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Octave3D-Level Design - Snapping, Prop placement, Multi-Prefab painting

Discussion in 'Assets and Asset Store' started by XGT08, Aug 10, 2016.

?

Do you prefer written documentation or video tutorials? (regarding the Octave3D remake)

Poll closed Jun 10, 2023.
  1. Written documentation

    68.8%
  2. Video tutorials

    31.3%
  1. XGT08

    XGT08

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    EDIT: This forum is now closed. Octave3D - Level Design has been rebuilt from scratch and renamed to GSpawn - Level Design. New forum can be found here.
     
    Last edited: Jun 12, 2023
  2. lazygunn

    lazygunn

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    This looks really useful, i'll put it on the wishlist
     
    Arganth likes this.
  3. S4G4N

    S4G4N

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    Hi everyone,

    It was a pleasure to have worked with you on this, thanks for picking these assets to do the videos with, it just injects so much fun into level building.

    I would like to give a shout to a package from a fellow publisher that have extensively used and tested a range of 3DForge packages because of their simple but powerful modular design core.

    The Village Interiors Kit , Village Exteriors Kit , Tile A Dungeon - Sewer Kit's are all on the video.

    Please have a look at the videos, you will be amazed and love what you see and at this price I really think it is worth more even then the asking price. It just makes it look like so much fun.


    Octave3D (World Builder/Prefab Placer)



    There are some nice videos already that I am sure the publisher will further expand on them.

    Cheers
    Cobus
     
  4. Arganth

    Arganth

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    looks amazing :)
     
  5. BackwoodsGaming

    BackwoodsGaming

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    Looks amazing! Added to wish list!
     
    Mark_01 likes this.
  6. XGT08

    XGT08

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    Thanks a lot guys! I'm glad you like it!
     
    BackwoodsGaming likes this.
  7. XGT08

    XGT08

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    Hi everyone,

    Tomorrow I will start working on the video tutorials again (made a short break :D) and I wanted to let you know that if any one of you guys has a crazy :p idea for a tutorial video, please feel free to shout at me (metaphorically speaking of course :D) and I will do my best to fit it in my schedule.

    Currently only 3 video tutorials are available (here), but as I said, starting with tomorrow I will work on new ones. My target is to release a video daily. However, there may sometimes be delays because for me the recording process is incredibly cumbersome and I have to stop and redo countless times before I actually like what I did. Not to mention the fact that I keep making that nasty verbal sound 'ummmm' which drives me insane. But oh well...

    So stay tuned because I will be posting an announcement here for each new video that I release.

    Best Regards,
    Andrew
     
  8. TeagansDad

    TeagansDad

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    Hi @XGT08. I'm running into an issue where I'm in object placement mode and after placing a couple of wall pieces, I can no longer rotate the placement guide using the hotkeys (X, Y, Z, or C) nor can I cycle through the guide point pivots with J. At this point pressing K to set the grid XZ cell size doesn't work. I'm essentially just following the same sequence as in your intro video (placing some village interior floor in block mode, then placing walls in point and click mode). Sometimes it will start working again if I pick a new prefab, and sometimes I need to exit Unity and load it up again.

    I haven't found any distinct set of steps that make it happen. All I know is that it WILL happen once I start trying to build something. I'm on Unity 5.3.4f1.

    I seem to remember running into a similar issue when I tried to use ObjectGrid 1.1, although I can't remember if it was exactly the same issue or not. It had something to do with the hotkeys in object placement mode though, and I never did get it to work. :)
     
  9. XGT08

    XGT08

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    Hmm... Thanks for telling me about that. I will install 5.3.4 tomorrow and try to reproduce it. Meanwhile, if it happens again, try switching to playmode and back to edit mode and see if that fixes it. Also, if you can spot a certain pattern that can be used to approximate the circumstances in which it happens, it would be great.

    Thanks for pointing that out! I will get back to you as soon as I have any news on this.
     
  10. XGT08

    XGT08

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    @TeagansDad ,

    I can not seem to be able to reproduce the keyboard block issue :). Did you say it happened while in placement mode? Do you happen to remember what were you trying to do at the moment? (placing an object, rotating etc).

    I did discover another issue where the mouse input would become blocked if you press more then 1 button at the same time. I'll play around with it some more and see if I can reproduce it.

    Cheers,
    Andrew
     
  11. XGT08

    XGT08

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    @TeagansDad

    It seems that the 2 issues are interrelated. Can you please try to hold down the right mouse button and then left click to place an object. Then try to rotate or do stuff with keyboard. It should not work. I believe this was the issue and it has now been fixed. Please send me an e-mail so that I can give you the updated package.
     
