Wow, that looks pretty great! Now to make some characters and write some dialogue...
Thanks! Yeah, it's free for now. (I don't have any plans to charge) But it does require a bit of set-up on the part of the user. It comes with a sprite resource and a 3D model resource for testing and demonstration. If you want to use your own model or sprite, you will have to create the various sprite frames and shape keys yourself. Depending on the complexity of the model, it shouldn't take that long. Once you have the shape keys you want, you just import the model into Unity, apply the script, and then select which shape key you want to apply to which mouth shape. (for the 3D models there are 9) The plug-in does the rest.
It's similar to how Valve handles lip-sync animation in Source, but much more simplified. Their solution requires the user to create a whole bunch of little shape keys, and then they create each individual phoneme based on a combination of those various keys. This allows for more subtle blending, but it takes a lot longer for the initial setup. My solution is quite a bit more straight forward, but not nearly as powerful or general purpose. It's more of a quick-and-dirty solution to get obvious results fast. It's intended for smaller developers on a budget who just need their characters to talk with as little trouble as possible.
Also, if anyone is interested a new game engine was released as open source recently.
The Godot Engine is a cross-platform engine with a visual editing environment. It is fairly bare-bones, but has a lot of nice features and advantages. It is similar in its general structure to more robust systems like Unity or UE4. While still a little rough, there is much to recommend it to the amateur developer on a budget.
One of the biggest advantages is that it has a Linux release. Any Linux enthusiasts out there can run Godot in their OS of choice as a native program. Linux users don't get many options for game engines, so this is pretty big for them.
Another big plus is the 2D support that Godot features. Engines like Unity and UE4 often have tacked-on 2D support that is really just 3D with an orthographic projection. Godot features full support for a pixel-native 2D solution, where game logic itself can be measured and updated in pixel values as opposed to world units. This can be a big advantage for retro developers looking to make titles focused on this older style of game. It also has full 3D support for those who want a more modern look.
And last but not least, Godot is compatible with iOS and Android. Godot was originally designed with mobile platforms in mind, so it features solid support for mobile OS in its current state. Mobile platforms are only becoming more significant to small developers, so this support is a strong recommendation.