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Landscape Builder - Procedural Terrains, Advanced Prefab System, spline tool, and more

Discussion in 'Assets and Asset Store' started by sstrong, Feb 24, 2016.

  1. TheXWolf

    TheXWolf

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    @Dave_2000 Thank you for posting such in-depth information into this, it cleared up a lot of unknowns for me where I wasn't sure if I was doing things correctly, as it turns out there were a couple things I was misunderstanding. The mask for example I thought did control some of the receding land and was attempting values with that assumption. I'll get some shots up when I can with some changes I've made to the noise and curves. :cool:
     
  2. sstrong

    sstrong

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    Here's what we're currently planning to release with version 1.3.1.

    [IMPROVED] Numerous small improvements to assist with game development and workflow
    [IMPROVED] AQUAS integration with Camera Animator
    [IMPROVED] Modifiers terrain highlighter operations
    [IMPROVED] Tree placement - Max Trees per square km per Tree Type
    [IMPROVED] Tree placement is now twice as fast
    [IMPROVED] Mesh placement is now up to 40% faster
    [IMPROVED] Map performance is now more than 20% faster
    [IMPROVED] Texture, Tree, Grass placement performance with disabled items
    [IMPROVED] Restrict Area blending
    [IMPROVED] Grass patch fading
    [IMPROVED] Exporting EasyRoads3D roads to Map files
    [IMPROVED] Mesh tab - use meshes or prefabs, added noise placement options
    [IMPROVED] Runtime generation
    [IMPROVED] Texture Mode Map - Advanced options for blending
    [NEW] Fade Lighting in/out
    [NEW] Topography Detail Layer Map filter
    [NEW] Templates - copy landscape settings between projects and/or computers
    [NEW] More Layer presets
    [NEW] Grass placement noise option
    [NEW] Integration with HQ Photographic Textures Grass Packs Vol 1 and 2.
    [NEW] Direct links to Support, Beta Program, Asset Page and Help
    [NEW] Relief Terrain Pack v3.3 integration
    [NEW] Meshes or Prefabs can check proximity to other objects by Unity Layer or Tag
     
    Last edited: Jun 27, 2016
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  3. sstrong

    sstrong

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    An interesting question came up around optimal number of terrains in a landscape. Once you've decided how big your landscape will be for a scene (say 8000 x 8000), it's time to decide how big each terrain should be. That is going to influence how many terrains Landscape Builder will create.

    Should I go for this?

    upload_2016-6-15_10-21-5.png

    Or this?

    upload_2016-6-15_10-22-49.png

    You'll notice that I've set the Terrain Heightmap Resolution to 513 on the first and 257 on the second. The actual landscape resolution will be the same. If I would have set them both to 513, then the second landscape would have twice the resolution of the first.

    Generation performance will vary between the two scenarios. For Topography there is approximately 2% overhead from using the 16 terrains rather than the 4. As Topography generation is so fast, this is going to have almost no impact on your choice.

    If you have a lot of trees in your landscape, you may wish to consider having more smaller terrains. In this example tree placement was 400% faster with 16 terrains rather than 4.

    Mesh placement (or in my example, prefab placement, which BTW is new in 1.3.1) is over twice as fast on the 16 terrains over the 4 terrain landscape.

    However, with Textures and Grass, the tables are turned. These can be 400% faster on the 4 terrain landscape over the 16 terrain landscape.

    So, you can see for generation performance, which you might care about when building landscapes at runtime, it really depends on what mixture of textures, trees, grass, meshes, and prefabs you have. Finding that sweet-spot is still going to require some testing on your part with your game configuration. But the good news is, with LB Templates and an easy to use GUI, testing these different scenarios in Landscape won't take you long.

    Ultimately though, what you really care about is in-game performance and how players view and interact with your landscapes. But that's a story for another day.
     
