[RELEASED] Curvy 2 - the ultimate spline solution

Check out the shape scripts (CSCircle.cs, CSPie.cs) on how to do arcs. If that doesn't help, perhaps start a thread in our support forum and provide some images. After all it's all about clever handle placement.

 

Hey Jake,

Do you know if Curvy Spline is compatible with PS4? I just started our port to PlayStation and I am getting some ExecutionEngineException: Attempting to JIT compile method errors.

Thanks,
Colton

 

FYI switching the scripting backend from Mono 2x to IL2CPP seemed to make curvy work on the PlayStation.

Cheers,
Colton

 

That's good to know, thanks!

 

Hello, I want to ask how was done the effect of the neon cables or pipes of the trailer scene of the first video shown on the first post of the first page. What was used?

Thanks

 

is there a way to rotate the control point?

 

Just select the control point and use the standard Unity rotation tool.

 

Ok thanks. One last question. I do not want the object with the SplineController script to move to the first CP by default. I have written a script that keeps the first point at the exact location of the spline controller object and on button press start leave the first CP where you are and start moving along the spline. problem is that when i start moving along the path if i am not facing the direction of the path upon button press then my rotation is snapped to math the correct orientation. is there a way to ease this? Also do i have to start at the first point?

 

Hi there!

After updating from version 2.0.2 to 2.1.1, I'm not able to edit the initial position of the Spline Controller at runtime anymore. The variable just won't change from 0.
Am I missing something?

Thanks

 

How do you change InitialPosition? You can't change it in the inspector at runtime, but this little test I just wrote works (attach to a GameObject having a SplineController:

Code (csharp):

1.  
2. using FluffyUnderware.Curvy.Controllers;
3. using UnityEngine;
4.  
5. public class test : MonoBehaviour {
6.     public bool go;
7.  
8.     void Update () {
9.         if (go)
10.         {
11.             var con = GetComponent<SplineController>();
12.             con.Stop(); // just in case it's running
13.             con.InitialPosition = Random.Range(0, con.Spline.Length);
14.             go = false;
15.         }  
16.     }
17.  
18.  

 

Not sure if I understand you right. Are you moving the spline's CP to match the controller's position? Perhaps you could show a picture to clarify...

 

yes OntriggerEnter I am moving the splines first control point to match that of the controller SetParent(1st control point); until I exit the trigger. Upon exit I unparent the 1st control point and then call the splineControllers play method to begin moving the controller along the path leaving the 1st control point behind where i exited the trigger. problem is that once it calls the method if the car is not oriented or facing the direction of the path flows then the car snaps to the correct orientation before it moves. I am loooking for a way to make the process seamless.

 

Thanks for your reply,

I see the problem now. Your example works in Update, but not in the Start method. Somehow the value of initialPosition arrives before the Spline Controller is fully operational I guess? In the earlier version this was not an issue. How could I solve this? It's quite important because I am instantiating Gameobjects with a Spline controller component in front of the player position.

Best regards

 

We have a section about it in the docs, please see here!

 

I've used Curvy a lot, but only for path following. I'm not very knowledgeable in Curvy's more advanced features like generation. I'm wondering if Curvy is able to do something for me. I have a set of race track prefabs to build roads for a racing game. Is it possible to attach a series of road segments to a curvy spline and have curvy conform the segments to the spline shape so that I can have the road follow the terrain? If so, where would I start with learning how to do that?

 

Thanks a lot!

 

Hello, I'm sorry to bother you again, but I'm still running into some issues about setting the initialPosition at Start.

The problem happens when I am catching the Spline from a GameObject in the scene, and then assigning it to a curvy controller at runtime.
I make sure the spline is initialized with a coroutine, I even checked if it was initialized when assigned to the curvy controller. However the initial position doesn't update when getting a new value.

After a bit of research I also found the SplineController property "isInitialized". I made a coroutine for that too, but no matter the time it waits it never gets true.

It would be awesome if you could write me a simple example of catching the spline, assigning to a controller and changing the initial position. Below is the test code I have so far.

Thanks!

