3DForge Exteriors

It is my greatest pleasure @Olander and the Thank You is appreciated
Cheers
Cobus

 

Question for those of you who customize stuff (scale, scripts, textures, etc) in these packages (and others like them)... how is your workflow when it comes to asset store updates and keeping your customized stuff intact? Do you make custom prefabs of all the prefabs you use from the packages, or what?

 

I always keep backups outside of the project and if there's an update just bring these back in. Depends how much modification is carried out and if life will get harder with updating versions. Sometimes it's just easier to leave them if everything's working ok.

 

Hi @Xoduz

I think they make custom prefabs, like you can see from @Olander 's response and the prefab count.
I rarely change existing prefabs.
I mostly just add loads more, so your "LEGO" block to make more custom ones just increase.
I think if the base prefabs get changed then you could have problems with the prefabs you make with them to also change, for basically your ingredients change.
Always remember to export these custom stuff and maybe adding them to own custom folders in the project, so that you can easily pull them back in at a later stage.

Cheers
Cobus

 

I always Duplicate the asset in question (ctrl-D), rename the duplicate, and then move the renamed file to an appropriate location within my "Assets/_Game" folder. The underscore makes it appear first in the project view. Except for folders that begin with a number; those still appear at the top. Thanks a bunch, @S4G4N.

Always work off the duplicate file, as it will be given a new GUID by Unity and thus will not get overwritten when the package is updated. The one exception I tend to make to this is if I'm rescaling all of the models in a pack or when I modify animations. All of these changes are stored in the asset's .meta files, rather than in the asset files themselves.

Ultimately, my aim is to be able to only have my _Game folder (and small assets) under source control and just have team members install large asset packages separately. My Cloudforge repository has a cap of 10GB and that can fill up very quickly once you add things like the Village kits. Also, there are so many files in these kits that my SVN client would hang when trying to add the village kits; I had to create all the subfolders manually, submit them, and then add the files in batches of 700 or so. This is tedious, to say the least.

With script files, it depends on the extent of the modifications I need to make. Ideally, well-designed scripts are extensible, with protected fields and virtual methods where customization is likely. When that isn't the case, I'll usually duplicate the script, move it, change its namespace, and then use WinMerge to bring in changes after updating the original script package.

 

Since I am probably the largest customizer (I have 100's of customized 3DForge stuff and textures)....I have a very logical and specific naming standard for all models and textures. This is number 1. I suppose along side of this is making a project filled with all the 3D Art type of purchased/created assets. I consider this the 'Raw' project....basically a filtering project. What all this does is keeps my real project 100% clean. This is not easy mode....but it works really well.
Example: Fence_0000 or BldgFrame2x2_0000 <= up to 9,999 possible models and the name is short.

Not to make comment on Cobus but his naming styles are not always consistent and a far too long....but I will say that his naming is far better than most artists. If you have the Big Environment Packs or the MK4 stuff (and many other AAA art packs) you will know what I mean.

Also something that Cobus does really well is organize the models into categories and sub categories. This really helps keep Your Stuff easily recognizable from 3rd party stuff....which can be a real problem when they have very specific folder locations hard coded in.
Example: Assets/Genesis/Buildings/Village/.....blah blah

So in essence....anything....I purchase from artists is rarely used directly from the artists. I do actually take the time to make certain the naming of the model matches the material and make certain the scaling is reset and proper. I then export and test to make certain it is exactly 1:1 scale in Unity. This does take extra time but is well worth it in the end. Another nice feature of this is being able to combine meshes or remove unwanted features...or even adding subdivision details. Learn Blender....great tool. And fast.

And lastly.....the latest Unity versions have been very good at recognizing what was already in a package and what is new. So having that Art Import Project is handy to figure out what is added/changed. Screenshots help find the stuff.

 

First of all great pack, we really appreciate it.

Second, is there a way to use the cathedral windows 3 & 4 with glass? The glass shapes do not match the windows form unfortunately.

 

Hey there,
Glad that you like the package

I am trying to understand what package you have grabbed that window from for you have not given the exact file name
Did it come from the Village Interiors Kit or the Village Exteriors Kit.
They each comes with a selection of preloaded / done windows that fit 100% and then many loose parts so that you could possibly make your own configurations.

It appears in the picture as if the bottom glass section you have selected one that is twice as high in size as the space that the frame has available.and you scaled it -50% to squash it in ?
That should work, but not as intended for the graphics will appear stretched, rather use one that is half that height.

If this advice does not help, then please give me the exact file names so that I can further assist.

Cheers
Cobus

 

Village Exterior Kit.

