Publishing Add-Ons To Store

Publishing functionality described in this article is temporarily available for free assets only.

To publish add-ons you should become a publisher. If you are still not for some reason, please follow these instructions  to become one.

First of all you should prepare your add-ons (3D models, textures, templates, etc.) for sharing them with others (i.e. extract all necessary content from your UNIGINE project and pack in a *.upackage file). Instructions on how to do it as well as publishing requirements are given here.

There is a basic workflow to publish your add-ons to the UNIGINE Add-On Store:

  1. Create a new add-on draft
  2. Finalize the add-on details and upload the package
  3. Submit the add-on for moderation
  4. Wait for moderation results

Once you have your packages on the Add-On Store, you can browse  their complete list or search for a particular one, you can also change add-on title  to improve discoverability, or move an already published add-on to archive  (e.g. if it's outdated or for any other reason).

1. Create New Add-On Draft

First, you should go to the Publisher Workspace page (click on your account avatar in the upper-right corner of the page and choose Publisher Workspace).

You'll see the following page:

To add your new add-on to the Add-On Store click Create Add-On (D in the picture above) on the My Uploaded Add-Ons tab and fill in the following form:


Create Add-On form

  1. Enter the title of your add-on. It should be a unique simple word or a multi-word expression. This title will be displayed for your add-on in the main window of the Add-On Store. It should characterize your add-on to let customers know that this add-on is the one they need.

  2. Select categories. You should choose at least one category that is appropriate for your add-on. For example, if you publish a vehicle model, choose 3D Models. It will help your customers find the add-on and organize the add-ons list in the main window of the Add-On Store.

  3. Select the required licenses. You should choose at least one edition for which your add-on will be supported. There are two simple rules to help you choose the correct license type:

    1. If you developed the add-on using Community Free or Pro edition, you should check UNIGINE 2 Community Edition.
      2. Add-ons of lower editions are always available for higher ones as well.
    2. If you developed the add-on using Engineering or Sim edition, you should check availability of the components that you used against this table. If your add-on only includes components available for all editions, for example, your add-on is a 3D model or C# (C++) logic component - check UNIGINE 2 Community Edition. But if your add-on uses tools unavailable for Community edition (e.g., your add-on is a plugin using the Global Terrain object, or hardware-accelerated rendering based on OpenGL, etc.), you should check UNIGINE 2 Engineering Edition. In case your plugin uses advanced features for simulation, AI-learning and so on (like High-Level IG System, ROS2, optical motion capture, etc.), then check UNIGINE 2 Sim Edition.

    Keep in mind, if you set Community edition for your add-on, it will be available for Engineering and Sim editions as well. Choosing the Engineering license for the add-on, will also make it available for Sim, but unavailable for Community.

  4. Specify tags. Write an associative tag in the box. If the tag already exists, you can select it in the dropdown box. You can use your own tags as well.

  5. Create a description. This field is mandatory. You should write a text that fully describes your add-on. Your description will distinguish your add-on from other similar ones. It will help your customers make a decision to purchase your add-on.

  6. Describe system requirements. You should describe all system requirements necessary to use your add-on. It will help your customers decide if they can use your add-on on their computer. Based on this information they will make a decision to purchase the add-on.

As you fill all the fields click Create Add-On.

After add-on creation its draft version will be added to the list of published add-ons with the Draft status (marked with beige color). And editing form will open to clarify the add-on details.

2. Finalize Add-On Details

While the add-on is a draft you can edit its general information.

BASE INFO


The add-on page

You can edit base information about the add-on version (everything that you have already specified when creating it). For that click Edit Base Info (see the picture above, B) and edit everything you need according to the Create Add-On form. Click Save Base Info to save changes (see the picture below).

MEDIA

To add a cover or any auxiliary media (pictures, videos) click the Media tab and the plus sign in the appropriate place. Select the file on your computer and add it to your add-on media by clicking Open. These changes will be saved automatically (see the picture below).

PACKAGE

Switch to the Package tab. It enables you to upload packages for your add-on to be published. Your add-on can have multiple packages (*.upackage files) for different combinations of supported operating systems and SDK versions. You can add separate *.upackage files for Windows and Linux, or you can update your add-on to support new SDK version and upload the latest *.upackage file for it. So, your customers will be able choose the appropriate version for them from the ones you made available.

So, to upload an add-on package that you have prepared, in the Package tab click Add Package.

In the pop-up window fill all required fields:

  1. Click Select Upackage and select the *.upackage file on your computer. Click Open to add it to the add-on.

  2. Choose the supported SDK version.

    If you want to make an add-on suitable for multiple SDK versions, you should first prepare a package for the lowest version (for example, 2.17) and select both versions (2.17 and 2.18). Content for lower SDK version can be automatically migrated to a higher version in UnigineEditor, but there is no backward migration (you can't migrate content from 2.18 back to 2.17). As well, we recommend updating your content packages for every major SDK version to improve performance.