Code (CSharp):

1. public class Test : MonoBehaviour
2. {
3.     void Start()
4.     {
5.         SplineController con = GetComponent<SplineController>();
6.         CurvySpline mainSpline = GameObject.FindGameObjectWithTag("Spline").GetComponent<CurvySpline>();
7.  
8.         Debug.Log("main spline initialized: " + mainSpline.IsInitialized); //Reads false
9.  
10.         StartCoroutine(Start(con, mainSpline));
11.     }
12.  
13.     IEnumerator Start(SplineController controller, CurvySpline spline)
14.     {
15.         if (spline)
16.         {
17.             while (!spline.IsInitialized)
18.             {
19.                 yield return null;
20.             }
21.         }
22.  
23.         Debug.Log("main spline initialized after waiting loop: " + spline.IsInitialized); //Reads true
24.  
25.         if (controller)
26.         {
27.             controller.Spline = spline;
28.  
29.             Debug.Log("controllerSpline initialized: " + controller.Spline.IsInitialized); //Reads true
30.             Debug.Log("controller dependencies initialized: " + controller.DependenciesInitialized); //Reads true
31.             Debug.Log("controller initialized: " + controller.IsInitialized); //Reads false
32.  
33.             while (!controller.IsInitialized) //This loop has no end, as controller never gets initialized
34.             {
35.                 yield return null;
36.             }
37.  
38.             Debug.Log("controller initialized after waiting loop: " + controller.IsInitialized);
39.  
40.             controller.InitialPosition = Random.Range(0, controller.Spline.Length);
41.            
42.             Debug.Log(controller.InitialPosition);
43.         }
44.     }
45. }

 

Nevermind, I found what was missing.
After assigning the spline, the method "Prepare()" has to be called in order to initialize the controller.

Best,

 

I posted this on the Fluffy Underware Support Forum, but I didn't receive a response. I'll copy/paste here, see if I have better luck:

One of our uses for CurvyGenerator is to automatically build and place repetitive geometry in environment assets. For example, we'll use it to generate columns around the perimeter of a Roman temple. We would then like to turn the entire GameObject into a prefab and use those prefabs across several scene environments.

However, we're having an issue when it comes to turning these assets into prefabs. An asset with CurvyGenerator can be turned into a prefab just fine, but if we instantiate it, it will immediately lose its prefab connection. I believe this is due to CurvyGenerator.Update() in the editor, which is called due to ExecuteInEditMode. It will immediately call Initialize(), which in turn will call Refresh(true). This causes a CreateGameObject module in the generator to refresh, deleting its current managed resources while creating new ones. This last bit is what breaks the prefab connection.

This isn't ideal for us, so I was wondering what the recommended workflow is for our use case? Currently, the only ways I see around this are to either disable the CreateGameObject module after generating its resources at edit time, or to not include the CurvyGenerator in the prefab and instead generate the geometry separately, after which we pull the geometry into the prefab and update it. Both of these solutions aren't super satisfactory, since it adds extra steps (and potential opportunities for forgetfulness or mistakes) to our prefab process. Do you recommend a different approach?

Thanks!

 

I'll see if it's useful to add this to the property. At least at runtime this makes sense, I think.

 

https://forum.fluffyunderware.com/showthread.php?tid=425

 

See the 22_CGClonePrefabs example for a setup that places prefabs along a path. Add a ConformPath module to the virtual (green colored) path, just before the rasterization module (or the extrude module, if you want to extrude in the same process).

 

Thanks for the information. It may come in handy some day, but I needed something sooner so I am using EasyRoads3D Pro for my race track creation now.

 

Curvy 2.1.2 Release notes

• [NEW] Added CreatePathLineRenderer CG module
• [NEW] Addressed Unity 5.5 incompatibilities
• [FIX] SplineController.AdaptOnChange failing under some conditions
• [FIX] Selecting a spline while the Shape wizard is open immediately changes it's shape
• [FIX] ModifierMixShapes module not generating normals
• [CHANGE] Changed 20_CGPath example to showcase CreatePathLineRenderer module

 

Hey there!

I just updated Curvy to the latest version and it seems that it contains are some serious bugs (at least with Unity 5.5.1p3 which I am using right now)

First of all I can't build my project for Android and second if you got to Edit->Preferences you are not able to click on the "curvy" section. Moreover it crashes the whole preferences window which needs to be closed and reopened to get it back to work.
There are some more issues and they all throw the same exception which has something to do with the curvy dev-tools:

It would be great if you can upload a fix for that!

 

I've tested Curvy with 5.0.4, 5.5.1 and 5.6.0b6 and everything compiled and run fine. I recommend to delete the packages folder (/Curvy, /CurvyExamples, /DevTools) and reimport everything. Errors like that usually come from failed package imports, corrupted temp/library files and such.

 

Already tried that

I even tried to del the whole library folder (hard reset of a project) with a complete new re-import of all assets. The problem is still there.

