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[RELEASED] Dimensions And Portals

Discussion in 'Assets and Asset Store' started by Gobla, Feb 6, 2014.

  1. Gobla

    Gobla

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    Intro
    Dimensions And Portals is an asset that allows you to create Dimensional Gates and Portals in Unity. This is available for Unity and Unity Pro and supports both forward rendering as deferred rendering (Deferred with limitations). This is also available and tested for Android and iOS.

    Does NOT require Unity Pro, will work in Unity and Unity Pro!

    Dimensions: So if you want to create multiple dimensions, dimensional gates, different timelines, special glasses to see ghosts, the past or whatever you can imagine involving the Dimensions and Portals package, you can make it now.

    Portals: Always wanted to create portals in your own Unity based game? This package will help you to start. Do note that the Portals contain the Portal FX (looking through the portals) and have Portal Mechanics (Walking through the portals). However it requires additional programming to create a FULL Valve’s Portal Clone. Scripts have been added to roughly mimic the Valve’s Portals Mechanics and looks.

    Asset
    You can find it in the asset store here: http://u3d.as/5H6


    Demo Video + Comments:


    Try the demo scene yourself:
    http://peculiardeveloper.com/u3d/DAP/ (120 mb)

    OLD test scenes:
    http://www.minitankbattles.com/IslandOfFreedom/DAP/SimpleScene.html
    http://www.minitankbattles.com/IslandOfFreedom/DAP/SimpleScene2.html
    http://www.minitankbattles.com/IslandOfFreedom/DAP/SimplePortal.html

    WIP Topic: http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/19...l-Gate-Portal-for-Unity3d-(Pro-amp-Standard)/

    Feel free to ask any questions you have regarding the Asset.

    Screenshots:
     
    Last edited: Nov 24, 2014
  2. Gobla

    Gobla

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    Reserved for Changelog:

    Update 30th January:
    The newest version of the Dimensions and Portals package is now in the asset store.
    You can find it here: http://u3d.as/5H6

    There are the following changes:
    • Allow fog control per dimension
    • Script Execution Order Fixes (No more visual lag if you look through a portal)
    • Fixed proper switching of Audio Listeners
    • Bugfix on offset Distance
    • DAP can now safely be used with Water (Pro Basic)
    Coming updates:
    The next updates will come faster due to having more time for the DAP package. Here is what you can expect for the next updates:
    • Adding a CharacterMotor clone to prevent issues with projects without CharacterMotors
    • Expand the manual to explain more in detail how to generate 2 dimensions
    • More and better visual Dimensional Gate Portal shaders that also work on mobile. (Do note that this is only the FX, not the actual functioning. DAP works fine on mobile!)
    • Prettier demo levels with some nice prefabs and models
    • Visual object cloning when crossing portals
    • Better two-way dimensional gate portal traveling behavior
    • Raycast pass-through for portals and dimensional gates. (This means your AI could look through portals.)
    • [PRO] Async level loading with portal connection to the new level
    • [PRO] DX11 Render Texture Portal/Gate rendering (This means no visual FX will get lost)
    Do note: the DAP package will go from 20 dollar to 25 dollar in one of the following updates (not this one) due to the extra features that will be added.

    Considering:
    Since I am also making another package that can controls the speed of time of each individual object, I can also add that to Dimensions and Portals, this would mean that the package will cost a bit more. I can also (if the asset store allows it) make two packages, one with and one without time control. Of course would cost less to have to combined package vs. the two separate packages. Please tell me if you would like this feature.

    Bug
    My apologies that a small visual bug got uploaded in the package, you can simply fix it by doing the following:

    Open "CamSwitcher.cs"
    Search for the following line in "setCameraNear":
    Code (csharp):
    1. camera.nearClipPlane = 0.001f;
    Change the line to:
    Code (csharp):
    1. camera.nearClipPlane = 0.3f;
    All should be fixed now.

    Feel free to ask any questions, respond, etc.

    Enjoy the package!
     
  3. sipon

    sipon

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    wow ! seems really great , bookmarked !
     
  4. Eyehawk

    Eyehawk

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    Wow this looks just amazing! This is definitely on my soon to buy list!!! :)
     
  5. Eyehawk

    Eyehawk

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    Hi just wondering - what sort of performance cost does this have on games? For example is this mobile compatible possibly?
     
  6. Gobla

    Gobla

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    Thank you for liking the package.
    The performace impact is not that severe. It is about the same as water. All 3 old test scenes run at 60 fps on my old Samsung (Galaxy S2). Someone also tried these on iOS and reported them as working.

    I also use this in http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/225937-The-Terrible-Saga-of-Ulfar while maintaining 60 fps on my phone.
     
