"ProBuilder"- Fast, Simple 3D Modeling in Unity- Beta Test to Win a Free Copy! :)

Thank you. Will wait for the evaluation, if you still plan on releasing it. Just need to do my own battery of tests. Do you have an ETA?

Best,
DK

 

Just a heads up,

It appears that in the pro version of unity, builderboxes that are parented to other objects don't move with the parent. The colliders seem to move, but not the rendered mesh.

 

Thanks LeakySink, I'll look into this.

 

Thanks for all your answers, things are making sense

Excuse my ignorance, but is it possible to add a vert / modification point to a probuilder box?

 

In the future, this might be possible, however it's really the "style" of modeling that ProBuilder uses. ProBuilder is all about simplicity and building from basic shapes

 

Hey, What is the ETA of this being on the asset store?

I want it

EDIT: Would it be possible to get an evaluation copy?

 

Hi HeadClot- it's on the Asset Store already, actually!

Better yet, just PM me and I'll send you the latest version, I haven't had a chance to update the Asset Store version.

Sorry, free version hasn't been made yet- just too busy. Perhaps in the next month or so.

 

Hey yahodahan.
I just had an interesting issue with Progrids. Nothing big, and really my fault, but figured I'd take the opportunity to share in case anybody else runs into the same problem.
I went to go check a project with Progrids into SVN, naturally I forgot to enable Meta files beforehand, so I accidentally lost all script references in my scenes. Interestingly, the _grid object in the scene also lost it's script reference, which caused a NullReferenceException when I tried to Connect ProGrids. I also couldn't delete the offending object, because it was locked by ProGrids.
So I made an editor script.

Code (csharp):

1.  
2. using UnityEngine;
3. using UnityEditor;
4. using System.Collections;
5.  
6. public class CleanUpProgrids : EditorWindow
7. {
8.     [MenuItem("Window/Clean Up Progrid")]
9.     public static void init()
10.     {
11.         DestroyImmediate( GameObject.Find( "_grid" ) );
12.     }
13. }
14.  

Problem solved, but could probably build something like this into the package to make things easier.

 

Hi Phobic Gunner-

Thanks for sharing that, I have thought of building in a few utilities like that, just a bit swamped at the moment. How's the tool working for you so far? Screenshots? I'd love to see 'em!

 

I'm still using the beta version so not sure if you're aware of this bug or if it still even exists.

So if you start probuilder, start editing some geometry and then enter play mode while still editing, the geometry becomes permanently in edit mode and cannot be deleted or deactivated.

The fix is to make the geometry in question a child of a standard unity gameobject, then delete that.

 

Interesting, thanks LeakySink. Adding it to the list!
PS, the full version has support for rotation, scaling, proper normals, and much more!

 

Can't afford it mate. Maybe one day...

 

Hmm, tell you what- you make a great game, and I'll sponser you with the full ProTools package, in exchange for some cross-promotion, and payment once you have the funds.

What's that you say? You already have good start? Well you sir just got a PM!

Other folks- if you have a great project in the works, and proof of it, don't be afraid to ask for a similar deal. I'd love to help get your game going! Please PM me if so

 

so basically this is box modeling with no subdivisions (just attach another box for more than 8 verts)?

Do you have any examples of organic modeling, such as an animal?

When you modeled the medieval building, if you wanted it to be a hollow interior, how would you set the shell or extrusion (how does snapping work for non-integer units)?

 

Hello Ina-

-even more basically, it's good 'ol "BSP" modeling (ie Quake, Unreal, Hammer)

-organic modeling is NOT what ProBuilder is for, unfortunatly. It can be done, but oofda, it's tedius! ProBuilder, like BSP, is all about great looking and efficient environmental modeling. It's a tool you'll find in every game engine except Unity, and that's why I made it. However, if you need to model a puppy/dragon/human/etc, that's what Max, Maya, Blender, etc are for.

-Currently, there is no "shell" or extrusion, you would build each of the four sides as seperete blocks. Again, all about being efficient with geometry. ProGrids, which comes free when you register the program, allows snapping to any degree you like, gives a fully customizable visual grid, and even works on any object at all in Unity.