    Last edited: Jun 15, 2016
  4. sstrong

    sstrong

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    NEW TUTORIAL - Topography Part 2. This one is an introduction to Topography Layers
     
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  5. sstrong

    sstrong

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    Version 1.3.1 has been submitted for approval
     
  6. sstrong

    sstrong

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    Here are the basic steps to add AQUAS water to a new scene.

    1. New project
    2. Import LB 1.3.1 Release
    3. Import AQUAS 1.2.2
    4. Save Scene
    5. Open LB Editor
    6. On Landscape Tab, click Generate Landscape
    7. Click Yes when asked to adjust far clipping plane (if you don't have the Scene View open you might see an error)
    8. On the Topography Tab, click + to add a layer
    9. Accept defaults and click "Generate Heightmap"
    10. On the Texturing Tab, for "Texturing Preset", select "Hills"
    11. Click "Assign Textures From Preset" and click "Assign" when prompted.
    12. Click "Texture Landscape"
    13. On the Landscape Tab, expand "Scene Settings"
    14. Click "Set up Scene Lighting"
    15. For "Water Resizing Mode", select "AQUAS"
    16. Set the "Water Level" to 450 and click "Add Water To Scene"
    17. To fix up the edges, on the Topography Tab, click "Show Mask Options"
    18. Change "Mask Mode" to "Distance To Centre"
    19. Click "Back To Topography Options"
    20. Click "Generate Heightmap"

    You should end up with a simple island looking like the following:

    upload_2016-6-28_9-52-58.png

    You can modify the topography, add layers, change the topography mask, add trees, grass, rocks etc. so that you get the island (or islands) you're after. If you have AQUAS Lite rather than the full version, select "AQUAS Lite" in step 15.

    With a few changes you can get to this:

    IslandDemo2-1b.png
     
    Last edited: Jun 28, 2016
  7. sstrong

    sstrong

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  8. sstrong

    sstrong

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    Landscape Builder will fully support the next release of AQUAS (1.3) water set which includes a river flow feature. Setup from LB will be just tick "Is River" and drop in the flow map. The flow speed is controlled in LB just like you can adjust water height now from the Landscape tab. With LB integration it is very easy to setup and configure.
     
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  9. sstrong

    sstrong

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    Create a path for your river, valley, mountain range or walking path in your scene. That’s one of the features coming in v1.3.2. Apply any kind of Perlin Additive/Subtractive/Detail topography layer to that path with a filter. And of course you can blend it with the base layers.

    As the path creates a LBMap, you can also use it to apply textures, grass, trees, prefabs etc.
     
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  10. sstrong

    sstrong

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    MapPath1.png

    Drawing new features into your landscape is very easy with a Map Path.

    MapPath2.png

    Once you have created the points in the scene view, click "Create Map" to output a Map file. This can then be used to modify your topography with a Map Filter. In this example we've used a Subtractive Perlin Layer. MapPath3.png

    With a few clicks we've also created Map files from the path to prevent the trees and grass from being on our path. We have taken advantage of the texture blending for the path itself.

    MapPath4.png

    Just as we smooth the edges of say a river bank or valley, we can also reduce the steepness of the banks of our path.
     
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  11. sstrong

    sstrong

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    If you are using Landscape Builder with the excellent HQ Photographic Grass Textures and have recently downloaded and imported Vol.1 v1.5.5, you may notice that your textures have disappeared from the Grass Tab. That is because the Asset GUIDs have been changed in the package (the author is investigating). In the meantime, here is a workaround for most of the textures.

    1. Partially re-import the old package (see image)

    upgrade4.png

    2. Now should end up with this:

    upgrade5.png
     
  12. sstrong

    sstrong

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    To correctly apply the HQ Photographic Textures Grass Pack Vol. 1 v1.5.5 you will also need to Update Grass Settings in Landscape Builder. You will need LB v1.3.2 Beta 6d or newer.

    upgrade6.png
     
  13. sstrong

    sstrong

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    Just a reminder that all owners of Landscape Builder can get access to the latest builds through our Beta Program. Just message us with your Unity invoice number to get access.

