THE STORY OF HOW IT CAME TO BE,
AND THE STORY OF HOWI PRETTY MUCH FUCKED UP ITS PRODUCTION
MATUMIT SOMBUNJAROEN2015/05/08
ZADE: Action FrameWork
Initial Notes
This slides have some negative talks on Unity Asset Store
—However—I am well aware that
most of the faults are from my own judgement
What is ZADE Action Framework?
It is a Unity Asset for Prototyping Action Game Available in Unity Asset Store- Soon to be release as Open Source
- As soon as I finish updating it to support Unity 5.x- + As soon as the Web Developer finish the new Web Page for me
NEW HOMEPAGE+ TEST WEBGL
ZADE Action Framework: EULA
Once release in the official Website
1. The Assets is licensed under Creative Common 4.0https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
2. You have to, CREDIT the Homepagewww.zodiac-alliance.com
How did it started?
It all started when,after nearly a year of works,
GDD got approved, but when it came to funding discussion
I failed to get funding from the Investor
Thus, after a consideration,I decided that if it would take another year for a
business talk,I’d rather spent my time building a project instead.
The Early Process
Initially, It was planned out as a Simulation Game with SD CharactersÞ After several testsDue to personal funding, To Save up Asset Resources, it got turned into an Action Game+ To be able to utilize and recycled Motion Data,
More realistic Proportion got used
WHAT I FUCKED UP NO1
During really late test cycle,I realized that I couldn’t make a fun game out of it
What I should have done
<= Stick to Simulation Game, which I have more expertize in
<= Doing lots of test and made a proper GDD in the earlier cycles
Unity Asset Store
After Basic Characters Control was completed,I decided to sell some motions and character control scripts in the Unity Asset Store-- Initial Version was call ZADE: Mecanim Character Controller<= Initially It sold reasonably well for the personal income standard for my region- Thus, I decided to invested more time in expanding it
WHAT I FUCKED UP NO2
Later on, Maintenance cost of the AssetsOutweigh the Income
What I should have doneStop there, and get back to main game Production
The reasons will be explain in further slides
Asset Store Marketing
Regardless of what people are trying to tell you,Simply putting Asset in Unity Asset Store, do not make it sell,
As a Product, Proper Marketing and Advertising is needed,Which I have failed to do properly
Horizontal Development
Instead of using Time resources on the Main Game, I kept adding endless new features to answer customers’
demandsEven when I don’t need them in the Main Game
Action FrameworkExpanding
Framework features
Main Game ProductionWhat I have done
What I shouldhave done
Support Maintenance Cost
Because the Scripts have to be readable by other users,I was unable to do various Production Shortcuts,
Which is understandable by me,And have to put my Assets in creating Support Resources as
well
Upload times
Because Asset Store require author to upload all Assets in a single go,
Large Asset size + Regional Slow Net Speed + Random Net Disconnect
Cost days just to Upload the Assets**Work flow has been improved in the latest version of Unity**
Free Upgrades
Due to how Unity Asset Store work,User who purchased the previous version of the Asset
get all later upgrade for free,There is no further income from returning customers
**Unity has now provided a new upgrade plan for Asset Authors**
V2.440US$
V3.080US$
Brought hereCool!
Free Upgrade!
WHAT I FUCKED UP NO3
Spending times making Assets for Demonstration Purposes
What I should have done
Just use what I have my hand on
Bottle Neck Issue
Due to Unity Asset Store’s EULAI was unable to utilize Assets from Other Sources,
As such, everything included in it have to be tailored-made
What I have done
Scripting
Create Assets
Scripting
Create Assets
Income from Asset Store
Pay Other to Create Asset
Income from Asset Store
Pay Other to Create Asset
What I could have done
If I didn’t care about selling things in the Asset Store,I could have just brought cheap motions from Mixamo,
SFX from other Asset authors, and so on
WHAT I FUCKED UP NO3
Piracy!!!
It got Pirated
I tried contacting Unity Asset Store,They Do not reply
And I have to file all Copyright Infringement myself
Credit Card Counterfeit issue
User got the AssetVia Asset Store
I received income
A month later
Some kind ofFraudulent occur
Unity do Cash Backon my account
Asked Asset StoreOn what happened to
The Asset User obtained
No Reply fromUnity Asset Store
Reallusion MarketPlace
Reallusion have Asset authenticity systemto provide unauthorized Asset usage
Unity Asset Store would gain a lot from doing the same
Talking about Support
The Guy at Allegorithmic is awesome!He contacted me to give support
simply when I tweeted that I got a problem
To Summarize What I should have done
Test Early
Prioritize on the Main Game ProductionStick with the original Plan to used Cheap Purchasable
Assets
Prioritize to make a Game that I have expertize oninstead of focusing on Production Cost
Sell only what I can maintainIf I am going to sell it, do proper advertising
Decision to goOpen Source
Simply speaking
It’s because now I have another full-time job.Thus, I can no longer do a full time work on it.
Also, because I had promises to customersthat I can no longer make,
I decided to give it awayso that other people can freely work on it,
Also
By Providing it in my own Web Page
I can provide updates in small piecesinstead of going one full chunk
And, I can provide only Scriptsinstead of having to provide and integrate
Custom made Assets in the Package
And
Unity 5.x included Upgrades that made some workflow obsoleteUnless Constant Upgrade can be done,
The Asset could be remove from the Asset Store
A Final Note
To The Creator of Project Nimbus,I am aware that what you said included my Project,
YOU ARE 100% CORRECT,I am not angry about it
Project Nimbus
Project Nimbus is available in SteamJust to make things certain,
nobody asked me to do advertising for him