 

Alright, sorry for double-posting but I got rid of the problem. It had nothing to do with any plugin: Unity itself was it!

I had to reinstall Unity and now everything works fine!

 

Why are the splines using so many milliseconds of performance per Update frame? Even though they aren't doing anything? I have a scene where 30 percent of performance comes from BehaviourUpdate/CurvySpline.Update(). Also what's with all the garbage? I thought it was common knowledge that C# garbage collection in Unity is useless. Why create so many new variables in Update?

Am I simply misinformed?

 

CurvySpline.Update() check's if a spline (or more accurate: spline segments) has pending changes and updates it's cache if needed only. So I guess you're either changing a spline or CP parameter each frame or CurvySpline.CheckTransform is enabled and you have tons of Control Points.

And you're not misinformed in general, GC is slow, that's why we avoid feeding it. A spline doesn't feed the GC each frame. Updating/Refreshing caches do, but only creating as less garbage as possible.

Feel free to start a thread in our support forum or contact me by mail to share some more details of your setup. I'm pretty sure we get this sorted.

 

Thanks, that solved it.

 

hello, i try to use curvy 2 using generator, but i watched the tutorial video, but i didn t manage to get 2 materials into one extrude tube. could u develop this matter ? i use the default template from the generator for this. i try to assign to the shape curve each point a different id playing with the uv values, but with no result. i use the latest version from the asset store.
thanks

 

i try to build for windows store, but i got this error
Assets\Packages\DevTools\Extensions\Extensions.cs(1052,43): error CS1061: 'Type' does not contain a definition for 'IsGenericType' and no extension method 'IsGenericType' accepting a first argument of type 'Type' could be found (are you missing a using directive or an assembly reference?)

any idea?

thanks

 

Sounds like you're using an older DevTools version. Please try delete /Assets/Packages/DevTools and reimport Curvy.

 

Hey Jake,

I want to move your packages folder of curvy 2.1.2 into my /Assets/_SystemTools folder.
Is this save to do?

thanks

 

Yes. But you might want to restart Unity afterwards to let Curvy find it's new "root" folder.

 

Hi Jake,

Unity 5.6x produce about 25 Obsolete warnings with curvy 2.1.2. I have fixed the most by my self.

The new Handles. function need an EventType.
Handles.CubeHandleCap(id, position + direction * length, rotation, HandleUtility.GetHandleSize(position) * size, EventType.Ignore);

Is EventType.Ignore correct?

thanks.

 

Use EventType.Repaint!

The good news: the updated version is ready to submit!

 

Thank you.

 

Did you updated from 2.1.2 to the new one on the asset store? It's still the same.

 

Hey Jake,

We are very interested in your plugin but before we purchase it we wanted to see if it is capable of doing what we need. We are building a game where the player needs to move in a 3D environment while following the path of the curve but rather than running directly on the curve the character controller needs to be running over a terrain and still be able to jump, fall into pits and run into colliders etc. Klonoa is a perfect example of the type of control we are looking to have. Thanks in advance for your feedback.

 

Hi @Jake-L
could curvy be used to make a flexible hose?
if yes, could you point out how one might go about doing it?

 

Hi,
What is the best way to drag a 3D object with mouse/touch along a spline?

 

Curvy has some issues at connection points. If the connection point lay in a curve and the spline controller move over the connection point then the controller yerks for a short time. I dived into the problem and the approximation table of the two last entries (near 1) have the same angle. This cause a bad movement at control points.

Rotating handles at a connection of 3 splines unfortunately flips some of the handles into the opposite direction. Sync Rotation should take care of signed value of a handle L/R.

Copy that. The spline controller spinning rotation create an late/fixed/update() and GC call per segment. This is a big performance issue on larger spline sets. It can be prevented by an option in your segment code.

Moving a controller over a connection of more then 2 splines cause the controller to a unwanted flip while moving backwards sometime. The logic is buggy.

The API GetAngle (or similar) returns wrong angles in some situations.

Some basic stuff of curvy is buggy and need to be fixed or enhanced.
Can you help plz?

 

This ran into different porblems, what happen if the mouse move over another spline?
Does the object snap to the other spline? If not, what range the object should use, between control points, segments splines. From my side I would try GetNearestPoint() and clamp the result.

 

When is this coming please? This post was just shy of two months ago, but according to the Asset Store I have the latest version and i'm still getting a crapton of warnings from Curvy and DevTools which are very annoying.

