3DForge Exteriors

That is *extremely* useful to keep drawcalls and polycount down. I've been looking at something similar myself, but not had the time to sit down and do something about it.

 

You guys are just awesome!!

 

@Whippets @smada luap
I can not agree more with @Teila
It is great for community users to contribute in this way and enrich the experience just further for all those that are using Unity

 

Well it should do thanks to the occlusion culling

That, and the scripts allow you to hide the interiors when outside if you're not needing to see into them

 

I've thought of something else (which I can't find elsewhere). Wide stone steps or partial staircase, interior or exterior, maybe in eighth or quarter round sections. Suitable for entry to a dais or raised area - rather than steps to another floor.

 

Sounding VERY cool! Between all the art assets Cobus is putting into the pack and the community created scripts, This pack should be a no-brainer for anyone putting together medieval environments!

 

@Shawn67
It is nice to see the contributions that are being done, can only see that grow as they get added to the forum and others use them and give feedback and more ideas

Thanks everyone for contributing

 

Hi Cobus,

as mentioned in the first post you will include tileable grounds as well. I assume that will include streets, mud, grass, etc? Will there be the possibility to create different levels with those tiles as well and how do you plan the transition between those levels?

In the interior kit I think its more easy and believable to have ladders and stairs, but for the exterior? Can you provide any hint. As I'm working on a mobile game, I would prefer the tile-style instead going with the unity terrain editor (both of us are still no friends ) Maybe you can post some ideas / screenshots showing some sort of road between the houses?

Additionally, would it be possible to create holes in the walls to mount windows there? I think of an option to open and close the windows like the doors. Or would such an option create to much hassle as you plan to have several different sizes of windows? (which would mean an update of the interior kit as well for the walls).

A third question (seems that I have to much time right now ): Will you update the interior kit to match the walls section under the roof which are a bit different on the angles compared to the template you showed in the first screenshots? In the screenshot with the blacksmith it seems like that you used the exterior wall parts for those connected directly under the roof for the interior part as well.

Thx in advance
Wyl

 

@Wylaryzel
Long time no speak, welcome to the thread, glad that it caught your eyes, I am sure you going to love this package for many projects still to come.

Tileable textures:
I am in the next post right after replying to all your questions posting some screenshots of the same sample village where is actually used 2,5mx 2,5m tiles with the tileable texture that I mainly meant for painting on terrain to be included.
I added it to mesh here to show the top surface of the plinth, so where terrain and mesh would meat and one play around with the scale setting on the terrain painting should get a decent join.

Windows Interiors & Exteriors:
Soon after the launch of this package I will do an update for the interiors that would add the walls with holes in them
All the walls you see here that has windows are actual holes cut out.
@Teila asked for even more primitive/older windows where there are frames only without glass to I am adding those as well as windows that will use a second material that will have a transparent shader so tat you can look out of aa window if you have a FPS kind of game.

Third question:
If I understand it correctly, you mean the triangular wooden part.
Those triangles I have exported one & two-sided so that one can use it in such a way that if the roof disappears with code control, that the triangle section would not be transparent because of the outside surface normals facing away from the camera.

Please reply if I understood the last question maybe in a wrong way and need to provide more clarity with reagrds to what you might have meant.

Now for some more eye candy. ( typing and posting next big post just now)

Cheers
Cobus

 

And I am back

When there are lots of option on some of the sections, they take a bit of time to get into Unity
Export, make sure they import clean, set coliders and and add them to the prefabs folder one at a time, all so you can have cool ready to use stuff.

Well, here are some more of the fence styles on display, there are 23 of them as well as 3 wooden plank types.
Each of them a short version one sided, broken and two sided, then the same for a along version of each
With all of these you will be able to create so many flavors that you will not run out of options

I have added the nice cutback plinth designs for both the stone texture types.
It provides a handsome solution for terraced villages.

