World Building EasyRoads3D v3 - the upcoming new road system

Yes I ensured the checkbox for "Update Terrain Splatmaps" was checked each time I built the terrain, but it never blends.

 

How many splatmap textures does the terrain use? I belief up to 12 is supported.

I just tested this in the Unity 2018.3 project that is used to upload the package to the Asset Store. EasyRoads3D v3.1.6, Unity 2018.3.0f2

The terrain has only one texture layer assigned, but after adding a second and activating the splatmap option for one of the roads in the demo scene, the road shape is baked in the terrain splatmap. Does this also fail on your end?

Thanks,
Raoul

 

The terrain's splatmap has 4 textures.

Using the "scene main" from the asset store package I...
1. Added a second texture to the terrain and painted it around one of the roads.
2. I enabled the "Terrain Splatmap Settings" for that road.
3. I made sure "Update Terrain Splatmap" was enabled.
4. I clicked "Build Terrain"...but still there was no blending done between the road and the new texture.

 

Yes, "scene main" is the one I tested this on.

Which version of Unity and which version of EasyRoads3D do you use?

I guess you did select the newly added terrain texture as the "Splatmap Texture" of that road and you also added either values of 1 or higher for either "Expand" or "Smooth Level" or both? Otherwise the shape will be added underneath the road and perhaps not visible. And what is the opacity level?

Does everything else work well, is the terrain heightmap updated for that specific road? Are there any error messages?

Thanks,
Raoul

 

Unity is 2018.2.21f1 and EasyRoads3D is v3.

Yes I did select the new texture as the splatmap texture, and "Expand", "Smooth Level", and "Opacity" were all set to 1.

Heightmap is updated, and there are no error messages.

Just no texture blending between the road and the splatmap texture.

 

I found a video from unityterraintools posted quite a while ago :

I am wondering if the terrain heights by mesh tool is still included with easy roads. I havent had any luck finding it. I would like to use it for things other than roads. If not would it be possible to get the script responsible for this so I could implement it myself?

Thanks

 

Which exact version of EasyRoads3D are you using, this is displayed in the most right help tab.

Thanks,
Raoul

 

Hi b1gry4n,

That is an old video, it was never part of EasyRoads3D. It worked well on terrains with a small heightmapscale, less good on lower resolution terrains.

Thanks,
Raoul

 

@DRRosen3, the same test also works for the asset store build for Unity 5.6 up to Unity 2018.2. I prepared a package, tested in Unity 2018.2.14f1.

I was going to send you a link but it seems "Start a Conversation" is switched off for your account. Can you send me a PM or email?

Thanks,
Raoul

 

I see, any way to get my hands on the scripts to check it out or maybe some insight on what you were doing to match the terrain height to the mesh? More specifically, how you were able to smooth a distance away from the mesh? If it means anything I can provide my easy roads pro license

 

v3.0 : 26-01-2018

 

In that case, can you try the current version?

Thanks,
Raoul

 

This script is years ago, I will see if I can find it

Thanks,
Raoul

 

Hey Raoul,

I've been trying out the free version to see if I can get the scripting API to work before I upgrade. I can't seem to figure out anything past calling the ERRoadNetwork() constructor. When I try to pass a function like CreateRoad() I get the error "type or namespace ERRoad cannot be found."

Is the scripting API unsupported by the free version or am I missing something super obvious about the setup here? Do I need to manually set up ERRoad as a reference?

Thanks,
Harry

 

Hi Harry,

The free version is limited, the scripting API is indeed not part of it. After v3.2 is out, the free version will be updated as well. I will make a note anyway, free version supported features can actually also be available in the scripting API.

Thanks,
Raoul

 

I want to create the car AI system which calculates the route to the destination.
Baking road navmesh in 1 separated layer is one of the options,
but navmesh agent tries to go in the shortest way and ignores lane information, so it can cause reverse run.
Is there any scripting API for the pathfinding in ER3?
If there isn't, any plans to implement something like that in v3.2?

 

Thank you so much for clarifying, I'll be picking up the full version after my next paycheck then haha

Thanks,
Harry

 

Hi tex5564,

That is on the list, but probably not for v3.2. We don't use navmesh, is it not possible to get the path info so it is known which turn to take on crossings and then use the lane data information for the correct movement?

Thanks,
Raoul

 

You mean, at first calculate rough path with navmesh agent,
and determine the ER3 lanes and crossings which is tracing the navmesh path?
I'll try it. Thanks Raoul.

 

Yes, that is what I meant. Determine the roads and crossings on the navmesh path and then get the required lane info for these roads and crossings for the actual car movement.

