I am currently working on small project in Godot engine and looking for any useful information about preparing character customization ( simple one, where you just switch between couple options for hair, body shape, height of character, facial features etc. ) as well as how to actually prepare model for game just like in typical rpg game, with possibility to wear different sets of armors, combining different pieces from light/medium/heavy sets .
I would be greatful for any informations, explainations how it works and how to plan and execute it in blender minding that it should be then transfered to game engine such as Godot.
I can tell you how I’m doing it. Every character and outfit has the same rig setup. Some characters have extra bones for hair- those are separated out into an avatar mask (Unity), and then all the common bones share an avatar. One avatar per character. Characters are split into three meshes:
Head and hands
Hair
Non-battle outfit
Then, specific outfits (basically RPG classes) each have their own model. A combined model has character head and hands, battle outfit, and character hair. I can adjust the height of the battle outfit by using the character avatar- since the bones have the same names, Unity can automatically update their position and scales to match.
For thickness, I use blendshapes:
Chest width
Hip width
Stomach width
Thigh width
Arm width
Neck width
Every battle outfit mesh has these blendshapes, and every character has a set of values for them. That way, the outfit mesh automatically matches the correct proportions.
Lastly, I have a shader set up to take in the skin color of the character where needed on the battle outfit (exposed arms, legs, etc).
If a battle outfit has a hat, it puts it on top of the hair using the head bone position from that character avatar
I was thinking about character creator like in game called “V Rising” - where you don’t really use keyshapes but simply click throught different styles of hair/facial features and so on.
How I understand it, is that I should create basic bald character model, bisect it into separated parts, then duplicate parts and re-model them into outfits, armors, hairs etc. then specifically name them based on previously made rig from that basic model ?
I don’t know anything about unity to be honest, don’t really understand what you said about that ‘avatar’ (I feel like my old brain is melting haha)
It’s messy no matter how you slice it, it’s a really complicated topic. I typed that first reply up in a hurry, it’s not terribly helpful by itself. I’ll try and sit down and put something more comprehensive together with screenshots
If you could do that, I’d appreciate it by ton, since there is not many helpful informations about this topic currently on the internet as far as I was digging, only some bits and pieces, but gathering it all feels like trying to finish puzzle with only 1/5th of actual puzzle pieces, if you get me. I invested in some course aswell, but there’s only topics like modeling itself, retopology, texturing, basic of rigging and posing.
Thank you for your time and effort joseph !
Thank you I will read it. If you have anything to add, please share I could really use all sort of info or screenshots, even link to course if it’s topic related. It’s kind of silly that I started to build up a project and then realized " man, you can’t really 3d model or animate " - and now I’m trying to learn to do that as I go.
I could really use all sort of info or screenshots, even link to course if it’s topic related. It’s kind of silly that I started to build up a project and then realized " man, you can’t really 3d model or animate " - and now I’m trying to learn to do that as I go.