and these are very affordable and very reasonably priced in my opinion:

First Fantasy


Toon Character Pack


Items and Props Pack


Cartoon Zombies


Animal Friends


Tiny Item Pack 3D #1


Toad Monster


Skeleton Footman


If these assets were selling for 3, 5, 10(!) times these prices.... that to me would be "get rich quick" pricing. Although in reality such high prices may keep that from happening. I need assets I can afford as an individual not a AAA company. When you look at a game and consider the amount of assets needed, paying a hundred dollars or more per animated character is simply too much. Sure, I could buy one or two such assets per month but I would be foolish to do so.

 

My main interest is in 2D but to me graphics are graphics in that what I'd need for 2D games is probably about the same as what I'd need for 3D games.

Tilesets for caverns, platforms, cave openings, mine entrances, trees, clouds, hills, wood fences, grass, etc.

Animated sprites for characters, enemies, obstacles, etc. Like for a hero sprite there could be 1,000 of them in the asset store and that would not be too many. Adventurer heroes like Indy Jones (different styles, different ages, etc would separate these), Castlevania monster hunter style heroes, hand-to-hand combat like street fighter, archers, orcs, barbarians, wizards. I don't think it would be possible to run out of things to make for art that people could use. Unfortunately, there are few assets for 2D. Many for 3D. Which seems strange to me because people could take those 3d model animations, render them out and presto they have a 2D sprite pack to sell. The ones I listed if they were rendered 2d art and animations I would buy them at the prices listed or even 50% more.

 

I buy them .. at least really good quality ones !

Skeleton I got off the asset store:

 

Well, I do understand exactly what you are saying. Which is why I've been creating all sorts of big, to semi-big modular packs on the asset store, each/most models with at least 2-3 different texture types/looks, and for the most part; cheap! Because yes, repetition does happen, but I try and give the option for loss of repetition.
Lets say for example two people bought my assets, and each made a game with them, you may see the same models in both games, but textured right, and they'd all be shown in different ways! (some simply detailed, and some very detailed.)
As an artist most of my life, I enjoy making art for people, and whether they decide to use them or not, is fine either way.
if you wanna check them out, heres two packs released within the past week:
https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/en/#!/content/24565
https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/en/#!/content/23573

 

It's a good question and and you're not the only person to wonder about this. What you say is true and actually characters are very hard to sell (although more fun to make for artists).

Having said that, having more characters to choose from in the Asset Store is not necessarily bad, right?

Of course it's not as great as getting an exclusive models. But exclusive models can be kind of expensive... when you can get same quality model for 1/30 of the price...

...and who says you can't use them commercially? *Ballparking it, chances are 9 out of 10 people wont recognize your stock character... unless it grows extremely common. If you want to make a quick commercial game, you can pull it of with a fraction of the budget... if you had to pay full time artists, it would be extremely expensive.

There are of course free models. But good quality free models are rare... sometimes they're made free to advertise paid models by the same artist; or they're maybe made by Unity; or just someone who simply wanted to share it with everyone.