Thanks,
Raoul

 

Any chance you can add a option that will display the connection material at the end of a road? A option for when you hit the build button.
So i can fade this road into this other road with out having to make a connection prefab. Which I still haven't yet been able to do.

The learning curve to making connections for custum made roads needs to be much better. Tried to do it yesterday ended in complete failure.
Wish easy roads could handle blending on the side of the road so i don't have to go into photo shop and edit the side so it fades out. Also to make it where it can do different types of blending so its not just a fix looking blend like you see in the picture.

but idk if even the connection blend i made is gonna look very good anyways so idk. Probably have to just ditch what im even trying to achieve. Either way the connection material showing up a the end of the road is super useful for when a dirt road ends.

 

Hi Shadowing,

It is not entirely clear what you like to see added here?

The image shows two roads with either two different materials or at least a material with a texture pattern that is not ideal for the current v3.1 crossing options. The v3.2 Flex Connector can handle that better by attaching the left road to the left edge of the right road and optionally using decals to blend the two roads.

Is this related to the custom prefab editor, importing your own meshes for connections? This is a fairly straight forward process.

1) Open the Custom Prefab Editor window from General Settings > Crossing / Connection Prefabs
2) Drop the source prefab in the project folder on the stage and press the "Build Connection Prefab" option
3) Define the connections in clockwise direction by drawing a rectangle around the vertices that are part of the connection. A matching road type can be assigned to the new connection. This is the road type that will be used for roads pulled out from this connection. This info will also be used for the road snapping options and auto inserting crossing prefabs when creating the road network. Optionally a material can be assigned and a new road type can be created.
4) Press "Apply" when all connections have been added.

The custom connection can now be used in the scene.

These steps are the same steps also mentioned in the manual and visible in the two "customized road network" videos.

Which part is not clear? In what way does this not work for you? What would you like to see improved here?

What do your source prefabs look like?

Thanks,
Raoul

 

Hi Raoul ,
I want to create a Simulation Scene via Easy Road & Open Street Map Data .
But I have some question about this topic :
1. I need to create Some roads have More Lanes(2 ways 8 Lanes) in my scene like below link
https://www.google.com.tw/maps/@25....LBewUXwqKhwmIfi0Q!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=zh-TW
in the open street map data , it have 2 path annotate the different direction of this Road .
If I use the osm data to create the Road , it will be create to 2 Roads in the scene .
When I try to create the Junction like above link , it seems couldn't found any type of Cross Connector could use for it.
Could you give me some suggest about how to do it ?
Should I need to create custom cross connection for this Junction?
2. If I need to create new prefab of the custom cross connection , it seems need to define 5 connect in this custom T-cross prefab. Could you provide some example or tutorial about "How to create new custom cross connection like above link ? "

Thanks

 

Hi johnny77lee,

There is hardly any space between the left and right road. In the image the road looks flat in which case this will work but if there is even the slightest difference in height there will be terrain deformation issues when different road objects are used for the left and right side. This situation will be improved in a next version especially to deal with motorways with separate road objects for the left and right side, but for this moment you may want to double check if this will cause issues.

Apart from that, indeed custom connections will be required in order to be able to attach the left and right road section. We have never worked with a connection prefab that has two roads parallel connected to the prefab, but I just did a simple quick test with a plane primitive. Two connections sharing the same vertex in the middle with two parallel roads connected, it does work. The terrain is adjusted correctly as long as the roads have the same height.

So this works the same as for example a "standard" X crossing connection prefab, the only difference is that separate connections are added for the left and right side of the road.

Could you try this? Or even similar as what I did, using a plane primitive just as a test.

Thanks,
Raoul





.

 

Hi @raoul I am having a problem with terrain bleeding through a bunch of roads in one section of a large RoadNetwork. The video below shows what's happening and some of the settings. I'm using Unity 2018.3 and EasyRoads v3.1.4 in the video, but I also tried v3.1.6 and it has the same issue.

Spoiler: EasyRoads terrain bleeding

Best regards,
Tony

 

Hi Raoul ,

About custom connections , how to get or create the prefab model like "custom t crossing prefab" in your demo video "customized road networks - Part 1" (1:34) ?
Is it need to create the model & mesh by 3d-max or blender first?

Another question about the dynamic crossing prefab ,
In the real world , some junction of 2 roads crossing angle not 90 degree like below link
https://www.google.com.tw/maps/@25....ra_n4AIphR2F2zbVA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=zh-TW
&
https://www.google.com.tw/maps/@25....ohSaAbczkXjQrJdQA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=zh-TW

Is it still could use the default dynamic crossing prefab or it need to create new custom crossing prefab ?
If it could use the default dynamic crossing prefab , could you provide a simple example about how to do it ?

