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NEWS: MikuMikuDance Animation Software Greenlit on Steam




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Aster Selene



Joined: 15 Jul 2009
Posts: 68
PostPosted: Mon Dec 29, 2014 3:31 pm Reply with quote
Although its standard (and still common) usage is to make Vocaloids like Miku dance in 3D to make PVs, nowadays it's spread to making 3D models of characters in games and anime (or even often just ripping the models straight from the games themselves) and making them do silly things.

I feel like combined with Steam, the end result videos are going to turn into SFM and gmod...except a thousand times more inexplicable.
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Ferax



Joined: 22 Nov 2014
Posts: 31
PostPosted: Mon Dec 29, 2014 3:41 pm Reply with quote
everyday i see more and more japanese stuff (jrpgs, vn, games, etc) on PC (outside of japan of course) and steam

and that makes me happy

i like they see that outside the consoles and japan there is a market for stuff like that
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Kougeru



Joined: 13 May 2008
Posts: 5521
PostPosted: Mon Dec 29, 2014 3:50 pm Reply with quote
I'm getting a bit worried that Sekai Project might be a bit too ambitious. Something like this not so bad, but they're also planning so many VNs to translate within a year or twos time (I imagine they'll use some already-existing fan translations for some)
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enurtsol



Joined: 01 May 2007
Posts: 14746
PostPosted: Mon Dec 29, 2014 3:57 pm Reply with quote
Ferax wrote:

everyday i see more and more japanese stuff (jrpgs, vn, games, etc) on PC (outside of japan of course) and steam


Well, PC is not that big in Japan, so even J-PC users sometimes have to depend on global PC markets to get their stuff.
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leafy sea dragon



Joined: 27 Oct 2009
Posts: 7163
Location: Another Kingdom
PostPosted: Mon Dec 29, 2014 4:05 pm Reply with quote
Kougeru wrote:
I'm getting a bit worried that Sekai Project might be a bit too ambitious. Something like this not so bad, but they're also planning so many VNs to translate within a year or twos time (I imagine they'll use some already-existing fan translations for some)


I like that there's a new face in the business. If their business model of seeing what sticks works, and translating these books is inexpensive, then I can see them becoming a major force in Japanese localization.

That being said, I know that seeing what sticks was also what took down ADV and Geneon. Anime localization is far, far more expensive though, both in its production costs and licensing fees.
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whiskeyii



Joined: 29 May 2013
Posts: 2242
PostPosted: Mon Dec 29, 2014 4:41 pm Reply with quote
This...confuses me. I use MMD. It already comes in English. The parts that end up in Japanese are the model parts; names of bones, physics, joints, etc., but that means the translation is on the part of the model maker, not the MMD software. Unless I'm missing something fundamental here, I don't get why MMD would be released on Steam, unless they're trying to get a wider fanbase. Question
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Ferax



Joined: 22 Nov 2014
Posts: 31
PostPosted: Mon Dec 29, 2014 4:45 pm Reply with quote
whiskeyii wrote:
This...confuses me. I use MMD. It already comes in English. The parts that end up in Japanese are the model parts; names of bones, physics, joints, etc., but that means the translation is on the part of the model maker, not the MMD software. Unless I'm missing something fundamental here, I don't get why MMD would be released on Steam, unless they're trying to get a wider fanbase. Question

well steam is like the "holy grail" for most of pc gamers

if you can buy the game from any place or steam most of them will choose steam over any other
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Aster Selene



Joined: 15 Jul 2009
Posts: 68
PostPosted: Mon Dec 29, 2014 5:04 pm Reply with quote
whiskeyii wrote:
This...confuses me. I use MMD. It already comes in English. The parts that end up in Japanese are the model parts; names of bones, physics, joints, etc., but that means the translation is on the part of the model maker, not the MMD software. Unless I'm missing something fundamental here, I don't get why MMD would be released on Steam, unless they're trying to get a wider fanbase. Question


Some things tend to work better on Steam-run than without, particularly if they're rather unstable (possibly because of inbuilt components). I've noted that people who play the infamously unstable Mabinogi MMO client have had better success with running it on Steam lately than running it straight off, especially with Windows 8 and 8.1.

I'm not sure what the exact advantages and disadvantages would be re: MMD, but it's a bit driver-heavy, so I imagine there would be that. It's only a few steps eliminated, but I imagine it can't be too different than RPG Maker on Steam.

Putting it on Steam is also a free advertisement for the community there as well.
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whiskeyii



Joined: 29 May 2013
Posts: 2242
PostPosted: Mon Dec 29, 2014 5:45 pm Reply with quote
Aster Selene wrote:

Putting it on Steam is also a free advertisement for the community there as well.


That's another part that confuses me as well, actually. A large part--maybe even the majority-- of the MMD community already exists on Nico Nico Douga, which despite "transitioning" to an English translated webpage still consists of largely Asian users and still has a good chunk of its pages untranslated, and I can't see the Steam community making any large sort of crossover to NND, or vice versa.

Moreover, there's been quite a bit of tension towards non-Japanese users due to them not following the Japanese modelers' readme rules for their models, sharing their models around, trading passwords to get models, editing their models, etc.

I just find the move baffling, and the only reason I can think for doing this is that whoever owns MMD is trying to find some sort of foundation/foothold to consolidate the Western MMD community around it and build it up into its own thing.
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shiranehito



Joined: 27 Dec 2011
Posts: 793
PostPosted: Mon Dec 29, 2014 8:16 pm Reply with quote
Yeah, I find this weird too. MMD is already available online for free, with numerous of custom models available for download. I don't know why are they planning to release this on Steam. This isn't even technically a game.
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ajtpak



Joined: 17 Dec 2014
Posts: 33
PostPosted: Tue Dec 30, 2014 1:12 am Reply with quote
shiranehito wrote:
Yeah, I find this weird too. MMD is already available online for free, with numerous of custom models available for download. I don't know why are they planning to release this on Steam. This isn't even technically a game.

Steam has software in the store as well.
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Mohawk52



Joined: 16 Oct 2003
Posts: 8202
Location: England, UK
PostPosted: Tue Dec 30, 2014 9:57 am Reply with quote
This is really only a useful tool to make a VMV (Vocaloid Music Video) to add to a song one has composed
like this.
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Emerje



Joined: 10 Aug 2002
Posts: 7328
Location: Maine
PostPosted: Tue Dec 30, 2014 4:47 pm Reply with quote
I imagine the vast majority of the users on Steam have never heard of MMD and I know there's a sizeable chunk that have zero interest in anime. Heck, there are Miku fans that don't quite understand what MMD is. It's essentially an untapped market. There are certainly a lot of game moders using the Steam Workshop that have likely ignored MMD as just some Japanese novelty if they're aware of it. Now that it's coming to Steam they're much more likely to download it and give it try. Eventually word will spread and it'll have a new fanbase. There are a lot of paid modeler programs on Steam that people absolutely hate (yet Steam insists are popular and put them in their sales regularly) I think these people will jump on the free MMD software. Really I just want to see what turns up in the Steam Workshop.

Emerje
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