World Building EasyRoads3D v3 - the upcoming new road system

Hi Raoul,

I have 3 scenes in total but only one has 6 terrains (not all visible at the same time), each with one road. From these 6 terrains I've created 26 levels. So in this Scene I have duplicated the terrains many times.

Static batching is disabled but no change in Levels size.
I've duplicated the project and I will finalize the roads for all levels now. I will also try the "Store Mesh Assets in Assets Folder" option too.

Thanks!

 

Hi Raoul,

Problem solved!!!
I used Store Mesh Assets in Assets Folder option and then I've Finalized the Road.
Textures 46.1 mb 59.5%
Meshes 7.8 mb 10.0%
Animations 17.1 kb 0.0%
Sounds 2.8 mb 3.6%
Shaders 1.3 mb 1.7%
Other Assets 8.6 mb 11.1%
Levels 1.3 mb 1.7%
Scripts 1.6 mb 2.1%
Included DLLs 6.4 mb 8.3%
File headers 1.5 mb 1.9%
Complete size 77.4 mb 100.0%

My APK size is now 36,6MB down from 88MB!!!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

 

Hi John,

Glad to hear that indeed worked well

Thanks,
Raoul

 

Hi Raoul,

Awesome! That sounds great.

I could give it a test for sure! Just let me know what you need from me.

Cheers!
Alberto

 

Hi raoul,
is it possible to define the default vertex colors per marker in the road setup?
And is it possible to access and modify these colors per marker via API access? I cannot find the latter when "intellisensing" through your exposed properties and functions of the marker class.

 

Hi Marco,

The vertex color can be tweaked per marker as requested by you. Or do you mean override the colour per individual vertex? Currently this data is not stored after road updates other then being part of the mesh data. But that can be added and I guess it will require API access as well. How should this work, a colour array matching the length of the spline points array? The scripting API is stil build upon requests so new road features are not necessarily immediately available in the scripting API as well. At this moment I am trying to focus on getting v3 out of beta

Thanks,
Raoul

 

Hi Alberto,

I just sent an email with an update. Let me know if you didn't receive it.

Thanks,
Raoul

 

Ok fair enough. A couple more questions then about the Pro version if I may? I was intending to use the free version to evaluate if it met my requirements but I guess I need more information

1) Does the pro version have more built in road type materials, such as dirt roads, paved roads, freeways, etc or would I need to make my own materials for those?
2) Intersections I read is in v3 beta.. How solid are those at this point? Can they handle oblique intersections like these roads? https://www.google.com/maps/place/F...2e13d35bc74ed0!8m2!3d27.3912782!4d-81.2109375
3) Can a road span multiple terrains?
4) Can a road be baked out to geometry that can be split into segments for streaming assets?

 

Hi jwvanderbeck,

V3 works with road types. You can create new road types so you can easily reuse them. The current beta package includes some provisional materials. The final package will include more textures / materials / shaders like in some of the screenshots in this thread. And after that more will follow.

I am not sure what oblique intersections are, we are not native english speaking and google doesn't give a clear impression for this either.

You can do T crossings, the other intersection in the link is more like an Y crossing with one straight segment. Y connections is being worked on and will support that type of shape.

In general, there are so many different crossing situations. As mentioned, more built-in options will follow but it is impossible to cover every situation. Therefor v3 also includes a custom connection system. You can import your own mesh models in the system. You do not rely on what is part of the system.

Yes, that is possible, but generally you would want to split long roads in pieces. That is also possible.

Yes, recently the I connector was introduced. This can be used to split roads in segments for streaming assets.

Let me know if you have further questions.

Thanks,
Raoul

 

More specifically I am referring to the intersection highlighted in this image:
http://imgur.com/el6zz7H

 

Yes, I think I answered on that:

Thanks,
Raoul

 

Hi Raoul,
I mean the "per marker custom vertex color" option. Can this be set via API call (see picture below)? That would be great to have available. Setting the color in that exposed property should cause the ERRoadNetwork to flush these values into the road vertices that relate to the given marker.
Having an option to set a default custom vertex color of a road type would be nice to have as well. So that when creating a new marker for a road it could automatically have a certain custom vertex color set.

