BSP style geometry creation tool with lightmapping.

no updates man?? any chance you can pass the torch on or something? lots of ppl waiting for bsp lolz

 

Dang this would be pretty neat to see in action.

 

I think this would be still great and even greater used in conjunction to the Beast engine.

But always remember that there are A LOT of people out there that do NOT have PRO version (I have it, so I don't talk about it for my own personal convenience) and that could use your plug-in with a lot of joy.
You could finish it as it is, just clean bugs, and put it on selling at a honest price (maybe something between 50-100 euros), I think it would be the best thing for you and for who is waiting for it!

 

Ya, keep working on that. If you don't want to, maybe release the source code, or something, so someone who does want to, can.

 

This looks totally brilliant! I can't wait to get my dirty mitts on it Please let me know when this is available to download and keep up the fantastic work!!!!

 

I was only ever interested in the in-editor Geometry creation. I've always found the absence of good BSP tools to be one of Unity's few real significant failings.

 

Is there any update on the in-editor (BSP) geometry creater?

I've been using UDK a bit again recently and I'd forgotten how useful I found BSP for blocking out quick prototype levels. Would be great to have this functionality inside of Unity!

 

Yeah, also will be great if some1 will create a texturing tool like UDK haves

 

I'm afraid he's not even checking the Unity Forum anymore...

 

Yeah Megmaltese - my gut feeling is that this editor will never appearing.

For all those wanting a free easy level creation tool - then SketchUp is the way to go - add
the BRILLIANT LightUp tool - and you have a truly amazing level design tool!!

There a tonnes of free plugins for SketchUp too that add extra functionality to it.

I have toyed with many, many 3D apps for level design - but nothing has come close to
the speed and ease of SketchUp!!!!

 

Has this been abandoned?

 

just curious, but why would anyone want bsp tools when u have such control in a 3d editor like maya or max... I mean modeling is always way better then playing with boxes.

 

BSP is dead, even for mobile development. It can still be used where speed is the primary reason for it's existence but this is a BSP *modelling* tool, and hence you will:

a) see no speed gain
b) end up with ugly worlds

Please stop crippling your development and deliberately making your games ugly, as well as extending development times. Instead invest your time in understanding blender or modelling package of your choice. Not only will your games look far nicer, they will also run just the same.

In short, there is zero benefit to BSP modelling in unity. I would just let this drop but I don't want people on these forums being stupid.

I feel the primary appeal of this tool is to programmers who for whatever reason don't feel confident about using blender or such to make some blocky levels. But honestly, even a few cubes laid out in blender will run the same performance.

"its very useful"

"it's amazing"

"I want this"

NO! you don't want to go back a decade in video game development. But... if you're REALLY suicidal for this sort of thing and you have windows, and I can't stop you then:

1. grab maplet: http://www.blitzbasic.com/Products/maplet.php (it is free)

2. grab the b3d importer for unity http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/116473-Blitz3D-(*.b3d)-format-import-(beta)

3. (optionally) use decorator to change the textures tri by tri: http://www.blitzbasic.com/toolbox/toolbox.php?tool=26

And knock yourselves out

 

Sketchup is pretty good for level design, all things considered. I used to use sketchup for my level design, but have since abandoned it in favor of blender, mainly because texturing is such a pain in sketchup, and it lacks any kind of modifier system, which has become an essential part of my workflow.

 

I think you're missing a number of key points regarding constructive solid geometry (the real term for what we're discussing; BSP is just one way to implement it). The point of CSG isn't for some out-dated idea of runtime performance, but for efficiency in design and content creation:

1) For things like grey-box level design it's much more efficient than going back and forth between Maya/Max/whatever and Unity. Just throw in some brushes right alongside any triggers/spawns/etc and hit play. Need to tweak the level layout? Just move a brush, regenerate the mesh, and hit play again. Once your level is roughed out, hand it to the artist for the prettification.

2) Using CSG doesn't mean you can't also use custom models from a modeling package. Look at some of the UDK tutorials. In one they use a big CSG brush to act as the primary geometry for a long walk way. They then take some polygonal models from an artist and place a bunch of them around the edges so it isn't all blocky. The benefit is that the level designer can adjust the size of the platform easily and just change how many of the pretty pieces they slap on the sides. Much more flexible (and data friendly) than having each uniquely sized platform being a unique mesh asset.

3) Lots of games having lots of boring geometry. Walls, floors, hallways, etc are just big blocks. Using add/subtract brushes you can also make a bunch of other fairly standard architectural shapes. You wouldn't use CSG to make a tree or your main character, but there's no reason it couldn't be used for the parts of levels that are geometrically boring and repetitive. Again, this makes it much easier for level designers to tweak the level without having to bug an artist or use a second program. Smoother work flow.

