@Eric Hello there, maybe it's not relevant just to megascans but quixel company. But is there any way Quixel would be more transparent like Epic Games? Giving dates and delaying them mostly annoy or dissappoint customers but being more transparent looks like more customer-friendly.
They don't give certain dates, sometimes they can't make some features for next version even though they say, but planning the project is a lot easier by checking the progress of features you need on your game. (I asked them why i can't do something in blueprint, they asked me kindly why would i need it, i explained and i can see that feature will come next version on trello board) I know quixel is getting feature requests like epic too, but making a trello board to let customers see what's going on, what will come with new version, what are they planning, maybe some details about them.
Just an idea. And for me it's better than dates for releases.
Well, they're quite unprofessional. But maybe they don't have experience enough with many clients at the same time and have focused before on individual studios or companies.
I feel sorry for the people who got burned with unstable software and haven't received updates for so long. But on the other side the software has really reasonable price, which is maybe determined from their own concerns about the quality of the product.
Maybe it's a good thing, they're delaying the MegaScans so they prevent same thing happening there too. Nothing wrong here.
However,
They should have removed the "Coming soon" that stays more than a WHOLE YEAR.
Be happy guys that there's a competition these days for smaller fishes too, and we can choose.
Lesson learned, never rely over a single thing or source for your project.
endeffect - There are two answers to that question, one is that if we start announcing features and they don´t make it to the next release then people will again be very . But the biggest issue is that since we´re such a small team, anything we reveal can be used by the competition, and since other companies might have significant more resources they can push it out before us.
We would really like to have a more open dialogue of the development of our tools and the specific features, but as of right now it would be a very risky move.
From a business perspective, they should have shipped a minimum viable product ASAP and iterated on that with more materials, customer feedback etc. Instead, it appears they are all caught up on a "grand reveal", and scope seems to be creeping (at some point someone mentioned 3D mesh scans in addition to the materials, etc).
Get it out the door and go from there. You developed your megascan technology at the perfect time, and you are still positioned really well. We all know there are bigger companies out there that can do it better than you if they wanted, given time. The opportunity is fleeting, jump on it.
Really, I haven't the time, quite possibly the skill lol, to be creating materials all day. So I was looking forward to 'scans', before purchasing Quixel. Seems was a good decision, not to waste time learning another platform which lets face it, time is more costly than software.
I'll check back in a month or two and hopefully the ill wind/sad occasion causing the 'delay' doesn't involve the actual developer of the software/programmer.
My sympathies go to the team for any loss of friends or personnel and hope they haven't lost a turnkey programmer to their software 'scans' which will only add to the loss.
Everybody complaining on this thread just needs to chill out. Yeah they said stuff would be coming soon but things happen that affects that. They are working very hard to get us new releases and updates to things. Just because something happens and they don't get a new release out doesn't mean you guys can say all the stuff that you did. Just be patient and you will be rewarded. Things like this happen all the time. Its annoying reading all these posts and seeing you guys bashing on quixal because they didn't get a release out in time when they felt that it wasn't ready. Would you rather have a release with a lot of bugs in it or one that works really well.
I'm new to Polycount so if I mess up go easy on me XD Anyways, yeah, David I'm a little disappointed too. It was supposed to be released March last year, but someone may have lost their life. I guess it's easy for you to say, considering you're not in their shoes. I'm sure that if someone close to you had died then you would have taken time off work or something. Quixel never had to do any of this you know, they never had to make Megascans or the Quixel Suite, if it weren't for them NDO and DDO wouldn't even exist. Yeah, you paid for it but you knew what you were paying for, you knew it was in beta mode, you knew it would be buggy. If it's anyone's fault it's yours. So please stop being so poopy and chill. Megascans will be released when it's ready, the Quixel Suite will be updated when it's ready. The only problem I've had with Quixel is how slow they are at replying to emails, but that's probably because they're so busy trying to make texturing easier and quicker for everyone. So be nice ^-^
No more answers from my site, this is just absurd. This thread isn't about my person.