Thanks for the interest!

 

I am a Technical Artist at Softstar in Taiwan, here is company website: http://www.softstar.com.tw/
We are making a 3D game for iPhone and iPad, so I am surveying a tool for Unity 3d to build up the environment in efficient way.
It seems probuilder is a good choice for me to speed up my tech processing in game development.
Can I get a beta version for testing out?

 

Yes, this looks very interesting. I am making a game and am in need of a 3D modeling system (Tried Blender but it just doesn't work right for me...) I am trying to create some caves and cliff overhangs, etc.

I think that this is an awesome idea, and Unity should have come up with something like this!

 

If this was a tad cheaper i would already be reaching for my credit card... This looks amazing. However, at the price of almost 100$ I'm reluctant. I understand that a lot of work has gone into this, and it really seems like an essential asset, but don't you think it could sell larger volumes at around 50$? 50 is kind of a magic line for me, and i think it is for a lot of developers.

 

Sorry, was off on a MUCH needed vacation- the beta is no longer active, but the latest version is much, much better than the beta was- well worth the cost!

 

Hopefully they don't soon, or I'm out of an income!

 

I agree, $100 is a high price point for anything, and in fact I originally intended to sell for about $20, believe it or not. However, as the tool came together, and become much, much more than I had hoped for, and really proved to be an invaluable asset to my own game creation, I felt $100 was a more fitting price. Especially since ProBuilder 2.0 is just over the horizon, which is a complete overhaul for speed, useability, and tons of new features.

I'm always open to the option of "sponsoring" truly great games/concepts, by the way- just message me if interested.

 

I'm definetly not saying it's not worth the price I think a BSP style flow of creating a game world is a huge catalyst for development speed and creativity. My point was more that you might profit from charging less by more than doubling your volume. Anyway, that part is up to you and i won't be bothering you about it

My current project is more based around outdoor enviroments and mostly requires organic models, so i'm not in desperate need right now. Someone else probably needs that sponsoring more than i do But since i've hit a roadblock (not being a modeler really) i might buy this and try to make some nice indoor game prototype when i get a bit more money. Until then, the best of luck to you!

 

How does ProBuilder interact with 3.5's navmesh? I assume that as long as the meshes have collision they'll work just fine, but I'm curious if anyone has experience with it.

Also, what does the roadmap look like for ProBuilder? What are the next planned features?

 

Thanks for the interest! It hasn't been tested with the NavMesh by myself, but this is a good point- will try to look at it in the near future!

Currently, I am extremely busy putting together ProBuilder 2.0, which will be a massive, very exciting, new version. Details on that coming soon!

 

I assume that 1.5 customers will get 2.0 as a free update?

 

Of course Free updates forever, naturally!

 

Beautiful. I'm gonna go ahead and buy it, then.

It seems like a great tool, and I've spent 10+ years in the game industry using Unreal so I'm most comfortable with a BSP-like solution for doing level blockouts. Lack of a quick geometry solution is one of Unity's biggest gaping holes, so I hope ProBuilder stays the course and continues to provide a solid, supported, affordable solution.

Keep up the great work!

 

Just bought and imported and got this warning (not an error) in the log:

Code (csharp):

1. Assets/ProBuilder_AssetStore_1.5/6by7/ProBuilder/Scripts/builder_Plane.js(89,54): BCW0028: WARNING: Implicit downcast from 'UnityEngine.Object' to 'UnityEngine.Material'.

Anything to be concerned about?

 

Crap, just ran into my first issue. I also use the uScript addon, which has a Gizmos folder in the root as well. Thus, I can't copy the Gizmos folder from the ProBuilder folder out into the root.

Should I just copy the contents of ProBuilder's Gizmos folder into the existing Gizmos folder already created by uScript?

Also, should I be making support requests somewhere other than this thread? Just point me to a different place if needed.

