For starters, I need to preface this by saying that this is indeed an amazing product.
I used this again recently and i have a couple questions/feedback. Some could be applied to the fantasy creator as well
Some QoL:
1 - Some animations are bound to number keys. Having some way to list them so it's more visible would be nice.
2 - Being able to name export folder so it's more organized
3 - Choosing HD or 8 bit changes export resolution but there's no change in the preview
4 - Sometimes walking and shooting freezes the walk animation in the preview
5 - Can we have a different firing animation for heavy weapons? Lifting a minigun to eyesight level and firing doesn't make much sense. The pose in idle animation is basically what we would need since it's more at hip level. If we could get a firing animation at that level as well would be cool
6 - Are the gun/weapon icons in these creators available for use and if so where can we get them?
7 - I saw that you're planning on doing a Pro version of the creators. Are these just with more features or would they also have more content? I don't think it has been disclosed what the selling strategy would be but if I may throw my 2 cents in, I think releasing an upgrade pack with more content (customization and/or animations) for a price would be totally justified. On the other hand I think releasing a separate pack just for features for a price wouldn't feel as good. I'm all for supporting extra content but I think it would be better to support 1 version of each creator with feature improvements and if needed released asset addons for a price
EDIT:
8 - instead of just allowing clicking on buttons to change options, maybe adding a dropdown so it's faster to go a specific option. Perhaps where the output is displayed it could double as dropdown to do it.
9 - This is more UX than anything but it's a bit weird that i have the buttons to change on the right side and label of what changed on the left. If they could grouped closer together would be nice as well. Maybe under the label "Shoes" that sits between the arrows you could add the "shoes2" under it. The previous dropdown could even be here as well doubling its purpose as that new label. It would also free up UI space for other features that might be added
EDIT2:
10 - Since the exported characters can look in 8 directions it would be nice to export movement in 8 directions as well. Right now if you're facing a diagonal but try to move in an orthogonal way there's no animation that matches 100% and the leg movement looks weird. Example, looking to upper-right and trying to move left. The good news is that depending on your setup you already have all the components needed. For the example i gave, the fix would be to maintain the upper body with that direction (upper-right), but then have the lower body use strafe-left animation as if facing upwards. It might be more work under the hood to make this work, but the animations are so good that little details like this mismatch in leg movement easily catch a player attention because everything else looks so good and smooth.
Viewing post in Character Creator 2D - Modern comments
Thank you so much for taking the time to write all this — detailed feedback like this is incredibly valuable and honestly pretty rare to get. I really appreciate it. A lot of what you mention makes perfect sense, and several points line up with things I’ve been wanting to improve myself.
Regarding animations: this is by far the most common request I receive, and I completely understand why. The challenge is that the current creators are built entirely around pre‑rendered spritesheets. Adding even a single new animation means re‑rendering every combination of body type, gear, and weapon, which quickly explodes into hundreds of new sheets. That also increases the overall package size quite a bit, so I have to be very selective about which animations I add. But your notes about heavy‑weapon firing and directional movement are good — I’ll take a closer look at what’s feasible without blowing up the workflow.
Your UI and QoL suggestions are all solid. Things like listing the number‑key animations, improving the preview behavior, dropdowns for faster navigation, and grouping labels/buttons more logically are exactly the kind of refinements that make the creators nicer to use. I’ve added these to my internal list and will see what I can include in upcoming updates.
For the weapon icons: the only way to access them is through the Unity package included with the product. If you open it in Unity, you’ll find all the source files there, including the icons, and you’re free to use them however you like.
About the Pro version: this would be something completely different from the two current creators — more of a standalone tool rather than a preset‑driven generator. The idea is to let users create their own animations, adjust rigs, customize characters at a much deeper level, and generally have far more flexibility than what’s possible in the current system. It will also come with a steeper learning curve because of that freedom.
I’m also exploring support for additional viewpoints, including true top‑down and sidescroller perspectives, all within the same Pro creator. It would not reuse the same gear, designs, or character sets from the existing creators — it’s essentially a new ecosystem built for people who want full control rather than a quick workflow.
Because of that, I still think the current lightweight creators have an important place for users who want something simple, fast, and ready to use. The pro creator Is still early in development, and I’m working on updates for the current creators and assets at the same time, so the timeline for all of this is still very uncertain.
Thanks again for such thoughtful feedback. It really helps me shape the direction of these tools, and I’m glad you’re getting good use out of them!
Hello again and thank you for addressng the various points. It appears I was under the wrong impression of the scale of the "pro" version. Taking into account the what you listed I can understand it being sold as separate product. It's not just more features and content but an entirely different workflow and possibly targetting a completely different set of users. With that said I'm glad the "legacy" versions will still be supported and possibly received QoL updates that you learn from doing the "pro" version. I know you had a lot of work with the last tilesets but I'm really eager to see what your next character pack will be since those are the hardeste to come by with good quality and hunting assets. Now I don't know if we'll get a regular character pack next or the new creators but I guess I'll have to wait to find out. Keep up the good work. If I remember some extra feedback I'll reply to this (or your reply) to avoid filling up the comment section with this.
Speaking of which, not sure if you still have it but I think when I 1st got the packs I suggested keeping export spritesheet direction order consistent (for easier import workflow) and also, in case you do projectiles again give a version without movement built-in the animation (sprite always centered so people can move it as they wish inside their engines). Not sure if it's still relevant but better safe than sorry.
Thanks for listening and replying and have a good day.
EDIT: As I kept thinking about it, the "pro" version sounds like a massive undertaking if you're going to allow things like creating animations. Maybe you're already aware of this but that sounds not only hard to implement but also hard to expose to the user in a way that is easy to use. If I may make another suggestion, depending on your asset creation workflow and compatibility between the systems, you could maybe sell character packs as "presets" usable out of the box like they are now and the pro-version could include those assets (already build-in or included with the character package, an "extension" file for the creator to support these assests as well). For people that want stuff that just works they have the traditional packs, and the users that want maximum customization can use the pro-version and still benefit from packs coming out by getting extra content for their "pro" creator. Of course this would probably only work characters with the same "shape" so maybe monster or animal characters would only be able to be sold as a standalone packs and not integrated in the creator but hey, if you somehow worked out too the better (but realisitically it might provide some challenges that might not be worth it, at least for the first iterations)
Part of me saying this is because I feel that if the "pro" creator is your next project I don't think we'll see anything for several months, and if you could find a way to make pro creator and packs compatible (maybe only future packs because retrofitting this is probably a lot of work) you could make some character packs from time to time as you work on the creator and you would also give yourself an easier time to drop packs/extensions to the creators content in future without leaving creator buyers out because content only came out on a char pack, or leaving pack buyers out because the new content is only for the creator. With a sort of extension system, packs could be sold and double as stand-alone and pro creator extensions. Priced correctly I think it could be a viable business model. It's extra work for sure, but if you're going to do all these advanced features anyway, maybe consider this.
Thanks again for taking the time to share such detailed thoughts — I really appreciate it. A new pack is already in the works, though I’m not ready to reveal which one just yet.
Regarding the pro creator, you’re right that it’s a big project, and I’m approaching it carefully to make sure the workflow feels good for users. It’s still early in development, so a lot may evolve as things take shape, but your points about compatibility, presets, and workflow consistency are definitely noted.
I’m glad to hear the legacy packs are still useful for you, and I’ll keep your suggestions in mind as I continue improving both the existing content and whatever comes next.