So I gave it some thought and decided to change my approach to this. I was suggested by someone to actually "raise my prices" instead of closing comms for good.

Reasoning being this:
1) Functionally it is basically serving the same purpose.
If the price hike happens, a lot of people who would want to comm me, would simply give-up on it. So effectively I achieve the same result as closing them.

2) There is a chance that someone would just want to dump a ton of cash on a 3D model.
This would be a highly unlikely scenario, mind you. However there would be a point where I just wouldn't say no, so people would be going "Hey, didn't you say -no more comms- man?". This avoids the issue.


So what would be the new price range?
I think I'd do a $1400~1600 range being the "average" model price and up for a Game-Ready 3D model. I think it is enough of an increase for both "stopping people" from comms AND putting it at a level where I would just say "yeah, I'd do it at that price". Effectively I think this will shut down comms and I'll be able to focus on doing some Fan Art and populating the Gumroad store with the $15~25 3D models.



Now - that said - I'll be opening comms at the OLD PRICE range next month for the last time.
I'll officially open them once I finish making my current Fan Art model, which is Keiko Tachibana. Once you see her done, you will soon after see me re-opening comms.
This will probably happen in like 2 weeks.

Realistically, I'll probably have like 2~3 slots, cause I want to finish them before January.
On January, I'll do the increase in pricing.

Also - since this was asked by a few people - if you happen to be a previous Client of mine that purchased a Custom 3D model (basically the $500+ ones, not the Cobras).
You will get a "recurring client" discount.

It's horrible business practice, so do not follow my example.

But I generally discourage potential commissioners unless they are 100% certain they want the 3D model. These things quickly cost $500+ and there is so much stuff you can get for that value like wow...
Making a custom game-ready 3D model can take like 2~4 weeks or MORE, depending on stuff, and there are no returns on this stuff. I can't exactly "reuse" someone's OC once it is ready, especially when they have super-specific designs.

So it's non-refundable.

That's why I keep poking people - "Are you SURE you want this 3D model?" "You CERTAIN you want it to be made SPECIFICALLY BY ME, IN THIS WAY?"
And if you "don't really know" or are uncertain - I have to decline you. Cause we both cannot take that risk.
Yeah, I lose a ton of potential clients this way.
But I'd rather lose 80% of the clients this way than hear in middle of the comm "Yeah, things changed - can I have my cash back?"
Dude - who's gonna refund ME the TWO WEEKS I spent? We're not doing this...

That's why I was thinking lately to completely shut down Custom Comms for good.
Just leave the Gumroad store with the cheap $15~20 models.
Cause when I do a Fan Art model - I know I will not be wasting time and hear 2 weeks in "Yeah, could we cancel?"

I probably will stop taking comms from January, closing them for good. I'll probably do one or two more this year if I have some people queued (I have some people waiting) but then will focus on doing some characters I wanted to Fan Art badly.

I'll probably just put more models into the Gumroad store instead - selling them for the $15~25 price tag or something like that. We shall see. So I'd still be doing some models and releasing them now and then, but with less risk for both sides.

So yeah, tl;dr version:
- Gonna close comms for good starting January.
- Gonna finish the queue of comms I have this year (they might be finished next year)
- Gonna focus on my own Game Projects and the Gumroad shop.

Hey guys - quick update.

Volcana will be temporarily unavailable (fortunately nobody bought her yet) to receive some extra updates. Mainly, she'll be getting some prop genitals in there, some extra Blendshapes and some weight paint adjustments.

She should be up and available a bit later for purchase - along with Frosta.

Work is a bit taxing lately. I had a lot of extra stuff I had to deal with so there will be some major delays.

- Currently working on a bigger comm.
- Still working on a Cyber Dragon game. Coming up with Gemini's fighting style.
- Might do a short detour with the VTuber software, although that project will probably not make it far.
- There will be another Cobra happening soon.

Nothing special is happening - just a lot of time-consuming stuff from IRL™.

I have to say this, cause I keep getting people both in comments and DM's asking stuff.

Look guys - I'll be blunt - do NOT get your hopes up.
I'm a guy who talks a lot of shit - rarely delivers.

When it comes to completing projects, the only ones I can 100% guarantee will happen are the ones that get fully paid for. When people commission a 3D model - it happens. Mainly cause someone is putting money on the table and that enables me both to spend time on it and I have a sense of obligation to the person purchasing it.


