World Building EasyRoads3D v3 - the upcoming new road system

Hello again. I still couldn't get this done.

I created a new scene with a new terrain. Then I created road network and deleted all existing road types except dirt ones and placed some dirt roads to the scene.

When I try to export this scene, Unity is trying to export lots of unrelated assets due to them being referenced in that scene somehow. Even the editor icons are being referenced by the road network somehow. This means that they could end up being built into the final game assets when I build my project.

When I delete the road network, none of those assets are being exported by Unity.

Can you help me again please?

 

I would expect the editor icons to be in "Editor Default Resources" special Unity folder at least. Would you consider?

 

Hello XTRo,

The editor Icons are referenced in the main road network script, that is why they are included in the package.

Is that a problem? Because they will be in the other project anyway.

And after finalizing the road network for the final build this road network script is removed so these editor icons will not be part of the final build.

Thanks,
Raoul

 

Hmm. Your system removes itself from the scene when we finalize the roads. Ok. That's fine.

But what about the non-dirt related road assets (like asphalt etc). I don't wanna include them into my game project since I only need the dirt roads.

Why is the road network still referencing those assets even thou I deleted other road types?

 

Ok. Never mind my last post. I finally managed to export the roads with the "Export Road Types" button. If finally listed all the road types for me to select. It didn't show the road types when I tried it yesterday but it's good now.

Thank you very much for helping again. Hopefully I won't bother you again

 

Finally I have it working in my scene

 

Hi XTro,

Glad to hear you got the road types working in the other project.

With regard to the last screenshot, and just in case , that is a dirt track texture for a grass environment, it is used in the v3.1 demo scene in the demo package.

To optimize it in the scene of the screenshot it can be adjusted a little bit in a paint program. Either the alpha channel can be edited so grass becomes invisible or the grass color can be changed into more dry grass matching the terrain texture color so it blends better with the terrain.

Thanks,
Raoul

 

Thanks for the suggestion. I'm not an artist so I'm focusing on the programming side of my project yet. As long as I have a dirt road in the scene it's ok for now. Maybe I can have some artist people work with me in the future. Thank you again.

 

If I understand correctly, the challenge (or at least one of the challenges) is to get the data in such a way that it matches exactly, i.e. the Unity splines may not have the exact same curves as the system ER3D is using? Personally, I'd be fine with an integration that's just "close enough" or even a breaking change and switch in ER3D to use Unity splines internally with the possibility that some roads may shift a little. Others may feel differently however

For me, vegetation clearing is the major feature. My terrain came pre-set with the road heights (LIDAR data), so terrain modification is a less important feature for me, but I can see how that would be a killer feature for many people.

@Vagabond_ did you integrate with ER3D or is that a completely custom road implementation? It's been on my to-do list for several months now to create a script to integrate splines though the ER3D API, but I just haven't got around to it.

But right now I'm most excited about checking out the new auto-sign placement at connectors with beta 10. Yes, I'm a weirdo. I also think I remember something about outputting a splatmap for vegetation clearing that can be used in MV, so I'm also going to check that out.

 

Hi Colin,

EasyRoads3D works in a way that first the spline itself is calculated, this spline is adjusted at connections for smooth transitions. That is probably one of the bottlenecks here when looking at Unity splines. The same for random road bumpiness and tilting, but these two are optional.

Beta 10 indeed includes new sign post options at connections. And the recently requested splatmap export option is also available in beta 10, BakeSplatmap() in the EREditor class. It exports a map of the exact road shape,

Thanks,
Raoul

 

That's kind of what I assumed, but for different reasons

There is somebody on the MV Discord working on an integration with ER3D. I'll be interested to see what the final implementation looks like.

The connections themselves are another part to the puzzle, but those could be easily solved by exporting a simple bitmap of the outline and then just placing MV stamps at each connection, rotated appropriately. Even that, I think, could be easily managed outside of the ER3D codebase (i.e. an end user could do it, but the outline bitmap of the connection might be a bit of a challenge).

Exciting times!

 

I created an EasyRoads3D Integration for MicroVerse. Looks like this:

You can grab the script here:

https://forum.unity.com/threads/released-genesis-for-microverse.1354952/#post-8908539

It basically syncs a road to a spline.

 

That looks great Rowlan!

