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GAIA - AAA terrain generator, procedural texturing, planting and scene creation

Discussion in 'Assets and Asset Store' started by AdamGoodrich, May 21, 2015.

  1. Gunsrequiem

    Gunsrequiem

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    I seem to be having an issue with the Coverage Detail Spawner--it's not allowing me to deselect a specific terrain texture as a non-spawnable area. In other words, I have my grass settings to not spawn on terrain texture 3 (!3) which is my stone texture for the in-game mountains, yet it continues to do so. I was hoping to be able to implement a noise generation with this texture excluded down the road, but even with no noise selected it doesn't work. Any thoughts? Included below is a screenshot of my grass settings in the Gaia resource manager:

    Screenshot 2017-07-03 18.14.50.png
     
    Last edited: Jul 4, 2017
  2. BackwoodsGaming

    BackwoodsGaming

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    Try disabling the terrains except for the one you are working with. Multi-terrain isn't officially supported until Gaia 2 which isn't out yet. I'm not sure if that is your problem or not but that was one of the work arounds Adam gave way back for those of us who needed to work with multiple terrain scenes while waiting for Gaia 2.
     
  3. Gunsrequiem

    Gunsrequiem

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    I'm sorry, when I wrote "terrain," I meant "texture." I'm only using one terrain. I select the checkbox and include "!3" in my texture dialogue in my gameobject and tree inspectors, and I continue to have them spawn on both. That said, I'm thinking it might be the CTS integration--whenever I switch to the Advanced option, it appears as though some of the textures are masked by my third texture and fully depend on the amount of blending I do in my CTS profile. If this is the case, I will just live with it. It's not a huge deal, after all, as long as the majority of spawned instances are correct. I don't think anyone's going to crucify me for a few patches of grass and trees popping up through what appears to be solid rock; open world games aren't perfect, after all ;)
     
  4. Xrystal

    Xrystal

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    Definitely ... I know one well known game that still has glitches many years on :)
     
  5. AdamGoodrich

    AdamGoodrich

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    Here is a sneak preview of whats coming with the next release of CTS. These just happen to work perfectly with Gaia :)

     
  6. AdamGoodrich

    AdamGoodrich

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    These are 0 based, so !3 really means, not on texture 4.
     
  7. Gunsrequiem

    Gunsrequiem

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    Yeah, I have it set to !3 so texture 4, not 3. Sorry about that. It appears to be working okay now--it's just the CTS implementation that makes it look like it's not applying to the correct textures. I was able to adjust the layers, though, so it looks closer to what I wanted. Thanks :)
     
    AdamGoodrich likes this.
  8. eaque

    eaque

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    Hi,
    Sorry if i missed the info, but what about erosion in Gaia2 Now that i own CTS i realize it makes the difference!
    I suppose there are more stamps now in gaia! Maybe with nice erosion? need to update!;)
    cheers
     
  9. AdamGoodrich

    AdamGoodrich

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    I have thermal and hydraulic erosion working on the GPU in G2 in real time and its super cool!

    It will most likely only be included in the GPU compute plugins that will be offered separately. Part of this will also be the ability to use sedimentation and flow maps generated by the erosion system to drive other things like texturing and vegetation.
     
    TheSeawolf, Mark_01, Vondox and 2 others like this.
  10. eaque

    eaque

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    So, any idea of the price for the GPU compute plugin? It sounds very interesting!!!!;)
     
  11. runningbird

    runningbird

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    I too am interested in the price for the GPU compute plugin?
     
  12. khos

    khos

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    Hi Adam,
    I would like to ask if there is a way to create standard type terrains based on real world region, e.g. I'd like to setup a terrain based on grass/trees you might find in the South of the UK. Can you share any advise on how I can do that? Do you offer a template(s) for Gaia?
    Thanks.
     
  13. Xrystal

    Xrystal

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    Earlier in these many pages I recall a conversation regarding using realworld areas as a stamp. I recall trying it myself but didn't work as expected but the site in question was https://terrain.party/. As to the ins and outs I cannot remember it too well but a search for it will hopefully surface enough info to try it out.