Thanks
Johnny77Lee

 

Hi Tony,

Near 0.59 it is visible that in some sections the white surfaces break through the road. Are these indeed the areas where the terrain also breaks through the road?

For example, what do the white surfaces look like near the crossing at 4.13?

What is the history of this scene? There used to be issues like this, especially with T crossings, but this hasn't been reported for a long time.

What happens when deconnecting these road sections from the crossings at both ends and reconnecting them again?

Thanks,
Raoul

 

Hi johnny77lee,

Yes, the custom prefab system is based on importing crossing models. These models can be created in for example 3ds max or blender.

The new flex connector in v3.2 will be able to connect roads at different angles.

http://unityterraintools.com/v3beta.php

Thanks,
Raoul

 

Hello!

I have a problem with my system.
I cannot add or extend my current roads.
When I hold shift and click - it selects the terrain.
I cant see the markers too. Any tips? I tried the hotkeys too, but they are still invisable

Edit:
Version ER Pro Current version
Unity 2018.3.5f1

 

Hello Bomshi,

When markers are not visible, roads are not selectable. How are you using Shift + Click in this situation? Or is this related to adding new roads?

Do you see error messages in the console after selecting the road network object? That could possibly explain why the terrain is selected after Shift + Click and why markers are not visible.

Since when did this start to happen? What has changed in the project / scene?

Which version of Unity and EasyRoads3D are you using?

Thanks,
Raoul

 

Hi,

I have 2018.3.5f1 and the latest Easyroads version
I noticed that River Auto Material and its Spline tool doesnt work too.
Might be a bug in Unity ?

I have no errors - and I can add a new Road object but I cannot build the road by cliking CTRL + Mouse

Same appears in R.A.M

 

That is strange. There are no known issues with this in Unity 2018.3. I was just testing some things in Unity2018.3.7f1. The road network is fully functional.

Just to make sure there isn't something in the scene interfering, can you try this in the main demo scene in the /EasyRoads3 scenes/ folder, do you have the same issues?

Because you mentioned that markers are not visible,it seems this is an existing road network that worked fine before. Can you remember what has changed in the project meanwhile?

What is your editor layout? Do you perhaps have multiple scene view windows, Inspector tabs open?

Thanks,
Raoul

 

In the demo scene there is the issue too.
I have added a package that is able to show a log view in the build
I changed the Script execution Order in the Project Settings. But there is no element for Easy roads in the list

 

That is the case

It seems you can create new road objects from the Inspector, so the EasyRoads3D toolbar is visible in the Inspector and at least OnInspectorGUI in the editor script is triggered?

I don't know about the package you added but I don't think that EasyRoads3D not being visible in the Script Execution Order in the project settings is causing this problem. It is not visible by default, but you can add it.

Have you tested this in a new fresh project?

Thanks,
Raoul

 

I will test it later in a fresh project

 

Thank you for your help
I found it! It was an old maybe deprecated shader with some editor scripts. But the Editor itself gave me no error.

No everythink works fine puh

 

Glad to hear you got that working again. It seems that perhaps the OnSceneGUI() code was not triggered, strange that shader editor scripts were involved here.

Thanks,
Raoul

 

Hi Raoul ,

I still have some question about easy road version 3.1.6 & beta 5 ,
v3.1.6 :
1. In the package , I just found the 2way4Lanes & 1way2Lanes road line Materials and the Line color is white .
If I want to create 2way8Lanes / 1way5Lanes or more Lanes (See the below Link), could you provide the rule about how to do it?
(As I know , it seems could be modify the exist texture file by photoshop or GIMP to do it. But Is it have another smart rule to do it? )
https://www.google.com.tw/maps/@25....qpna7XmhcNNU4r0bQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=zh-TW

https://www.google.com.tw/maps/@25....SznlY6im3lcRlMo2Q!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=zh-TW

https://www.google.com.tw/maps/@24....U7chNVcrRqndsGUbg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=zh-TW

2. If I want to create a new Road with some RoadType , but the road width is different for my selected road type .
Should I must to define new Road type before create the new Road & Connection?
3. If I just used the v3.1.6 with demo package & hd Roads package,how to create the connections & roads like below
https://www.google.com.tw/maps/@24....4Tm38x9-GOXUQU7UA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=zh-TW

https://www.google.com.tw/maps/@24.9732689,121.5508608,333a,35y,93.05h,6.99t/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=zh-TW

Beta 5 :
1. When I import the demo package after imported beta5, I got the error message like import_beta_demo.png .
Could you know how to fixed it ?
2. I have a scene with some road network and it create by V3.1.6 , if I want to copy the scene to another project with beta 5 . Could you have any idea about "How to copy the scene data with road network to another project safety" ?
3. About the flex connection , Could I create it by API ?

