WorldComposer a tool to create real World AAA quality terrain

I don't have photoshop and don't plan to (money vs piracy). However I think there is the source code with your pack, I'll look for the format and write a custom script to spit out image. I think I'll have to do it anyway for the map to create LOD terrain ... when I have time! I think I run out of easy time saving options for now.

Also I don't have access to unity right now to showcase the supposed bug, this will take a little while for this.

 

You proberly want shadow removal not working on water...

This will require some photoshop editing between the original combined_raw image (the original before shadow removal) and the combined_raw2 image (after shadow removal). What you can do then is use the marque tool in photoshop to select the islands from shadow removed image and place that on top of original, so you have the water in the image intact.

If you are using real water with your terrain, you might want to replace the water in the image by a sand bottom. This you can also do in photoshop and for the bottom you can use an area from a desert somewhere around the world, like Arizona in USA or Sahara in Africa.

Nathaniel

 

WorldComposer has a build in feature to split a raw image file into jpg images for each tile. All you need to do is enable 'JPG' and 'Raw' toggle in 'Image Export' tab, and then click the 'Slice Images' button.

Nathaniel

 

This is like christmas I've been thinking about if i should buy World composer for a few weeks, and now with this discount it's an instant buy
Awesome work on these assets

 

Hey ealge555, I bought both terrain and world composer, great work btw, i was having a bit of issues on importing to unity 5 beta 18, both assets have a folder structure starting with a folder named "TerrainComposer", so when I import terrain composer all is good, but world composer imports to same folder and throws a bunch of errors, are they supposed to go to same folder? if so im getting a lot of compiling errors in the api updater that it cant get past, i tried changing the name of the world composer root folder before importing terrain composer, in doing so i get a double "global_classes.js" file, deleted one and it all seemed to compile, but i could not open world composer window, unity crashed.
the api updating works when you are using one or the other as a standalone, but i can seem to get them both running on unity 5.

 

Hello,

Thank you for the purchases . Yes they both go into the same folder as they share some files. Unity5 seems a bit buggy with importing and sometimes put double files. What you can try is import them both first. Then remove if present, the double scripts. Then let the api updater run over it, the api updater also seems a bit buggy and sometimes more times needed to make it work. You can start the api updater manually in Unity Menu -> Assets -> Run Api Updater.

I'm working on an update for both TC and WC. That they don't need the api updater in U5, so they don't need any convert time.

Nathaniel

 

Thx man, i've been messing around with them and i'm loving the results, keep up the good work!

 

Bought the other composer, can't use right now because no computer.

 

Hi eagle555,

I have bought WorldComposer and TerrainComposer, and I am very happy with them.

I need now to use WorldComposer "programmatically". This means I want to launch Unity on command line and execute my own Method. By this way, I want to pass by parameter a Lon/lat coordinate, a size (NxN tiles) and create corresponding terrains, that I can incorporate in my game. Is it possible ? and if yes, what are the main steps to follow ?

 

hi Nathaniel, i have an issue with getting Terrain Composer and World composer to work together. I can install one or the other, but not both at the same time.

Process followed on Unity 5.0.0b20 (also tried with 5.0.0b18) : both 64 Bit.

Import terrain Composer package- all good, can see it in window menu and launched OK.
I then import World composer but get the following errors and nothing appears in the Window menu. (Please note i didnt post all the errors as there are so many, but they are all the "ambiguous reference" type as below, but for lots of different classes.

Assets/TerrainComposer/Scripts/Presets/save_grass_preset.js(3,29): BCE0004: Ambiguous reference 'detailPrototype_class': detailPrototype_class, detailPrototype_class.

Assets/TerrainComposer/Scripts/Presets/save_splat_preset.js(3,28): BCE0004: Ambiguous reference 'splatPrototype_class': splatPrototype_class, splatPrototype_class.


Assets/TerrainComposer/Scripts/terraincomposer_save.js(8609,39): BCE0004: Ambiguous reference 'detailPrototype_class': detailPrototype_class, detailPrototype_class.