    Edit: Unfortunately a quick look and it appears you may not be able to UK maps with this site but you never know until you try.
     
  14. khos

    khos

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    Hi, thanks for the info, I'm not really too worried about the height map info, but more so vegetation, grass/trees :) I think I found a stamp pack that might be suitable but am not sure how to plug that into gaia yet! Appreciate your input.
     
  15. AdamGoodrich

    AdamGoodrich

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    You will need to find the right assets and then set up spawning profiles for your target environment.

    I am a big fan of SpeedTree and you can browse their assets here : https://store.speedtree.com/product-category/unity/

    Then when you are ready to set up Gaia with them there are a stack of tutorials here : http://www.procedural-worlds.com/gaia/tutorials/

    And finally - here is a tutorial on importing real world environments into Gaia : http://www.procedural-worlds.com/gaia/tutorials/import-real-world-terrain/
     
  16. AdamGoodrich

    AdamGoodrich

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    I have not decided yet. Will share that info after I have come to a decision.

    In the end I decided not to charge an upgrade to Gaia 2 despite the massive work that was involved, and instead decided to charge via these plugins.

    Gaia 2 will deliver a massive boost in capability and speed anyway. The GPU plugins are the icing that some people will hopefully want to add into the mix - they essentially make Gaia 2 a real time system.
     
    TeagansDad and tapawafo like this.
  17. eaque

    eaque

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    It's quite fair for us! ;) Now we are ony waiting for the update! Time goes by real fast it's already Mid July...
    You think we might get it in august? :p
     
  18. AdamGoodrich

    AdamGoodrich

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    That would be awesome for us both - maybe by end august. CTS still consuming a lot of time.
     
  19. eaque

    eaque

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    thanks for your answer! So sad, we have to wait that long...:(
     
  20. Teila

    Teila

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    I am sure that when it comes out, it will be well worth the wait. Good things take time. :) In the meantime, we have CTS, so I am happy.
     
    AdamGoodrich and evilangel89 like this.
  21. HeadClot88

    HeadClot88

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    @AdamGoodrich - So since Gaia 2 can handle multi tile terrain. I am going to be making a request here.

    Would it be possible to get a tool/addon for Gaia 2 that setups the multi tile terrain for the user based on how many rows and columns of terrain they want. Also being able to export multi-tile terrain out of Gaia 2 would be great. Preferably in high resolution file formats.
     
    Magic73 likes this.
  22. AdamGoodrich

    AdamGoodrich

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    You will define rows and columns and that's what will be created. So yes this will be supported. All tiles will however have to be square.

    You can export terrain meshes now so I guess exporting multiples should not be too difficult.

    This is one of the challenges actually. Gaia has lots of utilities. Converting them all as well takes more time.
     
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  23. eaque

    eaque

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    Of course, you're right!!:p I didn't even expect CTS few months ago and to me it's really a revolution.! But you know mankind is like that you always want more....Gaia seemed so close in June!! Anyway, with CTS my old map has become terrific! so ain gonna complain!!!:cool:
    cheers
     
  24. Teila

    Teila

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    Yeah, I know what you mean. But as humans, we do have the ability to curb those instincts. ;) It will be out soon enough I am sure.
     
    evilangel89 likes this.
  25. evilangel89

    evilangel89

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    Haha xD Personally I have a crap ton of other things to do besides terrain at the moment. sigh. Besides, letting Adam taking his own time with his assets has served nothing but give better value. While I am excited for Gaia 2 I'd rather let it be a surprise to me. Gaia as is right now is still super for what I am doing :)
     
    Teila likes this.
  26. Xrystal

    Xrystal

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    Ditto. I have a few small non terrain games to work on before the terrain required ones so I am quite happy waiting for it :)
     
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  27. Teila

    Teila

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    Yep, because once it is out, you will work on nothing else but terrain for weeks or months. LOL I know! I have hundreds of screenshots to prove it.
     