 

For an unconnected spline this is expected, but connected splines should take care of that. Started a ticket to look into it.

Could you elaborate? If I profile a SplineController I get exactly zero GC allocs, like it should be. What do I need to do to reproduce it?

 

I have written a script that is attached to an Edys Vechicle which once enabled disables user input and begins moving the vehicle on a spline path. This works but there is a noticeable jerk when the switch is made.

Am I right to assume that once the spline movement is activated the jerk is caused by the vehicle stopping to align itself and begin moving at the speed set by in the controller?

Also, is there a way to have the vehicle continue with its current speed which is in fact matched up with the curvy movment speed with out the pause.

The alignment part I have fixed by making the first point(0) and the second point(1) a child of the vehicle through script and once the switch is activated (sContoller.Play()) the points are then unparented and remain in place and the vehicle moves along the spline as needed.

 

Attaching a spline controller to an object, an set the position I got the following warning
in each Frame

• SendMessage cannot be called during Awake, CheckConsistency, or OnValidate
• UnityEngine.Transform:set_localRotation(Quaternion)
• FluffyUnderware.Curvy.CurvyController:ApplyTransformRotation(Quaternion) (at Assets/Packages/Curvy/Base/CurvyController.cs:967)
• FluffyUnderware.Curvy.CurvyController:applyPositionAndRotation(Single) (at Assets/Packages/Curvy/Base/CurvyController.cs:1218)
• FluffyUnderware.Curvy.CurvyControllerPrepare() (at Assets/Packages/Curvy/Base/CurvyController.cs:736)
• FluffyUnderware.Curvy.Controllers.SplineControllerPrepare() (at Assets/Packages/Curvy/Controllers/SplineController.cs:293)
• FluffyUnderware.Curvy.CurvyController:OnValidate() (at Assets/Packages/Curvy/Base/CurvyController.cs:660)
• FluffyUnderware.Curvy.Controllers.SplineController:OnValidate() (at Assets/Packages/Curvy/Controllers/SplineController.cs:272)
• UnityEditor.SerializedObject:ApplyModifiedProperties()
• FluffyUnderware.DevToolsEditor.DTEditor`1:RenderGUI(Boolean) (at Assets/Packages/DevTools/Editor/DTEditor.cs:153)
• FluffyUnderware.DevToolsEditor.DTEditor`1:OnInspectorGUI() (at Assets/Packages/DevTools/Editor/DTEditor.cs:130)
• UnityEngine.GUIUtilityProcessEvent(Int32, IntPtr)

It does not take care before a connection. Here is a proof and example scene.

Code (CSharp):

1. using FluffyUnderware.Curvy;
2. using System.Collections;
3. using UnityEngine;
4.  
5. public class Check_T : MonoBehaviour {
6.  
7.     public CurvySpline Spline;
8.     private IEnumerator coroutine;
9.  
10.     void Start() {
11.         coroutine = WaitForSplineInitialized(Spline);
12.         StartCoroutine(coroutine);
13.  
14.         // Spline.Refresh();
15.  
16.         // We want to access Segment-1 because error happens to the last and previous Approximation table index
17.         // (O)-------------(1)============(2)
18.  
19.         int segment = Spline.ControlPointCount - 1; // Segment=2
20.         segment -= 1;  // Segment=1
21.  
22.         var t_array = Spline.ControlPoints[segment].ApproximationT; // get Approximation table
23.         Debug.Log("ApproximationT.length = " + t_array.Length);
24.  
25.         // Display
26.         for (int i = t_array.Length - 5; i <= t_array.Length-1; i++) {
27.             Debug.Log("ApproximationT[last-" + (i+1) + "] = " + t_array[i]);
28.         }
29.  
30.     }
31.  
32.     IEnumerator WaitForSplineInitialized(CurvySpline Spline) {
33.         if (Spline) {
34.             while (!Spline.IsInitialized)
35.                 yield return null;
36.         }
37.     }
38.  
39. }
40.  

1) WaitForSplineInitialized(Spline); does not work. It does not wait until the spline is initialized.
If Spline.Refresh() de-commented it works. I'd like to wait as long as the splines are not Initialized in start()

2) This example scripts display the tangent bug on the last index of the .ApproximationT[] field.

3) What can I do against handle flipping bug of a connection, if at last 2 splines are connected?
Can you fix this?

 

Already answered by mail, but for everyone: you'll have to declare Start() as "IEnumerator Start()" in order to make yield work.