 

Hi Marco,

That is not exposed API code, using that is entirely at your own risk Because, for example, ERMarker is obsolete.

The vertex colour option will be added to the documented scripting API.

Thanks,
Raoul

 

Hi, I just started using Unity and EasyRoads3D about a month or so. I tired both the regular and the beta and find the beta works well for me. I an working on creating terrains and race courses for import into DreamCarRacing 3D and am very close to finishing my first track. I have a question about performance. I have found through experience that too many props or other objects can slow down frame rates on slow computers. I happened to find by accident in this formum about how lowering thje Angle Threshold can reduce triangle count and improve performance.

Are there other settings in EasyRoads3D that a new user should be aware of that have a similar relationship with performance? It might be helpful to new users to include that kind of thing in Tips or Troubleshooting section of the manual.

 

Hi jonjonz,

Indeed the more complex the scene the more the impact on performance. Regarding geometry, performance optimization, in general the same applies as when creating the scene not using EasyRoads3D.

Too many props, do you mean side objects? Indeed it is easy to over do this with regard to slower machines. Depending on the side object types, you could create different versions / resolutions of side objects for slower machines.

As for other optimizations next to the resolution setting and the Angle Threshold option, for side objects you have the option to combine instances which reduces drawcalls. You can increase distances between side objects.

I will include more info about EasyRoads3D specific opimization options in the docs.

Thanks,
Raoul

 

How to remove additional boundary from road and have plain road

 

Hi Himanshuchahar,

How did you create this road object?

It looks like the custom highway overpass road type which includes side elments, the outer parts visible in the screenshot but with no material attached and therefore rendered in pink.

This road type is the only road type in the package with boundaries as part of the road purely as an example of how you can have road types with different custom shapes. Simply select one of the other road types for a plain flat road.

Thanks,
Raoul

 

I created a default road type, bridge was attached to this road (that bridge had these side boundaries). When I tried to attach bridge with this road. it automatically took that side part from that bridge.

Can I change the road type of already created road? Can you please tell me how can we do that?

 

That is how this works. The highway overpass custom connections have this particular road shape. They are part of the package to show how you can create this type of custom connection / road shape.

When connecting a road to this prefab it will inherit that exact same shape.

If you want to use that particular connection prefab but without the sides, you can open the source model in a modelling app, remove the sides, import the new model into Unity and create a new custom prefab from it.

Below are two videos showing the process of creating a new custom prefab from your own models. Video 2 also shows how you can create new road types from custom prefabs and how you can add additional props to a custom prefab.

Thanks,
Raoul

 

Hello, I got EasyRoads pro and I like it so far.

I'm having trouble understanding how to connect roads, though. I've figured out how to create different road segments and then connect them via connectors -- what I would really like to do though, is given just one segment, replace one of the points in it with a connector -- is this possible?

So, say I start creating a road -- I click 3 points in a line, and then finish. Could I somehow make that middle point an intersection? Or would I have to use multiple road objects? I can do it with multiple objects, but it makes planning the setup a lot more complicated.

Thanks for your time!

 

Also, I tried the open street map thing -- it's pretty cool! The terrain's height map doesn't seem to update though, like the manual roads do. This makes most of the roads go under the terrain at parts -- is this a bug? Are there steps to address it?

Errors:

Code (CSharp):

1. EasyRoads3Dv3: Updating the heightmap of terrain Terrain 1,1 failed, please report with details!
2. UnityEngine.Debug:LogError(Object)
3. EasyRoads3Dv3.QDQDOOQQOOQDD:ODDCOODQOD(ERModularBase, ERTerrain, Terrain, Single, Single, Single, Single)
4. EasyRoads3Dv3Editor.OOQQCQCODQ:OCCQQCQCDO(ERModularBase, ODDOQOQQCQ)
5. EasyRoads3Dv3Editor.ODDOQOQQCQ:OnInspectorGUI()
6. UnityEditor.DockArea:OnGUI()
7.  