    There are often a lot of new feature that aren't yet available on the Asset Store
     
  14. sstrong

    sstrong

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    We've been improving out LBTemplate system so that it is easier to share your landscapes within a team environment, between Unity Projects, and/or multiple devices. If you want to show a colleague what you've been working on or get them to edit something and send it back to you, it is now very easy. No need to upload large projects or packages, just create a template and email or drop onto a Skype call etc. You can send them as small prefabs or Unity packages.

    If you want to highlight part of a landscape, why not drop in a Camera Animator path?

    upload_2016-8-19_15-36-32.png

    You can also use LBTemplates as a very fast configuration backup for your landscape. Upload the small package to OneDrive or Dropbox for safe keeping. Download and restore it in a couple of minutes at any time.

    Rather than sending screenshots, why not send them the whole landscape?
     
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  15. sstrong

    sstrong

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    We're adding more support for creating rivers via a new Topography Layer type called MapPath. Basically, you can quickly create a "Map Path" in the scene view then use this as input to a Topography Layer. Think of the path as your river bed. You can quickly change the cross-section shape of the river bed right in the editor.

    LB_MapPathLayer3.png

    As we "remember" all your landscape settings, you can re-shape the river or the river cross-section, set the river bottom height or the banks at any time.

    LB_MapPathLayer4b.png

    It is easy to create steep banks or shallow edges. The height curve can be one of the presets or as complex as you want it to be.

    LB_MapPathLayer2.png LB_MapPathLayer1.png

    Assets used:
    • Landscape Builder
    • AQUAS Water v1.3 for flowing river
    • HQ Photographic Texture Grass Packs
    • SilverTM's Nature Package (for trees)
     
    Last edited: Aug 24, 2016
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  16. sstrong

    sstrong

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    We have a ton of new features coming in v1.3.2 including:
    • Weather FX System which includes: animated volumetric clouds, wind, rain, and enhanced lighting
    • Create flowing rivers with AQUAS 1.3 integration and LB Map Path
    • Create rivers, pathways, and roadways with Map Path Topography Layers
    • Texture Generator (Albedo, Metallic, Specular, Normal, Height, Occlusion, and Emission Maps)
    • Stronger integration with RTP, EasyRoads and HQ Photographic Texture Grass packs
    • A bunch of other fixes and enhancements
    Existing users can get early access through our Beta Program. Message us if you need access.
     
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  17. sstrong

    sstrong

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    We've recently seen a big performance hit when combining LB celestials (stars) with Unity water standard assets. This issue is that Unity water (e.g. Water4Advanced from the old standard assets), uses a script called Planar Reflection which has big issues with 2 cameras. This can add 50ms or more to each frame and do serious damage to your frame rate.

    For in-game water, AQUAS looks pretty decent. But if you're just testing with standard assets, note the above.
     
  18. sstrong

    sstrong

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    The new integrated Weather FX system is now ready for beta testing. More info here.
     
  19. Dave_2000

    Dave_2000

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    Here are some screenshots from some landscapes we've built using some of the new features of Landscape Builder V1.3.2:

    Tropical Island Weather 3.png

    DemoTemplate1_01.png

    Forest With Mountains And Lake W3.png

    DT4_17.png
     
  20. sstrong

    sstrong

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    We have noticed a bug with the new MapPath feature when Closed Circuit is enabled. A fix for this is now in the beta download area.

    If you notice anything else in v1.3.2 which was released this week, let us know and we'll issue a patch.
     
  21. sstrong

    sstrong

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    The fixes for the Map Path Closed Circuit issue have been included in version 1.3.3 and submitted to Unity for approval. Existing users can also download it from the LB Beta area.
     
  22. sstrong

    sstrong

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    LB1.3.4_ER3_wetroad4.png

    In this image you can see some "water" on the road. The amount of water is controlled by the weather which integrates with our Standard-LB Weather shader. So, the more rain, the more water appears on the road - and this happens dynamically at runtime so the user gets a more realistic experience in your game.