  7. Eyehawk

    Eyehawk

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    That sounds really good! Thanks for the info
     
  8. Obsurveyor

    Obsurveyor

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    Are you still working on this? You mentioned a lot of interesting updates in this post in your old thread but it looks like the asset hasn't been updated since then.
     
  9. Gobla

    Gobla

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    Most certainly. I am now working on some Pro features and functional updates (e.g. the raycast). Due to the nature of the asset, testing and making sure it works properly takes a lot of time. Keep locked. If you have a question in the meantime, feel free to ask!
     
  10. Gobla

    Gobla

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    Submitting a newer version to the asset store today since some people have issues with Unity 4.5 .
     
  11. Gobla

    Gobla

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    Unity 4.5 fix has been released. It includes a pro-fx for the dimensional gate and a visual fix for flat portals.
     
  12. Gobla

    Gobla

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    Version 1.08 is now in the asset store.

    Changes:
    - Added DAPPhysics class (Physics.Raycast facilitator for Dimensional Gates)
    -- Included a demo script in the Displaced scene.
    - Updated the manual
    - Added PRO portal FX to parallel scene.



    Enjoy!
     
  13. sipon

    sipon

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    is this Oculus Rift compatible ?
     
  14. Gobla

    Gobla

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    Not this release, but the next one if all goes well. I expect this to be done in about 1 week.

    WIP preview:
     
  15. Gobla

    Gobla

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    DAP 1.10 is in the asset store. These are the changes:
    • Oculus Rift support for Dimensions!
    • No more potential flickering when passing trough a dimensional gate (meaning MUCH smoother transitions).
    • Fixed distance bug for parallel scenes.
    • Fixed bugs where an update of unity sometimtes bugged the demo scenes.
     
    Last edited: Jul 18, 2014
  16. Studio_Akiba

    Studio_Akiba

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    Are you still supporting and updating the Portals part of this asset?
    This is the bit I am most interested in, and am curious about its recent progress, the demo for the Portals seems very old in comparison to the dimensions demo and it does seem less supported, even discontinued.
     
  17. Gobla

    Gobla

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    I am sorry for the late reply. I am still updating the portals. Then next update will be for 90% about the portals (so far i've been able to completely remove the gimbal locking issues). Furthermore there is a "pro-only" feature coming on that for instance allows per dimension image fx instead of a final image fx.
     
    hopeful likes this.
  18. Studio_Akiba

    Studio_Akiba

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    sounds good, so this will fix the "portal on the floor" problem?

    I also have an issue where I can force myself to fall through the map, if half way inside both portals and try to shoot one looking up, I can fall through the map.

    Do you have a rough ETA for this patch?
     
  19. Gobla

    Gobla

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    The portal on the floor problem is fixed in the next release (you properly fall trough it). It will take about 2 weeks until I submit the next release. The problem of standing half inside the portal is due to the sample scripts not checking if you are in a portal. This makes it so that you can shoot the portal you are standing in to another location while not moving you.

    Do note that the portal scripts provided are samples and intended for the user to modify to their own wishes. I will however supply nearly all the features that are in portal over time in these samples.
     
  20. Ascensi

    Ascensi

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    Awesome job on this asset, I'm excited to get it working, hopefully it works with Unity 5! I have a question and it could be a request if you're up for the challenge.. I would even pay more for it if you could get it working so here it goes:

    I was wondering if it is possible to
    make a portal between one framework/game engine to another that looks like janusvr


    I think that game developers could integrate VR Portals between their games/VR worlds in particular with WebGL since it's pretty universal across almost all portable devices, for websites and operating systems.

    janusvr is decent but I think the author is focused on his framework and thus creates a wall between the rest of the VR world/game engines in terms of creating a meta-verse of social VR. I've also added a post about this on Unity's collaboration page. It's about travelling with VR without limitations. The janusvr website also provides code to connect a website to become a janusvr room.. I think it would be pretty awesome to have a unity game connect to janusvr and other great frameworks for portals. I currently have the "UniWeb" asset to allow web sockets/web pages to load within the world.. the rendering and the conversion of controls might be the main issue.
     
  21. Studio_Akiba

    Studio_Akiba

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    @Ascensi if you are talking about creating a seamless portal between two different engines, no, I do not think that would be possible by a long shot, not without some serious hacking around with the Unity engine and Janus VR, I do not think this kind of thing will ever work well enough to be used in a product, unless the two tools were created by the same company.
    First of all the character controller would no longer be compatible once entering the other engine, meaning you would need the ability to store the camera position, rotation, framerate, quality, effects AND view in a buffer that is readable by both engines, and then try to replicate that EXACT look over to the other engine, so I do not think this would be doable even with the major task of redesigning parts of both engines.