 

Thanks! I used to use Unreal quite a bit in the past, then moved to the "Hammer" engine which had a wonderfully fast and powerful BSP editor, which became the inspiration for ProBuilder: a proper BSP-style geometry tool for Unity.

It's only 10% of that goal, but 2.0 will bring it much, much closer!

 

About the first (yellow) error, nope, it's just a warning due to an implicit downcast. You'll see those a lot once you get into scripting, not a problem.

You could move the gizmos into your uScript gizmos folder, yes.

I am putting together a special forum just for this, and several other tools I'm about to launch- meanwhile, email is probably best, although the forum here is fine since it helps others too.

Send me an email with your order number, to register, and I'll get you full ProTools package (ProGroups+ProGrids+ProBuilder)!

 

Already sent.

 

Been using ProBuilder today and overall really like it. That said, there are a few things I think could be improved.

• It'd be nice to have a quicker way to get into and out of Edit mode than having to click a button. Perhaps a keyboard shortcut?
• Duplicated boxes remain linked, which is no good. Duplicating a box is a much faster way to create a new box that's on the grid, given the crappy way in which Unity instantiates new objects at fairly arbitrary locations, but duplication isn't a valid path in ProBuilder because if you duplicate a box and then edit it, it also changes the source box even if the source box isn't selected. This is frustrating. :-/
• When you have collision turned on on a box and edit it, the collision isn't updated. You can disable and re-enable collision to get updated collision, but I can't think of a reason that ProBuilder wouldn't do this itself when you click Done.

Anyway, just some quick thoughts. Overall ProBuilder has been a great addition to my project, and roughing out spaces is going about 1,000x faster than using Unity's primitives, which are positively terrible.


Keep up the great work!

 

A couple of other thoughts:

• The duplication bug might only happen with objects that have collision turned on when they're duplicated. I haven't seen it with fresh, non-colliding brushes (though I still haven't spent long w/ the tool, so I haven't tested this thoroughly).
• It'd be nice if the coordinates that draw when you're dragging a face showed the size of the brush, not the world coordinates. I'm more interested in whether the brush is 10 units long than I am in where that face is in the world, although some people might feel differently so if you change this I'd make it a user option.
• It'd be nice if the grid lines matched up in whole units on a brush. By which I mean that they seem to center on the middle of the brush and count outward from there, instead of going end-to end. So if you're counting whole units (i.e. from one bright yellow grid line to the next), you frequently get brushes that have a half-unit on either end, instead of a bright white line. In other words, a 12 unit long will have 11 white-line-to-white-line grid units on its face, and then will have a half-unit on either end (which still adds up to 12, of course) instead of having 12 whole white-line-to-white-line units.

I'll probably add more notes as I keep using the tool, but that's what I've got for the moment.

 

Oops, one more question: is it possible/safe to rotate a brush, or should you always create a new one and leave it in its current orientation?

 

Another question, because everybody loves questions: is there any possibility of adding Unreal-style subtractions?

And another: is there a way to deselect a brush when you're in ProBuilder view? If you've got the Hierarchy view up you can click into the empty space below the list of objects to deselect whatever you have selected, but that doesn't work in ProBuilder. If you're building an enclosed space without any void to click on, it seems you can't deselect your current selection. Am I missing a shortcut?

 

I've been pretty regularly getting the following Null Reference errors when trying to drag-select vertices. Anecdotally, it seems like it happens with vertices that are flush up against other brushes and aren't directly visible from the camera.

Code (csharp):

1. NullReferenceException
2. UnityEngine.Transform.get_position ()
3. ProBuilderWindow.FilterSelection () (at Assets/Editor/6by7/ProBuilder/ProBuilderWindow.js:658)
4. ProBuilderWindow.Update () (at Assets/Editor/6by7/ProBuilder/ProBuilderWindow.js:75)
5. System.Reflection.MonoMethod.Invoke (System.Object obj, BindingFlags invokeAttr, System.Reflection.Binder binder, System.Object[] parameters, System.Globalization.CultureInfo culture)
6. Rethrow as TargetInvocationException: Exception has been thrown by the target of an invocation.
7. System.Reflection.MonoMethod.Invoke (System.Object obj, BindingFlags invokeAttr, System.Reflection.Binder binder, System.Object[] parameters, System.Globalization.CultureInfo culture)
8. System.Reflection.MethodBase.Invoke (System.Object obj, System.Object[] parameters)
9. UnityEditor.HostView.Invoke (System.String methodName, System.Object obj)
10. UnityEditor.HostView.Invoke (System.String methodName)
11. UnityEditor.HostView.SendUpdate ()
12. UnityEditor.EditorApplication.Internal_CallUpdateFunctions ()

