Octave3D-Level Design - Snapping, Prop placement, Multi-Prefab painting

Sorry to hear you have a fever, I hate being sick :-( ... rest up, get better, hope you feel better soon.

 

Thanks so much for understanding!

 

Hi Mark,

Don't worry buddy, feeling a bit better already. I'll be up and running like a cute little bunny wabbit in no time

 

Hi Andrew!! The only nice part about being sick .. is getting better !!
Glad to hear your on the getting better side

 

OKay. Assume I own this asset as well as ProBuilder. When should I use one versus the other?

 

I believe it should be pretty clear what the difference is between the 2 if you take a bit of time to watch some of the videos. Please don't expect me to do any research in your place. If you have any specific questions regarding Octave, let me know and I'll do my best to help.

EDIT: I assumed this question was addressed to me and this is why I replied. Anybody here who has experience with both assets, of course, feel free to reply and share any info you might have.
Thanks!

 

Really was looking for some opinions from other game developers on their experiences using the two tools. Given that I use ProBuilder all the time and I've been gifted Octave3D from the Unity bundle, I have no idea when I should use Octave3D in particular as opposed to the other tools in the library that we own - hence the question and was looking for a response such as "well typically I use Octave3D for larger environments because of its workflow" or similar as you could technically accomplish similar tasks with either tool.

If you don't want to answer the question, totally understand.

 

The way the question was formulated sounds as if you are asking me to make a comparison between the 2 tools (this VS that type of question) which I totally loathe. It's the 'Assume' word that creates the confusion I think. A better formulation in my opinion would something like: "Hi there, I own both ProBuilder and Octave3D, I am starting a new project and would like to know which one of these I should use ..." or something along the lines of that.

In any case, I do not have any experience with pro builder but I do remember seeing videos with it. From what I can see, use ProBuilder as a modeling tool to build your environments and use Octave when you have ready-made prefabs. Octave is about spawning, ProBuilder is (assuming???) about modeling (???). I really hate talking about other people tool's because I do not know what their tools do. This is why I try to avoid answering this type of questions.

I feel more comfortable answering questions like: can your plugin do this or that?

Hope this helps a bit.

Cheers,
Andrew

 

@JMeer

LOL. I just realized the offset from surface feature is already part of the official release. Feeling embarrassed by not remembering this. Don't know how I forgot about it.

Here is a screenshot which highlights the offset from surface field:


If this is the feature you were talking about, then it's already available If not, let me know and we'll make that work too.

All the best,
Andrew

 

Probuilder is for building levels from scratch .. Pro builder is a modeling tool, like 3dsmax/maya/SketchUp..
Octave3d is for placing pre-done prefabs. Really they are not even the same type of asset.

If you own any 3dforge packs or other types a packs that give you a bunch of prefabs to build up a level..
That is what Octave3d is for.

IF you want a work flow... Make your meshes/ texture / etc .. then Use Octave3d to place them much faster
then by hand. Both are useful and both serve different, separate functions.

You could say Probuilder makes the meshes / prefabs that Octave3d to place them.
Octave3d is a specialized tool for placement that is miles ahead of any similar " placement brush "

here is 2 links pro-builder getting started

Octave3d promo video ( this shows 3dforge among others, Like you could make in probuilder )
>>>>

A quick look on your part... the differences and when to use what will be very apparent.

IMHO Octave3d, its really good you got it as part of the promotion.. there is nothing that comes close to
what Octave3d can do in its functions.

 

Sometimes I have these exceptions.

It happens time to time while I hover your GUI buttons on the right ( 4 main GUI buttons, placement, selection, etc.. ) . It does not effect anything, but it happens, and happens like in an update method, every single time I hover and move.

 

I can see that there is another tool you are using which draws stuff in the Inspector. That's fine, but if the problem comes from there, then I guess you could contact the developer and ask them if they would agree to a skype session (with me) in an attempt to try to figure out what the problem might be. I guess if the 2 plugins are not used together they both work?

Although I do not like making excuses, I would like to say that I will not be able to work on the plugin in the next few days. I really can not. Last few months have really been super crazy for me and I am just about to wrap things up. If you don't hear from me in 2 days, please send me a PM as a reminder and we will establish the fine details then.

Cheers,
Andrew

 

Thats perfect man! Thanks! I was also wondering. Is there a shortcut key or method to select multiple objects in a brush and change the values of the ones selected at the same time?