  12. SilverStorm

    SilverStorm

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    Hi! Ok then, so it seems that the ability to change the Grid Y in the settings can work but the ability to ignore the grid is probably much easier instead. Thanks for all the help and the explanation on the leaked objects really helped too, if it is true then that solves a lot of the same leakage I had with other assets.
     
  13. XGT08

    XGT08

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    Hi there and welcome :)
    Yes, indeed. An option would be great and I will start working on that right away.

    Regarding the leaked textures message, you can take a look here.
     
    SilverStorm likes this.
  14. XGT08

    XGT08

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    @SilverStorm
    I have sent you an e-mail with the updated package.
    Please let me know if you encounter any issues. :)
     
  15. Teila

    Teila

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    I have this same problem sometimes. I have to back out and try again.

    I also get some freezing, where I have to wait until it unfreezes.

    Overall, good product, although works better with some models than others. I am trying to use it with the Rome pack from Quantum Theory and it is okay..not perfect though.

    However, I do plan to use it for Cobus' packs later and I am guessing those will work nicely. :)

    One thing I would like is better "snap to grid". It doesn't seem to be doing that for me. I end up having to go back and slightly nudge each object I place.
     
  16. XGT08

    XGT08

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    I have sent you an e-mail which contains a fix for the input block problem. Regarding freezing, would it be possible to give me more details?

    Can you give me some screenshots or a small demo video of the problems? Maybe I can help.

    I am not sure if this is what you are referring to but I believe this video contains an answer to that starting from minute 14.
    If this doesn't help, can you give me more details? :)
     
  17. Teila

    Teila

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    Thanks for the quick support! I am not sure I can show the issue in a screenshot or video.

    Can I update within my current project? Or will I have to start over? I find that updates often destroy projects. lol So just want to make sure.
     
  18. XGT08

    XGT08

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    It's not necessary to start a new project, but to be safe, please delete the current package and also the Octave3D monobehaviour/object from the scene and then import the new one.

    Regarding the models issue, I do wish you could find a way to give me more details on that. You threw the ball at me and I caught it but now I don't know what to do with it :D.
     
  19. Teila

    Teila

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    LOL

    I think the problem might be that the models are not as regular in size as the 3dForge models so much more difficult to place them.

    Here is how I am doing it: I place the floor, and platform squares with Octave3d and that works very well. The squares are not the same size as the grid, so any moving around may be due to that problem. I was able to place the flat planes with the block feature and while awesome, I made it too big and had to delete a lot of it, which was a pain but that was really my mistake.

    I then use Octave3d to place the base house levels and add the additional levels on top. This mostly works although I do have to go in and nudge them a bit. Not a big problem and it is faster than placing them with the translator through Unity.

    Windows must be place in holes so I have do that that by hand as well as doors. I can hang things on the walls easily but holes don't seem to work.
     
  20. XGT08

    XGT08

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    :) Thank you.

    When snapping, try holding down the CTRL key while moving the mouse (it also depends on what pivot point you are using) and see if it fixes the nudging problem. I've also given you a link in a previous post to the intro tutorial at minute 14 which gives an example. But I am not sure if that is what is happening in this case.

    Regarding holes. Indeed that is more tricky to handle and to be honest I have no idea what functionality I could implement to solve it :D, but try using vertex snapping and see if it helps. So the tool has its own vertex snapping functionality which doesn't require a move gizmo, but it works in almost the same way: hold down V, select vertex, press LMB and snap. So in this way you could place the object (window) near the window hole and the vertex snap it to the correct position. I don't now if this will totally solve your problem, but it's worth giving it a try.
     
  21. Teila

    Teila

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    Probably not since the window sits between the walls so not attached to a vertices. But thanks anyway! :)
     
  22. XGT08

    XGT08

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    I understand. Just one more question :). Doesn't it work to use the Decor Paint mode to place the window on the geometry which lies inside the hole?
     
  23. Teila

    Teila

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    I have not tried that. BTW, use of the control button helped a lot. :) Thanks.
     
  24. XGT08

    XGT08

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    Pfew... :D I'm glad to hear that.
     
  25. XGT08

    XGT08

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    @Teila

    Also please let me know if the decor paint mode solves your window issue.
     
  26. b4c5p4c3

    b4c5p4c3

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    I'm just following the first video and i've a couple of questions.

    FORGET THIS FIRST QUESTION - I FOUND IT UNDER ACTIONS IN THE PREFAB MANAGER:
    1- How i delete a prefab category? I dragged the same folder twice and now i can't remove the second created category


    2- How did you got those 3DForge prefabs icons? When i drag the floor folder my prefabs icons are empty because the prefabs are rotated.

     
  27. XGT08

    XGT08

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    I have very little control over those images. I just use what Unity gives me.