    In this demo scene we're using a road surface, but any flat surface mesh should work.
     
  23. sstrong

    sstrong

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    This scene uses 3 integrated features of Landscape Builder with EasyRoads3D.
    • LB Lighting
    • LB WeatherFX
    • LB Screen Space Ray-tracing Reflection
    Landscape Builder 1.3.4 will include a new feature for SSRR allowing you to configure Near or Far pixel reflection. Far pixel reflection is cheaper to render but Near Pixel reflection gives a higher quality reflection.

    LB1.3.4_ER3_wetroad5.png

    In addition to the existing SSRR properties, the shader can also be changed at runtime. A typical scenario is when you'd like to change the performance or quality of the scene based on a user selection. Alternatively, you could examine the platform your game is running on and dynamically adjust the SSRR properties. Here is a simple example of how you might change between Near and Far Pixel Reflection in the shader at runtime.

    Code (CSharp):
    1.     /// <summary>
    2.     /// Enable or disable Simple Screen Space Ray-traced Reflection for near pixels.
    3.     /// When enabled, objects close to the reflective surface are reflected giving
    4.     /// a high quality reflection at the expense of performance.
    5.     /// </summary>
    6.     /// <param name="camera"></param>
    7.     /// <param name="isEnabled"></param>
    8.     /// <returns></returns>
    9.     private bool EnabledSSRRNearPixels(Camera camera, bool isEnabled)
    10.     {
    11.         bool isSuccessful = false;
    12.  
    13.         // Perform some basic validation
    14.         if (camera == null) { Debug.LogWarning("ERROR: EnabledSSRRNearPixels - camera is null"); }
    15.         else
    16.         {
    17.             LBSimpleSSRR lbSimpleSSRR = camera.GetComponent<LBSimpleSSRR>();
    18.             if (lbSimpleSSRR == null) { Debug.LogWarning("ERROR: EnabledSSRRNearPixels - LBSimpleSSRR component is not attached to " + camera.name); }
    19.             else
    20.             {
    21.                 // If Near Pixels is not enabled, make sure Reflect Far Pixels is
    22.                 if (!isEnabled) { lbSimpleSSRR.reflectFarPixels = true; }
    23.                 lbSimpleSSRR.reflectNearPixels = isEnabled;
    24.                 isSuccessful = true;
    25.             }
    26.         }
    27.  
    28.         return isSuccessful;
    29.     }
    30.  
    LB1.3.4_ER3_wetroad6.png
     
  24. sstrong

    sstrong

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    We've seen an issue where terrain LOD (terrain.SetNeighbors) doesn't persist after running a scene. We're not sure if this is a Unity bug or something in our code - we're still investigating. If you see this on multi-terrain landscapes please message me. If the terrains don't appear to exactly line up from a distance but it looks fine close up, then terrain LOD is likely the cause.

    For a quick workaround you can add a few lines of code to a Start() method.

    Code (CSharp):
    1.     void Start()
    2.     {
    3.         // Override terrain neighbours at runtime - Must be in Start() not Awake()
    4.         LBLandscape lbLandscape = GameObject.FindObjectOfType<LBLandscape>();
    5.         if (lbLandscape != null) { lbLandscape.SetTerrainNeighbours(true); }
    6.     }
     
  25. sstrong

    sstrong

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    LB_FlattenAndCluster.png

    New in v1.3.5 Beta 2 is the ability to flatten areas under prefabs or meshes that are procedurally placed in the landscape. We've also added the ability to group or cluster objects. Clusters are placed according to the standard rules of height, inclination, noise, maps, proximity filters etc. Within a cluster you can set the internal density and resolution, as well as setting the size of each cluster. Randomizing the rotation and the scale within set bounds together with our scatter algorithm adds to the diversity.
     
    Last edited: Nov 9, 2016
  26. sstrong

    sstrong

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    Creating River beds with Landscape Builder

    This scene uses standard assets and out-of-box features in Landscape Builder. However, you'll probably want to dress it up with different trees, textures, grasses, rocks, buildings, fences, and water assets.