 

-Yep, this is coming in 2.0!
-This is a known bug that is going to be eradicated via 2.0 having a completely different editing system. However, it only happens if you do not "edit" the box before duplicating it. I build almost everything via duplication (see the "Medieval House" time-lapse vid), and didn't catch this bug till late in the game since I would always edit a box immediatly upon duplicating it. Sorry for the confusion there, but it should work fine with a little special treatment, for now
-The collision isn't updated mid-edit because it would slow things down a LOT if they user was editing a lot of verts at once. It does auto-update the instant you click "Done", but you aren't seeing this happen? Odd.

 

Regarding a quicker way to get into edit mode, have you considered it simply being an editor state, like how Unreal does?

By which I mean that if you click Geometry Edit, any brush you touch will be in edit mode, with its verts ready to be changed. The same could be done with Texture Mode. So when you're working, you can just breeze between brushes and not even need a shortcut.

 

-see above response for duplication bug fix
-definitely, I will be adding much more information to the sides and corners of boxes (toggle-able, of course)
-Hmm, the texture grid on the faces actually never moves unless edited via the texture edit panel. ie, if you grab the right-most face, and pull it over 11 units, you will have a 12 unit long cube, with 11 lines/cuts, and the edge lines exactly on the edge. However, if you then grab the left most face, and move it over .5 units, it will appear "unstuck", since the texture stays anchored in relation to the box's pivot point, not the verts.

I think there may be a mis-communication going on in the above comment, however the point is valid: texture coordinates are a PITA. This, too is on it's way to a very clean and intuitive fix (just see exactly how Hammer does it, that's exactly what ProBuilder will become).

Thanks for the notes!

 

Rotate, scale, move- it's all good! That was a big, important update that was finalized in version 1.5, and it makes a world of a difference.

However, in general, scaling is a really big no-no. It won't necessarily break things, but it's bad practice, especially when the point of ProBuilder is to move away from such things, and into proper "real" dimensions.

 

Stop reading my secret ProBuilder 2.0 notes Yep, that's exactly how it's going to work. Should save everyone quite a bit of hair-pulling and tooth-grinding!

PS- that's an very strange null ref. I havn't run into, don't have time to test at the moment, but will do!

 

Gotcha. You should probably update the documentation, then, because it still says "Rotating and Scaling will mess things up- don't do it!"

 

Has anyone else run into an issue where you suddenly can't select anything in your 3D window? This has happened to me twice now, although I've spent probably 12 or 16 hours using ProBuilder.

When it happens you can't select anything; ProBuilder brushes, lights, actors ... clicks just don't register. The only way to fix it is by restarting Unity.

 

I should...that will be part of version 1.6, which is coming fast with some small but handy improvements.

I believe that issue can happen if you are in vert or texture edit mode, then open/save/close/play the scene. Also something in the pipe for 2.0 or sooner, sorry for the trouble there. Or, it might be something altogether different? The selection system is being completely overhauled for 2.0 though, so that bug should be wiped in the process.

 

Awesome, man. I really appreciate the prompt and informative replies.

 

You bet. I know (hope) people are waiting excitedly for ProBuilder 2.0, making sure everyone knows it's on it's way and not slowing down. Too often devs just disappear in the middle of a big update...

 

Is there any way to uninstall ProGrids? I haven't been using it, but I am unable to delete the _grid object in my hierarchy view.

 

Hmm, I'll make a script especially for that.
Also, new version that you might find much more useful, about to be released

 

Sweet!