    evilangel89 likes this.
  28. cyeninas

    cyeninas

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    Perhaps it's user error, or perhaps it's been said that it's incompatible previously in the thread, but upon upgrading to Unity 2017.1.0f3 it seems Gaia's Session Manager's "Add Stamps" button breaks. I get this error when I press it:
    Code (csharp):
    1. NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object
    2. Gaia.GaiaSessionManager.RandomiseStamps () (at Assets/Gaia/Scripts/SessionSystem/GaiaSessionManager.cs:725)
    3. Gaia.GaiaSessionManagerEditor.OnInspectorGUI () (at Assets/Gaia/Scripts/Editor/GaiaSessionManagerEditor.cs:341)
    4. UnityEditor.InspectorWindow.DrawEditor (UnityEditor.Editor[] editors, System.Int32 editorIndex, System.Boolean rebuildOptimizedGUIBlock, System.Boolean& showImportedObjectBarNext, UnityEngine.Rect& importedObjectBarRect) (at C:/buildslave/unity/build/Editor/Mono/Inspector/InspectorWindow.cs:1240)
    5. UnityEngine.GUIUtility:ProcessEvent(Int32, IntPtr)
     
  29. AdamGoodrich

    AdamGoodrich

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    Hmm... i wasn't having any issues with the beta - but will be working on a maintenance release next week so I will check it out.
     
  30. cyeninas

    cyeninas

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    It's possible I just did something silly with my project, I'll play around with it and see if I can get it to work, or maybe someone else who has tried it with 2017.1 can chime in
     
  31. AdamGoodrich

    AdamGoodrich

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    Have you moved Gaia from the directory it was installed in - this would explain it.
     
  32. cyeninas

    cyeninas

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    Is deleting the Gaia and Gaia Sessions folders in the asset and reimporting enough for it to count as a clean install or does it look for data outside of that? Because I'm getting this error as soon as I import. Probably related actually, the first time I press CTRL+G to open the Gaia window manager it brings me to the Unity feedback webpage, and then I have to go back into unity and press it again to get the window to pop up.
     
  33. Xrystal

    Xrystal

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    I hadn't checked the latest Unity yet with Gaia but seeing as someone has problems, lets see what happens.

    Using the same project I have been using for playing about with Gaia I then opened it up and told it to upgrade to the new version of Unity. Then followed the following steps after confirming no errors showed after upgrade.

    1. Created new scene.
    2. Added new terrain and stamper.
    3. Added Normalised River Stamp in raise height mode.
    4. Added Normalised Lake Stampin raise height mode.
    5. Added Normalised Village Area Stamp in rais e height mode.
    6. Added Normalised Hill Stamp in raise height mode
    7. Added Normalised Mountain Stamp in raise height mode
    8. Readded original river stamp in lower height mode
    9. Create Spawners
    10. Spawn textures
    11. Spawn objects ( rocks and village areas etc )
    12. Spawn clustered trees
    13. Spawn coverage trees
    14. Spawn coverage detail
    15. Create player, wind, water, spawner

    All seems fine to me as these screenshots show, although no villages spawned as there were no large enough areas, guess I need to spawn village area stamps after river stamp step 2.
    Grab 20170714191941 w1900h1200 x-21y76z0r94.jpg Grab 20170714192007 w1900h1200 x-166y90z13r195.jpg Grab 20170714192108 w1900h1200 x-428y111z-96r162.jpg Grab 20170714192230 w1900h1200 x-360y70z-300r92.jpg
     
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  34. AdamGoodrich

    AdamGoodrich

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    I think so.

    Gaia needs to finish compiling to take that hot key. I suspect other assets use it as well. I always open Gaia from the menu.
     
  35. cyeninas

    cyeninas

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    Thanks for the confirmation. I made a new project and only imported Gaia and it worked fine, but in my other project even if I delete everything from my assets folder and import Gaia fresh it still gives me that error. It must be related to something in the project settings, I'll try to figure out what it is.