I would like to use "fe_vil_cc_cathwinfrm03a" from CathWinFrm but with a glass inside. Unfortunately there is no prefab inside the CathWindows folder which uses the "fe_vil_cc_cathwinfrm03a" frame so I tried to fit a glass myself, however none really fit.

 

Hey there,
I have checked and there are some window options available that does fit

I can surely expand and export some half version of some of the others.
Or as a workaround if you want custom designs, make a copy of the current Cathedral glass texture sheet.
Replace the texture parts I have used in the screenshot and then apply that to a new material and there you go, your own custom glass designs

Cheers
Cobus

 

Oh that's awesome, now I see how they fit together. Any chance to get a stone version of "fi_vil_roof_half_corner_outside" btw? I am currently building a church and it would be cool to have the tower roof the same material. As of right now there is only the wooden version.




Very happy with the options we have so far, way more than worth the price.

 

Hi @ikefrc

Great on the understanding part of the assets.
Very nice little church you designed
Regarding your request, I will most certainly add that to the packages

Cheers
Cobus

 

Glad to hear that, sometimes I feel like I'm just barely scratching the potential of your pack! So many options..

 

Update on the church:

The windows worked out perfectly!


Here is another cool thing we did with the exteriors kit: The bakery

 

Awesome !!!
It is nice to see what creations you coming up with
Yu welcome to post as much as you want to.

The bakery looking great as well

 

I might have to steal that church...

Also, love the bakery. Gives me a very Ultima VII feeling.

 

Hi,

This is the perfect opportunity for a BLUEPRINT.

1. You make a prefab of the whole building.
2. Select the prefab and choose export.
3. Uncheck the dependencies box and you left with the prefab only.
4. share that file.
5. Anyone that have the Interiors Kit / Exteriors Kits installed can then download, open and have that same building, without having shared copyrighted data.

Cheers
Cobus

 

I don't think this would work as I've also used some parts not from the exteriors kit (also the asset is merged as one mesh for faster performance and some LOD meshes as well). Having the same exact building in two games would be bad anyways, but the pics might inspire others to build their own version of a bakery.

 

Makes sense,

It surely does spark inspiration
What is cool is that you have shown something that was not even intended or any such example in the package, so it helps other users to explore past the basic items

Thanks for sharing

Cheers
Cobus

 

Here is some more going beyond whats intended and combing multiple asset packs: The siege workshop. Would be cool to have some sort of medieval construction cranes in the pack Or maybe some cranes for the market place/docks in general.




For now I used a crane from another pack but I don't really like it. Looking for something like this:

 

Love the design,
I will most certainly hake sure there are several of these types

 

The Viking Village demo from Unity has something like you have in your picture. I have a goat in it which is walking as the wheel turns

 

Hello Cobus, looks like I have a few pages of posts to catch up on. Congratulations on getting the updates released. I'm downloading them now.

 

Welcome back

I was out of it for some time as well
Was in hospital with Pneumonia, was at home for 1,5 weeks after that and Bronchitis now, but medication is helping fast
So will be 100% soon soon.

Cheers
Cobus

 

Hi @ikefrc
I must say, every time I look at this I have to look again.
You made really nice use of the wooden balconies, wooden staircases, canopies and wooden pallets to create nice points of interest on the side of the building
I see that you got a ladder there, I will make aa few and add them, could even be nice to use with the City Walls I think.

Cheers
Cobus

 

Hey everyone,

The Village Exteriors Kit on MADNESS SALE for the next 14 days



Cheers
Cobus

 

So is my Simple Fence Builder that works well with the fence prefabs from the Exteriors Kit

 

Hi guys just a little present coming soon!!

 

WOW !!!

Such a nice set of animations and a great demo of using some of the Wagons and Carts that came with one of the FREE updates that the Village Exteriors Kit received.
So many cool game ideas comes to mind, like just having some wagons and carts move around the landscape between villages, maybe setting up some trade routes and such giving a more realistic lived in world look & feel.

Very nice, love it

 

Need anims for people getting on and off the stage coach and sitting in the various seats within, in to and out of the cart backs, and onto the passenger side of the driver's bench.

 

Hi S4G4N,

This is great stuff looking to buy. Just wondering you mentioned the characters re not included in the set, so was just wondering where you got the player character and all the NPCs that are in your videos? I'm looking to add some characters into your interior village.

 

Hey @Rubakai
Yes, I have never modeled any characters. Like with the Web Demos as well, I support other publishers at what they good at and stick to what I know

@tango9jeff made the video for me, maybe he will pick up on this and asnwer, or you can PM him and get more information

Cheers
Cobus

 

Thanks @S4G4N, I purchased the assets yesterday, they are great. You working on more or have you moved on to other areas?