    LandscapeBuilder_River1.png

    1. Create and save a new scene
    2. Open and dock the Landscape Builder Editor
    3. On the Landscape Tab, give the Landscape a name. E.g. Valley1
    4. Set Landscape Size to X:4000, Y:4000, Terrain Width: 2000
    5. Generate Landscape, click Yes to adjust clipping plane
    6. On Topography Tab, add a Layer
    7. Select "Rugged Hills Base" Preset, set "Height Scale" to 0.5
    8. Click "Generate Heightmap"
    8. On Texturing Tab, select "Hills" Preset
    9. Click "Assign Textures From Preset" and "Assign"
    10. Click "Texture Landscape"
    11. In Scene view, zoom into an area where your river will start
    12. On Landscape Tab, expand "Scene Paths" and click "Add Map Path to Landscape"
    13. In the Unity Heirarchy panel, rename the "Map Path" to "River1 Map Path"
    14. Click on the Unity Inspector to show the LB Map Path options
    15. Expand "Path Points" and click +
    16. Move the Handle in the Scene view to move the approx starting point
    17. Click the + button in the Inspector to add another point (or SHIFT+ in Scene view with v1.3.5 Beta 2+)
    18. Drag the Handle in the direction the river will go
    19. In the Inspector, change "Find Zoom" to 100
    20. Continue to add new points to define the basic path of the river
    21. Click "Set Width (All Points)" type "60" and ENTER
    22. Set the "Edge Width" to 20, untick "Blend Start/End".
    22. When you're happy with the basic path of the river select LB Landscape Tab
    23. Expand "Landscape Stats" and use the "Height Picker" to determine approx height of terrain along path.
    24. On Topography Tab, add a new Layer and set "Layer Type" to "Map Path"
    25. Change the "Type Mode" to "Set" to cut the river into the landscape
    26. Set the "Map Path" Layer Property to your "River1 Map Path"
    27. Set the "Height Preset" to "River 3 Set"

    I have a relatively flat river plan, so the top of the bank will be 1-2m above the landscape.

    28. Set the Max Height to 70
    29. Set the Min Height to 50
    30. Click "Generate Heightmap"
    31. On Topography Tab, expand "Scene Settings"
    32. Set "Water Resizing Mode" to "Standard Assets"
    33. In the Project window, drag the WaterProDayTime into the "Water Prefab" slot
    34. Enable "Primary Body of Water" and set "Water Level" to 56
    35. Click "Add Water To Scene"
    36. When river looks approximately right, select the River1 Map Path in the Hierarchy
    37. Click "F" next to the first Path Point
    38. Press the "R" key or select the Unity Scale tool from the toolbar
    39. Increase the width of the river bed where it meets the lake/ocean
    37. In the Inspector, set Path Resolution to 2, and disable "Show Path in Scene"
    38. Change "Map Resolution" to 4096 (which matches the 4Kx4K landscape)
    39. Click "Create Map" (it may take several minutes - for testing use lower path and map resolutions)
    40. On LB Topography Tab, click "Generate Topography"
    41. On the Trees Tab, set "Trees Preset" to "Mixed Forest"
    42. Click "Assign Trees From Preset" and "Assign"
    43. For each Tree Type, change "Tree Placement Mode" to "Height Inclination Map"
    44. Set "Min Height" to 57 (1m above water level)
    45. Set the "Map" to the "River1 Map Path" Map texture that you just created in Step 39
    46. Enable "Is Map from Path?" and "Inverse"
    47. Click "Populate Landscape with Trees"
    48. Use a similar technique to add Grass to the scene
    49. On the Texturing Tab, Hide the exiting textures and click "Add Texture"
    50. Select a "Grass&Rock" texture
    51. Set the "Texturing Mode" as "Map" and select same River1 Map Path used with Trees
    52. Enable "Is Map from Path?" and "Use Noise". Click "Texture Landscape".
    53. On the Landscape Tab, expand "Scene Settings"
    54. Click "Set Up Scene Lighting"
    55. In the Hierarchy, select "LB Lighting" and go to the Inspector
    56. Show Weather Settings, and enable "Use Weather"
    57. Save the Scene
     
