Is G8/G8.1 abandoned?
ramon73
Posts: 96
in The Commons
Since G9 came out basically all new releases I see are for G9. Have the creators abandoned G8/G8.1 now that G9 is there? Also Daz store is heavily pushing G9, most of the orange dicount banners I get are for G9 discounts.
Personally I am not hopping onto the G9 bandwagon and I am still very content with G8/G8.1. The benefits of G9 are too little and the disatvantages too big imo. Too much stuff I need to buy to have the same freedom as I have with G8 (all the utilities etc) so I keep browsing the new releases to add products to my wishlist, but there are are hardly any new products to add anymore.
Don't give up on G8/8,1 dear creators! Or at least release products that have both G8 and G9 versions!
Comments
I keep hoping that someone will make a good utility for converting G9-only clothing to work on G8/8.1 characters easily. I have so many models and morphs at this point that I mainly shop for new outfits and new environments. If the majority of clothes are G9, and with such different "skeletons" on the two figures, I'm hopeful that we get an easy way to keep using new clothes.
I wonder what was the point of 8.1 with 9 coming out so soon after. It just introduces another element of incompatiblity.
Not sure if we are seeing the same store? I am looking through the New Releases and there are still quite a few that are for G8/8.1 in addition to G9 so clearly not abandoned. Obviously, G9 stuff is going to be heavily featured in the promotions since there would be no point for Daz to develop a new generation if they were not going to push it.
At the end of the day PAs are going to make items that sell, so if lots of people keep buying G8/8.1 stuff then PAs will keep making items that are compatible with that.
I am all in favour of the converter products tho, so products that were not initially compatible with other generations can be made more compatible and thus provide more options within the same library.
There is still some new G8/G8.1, but the majority isn't. And it is not that I wishlist everything just because it's G8 ofcourse. Especially the 'whats hot' slider section is almost only filled with G9 now. I see plenty of G9 stuff I want to buy if it would be G8/G8.1, but alas. I think the merchants are shooting themselfs in the foot a bit and are missing out on potential more sales.
Happens with every version. Look at the store sorted by date. You'll see a transition between Genesis 3 and Genesis 8 then eventually practically no Genesis models at all anymore, with maybe one or two that might have been sitting in a PA's backlog. Making "Genesis 8 and 9 compatible products" may sound easier said than done, since 9 has a completely different skeleton than 8 and previous generations did. 9 clothes, for example, are unisex. Making clothes fit the masculine and feminine form in 8 and earlier I don't think is so easy.
There are other markets as well that are still regularly releasing Genesis 8 products, and there's an enormous catalogue of Genesis 8 both here, and elsewhere that should keep any creator busy for years to come.
Genesis 9 also only came out a few months ago, and it's going to take some time for the ball to roll.
Well, personally, G9 is so much easier to design that you'd have to pay me absurd money to go back.
And I think many PAs feel similarly.
Well, as other people more knowledgable than I have said - making stuff for multi-generations is not so simple - and so it will be a cost/benefit decision that will mean for some PAs it will be worth it and for some it will not. However, from what I have seen, the various promos do end up allowing you to purchase older products at much cheaper prices. For example, yesterday I got a whole bunch of G3/G8 stuff knocked down from ~$18 to $2 triggered by 1 G9 product at $13. Just because those G3/G8 products were not newly made it doesn't mean they are not worth getting. And even if you were not interested in G9 today, adding a single G9 product to trigger a massive discount on stuff for earlier generations that you do want still can be good - plus that G9 product is in your library if/when you do want to start playing around with it.
Just yesterday I was laughing at another post on this here forum saying that the continued release of G8 products was evidence that G9 had failed and not enough people were purchasing products for it, and I was thinking about the people saying that only G9 products were being released and G8 had been dropped completely. It's all perspective. Anyway, over at other stores like 'rosity where the vendors may not have gotten a bit more lead time on the new generation, there are more G8 products still getting released. Something to consider if you've gotten everything for G8 in the store here and are looking for something new!
Maybe it's true for Characters but is it the same thing about clothing and LIE/material preset ?
There's still new G8+ content in the store. It doesn't look as if it was fading away. It's not abandoned.
