World Building EasyRoads3D v3 - the upcoming new road system

Hi Astaelan1,

Your request for full AQUAS support is on the to do list.

Just to repeat what I already wrote, everything in the video can already be done apart from the global scaling per marker. Additionally to that, the river options in EasyRoads3D also allow you to create the river bed and you can position shape nodes individually, more freedom in the final shape.

Thanks,
Raoul

 

@Astaelan1
We already use EasyRoads3D for rivers in conjunction with the AQUAS shaders. So what raoul said: it already works.
What you might have to do though is export and modify meshes in Maya/Blender/Max/Modo/... where rivers split up or join. So in these cases it won't work 100% procedurally. But it works for us.

@raoul
Will the vertex coloring be part of the next point release at the end of the week?

 

Hi Marco,

What I have tested is assigning the AQUAS prefab to the Target Object in the Side Object Manager. That by itself works fine. The prefab scripts and materials are assigned to the generated river object although the bumpmap values for the waves needed some adjustments.

But I am not completely familiar with all the AQUAS features. For example, purely looking at the extension itself, creating a new AQUAS object the recommended way is done through an editor window which creates additional objects. I have to see what is involved in that, that is what I meant with "full AQUAS support".

Regarding your vertex colouring request, I belief you mentioned that you had like to see that working somewhere around May. It isn't done yet, but it is relatively easy to implement. I will look into that after the next beta is out.

Thanks,
Raoul

 

Thank you for the confirmation, I've been admittedly a little too busy to test the free version to see if it would work. Plus I've got some other issues with Aquas popping up so I didn't want to compound issues until it's resolved.

Much appreciated for the feedback on this, might have to pick it up on principle for later.

 

Hi Astaelan1,

The free version is stll v2 and it is roads only. Just thought I let you know before you spend time looking into it searching for river options

Thanks,
Raoul

 

Hi

well the min max values problem is also in crossing prefab config parameters like corner radius for example.

 

Hi Cleverlie,

Ok, this will also be added for the corner radius. I will check the other sliders.

Thanks,
Raoul

 

Hi, just purchased this awesome asset after a link from Real World Terrain v3. I'm using your asset v3 beta with RWTv3 and they work great. One thing I don't understand though is how do I get the Min Indent lower? The demo scene shows the same 3 and 5 for indent and surrounding, but in conjunction with my generated terrain the indent is stuck at 94 and 5 for indent/surround. I tried generating my own road following your super simple quick start guide, but something is forcing the indent at 94.xx

Do you have a suggestion? I figure it's got something to do with the terrain, but I'm new to using terrains as well, so figured I'd see what you thought. Not sure if it matters, but the road width is 6, super small but perfect for the road that's being generated. Only problem with the generated road is it dips below the terrain in some spots so I was thinking maybe this indent value could be used to fix all of the dips. Since I can't change the value for the indent, I have no idea if it will help with the dips.

Anyway love this it so far, hopefully you have a suggestion.

Edit: post moved to this thread from ERv2 thread

SOLVED: I just needed to hit the Build/generate terrain button and all magically fell into place!

 

Hi blamejane,

Glad to hear you like it!

Just in case this is still not entirely clear.

The Min Indent value is directly related to the heightmapscale of your terrains (heightmap vs size). It is impossible to add detail points to the unity terrain object. So matching the terrain with the road shape has to be done on the available terrain points. In order to avoid the road partially floating above the terrain or the terrain popping through the road these Min Indent values are used. A Min Indent of 94 sounds like either a very low heightmap resolution or a huge terrain size.

Thanks,
Raoul

 

Thanks so much raoul, I definitely still need that explanation. Everything is Greek to me at the moment, hopefully it'll all make sense soon. I do still have some terrain dipping, and adjusting each waypoint is a PITA; which is why I'm tweaking the indent. I could easily have both a low height map resolution AND a huge terrain size. I'm not sure yet because I have to figure out what is typical size/resolution for my project.

Great asset, congrats.

 

Hi blamejane,

The troubleshooting page also covers this. Typical critical situations are for example sharp bends with considerable height differences. Usually you can already see by the shape of the road segment in the bend whether the terrain can be flattened accordingly, certainly when you switch on one of the wireframe shading options in scene view. You will clearly see the available terrain points in an area.

