Substance 3D Painter 2021

Substance 3D Painter 2021 is a 3D texturing and painting software that allows artists to create detailed and realistic materials for use in game development, film, and design. Its features include non-destructive painting, smart materials, and the ability to import and export textures in various formats. This tool also offers a seamless workflow with other Adobe apps such as Photoshop and Dimension.

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

Reviews

73%

Audience ScoreBased on 522 reviews

gameplay2 positive mentions

graphics3 negative mentions

Substance Painter is an industry-standard texturing tool that is easy to use and produces fantastic results, making it suitable for both beginners and professionals.
The software offers a perpetual license option, allowing users to avoid subscription fees and own the software outright, which many users appreciate.
It features a powerful mask system and a variety of procedural materials that streamline the texturing process, making it a valuable asset for 3D artists.

The recent updates have introduced significant stability issues, with many users reporting frequent crashes and loss of custom materials and settings.
Adobe's acquisition of the software has led to a controversial redesign of the user interface, which many users find confusing and less intuitive than previous versions.
There are concerns about the future of perpetual licenses and the potential shift towards a subscription model, which has left many users feeling uncertain about the software's direction.

graphics
16 mentions
13 % positive mentions
69 % neutral mentions
19 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are generally praised for their quality, but there are significant concerns regarding compatibility issues, particularly with AMD graphics cards. While the visual aspects are strong, players feel that the overall gameplay and narrative do not match the graphical standard, and there are complaints about a lack of sound design.
- “The graphics are great but the narrative and gameplay leave something to be desired, and there's basically no sound design whatsoever.”
- “While you can do similar things in other image editors, SP lets you adjust 3D shader settings, rotate and zoom your object, apply environmental, lighting, and post-processing effects, filter your 3D object's view by channel, texture baking, orthographic viewing, and more.”
- “The only concerning thing I've heard about this version is the issues it has with AMD graphics cards.”
- “There is a boss that kills you if the graphics card you have equipped isn't leveled up enough, and I get a game over from this like every two hours.”
- “Substance was exciting once, and updates were highly anticipated, but now Adobe has completely missed their demographic.”
optimization
6 mentions
0 % positive mentions
50 % neutral mentions
50 % negative mentions
Users have reported significant optimization issues, including performance dips, crashes, and frustrating UI changes. The software struggles with preloading custom materials and lacks cross-compatibility for smart masks, leading to a disappointing experience despite overall satisfaction with the product.
- “Performance could have been a little better, especially when it's preloading many custom materials; it needs a little tweaking.”
- “I've loved the product and will continue to use it until its competitors catch up, but I'm severely disappointed in the dip in performance.”
- “Like annoying UI changes, performance issues, non-cross compatible smart masks, and crashes.”
story
4 mentions
50 % positive mentions
-25 % neutral mentions
75 % negative mentions
The story has been widely criticized for being terrible and lacking coherence, with many reviewers noting that the leveling system is confusing and the combat uninspired. However, some praise the romance options as well-developed, providing a slight redeeming quality amidst the overall negative feedback.
- “The story is terrible, the leveling system makes no sense, and the combat is pretty lackluster, though I do admit the romance options are very fleshed out.”
- “The narrative is poorly constructed and fails to engage the player, leaving much to be desired.”
- “The plot is predictable and uninspired, making it hard to stay invested in the game.”
stability
4 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
The stability of the game has been criticized for being buggy, particularly after the latest update, which has introduced significant lag and issues with the iray feature. Users have also noted that the interface is not user-friendly, contributing to a frustrating experience.
- “After the latest update, it's a laggy, buggy mess; iray seems to be broken too.”
- “2021 is a bit buggy, and the interface isn't quite as friendly.”
gameplay
2 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The gameplay has received criticism for being lacking and unsatisfactory, despite the game's impressive graphics. Additionally, the absence of sound design further detracts from the overall experience.
replayability
2 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
Players consistently highlight the game's strong replayability, noting the significant hours they have invested in it, indicating that it offers engaging content that encourages multiple playthroughs.
- “As you can see from how many hours I've sunk into it, it's a game with pretty good replay value.”