At least Eric wrote a clear statement, they can't handle both. So all the Quixel Suite buyers have to wait until Megascans is done, no matter if i or we have paid for the quixel suite, the support and development is going into megascans. For me thats enough to make my opinion about this. And Please this thread is about Megascans so no more but David... thanks!
Eric, I'm sorry to hear about the sad personal matter you mentioned. That explains some things for me as well. I'm late posting this, but I want to offer my sympathies nonetheless. Hope you guys get it all sorted out.
For everyone else....
I work in Animation/VFX, so I'm a total outsider here and don't pretend to know much about the finer points of game assets. But I know this: the online FX/Anim community doesn't give off REMOTELY the air of elitist entitlement and adolescent arrogance exhibited by many of the game artists here. I know some very mature game artists, and I know some stuck up VFX artists... there are all sorts everywhere. But most responses I see in this thread are reinforcing a stereotype that you really don't want.
Do yourselves some favors:
1- Realize the futility and transience of your work. You're not curing cancer or feeding the poor. Many of you are getting paid to create art. That's called a luxury. Earn it.
2- Give people the benefit of the doubt.
3- Come to terms with the truth that you're as fallible and faulty as anyone else.
4- Ask what you can do to help.
5- If a sad personal matter pops up, extend your sympathies and offer assistance.
6- Don't be cynical, at least not in public. Cynicism is intellectually dishonest, and saps the life out of you.
endeffect - There are two answers to that question, one is that if we start announcing features and they don´t make it to the next release then people will again be very . But the biggest issue is that since we´re such a small team, anything we reveal can be used by the competition, and since other companies might have significant more resources they can push it out before us.
We would really like to have a more open dialogue of the development of our tools and the specific features, but as of right now it would be a very risky move.
Wait, wait, wait. So this ENTIRE thread is about Megascans being delayed, right because it's not ready to be released?
Yet, SolarFall Games, a small indie dev team that got their game funded by Kickstarter are allowed access to Megascans?
I would understand if it was a huge, well-known company like Rockstar or Bungie but it's not. SolarFall Games consists of 6 staff, 3 working full time and the other 3 working part-time. When it IS released to the public we're all going to be paying for it. So it's not a money thing. I'm sorry, I just don't get it... I thought the whole reason it was delayed several times was because it wasn't ready to be released? Idk, sorry if I sounded like poop
A closed beta has been ongoing for months now and has nothing to do with the "retail" version of Megascans.
Its not hosted on the same site and all the content are being recompiled for the Megascans launch!
Several companies and freelancer have access to the closed beta, selected from those who applied, and the application proccess was open to everyone.
Wait, wait, wait. So this ENTIRE thread is about Megascans being delayed, right because it's not ready to be released?
Yet, SolarFall Games, a small indie dev team that got their game funded by Kickstarter are allowed access to Megascans?
I would understand if it was a huge, well-known company like Rockstar or Bungie but it's not. SolarFall Games consists of 6 staff, 3 working full time and the other 3 working part-time. When it IS released to the public we're all going to be paying for it. So it's not a money thing. I'm sorry, I just don't get it... I thought the whole reason it was delayed several times was because it wasn't ready to be released? Idk, sorry if I sounded like poop
Here is one possible explanation for it, they want to give test from different sizes of companies including small indies. Companies such as Rockstar would be a very very large drain of resources because of the amount of people who would be using it meanwhile smaller independent studios will requires less resources and support.
We selected individuals and companies of different size and direction. (The individuals was mostly the same size though) The open Beta will be much much closer to the final product than the closed beta, which was running on a temporarily site with much less content.
Well if you cant laugh then whats the point In the end we all want the same thing, and when all is said and done I think people will be happy and satisfied, admittedly it haven´t been the smoothest ride but what an adventure!
Yeah we want the same thing, but... in the end the talented and the resourceful get it.
It's the end of the month, as I remember the paid closed beta should be starting anytime soon. You'll hit the time goal?
Because no matter how many people flame here, there's really folks out there who like to plan their workflow and surprises in the last moment... aghmm...
@onera - I´m not sure what closed paid beta you are referring to, as far as I know the plan was a closed beta to get everything tested, then a public beta. The public beta is still not ready, as this thread explains.