@tango9jeff would love to know whether you created the NPCs in the Village Interiors Kit - Inn Interior youtube video (ie the ones sitting down or behind the bar) yourself? Or whether you got them from somewhere? They would be perfect for what I'm working on.

Thanks again!

 

Hey @Rubakai

Always working on more, just working on adding few NEW items to package selection to boost income stream.
PM me or email to info@3dforge.co.za if there is some ideas or requests that you have.

* Please don't forget to STAR rate and maybe review any 3DForge packages you have.
Cheers
Cobus

 

Sounds good, really looking forward to the next pack! ; )

 

Here is an update on how we've been using the assets (using the company's unity account now instead of my private one). The lumber hut & sawmill together.

 

Are there any open barrels included? Tried to find one but maybe there are none in the pack?

 

Very nice little scene. Amazing how some trees and a road add realism to a picture
Add a few fences and some grass to indicate some walked pathways and you there
You also have under logs, some Birch short trunks that can be placed to show the bases of chopped of trees to fit with the ones you have there and then some more fallen larger trunks even next to them

Checked, none in the Village Exteriors "Yet"
Need to remedy that of course
I do recall, that in the blacksmith update for the Interiors Kit that I had some open barrel type items, so you can grab from that in the mean time.

Cheers
Cobus

 

Don't worry about it, will check interior pack, thanx! Blacksmithing is exactly what I'm working on atm : )

 

Great asset! I estimate it will save me an immense amount of time (coupled with interiors as well, hehe). I do have one question - Any way to create a building and then combine everything into a mesh, as buildings tend to become very complex. Also, I couldn't help but notice that all of the prefabs are rather small. Is that intentional?

 

What do you mean small , I dont understand ?
They are as big as you choose to build them.

Door and window sizes are already way bigger then real life to accommodate characters not getting stuck, other then that, you can make them as BIG as you want to

 

True, I can scale them, but I'm under the impression that the convention is 1 unit = 1m , am I mistaken?

 

Yes, you are correct, all 3DForge assets has been like that from day 1
The modular size CORE blocks are for instance 2,5m x 2,5m x 3m
Are you sure you have been pulling prefabs into the scenes and not the raw mesh data ?

 

I've attached a screenshot. Basically, I'm using a Gaia generated terrain, with trees and grass spawned, and the standard unity first person character with a height set to 1.6 . Not sure what I'm doing wrong with your package , but I'm using prefabs and they seem small. When I scale them to 1.3 they look about okay though.

 

Mmm.., I can not see the character for size reference
I have @AdamGoodrich to also pop over and give a look

 

Cobus asked me to have a look here. There shouldn't be any spawning issues with Gaia unless something has been changed either on the prefabs or on the info in the Gaia resource files. It's 2am in morning here but if you need some help then let me know. Will happily help when I get up later today.

 

Alright, thanks guys. I'll get a character in for size comparison and I'll repost if the issue is still there. Thanks for the amazingly quick answers!

Didn't get the chance to import an actual character, but the default unity Character Controller won't fit through the door.

I've attached 3 screenshots, one with the entry attempt one with the character controller values and one with a premade building next to the other one.

Really not sure what's going wrong , sigh

Anything else I can provide to help? I'll keep looking through docs in the meantime, I'm pretty sure it's a config issue somewhere.

P.S. (Unrelated) Any idea how I could get single-sided walls with windows from the pack? All the walls seem to be single-sided , integrating smoothly with the interior pack walls except for the ones that have windows. Cheers!

 

Hi,
I think while @AdamGoodrich is still sleeping we can do some first checks.

Lets first forget about Gaia just to double check the actual art assets size.

I opened a new scene and just dragged two of the basic house prefabs into the scene.
A single and a double story house. Then I made two cubes, one the height of the door top = 2,5m and the smaller one that is 1,8m tall, so very tall for normal humanoid size.
I placed them next to the doors and as you can see, they technically very oversized.
I did this because the characters that I could find on the Asset Store was never really normal human size
They always had wider then real shoulders that had them getting stuck when trying to go through doorways that really immersion when you had to struggle to just walk through a doorway.
A real life door is 800mmW x 2,1mH. Mine are 1,5mW x 2,5mH

See if you can replicate this and then we at least know the actual artwork does not have a problem.

Will await feedback from you.

 

Right, didn't think of that. The sizes check out. Thanks mate! Best support ever, heh.

So that means there's something funny with the height happening in the character controller.

Thanks again!.

 

Hey there,

Either that, or a setting when spawning them. @AdamGoodrich is a master when it comes to that, so lets get him involved. I am 100% sure you will be on your way to creating what you want to with this small obstacle out the way in no time.

Cheers
Cobus