Workshop Visibility

Workshop has different visibility settings that alter how players can view your creations:

• Public: Everyone will see your model and it will be listed in the Workshop browser. Anyone can find it and use it.
• Friends-Only: Only you and your Steam friends (and marked contributors) will be able to see, find and use your model. Everyone else will see a default model instead.
• Hidden: Only you (and marked contributors) will see your model and it will not be listed in the Workshop browser at all. Everyone else will see a default model instead.
• Unlisted: Everyone can see your model, but it will not be listed in the Workshop browser. Nobody can use your model unless they get a direct link to it. (Scoreboard)

Note that in-game scoreboards like in the Plaza will provide a direct link to your model, allowing it to be found and used by anyone even when unlisted.

You can mark an item as 'Hidden' by default if you do not check the 'Agree & Publish' checkbox when uploading. Use this to zero public exposure for non-public models.

Troubleshooting

Missing textures

Store the files in the same folder as your model file. The game will search for them when importing and assign them based on the naming format.

The supported material maps and their associated names are as follows:

Diffuse maps: <Material Slot Name>_Diffuse.<file type>
Normal maps: <Material Slot Name>_Normal.<file type>
Height maps: <Material Slot Name>_Height.<file type>

For example, iif you have a material called "Bench" for your model, and you used .pngs, your textures should be named:

Bench_Diffuse.png
Bench_Normal.png
Bench_Height.png

The importer will inform you if your texture files are missing. It is not required to have a Normal or Height texture, but the model importer will warn you if they are missing.

Stretched Bones

My model looks fine in Blender but on import all the bones are stretched out! Help! A very common issue you may experience with your workshop model is having your models vertices strewn across the place haphazardly. If you are using Blender, make sure the mesh's "Transform" is applied. Select the mesh in Blender in object mode, press CTRL+A, and apply "Location, Rotation, and Scale". If that doesn't work, try exporting with "triangulate" on. If you have too many n-gons, Unreal will end up triangulating it for you which could possibly break the model.

Unable to Find Root Armature

If you get this error upon importing, make sure that you're using the Tower Unite armature! You can get the armature from Creating Characters guide. If you are using the armature, make sure that your bones don't have weird names and make sure that your armature is called "Armature" and not something like "Armature.001".

No Model Upon Import

If your model does not appear on import, or you occasionally see a pink version of the default female player model, make sure you're using the Tower Unite armature! You can get the armature from Creating Characters guide. That armature is specifically required to import and create custom workshop player models.

Too Many Vertices

There is an upper limit of 30K vertices for your model, getting near it is not bad, but you cannot go past it. As a side note, sometimes the amount of vertices between the workshop editor and blender can vary. For example, having sharp edges doubles the amounts of vertices for that edge, so keep that in mind! You can read more about the limits on the Rules & Limits page.

Reducing Vertex Count

It's almost certain that the vertex count displayed in Blender will be lower than the vertex count displayed in Tower Unite, and there are several reasons for this. The easiest way to reduce these is to 'Decimate' your meshes, but this targets and discards the finer details of your model. Here are some methods you can try to reduce vertex count before resorting to this:

• Smooth Shading - Object Mode > Right click your mesh object > Shade Smooth
  • Try this first of all, because it is often responsible for more than tripling the vertex count in TU.
  • TU, running on UE4, only does 'smooth' shading and will automatically add extra vertices for every 'flat' face to mimic the effect.
• Remove Duplicate UV Maps - These are listed under the 'Object Data Properties' tab, displayed as a green triangle with three dots in Blender 2.8+
  • Any UV map after the first, which should be named 'UVMap', will add each of its vertices to the vertex count even though it is unused.
• Merge By Distance - Edit Mode > Press A to select all > Press M > Choose 'By Distance'
  • This will eliminate any duplicate vertices in a single mesh, but is not guaranteed to preserve 100% detail. Impact is minimal either way.
  • Keep the 'Merge Distance' in the popup at the default '0.0001 m' (or similar) value, as larger values will reduce detail similar to Decimate would, except worse.
• Other things which increase the vertex count:
  • UV map seams, even if only using one UV map, will increase the vertex count for every edge vertex. Try to minimise these where possible for best results.
  • 'Hard' edges, usually displayed as bright, cyan lines, are duplicated for the same reason as listed in 'Smooth Shading'.
  • Hidden geometry (such as the interiors of closed mouths and the skin beneath clothes) are never seen and should be removed where applicable.

Tutorial by Spoom.

Failed to create model object

This is most likely due to your model not being a compatible format.

If you try to import a model that is not DAE, FBX, OBJ, or SMD, you may run into this error. Please see what are the accepted formats on our Rules & Limits page.

My model's right arm folds into itself!

If you are using Blender, when you use the auto rig tool, the vertex names will no longer match. Make sure you set the vertex names to the Tower Unite rig's names.

Failed to get material name

Please ensure your materials have unique names before importing.

Failed to compile player model

When this error occurs, check the compiler log in the editor for more information.

Failed to compile model

When this error occurs, check the compiler log in the editor for more information.

Upload Errors

If your item failed to upload to the Steam Workshop, it will give you an error message:

• Nothing: Sometimes this just happens. Try uploading once or twice again, before investigating further.
• Title / Description: Large bodies of text in the title or description field may prevent the upload. Keep it short or empty and you can update it freely afterwards.
• Maintenance / Downtime: Sometimes Steam Workshop is taken offline and will be unable to accept uploads. If this is the case, try again in 15 minutes or so.
• Bans: If you have recently had an item removed from the Workshop, you may be limited by a temporary Workshop ban, even if it wasn't a Tower Unite item.

Additional Help!

Our community can help you out via our Discord: PixelTail Discord