  3. Choose the platform (Operating System) supported by your add-on.

  4. In the SOURCE CODE dropdown choose the programming language that you've used to implement your add-on's logic (if any). If you are publishing a content add-on (e.g., 3D model), simply choose No code.

  5. (Optional) Add a package-specific description. This information will help your customers decide which *.upackage file is suitable for use on their computer.

Then click Upload Package to add the package with additional information to your add-on.

The specified package file will be uploaded (the process can take a few minutes depending on the *.upackage file size). Meanwhile, you can add other *.upackage files as the previous file is uploading. Just click Add Package and repeat the actions described above.

After adding all *.upackage files to your add-on, you should wait for their download to complete. All uploaded files will be saved automatically (see the picture below). Then you can edit information for any of the uploaded *.upackage files by clicking Edit Info. You can check the package file by clicking Download Package and replace it with another file via Replace Package. You can hide the package from the list of add-on's packages by selecting the box Hide Package or completely remove it from the list by clicking Delete Package.

CHANGELOG

Here you can describe any updates that triggered a version change, e.g. changes to match a new supported SDK version, bug fixes, or new features added. Changelog shows that your add-on package evolves.

To add a changelog note click the Changelog tab and Edit Changelog. Fill the changelog box and click Save.

3. Submit Add-On for Moderation

You can't publish an empty add-on version. It must contain required data: media, cover and add-on package.

Click Publish to publish  all changes. Your add-on version will be submitted for moderation. You can return it to a draft version (with the ability to edit it) by clicking Withdraw (see the picture below).

4. Wait for Moderation Results

After you submit your package for moderation to the Add-On Store, its status is changed from Draft to Moderation. Moderation involves checking the contents of the submitted package by UNIGINE. If everything is ok, the submitted version of your add-on package will be published and available for purchasing by other users. You will receive an e-mail notification confirming the add-on publication.

Otherwise (in case of invalid or inappropriate content) the submitted version will be banned. To see the publishing status of your add-on, open the My Uploaded Add-Ons tab. There you can see a list of packages waiting for moderation, published, banned, and others.

My Uploaded Add-Ons Tab


Add-on statuses

Add-On Store keeps information about all previously published add-ons with different statuses. All your recently published add-ons are listed in the My Uploaded Add-Ons tab of the publisher workspace. This tab contains the main page with a list of add-ons marked by different colors depending on their statuses (see the picture above):

  • Green — for already published add-ons
  • Beige  — for draft add-ons
  • Blue  — for add-ons under moderation
  • Orange  — for banned add-ons
  • Grey  — for archived add-ons


A published add-on with a new version being created

Moreover, add-on versions can have their own statuses. For example, you update your add-on in the Add-On Store, its old version can be already published and still available to purchase, while the new one is just being created. In this case the status of your add-on will be Published (see the picture above, B), while its version will be marked as Draft (see the picture above, A).

Searching Add-Ons


My uploaded add-ons page

It can be extremely difficult to find a particular add-on in a huge list without special instruments. UNIGINE Add-On Store provides tools to help organize and find what you need. In the process of searching for add-ons you can use the following methods:

  1. Sorting
  2. Using filters
  3. Using a search box

SORTING

You can choose the most suitable sorting method for your submitted add-on search (see the picture above, B). For example, you want to find add-ons that you have already submitted for publication, which have been banned for some reasons in the process of moderation. Use Sort by Status to sort the list of submitted add-ons. Add-ons with the Banned status will be at the bottom of the add-ons list on the last page. You can review the issues reported by the moderator, fix them, and then submit your add-on for publication again.

Generally, there are two sorting methods available:

  1. By title — your add-ons will be displayed in the alphabetical order of their title.
  2. By status — your add-ons will be sorted by status and displayed in the order from Published to Banned.

USING FILTERS

Sometimes it is not enough to just sort add-ons to find the ones you need (see the picture above, C). For example, you need to find an add-on available for the 2.17 SDK version with the Sim edition that belongs to the VFX category. For more relevant results you can use filters on the right sidebar. Filters enable you to choose suitable technical properties: SDK version, product edition, category, and status of the add-on. Additionally, you can use tags to narrow down the scope even more. Tags are created for each add-on by the publisher and briefly reflect the main idea of the add-on. They are added to the common public list and can be used by all users of the Add-On Store to search a file.

To drop all filters just click Clear Filter.

You can also use keywords to find add-ons you need, just type them in the search field and press Enter — the list of add-ons containing these keywords will be shown (see the picture above, a box in C). Keywords can be contained in the title of the add-on, in its description, or in the supported file title from the package. In either case, all add-ons matching the search criteria will be displayed as a list on the screen.