What is the terrain heightmap resolution and was is the size? And what is the nature of the terrain, hilly?

Thanks,
Raoul

 

Beta 8.5 is now available on our website

New in this update is the I Connector. It can be used to cut a road object in segments and use different materials per segment or blend different road types.

Different materials (line marking change in the center of the road)


Blending two road types.


This can also be used to connect none matching road types or cut and organize roads in tiles for streaming.

More optionss, like for support dynamic crosswalks and lane change options, will follow.

Furthermore this update includes various improvements and bug fixes.

As always please backup your project before importing the update.

The asset store update will be submitted later today.

Thanks,
Raoul

 

Hi raoul,

I have to say, that your support and continuing development is simply super.

 

HI Raoul,

I have used easyroads for 2 years, it's a nice tool, but currently It can't meet my project fully.
So i want to add some function by myself, is it possible to access easyroadsv3's source code?

Thanks

 

Hi

Hi LaverZZY,

Unless you are happy with the current set of features generally you do not want to change source code. There are many things on the to do list, frequent updates will follow...

What functions would you like to add? Perhaps it is already possible through the scripting API? There are more users who have done that.

Thanks,
Raoul

 

Thank you very much!

I made a piority list. No more new features for now and, unless something serious happens, I have set a target to release v3 by the end of next month, some extra pressure by posting this here...

Thanks again,
Raoul

 

Hi there!

Can you please tell me what are those red points? I see them in various places on the road but I can't figure out what they represent. I have no side objects defined.

 

Hi Virgiliu,

Red dots are Scene View handles displayed in areas where the road is close or perhaps even below the terrains game object Y position. These red dots are not visible in game play.

Unity Terrain height values are stored in decimals between 0 and 1, meaning that it is impossible to apply negative heights.

It is recommended to check these areas with red dots in Build Mode after flattening the terrain and raise the markers slightly if the terrain pops through the road.

You can switch off the display of these red dots in General Settings > Scene View > Display Critical Areas

Thanks,
Raoul

 

Thank you!

 

HI Raoul,

I need the following functions / improvements：
1.tilting angle interpolation algorithm improvement. for example, the middle angle of tilting 100 and tilting -180 should be 140, not -40. My project need some twist roads, current version can't meet.

2. runtime mesh generation. after finish road edit, i want mesh generation in runtime to reduce package size. I know scripting API can do, but inconvenient anyway.

3. Full 3D space road support. easyroads can support only on xz space , but i need a full 3d road.

thanks

 

Hi LaverZZY,

How can I test the tilting angle? When I set the tilting on one marker to 100 and the other to -180, the shape seems alright.

What type of twisted roads do you need?

Would a scripting API "Road Network Refresh" option be helpful?

How would that work? Do you mean roads generated based on prefabs similar to how the procedural side object type works? This is on the list.

Thanks,
Raoul

 

Hi @raoul,

Just as thought for a feature that will be great for river creation. Is it possible to have easyroads to create asymmetrical meshes on bend corners to simulate water erosion. eg if the river turns left then the river mesh would be larger on the right side, and if turns right then the mesh be larger on the left side.

The size would be controllable with a slider and also for automatic generation have an option that if enabled would create a larger change in size of the mesh if the turn was more aggressive. i.e a hairpin bend type.

If the tilt could also be automated to tilt automatically based on turn direction then this would prove even better for the river bed shape. It would also be great for making roads and tracks like in the old classic ps1 game wipeout without having to alter each section manually.

I've not managed to find any info on these features so if Easyroads already includes any of them then apologise given.

Thanks

doc

 

Hi docsavage,

That sounds very useful! It should be fairly easy to implement, I will add that to the list. At the moment the focus is on getting v3 out of beta

You can already do that by changing the river shape per marker manually. But I belief you like to see this option integrated so the opposite side of the bend is automatically wider while still being able to manually adjust the strength of the width change?

Thanks,
Raoul

 

Hi Raoul,

That's right. Still have the manual options to but also have it automated. Basically the amount of stretch on the mesh would be a multiple of the strength of curve so it would stretch more and gets bigger with a tighter bend. Also you could have an overall Strength modifier to turn down or up how strong the mesh stretch would be for the whole river/road. Still having manual adjustment allows for fine tuning.