  27. sstrong

    sstrong

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    Landscape Builder 1.3.5 has been submitted to Unity for approval. It includes:

    [FIXED] Insert duplicate Texture, Trees, Grass fails when no filters have been added
    [FIXED] An enabled Mesh may not be added to scene if others are disabled
    [FIXED] Weather State not enabled in Editor until State Settings expanded
    [FIXED] Template Ignore Start Position also incorrectly ignores position of existing landscape
    [FIXED] Combining Meshes ignores Normal Maps in material
    [IMPROVED] Added keyboard shortcut to append points to MapPath in Scene View
    [IMPROVED] Create Maps that exclude centre of MapPath for new texture, grass, trees placement scenarios.
    [IMPROVED] Quickly expand or reduce the width of a variable width MapPath
    [IMPROVED] Templates now support Map Path meshes
    [IMPROVED] Updated support for Unity 5.5
    [NEW] Mesh or Prefab placement - flatten surrounding landscape option
    [NEW] Mesh or Prefab placement - clustering options including auto-alignment with terrain
    [NEW] Mesh or Prefab placement - combine static prefab meshes and/or add mesh colliders
    [NEW] Integrated LB Image FX combines features of Weather FX and SSRR
    [NEW] Create variable polygon-count meshes from Map Paths including river surfaces, paths and roadways.
    [NEW] Create mesh-based terrain chunks from procedurally generated topography
    [NEW] Auto-configure Occlusion Culling for mesh-based terrains
     
  28. sstrong

    sstrong

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    Minimum Unity Supported Builds

    We are currently considering what should be the minimum supported builds of Unity and we'd like your opinion.

    LB 1.3.5 supports Unity 5.3.4f1 and higher. The more builds we need to support (and test), the longer it takes us to release new features.

    The real question is: What version of Unity are you using for your current projects? Reply here or message us. This will help determine which builds we need to support.
     
  29. sstrong

    sstrong

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    We've added support for Calm Water (1.5.9+) rivers, oceans, lakes and ponds - these will be available in the next release (1.3.6) or message me for a copy of the beta if you require it sooner.

    River topography and surface meshes also work with Unity Water or AQUAS.

    LandscapeBuilder_CalmWaterRiver1.png

    The above scene uses:

    Landscape Builder 1.3.6 Beta 2c
    Calm Water 1.5.9 (pre-release)
    HQ Photographic Texture Grasses
    3DForge Exterior Kit (House)
    Nature Package (Rocks)
     
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  30. sstrong

    sstrong

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    SUPPORT ANNOUNCEMENT

    Starting in March 2017, Landscape Builder users will need to be on Unity 5.4.3 or newer to receive new versions in the Unity Store. This is in line with Unity's announcement to stop issuing regular patches to 5.3.

    Why are we doing this?
    This will enable us to put in more efforts to new features that require 5.4 or newer. The more versions we test on, the slower it is to introduce new features.

    What if I'm still using LB with 5.3.4->5.3.8?
    You can still receive support, although you won't be able to take advantage of new features in LB. Also, we'll look at bug fixes on a case-by-case basis. If we can re-pro the problem we will endeavor to send you a private fix or at least a workaround.

    Does this affect you?
    If this is likely to impact you or your development team, please let us know.

    Landscape Builder Team
     
  31. Duffer123

    Duffer123

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    @sstrong ,

    Considering buying this asset. Looks amazing and developing fast. Own Gaia but like the integrations and the whole weather and lighting side of it.

    Are you looking at all at future integration with village exteriors kit, simple building and settlement placement? Rocks placement?

    More weather controls? Control over sun, moons, celestials and related lighting?

    'One click' rivers and roads ie. Simplicity with integrations?

    Playmaker integration ... with runtime landscape generation?

