This is a hands-on review of Asset Forge 2.0 by Kenny.nl. Kenney is a name that is probably familiar to you from the wealth for free assets he has given away over the years. Asset Forge is an extremely easy to use 3D modelling application where you can quickly create models using a building blocks approach. Even with minimal artistic ability you should be able to get great results from AssetForge very quickly.
Details of Asset Forge:
You’ll have access to a large library of pre-made blocks (about 600 currently), they’re each categorized in different categories. You can place an unlimited number of blocks in your creation after which it’s possible to export and use in the game engine of your choice.
- Position, rotate, mirror and resize blocks
- Export to common 3D file formats (see below)
- Render your model as a 2D sprite
- Apply colors, materials and textures
- Batch export a sprite in multiple directions
The exported models are compatible with most game engines including Unity, Unreal Engine, Blender and ThreeJS. The 2D sprites (PNG) are compatible with all game engines that support sprites.
Asset Forge is now available on Windows Mac and Linux as of the 2.1 release (which was recently released). The 2.0 release adds Lua scripting support, making procedural content creation in Asset Forge a breeze.
Asset Forge is available in Standard ($19.95) and Professional($39.95), with the pro edition containing an addition 10% more blocks. Both editions including ongoing free updates and possess no DRM. Asset Forge makes it easy to create models for your game engine of choice including Unity, Godot and Unreal Engine. Asset Forge is very easy to pick up with a well defined and easy to understand user interface.
Due to the dynamic nature of mesh composition, Asset Forge uses a box projection system instead of UV Maps that aren’t immediately compatible with Unreal Engine’s light-mapping solution. Thankfully this can be resolved in just a few seconds in your DCC tool of choice such as Blender. This is more of a compatibility issue with UE4 than it is with Asset Forge. There is a quick-fix with a simple unwrap as described in this short tutorial.
Check out Asset Forge in action in the video below.