    Sorry to burst your bubble, what exactly are you trying to achieve with this anyway, what does Janus have that cannot be done in Unity? it may be worth getting a developer to simply create it in Unity.
     
  22. Ascensi

    Ascensi

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    Thanks for your input,
    I've already addressed these kinds of issues on Unity collaboration forum, ALTVR, Janusvr as well. For compatibility WebGL would likely be likely the main framework..I have thought these issues through and on one side janusvr already has the effects, position etc I think it just needs to be duplicated on the unity side. I thought deeply that if an sdk was made available for Unity and the compatibility in janusvr that people could have a virtual remote to dial in the portal either specific address or pull out the virtual walled and look at your skype contact list or portal favourites. I don't think it's impossible myself, since the birth of the internet I've seen big changes like this. I've done webhosting, built some websites, learned that c# gets converted to java exporting to WebGL in Unity..and there are other metaverse systems starting up! (just looked while writing this. I understand it wouldn't be smooth at first but I don't think I've ever seen any technology start out perfectly from the beginning. a Portal sdk would likely integrate controller conversion/detection potentially even user edited for the first time crossing a portal but able to retain the controller settings for each crossed portal. About what cannot be done in Unity I am saying break down the walls! lol travelling through VR shouldn't be limited to a single game or game engine.. I think we should be able to transverse across them all -transverse across the metaverse. The first thing I would do if I were a programmer is look at the other code & scripts to see how compatible it may be.. As I recall, janusvr is java. The other aspect it that a character body (your avatar) will be destroyed crossing through the portal. The solution to this would be email/ IM system, even steam profile etc should carry the character/avatar and the animation files and each game engine/platform would have to recognize this and allow the avatar of the associated email/IM account to work within that world/framework. This email/game account avatar system can come later.. default body's of each platform/game can be used to start with.
     
  23. Gobla

    Gobla

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    @Ascensi, I fear that @Labyrith Studios is right on this one. I understand the potential of such a solution but this is completely out of the control of asset creators like me. This would require collaboration from Unity and e.g. JanusVR or others to allow this. Perhaps if someone would write their own "browser" based on WebGL and the engine plugins it might be possible by a 3rd party.

    There are many issues (rendinging, asset availability, input handling, etc.) that you simply cannot overcome by creating assets or plugins for Unity. I do think that you correctly adress the feature with Unity and JanusVR. I'm sorry I can't help you with this.
     
  24. Ascensi

    Ascensi

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    True, I believe it would take collaboration between platforms.. although with Web-based connectivity,the framework exists in UniWeb for setting up data incoming and outgoing so in essence a portal prefab could be made that includes server and client functions so that each portal can become both a node and a hub. It's just an idea that interests me and I see a lot of possibilities to how it could be achieved and the potential -of course the other factor would be that game developers would be the deciding factor to add a component like this to their game and it grows or not from there.
     
  25. Ascensi

    Ascensi

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    Gobla, on a the topic of your portal, is it possible to put a round non rendered portal that you could walk through in the sphere that shows the world all within it? I think it would have to work like a billboard that always faces the player.. so you can actually walk through the sphere and only see the world rendered in the sphere but not the round billboard that gives you the ability to pass through it -in your video it's the red portal I am referring to be made not to render but have the same function to enter the other world.


    Also do the Portals allow NPCs to cross over? is this possible?
     
    Last edited: Feb 8, 2015
  26. Studio_Akiba

    Studio_Akiba

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    When working with web-based applications, ALL files, scripts and references to variables are stored in DLL's, which are compiled, accessing variables inside ANY compiled application are generally impossible, many have tried, and many have failed.
    Especially with OpenGL usability in U5, which Unity invited people to try and crack to get access to variables, assets and other content within and no-one could do it.
    I don't think sharing this kind of data over two different engines would work, although if you somehow do manage it, it may be worth posting it and telling Unity how it was done so they can prevent breaches in their applications.
     
  27. Studio_Akiba

    Studio_Akiba

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    Any news on the latest version of Dimensions and Portals yet, I see there isnt a new version up on the asset store.
     
  28. Gobla

    Gobla

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    I am sorry for the delay. There is a delay because of some private stuff (nothing special, but does consume a lot of time: moving to a new place, closing previous internship and starting next one). The package is almost ready except for a few little features. And I absolutely want to deliver a package as bug-free as possible hence that requires a lot of testing. If the final feature takes to long I will upload the current version (after testing) as is.

    Again sorry for the delay.