Raoul

 

Hi Raoul,

I have a question about the new "Traffic posts" feature in 3.3Beta10.

I'm not able to select a prefab in the connection settings. Dropping a prefab in the "Prefab" property is not working (stays empty). I do not get any error messages.

Do I miss something?

Thanks
Jus

 

Hi Jus,

We have not seen that happen so far. When attempting to drop a prefab in the specific prefab slot, is the prefab accepted or does the cursor change to the icon telling that the asset cannot be dropped in that specific slot.

Also, are the other Traffic Sign options responsive? Can you for example change the Offset values or do they reset to 0?

General info for this new feature is available on the v3.3 beta page on our website: http://www.easyroads3d.com/v3beta.php#signPosts

Thanks,
Raoul

 

Hi, I'm on unity 2021.3.18f1 URP.
How to get the these scenes to work on URP?

 

Hi EmeralLotus,

From the first image it seems that the matching URP package was initially imported. Because the road object materials render well.

Which EasyRoads3D packages do you have imported?

Can you select the intersection object in the first screenshot in the hierarchy and look in the Inspector which shader is assigned to the material? In this case this should be the "ER Road" shader, the same as the shader assigned to the road object material.

And the same for the road object in the right image, is the "ER Road" shader assigned to this material?

Or, after looking closely at the left image, which shader is actually assigned to the road objects in this scene? Was the shader changed to a Unity URP built-in shader and is the URP package actually not imported?

These URP and HDRP packages should auto import when the specific render pipeline is detected but they can also be imported manually. They are located in /Assets/EasyRoads3D/SRP Support packages/

Thanks,
Raoul

 

I changed the shaders that had the pink to ER Road and they are working now.
In demo scene1, there is a material "Rock Wall Coast" that uses ER Dual Blend UV1 that doesn't work with URP. I changed it to ER road also. This then brings up the question: Which EasyRoad3D shaders work for URP and what are they used for because there are many different shaders that are being used for SR and I would need to know the equivalent for URP.

 

Hi EmeralLotus,

URP and HDRP support was added in v3.2. "demo scene 1" in your post is named "Demo Scene v3.1", this scene is not fully optimized for URP and HDRP. The SRP support notes in the EasyRoads3D root directory mentions this. The shaders that are not supported in URP and HDRP are located in the "Legacy" folder: /Assets/EasyRoads3D/Shaders/Legacy/

"Demo Scene v3.2+" is fully optimized for URP and HDRP.

For the "Rock Wall Coast" example in the v3.1 scene the same shader as the retaining wall example in the v3.2+ scene can be used, the "ER Retaining Wall Blend" shader.

Thanks,
Raoul

 

The field is telling that the asset can be dropped (turns blue). I cannot change any of the other properties. E.g. when I enter a "2" in the "Sideways Offset" property and leave the field, it reverts to 0. Clicking "Active" is also not possible.

Very strange.



Thanks
Jus

 

Hi Jus,

We have not seen this happen directly on Flex Connectors but we noticed something similar this week when implementing this for road types. By adding this to road types it is not necessary to set posts for every connection individually because each connection has a road type assigned. This will be available in the next v3.3 beta.

I can prepare an update and send it to you so you can see if that solves the issue. Which version of Unity do you use?

Thanks,
Raoul

 

Been fighting with this for weeks, and I've only been able to play around with it between day-job work, but I've managed to troubleshoot my way back to 2022.2.7f1. That appears to be where it starts, and in that version this hang up occurs for about 30 seconds to a full minute after the first selection of the Road Network object. From 2022.2.8f1 all the way to 2022.2.12f1 this still occurs, but as the original poster said, it can take 1+ hours to complete and the entire time it's spiraling through memory until either Unity starts to crash or other apps start to crash around it. So far, in 2022.2.12f1 I've clocked it at taking 2 and a half hours before Unity becomes responsive after first clicking the Road Network object.

As of now, I'm seeing nothing from Unity out of the ordinary in any of my editor recordings. During this pause, the editor is reporting absolutely nothing. I've had 9 of the members of my team testing with me across that same range of releases and just to be certain, I had them test in projects outside of the one we're working on together; did this to ensure it's not a machine or project-related issue. They all had the same hang-up in other, smaller projects as well, so it's safe to assume that it also has nothing to do with the project size or file count. Our project's in the Built-In RP, but they tested in multiple projects of theirs that span across URP and HDRP and they've experienced the same in those render pipelines as well.