I promise that when the beta is ready, everyone will know!
threepeasgamertag - Excellent question! The materials are scanned from all across the world, they´ve really tried to check all the boxes and create a wide variety of materials!
As Megascans is launched it will free up staff to go and scan even more Things.
threepeasgamertag - Excellent question! The materials are scanned from all across the world, they´ve really tried to check all the boxes and create a wide variety of materials!
As Megascans is launched it will free up staff to go and scan even more Things.
That's so cool! I can't wait! ^-^ I know this is pretty far-fetched and most likely won't happen, but it would be really, really, really super duper uber cool if you guys scanned some materials from the Paris Catacombs XD
Jakub - I think you will find the answer in the thread title
threepeasgamertag - I volunteer to travel to paris and scan them!
DUDE!!! The thought of that is getting me even more hyped! Gosh, that would be so freaking awesome!!! I'm trying so hard to remain calm, please do it!!
Lead - The work is progressing nicely right now, its not a problem with the raw data and the compiling process even if that takes a fair amount of time, the problem lies in the delivery system which is why we unfortunately cant open the beta even in smaller scale. But hopefully we´ll get there soon!
threepeasgamertag - I will also get very excited if I get to go to Paris
meh, Paris is overrated. Mostly Chinese and Japanese tourist in packs with 2-3 cameras around their neck and a backpack. Trust me, i'v been there tons.
I' m cool with most things, but honestly that's a tad disrespectful. This is obviously a direct competitor to megascans, and while everyone certainly is free to do what they want this is after all the Quixel section of the forum. I hope you can respect this and I am certain everyone will find their way to the products best suited for them in the end.
Hi Eric,
My post wasn't meant to be disrespectful in anyway, it was merely news about a product that may help some people out with their projects.
News gets posted all the time about tools or material they provide or sell all the time, from zbrush, max maya, vray, modo, mari, blender, ect... and yes even allegorithmic has new that benefit people that are posted in these threads day in and day out.
Since you brought it up about being disrespectful, How much respect has Quixel shown their customers?
It Seems that your the only one posting anything about Quixel, is that more meant to be damage control? or is there anyone who is actually working on the suite?
Looks like Quixel is getting out of the texturing software business and replacing it with being a company that sells texture services.
Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with that, just be straight up with your current customers about the transition.
To be fair Quixel has claimed many times before that one of the main reasons why they are not transparent with their development is due to competitors so it's no surprise that people seek news there after they see none here. If development was transparent there's a good chance all that could be avoided. I'm sure Quixel's competitors already know more about Megascans than any of us anyway as it'd be naive to think otherwise.
I think people are looking too deeply into this- the way I see it, good things take longer than expected ALWAYS! With every project I work on, I expect I'll be finished something weeks or even months before I actually am. Let's let the Quixel team do their thing and we can all enjoy the product when it does launch!
Without knowing the workload the team has it is very unfair to criticise them, or compare to other companies.
Eric Ramberg
Can you tell me please what will be included in Megascans Starter Pack? Is it what we have right now with Suite? Also how Subscriptions to the MEGASCANS library will work when it will released?
Sorry if there is information about it somewhere here, I can't find it.
Falkrum - Good question! The Megascan starter pack will be materials just like the ones included in the suite right now, but 2x2 meter surfaces. The whole system has been drastically improved since we scanned and compiled the materials included in the suite so the new materials will be a lot better.
Its quite possible that some sort of free demo will be available through the Megascans website as well, this has not been decided but it would be logical, so that people can try out the surfaces and 3d objects in their pipeline!
Falkrum - Good question! The Megascan starter pack will be materials just like the ones included in the suite right now, but 2x2 meter surfaces. The whole system has been drastically improved since we scanned and compiled the materials included in the suite so the new materials will be a lot better.
Its quite possible that some sort of free demo will be available through the Megascans website as well, this has not been decided but it would be logical, so that people can try out the surfaces and 3d objects in their pipeline!
Thanks for starter pack explanation.
Still interesting about Megascans Subscriptions. It will be open but you will need to purchase material that you want? Or you will sell material packs? I think i am wrong, because i dont understand how subscriptions work... But i want to know before purchase the Suite.
