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Assets AltTrees System [WIP] [AssetStore]

Discussion in 'Works In Progress - Archive' started by Diab1O, Sep 19, 2016.

  1. Diab1O

    Diab1O

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    Hello! :)

    AltTrees - an alternative system of trees for Unity. Supports SpeedTree, Tree Creator and meshes.

    Current version: 0.9.6.1 Beta.

    Asset Store - 15$
    The starting price - $ 10. With updates the price will grow up to $ 30.

    Available:
    - LOD system
    - Billboards fast system
    - CrossFade transitions LODs
    - Import trees SpeedTree, Tree Creator and meshes
    - Import/export of trees to/from Unity Terrain
    - Planting trees on the Terrain and any other meshes
    - Easy editing of trees
    - Hue variations
    - Rotation of the trees around the Y axis
    - And much more...


    It is planned:
    - Infinite World
    - Planting of several types of trees with one hand
    - Change the quality of shader graphics during game
    - Edit and save the trees during the game
    - Storing data in a file (in the user's disk, a server, ...) to save the changes
    - Changes of trees on the network
    - Lightmapping
    - Rotation of the trees around all axes

    Roadmap
    Documentation(Video Tutorials)


    Videos:






    Sorry for my English! If you notice an error - please tell me.:rolleyes:
     
    Last edited: Mar 13, 2017
    Magiichan, Flurgle, NiloBR and 9 others like this.
  2. ZhavShaw

    ZhavShaw

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    This looks very promising!
     
  3. jdraper3

    jdraper3

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    This looks like a dream come true! Need a beta tester? I have a scene with many thousands of trees that I could try it out on :)
     
  4. Diab1O

    Diab1O

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    Thanks! :)
    May be in the future.;)
     
  5. virror

    virror

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    Is it the same LOD distance for both in the video? Cause the popping in your version is very visible but not that visible at all in the unity version.
     
    theANMATOR2b likes this.
  6. Ronald_McScotland

    Ronald_McScotland

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    That's a pretty impressive difference in performance there. One thing that would really help sell me on this product would be if it included a tool to convert existing trees painted with Unity's tree system into your system so that it could be easily applied to existing projects without having to repaint all the trees.
     
  7. Diab1O

    Diab1O

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    This is a beta version for testing performance. The final version will be more beautiful.;)

    Yes, you can convert "Terrain => AltTrees" and "AltTrees => Terrain".
     
    Ronald_McScotland and jdraper3 like this.
  8. FreeFly90

    FreeFly90

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    Nice work, it can really help improving some games quality :)
     
  9. Diab1O

    Diab1O

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    Thank you!:)



    New video!

    AltTrees [beta 0.9.2]. Demonstration: planting trees, editing ...
     
  10. zelmund

    zelmund

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    this is very interesting. what about shadows? i mean the results will be with same numbers or present of shadows will overkill all idea?

    in last video i see shadows on trees but can you make a video like first one but with shadows?
     
  11. Tiny-Tree

    Tiny-Tree

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    will this work for mobile too ? i got most of speed trees mobile pack and could not use them because of performance.
     
  12. Diab1O

    Diab1O

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    The new video will be later. Now I made a few screenshots, please see:
    Quality: Fantastic, 100k trees
    window 933x1050 px:

    fullscreen 1680x1050 px:


    I make AAA system for PC and consoles. Maybe mobile will work better, but I do not guarantee it. Maybe in the future I will make a version for mobile, but I do not promise.
     
  13. Andrzej-Skibinski

    Andrzej-Skibinski

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    Hey

    Your solution looks very impressive, and is definitely something we would be interested in.
    I do have one question tho. Will it be possible to place the trees using script in the editor? In the project we work on, most of the time we have trees (dummies, regular models) done by architects inside CAD software. We just take this data (position, tree type, etc) and inject this into unity terrain. If your system would support similar thing, it would be perfect solution for us. Not only allowing easy editing of already placed trees, but also better performance.
     
  14. Knightmore

    Knightmore

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    Can't wait to get my hands on this.
    I am looking into using SpeedTree but damn, the performance issues kill me when I set my camera outside of the first village up to the near forrest with only around 40-60 trees.
     
  15. Diab1O

    Diab1O

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    Such a possibility would be, but not in the beta version. IPA will be available in the release version.