I'm going to work on some deep debugging tools to try to catch more details this weekend, but as of now that's as much data as I've been able to obtain. Once I have time to work on some deeper debugging tools, I'll see if I can get any more out of the editor to figure out what is going on while it hangs.

 

Hello AaronVictoria,

Does this also happen in a new empty project?

If not, would it be possible to send us a project in which this happens?

Thanks,
Raoul

 

Hello! How can I make the Biome Mask run parallel to the road? Don't find the code to solve this little problem.

 

Hello it-friedl,

You mention Biome Masks, this seems Vegetation Studio related?

I cannot check at the moment, but I belief there can be issues with how Vegetation Studio generates the biome mask area depending on the road shape.

Is that indeed the issue? Especially for road objects without stronger bends the biome area is created correctly but this area can be off for road objects with these stronger bends. I belief marker placement can improve this.

Thanks,
Raoul

 

Thank you for your quick response. I found the ERVegetationStudio.cs script. In it I get all the points together with the shift to the outside (ERVSData[]). Then all points added with AddNodeToEnd (VSPro doesn't correct that). Right side up, left side down. In the strong turns I had to remove the overlapping points manually.

One more question please: With HD-Roads I cannot change the SecondRoadNoiseMaskPower (change dirt/damage strength). In the demo scene this works for the existing streets, as soon as you add a street it doesn't work for the new street element. (Unity 2021.3.22). In 2022.2 it works. Can I change something there?

 

Hi it-friedl,

I belief that actually the results are affected by the offset values and how strong the bends are. An offset value close to 0 does generally have good results. So your findings are that the biome region is incorrectly generated when points overlap?

I would have to check how this is handled in VS, did you remove the points manually in the biome component generated by VS or did you remove points from the list of points passed in ERVegetationStudio.cs?

Do the two textures blend at all? Because the blending can also be controlled by vertex color. This makes it possible to set different blend levels per marker section through the vertex color option per marker. Color black, minimal blending, red channel value of 1 max blending. The default preferred blending level for each road type can be set in the Road Types section which also includes a vertex color option.

Thanks,
Raoul

 

Hello Raoul!

If you create a new project in 2021.3, then import Easyroads3D and then HD-Roads. The roads and sideobjects are initialized correctly, but the materials are not. Can I add it somehow? (In the Easyroads3D Demo Project Scene I also see all material types of the imported roads, but not from HD-Road)

 

Hi it-friedl,

In what way are the materials not initialized correctly? In what way do you not see materials? Or do materials appear in pink?

And is this indeed related to the HD Roads package only?

In that case, what type of project is this, URP or HDRP? For example, for both the EasyRoads3D Pro and Demo project package, both URP and HDRP will be detected and the respective material package will auto import. That is not the case for the HD Roads package, for this package the respective material packages are located in /Assets/Naturemanufacture Assets/HD Roads/SRP Support/. For HDRP projects, please check the short "HD Roads PDF" doc in the HD Roads directory.

Thanks,
Raoul

 

Yes, the vertex color makes the difference. Why did you predefine them as black? The shaders don't work with that. Thanks for the helpful hint. The material list doesn't matter either, as I can drag any material into it. Thanks again!!!

 

I meant this list earlier. But apparently it depends on the folder and doesn't matter anyway, since you're not limited to this selection list.

 

This is related to blending the two textures in the advanced material option. The shader does work with vertex color black but it will not blend the two textures. We received requests to use that as the default because red / white gives full blending which was considered as "too much" as default blending.

But this can be changed perhaps to a lower level of default blending. In any case, as mentioned it is fairly simple to set this default blending level as desired in the road type section.

Thanks,
Raoul

 

Ok, this is about setting default materials for road types / connection prefabs. When creating new road types the selected road material and connection material will be assigned.

The dropdowns in the screenshot are populated from the folders /Assets/EasyRoads3D/Resources/Materials/Roads/ and /Assets/EasyRoads3D/Resources/Materials/Crossings/

This list indeed only serves as a quick way to select a material from the dropdown. The desired default material can also be dropped from the project folder in the specific "Road Material" and "Connection Material" slot.