The official statement has not been released yet, but here are the plans as I saw them last. This may be subject to change before release, but as of now the idea is as follows.
There will be different tiers of subscription, which will determine what resolution you can download. The whole library of scans will be available to you (there might be some exceptions for special materials) but there will be a cap of number of materials per month you can download. Your unused quota will be saved for next month. You will also be able to access the 3D scans, but they will have a different impact on your quota, so one very complex 3D model will not be the same as a regular material.
you can also purchase materials without a subscription, buying the separately, or in packs. Same with 3D scans, you can buy them separately or as an environment pack.
Hope this clears it up a bit! Official details about the subscription to follow.
Replies
They don't give certain dates, sometimes they can't make some features for next version even though they say, but planning the project is a lot easier by checking the progress of features you need on your game. (I asked them why i can't do something in blueprint, they asked me kindly why would i need it, i explained and i can see that feature will come next version on trello board) I know quixel is getting feature requests like epic too, but making a trello board to let customers see what's going on, what will come with new version, what are they planning, maybe some details about them.
Just an idea. And for me it's better than dates for releases.
I feel sorry for the people who got burned with unstable software and haven't received updates for so long. But on the other side the software has really reasonable price, which is maybe determined from their own concerns about the quality of the product.
Maybe it's a good thing, they're delaying the MegaScans so they prevent same thing happening there too. Nothing wrong here.
However,
They should have removed the "Coming soon" that stays more than a WHOLE YEAR.
Be happy guys that there's a competition these days for smaller fishes too, and we can choose.
Lesson learned, never rely over a single thing or source for your project.
We would really like to have a more open dialogue of the development of our tools and the specific features, but as of right now it would be a very risky move.
From a business perspective, they should have shipped a minimum viable product ASAP and iterated on that with more materials, customer feedback etc. Instead, it appears they are all caught up on a "grand reveal", and scope seems to be creeping (at some point someone mentioned 3D mesh scans in addition to the materials, etc).
Get it out the door and go from there. You developed your megascan technology at the perfect time, and you are still positioned really well. We all know there are bigger companies out there that can do it better than you if they wanted, given time. The opportunity is fleeting, jump on it.
I'll check back in a month or two and hopefully the ill wind/sad occasion causing the 'delay' doesn't involve the actual developer of the software/programmer.
My sympathies go to the team for any loss of friends or personnel and hope they haven't lost a turnkey programmer to their software 'scans' which will only add to the loss.
At least Eric wrote a clear statement, they can't handle both. So all the Quixel Suite buyers have to wait until Megascans is done, no matter if i or we have paid for the quixel suite, the support and development is going into megascans. For me thats enough to make my opinion about this. And Please this thread is about Megascans so no more but David... thanks!
For everyone else....
I work in Animation/VFX, so I'm a total outsider here and don't pretend to know much about the finer points of game assets. But I know this: the online FX/Anim community doesn't give off REMOTELY the air of elitist entitlement and adolescent arrogance exhibited by many of the game artists here. I know some very mature game artists, and I know some stuck up VFX artists... there are all sorts everywhere. But most responses I see in this thread are reinforcing a stereotype that you really don't want.
Do yourselves some favors:
1- Realize the futility and transience of your work. You're not curing cancer or feeding the poor. Many of you are getting paid to create art. That's called a luxury. Earn it.
2- Give people the benefit of the doubt.
3- Come to terms with the truth that you're as fallible and faulty as anyone else.
4- Ask what you can do to help.
5- If a sad personal matter pops up, extend your sympathies and offer assistance.
6- Don't be cynical, at least not in public. Cynicism is intellectually dishonest, and saps the life out of you.
-Tim C.
Wait, wait, wait. So this ENTIRE thread is about Megascans being delayed, right because it's not ready to be released?
Yet, SolarFall Games, a small indie dev team that got their game funded by Kickstarter are allowed access to Megascans?