What about the Game Projects?
So far I had a few game projects that never reached much completion.

1) Attempted the Serpents Swing game.
Got the design document going. All work stopped when I realized how big of a scope it was which made it impossible for one person. So it got abandoned.

2) Magical Seed Garden.
The plant game had pretty much no funding (I think it made a total of $20 which is not enough to even cash it out from Subscribe Star XP) AND got corrupted cause like a moron I didn't back it up when I was changing the coding into Bolt. (Not worth it...) So it all got bricked and abandoned.

3) Amazon Game 1 & 2.
Had 2 games that were using the DAZ renders. They never made it much past the basics of functionality for the combat scene alone. Most people don't even have a clue they were a thing.

4) A Singleplayer grinding game.
An attempt of a very bare-bones basic grinding game. Made a character that moves and some primitive character models. That was it.

5) Magical Seed Garden 2: Insert Secondary Title here.
Made a new Plant Girl model. I gave her some running around animation and idle. The project has a stage where she can run around in 3D space and do some platforming. Project got abandoned cause I had no time and didn't feel later to fix it, cause so much time passed I could just redo the 3D model and get a better one.

6) Cyber Dragon game.
The current one.
So far - it has a 3D model that is sufficient enough. She has a different IK rig so far and will be receiving some animations soon.
No clue how this is going to end up.



Making games takes a LOT OF TIME.
It's not really a matter of burnout even. Sometimes the scope is way too big for a Single Person to finish it. I mean like 150 years too big for a single person. So with no funding - they just cannot happen.
Sometimes it's a matter of running into a technical issue that cannot be solved for various reasons.
Sometimes it's noob errors that brick everything.

I do these projects for the fun of them though. It's like solving a Dynamic Puzzle of sorts. It's fun - and requires no finish.
I try to get as far as I can - but I literally promise nothing.

So don't get your hopes up.
Seriously - don't. Until you see the game on Steam with a "Coming Soon" with a DATE next to it - treat it like a "fun idea, that will not happen". It's better to be positively surprised than hype yourself up and notice "oh, so that is never getting made".


Let's do something fun though - let's place bets.

Place your bet below (and if you did before, you can repeat or change it here) on "When will Buckets abandon the Cyber Dragon game project."
The person who NAILS IT - gets a Free 3D custom made model of whatever character they want.
Otherwise if nobody NAILS IT - the CLOSEST PERSON gets a Free Cobra from the Cobra base (the $150~200 3D model kind).

All bets are OFF however if the Game gets released on STEAM (or some other store, like if Epic Games gives me a massive heap of cash for an Epic Games Store exlusive. Like that is gonna happen.).

My bet is "When she can do at least 1 attack move, but before I add any enemies that actually fight back".

I'll be finishing the comm queue this week.
The new Cyber Dragon model is in the works, so I guess I can slowly open up for the bigger comms again.

I'm not sure how the new Cyber Dragons will be received. But not much has been changed, outside of not relying on the Genesis base. Want to avoid another model corruption problem in the future...
Hopefully they are going to be fun.

So I made one as well:
https://pillowfort.social/idsaybucketsofart

I really, really REALLY missed the ability to write a proper amount of characters, cause Twatter generally limits them by a hefty amount.
I'll probably keep my non-furry stuff there.

Reviving the Magical Seed Garden project.

Well this is probably an unexpected update after a long time of silence.
I guess I should do a short explanation of what happened:

So I've heard a lot of good stuff about this Visual Scripting plugin called "Bolt" that was available on the Unity Asset store. I went and purchased it and like an UTTER IDIOT - I just decided to implement it into the project files without doing a backup for the project.
That move entirely bricked all of the code I did with Playmaker before.

Unfortunately - Bolt was worthless. It's a Visual Scripting system, however it has a bit of false advertisement to it. Bolt is LITERALLY a pointless plugin. It's literally just Coding in C# with a visual overlay - and that overlay introduces more problems and confusion than doing the code by hand. So after some struggle with it - and my own idiocy on not making a BACKUP of the project files - I ended up with a project that has to be redone from the beginning.

