Game Character Hub: Portfolio Edition

I purchased the previous Game Character Hub. I was disappointed by the license restrictions, and gave it a negative review, I took a lot of time before trying Game Character Hub: Portfolio Edition. What I leave here are first impressions but I can already say that the developer made a LOT of improvements and efforts in the exact direction we would like it to be. [h1]THE GOOD[/h1] * Well displayed and arrayed software, a clean tool. * Many features are there and work perfectly for our needs; fast and easy layering, pixel editing, an even the animation preview itself are all very important. Other "deep" features are the possibility to customize generators and adjust all tilesets. * The software is made with complete "open features" that you can adjust for your needs for other games; changing the tile layout is very easy, everything is pretty clear. * I had no bugs so far; some people had some, I did not! * The description is more clear regarding RPG Maker license contents * It now has a few (well, too few) license-free content, with "Second Story" DLC; this one does not have much, really! But we may use it as base and customize it to use it in any 2D game. Which is GREAT. * The Steam Workshop is there and has many fine categories [h1]THE BAD[/h1] * ... and the steam workshop looks quite empty! Why why why? :O * RPG Maker also has less but very nice character customization features. So people always have to compare the two. Here you have nice layering, nice animation preview (which is essential), multiple options to adjust tilesets for other games too. But not many graphic assets for other games, even with the DLC Second Story. * The developer must support it for the tool to continue being useful; and certainly NOT make another Game Character Hub to sell, but upgrade this one. [h1]CONCLUSION[/h1] The software itself is the greatest sprite and sprite animation editor I've seen and used so far. It seems the developer has finally got there. I find it a much better, complete and faster tool than regular photo editors or pixel editors, for that purpose. Photo editors have plenty more features and effects, but not this ease of use. This software delivers on its target of sprite creation. Unfortunately for the developer, RPG Maker proposes a number of features already for character generation. This splits the community and the pricetag can fend some people off. I hope the developer will continue releasing license-free contents. I give him a thumbs up for these efforts!

My go-to for pixel art. A lot of times I'm not even using it for game-related content. I'd break it down, but it'd be easier for you to check the artwork on my profile. All of it was done in this software, including the full-arts that are posted. I have over 2,000 hours of use in this for a reason. I would buy this software 10 times over.

Bought for a very overpriced $30 just for RPG MV. Something that was supposed to come with the regular, cheaper GCH. Would still rather use the regular GCH compared to this garbage which costs MORE! My budget is incredibly tight and this was a very difficult decision, one I deeply regret now. Buggy, keeps lagging, freezing and nearly crashing. Can't copy over sprites to a new frame. Not to mention that all of the things that you get with it are already in the Character Generator in RPGM:MV. Not a single thing new. Lazy program and greedy developer! Looking into how to get a refund now. Simply wanted a way to make more customized sprites and more fun with RPGM:MV, was wanting to get back into making games again but this has totally ruined my motivation. Could not recommend that you DON'T PURCHASE more! Better yet don't purchase any of their products until they learn that this is NOT the way to do things. I've experienced better from free things. Shameful.

I have read many reviews before purchasing this software oh-so-long ago, and still read them once in a while. At the time of writing the review I have a little over 300 hours on the software and I have used it extensively "for my game creating purposes". Edit December 3rd 2020: There is now an option to easily use MZ resources. This solves the only few problems I've had with the tool. I no longer have complaints. Rating: 5 stars - Wonderful for simple character creation. The -1 star would be for complexity, but also would add it right back for the same reason. This is a very robust tool for what it is. The good: Makes your life easier creating characters in a more complex way than the standard MV. The Bad: It helps you do RPG maker item management, but it does not give you any new tools. However, I did not expect new items, so it works for me. The Ugly: The tool is very complex and if you want to do anything "non-standard", it is pretty tough. That being said, with over 300 hours, I am yet to do many non-standard things. @ This tool should have been in core MV, XP, MZ etc. Two separate people/companies. Asking for one to be a part of the other is like giving skateboards a negative review because they are not the new Tesla car... because you are not adult enough to drive a real car, but can skate. In other fords - foolish. @ This tool does not have extra items Correct. There are a ton of free items online that you can add to the tool. This tool is made to help you use the existing items, not give you more free stuff. _Make_ your game, not compile it together from something else someone made.

Thumbs up for this program. It's a good character generator: - It is faster than RPG Maker MV character generator because it offers an option to any amount of characters in one click (for instance, you can ask the program to generate 200 random white elf female MV characters, and it will generate each sprite for the 200 characters in the folder you want). - It is also more flexible than MV generator: you can build your character manually part by part, by picking character parts from the "library". Each part is added as a layer which can edit as you please (recolor, resize, rotate, draw over it, add noise, change opacity, blending options, etc...). It adds more versitality to the characters we can make! Once the work is done, it's easy to import the character to MV: the program exports each sprite into its own PNG file. It's then easy to move them into your MV project folder.

I don't know really what to say other than that I'd have loved to kept using this product but then it just stopped working shortly after giving it a look. If there was more information on how to solve the issue, I'd recommend it but there was no way of fixing it that I could see. So the issue was that after giving it a look and play about I came back hours later to launch it and it would say that some files didn't save but it was okay since it have auto recovery and the options yes no or the x at the top right. All options did nothing as it would just shortly close itself altogether. That's just... useless. It doesn't matter how great the assets or the program is, or even if it's like the old one and not that great, if I can't even use it and there is no way of fixing it, it's practically worthless. I suggest they find a way of addressing this problem as I wasn't the only one it seemed. uninstalling and reinstalling didn't help, verifying files, restarting steam, restarting computer, unticking the downloads or whatever. It just did nothing. So yeah, sort it out.

