Is a yearly Gnomon Workshop sub worth it If I want to learn at least 8 things?

I need to learn how to do a lot of things ( I’m a solo game dev, currently working on a demo for my first big game ) and need organized, quality training in many things.

Currently I need to learn mainly those:

  1. Digital sculpting ( been sculpting characters and creatures traditionally for 10+ years )
  2. Texturing ( next to no experience )
  3. Materials ( next to no experience )
  4. Character rigging ( next to no experience )
  5. 3D animation ( no experience )
  6. Houdini ( no experience )
  7. VFX ( next to no experience )
  8. UE4 ( 1 medium sized game prepared for production, 2 more prototypes, all TPP )

There are also things I can confidently say I’m good at, like character design but would like to improve further.

I would prefer to use Blender for most things, but learning new software like Houdini or Zbrush isn’t too much of an issue BUT I would definitely avoid Maya or 3ds max all together unless I literally can’t do something in Blender.

As for the level I’m going for here are some examples: https://www.artstation.com/mariuszkamiski/collections/743974
Some clarifications: Sculpting stylized characters, stylized textures
, realistic materials ( is that even a thing? ), realistic VFX.

So is it worth it or should I do something else?

You need discipline first. If you have it then that course will help you.

Your task sequence is incorrect. If you are going to do all these tasks yourself, then there is no point in learning rigging before you can create character model.

It is also important to understand what application you are going to work with? If you would like to do all the work in Blender, then the Gnomon Workshop is not a suitable resource for training, since the trainers there mostly use other software.

It would be nice if you gave an example of the minimum quality that you would like to achieve.
There is not enough information for us to help you.

Ok I updated the post.

You made a damn impressive list and for some reason added Houdini and the obscure “VFX” there.
What did you mean by that? Do you have any superpowers? Can you stop time or are you a cyborg that can connect itself to a computer, thus working directly with it by the power of thought? No? Then you will face a brutal reality of our human limitations. Performing all the steps at the level that you showed alone will require years of work and training. In order to realize the depth of the butt into which you are going to go down, I advise you to look at this thread.

And if you still here and you have the time, the means to secure your existence for this period of that time in which you are going to make the game of your dreams, then I will give you some tips:

  1. There should be only 1-2 characters in your game. I take into account the quality of the character designs that you want to achieve.
  2. You can reduce development time from decades to years by creating locations using ready-made assets that you can purchase on the same Unreal Market. There are also free ones. Here is a Youtube channel where a skilled level designer makes locations in Unreal without resorting to 3D modeling tools.
  3. Forget about Houdini and “VFX”.
  4. I’m serious. Forget. You do not have this time.
  5. You can increase the chances of releasing your game from “almost impossible” to “feasible” if you lower the bar on model detail and make your game in a pretty low-poly style. Like this and that.

Best way to learn in my opinion:

  1. Blender Fundamentals. First you need to learn how to use Blender. Here in description you find list of good courses for that.
  2. Characters Sculpting. Based on the samples that you attached in the link, I suppose that you are going to make the game in a stylized style. Best course for that.
  3. Texturing and Materials. If you took my advice and decided to make a game in low-poly, then you simplify this task by setting up a pair of sliders in Principled BSDF otherwise i suggest look into Substance Painter for texturing and Substance Designer for Materials.
  4. Rigging. List of rigging courses for Blender.
  5. Animation. Blender Animation Fundamentals Course. Animation is very time consuming, some professional game animators indicate “normal” ranges between 5-10 seconds of animation per day. Something more important drops it down to 2-4 seconds a day.
  6. ̶H̶o̶u̶d̶i̶n̶i̶
  7. VFX. Buy some ready on unreal market or made in Unreal with help of Youtube tutorials.
  8. UE4. I think tutorials on youtube are the best way to learn Unreal. There are quite a lot of them.

Good luck.

2 Likes

Damn, so just to make things clear: I’m not spending more than 3 years making this game, even if that means cutting a lot of content. The game has been designed around me not knowing a damn about finishing a full game, and so I made it super easy to adjust the scope. The whole game is about going from room to room and dueling characters with some puzzles in between. This game isn’t “my dream game”, it’s rather something to get the studio started.
I’m currently in the process of figuring out how much would it take to finish a full character for the game and my estimate is 1 month. Right now I’m ~1/3 done.

I heard many times that rigging is hard and so decided to have all the characters use the same rig and keep them similar.

From your advice I might still try out Houdini but won’t spend with it more than a single day until the game is finished. I might use some assets but generally I’m against stitching games from assets since the game can end up looking incoherent.
I will make the first character in both low-poly modelling and sculpting and then go from there.
Huge thanks for all the links, especially for the low-poly tutorials.

As for the initial question I assume it’s “No” :smiley: ( << Is it just me or do these emotes always look passive aggressive? ).

Thanks again, I will have something of substance to show about my game by the end of the month and I will certainly post a link to it here.

1 Like

I was glad to help. It will be interesting to watch your progress. :slight_smile:

1 Like

Progress has been made:

1 Like