Thanks,
Raoul

 

Thanks Raoul,

we are using Unity 2022.2

Jus

 

Hi Jus,

Ok, we will prepare an update for Unity 2022.2 so you can test this on your end.

Thanks,
Raoul

 

Hi Raoul,

I had a question regarding the importing road data using OSM, specifically through Real World Terrain with it's integration option with EasyRoads3D. I'm having some issues where the roads are generated with only 'Default Crossing' connector types, which is a problem when it doesn't match the road type because if for example I have used primary roads mostly then the road ends up being pulled away from being straight because it needs to fit into the smaller default roads connector. I see in the RWT toolbox it says that the ability to generate connections is in beta and you guys are working on it so totally understand that this feature is still a work in progress. I was just wondering if there is any way I can set the default connector used by RWT/OSM imports to be something else (eg. primary road connector), or even better if I can set them all to be flex connectors automatically that are more likely to adapt to the roads they are connecting? At the moment I'm having to go through changing each connector manually which takes a lot of time.

Another related question- once I have changed a connector to be a flex connector with the checkbox, is there an easy way to switch it back or do I just need to delete it and create another normal one?

thanks!

 

Hi BecOC,

EasyRoads3D does include OSM data import options. Auto generating connections is indeed being worked on, that is for this OSM import option. It is partially implemented but not active by default because OSM road networks can be very complex. It does work for maps with the more standard X and T connectors.

Meanwhile importing OSM data has been added to the scripting API, but I assume that Real World Terrain is still generating the road objects separately using CreateRoad(). That is something else, with this setup the connections also need to be generated separately through the scripting API. So all this is Real World Terrain implementation related, I am not sure what we can do regarding that?

It is all possible, assign OSM road types to EasyRoads3D road types (optional) and insert the matching connector, the "Primary Road Crossing" in your case. And the v3.3 beta Flex Connectors, you mention it, can also be inserted through the scripting API, these connectors will auto inherit the road type of the involved road objects. The Flex Connector implementation in our OSM import option will be a big step forward.

regarding your second question, built-in X and T crossings will become obsolete at some point. In theory it is possible to switch back from Flex Connector to X or T but that is not an Inspector option. is there a specific reason you want that?

Indeed simply deleting it, attach the "Primary Road Crossing" to one of the road objects and connect the other road objects should be fairly simple.

Thanks,
Raoul

 

Thanks for the quick response- to answer the last question first, it just is that occasionally when changing the connectors it is handy to move them as well as the roads when they are fixed straight corners, but once I swap to flex connectors then each have to be moved individually- not a big deal just wondered in case I'd overlooked it. Can certainly see the flex connectors will be the more useful option once that is implemented in OSM imports (any idea how soon that may be?).

Going back to the start, when you said that auto generating connectors is not active by default- is there a way I can turn that on for now as I do have maps which need mostly just X and T connectors, and even if some connections are different I can always delete those few. I am fairly new to Unity so apologies for my lack of knowledge- if this is something I can change could you maybe point me to the right script file to edit (or wherever the way to change may be). Even if the auto generation isn't great it will still help me prove the workflow and worth of this package to use on an upcoming project, which will improve when the auto generation of connections is more finalised.

In terms of Real World Terrain I figured from this message (attached) you might be working on the connector generation together, if not I can try reach out to them instead as yes I am not sure how their integration with EasyRoads3D works. As you can see from the screenshot- even with all default roads and connectors the connectors tend to be a bit misplaced from the junctions which makes the roads wavy instead of straight and needing manual adjustment. But in using the EasyRoads OSM import instead (not through Real World Terrain) it has straight roads but no connectors as you said (see other image attached) so that still requires a lot of manual editing. So yeah if it is possible for me now to turn on auto connector generation even a rough version for default X and T that would be amazing if you could let me know the steps for that.

And if you have a ballpark idea of when the auto connector generation improvement will be rolled out (especially with flex connectors) that would be super helpful I can let my team know it is coming. Thanks again for all your great work

 

Hi BecOC,

Do you mean you would like to be able to move the Flex Connector in a way that the corner angles remain the same, 90 degrees for X crossings? A lock option is on the list to add, so that will be possible in next releases.