I added around 20 different stones. But when i disable some of the stones (Shift Right Mouse Click) They still get painted on the terrain. They are indicated as being red. I might be missing something (Using Unity 2017.2.0f3) Thanks for your awesome support!

 

Hi JMeer,

I just tested the prefab disable functionality and it works in my case with no problem. What I believe happened is that you added the same prefab multiple times in the same brush and you only disabled it once (for a single instance of the prefab).

Regarding the other issue, there is no way to do that at the moment. I am not sure how to implement a UI for that. I would like the user to be able to click on a prefab preview and change the settings for that prefab only. However, I can see the utility of changing the settings for multiple prefabs at once. What I think I could do is to have a button Inherit from element which allows you to select a source element and a bunch of elements which will inherit the settings from the source. Or something like that. I will have to give this some thought and as soon as I come up with a satisfying conclusion, I will implement it.

Let me know if you manage to make the element disable functionality work. It should work with no problems.

Cheers,
Andrew

 

That's everyone, you've been very helpful.

Looking more into it I think the workflow that we have could actually benefit from using both tools simultaneously since they really do offer a very different feature set. I guess when you're used to one workflow and way of doing things, its hard to rethink how you could do things a different way.

I think our next project will benefit from Octave3D quite a bit as we're building a cityscape from asset libraries as opposed to throwing together dungeons molded out of primitives. Octave probably would have benefited us quite a bit if we had started with this asset. I'm starting to rethink the workflow for level design from "model environment/texture/grid in prefabs" to "layout environment/grid in prefabs". The only reason we hadn't really looked so much at this is that many of the prefab libraries are vastly different in look and feel and we're relying on what we can buy from the store or model by hand.

 

That's great to hear! Really once you start using Octave3d there is so many different things it can do.
for sure. Even " throwing together dungeons molded out of primitives " would have been so much faster with
Octave3d. Capabilities and Combinations of what is possible is deep. Then the hot keys even faster

 

Hey there,

Glad to hear you are going to use Octave3D in your projects. And indeed, there is no reason why you couldn't use both tools if need be. If prefab placement/spawning is what you need, then Octave3D for sure is the way to go

I HIGHLY recommend to watch the video tutorials as they will really help you out. And as Mark stated, hotkeys are the most important things in Octave. Out of all the video tutorials, for your project, I would recommend the following videos:

• Object 2 object snap (placement + selection)
• Object Groups
• Intro (should be first in the list)
• Building Multi-story environments

Oobject 2 object snapping is very useful and it works better than regular grid snapping because the objects do not have to be synchronized with the grid cell size. Let me know if you have any questions and I will help you out. Hope you'll make good use of the plugin and good luck with the project

Cheers,
Andrew

 

Yeah man no worries. I might have added the same prefabs, and i also found a workaround by setting the spawn chance to 0. When i started created new brushes i didn't run into any problems. Thanks!

I also have a question about decor painting mode. The trees i use, have their original pivot at the bottom trunk. The box with pivots that is used for object placement (the center pivot sometimes is quite far from the trunk center, making rotation and placing close to stones quite tricky).

In decor pain i can't seem to use the original pivot as base. Setting the (Use original pivot) in the grid snap settings to true, doesn't work in decor paint mode. But i have the feeling i might have messed up some settings, because i remember it worked fine earlier, but that might be my imagination. .

 

Hi JMeer,

Yes. The Use original pivot option only works wit snapping. I do not think there is a reason why I could not make it work for decor paint also. However, this will have to be a separate option for the decor paint mode. I will keep you updated on this.

Cheers,
Andrew

 

Hi there @JMeer,

I have sent you a PM with the Use original pivot functionality update link

Cheers,
Andrew

 

Hi ! i love octave3d.
i lack 1 feature : Vertex coloring !
it could easy to vertexcolor filling an object with juste one click!

 

HI there,

I am glad to hear you like Octave

Vertex coloring is not really what I have in mind for Octave. This is meant to be a spawning tool. I see vertex coloring as falling more into the modelling category. I don't believe this feature will be available.

Cheers,
Andrew

 

The scale hotkey doesn't work on mac neither "⌘+shift" or "ctrl + shift"

 

Hi there,

I have sent you a PM with the link to a package (a fix attempt) and some details.

Cheers,
Andrew

 

Hi, I've tried to use the asset with UCP from quantum theory, since the path tool seemed a nice way of doing the streets, but since the meshes are quads they give me this error:
Can not begin path construction because the object has a 0 size component along the extention plane axes.

Also tried with the default unity quad, and the same happens, any way I can fix it inside the unity editor (or inside octave)?

