First of all, please be a bit more specific in your posts. Explaining your game a bit more, for example, the theme would be helpful information. As others have said, pick whatever you feel fits your game theme. “Too realistic for Roblox” is not much of an argument as Roblox never really had a style. Technical limitations or trends are not styles. Roblox becoming higher quality has been the obvious long term goal for many years now. Roblox is mostly just a platform and you are the developer. There is no style you are required to follow. You do have to follow the rules and TOS obviously.
Second, I would recommend thinking about if you can get realistic or more advanced character models. I am not a character artist, but I am familiar with the process. First, you need to plan out and design your character. You may also make a character customizer. If you design characters, you need to probably think about the character’s story and other important details. With Roblox characters, you can change the look easily, but you may not have the same quick customizability when making your own character models. Once you have a design, you need to sculpt it. 3D sculpting is a skill that may take months to learn, and years to perfect. Sculpting a character is not always as simple as sculpting an accessory like a hat or backpack, and it isn’t as simple as sculpting a few wrinkles, cloth, or something like that. Even when it comes to simple sculpting, I have noticed beginner to intermediate 3D artists are hesitant to sculpt. Sculpting a character may require a lot more attention to detail, proportions, and anatomy. You will probably have to use a lot of the sculpting tools you have.
Also, it’s not as simple as just sculpting on a mesh. It is a multiple-step process that involves a lot of different settings. You have to create a base mesh or sculpt it. You have to be careful too, you can’t add too many polys in the beginning or you may mess up your sculpt. You may have to be careful with the topology in order to avoid problems. If you decide to make a character customizer, you still have to do this, but now you need to create multiple accessories. Also, if all your characters are different proportions and size, you may have to make the same accessory multiple times. Once you are finished sculpting your base mesh, now you may need to add more detail. It doesn’t just stop at the character though. You might need to sculpt the clothes, accessories, and more. You may need to add detail to those too. The sculpting process alone can take a week or more.
Now, you need to retopologize all of that. Then you may need to sculpt more detail again. After that, you need to unwrap the different parts of your character. Once you are done, you need to bake the normal maps. Then you may want to texture your character. The retopologizing, UV unwrapping, baking, and the texturing process can take another week.
This whole process requires multiple 3D art related skills including 3D sculpting, retopologizing, UV unwrapping, baking and 3D texturing, etc. These skills could take a year+ to learn, and years to perfect. It is probably more advanced than making UGC items. I have seen very few 3D artists who have all the skills to make something like this. Even top 3D artists on the Roblox platform may lack one or two skills that may be needed. Also, there is probably multiple 3D software you need to learn. It also may take a lot of practice and experience to learn the many tips and tricks. 3D character development seems to be constantly changing too.
Once again, I am not a character artist. There could be many more steps in between, before, or after that I either forgot or don’t know about. 3D art is a huge world. 3D tools are used in many industries and there are so many different jobs. Using terms like “Realism” and “Characters” is not that specific.
In conclusion, pick what fits your game and what you and your team want, but also think about if you have the resources to create more advanced characters.
