UniSky - real-time procedural sky tool - now available on the Asset Store

damm so no hope to get an answer from the creator

anyone know what i can try to fix this, i'm new to unity. The moon object seem to be behind the cloud in 3d space, so i'm thinking maybe the moon or the cloud are rendered by a différent camera.

Where should i look for the rendering order, is there a place where i can move layer or something or render priority.

 

Hello,

I'm looking for a realtime sky system with juliandate (latitude, lontidude). Unisky has this option, but in this thread I read there is almost no support. Do you guys know a other skysystem with real gps location input?

 

I just noticed UniSky being sold for half off in the app store. I'm very surprised that not only does this company leave their buyers high and dry by not supporting the app anymore, but they have the gall to try to milk more money out of it when it is clearly broken and not up to date with the current versions of Unity.

Do not buy if you expect UniSky to work. They will not respond to emails at their site or to posts on this forum.

 

Hi all,

Firstly I wish to extend our sincere apologies to this who have had problems with the UniSky software. I understand that this has been frustrating, and while it is certainly no excuse for 'abandonware' or a lack of support, there have been some issues on our end that have contributed to the situation.

To clarify the various matters brought up in this thread:

SUPPORT

Firstly and most importantly, Chris – the original developer of UniSky is no longer an active member of our team. I apologise for any support requests which may have gone to him and not been adequately responded to.

If you require support – please submit a support request to http://feedback.sixtimesnothing.com – this is the best way for me to help you. Please do not email Chris, and in all honesty it is better to not use the forums while a more direct option exists. I will keep an eye on this thread however. You can also PM me directly on the forums.

BUGS/ISSUES

I feel it is worth me noting that we are still using UniSky internally for our own game project and are not having any bugs or issues with it at all. Hence I am quite surprised by some of the comments regarding being 'broken' and having 'a lot of bugs'. I appreciate that there might be issues between individual platforms and graphics cards, however. So please feel free to contact me if there outstanding or unresolved issues. To that point, it helps to know what platform you are on (PC/Mac) and what Unity version you are using (especially whether it is Free/Pro).

As per my earlier post, I am using UniSky on an Apple iMac (2 years old) with Unity Pro. I get a decent frame rate, no visual bugs and no errors in the console. I am using a slightly customised version, but the vast bulk of it is the same as the version that is currently on the Asset Store (1.2.6). More information on this custom version can be found below.

To address some of the points mentioned above:

@Don Goddard – I answered your ticket in our support system. Solution is below:

public var speedOfTime : float = 0.1;
public var timeOfDay : float = 7;
private var uniSky : UniSkyAPI;

public function Awake() : void {
var uniSkyObject : GameObject = GameObject.Find("UniSkyAPI");
uniSky = uniSkyObject.GetComponent("UniSkyAPI");
uniSky.InstantiateUniSky();
}

public function Update() : void {
timeOfDay += speedOfTime * Time.deltaTime;
if (timeOfDay > 24.0) {
timeOfDay -= 24.0;
}
UpdateTimeOfDay();
}

public function UpdateTimeOfDay() : void {
uniSky.SetTime(timeOfDay);
var ambient : float;
if (timeOfDay < 5 || timeOfDay > 19) {
ambient = 0.13f; // Night
} else if (timeOfDay > 7 timeOfDay < 17) {
ambient = 0.3f; // Day
} else if (timeOfDay <= 7) {
ambient = Mathf.Lerp(0.13f, 0.3f, (timeOfDay - 7) / 2); // Sunrise
} else {
ambient = Mathf.Lerp(0.3f, 0.13f, (timeOfDay - 17) / 2); // Sunset
}
uniSky.SetAmbientLighting(new Color(ambient, ambient, ambient, 1));
}


Also – regarding the sound problem. Sorry. Play on awake is actually on, this must have been present in the last update. Just find the sounds in the UniSky prefab and turn play on awake off for all 3 sounds.

@keyboardcowboy – Are you using Unity Free? Some of the rain rendering techniques require Pro – although I have tested UniSky on Unity Free and never seen this before. Also check your View Distance under Clouds.

@staincorb – See above solution for the time issue.

@jfmmm – I don't see this on my version. The moon is an actual GameObject though (i.e. it is not drawn by the shader) – in the Scene view, does it appear that the moon GameObject is nearer to the camera than the cloud layer?

ASSET STORE SALE

We discussed participation in the Assets Store sale with Unity in May this year, I do not believe we ever confirmed this with them however. I do not fundamentally have an issue with the lower price, but what concerns me is the number of new users who bought the software at the lower price who are now having issues. I have contacted the Asset Store management regarding this.

FUTURE DEVELOPMENT

Snow and further features are unfortunately on hold until we can find a developer to replace Chris. Right now I cannot promise any absolute timelines on this. I know this is disappointing and right now, there's not much more I can do other than apologise for the inconvenience.