Assets/TerrainComposer/Scripts/terraincomposer_save.js(10366,54): BCE0004: Ambiguous reference 'tile_class': tile_class, tile_class.

I have updated both World composer : version 1.520
And Terrain Composer : version 1.200


i have also tried reversing the install order, and get the same problem.

I also see that if i shut down Unity and reopen my project, terrain composer is also now gone from my window menu.

This is urgent work for a clients project and any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

 

You can use TerrainComposer in runtime, for documentation and example scripts you can look here:
http://www.terraincomposer.com/runtime/

WorldComposer however I designed to only work in the Unity Editor...So at the moment runtime is not supported.

Nathaniel

 

The issue is in Unity5, sometimes you get double scripts when importing as TC and WC share some files. You can check this and delete the double scripts, and then it should work. You also need to use the api converter. At the moment I'm working on a new update for TC and WC then run out of the box in Unity 5, without the need to run the api converter.

I don't recommend to use beta 20 at the moment, as it seems to be in stable when making builds with TerrainComposer GameObject included in the Hierarchy (You can remove this after saving your TC project, in TC Menu -> File -> Save, and then making a build does work). It works fine until beta 19.

Let me know if you can get it to work...

Nathaniel

 

Thanks Nathaniel - yes this did indeed work, thanks for your help.

 

Hi Nathaniel,

Thanks a lot for your reply.
I was also very interested in runtime for TerrainComposer, which was my next step after WorldComposer. For WC, I'll do it manually...
Thanks a lot.

Sylvain

 

Hi Nathaniel

Thanks for this great Asset, just a small question. When importing a city from the Netherlands
it looks that the scale is not 100% right when using the first person prefab.
do you have any recommendations ?

Thanks

Norby

 

Hello Norby,

WorldComposer uses a correct scale that Unity is using, 1 Unity Unit = 1 meter. This question has been asked before on the previous page:
http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/wo...-real-world-aaa-quality-terrain.215485/page-8

You can see that I put a scaled cube on a car and it has the correct scaling. You can try too with a car, if it's not correct can you show a screenshot with the cube with the measurements like I did?

Nathaniel

 

Hi.

I have World Composer and have seen the format info on how to export RAW heightmaps from PS.

2 questions:
1) The heightmap defaults to 33 in the generate settings and I end up with a 96x96 RAW file

If I upsize this to 512 and add details from a different heightmap source how do I get it 'back in' to WC in Unity. I only see the import RAW on individual tiles but that seems to load the whole thing on the one tile and its not working.

2) If I want to add on a mesh of a specific area then am I right in thinking I could just paint a slight height reduction on the height map in Unity terrain tools? I would need to make room for the mesh to fit 'perfectly' and I don't think a 96 pixel heightmap will give me the finesse I need.

Thanks!

 

Hi,

I would like to ask how long the discount will last.

Also does the system use google maps or its own database ? Will it have to go online in order to use the maps ?


Thanks

 

@nasos_333 WorldComposer goes online to get its maps, it refers to Bing Maps which requires you to go and set up a Bing Maps API Key first (quick and free generally speaking)

 

Thanks a lot for the clarification. I will check the Bing maps first to get an idea of what to expect, in comparisson to Google maps that i am used to.

 

Another question, is it possible to include a terrain made with this system in one of my assets, for the demo scenes ?

Same question applies to my game too, is there an issue using the Bing maps for the terrain and then include it in the game ?

 

I'm just a user like you but glad to help.

I think if you are doing 'non commercial' stuff then the Bing TOS might well cover you. It's not a simple issue as eagle555 has said in a few points in this forum.

I should re-state about the online usage. You don't need your app to have a live link to the map because World Composer downloads the required textures and stores them in your project. Once you've captured your terrain area you won't need to be online for the map unless you want more/updates.

 

Thanks again for the help . The Bing maps issue is a rather serious one i suppose, since all my projects are commercial. I wonder if there any other source for the maps that may be safely used in a commercial project.