Do note - "project files" does not mean "game files". The game file still exists in Ver. 0.21. However the project files are the Unity Project that let's me adjust code and everything.
This basically means that Ver. 0.21 CANNOT BE UPDATED in any way.

Now - the funding for the project was pretty much nothing, it had bugs and with the thought of restarting all of the stuff from scratch I just didn't want to bother - so I removed the Itch.io page and deleted the Magical Seed Garden stuff from my Social Media.

And thus - the project got canned.

So - what's next?

Lately I've been considering reviving the project.
The fact everything has to be made from scratch means a few POSITIVE things actually:
- Making 3D models that will not break visually when they grow.
- More support for character customization.
- Fixing old bugs and introducing NEW bugs.
- New gameplay.

I'm setting up the new Project at the moment.
I am not asking anyone of anything - if you are interested in it, all you have to do is wait till I have a new build ready for playtesting.

I am not sure how long this will take to make. Might be a few months even.
However eventually we'll arrive at another build.

What can YOU do?

Well, the gameplay will be new. You can leave a comment below with your "hopes and dreams" about the game and what it would be. I promise nothing - but if you post what you would want to see - it might impact the direction of the new build.

Of course - not everything can be made. I am but one guy.
However you might mention something important that I glossed over - so hey - if you care enough, I'd read it.

Frogsy, Yingyang, Vampire, Nurse, Pharaoh and Beegsbee will be available for adoption for $100 from tomorrow.
If you are interested in the 3D models - go take a look at their uploaded Overviews.


The models are pretty budget - they don't have any specially created emotion blendshapes and have no "Corrective Shapes" (meaning that their limbs, when bending at extreme angles - will pop out weird).
These if required - will add an extra $5 per Blendshape.

You can also purchase a "Dick Prop" for an extra $20 - be aware it's a rigged, moving prop, but does not "weld" with the main body.
(Double dick is also available for $30. There is no Triple dick option...)
(An Anus Prop is available for an extra $15.)

They however come equipped with Visemes for VRC.
The Naga's have "fake legs" in their bone hierarchy so they work in VRC.
Be ware - some of the models are quite NSFW and might get you in trouble.

There is no deadline on when the sale ends - once they go, they go.


If you need a more advanced model or custom Snek - we can talk details.
Models using the Cobra and Naga base will cost between $100~$150 starter + whatever extre items you need on them, like clothes, props, etc.

Apparently Google Drive considers the Magical Seed Garden game as "containing a Virus" because it has a .EXE file in it.

Freaking false positives...
Apparently the workaround for this issue is to just encrypt your .rar and put a password on it.

You can download the game from the MEGA account for now. I'll fix that problem with Ver 0.21 since it's coming soon.

Pitching a NSFW Game to an Artist

Lately I had more than one person pitching game ideas to me. I am not sure if it's related to writing about the previous Breeding Game - but one thing I did notice was that a lot of people really don't know how to Pitch a game project.

Your Pitch is extremely important - unless you can afford to fund the whole project from your own pocket, you will need to share a common vision with other people to start something.
Now - I am not a professional in the field, but let me share with you some personal tips from the Perspective of a 3D Artist. Since I do create Game-Ready 3D assets I can at least testify to what does sound promising and what is an immediate Red Flag.
There is a lot more to Pitching and Project Management of course - but I hope these few tips will help you out a bit when considering your project and when looking for people. A basic understanding is better than none - do seek out more information if you are seriously planning something though.

Before we begin - do remember that I am speaking of NSFW Game Project Pitching to individual artists on the internet that you saw and who's art you like. Professionals do it a bit differently, so keep that in mind.
Also - I'll speak from the perspective of a 3D Artist, but some aspects of what I say might be shared with 2D Artists.
Also - IT IS OKAY TO DREAM! Sometimes you will think of an idea, ask around, notice what you want to do is too costly to make and give up. That is fine - not all ideas come out fully baked. It's fun to come up with game ideas.



1) Research how much time Asset Creation takes.

This is probably the key issue I noticed over the time. People have literally no idea how much time it takes to create assets for a game and quickly envision mega-productions in their head and expect a single artist to create enough Art Assets for a project so big even a AAA studio would struggle with for a few years.

