Never Been Good at This, but Here Goes

[WhiteIronWolf]

Hey everyone!

First of all, I’ve never been great at reaching out to the 3D community around me, but I’m trying to change that now. Right now.

I just want to take a moment to say thanks to GameDev.tv and this community. A few years ago, I started learning 3D through their courses, and without that help, I don’t think I’d be where I am today. Their videos gave me the confidence to believe that I could actually learn 3D, and that has meant more to me than I probably realized at the time.

Like many others here, I once dreamed of making my own game, but to be honest, it quickly became overwhelming to do it alone, and I ended up giving up. 🥲 But I could never fully let go of 3D, so I kept practicing and improving, even while working a full-time job on the side.

Recently, I decided to take a chance and start my own little business, focusing on creating 3D assets (mostly static objects for games and animation). I don’t know exactly where this will lead yet, but I hope it can be useful for other developers.

Right now, I’m working on an asset pack, and I thought it would be great to hear from those of you who actually use 3D assets. What matters most to you? Should they be stylized, ultra-optimized, have a lot of variation, or something completely different?

I’d rather learn from people who work with this stuff than just guess, so if you have any thoughts, I’d really appreciate hearing them!

Thanks for taking the time to read this. I’ll just add a few pics to show what I’m capable of, this is the first pack I want to release soon. I hope that’s okay with the GameDev.tv team! I won’t include any commercial links.

[Srl1]

Your work looks great! I’m not an expert, but to me, everything looks really well done. I think the style of assets really depends on your target audience and the type of projects you want to support. Some developers prioritize ultra-optimized models for performance, while others prefer more variation and detail. If you’re targeting indie devs, stylized assets tend to be quite popular, but it all depends on the niche you want to focus on. Either way, it’s awesome that you’re taking this step, and I wish you success with your asset pack!

[WhiteIronWolf]

Appreciate the kind words. Yeah, I’ve been thinking a lot about what kind of devs would find my assets the most useful. I love making detailed models, but I also want to keep them optimized enough to work well in actual games. I’ve noticed that stylized assets are really popular with indie devs, but I also enjoy making more grounded, slightly realistic props. I guess I’m still figuring out my niche.

[NP5]

Looks nicely done.

Well done keeping going in 3D as an interest.

Asset packs I suspect need to fall into genre of potential uses. Like a time period, location, real or fantasy, internal or external, or both of the environment. If something is real then make sure you use references to model from.

Have a look at VertexRage’s threads here, he has made and is selling some asset packs.

[FedPete]

Beautiful portfolio!

• Important for models is to use low poly as much as it is possible, maybe multi levels of details.
• If your model is based on textures (wood, stone, …) then it is important to have a very good topology and show that to the client.
• Think about reuse - The backside of a crate can be totally different ~ multi use.
• Make small unique objects but try to keep the same design style.
• If you also deliver the textures, be complete. And not only defuse and a normal / bump map.

[WhiteIronWolf]

Thanks a lot! Appreciate it. Will do, and honestly, I’m still learning

You’ve got a good point. I tried to gather a lot of references. I even used Dimensions.com for size accuracy, did some basic research, and sometimes just grabbed a ruler at home to measure objects Most of the assets here are based on real-life objects with a few tweaks.

I’ll check out VertexRage’s threads. Always good to see how others approach this stuff.

Thanks again for the input

[WhiteIronWolf]

Thanks a lot! Appreciate it

Yeah, I try to keep all my models as low poly as possible. Most of them range from 500 to 4000 tris, and I provide 1K, 2K, and 4K texture options for each. I can definitely include full texture sets like diffuse, roughness, metal, normal, and alpha for every object, but in some cases, it feels unnecessary and can actually be bad for optimization.

For example, if an object is pure wood with no metal or transparency, adding metal and alpha maps would just increase draw calls for no reason. I always try to keep things as optimized as possible while still allowing flexibility.

And good point about reusability. I definitely try to design assets in a way that they can be used in multiple ways, even if they are small unique objects.

Thanks for the insight