Code (CSharp):

1. Additional info: 0 129 0 129 16641
2. UnityEngine.Debug:LogError(Object)
3. EasyRoads3Dv3.QDQDOOQQOOQDD:ODDCOODQOD(ERModularBase, ERTerrain, Terrain, Single, Single, Single, Single)
4. EasyRoads3Dv3Editor.OOQQCQCODQ:OCCQQCQCDO(ERModularBase, ODDOQOQQCQ)
5. EasyRoads3Dv3Editor.ODDOQOQQCQ:OnInspectorGUI()
6. UnityEditor.DockArea:OnGUI()

 

Awesome! Work more on the lay out of the road. I can't wait to see your final
---
Farming is life

 

Hi auhfel,

Glad to hear you like it so far.

Inserting a connection object at a specific marker will be added. It is already done for the I Connector. For other connector types it is slightly more complicated. especially for irregularly shaped custom connections. Additional Information is required to which connector both road ends should be attached.

For now you can use the "Split Road at Selected Marker" option in the Inspector near the bottom of the marker section (or Shift + J) and manually insert the connector at that position.

Thanks,
Raoul

 

What is your terrain setup? The heightmap resolution and size? Assuming that no additonal longitude / latitude terrain boundary info was entered, it looks like the heightmap resolution is 129? In that case the additional info data seems alright.

Could you send me the osm data file so I can test it on my end on a similar terrain?

Thanks,
Raoul

 

Thanks! Splitting the roads at road marker certainly helps a ton, it makes it much much more doable. Definitely looking forward to inserting connection objects at markers, that'll be great!

 

For the OSM stuff, I actually did have the terrain on the wrong layer -- my bad! It is still off though, I think maybe because the resolution is low. Here are before and after shots of updating the terrains. (ignore the red box lol).


Terrain setup is 2000x2000, at 129 heightmap resolution, just 1 terrain piece. The thread is not allowing me to upload the OSM data, I will email it to you.

EDIT: email sent to info@unityterraintools.com

EDIT: The terrain is also generated with MapMagic. I tried it with the map magic script applied to the terrain, and without it (like it were a normal terrain). Same result.

 

Ok, so the initial terrain deformation issue is resolved.

Thank you for sending the OSM file! It counts 185 roads, which area / road is the first screenshot? That is Build Mode with the terrain flattened according the road shape, is that right?

The second screenshot looks as if the roads were raised well above the ground and the terrain was flattened accordingly. Can you show a screenshot from this angle in Edit Mode without terrain deformation?

I just tested the OSM file, I cannot recreate this, the markers are snapped to the terrain heights, also when the terrains game object Y position is below 0.

129 heightmap resolution on a 2000x2000 sized terrain is low, about 15 units between terrain points. It will be hard to exactly match the terrain with the roads in areas with height changes over a short distance.

Thanks,
Raoul

 

I did a clean room test and redid everything -- it did work like it should this time. There's still some issues with clipping, but nothing like what I was getting. Anyways though I think this probably is because it is a relatively large terrain with a small resolution. I think I'm going to hold off on using OSM a bit anyways, no connection objects and it's kind of difficult to get it to match the scale of my game anyways which won't be quite realistic.

Thanks though, I'm content with just manually making the roads, since I better know how to work with them thanks to you. I'll leave a review in a moment.

 

Thank you for the review!

Clipping like in the screenshot must be related to something else then the lowe terrain heightmap resolution. It looks like the terrain is not adjusted at all. The troubleshooting page in the manual also addresses possible issues with this.

Since you mention this happens when using OSM data, does this imrove when moving a marker in that area a little bit upwards?

Indeed the 129 heightmap resolution is a little bit low for the 2000x2000 terrain size. You could do a quick test with a 513 or 1025 heightmap resolution, just for comparison.