Ultimately I'd love to have CSG tools built into Unity. It's the one piece of UDK that I actually missed when I moved to Unity. I have a very, very rough tool started and I just need time to work on it more before it'd be useful enough to give to others.

 

@nickgravlyn

Your wrong on every point u made pretty much.. Dude BSP methods for creating levels is not 10x, but 100x more difficult then modeling the level. I mean its just a major paint in the ass and is SOOOOO much slower... and if theres no performance gain then its just stupid. Seriously dude.. learn to use maya or max and ull understand how easy it is. And with unity there really is no excuse not to... I mean the thing update s it for you just by dragging it into a directory.

 

I have to agree with nickgravlyn here, when it comes down a design workflow. CSG can be very useful when you only need the boring shapes, and is something that the level designer can tweak without even having to consult the artist (they don't need to open up a 3D program, or even own the license to one, which is cost consideration of working in larger teams).

I 100% agree that it's been abused (used in places where a mesh would look much better). But if you're modeling something that actually is a plane or a block, using CSG can be great for that.

When you're both the designer and the artist, it's a much better idea to do it all in a modeling package and bring it in IMO, and make changes as neccessary. But in a team environment, when getting a change from the artist will delay the development of other needed assets (just to change something like the height of a wall or ledge or the length of a hallway), you start to see the value of CSG.

That said, I have a partially developed CSG tool that I've made for Unity (as an editor extension) - I'd like to make it an open-source, community project. Would anyone be interested in helping with the initial development of this tool?

 

Sketchup is many folds greater for the creation of architectural level geometry than any CSG or BSP engine ever was, or at this point, could ever dream to be.

Valve made a plugin for sketchup so that it could export CSG geometry to the source engine for this reason.

Seriously if you want CSG-esque architectural modeling tools, but far far better, download sketchup. If you download the free version of sketchup and then download the free Autodesk FBX Convertor tool, then you have a pipeline for modeling in sketchup and exporting to unity perfectly, and completely for free.

 

Isn't that first image from Maratis3D?

 

It's sad that this is dead. I love BSP level editing. I guess I am stuck with making levels in Blender, which I have no idea how to do.

 

EDIT: Never mind.

 

Maybe this will help you.
http://www.katsbits.com/tutorials/blender/map-basics-tutorial.php

 

If you want "BSP style" editing, it seems you have two options in Unity:

Build in UDK BSP and export as mesh FBX.

Use an editor extension like ProBuilder for Unity.

As for the "why" part, the workflow of prototyping spaces in-editor is faster. Especially for something like multiplayer level design, you want as rapid iteration as possible via whiteboxing/grayboxing or orangeboxing (as Valve calls it). You're not going to get that going back and forth between a 3D package and Unity. Use a 3D package to make props and make the level look pretty. But for space prototyping, rapid iteration inside of a single program/editor still wins.

I'm using ProBuilder to prototype spaces and 3D package to build props and finish/art things out. From a design standpoint, they are two totally different processes. To me arguing one vs. the other is an apples vs. oranges type comparison; For me they represent two entirely different phases of design.

 

@ThinkSquirrel: I wouldn't mind testing it out as it currently sits. I am needing to do some CSG meshes for some of my props for prefabs, and I figured that once I saw how it works, I could tweak it to fix some of the flaws, if applicable. Please drop me a PM and I'll keep an eye out for it.

As far as CSG is concerned, I use POV-Ray 3.6 for Windows when I want to prototype a model for my game in Unity. It offers simple difference and union CSG functions which works well for much of my prototypes, but there's no way to drop the documents into Unity to 'recreate' the objects or shapes for prefabs.

As far as ThinkSquirrel is concerned, he's right about speeding up the workflow. It takes me all of about 20 - 30 minutes to rough out a prop in Unity for simple items, but hours for a POV-Ray CSG object... Then hopelessly trying to build that item back into Unity, just makes it seem all the more useful yet not having such functionality in Unity just ties your hands behind your back. Unity is one of the best game dev tools around, and the lack of this kind of functionality is just blatantly absent!

ThinkSquirrel, let me have a go with your editor extension and see what I can make of it. Upon lots of testing, I'd love to see if I can help make it into a true CSG editing feature.

Thanks in advance...

 

sketchup is I think really the absolute best tool for making simple rectilinear level outline geometry, basically everything BSP geometry used to do, sketchup now does way better.

And I think Valve software agrees with this as well, which is why they made a plugin for sketchup for you to export sketchup models directly to valve hammer editor BSP geometry, so then you can make your BSP geometry in sketchup for source engine.

It is sad this project is dead, as it was really cool. But seriously, if you are seeking a modern 'bsp-esque' tool to make outlines of levels, sketchup is the way to go.