The harbor entrance that @Shawn67 spoke of I have designed and added here as well with wooden decks modular parts as well to enable users to build custom design as they see fit, I wills till add stairs to that section, as well as much wider ones, so that you could have a village that is kind of in water like a Venice type setup with wooden walkways interconnecting them and the building either on stilts or the plinths > more cool options

I have used a a2,5m x 2,5m tile with one of the tileable textures used as the cobblestone texture to just show a new one.

All those that I will be adding with be 1024 + normal for each, mainly meant for painting onto terrain, but can be used like this as well.

The first 3 shots show the exact same position, just zooming in with the cam so show what things are starting to look like from different heights and detail level. No post processing here, no baking even, just one directional light an some point lights.











Can just imagine what this is going to look like with some tall pine trees and some other flora

Comments and suggestions welcome

Next in line,

• Balconies
• Wooden stairs to them
• Fancy entrances (modular parts)
• Stables type outbuilding add-ons

Cheers
Cobus

 

lol... I already want it to start building with... And he is adding more!

Love the little docks with the mooring posts. Will there be posts without the metal bands too? They look a little off on the posts closer to the wall. I'm assuming those are intended to be able to tie off to? If nothing else, I'd turn them so they always face away from the dock. Is it possible to get short versions of the posts standalone so we can drop them along the edge of a plinth? Maybe the length from the top of the dock to the top of the post. And can we get wood dock pieces without any posts that we could get creative and throw in as ramps and such.

At any rate, looking friggin AWESOME already.. I'd already buy it with what is there, knowing everything else that is coming down the road.. And having already experienced how you do these big sets with the Interior pack... lol

 

Wonderfulness. Neeeed it noaw!

 

Hi @Shawn67

HAHAHA, Yes, yes, yes & yes again, all those are already in,
Separates posts and platforms
Posts with big rings (3 sizes)
Post with small rings (3 sizes)
Post with no rings (3 sizes)
Becasue they separate you can place them at whatever height and rotate them as you want to

Cheers
Cobus

 

*looks for that "take my money" image* lol

 

One extra request

As you've got the steps leading down to the 'harbour' area in two separate sections, but dropping the full height when combined together, could we have some walls that are only 'half height' so that we could build tiered areas that only drop/raise half the amount with each level if we desire rather than having such a large drop. The poor wizard girl seemed dwarfed by the walls in one of the later pics lol

 

Me too - but I don't have it on my phone

 

Oh.. Good point.. Also, we have steps coming down.. Will we have ramps as well? I can see some areas where you might want to take a wagon down to a lower level..

 

Found it

 

I would make my steps twice as wide to prevent camera squeeze going through a narrow gap

 

Actually now that you mention it.. i have a spot for them here

 

Yup! Looks like a perfect spot Adam! Nice looking terrain.

 

Hi everyone

@smada luap
I can most certainty add half height plinths
My thinking with the taller ones was actually that you use the tallone (same polycount as half one) , then raise/sculpt the terrain to say 1/3 from the bottom and then another 1/3 water depth that you can see the surface/ground level at the bottom (maybe add some underwater foliage (ah cool idea) ) and then you left with the last 1/3 as the water level to the top of the pier so to speak.
that height can be controlled

*** Please note, I am not including any special water shader with the Package, this is using
Realistic Water package contents
https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/en/#!/content/33434

@Whippets
I was also thinking of adding two times width stairs.

@AdamGoodrich
I can see you love your terrain as well.
i can spend hours painting and sculpting Terrain in Unity and get completely carried away

@Shawn67
I will def add the "RAMP" versions as well.






Cheers
Cobus

 

Looks really nice man, great job!

 

Hi Cobus,

thx for answering my questions I'm more a silent reader than an active poster - but be sure, I'm only waiting for a post that the package is available for purchase to buy it instantly

Detailing further my questions based on your answers:

Roof and the connecting triangle walls:
You showed a pic where the roof is removed if played top-down. But how will we have to deal with the roof for first person? Is there a companion part for seeing the roof inside from the FP-perspective? Or do we have to hide them away with a regular floor tile flipped 180 degree like in the current interior set (beside those roofs added in the catacomb and castle set)?