I will check Bing licenses, i trully want some of these epic areas in my game

 

Hello,

That are good questions:
1). At the moment it's not possible to re-import a different raw resolution then the area is with WC. But I will add this feature in the next update, which is planned for this week. If you have TerrainComposer, you can import the heightmap with it.

2). Yes you can use the Unity terrain tools for both WC and TC, as both generate standard Unity terrains.

Nathaniel

 

Hello,

The discount will at least run for this month, then after it depends on how well it goes.

Yes WorldComposer uses Bing as it's source and I'm also planning to add Google maps for not this but the next update after that. As for the copyrights, etc. Bing and Google don't own the imagery data, these are owned by the providers which are many. You can read more about it on the first pages of the forum. I tried to contact some companies, but they are so big they don't bother to reply. If you do shadow removal and further edit the images in photoshop it would be hard to tell from what source they come. Until now I never heard from a customer that had copyright issues or something.

Nathaniel

 

Thanks for the clarifications. Great asset, i just love the pics and demo in the 24hour thread

 

Great!

 

Thanks Nathaniel for clarifying

Norby

 

Would be fantastic! not only for the aerial photos ...but first of all for the Google height maps which are best in some world zone (Italy for first).
My other wish is to add the ability to set a custom height map source files (regional dem ) in WC end use the Bing(or Google) areal photos.

 

Follow up question: Is it possible to edit the heightmap for separate WC tiles at the same time. When I try to do it using Unity Terrain tools I can only do one WC terrain tile at a time and that leaves incongruous gaps at the seams.

I do have Terrain Composer too so let me know if I would do it in there, but I would like to know if WC can manage it without needing TC.

 

Hello,

You can edit the exported raw heightmap in photoshop, or import it with TerrainComposer and generate on top of that. WorldComposer and TerrainComposer use standard Unity terrains. And that the Unity terrain brush only works on 1 tile at the time is a limitation of Unity. With TerrainComposer you can stitch the terrain heightmaps after editing in Quick Tools -> Stitch (use a low border value).

Nathaniel

 

Alright, I give up, I have to ask for help. World composer is an amazing asset. I've been able to create some small areas and they look fantastic. So now I want to move up in difficulty but I'm falling flat on my face. :/

What if I want to make a WW2 game and I want to create a terrain of Europe? Do you have a step by step process for that? I'd like to create one large enough to look like a high relief map but small enough that it doesn't crash unity or my computer. So far, everything I tried just fills up the screen with flashing things when I rotate. I can't seem to zoom out far enough, and the positioning of the transforms are off the charts. Basically scaled up too high I think but not sure.

Any ideas on a continental sized map would be great, thanks!

 

Hello, I have a question. I use world composer, but I am frustrated as when I import the terrain, there are clouds in the way on my terrain. How do I get rid of the clouds which are built in to the texture!

 

I'm curious about this too.. Also, I'm not using the images but mainly using WC to get the height maps.. In that case, are the clouds a non-issue? I've noticed this a lot with various islands I've looked at in the tropics.

Speaking of islands, from the aerial photos I'm looking at it appears there is also contour data for the ocean floor around the islands, yet when I pull into WC anything off-shore is flat. Is there a setting somewhere that would allow me to get that height map information as well?

 

I'm pretty sure height maps are not generated from the images, but instead from elevation data. Clouds would not be an issue for that reason, and it explains why oceans are flat: no one has gone underwater to measure the elevation there.

 

It would be great if the demo terrain was included as a sample in the pack, so we can readilly evaluate the use in a game with many terrain tiles and that kind of detail. Is that possible ? Of course without the tree assets if they are from another pack, just the terrain that comes from using the pack.