Thanks
Johnny77Lee

 

Hello,

is there a way to rotate/transform a whole RoadNetwork?
I am importing OSM road data that expands diagonally. To use as few terrain tiles as possible, i would like to rotate the network so it fits better horizontally on a row of terrain tiles.

Thanks.

 

Hello Johnny77Lee,

1. In which package did you find these materials? Both the demo package and the HD Roads package includes examples of how line markings can be added as side objects. The X Position value can be used to position them at a specific distance from the center of the road.

The second image has a very specific curved lane line marking on a crossing. There is no integrated way of doing that. However, new objects (second toolbar tab from the left) can be created as "Side Object", no road will be created. Instead the specific line marking side object can be activated, that way these line markings can be added as separate objects on top of the crossing. A horizontal stop line can also be added manually. Both the demo package and the HD Roads package includes example of this type of prefabs as well.

2. If only the width is different, then the easiest way is to select that road type and duplicate it ("Duplicate Road Type" just below the road types dropdown). After that only the width has to be amended.

3. Those are motorway exits. The demo package and HD Road package do not support that. But this is being worked on at the moment. It will be part of the final v3.2. Meanwhile it can be done by creating your own motorway exit models and import them in the road network through the custom prefab system.

Beta 5
1. Which are the exact steps to reproduce this? When the demo package is imported after beta 5, Unity will overwrite the beta 5 scripts to the current demo package version. I don't know about the ER_Text message. Is this related to the Text labels in the demo scene next to the red highlighted zones? In that case , it is not really EasyRoads3D tool related, these are Unity Text objects.

2. This depends on the used assets in the scene. Regarding EasyRoads3D, if you select both the scene file and the EasyRoads3D folder and export the selection to a unity package also including all dependencies. The full scene with all required assets should be exported.

3. The Flex Connector is not yet available through the scripting API. The next update will include an API option that will turn an ERConnection currently based on an X or T crossing into a Flex Connector.

Thanks,
Raoul

 

Hello Binary42,

That is currently not possible. It can be added, but how should this work? Should it rotate around (0,0,0) or relative to the center of the terrain bounds? or something else? It can added to the scripting API, similar to the Translate road network option, so this point can be passed.

Thanks,
Raoul

 

Raoul. I am trying to add a crossing it never works, only shift and click works, but that is pointless. And some buttons simply crash the whole thing. Whats the future of this product? I feel as I have wasted money on this one, as I clearly need to write my own one. I don't want to be disrespectful, but I hoped for this to actually work after ~10 years of development.

 

Hi Ravel,

I am sorry to hear you are having issues. However, none of what I see in the screenshot is standard behaviour. I think more people would post that here if that would be the case.

Can you provide exact steps of what you do when you add a crossing? And how roads are connected? How to reproduce the situation in the screenshot? After which step are those errors thrown? It looks like the same error is thrown repeatedly.

The assets in the screenshot are from the HD Roads package available since last year. When using the HD Roads package there are some limitations regarding the auto snapping feature, is that involved here? These assets do work well, the free Windridge demo package on the asset store was made with it.

I see a yellow handle, near the connection with the road. Yellow handles are used for selecting a crossing prefab.They are positioned at the center of the prefab, not at the connection. Connection handles are displayed in green or blue when a road is connected. Is this yellow handle selectable? And if so, what does the Inspector look like? The roundabout does not show any handles at all. What does this prefab look like when dropped in the scene? Is there perhaps and issue with the HD Roads package import?

Please always provide exact steps when there is an issue. That way we can provide feedback and improve the tool if there is an issue. When there are issues, the resolve rate is 100% when details are provided. Also with the issues posted currently on this page.

How is that pointless? Shift + Click instantiates the crossing in the scene, after that roads can be connected and pulled out from the connections. That is the recommended workflow for the HD Roads package. Auto attaching a new prefab to the first or last marker of the selected road should also work fine for these assets.

Thanks,
Raoul

 

Thanks for the reply.