Terrain / ground tiles:
As mentioned you are going to provide tileable textures to use with the unity terrain. This means, the intention is to sculp the ground more like in your cave pack rather than as with the interior pack (only to be clear on this point).
My main concern is that - as from reading - the unity terrain is not really friendly for mobiles (at least for non-high-end) and therefore I didn't went into the details to try to get something running. Would it be possible to add some variations of base ground tiles which will blend streets/walkways with for example gras or mud that I could compose?

Thx in advance
Wyl

 

@Archanor
Thanks for the compliments, glad you like what you see

@Wylaryzel

Roof and the connecting triangle walls:
GOOD NEWS
All current roofs have been exported with actual thicknesses to the edges and another "simple" plane with normals facing down exactly for this purpose and the many users that use the Interiors and surely the Exteriors for FPS games
Some publishers will sell you the Asset twice with the polygons deleted, I do not want to do that, rather charge you once and you can use them for Top Down or FPS games.
To have added say rafters/beams with all roofs would have been silly and unnecessary load of data for Top Down users, so what I can do is make aa seperate folder and add a selection of the triangular "rafters/beams" so that users that want it can add it.
What needs to be really kept in mind is the complexity that one is stepping into here.
I am still going to add templates for L and T shapes building and you can imagine the extremely complex roof intersections of tiles and wooden beams that can start to happen here and the data load that it will add.

I would recommend that these beams be used with structures where the building footprint is rectangular only, for economics of resources.


Terrain / ground tiles:
I have not planned such a solution at all but I can investigate how to try do it.
With just even say 5 textures you can imagine the possible combinations that can be generated to be enormous.
How would you suggest.
I could look at adding the modular parts of stuff like streets & sidewalks and such meshes that a flat plain can be used and these be places where you want, moved around, scaled, so you would not need to use terrain and still have some choices to have nice "sculpted organic layout resulting?

Cheers
Cobus

 

Very cool for the roof part

I agree that if you wanna try to create a lot of ready-made prefabs this will get really cumbersome very soon. But as I'm already happily working with the interior kit, most of the time I utilize the basic pieces as it provides far most flexibility. I think if you stick with modular approach you should easily come away if you provide a 'standard' length of the roof, one piece for the overhang outside (may a halfpiece) and a triangle part for the connection to provide the base for the T or L shapes. If you not gonna try to show a Town like in Anno or similar games, the additional polys should really count. The same structure could be used for the barrens below the roof.

Terrain / ground:
I totally agree with you that even with 5 textures utilizing terrain feature it will work out very organic. And for high-end targets it should be the way to go.
What I had in mind was more like in those assets: https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/en/#!/content/22695 or https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/en/#!/content/18598 (for the ground/levels). But maybe this would be another asset for the near future as it requires some additional workload. I may would have bought the second one if I know that it would fit as a companion to your interior and exterior set. But mixing assets from diffferent is always a gamble ..

Nevertheless, before I derail to much - keep the asset coming

BR
Wyl

 

@Wylaryzel

Roofs:
I can assume you happy with the underside having it's own normals facing downwards addition
I will grow the library with what I have in mind and them through user feedback add and extend that over time to be as complete as can be done.

Terrain:
We on the same page with regards to the Terrain, that was exactly what I thought about when you started to explain.
Lets see where that would lead in future

Cheers
Cobus

 

Personally, I do most roads with terrain, but kerbs and pavements/sidewalks in sections of straights/various curves would be really great!

 

@Whippets

With the base release I am going to see if I can add a modular kerbs and pavements/sidewalks set, if not with v1.0, then def part of the first UPDATE. Adding that to the road map right now.

Got through several sections today and am very happy with the results.

One of the things users have asked for in the forum is 2 units wide stairs, so I did that and added 3 units wide version as well.

Here you can see the 3 Unit version in action, really adding interesting build options to a game scene.
You can just imagine some crates, barrels, fishing nets, baskets with fish, broken and worked on fishing/larger boats and all manner of things that will come with the harbor FREE update as stated in the road map on the forum.