    EDIT: OK figured it out, user error as expected heh, for anyone else with the same issue: Make sure you're targeting .NET 3.5 as the experimental .NET 4.6 option doesn't play nice with the stamp functionality (I'm sure it breaks a bunch of other stuff too)

    Forgot I had done that
     
    Last edited: Jul 15, 2017
  36. AdamGoodrich

    AdamGoodrich

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    Thanks for the feedback. Super helpful.

    Surprising also and I can not think of a single reason why it should fail.

    Now that I know I can test.
     
    Last edited: Jul 16, 2017
  37. Xrystal

    Xrystal

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    Well, when I opened my Gaia Project and targeted NET 4.6, after the editor had reloaded I got the error:

    Could not locate file : L:/My Unity Projects/_2017/_04/Gaia Work In Progress Projects/Assets/Gaia/StampsAssets/Gaia/Stamps/Rivers/Data/Colorado River 4.bytes
    UnityEngine.Debug:LogError(Object)
    Gaia.HeightMap:LoadFromBinaryFile(String) (at Assets/Gaia/Scripts/Utils/HeightMap.cs:742)
    Gaia.HeightMap:.ctor(String) (at Assets/Gaia/Scripts/Utils/HeightMap.cs:177)
    Gaia.UnityHeightMap:.ctor(String) (at Assets/Gaia/Scripts/Utils/UnityHeightMap.cs:25)
    Gaia.Stamper:LoadStamp() (at Assets/Gaia/Scripts/StampingSystem/Stamper.cs:336)
    Gaia.Stamper:OnEnable() (at Assets/Gaia/Scripts/StampingSystem/Stamper.cs:947)

    But it must have cleared itself as clearing the console made it disappear and the scene didn't look the worse for wear.

    Created a new scene, added the stamper and placed a valley stamper in the stamp box and received the following error.

    Could not locate file : L:/My Unity Projects/_2017/_04/Gaia Work In Progress Projects/Assets/Gaia/StampsAssets/Gaia/Stamps/Valleys/Data/Chumash Valley.bytes
    UnityEngine.Debug:LogError(Object)
    Gaia.HeightMap:LoadFromBinaryFile(String) (at Assets/Gaia/Scripts/Utils/HeightMap.cs:742)
    Gaia.HeightMap:.ctor(String) (at Assets/Gaia/Scripts/Utils/HeightMap.cs:177)
    Gaia.UnityHeightMap:.ctor(String) (at Assets/Gaia/Scripts/Utils/UnityHeightMap.cs:25)
    Gaia.Stamper:LoadStamp() (at Assets/Gaia/Scripts/StampingSystem/Stamper.cs:336)
    Gaia.StamperEditor:OnInspectorGUI() (at Assets/Gaia/Scripts/Editor/StamperEditor.cs:271)
    UnityEngine.GUIUtility: ProcessEvent(Int32, IntPtr)

    In my case it could be long file name issue that is validated in 4.6 and not 3.5 but hopefully this along with the one cyeninas was getting will help you fathom the source of the problem.
     
  38. bholland

    bholland

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    Adam, first of all, wonderful tool, I'm having a ton of fun playing with it. Very well done! I have a question about performance. I'm able to build fantastic worlds and as long as I move the player in a strait line everything is very smooth. However, the second I start to turn it gets a bit jumpy. I've tried lowering the number of objects on screen, but it doesn't seem to matter. Am I missing something, I've created an environment with just "grass" or just a few trees but when I turn things start to really jump. I am developing on a low end computer but when I built the game and moved it to a more powerful system it is the same thing. Any tips?

    Thanks!
     
    S4G4N likes this.
  39. AdamGoodrich

    AdamGoodrich

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    Yep - you need to be making things that work at the level of the hardware you are targeting. Gaia has been set up to work well with most mid range desktops with a GPU.

