Wow.
First: thank you!
As for the software, characters etc.:
The Dean is, I'm embarrassed to say, one of my most un-original characters. She's almost a virgin G9 Tatianna figure, which you can find even here.
Tatianna
She costs only 15$, and definitely worth the time saved.
That said, I had to manually edit her textures (especially the facial displacement map, which you can see in the original close-up cutting through her mouth corners), and of course tweak her face, breasts, musculature and so on, but it was all done through DAZ's engine, so really not much there.
This is not how I usually work, though. I usually like more creative control of my characters.
The best example of this is Paula herself:
First, I exported the basic G8F model into Maya (I needed the topology and the UV mapping).
Then I used the photos of a lady friend of mine to sculpt and morph Paula herself inside Maya, using the above exported base model.
Yes, there is someone out there that really is Paula...
Then I used the exported Maya figure as a morph for G8F.
Then I added many DAZ and ZBrush combo maps as color and displacement textures.
Other characters are somewhere in between these two extremes, mainly depending on the importance of the character in the game.
Nina, for example, was almost the same as Paula.
So all you Nina lovers, I have
plans for her...
As for environments, it's the same thing: I use existing assets where applicable and appropriate, and do my own thing when it's needed.
That's why you can see a generic DAZ house with some hand-made furniture and so on.
As for animation (which is a much more substantial element in the upcoming version), it is a mixed bag, and an MO in progress: for basic walks and such I use the existing DAZ library, adding to it secondary movements if needed.
Paula's walk to MC's room, for instance, was a walk animation I found in my DAZ library, that I've edited with facial expressions, breathing and, most importantly (and most subtly) - corrections to her arm movements.
But the custom animations I need at key points in the game I make myself, in Maya (and maybe Motion Builder, if need be).
For that, as for Paula, I use live models I film myself, such as the lovely Ms.
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whom you can see in this thread, as well.
For rendering, mainly for comfort, I use DAZ's iRay.
I really prefer RenderMan, and even Arnold, but I really can't afford the export times and various tweaks in Maya right now.
People here are already angry at my slowness, as it is...