Tried a bit of daylight this as well instead of the usual moonlit night screenshots.






Cheers
Cobus

 

That all looks fantastic

For the harbour update, please can we have a set of sea wall railings like http://thumb7.shutterstock.com/disp...cliffs-at-eyemouth-berwickshire-101743891.jpg

 

@Whippets
Good that you like the results.

Those are very modern, so think can add that as it's own small texture sheet so that it would not load for those that do not want to include that

Building a few terraces and intersecting them in clever ways, you can really break an otherwise basic area into something interesting.
One can even do like raised fountain or floor areas in open plains.

The Market Place Update could use this as a podium type structure and then build the marketplace on that.

Cheers
Cobus

 

Yes, going on from the market place - would it be possible to have a few round podiums of various sizes, that would be very helpful?

 

When you get around to adding the ramps that can be used like the stairs, could you add in options like that as well? 1/2/3 units wide... Please?

Looking great!

Oh.. And for the walkways, maybe raised wooden platform walkways just off the ground so not walking in the mud. Think American wild west kinda thing.. I'd have to see other walkways. I keep picturing a modern sidewalk. That or even nice square stones seems to be getting too modern of a feel for it. Can't wait to see what you come up with though.

 

Yeah, a raised wooden platform for the scaffold for hangings and the stocks. I mean no TV back then so the villagers had to get their entertainment somewhere!

 

@Whippets
When that Update is being worked on I will make sure such structures can be added

@Shawn67
- 1/2/3 Units ramps coming up, I like the wagon to water edge options when such ramps have been placed in a scene.
- With the modular wooden decks as you can see being used at the waters edge I have 1m - 1,5m already in, I am
quickly going to add - 2m - 2,5m - 3mversions of strips
If you look at the Viking Village package that became available after the release of Unity 5, you will see that even wooden strips that are just above terrain surface works really well and looks attractive, they not even pushed up or suspended.
But the suspended is very nice for a village setup that is in a swampy kind of area and you want to have even the building up on stilts

@Teila
ROFL at you comment, but I think they very true hehe
All these assets have there bottom polies still there, so that you can run underneath and still look up and see them

Cheers
Cobus

 

Those walkways will also be good as paths over marshes or for the roads of lake based housing. Great!

 

@Whippets

That was my thoughts exactly.
Think of there in The Witcher all the fun swampy game scenes with the raised platforms and paths interconnecting land and other path to each other.
I am at this moment outputting many items, so that decks section will actually be "a complete Mini Kit" inside the Exteriors Package to build these kind of themes scenes for any of your project.

I am also adding plinths for the house templates that are already in, so you can do some cool houses and complete such villages.
As soon as done, I will have screenshot here

 

I wonder if Cobus really envisaged so many additions to the exteriors package when he first planned it out?

 

HAHA, not entirely,

I would say about 75% - 80% of what is in are things that I have planned and wanted to add.

This is the first time that I have done this method of a Forum Thread close to completion and get feedback.
I will do it with all future project because.
The great constructive input and suggestions from users are valuable and I think this method is excellent for fine-tuning and shaping a package and add those little missing parts that will take a good idea and grow it to be an epic package.

I am doing this for a living, so to collaborate and everyone wins at the end is excellent.

Thanks everyone so far for the great feedback and suggestions , I am having fun
and can not wait to see what users comes up with once it is your hands

If I can make friendly request that everyone that has 3DForge packages, please in the least STAR rate them and if you have time to write a review.
It really assist new users to make informed choices when buying assets.
Even if a package has many excellent reviews, it really does help

Cheers
Cobus

 

Is there any plan to have a super pack with interiors adjusted to exteriors and be ready to use directly for all assets ?

Thanks

 

Hey @nasos_333 was wondering when you were going to make your appearance

Soon after release of the Exteriors Package, the Village Interiors Kit will get a compatibility update to add items such as walls with matching hole for windows.

There is also a Throne Room FREE Update planned that all the package owners will get FREE of charge

I will also go back and see for there were some small requests for the interiors pack and will apply the ones that I can.