Thanks,
Raoul

 

I kinda figured out how to work in EasyRoads better, but I'm having issues with this. Sometimes my stuff breaks. This is before and after hitting "build terrains" ... I think it does this when I change the layers of my terrain back and forth. I've been setting my terrains to a locked layer while I work on em'. If I go to a new scene and start over again, this problem goes away, but I can't seem to fix it in my current scene. Any ideas why something like this would happen?

 

I've tried really hard to reproduce this, but I can't =/.

It seems to corrupt the scene, though. Even if I delete everything in the scene and start again, it still doesn't work. If I start a new scene and start again, it works fine, again.

 

I did it! I repro'd the bug, it was such a killer lol! Best thing of all, my scene isn't damaged if I remove the repro steps.

Reproduction Steps:
1. Create terrain with some heights.
2. Create Plane which is underneath the terrain (like normal for water)
3. Set Layer 31 as something, and assign layer 31 to the plane.
4. Create any roads.
5. Build the terrain.
6. Breaks!

So..hopefully you didn't already say this somewhere and I missed it, but don't use layer 31 with Easyroads!

 

Hi auhfel,

That is correct, EasyRoads3D uses layer 31. I will double check the manual and put this in the Troubleshooting section. For sure it is mentioned in the v2 manual and this part works kinda similar as in v2.

That indeed explains the results of the previous screenshot as well, glad you figured this out and got this resolved

Raoul

 

Hello,

Using Unity 5.6.1f1 and E3D beta 8.5.1.

I've built a large road network on a roughly 4km single tile terrain. It's currently all just the default road, and some T and X crossings.

3 issues I could use help with please:

1) At some point the X crossing no longer appears in the "Connect to dynamic prefab" list, only the T. I noticed one time an error in the console, "Broken text PPtr in file(Assets/EasyRoads3D/Resources/dynamic prefabs/Default X Crossing.prefab). Local file identifier (118426) doesn't exist!".

2) Often when I go to create a crossing using Connect to dynamic prefab, the prefab will appear at 0,0,0 in the world instead of where the selected node was.

3) Sometimes roads won't connect to a crossing, the node on the crossing turns red. What would cause this condition?

Thanks and best regards,
Heinz

 

Hello tryptic,

I have never seen that error in general. If you search around you will find some related posts. There is no clear info available other then it appears to be a Unity bug. It has never been reported regarding EasyRoads3D. Is the prefab itself still physically present in the folder?

/Assets/EasyRoads3D/Resources/dynamic prefabs/Default X Crossing.prefab

Can you see a pattern for this? Do you get error messages?

The crossing connection handle turns red when the selected road shape does not match the shape of that specific connection handle (especially for custom connection prefabs which can have any shape) or when the angle between the selected marker and the crossing connection is too sharp. Does that explain your situation?

Thanks,
Raoul

 

Thanks so much for the quick replies!

It is present, and I can drop it in the scene directly from that folder. In the past I can remember re-importing the meshes or resources folder and it came back, but that doesn't work any more. It may be something in the project as when I start a new project and create a road system, it shows up again.

Today I had to split a couple roads and insert crossings. The issue happened with both areas, trying to connect from either side of the road. No console error is generated.

In the case today I took one of the crossings that snapped to 0,0,0 and pulled it back over towards my connection point. Then it would not connect to other nearby roads. I tried pulling a road segment out of the crossing, and joining that to the road, but the join command would not connect them.

Naturally if I can isolate some repro cases here I will send them your way. Thanks again for the help.

 

Hi tryptic,

Thank you for the information!

The listed crossing connections in the Inspector are those that are available in that folder. It seems something is not right in the project. Purely from a coding point of view, how can it read in that prefab sometimes and sometimes not? It appears to be related to that specific Unity error messages, a unity asset database issue?

So this is related to first splitting a road and then attaching a connection directly to the selected marker? Does that happen for a specific connection prefab? I just added a new road with 5 markers, split the road at marker 3 and attached both X and T crossings to the two roads. that appears to be working as expected.

Joining roads works the same as for attaching roads to a crossing, the road shape must match. Is that the case? If not, you could try an I Connector between the two roads. I Connectors do not require matching road types.The I Connector option is visible in the Inspector at the bottom of the marker section after selecting the first or last marker of a road object.