 

Hi there,

In order to fix that, you have to make sure that the extension plane (the green quad around the object) is aligned with the object quad plane. You can do this by pressing the E key until the plane aligns correctly.

 

Thank you, now they are appearing, but it doesn't keep the rotation of the prefab (I want to do a floor, but the prefab instantiates vertical), can I change the rotation of it ?

 

I don't really understand how that can happen. Can you show me a screenshot of the Path placement settings in the Inspector? So have the Path placement mode active and show me as much as possible starting from the main toolbar (the one with the big buttons) towards the bottom.

 

Thank you, I already found the desired behavior using negative look on the surface axis.
Here's the pick of what was happening though.

 

Well I'm glad it's working now I still don't understand what was happening though. So I guess it was related to axis alignment?

 

You can try it, I was just using a prefab quad from unity that was rotated 90 on the X axis.
Now I don't have to keep align to axis ticked or anything.
Maybe it refreshed something ?
Maybe it was trying to attach to the plane and not to the grid ?
Yup, tried it again from 0, and it spawns it with 0 rotation.

 

Loving this tool but is there a hotkey to toggle the use original pivot in Object snap settings and is active and Mirror rotation in Mirror settings?
Would be super handy!

Also is there a way to make newly created objects to spawn inside a certain group?



Also a suggestion. The name field is redundant.
Would make much more sense and save space to remove it and simply add a pencil icon near the Active category field in case user wants to change prefab category name.

 

Hi there,

Glad to hear you are enjoying the tool!

Regarding the shortcut keys. I'm afraid that is not possible. I am really running out of usable keys and if there is anything left I would like to reserve those for future functionality.

The pencil icon might be a good idea.The problem with these things is that everyone has their own preference and I don't know if changing this would be beneficial. For example, for me, it feels much better fr the text filed to be there. But that's just me. Not to mention the fact that people have gotten used to that text filed being there. I'm not saying no, but I will have to give this some thought.

Cheers,
Andrew

 

But how often do you actually need to change prefab folder name?
I only need to do that like once when I create a new prefab folder.

Also these shortkeys would be really useful because I find myself longing for them all the time when I work in octave 3D.

One more thing. Could you please implement a Max matrix size option for box placing mode?
When attempted to place objects in that mode at certain camera angles the object placement matrix would spread away into the distance rapidly increasing it's size to ridiculous numbers even when I move mouse pointer a little bit from the initial point essentially crashing unity.

 

@Quadropups

If you are planning to become annoying, I suggest you stop. I said it's not possible and that's the final verdict. It is amazing how some people think they know better. It's easy to just throw suggestions like that, but ultimately I decide what I do with this tool and what is better or not. I am the one supporting it and responsible for every change that gets done.

Regarding mirror shortcuts, there's already a bunch of them written on the Shortcut Keys doc (see last page).

EDIT: I will try and come up with a shortcut key for toggling a mirror on/off. This will most likely not be part of an official update. Mirror rotation keys are already available. The prefab rename text field is there to stay.

I understand. I will look into this and try to come up with a max size limit value.

Cheers,
Andrew

 

Wow that was really harsh and uncalled for.
I made what? Two posts? In one of which I also gave your product praise.

Don't feel the need to reply to this post because I'm not interested in petty banter and only thing I care about is quality end product but that's really not the way one treats their customers. I expressed zero entitlement in my posts.

 

It wasn't totally uncalled for. You deserved it. When I told you that the hotkeys would not be possible and I also told you I will think about the text field, you replied and acted like a spoiled little kid asking for the same thing. That is annoying to me.

I do when I feel like they're pushing it.

 

I think I get it now. Tone is something that's not easily translated into text. You might've read my words in bratty kid voice but actually I just empathized my experience with the asset in my second post without meaning to imply that you're ought to make it exactly the way I want.

But whatever. Just better your product in ways that make it more convenient. That's all I actually care for.

Cheers

 

Yes. Indeed words can be misinterpreted in text really easy.

If you are still interested, please write down a list of all hotkeys that you need and I will try to make it happen as much as I possibly can.

I can also hide the category rename field but that change will not be available in an official update.

Cheers,
Andrew

 

Actually these three are the only ones I felt a real need for.

That and an option to spawn newly created objects inside an object group instead of just inside of the base level of hierarchy.

 

Ok. Regarding object groups, you can watch this video here. In it I discuss the Object group feature.

I will keep you up to date with the shortcut keys.

 

Thanks, that's what I needed.