And yeah, that other store by large goes by G8+.
So far I have bought everything on this website (And I have bought quite a lot considering my monthly spending limit), but I might widen my view if there not much new coming. So thats also a result of introducing G9 yes.
I have yet to see anything that would convince me that the results I get with G8 would be any better with G9 so the considerable cost of switching to this new generation along with all the new clothing, morphs, characters, etc., is just not worth it. Today I see all the sales are conditional on the purchase of a new release, most of which are G9 so I don't buy anything. Out of interest I took a look at Rendo and not much there either so I will save my cash for later. I find it interesting that Rendo are announcing a big investment in Store upgrades and I hope that DAZ takes note because hardly a day goes by here without some store glitch.
after 12 years I already know as soon as a new base model comes out new products support it and not the previous stuff unless they were already being developed
I still use V4, M4 sometimes and A3 so not a huge issue for me personally
incompatibility issues of the software with my aging hardware more of a concern to me than the content
one day I may buy into G9, it works in Carrara after all but no rush, I have nothing against it at all, I want a UHD smart TV too, like that it's not a need just a luxury that can wait
G8.1 on the otherhand is pretty much a waste
I get some content for it if cheap but a right PITA if hierachial poses
It may be easier for PAs, but it's more difficult for consumers. Having no separate lip surface, issues with bends, nipples, navel, makeup, etc.. makes it a nightmare for me to work with. Plus you have to re-buy all utilities for posing, morphs, all the Zevo stuff... The only benefit is it loads faster than G8 if you have a ton of G8 stuff and the eyes look better in portraits. I'm slowly buying a few things if heavily discounted but I cannot see getting really into G9 unless the promise of G9 can be "anything' is true--and looking at you @Oso3D to see what creative things or creatures you come up with because G9 as a pinup model is pointless.
Yeah same feeling here, Visually I don´t see that many benifits.
There are a lot more (visual) differences between the switch from G3 to G8 than the switch from G8 to G9. In fact I still see better G8 skins than G9 skins so far.
Anyone know how soon before G9 stuff can be worn by G8.1, 8, G3 etc....
Maybe https://www.daz3d.com/mmx-genesis-9-clones-for-all
Not really, mesh resolution is similar, and if you use G8 shaders on G3 those differences all but disappear.
Out of the box? Sure there are visual differences.
Which stuff? There are already some converters/adaptors.
As someone else said, you can go to Renderosity. The majority of the new releases there are g8, prices are cheaper, and better QC too.
I have this and it works really well.
...the trouble is for many of us hobbyists we almost need to be paid to "go forward" as prices for G9 characters and figures have significantly increased over previous generations making full scale adoption that much more difficult for many. With a new bone/poly structure, UV map, and androgynous base figure, one pretty much needs to completely buy into the new generation to make it as useful as G3/G8.
Not all 3D hobbyists are skilled at modelling or creating new morphs nor have the time to devote to learning the ropes.
..I've been heading over there more lately..
I'm just explaining why folks may not be seeing much pre-G9 content coming from PAs in the future.
Thats a tall order, tbh. My most recent included both, but only coz i didnt want to waste the work id already done with it on g8. But its a lot of work, esp on two sets of that size. Its just not feasible to support both a lot of the time (tho im sure some will do so when it is feasible)
I have one more like that, which will have g8 & g9.... and again, only coz i had started it on g8. But thereafter?? I will probably migrate to g9. It just makes better sense to dev on the latest thing, and that which will give us the most returns.
Honestly, I plan to use G9 as much as I can because I know from experience that new items will mostly be for the latest figure, it just makes financial sense for the company. I actually look forward to new G9 releases since there are many things that the latest figure needs to get her up to the same level of usability I am used to with G8, but I am confident she will get there and it's not like I don't have all the other past generations if I need something specific for a project.
...maybe by the time enough is out to make G9 as useful as G3/G8 currently are I'll either hit 5 of 6 numbers on the weekly Lotto or G10 will be released and all G9 stuff will go on sale like G8 content did after 9 was released.
Abandoned ??..NOT by animators
From my perspective G9 is a solution in search of a problem.