Thanks for the quick response anyway

doc

 

Hi
somebody can help me with this. In sidewalks when i click Outer Curb it only change the curb in crossings, how to turn it on also on roads?
Why Outer Curb doesnt work on roads?

 

Hi Max,

The outer curb does work on roads.

Is the road also attached to a crossing on the other end?

In that case, it is recommended to deconnect the road first and make sure the connection on the other end also has the outer curb activated. If not, then the geometry structure doesn't match and the road cannot be updated. Does that make sense?

Ideally these type of settings are already done before starting to create your road network. The first sections of the manual describe the recommended workflow, create road types, then create dynamic crossing prefabs according these road types. This way you can quickly reuse these prefabs.

Thanks,
Raoul

 

Yes, a multiplier option affected by the bend strength.

This will probably work like the Road Smootheness options. Global settings for the road/river in general with options to tweak for individual markers. That is probably also covered by your request for manual changes.

Thanks,
Raoul

 

Hi,

I thought that if I click "Outer Curb" on crossings, it also create outer curb on roads. But ok, I had to deconnect roads from crossings and then Outer Curb works. Now it works. Thanks for answer.

 

Changes to the crossing will update connected roads. But in this case (activating the outer curb), when the road is also connected on the other end it cannot update the road because the curb on the other end needs to be activated as well in order to snap all vertices at the end of the road to that connection. Now, you will see an error, (this needs more attention) hence why I suggested to deconnect first.

If the road is only connected to that crossing it will add the curb instantly after changes to the crossing.

Thanks,
Raoul

 

Would be great to see it implemented. Thanks for listening.

Also looking forward to learning this asset in detail. Just as soon as my game is finished then I can get to learning some of these nice tools.

Thanks again

 

Hello Raoul,

Been really busy with other elements the past year but now it's back to road creation. I wanted to ask if it would be possible to avoid visual repetition of the road textures by randomly assigning different textures to a road (by means of either texture atlas or different UV sets) but it seems you've already solved this with the new "I Connector" functionality

Another question: are you planning to implement Y intersections? They are quite common and although it is possible to deform T intersections in an external 3D app, it would still be great to have those as a choice in ER3D.

And finally, I know there's a good reason for the min Indent being capped - would it be possible to unlock the min limit (maybe the system could issue a warning when below a safe value)? The reason is that I would like to carve offroad tracks into the terrain (sculpting by hand is very time consuming) by using two parallel very narrow roads to deform the underlying terrain. I would need min indent values around 0.3.

Kudos for your work!

 

Hi Soul-Challenger,

Yes, the IConnector can be used to change materials.

The upcoming new demo project includes other ways to make road textures look less repetitive. The first image further above in the beta 8.5 post actually includes an example of this. The road texture in the left half in the bend looks noticeably different.

A flexible Y Connector prototype is almost ready. This will be finished and implemented after v3.0 is released. It includes road blending options like possible with the I Connector.

I think this is something that should be locked, accurate terrain deformation highly depends on it.

But you can switch it off at your own risk in the ERModularBase script attached to the main Road Network object

public bool ignoreMinIndents = false;

Thank you very much!

Raoul

 

hi raoul, I want to report a bug I'm still having on beta 8.5, when I create a new road I cannot inmediately access it's markers to modify it, they are not shown, and errors are thrown, I need to deselect the "Road Network" game object and then select it again to be able to do anything:

 

Hi Cleverlie,

This happens after creating a new road in general? That is a standard process, I have not seen that happen and have not heard of that before. Can you give more info?

How can this be reproduced? Or can you email me a project / scene in which this consistently happens?

Thanks,
Raoul

 

hye..please help me..how to make train rail use easyroads3d?

 

Hi faqilah92,

V3 includes the option to import your own meshes and assign connections. Objects attached to these connections inherit the same shape as the shape formed by the selected vertices. That is how you can create, for example, train rails.

The video below shows the process of importing a mesh in the system. After this is done you can reuse it in all your scenes. The example in the video is part of the beta package and ready to use as seen at the end of the video..