 

Hi I have the same problem as @shredingskin.
My floor prefabs' rotation is -90,0,0. But when I drag&drop to the prefab manager, their rotation is 0,0,0. So far I couldn't find a solution when mass placing (I have to place them one by one).

Steps to reproduce:

1) create a quad in the scene (optional but helpful: drag any texture on it);
2) set rotation to 90,0,0 so it's facing up
3) drag to create a prefab
4) drag the prefab to Octave prefab manager and try Block place it on the ground

It'll look like this: https://i.imgur.com/bFQ1u9z.jpg

Try to rotate like you would in Single placement mode and it'll never match the green thingy so it's impossible to mass place.

Also I went through the docs (really fast) and couldn't find how to scale stuff other than Shift+Ctrl+Mouse. Is it possible to uniformly scale stuff (like 2x, 2.3x...)?

Thanks


Edit: Nvm, was able to "fix" it by creating my own prefabs.

 

Hi there magg,

This can easily be fixed by pressing the E key on the keyboard until the plane aligns with the bottom of the quad (or the face that you would like to sit on the ground). Then rotate the quad to sit on the ground.

In your case the correct steps would be (after creating a prefab and activating path mode):
-rotate the quad around the X axis by pressing the X key on the keyboard;
-then keep pressing the E key until the green plane is aligned with the quad face that sits on the floor. Note: The white lines indicate the direction in which the path will grow (i.e.they define the path's up axis);

These steps are required because a path can be extended along any of the planes of the object that you are controlling so it allows for more flexibility. The green plane is called the extension plane and this is the plane where the path segments will extend along. You can try it out with different plane configurations to see what I mean. And maybe even try rotating the object around in different poses to see how rotations are handled.

That is the only way an object can be scaled. However, snapping can be enabled currently only via the UI. If you press the More settings... button inside the Inspector, you will get the following window:



AT the bottom you have Uniform Mouse Scale Settings. Check Use Snapping and specify the snap step to scale in steps.

Cheers,
Andrew

 

AWESOME! Thank you.

 

No problem

 

Hi @Quadropups

I have sent you a PM with a link to the package containing some of the changes you requested.
Note: Mirror rotation can be modified via the X, Y and Z keys or using the mouse (see hotkeys doc) and it has always been there.

Cheers,
Andrew

 

Wow, thank you! Didn't expect such a fast response.

 

No problem

 

hey there, i have been enjoying the asset quite a bit. and i have a few questions.
so my set up is as following, i have a master Octave3D game object, and it has all of my other groups childed to it.
now the small issue, that has been bugging me, is that, as long as it is clicked,(the master game object) game objects, have their colliders gizmos showing, whereas others don't. i am not really sure, what is the source of this issue, or is there a setting that allows/disables collider gizmos.
(the walls for example, as in the image, they're both in same group, but yet, some walls have their collider gizmos showing, and others do not)(all of the floor tiles are in a different group, and non of them is showing their gizmos).

a second question is:
is there a possibility/way that, we can, perhaps use the blocking mode, with multiple prefabs with different percentage of spawn?(like the brush?)
(for example, specify 3 ground prefabs, then use blocking mode to spawn them, and give each one a percentage like a 30% chance, for blue ground tile and 45% for red ground tile etc). looking at the settings, it appears that i can not, but, your asset is too large, so i might have missed such thing.

a third question is:
is there a way to empty out the selection? (example, when i am in object placement mode, if i click on one prefab, it will always be there, is there a way to select "non" so that, its empty (no big deal, i'll get used to it, but i am a bit curious)).

my last question is:
is there a way to scale, while in object placement mode on one Axis (scale the placement guide of a specific prefab).
i did see that Control+Shift scales in all axis, but is there a way to limit it to one axis?.

recommendation request: what can you recommend of model packs/kits to get? (aside from 3D Forge, and ultimate fantasy creator). (not sure if its appropriate to ask this here, sorry if its not) (if you got a list of asset packs, that you usually use (or just know works well)with your asset in combination with your asset, it would be really nice, if you share such thing).
because i guess, models need to be in a certain criteria i guess, so that, they work best with your asset. and i'd love to add those to my wishlist, and buy them slowly if i ever need something along their lines in the future).

my feedback after grinding an entire day with your asset: all i can say is, finally level designing, is no longer painful. before getting your asset, it really was just, painful. i tried other solutions/(that offer different approaches/styles). but honestly, there is still "pain and hassles" in them, but with your asset, all i can say is that, there is so much less pain, and so much more speed and fun .