I would understand if it was a huge, well-known company like Rockstar or Bungie but it's not. SolarFall Games consists of 6 staff, 3 working full time and the other 3 working part-time. When it IS released to the public we're all going to be paying for it. So it's not a money thing. I'm sorry, I just don't get it... I thought the whole reason it was delayed several times was because it wasn't ready to be released? Idk, sorry if I sounded like poop
Its not hosted on the same site and all the content are being recompiled for the Megascans launch!
Several companies and freelancer have access to the closed beta, selected from those who applied, and the application proccess was open to everyone.
Here is one possible explanation for it, they want to give test from different sizes of companies including small indies. Companies such as Rockstar would be a very very large drain of resources because of the amount of people who would be using it meanwhile smaller independent studios will requires less resources and support.
I like how you're keeping your humour!
Yeah we want the same thing, but... in the end the talented and the resourceful get it.
It's the end of the month, as I remember the paid closed beta should be starting anytime soon. You'll hit the time goal?
Because no matter how many people flame here, there's really folks out there who like to plan their workflow and surprises in the last moment... aghmm...
I promise that when the beta is ready, everyone will know!
Sorry if I seemed kinda poop in my last message. Anyways, I have a question...
So are the Megascans materials scanned from all over the world? Like the UK, US, places like that or are they just taken from where you guys work?
As Megascans is launched it will free up staff to go and scan even more Things.
That's so cool! I can't wait! ^-^ I know this is pretty far-fetched and most likely won't happen, but it would be really, really, really super duper uber cool if you guys scanned some materials from the Paris Catacombs XD
threepeasgamertag - I volunteer to travel to paris and scan them!
- Was it that you had tons of raw scanned data that is taking forever to process?
- Was it that you wanted to have a certain minimum amount of scans ready before launch, and are just trying to get there?
- Was it an issue with getting a website\distribution method going and stable?
At this point I wouldn't mind paying just for an unlabeled burned DVD\Bluray that had a varied set of megascans that could be manually imported.
DUDE!!! The thought of that is getting me even more hyped! Gosh, that would be so freaking awesome!!! I'm trying so hard to remain calm, please do it!!
threepeasgamertag - I will also get very excited if I get to go to Paris
My post wasn't meant to be disrespectful in anyway, it was merely news about a product that may help some people out with their projects.
News gets posted all the time about tools or material they provide or sell all the time, from zbrush, max maya, vray, modo, mari, blender, ect... and yes even allegorithmic has new that benefit people that are posted in these threads day in and day out.
Since you brought it up about being disrespectful, How much respect has Quixel shown their customers?
It Seems that your the only one posting anything about Quixel, is that more meant to be damage control? or is there anyone who is actually working on the suite?
Looks like Quixel is getting out of the texturing software business and replacing it with being a company that sells texture services.
Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with that, just be straight up with your current customers about the transition.
Cheers,
~Tung
Consider it done, and please accept my apologies.
Without knowing the workload the team has it is very unfair to criticise them, or compare to other companies.
tach - It really has nothing to do with transparency, this was about professional courtesy, but its all good now so no point in discussing it further!
Can you tell me please what will be included in Megascans Starter Pack? Is it what we have right now with Suite? Also how Subscriptions to the MEGASCANS library will work when it will released?
Sorry if there is information about it somewhere here, I can't find it.
Its quite possible that some sort of free demo will be available through the Megascans website as well, this has not been decided but it would be logical, so that people can try out the surfaces and 3d objects in their pipeline!
Still interesting about Megascans Subscriptions. It will be open but you will need to purchase material that you want? Or you will sell material packs? I think i am wrong, because i dont understand how subscriptions work... But i want to know before purchase the Suite.
There will be different tiers of subscription, which will determine what resolution you can download. The whole library of scans will be available to you (there might be some exceptions for special materials) but there will be a cap of number of materials per month you can download. Your unused quota will be saved for next month. You will also be able to access the 3D scans, but they will have a different impact on your quota, so one very complex 3D model will not be the same as a regular material.
you can also purchase materials without a subscription, buying the separately, or in packs. Same with 3D scans, you can buy them separately or as an environment pack.
Hope this clears it up a bit! Official details about the subscription to follow.
This is what I wanted to know, thank you!