    Coming soon:)
     
    jdraper3 likes this.
  16. Andrzej-Skibinski

    Andrzej-Skibinski

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    Cheers, i will follow your progress. Best wishes
     
    Diab1O likes this.
  17. zelmund

    zelmund

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    how is it going there?
     
  18. Diab1O

    Diab1O

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    All is well! Soon there will be a new video.
     
  19. Diab1O

    Diab1O

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    Hello.
    New video!

    AltTrees [beta 0.9.4]. Test: 100.000 Trees and 3.000.000 Objects(bushes, flowers, mushrooms, etc...)
    [All trees and objects - SpeedTree]

     
    Last edited: Oct 24, 2016
    jdraper3 and Knightmore like this.
  20. larsbertram1

    larsbertram1

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    hmm, 25 fps for just a standard terrain and mostly billboards is not really fast i would say.
    the number of placed objects of course seems to be crazy – but i wonder who would do so / need this:
    a 8x8 km terrain should probably be chunked and use streaming.
    right now it looks as if most cpu resources a spent on culling 3mio objects of which only a few are visible.
     
  21. Diab1O

    Diab1O

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    Thanks for the comment!
    This is not a release version, and I'm working on optimization.:)
     
  22. Diab1O

    Diab1O

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    Hello everyone!

    I make a test demo-application. I would be grateful for testing :)

    Link: https://goo.gl/h0UD7d (161 MB)

    Options:
    - A scene from the past video
    - 100,000 trees
    - 3,000,000 objects (bushes, flowers, mushrooms, etc.)
    - All the trees and objects - SpeedTree
     
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  23. Knightmore

    Knightmore

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    This is awesome!
    Just tried it with my old pc because my "new one" would have no problems with this.
    I don't know if the "Send Specs" worked so here are my results.

    2016-11-10 12_43_33-Piriform Speccy.png

    2016-11-10 12_40_07-AltTrees.jpg

    Normally this would be a total 1 FPS lag fest with this setup.
     
  24. Diab1O

    Diab1O

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    Pathelion, Thank you! I'm still working on optimizing for best results!:)
     
  25. Knightmore

    Knightmore

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    Can't wait to get my early copy as soon as it hits the asset store.
    My test scene right now hovers around 30 FPS with only around 40-50 trees and the rest of my village (50-55 FPS with disabled tree draw).
    This would really notch it up.
     
    Diab1O likes this.
  26. jdraper3

    jdraper3

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    Tried the demo - very nice performance. I noticed that wind is disabled - is that a limitation of how this works, or is it just not implemented yet?
     
  27. Diab1O

    Diab1O

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    Hello, thank you! Is it just not implemented yet. It will be done in future updates.:)
     
  28. larsbertram1

    larsbertram1

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    hi there,
    i just have given the demo a go and it runs decently on my laptop: nvidia gtx 970m.
    but i have some questions or annotations:
    • i can't see any wind affecting the trees. is wind not supported?
    • billboards to not fit in lighting: they look dull and washed out (especially as the rest is super colorful...). aren't they lit in real time?
    • billboards seem to have a little bright pixel border around them which produces a lot of noise.
    bbnoise.jpg
     
  29. Diab1O

    Diab1O

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    Hello, thank you!:)
    Is it just not implemented yet. It will be done in future updates.
    Real time, but, now used the wrong algorithm for generating normal maps for billboards. In a future version, I will fix it.
    The problem in the shader billboard.
    This occurs only in deferred mode. I fix it in future updates
    11-11-2016 12-17-02.png 11-11-2016 12-17-28.png
     
  30. zmaxz

    zmaxz

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    This is awesome!
    When you release AltTree System ?
    Do billboard tree have shadow ?
    Thanks!!
     
  31. Diab1O

    Diab1O

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    Hi!
    I plan to release a beta version this month.
    Yes, billboards have shadows;)
     
    John-G and one_one like this.
  32. AndyNeoman

    AndyNeoman

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    Very interesting.

    Does the system work with TerrainComposer 2 for object placement? I want my tree's to have own colliders so need non terrain trees. I also use tree's designed in ForestVision are these supported?
     