 

HI, Im using world composer on unity 5 beta version 17. When I go to hit the creat terrain button, and in unity it starts the progress bar in the lower right corner of the screen it gets stuck EVERY TIME on either 7/11 or 5/11 clustering with x amout of jobs left. Im not creating huge terrain tiles and resolution. No matter the setting just eventually stops. I have a phenom II x4 965 3.4ghz processor and it MAXES my CPU out. im not sure if this is standard or not. It dose not crash unity its just like it never finishes that blue progress bar. I let it run and went to work for 10 hours and came home and it was still just sitting there 76% complete with NOTHING in the game screen. I was SOOO excited when I bought this plugin, please help.

 

Do you know how to remove the clouds from the terrain image? I feel my 45 dollars have been wasted because of a stupid issue...

 

Hello,

You're dealing with massive GB of texture data here for an area that big and want to get it detailed. Also you will run into the issue of floating origin issues which can't be resolved by scaling things down. You can read more about it here:
http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/mu...-a-kerbal-space-program-like-universe.235273/
You can watch the video where the developer of kerbal space program explains how they deal with massive worlds.

For use of massive textures you can use amplify texture 2:
http://amplify.pt/unity/amplify-texture-2/specs/

Nathaniel

 

Yes that can happen with satellite imagery. I will include Google maps as well in the update after the next update. And you will be able to choose the best image provider of that area. You can use the shadow removal in the 'Image Editor' in WC for this to remove clouds/snow. If you send me a screenshot of your WC window with the area visible I can take a look what are the best settings for removing the clouds...

Nathaniel

 

Hello,

Yes clouds aren't an issue with elevation data, as for heightmaps of ocean floors I will look into getting more elevation sources into WC.

Nathaniel

 

You can extract such terrain with tiles in 10 minutes with WC, and click the 'Create Terrains' button and you have an example terrain of the area of your interest. If I would include such data with images, WC package get's too large. I show the mount rainier area parameters in the 24 hour demo document:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/if9dpxqeseenj11/24 Hour demo - How we made it.pdf

Nathaniel

 

I understand that it may get larger without need, thanks for the PDF

EDIT: Just read through the PDF, great tutorial, i suppose having this PDF is far more valuable than any ammount of ready to use terrain included.

 

Well we can't blame WorldComposer for that. WorldComposer/TerrainComposer create standard Unity terrain. And what happens is that in Unity5 the new Enlighten light system will continues bake the lightmaps in the back ground. You need to turn this off. Disable 'Continues Baking'.

Nathaniel

 

I turned it of, but now there is no blue progress bar after I hit create terrain and only the words U.S.A in the Hierarchy and no terrain built...

 

Can you send a screenshot of your Unity window with the hierarchy? Did you get any errors in the console?

Nathaniel

 

Well, I took a look and the video was great. I don't really understand the amplify texture 2 thing though. Anyways, I took a step back and played around with some settings and I did it! It's not great, it's only my first attempt that worked. And I've really only spent maybe an hour on it so far. However, it brings a tear to my eye, it's beautiful!


edit: I checked out amplify texture 2 further and the video explained what I needed. It sounds great. Is that fully compatible with world and terrain composer?

 

It looks nice indeed . Yes Amplify Texture 2 is compatible with TerrainComposer/WorldComposer.

Nathaniel

 

I'm trying to get a multi-resolution terrain set going and I followed the video tutorial here:

Generally I've got it working as per the tutorial, however, the Area0 tile set (a 2x2 area) doesn't seamlessly fit. I'm pretty sure I did everything correctly but it's an area of England and the max height map detail is Zoom 11. I mention this because it means I can't follow the process outlined in the tutorial to the letter but I've done it as close as I can. I have Area0/1/2 so only 3 levels of detail. The height maps of Area0 and Area1 match in scale so I don't see why this has happened.

Having set the project up so the World Composer terrains go into Terrain Composer I looked at the stitching tool there. However that complains at the configuration of my terrains.

Is there a way to auto stitch terrains (really only need Area0 joining Area1) in Terrain Composer which have been developed in this manner?

 

Here is the Issue. Instead of letting it film for 3 hours I stopped while the blue progress bar in unity in the lower right corner was on 6/11. After it reaches 7/11 it will not go any further. I really appreciate any help to resolve this.