    Presuming we bring our own assets to this for grass and trees?
     
  32. sstrong

    sstrong

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    Thanks for the kind words. We currently have prefab placement working with 3DForge houses and accessories from the Exterior kit (the landscape in previous post uses this placement method using restricted area).

    If you have a game in development, we're always happy to work with you to develop more placement options (if LB doesn't already cater for your requirements).

    Yes, rock placement (mesh with materials or prefab) is already supported in LB. Recently we've been working with another game developer to enhance our rock placement and clustering options. These are currently in beta and are accessible by all LB owners.

    For sun/moon settings we have intensity, rotation and sunrise/sunset times. For celestials we have number of stars and size of stars. Stars are placed closer and further away to simulate the night sky. All celestial bodies can be partially or fully obscured by clouds as the weather dynamically changes over time (length of day is also configurable as is the weather cycles).

    For roads, you can integrate with Easy Roads or create simple ones in LB. Rivers are natively supported out-of-the-box but are enhanced with other water assets like AQUAS and Calm Water (the latter integration which is in a recent LB beta).

    Yes, can definitely use your own grass/trees/texture/prefab assets (or many great 3rd party ones from the store).
     
  33. Duffer123

    Duffer123

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    @sstrong ,

    Thanks for such a prompt response!
     
  34. sstrong

    sstrong

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    25% OFF SALE

    This is for a limited time only

    If you've not picked up this asset yet, here is your chance. Get it here.
     
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  35. StevenPicard

    StevenPicard

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    Your sale made me look at this asset again. The new features (since I last looked at it) sound great! The river, path and (simple) road creation are big selling points for me. Easy Roads would be overkill for my needs since I just needed the river and path creation. I plan on picking this up as soon as I can.

    I am glad to see such dedication in improving this product along with listening to you customer's feedback. Hopefully this can reach the point that usable levels can be generated at runtime (ones that appear "thought out" due to having the ability for the developer to configure effective spawning settings.)
     
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  36. StevenPicard

    StevenPicard

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    Oh, yeah. I'd love to see some tight integration with MegaSplat. You'd be the first terrain editor that would work right of the box with it. That would produce some truly awesome terrain.
     
  37. StevenPicard

    StevenPicard

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    Question: How configurable is the sky system? I need to make a night scene where there is a large bright moon and clouds moving below it (with the intention of creating a very spooky atmosphere.)
     
  38. sstrong

    sstrong

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    Yes, this should be possible. See the 7-page section on Lighting starting on page 69 of the manual. You can find the manual here.

    And should (for whatever reason) you can't seem to get the look you're after, we have a Beta Program for LB owners where we help you achieve that affect - this is how many new or improved features find there way into the product.

    MegaSplat: If you have a connection with the dev team (or can arrange it) and you have an active project/game we'd be willing to do our side of the integration work. We tend to integrate with products that:

    1. Have asset developers with a desire to see our products work well together
    2. Have at least one customer with an active project/game that will use both (and has a good chance of being published)
    3. Integration adds value to our customer projects (faster dev time, better results etc.)
     
  39. StevenPicard

    StevenPicard

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    I sent a message to Jason. Hopefully he'll read it soon. In his posts he has expressed interest in integrating it with other assets. I think these two assets would be a great match.

    I am in the process of buying Landscape Builder right now. :)
     
  40. sstrong

    sstrong

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    Yes, I agree that MegaSplat and LB could complement each other. Just depends on how the workflow could be developed between the two products.
     
  41. eaque

    eaque

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    Hi,

    I'm very interested in LB and all its features in particular the day night cycle. It's great to see an author giving so many features in one tool!!!! a lot should be inspired!
    I checked the manual and it's very well done even if i think few pictures could be added to show the controllers and so....lol
    it seems the day night cycle can be customised.
    -How many skyboxes do we need in LB with the option "add skybox" to complete the 24h cycle?
    -How do you avoy the frame drop of the material swap?