  33. Diab1O

    Diab1O

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    You can plant Unity Trees using TerrainComposer 2 and then convert to AltTrees. For planting trees without conversion, need to modify the TerrainComposer 2 files. In the future, I will try to make a wrapper, or it will discuss with the developer TerrainComposer.
    I'm not sure about the ForestVision. But, in future updates I do support the ForestVision.
     
    AndyNeoman likes this.
  34. AndyNeoman

    AndyNeoman

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    Thanks for the reply.

    I look forward to giving it a try.

    My game is set outdoors with jungles and savannas so foliage are a key component.
     
    Diab1O likes this.
  35. magique

    magique

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    This looks very promising. Are you accepting beta testers? I would love to try this on the Wii U.
     
  36. Diab1O

    Diab1O

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    Hey! I soon will release a beta version in AssetStore.
     
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  37. Killersan

    Killersan

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    Hey, let us know when You do that (do You have any ETA ?)

    I have a question, because it's performing so well with speedtree models and it's dealing with 3 mlns of objects quite well I have a question if there will be a chance to migrate all objects which are already in the scene to Your system ?
    I found out that many objects in the scene which are not even visible because of LOD's distance are taking much cpu performance because of culling calculations. There is a simple workaround to put some small props into separate layer and prepare script which will cull these objects much faster and on the camera so the LOD's calculations won't take place if the object is not within camera distance, but still it's hard to maintain such workflow during whole project, specially big one.

    Can You tell me a little more how Your system works and as I mentioned above will be a chance to migrate all objects in the scene to Your system (I mean rocks, buildings, rocks and other prefabs and models).
     
  38. Diab1O

    Diab1O

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    Within a few days I am sent for review.

    Available import trees from Unity Terrain.
    To import objects from the scene will need to write a script. In future versions I will make API with which it can be done.

    At the heart of AltTrees - quadtree algorithm.
     
  39. Mark_T

    Mark_T

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    Would it be possible to make it more user friendly for non coders and provide the script with the asset? Something like drag and drop all the assets in the scene somewhere in the inspector.

    Your solution looks really impressive. Does it works on any kind of trees, terrain trees and custom mesh trees too. Also, does it needs the unity terrain to be in the scene, or it's working with mesh terrains or other artificial mesh based environments ?
     
  40. yc960

    yc960

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    Does it support tree destruction?
     
  41. Diab1O

    Diab1O

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    Ok, I will do this in future updates.

    Supports SpeedTree, Tree Creator and simply meshes.

    No, Unity Terrain is not needed.

    Currently no. It is in the plans.
     
    mwituni likes this.
  42. Diab1O

    Diab1O

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    Beta version has been submitted for review. :)
     
  43. Knightmore

    Knightmore

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    10$ like in your start post?
     
  44. Mark_T

    Mark_T

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    Cool! Fingers crossed. Price?
    Good luck with your asset!
     
  45. AndyNeoman

    AndyNeoman

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    Great news. Can I just confirm that the tree's can be used with mesh colliders?

    I want them to be climbable as well as having items in them.

    Good luck.
     
  46. Diab1O

    Diab1O

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    Correct, 10$.

    Thanks! Price 10$ - This is a limited time 67% off sale.

    Yes, mesh colliders available. But, if a lot of trees, I recommended use capsule colliders for performance.
     
    AndyNeoman likes this.
  47. Killersan

    Killersan

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    Thank You, any chance that You could deliver such script that we could migrate our scenes to use Your solution ?
    I got trees as an objects not as a terrain trees.

    Are objects in Your demo scenes like mushrooms, grass, trunks, and such are on terrain too ?
    Would be nice to see the feature to use it with objects in the scene not only for terrain objects.
     
  48. Diab1O

    Diab1O

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    I will do that in a future updates.

    Asset not include demo scene and any other content. Only the system, only scripts.
     
  49. Mark_T

    Mark_T

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    Unity 5.5 just got released. What are the minimum requirements? Unity v5.4 or v5.5?
    I'm just curious to see how big the impact is on your system with the newly Exposed Meshes and ComputeBuffers in Unity 5.5.
    Did you read this?
    Definitively looking forward to your asset to be released!
     
  50. Diab1O

    Diab1O

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    Minimum requirements - Unity 5.2.0.

    Yes, I read it. I will do that in a future updates.