    I believe the prefabs you are showing in this example are floor prefabs. The floor prefabs are made up of quads. If you rotated that quad upside down, its normal is going to face away from the viewer and they are not going to be rendered anymore. I don't know if this is the exact problem but try resetting the rotation to 0 and see if it works.
     
    Last edited: Aug 12, 2016
  28. XGT08

    XGT08

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    Hi everyone,

    I know I promised some video tutorials, but unfortunately I haven't managed to get up to it quite yet. There's been some bug fixing and support needed, but I will try to get back on track as fast as possible.

    Thanks for understanding.
     
    TeagansDad likes this.
  29. SilverStorm

    SilverStorm

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    What do you mean by tutorials, the current tutorials you have on your Youtube pretty much go into explained all of it right, what more were you planning?
     
  30. XGT08

    XGT08

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    That's true :) But I was planning on talking about mirroring, some 'hidden', more obscure :D snapping shortcuts that people might overlook and some other stuff that people might have trouble with.
     
    theANMATOR2b likes this.
  31. XGT08

    XGT08

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    And then there's also the Path and Block placement modes which I haven't talked about them yet. There's a lot of functionality that can be covered, but I am trying to cover the most important aspects of using the tool.
     
  32. b4c5p4c3

    b4c5p4c3

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    I know you don't have control over what's shown but as in your videos your preview show fine i thought maybe you did something else.
     
  33. XGT08

    XGT08

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    @b4c5p4c3

    Can you please try to press the button highlighted in the following image. I have that button there because I experienced something similar once but with the GUI textures (buttons etc). Pressing this button will reset both GUI textures and all prefab previews.
    refreshTextures.png

    If this doesn't work, maybe try switching to playmode and back.

    This is weird behaviour and for the moment I must admit I have no idea :D what could be causing it.
    If I think of something else, I will let you know.
     
  34. f1chris

    f1chris

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    I'm on on OSX 5.4.0p1 here. Tried with an empty new project and getting those errors

    bug.png
     
  35. XGT08

    XGT08

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    I have never used OSX before and I don't have access to a system that does, but I am guessing that it is a texture path problem. I am going to need some help from you. Please open the TextureCache.cs file located at Octave3D World Builder\Scripts\Tool Resources\Textures\ and modify it by inserting the debug lines highlighted in the following image.
    TexCache.png
    Let the scripts compile and then send me a screenshot of the console output.
     
  36. f1chris

    f1chris

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    Here is the result .......
     

    Attached Files:

  37. XGT08

    XGT08

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    @f1christian

    Thanks for supplying the screenshot. Hmm... I was expecting to get some weird results with the texture paths, but everything seems to be in order. Can you please verify that the Textures folder was imported correctly. So please check that the following folder exists: Assets/Octave3D World Builder/Textures/GUI Textures. And in here please make sure all necessary textures reside.

    Also, did you try reimporting the package? Just delete the old one and reimport and see if it works.

    Some additional info that I may need... Did you move the Octave3D World Builder folder somewhere else (e.g. in another folder)?

    Thank you.
     
  38. f1chris

    f1chris

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    Assets/Octave3D World Builder/Textures/GUI Textures looks good. Can see all the textures.

    I have 2 development machines, 2 macs though, and tried on both, brand new project. Both are using same unity version 5.4.0p1

    I was using your previous version without any problems. Was about to say it's something new introduced in the code but with the number of new features and complete rework, it won't be something useful to look at ;)


    EDIT: If that could help...getting 72 warnings :

    Unexpected top level layout group! Missing GUILayout.EndScrollVew/EndVertical/EndHorizontal?
    UnityEditor.DockArea:OnGUI()
     
    Last edited: Aug 15, 2016
  39. XGT08

    XGT08

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    @f1christian

    :D I believe I know what the problem is. I should have thought of this from the beginning. I was using back slashes for the texture paths and OSX requires forward slashes.

    Please send me an e-mail so that I can send you the updated package. I believe it will work now.
     
  40. f1chris

    f1chris

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    Just in case some others on OSX are wondering, the author sent me an updated fix in the minutes and it was fixed. As he said it was a slash/back slashes issue and working like a charm now on OSX.

    Great support !!!
     
    XGT08 likes this.
  41. XGT08

    XGT08

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    @f1christian
    Just doing what I can :D. I am glad the issue has been solved!
     
  42. Teila

    Teila

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    Okay, I set up a village with Octave3d only to realize later than the house models I used did not have colliders. Now I cannot figure how to add colliders to the houses and floor sections added to the scene with Octave3d. I can't simply click on them and add the collider like I normally would.