    Many thanks in advance for your answers
     
  42. Dave_2000

    Dave_2000

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    That is correct. In LB you can control the length of the cycle, the timings of sunrise and sunset, how the fog colour/density changes over the cycle period and how the sun and moon intensity changes over that period as well. We also have options for stars appearing at night and a weather system with fully configurable states.

    As many (or as few) as you like! Obviously at least two would be useful, but you can just add as many as you have and configure the times of day they appear at and the time period over which each of the skyboxes is blended with the next.

    I'm not sure what frame drop it is that you're referring to, but we haven't seen any issues at all during the numerous tests we've conducted. We have a shader that allows two skyboxes to be blended together using an interpolation value, and then we switch to the next paired skybox material when required, which doesn't seem to incur any frame-rate drop.
     
  43. sstrong

    sstrong

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    We've found an issue when using the legacy Value Based Topography generator. You may see the following message:

    upload_2017-1-27_12-0-36.png

    We will shortly be issuing a patch which will be available in the Beta Program download area. In 99% of cases we'd recommend using the default Topography Layers which doesn't have this issue.

    Thanks to the user who brought this to our attention.
     
  44. eaque

    eaque

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    Hi,
    Many thanks for your prompt anwers. The more i get to know your tool the more i like it!
    Actually i wrote my own day cycle in Unity 4 combining 2 materials each of them blending 2 skyboxes and each first time it swaps the material i have a hugedrop like for an FX...But i'm a coding noobie...lol

    Anyway, i really like your tool it covers a lot of functions, here are 2 other ideas dealing with terrain system:

    -Is it possible to insert a solution to stream terrains around player position? To me it's very important with multi tile terrains. TerrainComposer2 (i have it but i dont use it) promised it but i dont think it is. The only one offering a solution is Map Magic....

    -Could you insert (like megasplat) a function using the textures array to return the name of the texture hitten by the player to play footsteps sounds acurately (and do many other things..)?

    thanks in advance
     
  45. sstrong

    sstrong

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    We are currently working on MegaSplat integration with LB. It will soon be available as part of the Beta Program. However, added an API to assist with footstep SFX is good idea - we'll add it to our roadmap.
     
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  46. eaque

    eaque

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    Ok Many thanks,
    i'll be checking your progress! :)
     
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  47. txarly

    txarly

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    hi,

    when enable highlater in modifiers tab, the circle does not follow the mouse cross.Is this a bug?

    thanks
     
  48. sstrong

    sstrong

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    Does the highlighter remain completely stationary? If so, then it may indeed be a bug.

    The highlighter uses Unity's projector system, which can sometimes be inaccurate if the you are viewing the terrain at an angle. To test this, go to a top-down view of the terrain and try again. You could also go to the Landscape Tab, expand Landscape Stats, and click the Height Picker. Does the circle follow the mouse?
     
  49. txarly

    txarly

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    sorry about the quality of the video
     
  50. Dave_2000

    Dave_2000

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    It's a bit hard to tell from the video - but the first things that come to mind is that this is either an issue with lag or with some sort of bug concerned with projection from screen coordinates to world coordinates in your scene. You can check if it's lag-related by leaving your mouse in one position on the screen for a long time (probably about a minute) and see if the highlighter "catches up" i.e. if it eventually makes its way to the correct position in the scene. It did look like in the video that your highlighter was just slow to respond. If this is the issue you could try restarting Unity, and checking whether any other programs running on your computer at the same time are particularly performance intensive (closing them might help) or if your scene itself is particularly slow on your computer. If this persists, if you give us a few more details about your scene and setup (what settings your terrain and quality level are at) we can look into it more extensively.

    Otherwise it might be a bug caused by an incorrect screen-to-world coordinates projection. We mostly test using a different window layout to yours (the "tall" one if memory serves) and the fact that your scene window isn't at the far left edge of the screen may be causing the issue. If this is the case, we can have a go at fixing this. As a temporary fix, you could try using the different window layout (although I realise that this is probably not optimal for you).