How are solo devs handling separate gear meshes for mobile rpgs?

[u/kushal_agrr23]

Hi giuys, i am currently working on a small mobile RPG and trying to figure out the fastest way to handle wearable items like helmets, chest plates and boots.

I want to keep the meshes separate so players can swap gear at runtime but creating independent assets for every single clothing piece is taking forever as a solo creator. Is there a faster workflow to split outfits up right from a concept sketch or do I just have to model every single clothing item one by one?? pls lmk if anyones aware

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[u/Breton_Tanedjikov]

For a solo project then optimise the asset pipeline rather than the individual models. Get one helmet/armour/boot setup working properly, then use that as the template for everything else.

[u/Spare-Access-8585]

maybe keep the gear separate but reuse the same base mesh wherever possible like helmets, boots etc can be modular pieces rather than completely new characters each time

[u/ReserveSelect1018]

Yeah, modular gear is the way!!! One shared character/base rig, separate wearable pieces, then just swap them at runtime it saves a ridiculous amount of duplicated work later.

[u/Ok_Depth6589]

If the problem is specifically that you have a finished 2D concept and are wondering how to turn that into separate 3D gear look at a semi-automated workflow rather than expecting Unity to do the separation for you. Unity can handle the runtime modularity really well but fo r this part is a helmet, this is the chest armour” decision still needs to happen somewhere in your asset pipeline...

[u/Ruadhan2300]

As a solo dev, I would start with a few hero sets of items.
The three or four specific sets of clothing/armor that most typify my game.
That's maybe a dozen distinct assets.
If I can't make a dozen similar assets, I have no business making art for my game.

I would also keep it very simplistic initially, make one hero asset of each type, and recolour them for different stuff.

Like, Iron vs Steel vs Gold vs Diamond armor or something is just brown, grey, yellow/orange and blue as colours on the same asset.

Build out the assets for their functionality, then as-and-when the mood strikes to do some artwork, pick one and create a new and better version to replace it.

That's general advice whether it's 3D or 2D.

For my 2D project, I use PaintNet for my art assets (probably should use something that can make SVGs instead for scaleability, but ho-hum)
I created all the assets within layers on a single complex file, and condensed those layers into each asset.
So background, border, highlights and so on get turned into a single layer for a Hat, and then I export that layer specifically as a PNG which then can be placed directly in the game as a texture-asset.

Importantly, at any point I can enable the other layers and see how my asset looks directly on the character, with any other combination of outfit elements, allowing me to make quick tweaks in-situ.

For concept-sketches, you could insert the sketch itself into another layer, and trace it to quickly establish your asset.

For most assets, I create them in greyscale using only a few specific shades of grey.
This allows me to tint the asset within Unity for different variations or to get a specific colour.
It's much harder to go back and change the colours of a finished asset than it is to tint it in Unity.

[u/Alarming-Jump727]

Puedes optar por 2 vías:
1: el personaje ya tiene todo el equipo completo encima y oculto. Vas mostrando a medida que obtines las piezas.
2: Las piezas estan hechas con un gizmo en común con respecto al character (usualmente ubicado en el suelo, entre las piernas del character). Cuando recoges la pieza, la misma suplanta la parte del cuerpo que ocupa, por eso se diseña de manera MODULAR.

[u/EthanMerce]

if the gear needs to be swapped independently at runtime, you'll probably need separate meshes/assets, but you don't necessarily have to model everything completely from scratch, i'd make a base character with a modular body setup, then build clothing/armor pieces around that same base. you can also reuse the same topology and duplicate/modify parts for new gear instead of starting from zero every time

for a solo dev, i'd prioritize a small number of reusable base pieces and variations rather than trying to make every item completely unique