The program is useful if you only use default generator parts and supported dlc parts. But when you import custom parts they don't catogorize properly, this is a nifty little program but with bugs like that it's hard to use. So until it's fixed a little better i wouldn't recommend this software

This is one of those products that I really do wish Steam allowed more then the binary 'good' or 'bad' reviewing metric because this is something I'd otherwise give a weak thumbs-up for. I was gonna open my review by saying 'what you see is what you get', but that's not truly right either as I feel as this piece of software, whether intentionally or not, is fairly misleading. What it IS is a much more improved character generator for RPG Maker that allows for much more precise sprite generation via better layering and more color options for the assets used. There are freeware software that does this as well, but they tend to be a bt more unwieldy and buggy, whereas GCH is very easy to use, even if some of the features aren't terribly well explained. What it isn't however, is a general sprite generator, at least not out of the box. While it could theoretically be made to do something like that, it doesn't really have any assets to mess around with this idea. If you want to make a generator for a completely different kinda game, you'll need to obtain those assets yourself. Overall, the software is very overpriced but does what it does fairly well, even if the description for it kind of over-exaggerates what it can do. If what it does intices you, pick it up during a sale to make your RPG Maker-ing much smoother and less restrictive.

Not sure how crappy this was when it first came out, but at my time of writing this I've been stuck on it 4.7 hours, and it gets the job done. Works well with RPG Maker MZ, the interface i think is laid out pretty simple a 5 year old could use it, another great feature i love about it is the walk through tutorial that pops up the first time you jump in it. Don't sleep on this, it has some really great features and it makes life so much easier to just jump in, create and not have to worry about all the technical ♥♥♥♥ like grid and placement of your sprits... I love PhotoShop as well, but lets be real that program will make you wanna pull out your hair creating pixel art and importing to MZ...... So if your someone who doesn't want the same crappy ass characters everyone is stuck to use in RPG Maker then i advise this, that way you can make your own crappy ass characters no one else has, and you can give your game some uniqueness lol. For 25 bucks its worth getting a jump start, Create a base, then manually using the draw mode to fine twink everything. Saves freaking hours, if not days.

[h2]tl;dr:[/h2] [list][*] Useful for smaller RPG Maker titles, but likely too restrictive for other engines. [*] Excellent sprite sheet generation, image editing, and conversion tools. [*] Limited compatibility and ethical dilemma due to broken promisses for the predecessor. [/list] Hardly a recommendation for me. But usefull as RPG-Maker Tools, so still thumbs up. [h2]Short summary[/h2] [list] [h3]Positive[/h3] [*] RPG Maker-friendly: Pre-configured settings for RPG Maker up to MZ [*] Steam Workshop support: Access to additional content and community creations. [b]Powerful tools like[b] [*] Mass sprite sheet generation [*] pixel-perfect image editing [*] conversion between templates [*] extensive customization options and more [/list][list] [h3]Neutral[/h3] [*] Accessibility: Some features require the gchlib, an external library. [*] Slightly outdated user interface: The interface could be more modern and intuitive. [*] RPG Maker focus: The generated spritesheets with RTP elements can only be used in RPG Maker projects. [/list][list] [h3]Negative[/h3] [*] Ethical concerns: Some features where promised in the predecessor, but never implemented there. Broken promises are bad for community building [*] Proprietary file formats: The use of proprietary file formats (*.gchpack, *.gpfi) makes it difficult to extend and customize the program. [*] Limited Workshop content: The restrictions and RPG Maker focus result in a relatively empty Steam Workshop. [/list] [h2]Longer version[/h2] [b]Game Character Hub: Portfolio Edition[/b] offers a range of powerful tools for creating and editing 2D game characters and assets. The interface, pre-configured settings for RPG Maker, and extensive customization options make it an attractive option for developers working with the RPG Maker-Tools. Of particular note are the features for [b]mass sprite sheet generation[/b], [b]great image manipulation[/b], and the ability to effortlessly [b]convert charactersheets between different engines[/b]. The integrated Steam Workshop also allows access to additional content and community creations. [b]Limitations and criticisms[/b] Despite the program's strengths, there are a few points to consider. First, some features require the usage of the command line tool and the given gchlib library, which can hinder user-friendliness. Second, the user interface looks a bit outdated compared to modern standards. But this tool is almost 10 years old. [b]The biggest criticism[/b], however, [b]concerns the limited compatibility[/b] and removal of features in the predecessor. The generated spritesheets with RPGMaker-RTP Assets [b]must only[/b] be used in RPG Maker projects. The use of proprietary file formats (*.gchpack, *.gpfi) makes it difficult to extend and customize the program. This might be the reason why the Steam Workshop (yay) is almost empty (oh) These limitations and the broken promises to the community, raise ethical concerns about the price-performance ratio. [h3]What would I improve?[/h3] [list] [*] Make default generators exportable as *.json. This would make it easier for people to adapt and at least finetuning the given generators for their needs. [*] Alternative to propertary file formats, or better tools to work with them. The [b]gchlib is awful to use[/b] atm. Or add an unpack command. Or at least some template so people can extend it with usercreated content. [*] More dlcs for assets that you can use in commercial context. [/list] [h3]My conclusion[/h3] [b]Game Character Hub: Portfolio Edition[/b] is a useful tool for creating and editing 2D game characters and assets, especially for developers that work any RPG Maker. However, the devs already broke a promise, given to the community. They do not seem to care much or communicate their ideas well enough. This makes the future of this tool quite unreliable. I hope my review was helpful. If so, please give it a thumbs up.