Let me know if you have further questions.

Thanks,
Raoul

 

Great! Though I would need that quite soon, today . Do you have an ETA for v3 final release?

OK, but since ERModularBase is a dll, I see no way of altering the script... Or maybe I missed something(?)

 

Hi Soul-Challenger,

Usually it is not a good idea to publicly provide dates but I already mentioned on the previous page that a target has been for the end of this month, I just want this released... The main work to finish is the new demo project and additional assets. Ideally it will include everything planned (also regarding tutorials, etc) otherwise more will follow afterwards.

You can either script this or temporarily switch the Inspector to debug mode through the dropdown next to the lock at the top right of the Inspector. This will expose all the public vars including ignoreMinIndents.

Thanks,
Raoul

 

I know what you mean I announced the tech demo of my game will be released this summer...

Super thanks! I did it in debug mode - works great! I can finally sculpt dirt tracks efficiently

 

Hope you will make that target, good luck . If you want I can check the status of the Y Connector after 3.0 is released. For sure the part that builds the connection data needs to be implemented. If you do not mind using alpha builds I can send this to you once functional... Or use it as it is, create the prefab / mesh and use the custom prefab system to add connections.

Glad to hear you got that working now

Thanks,
Raoul

 

That's very kind of you but since I really have to build the road network in the coming days, I'll just use T connections and custom ones when necessary.

And there's an extra bonus! No need to manually place a parallel track via markers - you can just duplicate the road in the hierarchy and control placement via one set of markers:

 

Yes, that will create parallel roads as both roads share the same marker info! Side objects will probably not work well in this case and terrain deformation might be unreliable.

After selecting a road there is a "Duplicate Object" button in the Inspector in the main road settings near the top. It is recommended to use that for this purpose.

Perfect parallel roads controlled by one set of markers can be done using custom road shapes, basically the same concept as the two train rails in the video further above. That way side objects and terrain deformation for sure will work well.

Thanks,
Raoul

 

Ahh, I could feel I was doing it wrong Thanks for the info! Makes definitely more sense that way.

 

Hi Diego,

That is partially API code and your own code. I would recommend to stick with the exposed API code. In your case:

Code (CSharp):

1.  
2. using EasyRoads3Dv3;
3. using EasyRoads3Dv3Editor;
4.  
5. public class APITestsEditor : ScriptableObject
6. {
7.     [MenuItem( "GameObject/3D Object/EasyRoads3Dv3/Log marker positions" )]
8.     public static void DisplayRoadSideObjects()
9.     {
10.  
11.        ERRoadNetwork roadNetwork = new ERRoadNetwork();
12.        ERRoad road = roadNetwork.GetRoadByName("road name");
13.  
14. // Or get the selected road (this requires the above: using EasyRoads3Dv3Editor)
15. // ERRoad road = GetSelectedRoad();
16.  
17.         if ( road!= null )
18.         {
19.                 Vector3[] markerPositions = road.GetMarkerPositions();
20.  
21.                 foreach ( Vector3 markerPosition in markerPositions )
22.                 {
23.                     Debug.Log( markerPosition.ToString() );
24.                 }
25.         }
26.     }
27. }

Hope this helps!

Thanks,
Raoul

 

Hi Diego,

Glad to hear you got that working.

Yes, that is what I meant.

Thank you very much for reporting that! It is fixed in the next update

Raoul

 

IS there a video showing how to blend different sections together like adding an on ramp to a highway?

 

Hi Scott2112,

Is this related to the new blend option in I Connector? The blend option is texture / material related, it doesn't fully blend geometry although there are options to match for example the width.

The dynamic built-in crossing options will be expanded with highway ramps after 3.0 is released. Meanwhile you can use the custom prefab system for this (see the train rail video example further above), create models for this an import them in the system, like the highway overpass examples in the beta package.

Thanks,
Raoul

 

Hello, and thank you for this great asset !

I am working with the last beta of Easyroad v3, and i have a question :

I have create my roads network with many roads and junctions on my terrain, but I would like to change the position of the entire road network.
I try to move the "Road Network" gameobject, but it always come back to its first position.
How can i move all my road network to another terrain's location ?

Thank you for your help,
Michael