However, I feel that given recent issues we owe our users something. To this end, I will make the version I use internally available to existing UniSky users. This has a completely overhauled interface which is much easier to use – there are built in presets for fair//overcast/stormy/etc. weather that make changing weather states really easy. There's also a mode that automatically determines, changes and sets the weather for you. Some minor issues like the sounds and 24 hr time are also fixed. I will provide more information on this add-on and how to get it soon.

 

@SixTimesNothing: Well, that's a shame. This looked like a great product.

 

Quick fix: To get UniSky to work with Deferred Lighting/HDR, simply add this after line 184 in CumulusPerlinLayer.shader

And the same after line 193 in StormClouds.shader

if (retColor.a < 0) {
retColor.a = 0;
}
if (retColor.a > 1) {
retColor.a = 1;
}

You'll find that with HDR on, the clouds will be really bright, just alter Glow Variance to compensate, or bring Color Variance 2 closer to zero.

 

Hi unianer,

for those who have problem with Day/Night cycle stops at midnight:
Replace in UniSkyAPI SetTime

Code (csharp):

1.  
2. public void SetTime(float time) {
3.  
4.     TIME = time;
5. }
6.  
7.  

with

Code (csharp):

1. public void SetTime(float time) {
2.     if(time > 24)
3.     {
4.         time = 0;
5.     }
6.     TIME = time;
7. }

in your update method

Code (csharp):

1. // Increase each second by 0.01 == 1 game minute
2. uniSky.SetTime(uniSky.GetTime() + (0.01f*Time.deltaTime));

 

I fixed my issue regarding the weather. I had to modify the following line in the perlin noise shader

Code (csharp):

1.  
2. if(retColor.a > 0)
3.     retColor.a *= 1 - ((length(i.t0)*length(i.t0))/700000000 * _ViewDistance);
4.  

I changed it from 70000000 to 700000000 and that seem to do the trick.

 

UniSky 1.2.7 has been published to the Asset Store with the following changes and bug fixes:

1. Fixed a shader issue, allowing UniSky to work correctly in HDR rendering mode
2. Stopped some sounds from playing on awake
3. Fixed an issue where the time would get stuck at midnight (24)
4. Fixed some issues with time setting - allowing time to be set either via the API or natively through the interface using the "Control Time From API" setting
5. Fixed an issue with moon rotation
6. If the user fails to set a camera, a warning will be given and the camera will be set to Camera.main
7. If the user fails to intantiate UniSky, a warning will be given and UniSky will be disabled
8. The selected tab in the interface now stays selected
9. Fixed an issue with the Precipitation Level slider in the interface
10. Included an improved sample script and scene

 

Hey, glad to hear you were able to resolve this. I'm just trying to understand the issue here, so we can ensure it doesn't affect other users. You didn't by any chance change the scale of the UniSky prefab or any part of the system? Just checking, as it seems odd that this issue has never presented itself before.

 

Didn't change the prefab scale. I did play around with it thinking that was the issue. But, when it didn't solve my problem, I put it back to its original value.

I did make some small changes to the system to accommodate underwater areas (didn't need to see the sky). There were no other changes that I made.

I also had to make a change to the storm cloud shader as well. Same change.
Also, I am hoping the new version fixes my moon issue...it has disappeared! I haven't touched ANYTHING that deals with the moon

I am using Unity FREE version (hope to go pro some day!).
I am running a 3yr old Radon video card. I can't think of which one right now. I'll update this with the model when I get home from work.

 

Ah, ok. That was just a guess. Maybe it's a Unity Free thing – not sure what would cause a scale difference though.

With the moon, make sure it isn't being clipped by the camera's far clipping plane. I think it's kind of unnecessarily far away, as is the sun object, so I'll probably change these in the next update.

I have created a new night sky system for our own game that looks a lot better than the night sky texture in UniSky. It's a bit more expensive, as stars are drawn on individual polys, but it looks way better and allows us to have unique and recognisable constellations as well as better transitions during dawn and dusk. I was going to include this as an optional add-on to UniSky. And was also planning on redoing the moon completely – adding in the option to have different moon phases. I may also change the way the moon is rendered at the same time.

 

I have just purchased 1.2.7 and cannot seem to get UniSky to work.
The example works fine, but when I try to follow the YouTube video, there is no Atmosphere prefab.
It ALWAYS has the warning "UniSky was not instantiated. UniSky has been disabled."
I have the correct js file loaded and it has the sample code given by UniSky webpage.
Can anyone help?
I have sent support requests and emails to SixTimesNothing and am awaiting a response.
Anyone...?

 

Just import the Unisky prefab form the Unisky folder. Then tweak it your own way, but don't try to set it up manually

 

I am experiencing the same issue.
Was it ever resolved for you?
If so, could you share solution with me?