Look - The Higher Quality art you see in the newest AAA game releases takes a LOT of time and A LOT OF PEOPLE to create in a reasonable amount of time.
A high quality 3D model that is ready for Animation will take 4~8 weeks. WEEKS! Depending on how complex the model, it might take one or two MONTHS to make A SINGLE MODEL.

There are ways to cut time and speed up this process, but they come at the cost of overall quality and fidelity. Some shortcuts like creating a "base model" for a character can limit what future characters can be made from it.

If you pitch to me a game idea where you mention that you might need 10 models from me - in my head that is literally a year or two of work for you. You better have ready funds or a very efficient Business Plan cause I'll have to spend around 2 years working for you.



2) You never mentioned what YOU bring to the table.

I know you like my 3D models. I'm glad to speak with a fan, but if we are going to WORK TOGETHER I need to know what you'll be doing and what you bring to the table.

Are you a Programmer? Well, explain to me what you'll be responsible for in the game. Do you have something you can show me that you CAN code the functions required for the game?

Are you a Musician or Sound Designer? I'd probably want to hear what you have in stock so far and what you are planning to create.

Are you an Animator and you need my models? Showing some sample animations you've made - even with Free models on the internet - would help you out here. We might need to talk about a Sample 3D Model to check if our workflows match well enough.

Are you a 2D Concept Artist? Show me your Character Concepts, that's the easiest way to entice me for the project. Good character design speaks for itself. Will you be doing 2D art like Transition Screens, UI elements, Mugshots? It would be good to know you are also putting your all into this if you're asking the same of me.

Are you a Game Designer? The minimum you can do is offer me a Design Document you've written for the game. If you have some previous games you've created - it would be reassuring to play some.

Are you a Business man for the game? Speaking of where you will market it, what the business model is, how much you expect to sell and who else you going to bring on the Team will help. Let's speak money.



3) Tell me how much Funding you have for the game.

Games take a LONG time to make. If you want Custom 3D models for your game, you might want to explain how we gonna make money on this.

Yes, I know 3D art is my hobby.
I really DO NOT NEED YOU to make more 3D models. Hell, it's easier and more fun for me to make 3D art WITHOUT YOU.

You are asking me to do specific work - not have fun. I am not "excited" about your project. It's YOUR project - and you need help with it. I am willing to help you out - but I really need to know what's in it for me.



4) I don't need Exposure.

The ratio of Follower to Clients is about 0,5%. Every 1000 followers might mean 5 people who want to purchase something - and not all of them will actually buy anything.

Your "exposure" doesn't mean much.
Also - if I am working for FREE for you, I cannot make stuff for clients that would PAY. This will never work - quit it.



5) For the love of everything that is covered in Chocolate - STOP OVERBLOWING YOUR GAME SCOPE!!!

Your game idea is a clone of a AAA game you've been playing, but with Porn in it. Those games have a Budget of a $100 mil sometimes! There is no way you can make that much money on a NSFW game!

There is no way 3 people can do something like that. I'll nope right the fuck out when I hear you are subscribing me to a 12 hour 6 days a week schedule and "maybe" you might get "some other artist" to help out.

Google "Games done by a Single Person" and see some of them. Learn how long it took - how much effort and money was poured into it. Check how many assets got purchased and how much work got outsourced to make them.

Also - I can already tell you that even if you had the Budget and Studio for such a massive project - a NSFW game will not make the money back. I'm not going to be a part of that upcoming train wreck.

Pick something smaller and manageable - then we can talk.

Sometimes you might pick a AAA game as a starting point - but please tell me immediately how many things you will cut out of it to keep the scope reasonable.



6) We REALLY need an animator for this.

For a 3D game to be done in a reasonable amount of time you NEED a 3D Modeler and an Animator.

You might find a generalist that can do both, but while they are animating - no new models are being made and vice-versa.
If you are pitching to a 3D Modeler, I'd like to know who is your desired Animator (you don't have to have them on the team yet - but I want to know who you are considering).
If pitching to an Animator - do show them who the 3D Modeler is (or will be). And make sure that you have someone who makes Game-Ready assets.



7) I will not de-crapify your existing Assets.

Perhaps you tried to take some 3D assets from the internet and noticed they won't work. You took some model from DAZ that had 160 000 polys for one eyelash and noticed you cannot effectively run it in Unity or UE4.