That would be very helpful and much appreciated

Thanks,
Raoul

 

Hi, I recently bought EasyRoads and have been using the new v3 beta. It's a great asset and everything is going perfectly except for one problem I'm having with tilting. When the road tilts at an angle, it can cause unevenness in the mesh. At first I thought it was the terrain coming up through the road, but when I raise the road up about the terrain by 1 or 2 units, the same problem still occurs. Below are some screenshots from the edit mode as it's much clearer. My resolution is currently at 1. Is there any settings I could adjust to solve this problem?

In Play mode without setting the terrain


In play mode with the terrain set, it's not noticeable here, but there is still a lot of bumps on the road that throw the vehicle around


In the editor, with a lowered resolution it's more noticeable

 

Hi Guacamolay,

Depending on the amount of tilting and the bend, this can indeed result in noticeable unevenness for larger tilting values. The same for sharp bends with considerable height differences. It is the nature of triangles.

A way to improve this is subdivision. This is integrated in the road type settings but not exposed because dynamic crossings do not yet support subdivision. Do you use crossings? I can send a test build for you to compare. This can actually be activated now because the recently introduced I Connector can deal with this situation.

Alternatively you can use custom connection prefabs / road shapes.

Thanks,
Raoul

 

Thanks for the fast response. I'm actually not using crossings, I'm using the asset to build race tracks and rally tracks for a driving game, hence I'd like some tilting on the corners (In the images above the maximum tilting on markers was about 10 degrees)

If subdivisions can solve this problem I'm open to trying it if you can send me a link to the new build

In regards to custom road shapes, do you mean create some road shapes externally (e.g. in blender) and import them into Unity/EasyRoads?

 

Meanwhile the sub division option is activated in the Inspector, I can send you an alpha build. Could you email me or send a PM with your email address and EasyRoads3D invoice number?

You can indeed create custom road shapes in blender. Further above on this page there is a post with two videos showing how to create custom road networks. The second video shows how to create a new road type from a custom prefab connection, this is what you need. A simple plane with subdivision will do in your case. You could even use a unity plane primitive for this. Experiment with the number of segments that will work for you and then scale the plane accordingly to match your road width.

Thanks,
Raoul

 

Just leaving a quick reply to say that this problem has been solved in the newest build. As Raoul mentioned above he's exposed the subdivision option, allowing you to make higher res roads, eliminating the unevenness when tilting

 

Hi,

How can I export the road network (including geometry and road texture) to use in another scene?
I tried "export road geometry" option, it export the geometry (without texture) and that geometry is flipped on z-axis.

 

Hi Himanshuchahar,

The export option can be useful if you want to change the road network in a modelling app, there are several export options.

If you want to use the road network in another scene, you can use the "Store Mesh Assets in Assets Folder" option available in Build Mode and afterwards create a road network prefab.

Or, easier, you can open both scenes in the hierarchy and drag the road network game object to the other scene. Remove the original scene without saving it if you want to keep the road network in that scene as well. For this workflow it is not necessary to store the mesh assets in the assets folder.

Thanks,
Raoul

 

Hello Raoul

Firstly thank you for creating such a useful tool.

Secondly, I've recently purchased the Pro version and would like to know if i can use V2's river feature while simultaneously using the V3 roads? (My understanding is that V'3 rivers is not avaliable yet.)

Third, I'm working a rather large terrain broken into chunks, do you have a recommended maximum road length before splitting them up using the I intersections?

Thank you

 

Hello Reahreic,

Glad to hear you like the tool!

V2 and v3 should work well together in a project. V3 does not include a river object like in v2, but you can simulate the river object using side objects. The main demo scene includes an example. The options will indeed be expanded but it will still be based on the same principle so I would recommend to look at this first to see if it already works for you.

I can't really suggest a max road length. It depends on how you use it, the road resolution settings, the nature of your terrains / scenes (occlusion culling optimizations, etc.), your target platform. Generally the same optimization rules apply as for creating scenes in general. You can see the triangle count for the selected road in the Inspector.