The previous screenshot was caught after these actions.
1. Instantiate a road network
2. Add new road object
3. Draw a road holding down shift key
4. Select Intersection section in the inspector
5. Select a Intersection model and it instantiates the prefab to the world, but not at where it should be

Tried the suggested workflow aswell..
1. Created a intersection with shift click
2. Tried to select the blue handle but it did nothing
3. After accidentally clicking on the prefab itself, it completely disabled the main inspector and I was only able to delete the intersection

I actually followed some videos to draw the road network, everything else seems to be cool, but intersections don't work. My version is 3.1b1

If it is the HD Roads asset itself that is causing the problem, then are there any other ways to achieve this?

 

Hi Ravel,

Thank you for the further feedback.

First of all, v3 was written from scratch, if you are using v3.1b1, then that was still early v3. Can you please update to the latest v3.1.6 anyway but especially when working with the HD Roads package.

With Instantiate I assume you mean the road network is indeed created from the main Unity menu GameObject > 3D Objects > EasyRoads3D?

Up to step4. all seems correct

Selecting the prefab in the Inspector can result in two things in (v3.1.6 at least).

1. When a road marker is selected, the listed prefabs are those that match the road type of the selected road. The prefab will be attached to the selected marker and align with the road. When a middle marker is selected, the road will be split in two road objects when the prefab in between.

2. Whe no road is selected, selecting the prefab by itself in the Inspector will do nothing. However, Shift + Click in the scene afterwards will instantiate the prefab in the scene at that position.

Which blue handle did you select? Instantiating an intersection in the scene will show a yellow handle at the center of the prefab and green handles for each connection. The yellow handle can be used to change the transform position or rotation. Holding the mouse down and drag will pull out new roads from the green connection handles.

That is not standard behaviour, does the same happen after upgrading to v3.1.6? If so, can you instantiate one of the default dynamic prefabs part of the EasyRoads3D Pro package itself, for example the T Crossing, in the scene using Shift + Click and select it. Does the same happen? If not, then there might indeed be a problem with the HD Roads package import. Does that happen with all the HD Roads prefabs?

The HD Roads package does work, could you please try v3.1.6. The HD Roads assets use the custom prefab system, the meshes have a specific setup to work well with the HD Roads shaders. Several changes were made to EasyRoads3D Pro as well to make this work. It will not work well in the older v3.1b1

Thanks,
Raoul

 

Thanks for looking in to it. Since it is posible to transform the Road/Connection Objects container via the transform component, but snaps back as soon as an ER component becomes active, why dont have an automatic option or a button that applys this (or parent container Road Networks) transform to the paths and resets the it to zero.

 

Hi Binary42,

Yes, that can be done.

1. Select both "Connection Objects" and "Road Objects", move / rotate them
2. Show a confirm button in the Inspector to apply the changes and reset the transform position and rotation back to (0,0,0).

I will make a note of that too

Thanks,
Raoul

 

Hi Raoul,

Thank you for this amazing asset!

2 or 3 errors pop up when I am pulling roads out of an crossing, with the green points.
I am using Unity 2019.1.0f2 and easyroads3d v1.6 18-3-2019.

Thanks!

 

Hi Rik,

Thank you!

Regarding Unity 2019, this was tested during the 2019 betas. But I just double checked v3.1.6 in Unity 2019.1.0f2.

1. New Unity project
2. Import EasyRoads3D from the asset store
3. Create a new scene and a new road network
4. Select the T crossing from the connections tab and use Shift + Click to instantiate it in the scene

That is what I see in your gif. At no point errors are thrown, and roads can be pulled out of all three connections without errors.

Looking a the second image, the errors are thrown repeatedly. When exactly? What are the steps to reproduce this?

Thanks,
Raoul

 

Hi Raoul,

What a quick response

I've tested some more and got some more details than I've given before.
I tested in unity 2019.1.0f2, and in unity 2018.3.11f1. So it doesn't seem to be a 2019 thing.

• It only happens on t-crossings.
• I select one of the road ends, and hover over another road / road end, the road goes up a bit, and the errors pop up. It seems to happen at the road opposite of the missing 4th road in a t-crossing
  
• When checking T-crossing at an X-crossing, it also happens.
• When checking T-crossing at an X-crossing, 'Rotate Connections' is always disabled in the ER Modular Base, Swap Base in ER Crossing Prefab is enabled and can be used.

There is one other issue, I cannot seem to get the Prefab Editor to work.

If tried:

• Crossing / Connection Prefabs > Create > Shift + Click.
• Crossing / Connection Prefabs > Create New Prefab > Shift + Click.
• Road Types > Road Type: Default Road > Create New Connection Prefab > Shift + Click.

Here's another gif, I hope you can see the errors popping up!


Thanks,
Rik