You ran some models through a Decimator and got a scrambled mess. At that point you decided "right - I need someone who can create the 3D Art for the game". A lot of people go through this route to arrive at that decision - nobody will think less of you.

But for crying out loud - don't give me that scrambled, decimated mess and ask me to "fix it".

No - you DON'T HAVE ANY ASSETS. That's not a 3D model you got, that's a jumbled mess of polygons. It's not usable and it looks like shit.

No - it will NOT make anything faster. I'll spend less time making it from scratch and achieving better quality than trying to struggle with whatever it is that the Decimator did to the poor model.

I cannot "upgrade" your existing 3D models. If you hired some other artist and he delivered a mediocre model (cause there is a reason you bought it for $50 each) - I cannot "make them better".

I'd rather not take the job in the first place - cause I am not going to charge you less, and if I know I can create something much better with less effort and time if I did it from scratch, then why struggle with something just because "it is ready"?



8) It's better to ask than to burn your chance on a pitch.

If you just started, it is normal you don't know the prices or how long something takes. Research it - ask around about it.

Look - it's OK to ask.

If you ask me "How much does it take to make a model? How much would it cost?" I'll tell you. You don't have to know it from the get go - people share info around. You can literally ask people on the internet what it takes to make a whole game. What is needed, what assets you need, who makes them, how long it takes, etc. The information is there - just Google it!

Artists that offer their paid work will have their commission info available. If you cannot find it - the artist will inform you where it is OR what their prices look like. Get to know the prices - and you'll be able to make an educated guess on how much the game will cost.



9) Nobody will steal your game idea.

The price of ideas is a Dime a Dozen. Nobody gets excited about ideas alone, cause they are cheap to come up with. Nobody steals them.

What is worth is Assets and Prototypes. If you have something playable ready - that is worth something. It shows you can DO the thing you are planning. That is worth protecting. But until then, while you are still just planning for stuff - there is no point in being mega-secretive. It's not gonna win you any points.



10) Seriously - make a Design Document.

So you have a great idea in your head, but you'll need people to make it? Well - write shit down.

There is information around the internet how to make Game Design documents. Study it a bit and try writing one. It's an idea that is given more form and coherence. It'll help you stay on point, find out how big a team you need and how much time/money it will take.

If the idea is too big - congratulations! You found about it early! Put the Design in a drawer and try making a smaller game this time. Rinse and Repeat till you have something good - it will help you Pitch your game to possible team members!



11) Make sure I fit your project.

This is the last point - but maybe the most important one.

Just because I am a 3D Artist it doesn't mean I can (or will want) to create literally everything you need for the project.

If your Animator works in Blender - and I create models in DAZ Studio, we might have some trouble with the import/export of models.
If you come to me and want to use Unreal Engine 4, but I only use Unity3D - we can have issues there.
If I make stylized furry models - and you come to me and want Realistic Humans - it will just puzzle me why you picked me.

What I am trying to say is - don't just go "Oh, I don't know anybody in the field" and cling to the first person you find. There are more people out there so go search. Ask around - you might find someone who fits your need and is available.




I am not a professional game designer - nor did I work in the field and shipped a game.

Take what I say here with a grain of salt - cause this is advice from a personal view of a 3D Artist who had some bad pitches directed at him. Perhaps it will help you a bit. Maybe it won't.

But don't do the obvious mistakes.

Just to clarify - since I was asked this.

If someone took your desired Theme - it can be picked again.
Just be aware that you will receive a different Flavor of that theme.

So for example - if someone took "Pirate" and you wanted a Pirate as well, you can Comm another Pirate Cobra. You'll get a different flavor of it though.

I encourage different themes - cause that grants you a unique one for sure, but if someone took a theme you really badly wanted, just get another one in that theme.
I'll try to work something out.

If you have any questions - ask below. I'll get to them as I can.

I mistook the current Commissioner of the Qhala model for RatherDevious because I was dumb. (They used the same avatar simply)

Just wanted to correct that mistake - the model is still being made though, and the Commissioner is adamant about having her.
Better luck next time to those who wanted the 3D model though.

So I caved in and got a Twatter account finally:
https://twitter.com/Idsaybucketsof2

I'll be cross-posting stuff around anyway - so you ain't missing much.
But I will currently twat about Bowsette a lot. Until the meme dies.