I can't give an exact ETA for this, but I have moved Flex Connector support for OSM imports higher on the list. It will not be in the next next beta 11 update, but I will try to add this for beta 12.

This is experimental so there is no Inspector option for this, but the below line in an editor script followed by importing the OSM data file will create intersections:

parserTest.buildIntersections = true;

[Edit] This may actually not work in the current builds. So I just added this option to the scripting API. If you let me know your Unity version I can send an update.

As mentioned in my previous post, I belief Real World Terrain still uses the scripting API to generate the road objects. We will be more than happy to help if there are questions from the Real World Terrain creators, but at the end the data is imported by Real World Terrain so the code to generate the road objects is also part of the Real World Terrain asset.

I am not sure about the second image, 121251.png. The road from the left to the right is a straight road. Is there are a way to import the data without creating intersections? How does that look? Do the generated road objects follow the map?

InsertConnector() in the ERRoad class will insert a connector aligned with the road, this should not result in a wavy road as visible in the image. So what we would do is get the cross point of the two road objects, check nearby markers on the "main" road. When a marker is close we would move this marker to this cross point, otherwise insert a new road marker at this cross point. After that use InsertConnector() to insert the connector at this specific marker position. The other road objects can be attached to the inserted connector afterwards, this will not affect the position of this connector. The road shapes will not be wavy.

And with regard to Flex Connector integration in our OSM import feature, we can always send builds for you to test when this is implemented and not released yet, but we have to finish other things first, we may look into this later this month.

Thanks,
Raoul

 

Hello Raoul! I have 4096 terrains here. The streets in KML format. I have given the corner coordinates. So far I could always lay the road network over all terrains. Be a few updates, Easyroads3d only takes the first quarter for it. How can I put this over all terrains again?

 

Hello it-friedl,

4096 terrain tiles?

Nothing has changed here recently. All active terrain objects are collected and the total width and length is calculated.

After extracting and parsing the data there will be info in the console including this total terrain width and length. Are these numbers indeed not correct?

Do the created road objects match their terrain position?

Thanks,
Raoul

 

If I do exactly the same with OSM it works. When I load the old project it works with OSM and KML. Unfortunately I get the data in KML...
It just calculates half the length with KML.

(With a copy of the old project and current Easyroads3D only uses half the length.)

 

Hello it-friedl,

In order to get a better idea of what happens on your end, could you please give feedback on the questions I asked?

Because that will tell if all terrains are indexed correctly and if the actual road data is parsed correctly.

I do remember there was a KML issue in an older version. Which exact version do you currently use?

Can this for example be reproduced on a single terrain tile with a smaller data file?

And you mentioned " I have given the corner coordinates." Did you enter the coordinates for the terrain bounds? Are all road objects extracted correctly without doing this?

Thanks,
Raoul

 

I would have liked to test it, but a new Unity 2021.3.22 Project and Easyroad3D from Store doesn't work at all. The scene can no longer be operated.

 

It seems the package is imported from your computers cache, the package for the older Unity version that you were using. Unity unfortunately does not check that.

Have you tried to "Re-Download" the package first from within your current Unity editor? That should fix it. And if that does not work, can you empty your cache or remove at least the EasyRoads3D Pro package from your cache. That will for sure force a new download from the Asset Store.

Thanks,
Raoul

 

Thanks, I'll remove the cache... and try again.

The log doesn't show the number of terrains, but half the length (should be 32000x32000).

 

Ok, there is no feedback on the other questions yet so let's see if there are still KML import issues in the current version v3.2.2f2.

Perhaps in that case, you can also give feedback on the other questions because I just tested KML import, the road objects cover the full terrain so more info would be helpful.

Thanks,
Raoul

 

The white cube is the zero point, I also tried it offset. 4 terrains, also here, only half the length. 1 terrain fits.

The "Global Terrain Coordinates" have no effect on the terrains themselves.

 

Used v3.2.2f2. Right this time.

 

Hi Raoul,

I've added 2 placeholder terrains in the meantime (strangely not twice as wide). Then the section fits exactly on my terrain. Tests with smaller KML files always brought the same result.

Thank you and I hope that this will work easier again in a future version.

You still have the best and most comprehensive road tool!
Kind regards, Gerhard