 

Thanks for the response. I am attempting to use the example provided with 1.2.7 and slowly getting it to work.
I would like to have the script that is being used in the YouTube video demonstrating a clear day, storm, then clear day again!!

 

I fixed my issue regarding the weather. I had to modify the following line in the perlin noise shader

Code:

if(retColor.a > 0)
retColor.a *= 1 - ((length(i.t0)*length(i.t0))/700000000 * _ViewDistance);


I changed it from 70000000 to 700000000 and that seem to do the trick. I had to do the same for the stormclouds shader as well.

 

@keyboardcowboy Thanks – this seems to be an isolated issue on some cards. Appreciate you sharing your solution.

Also just a note: UniSky must be instantiated during Awake() not Start() – I have updated the sample scripts on the website to reflect this. The example script in the package is correct however.

Also, I shared an API sample script with Chad that animates in a storm from a clear sky. This is a good basis for understanding how the UniSky API works. The script (js) is below if anyone else finds this useful.

Code (csharp):

1.  
2. // instance of the API
3. private var uniSky : UniSkyAPI;
4.  
5. public function Awake() : void {
6.     // Define instance
7.     uniSky = GameObject.Find("UniSkyAPI").GetComponent("UniSkyAPI") as UniSkyAPI;
8.    
9.     // Initiate and create default UniSky
10.     uniSky.InstantiateUniSky();
11.    
12.     // Set some initial states
13.     uniSky.SetTime(12.0f);
14.     uniSky.SetAmbientLighting(new Color(0.1f, 0.1f, 0.1f, 0.1f));
15.     uniSky.SetStormCenter(new Vector3(0,0,0));
16.     uniSky.SetSunShadows(LightShadows.Soft);
17.    
18.     // Functions to interpolate parameters over time
19.     uniSky.LerpCloudCover(0.5f, 5000.0f);
20.     uniSky.LerpPrecipitationLevel(0.6f, 5000.0f);
21.     uniSky.LerpStormCloudCover(-1.0f, 10000.0f);
22.     uniSky.LerpRainLevel(100, 0.2f, 10000.0f);
23.     uniSky.LerpStormLevel(150, 0.4f, 20000.0f);
24.     uniSky.LerpSunIntensity(0.2f, 10000.0f);
25.     uniSky.LerpFogLevel(0.02f, 20000.0f);
26.     uniSky.LerpAmbientLighting(new Color(0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f), 5000);
27.     uniSky.ClearDropletBuffer();
28.     uniSky.LerpDropletLevel(10, 20000.0f);
29. }
30.  

 

Any updates on this?

 

Version 1.2.7 was released to provide a fix to all of the issues that were being experienced. I am confident that all of the issues were resolved and have received virtually no support requests since. There is a minor issue detailed in the posts above relating to cloud rendering distance, however this is isolated to a few graphic cards and fixing it on those cards would effectively break it for everyone else, so I have left it as is. The fix mentioned above by @keyboardcowboy seems to resolve it on those cards. There is also an unconfirmed report of there being a minor shader issue with UniSky in Unity 4 – we are looking into this though.

Outside of that, there is a new UI system for UniSky which uses weather presets (like fine, story, rainy, etc.) and a 'barometer' style interface which allows the presets to be seamless blended from one to the next. It also has a mode where it will automatically randomise weather for you – changing gradually over time. This is built using the UniSky API.

I am happy to share that add-on with anyone who has UniSky – simply PM me if you want it. Otherwise I am hoping to add it to an updated version 1.3 of UniSky shortly.

 

This is great news. I purchased UniSky a couple of months ago while on sale and, all in all, have had little trouble with it. It's a fantastic product and I am really looking forward to the added functionality! Thanks for the update.

 

can it be used for ios or android.

 

Does it do stars?

 

I seem to be having a problem with the UniSkyAPI rendering (producing) ANY shadows
I used this script (which was provided on page 13 of this thread), and am having no shadows appear.

public var speedOfTime : float = 0.1;
public var timeOfDay : float = 7;
private var uniSky : UniSkyAPI;

public function Awake() : void {
var uniSkyObject : GameObject = GameObject.Find("UniSkyAPI");
uniSky = uniSkyObject.GetComponent("UniSkyAPI");
uniSky.InstantiateUniSky();
}

public function Update() : void {
timeOfDay += speedOfTime * Time.deltaTime;
if (timeOfDay > 24.0) {
timeOfDay -= 24.0;
}
UpdateTimeOfDay();
}

public function UpdateTimeOfDay() : void {
uniSky.SetTime(timeOfDay);
var ambient : float;
if (timeOfDay < 5 || timeOfDay > 19) {
ambient = 0.13f; // Night
} else if (timeOfDay > 7 timeOfDay < 17) {
ambient = 0.3f; // Day
} else if (timeOfDay <= 7) {
ambient = Mathf.Lerp(0.13f, 0.3f, (timeOfDay - 7) / 2); // Sunrise
} else {
ambient = Mathf.Lerp(0.3f, 0.13f, (timeOfDay - 17) / 2); // Sunset
}
uniSky.SetAmbientLighting(new Color(ambient, ambient, ambient, 1));
}

Is there something else that I must do?
I saw in Chris' post earlier in this thread that UniSky works on the same principal of Directional Light, so I would assume it would produce shadows.