Also, generally roads will already be split assuming you will be having crossings.

Thanks,
Raoul

 

hi all
I have a problem , it might be silly but I couldn't find the answer here.
I want to have T crossing connections with non 90 degree angles? the "start angle" is disabled and i cant enable it. what should I do?

 

Hi Behzad65,

The T Crossing isn't really intended for an angle that sharp. What you want is a more Y crossing type of connection with flexible angles. This is being worked on and will be introduced in v3.x

Meanwhile you can do this using custom connection prefabs based on your own meshes imported in the system.

Thanks,
Raoul

 

Raoul

I'm running into a problem with V3 Beta where nearly any time i try to connect an existing road up to a T-Connector i get alot of the following error:

Spoiler: Console Error

ArgumentOutOfRangeException: Argument is out of range.
Parameter name: index
System.Collections.Generic.List`1[EasyRoads3Dv3.ERMarkerExt].get_Item (Int32 index) (at /Users/builduser/buildslave/mono/build/mcs/class/corlib/System.Collections.Generic/List.cs:633)
EasyRoads3Dv3Editor.ODDOQOQQCQ.OCCCCCQDQO (EasyRoads3Dv3.ERModularBase scr, EasyRoads3Dv3.ERCrossingPrefabs sourceCrossing, Vector3 pos, UnityEngine.Vector3& ODCDDDOQQD, EasyRoads3Dv3.ERCrossingPrefabs& OQOOCDOCDQ, System.Int32& targetElement)
EasyRoads3Dv3Editor.ODDOQOQQCQ.ODOOQQOCQO (Vector3 pos, Boolean OCDCDODOOD, UnityEngine.Event cEvent, EasyRoads3Dv3.ERModularBase scr, Boolean dragStageFlag)
EasyRoads3Dv3Editor.ODDOQOQQCQ.OnSceneGUI ()
System.Reflection.MonoMethod.Invoke (System.Object obj, BindingFlags invokeAttr, System.Reflection.Binder binder, System.Object[] parameters, System.Globalization.CultureInfo culture) (at /Users/builduser/buildslave/mono/build/mcs/class/corlib/System.Reflection/MonoMethod.cs:222)
Rethrow as TargetInvocationException: Exception has been thrown by the target of an invocation.
System.Reflection.MonoMethod.Invoke (System.Object obj, BindingFlags invokeAttr, System.Reflection.Binder binder, System.Object[] parameters, System.Globalization.CultureInfo culture) (at /Users/builduser/buildslave/mono/build/mcs/class/corlib/System.Reflection/MonoMethod.cs:232)
System.Reflection.MethodBase.Invoke (System.Object obj, System.Object[] parameters) (at /Users/builduser/buildslave/mono/build/mcs/class/corlib/System.Reflection/MethodBase.cs:115)
UnityEditor.SceneView.CallOnSceneGUI () (at C:/buildslave/unity/build/Editor/Mono/SceneView/SceneView.cs:2386)
UnityEditor.SceneView.HandleSelectionAndOnSceneGUI () (at C:/buildslave/unity/build/Editor/Mono/SceneView/SceneView.cs:1715)
UnityEditor.SceneView.OnGUI () (at C:/buildslave/unity/build/Editor/Mono/SceneView/SceneView.cs:1553)
System.Reflection.MonoMethod.Invoke (System.Object obj, BindingFlags invokeAttr, System.Reflection.Binder binder, System.Object[] parameters, System.Globalization.CultureInfo culture) (at /Users/builduser/buildslave/mono/build/mcs/class/corlib/System.Reflection/MonoMethod.cs:222)

 

Hello Reahreic,

Can you provide exact steps how to reproduce this? Or can you send me a project / package by email so I can have a look at this?

Is it as simple as drop the default T crossing in the scene, create a road and attach it to any of the 3 T crossing connections?

In that case, just as a test, could you try reimporting the package, or, does the same thing happen in a new fresh project?

Thanks,
Raoul