All this will happen while completing the FREE updates on the road map as indicated on the first post of this thread.
That road map I can imagine will still get a few items, but things to far outside the scope of this actual project will actually be FULL new packages for they deserve to be full packs, not just an update.

Just remember I am one person only, so I will get to everything in good time

Cheers
Cobus

 

Thanks for the info. I am one person working on my RPG too for now, so there is no hurry

Great to hear interiors will get the matching treatment as well

 

Hey everyone

Modular Decks System and Stilt templates for all basic building sizes done and dusted.

If you have did not have a Fishing Village or Swamp located Village in your game yet, well, now you will just have to write into your story.

When the actual Harbor FREE update lands and all those seaside types of props and items comes, it will just be so much enriching the package even further.

Added the golden oldie Unity "DawnDusk" Skybox to just test some nice atmosphere.








Cheers
Cobus

 

I have been following this since around page 2, and have to say it just keeps getting better and better. However, my only (minor) criticism of this set is that the set almost looks "blocky" when placed down as a whole village. Do you think you could add in some diagonal/curved pieces? Having a few irregular pieces can go a long way in making a more organic look. Overall, the package is very nice and I am excited for its release.

 

Hi @nosyrbllewe , welcome to the thread and thanks for raising the question, it is a good point.

After the release of the Village Interiors Kit almost everyone asked " When are you releasing the Exteriors ? "
So it was a given that the exteriors was on its way and I immediately started to think of how exactly the outsides would
"clip" onto the insides and users can use the package as Top Down & FPS. I did not suddenly want to go and exclude one section of the market

The "square" layout of building originates from the system used to design the interiors package.

There are two ways to add curved and diagonal prefabs
1. Walls and parts that has internals and externals that and clip together.
So that if you see that curved building, you can run in and it has curved geometry that match
2. What I would call Add-ons.
a Growing library of such items as chimneys, small towers, bay-windows ... that would be prefabs that can be taken
and just intersected and pushed into the sides of building, on top of roofs and such, where the user does not care
what happens on the inside of a building where the excess geometry is excising.

I do not want to hold up the release with #1

For v1.0 release I would like to have the start of the library (since it will grom through user suggestions and as the prefabs from updates increase the addition of more not before possible parts) from #2

If I can make #1 work well, I will add and grow that section as much as I can

Another thing to just keep in mind is that all demos done so far has been quick 10 minute jobs where I just drag and dropped items into the scenes and they end up on flat Plinths and grid like layouts.
When one add some cool terrain, raised and sunken areas, the one side of a house ground level at 1st floor and the others side and basement entrance level and building rotated, adding flora, you going to start get way different looking results.

Hope to hear back from you, thanks for the support and enthusiasm

Cheers
Cobus

 

I hope just a dumb question - are you making this Unity 5 compatible with PBR materials ?

 

Hi @AdamGoodrich
Because the interiors was done without any of that they have to be working together 100% first before exploring other shader and texture methods I am releasing v1.0 with Unity 4.3.4

Also, no one wants to be forces to have to migrate to V5.0.x with regards to current projects especially.
There are several companies that are busy using the Interiors Kit and waiting for the Companion Exteriors Package for there projects.

After release I will see what needs to be done to accommodate PBR and add it as time allows between the FREE update road map for this package as well as the Interiors compatibility update.

All textures are receiving normals in this package as well.

I will visit back on the Village Interiors Kit, possible Up the resolution of the walls and floor textures and add normals as I get to it.

Cheers
Cobus

 

Knock Knock. Who's there ?, Exteriors for Interiors ...

I just had to try this out this morning before carrying on on the bridges and balconies.

I love the results





Cheers
Cobus

 

Nice

 

Got the interiors pack, will definitely be getting this! I've also neglected to leave a rating on the interiors, will do this once I get home from work.

Forgive me if I missed it earlier in the thread, but is there an ETA for this beyond "soon"? And/or an estimated price?

About colliders - for a novice like myself it was very useful and timesaving to have colliders on the object prefabs in the interior pack.