To clear the search line just click Clear Filter.

Changing Add-On Title and Price

After publishing your add-on, you may need to change its title in order to improve discoverability for customers, fix a typo, or for any other reason. Or you can change or set a price and discounts. Find your add-on in the list of your published add-ons and select it.

You can change the title of an add-on regardless of its status.


The page of the add-on

Click in the header. In the form that opens, enter a new title in the Title field, set a new Price (or check Free add-on for the free add-on distribution), add discount (if necessary) by clicking Add discount and set all necessary options.

After editing click Save to save all your changes.

Moving Add-On Version To Archive

If you want to hide your published add-on from customers or cancel the publishing process of a currently moderated add-on, you should move it to Archive. Then the add-on will not be displayed in the library of add-ons available for purchase or will be removed from the moderation, respectively.

To move the add-on version to archive  at every point of its existence (regardless of its current status) click Archive on the add-on page.

The add-on will change its status to Archived and another button Get From Archive will appear on the add-on card. Click it if you want to return your add-on version back from the archive  and make it active.

  • If the original status of the add-on version was Published, it will also have the Published status when extracted from the archive.
  • If the original status of the add-on version was Moderated, it will have the Draft status when extracted from the archive. You can submit it for moderation again by clicking Publish.

Response to Reviews

Other users can evaluate add-ons that you publish, rate them and leave comments. You can see the list of ratings and comments for all of your add-ons and reply to them on the Reviews page of your Publisher Workspace menu.

All comments are checked for deliberately false information, rude, obscene language, insults, as well as calls and statements that violate existing legislation. New comments appear on the add-on and Reviews pages with a 10-minutes delay after submission, as checking process takes some time. Comments violating the law are removed immediately.

The Reviews tab contains the list of reviews for your published add-ons. You can sort reviews by date, rating score, or add-on title alphabetically using the sorting tool (A in the picture below). You can also use filters on the right (B) to find necessary add-on reviews (type an add-on name and choose reviews you want to see, replied, unreplied, or all of them).

The Reviews tab

Check the list of reviews on your add-ons. Each containing user name, date and time of publication, add-on version, rating score, and a comment. As an publisher you can reply to these comments or report them as inappropriate or abusive. To reply to a review click Reply (A). To report click Report (B).

To reply to a comment type the text of your answer in the appropriate box of the pop-up window that appears and click Submit reply.

Once submitted, your reply along with the date and time will appear under the comment you replied to. You can edit your reply later if necessary by clicking Edit reply.

The edit form similar to the Reply form shown above will appear in a pop-up window. After editing your reply, click Submit reply and your reply will be updated.

Your customers can update their comments too. All your replies to an updated comment are removed (as this comment is treated as a new one), you should submit your reply to it again, taking into account the changes.

Tags

Tags help others find add-ons you publish in the Add-On Store library. You can define a list of tags to make your add-on easy to find.

You should add tags to the add-on when creating or editing its unpublished version.

After publishing your add-on, you can't make any changes to any part of its description (including the list of tags). Changes are allowed for draft versions. If you want to update the description of a published add-on you'll have to create a new version of this add-on with a new description.

Firstly, you should analyze the way your customers think when they're trying to find the add-on. The tag that you add should narrow down the search scope and help customers get what they need by picking from the full list of add-ons only the ones having this tag. For example, if you publish textures of the surface of fossil materials such as iron, copper, tin, zink, nickel, etc., don't use “materials” as a tag. “Materials” is the name of the category in the Add-On Store, and a lot of add-ons belong to this category. You can use “fossil” and any other tags that describe your own add-on and distinguish it from others.

Add-On Store keeps all tags added by different publishers in a common list (without duplicates of course). To add a tag to your add-on — just start typing it in the TAGS field and select the one you need from the pop-up list (see the picture below).


Tags selection

In case your tag does not exist in the common list (i.e., no one has used it yet) it will be added, and will become available for other publishers as well. So, simply type it in the TAGS field, and click Enter if there are no suitable suggestions.


Typing a new tag — no suggestions given

New tag is added
All added tags will be saved for the add-on after clicking the Create Add-On button.

How to Set a Price

It is up to the publisher to decide what price they set for an add-on. However, you might need to know how the obtained sum of money is distributed between the participants of the sales process. The following agents receive a certain percentage of the paid amount of money:

  • Payment service provider (payment acceptance)
  • Xsolla (payment processing)
  • UNIGINE (royalty)
  • Withdrawal bank (commission)

Let's assume you set USD 100 as an add-on price. In this case, the resulting amount that you receive on your bank account is around USD 70-75.

The VAT or a similar tax is added automatically to the price set by the publisher when the user buys the add-on.
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