Please, any help is appreciated


------EDIT------


SixTimesNothing has been in contact with me and given me the following to resolve the issue:

1. Drag the UniSky prefab into the scene

2. Find the sun object with the light component in the UniSky hierarchy

3. Change it to have shadows switched on

4. On the UniSky prefab in the scene, hit the "Apply" button to update the prefab

5. Delete the UniSky prefab from the scene

Works like a charm

Thanks for the response Sándor

 

Hi,

Does Unisky has Julian dates? so I can see the shadow every moment in a year, based on longtitude/latitude?

Thanks

 

can it be used for ios or android. ?

 

Will be there any update for Unity 4 and DX11,something like geometry clouds.

 

F*** no, keep RL weather out of my games. It sucks.

 

Is this product still alive?

 

Is the 1.3 coming soon??

 

Yes, there was a Unity bug that was causing some annoying issues with the new Barometer feature, but I think I've found a hack around it!

There is also another feature that is still in production – Local Weather Nodes. These will allow UniSky presets to be set at different parts of the scene. The weather state will be blended between nearby nodes as the player moves. So it can be sunny in one area of the map, stormy in another and so on.

Otherwise I want to ensure that it's working smoothly in Unity 4. For the most part it seems fine. But I've heard a couple of isolated cases of weird rendering issues, I just want to make sure there get ironed out first.

Technically yes, it should work on later hardware without problems. Officially we do not support these platforms at this stage however.

I will need to look into this, as I didn't write that code myself. I'm fairly sure that it is based on Julian dates but we didn't surface these in the UI as for the majority of games it would be unnecessary complexity. I will confirm this for you however.

Sorry. Probably not at this stage, unless we find a suitable DX11 savvy developer to work on a feature such as this. At the moment, I would rather focus on things that will help the majority of users.

 

Hello from Russia ) I buy UniSky and have problem. Sky and clouds do not reflect in water3 plane.



How i can resolved this problem?

 

Sory. I solved this problem by editing the shader atmosScat.shadr. I also added a static mask of clouds on the sky. Here are the results



With the permission of the author, I can upload edited shader here

 

Nice scenery!

Yes please upload the shader (if the author allows it of course).

 

Hi Woolf,

Thanks for resolving this issue. If you could share the changed shader that would be great. I will also included it in the next release if that's ok with you.

Those screenshots look absolutely amazing – really nice work and a great use of our tool!

 

Hi, I replied to the email

 

Local weather nodes, just what I wanted thank you guys for improving this great asset.
Although I would also appreciate volumetric clouds layers and volumetric fog layers.

 

Is it compatible with Unity 4 ?

 

Yes, Unity 4 is fully supported – although DirectX 11 is not currently supported. We will endeavour to resolve this soon.

 

Question is, have you fixed the dozens of bugs that I've heard are hindering this project?

 

The lack of DX11 support is the only major known issue that I'm aware of. So unless people actually report bugs, it's hard for us to respond to them. Could you be more specific?

We use multiple channels to stay in touch with our customers – but primarily our support ticketing service at http://feedback.sixtimesnothing.com – this is the best place to let us know if you experience problems.

 

Chris, is there any news about next version of UniSky?

 

Is UniSky Dead Or What?

 

Do some one have sun shafts script for UniSky? Or any other solution to make that sun rays?

 

The website is down... I cannot find a documentation and cannot use UniSky!

 

What happend to UniSky? I really need something like this but I'm afraid of buying it if there isn't any documentation / support

 

Hey. I see that the plugin is no longer supported. I corrected the errors DX11. And modified shaders (with my additions of an additional clouds map)


https://yadi.sk/d/ta5H5dhcUdbud
Replace these shaders in the folder UniSky



I did not fix rain effect because I do not use it and I'm too lazy to fix)

Sorry for my bad english.

 

Hmm Unisky seems to be removed from my list of purshased assets.

 

Please see: http://u3d.as/publisher/rocking-dayo/1Gw

Please also note that Six Times Nothing are no longer affiliated with UniSky as from 13th August 2013*. It seems that UniSky has been removed from the store, but I'm not sure if that was done by Chris or Unity themselves.

I might talk to Chris and see what his plans for the software are, and if there are no longer plans to support it – suggest that it is hosted on an Open Source network such as Google Code for general use. That's really his call though.

*Even so – we'll generally try to help out with questions where we can!