    Of course, the easy answer is to set up colliders on the models first. But....I usually use models that have colliders and did not bother to check and see if these did. lol

    So..how do I now add them? There is no way to select an object placed under the World Object without using Octave3d's selection tools and those don't allow me to add a collider to the object. If I select an object on the list, nothing happens. I can delete it, but can't add to it.

    Any suggestions? I hate to start over since I am almost done. :(

    Anyway to move objects out of the World Object hierarchy without messing anything up?

    To be fair...even if I had remembered to add colliders I couldn't do it until the house parts were placed since I have two stories and would want to place a box collider that encompassed both stories....not just each story individually. Each floor of the house was placed with Octave3d as a separate object.
     
  43. XGT08

    XGT08

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    @Teila
    Hi there Teila,

    I hope I understood the problem correctly, so please correct me if necessary.
    So Octave3D doesn't need colliders for the game objects. It can interact with them with no colliders attached.

    Now if you wish to add colliders, you can do that on the actual prefab. When an object is placed in a scene, Octave will maintain the link between that object and its prefab, so adding the collider to the prefab will actually add colliders to all objects which were instantiated from the prefab.

    Hope this helps, but please let me know if you need more help.
     
  44. Teila

    Teila

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    Unfortunately, it doesn't since I used separate floors of the house and made a multi floored item. To add them to the prefab will give me two or three box colliders per house rather than one large one..which is not good.

    So...I guess I have to start over and put my houses together without Octave3d if I don't want a mess of colliders. I imagine the same thing will happen with 3dForge pieces. They do have colliders on each piece but if you make a house with all those little pieces, you have lots of extra colliders you don't need. Okay if you are doing interiors, but for exterior parts, it is a mess. A way to merge parts and then add a single collider would help this asset become much more useful in a large level.

    Can I somehow move everything out of Octave3d so I can interact with each?

    Edited: Normally with 3dForge, I build the house, delete all the colliders and put one box collider. If I want a door, I have a trigger for the door. With Octave3d, I seem to be stuck with all the colliders. Colliders can really pull down fps if you have too many.
     
  45. XGT08

    XGT08

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    I am sorry but I can not see how Octave can help in this case. How you manage colliders is totally up to you and I believe you can already do that with Unity pretty easily. I just don't see any problem here :D.

    You should be able to safely move the objects out of the world hierarchy and move them back later when you are done. You can also interact with them without moving them outside the hierarchy. Just deselect the world object with ALT + D or click on another object in the hierarchy view.
     
  46. XGT08

    XGT08

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    @Teila
    I could probably implement a functionality which would allow you to select objects and add a collider to that group of objects. This would mean that and empty parent object would be created, the objects detached from their current parents and attached to the new parent instead. The collider would be attached to the parent object. Is this what you need in this case?

    Note: This would break the link between objects and their prefabs.
     
  47. Teila

    Teila

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    Yeah, that would not be good. I can just do it without Octave3d and still have my connections with Prefabs and have fewer colliders. Takes me a wee bit longer but not a great deal. Oh well. Unfortunately, better fps is worth the time.

    I can take though out without an issue...just another time sink. lol
     
  48. Arganth

    Arganth

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    is there a way to "octavice" existing meshes/stuff?

    i used octave to build a room and then i wanted to copy it (so i could build different variations)
    but it seems only one octave manager is allowed in the scene
    so i deleted the one i had

    but now if i want to modify the existing room and i add the manager
    the meshes simply vanish ^^

    would be nice to to have several octave managers in one scene
    and add them to parent meshes and it scans the underlying prefabs

    and thx@Teila
    you reminded me about the colliders
    building with kits really adds a F***ton of drawcalls and colliders without
    manual work.......
     
    Teila likes this.
  49. XGT08

    XGT08

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    @Arganth

    Hi there,

    Only one Octave3D manager is allowed to exist in the scene. The entire system is built around that idea and I'm afraid I can't change it. The reason for that is that there's a ton of settings associated with a manager and Unity has to serialize those settings (and as I know it serializes them quite often even when you don't change them). Adding more managers would degrade performance as more settings would have to be serialized.

    I don't know if it is useful to you but, you can use the object selection mechanism to create prefabs from selected objects. So you could build a room, create a prefab, and then start a new one and so on. I have attached an image which shows you the GUI controls that allow you to do this:
    PrefabsFromSelection.png

    Regarding draw calls, the tool allows you to combine meshes based on common materials:

    MeshCombine.png

    With colliders, as I also told Teila, I don't really see the problem :). What kind of functionality do you think could be implemented in the tool that would ease the collider attachment/detachment workflow :) ?
     
    TeagansDad likes this.
  50. TeagansDad

    TeagansDad

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    I think the intention is that the excess colliders will be removed when you combine meshes when you're done building (as in his screenshot above). Am I missing something? :)
     
    XGT08 likes this.