    However if you are targeting lower end systems, you will need to change things up. Here is a guide to optimisation i wrote some time ago - take a look and have a play : http://www.procedural-worlds.com/gaia/tutorials/mobile-unity-scene-optimisation-with-gaia/

    I am working on a maintenance release today, and plan to push out an update in the next day or so. I will test for this and resolve while I am at it.
     
    evilangel89 and runningbird like this.
  40. cyeninas

    cyeninas

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    So that's why my game has been speaking in tongues... I'll cancel the appointment for the priest! Heh
     
  41. AdamGoodrich

    AdamGoodrich

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    Erm woops :)

    Gaia 1.6 maintenance release will be live in a few hours.

    It resolves all warnings and obsolete errors, and has been tested working with 2017.1, and also 2017.1 with .net 4.6 experimental. It also has the new camera and light package and now uses the new Unity Post Processing stack which is much much nicer.

    Change notes:

    v1.6.0

    • Removed all obsolete warnings and messages
    • Fixed experimental .net 4.6 issue on 2017.1
    • Upgraded camera and light package
    • Fixed lighting on sample prefabs
    • Configured speedtree for instancing
    • Configured terrain for instancing
    • Added removal autodetect
    • Various small UX tidy ups
     
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  42. mattis89

    mattis89

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    Any update on Gaia 2 ?
     
  43. AdamGoodrich

    AdamGoodrich

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    No more than has been said a bunch of times already. Its delayed because CTS took longer than expected, however CTS is now stable and running nicely so post this maintenance release I am back on G2 dev.

    Anyone who is stuck, please PM me. I am prepared of offer limited access to G2 but you need to know your stuff and be prepared for it to be a little rocky as I rewire some of the major pieces back together. I will add polish last.
     
    Last edited: Jul 17, 2017
    mattis89 likes this.
  44. Raman180

    Raman180

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    Well, looks im buying Gaia then, but if Gaia2 is comming perhaps better wait? or what would the updatecost be from the first version?
     
  45. Magic73

    Magic73

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    Gaia2 will be released as a free update for the Gaia's owners.
    You have to pay the GPU addon, if you want it.
     
  46. AdamGoodrich

    AdamGoodrich

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    Yep G2 will be a free and massive upgrade, much more than just multi tiles and I have already put another 8 months work at least into it.

    There will also be additional compute shader plugins that will take it to another level again. The biggest benefit of the compute shaders will be to make G2 essentially a real time tool. They will be a separate paid addon.

    Now that CTS is out there I will start to show the two of them off working together.

    G1 comes with a great set of features and sample assets but after looking at the same textures for several years now its fair to say I am quite sick of them.

    It was especially satisfying yesterday to click 2 buttons to get an insta transformation of my environment into something completely different - and way better.

    It's actually a little hard to look at vanilla unity terrain any more :)
     
    Last edited: Jul 17, 2017
  47. Xrystal

    Xrystal

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    Just to confirm that the camera and light package worked a lot better than before for me .. ( once I had installed the Unity files - yes I forgot again ). The warnings have all gone apart from the speed tree rebuild messages. Will update this once I have confirmed net 4.6 is working for me, but I am sure it will do :)
     
  48. Xrystal

    Xrystal

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    Well, thought I would try my hand at my own resource and settings files to customize which textures to use. I'll probably have to rewatch the videos as I must have forgotten something as it seems to be just using the one texture, although I could be wrong. Here are some screenshots of my grassland scene.

    Grab 20170717202208 w1847h1039 x13y153z-83r120.jpg Grab 20170717202326 w1847h1039 x417y202z306r262.jpg Grab 20170717202349 w1847h1039 x424y203z425r284.jpg Grab 20170717202432 w1847h1039 x467y196z586r16.jpg
     
  49. Xrystal

    Xrystal

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    I just noticed something, and it may be intentional, but when using the visualiser on textures and adjust the fitness slopes it doesn't update the resource entry for that texture, unlike the values. I've only played with it on textures so it may be happening on all of the resources.
     
  50. AdamGoodrich

    AdamGoodrich

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    Yep, there is unfortunately nothing I can do about that.

    It's been a unity weirdness forever which I wish they would fix. How hard can it be on importing SpeedTree to also rebuild it.

    I did consider removing speedtree because of this, but its very convenient for my customers, and they stop the default spawn from breaking.