    So far what has been fixed (but not fully tested!):
    - [Dimensions] Added Durovis support.
    - [Portals] Fixed all the Gimbal locking issues left.
    - [Portals] Portals can change the gravity vector (optional).
    - [Portals] [PRO Only!] Per portal camera setup (allows more than 2 pairs of portals if your system can handle it).
    - [Portals] Falling trough map fix.
    - [Portals] Fixed portals being solid when falling too fast.
     
    hopeful likes this.
  29. Studio_Akiba

    Studio_Akiba

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    Does this mean when a portal is on the floor, you can now fall through it, instead of walk over it? That was my biggest problem with the current system.
     
  30. Gobla

    Gobla

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    Yes. Indeed. It now relies on two new sub-systems for better falling trough the portals. First one is a fix with the detectors (i.e. locked rigidbodies to the detector with continuous detection). The second one is a prediction system for fast falling trough portals. The first one is something you can try for yourself in the current version to help you out.
     
  31. Eraile

    Eraile

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    Hello @Gobla
    Is there a tutorial somewhere to be able to use Oculus Rift? :)

    (latest update)
     
  32. Gobla

    Gobla

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    Hello Eraile,

    In the manual provided in the package there is a step by step guide on how to setup the package and how to setup the package with Oculus Rift. If you have any trouble during the setup please let me know.
     
  33. nunesbarbosa

    nunesbarbosa

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    This asset looks awesome! Just the AAA touch my game needs.

    Has it been tested on Unity5?

    Can it show the other side of the portal from another scene?
     
  34. Gobla

    Gobla

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    Thank you for liking this.

    I've tested this in Unity 5 and besides some small conversion errors (Mesh collider must be set to convex in order to be a trigger, skybox needs to be reimported). It all works fine.

    If you want to make a portal to another scene you must load your scene additive (LoadLevelAdditive or LoadLevelAdditiveAsync). When the loading is complete you can link the portals by code.
     
  35. hensoup

    hensoup

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    When I want to use the new Unity 5 FPS controller or UFPS it will not work with seeing portals. I want statis "Prey" style portal. where it's static but it's not working with those systems I did settings on physics and tags like it should be. the demos work. but just not when I try to set it manually. I can show screens if needed.
     
  36. Gobla

    Gobla

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    The Unity 5 FPS support will be with the Unity 5 release.

    Due to not having played "Prey" I am not really sure what you are looking for. Could you elaborate further and show the screenshots? That would really help to answer the question.
     
  37. hensoup

    hensoup

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    basically like portal except the portals where just basicly doors to other rooms but had the example same portal effect you just did not create the portals
    this is how i's portals work it was using it before Portals did.
     
  38. Gobla

    Gobla

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    Those are indeed possible as you can see in the following video:


    It requires some modification of the portal prefab but that should be fairly simple to achieve that effect.
    You can try to set your main camera Clear Flags in the new Unity FPS Controller to "Depth Only". This will most likely work.

    I am sorry that I can't test this at this very moment since I am not at my GameDev workstation.
     
  39. hensoup

    hensoup

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    it's fine theres the cameras missing from the prefab portals when I place the orange and blue portals. but it may be just something in the scripts
     
  40. hensoup

    hensoup

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    never mind I fixed it! had to set the player settings of to complete forward rendering customize the script to make custom cameras in it and it works only thing is transporting
     
  41. Gobla

    Gobla

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    Nice that you were able to fix this.
    Have you set the player to "Portable". Also check the SimplePortalController since it will check for the old FPS controller. You might have to change this to the new controller in order to enable transport. Again not at my game dev workstation, I'm sorry about that.
     
  42. Gobla

    Gobla

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    I am working on a complete overhaul of the package. It will contain he features as said before minus the gravity vector change:

    - [Dimensions] Added Durovis support.
    - [Portals] Fixed all the Gimbal locking issues left.
    - [Portals] [PRO Only!] Per portal camera setup (allows more than 2 pairs of portals if your system can handle it).
    - [Portals] Falling trough map fix.
    - [Portals] Fixed portals being solid when falling too fast.


    Furthermore :
    - It will be a lot easier to setup the package.
    - Virtual object cloning for transitions trough portals.
    - [PRO] It will also be possible have more than 2 dimensions as an option (as much as your system can handle ;)).
    - [PRO] Per dimension Image FX.
    - [PRO] Much better looking portals (pro-only shader setup).
    - Unity 5 native support with Unity 4 backwards compatibility.
    - Unity 5 rendersettings cloning.
    - Unity 5 Pro outline for personal version.
    - Semitransparent portals (Disables Pro outline though due to ZWrite being disabled :().

    I will upload some in between versions for demo purposes.
     
    hopeful likes this.
  43. hopeful

    hopeful

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    Sounds great! :)
     
  44. RandAlThor

    RandAlThor

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    Do you have an estimated timeframe for when a Unity 5 version will ready?
     
  45. Gobla

    Gobla

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    I am attempting to upload the first Iteration to the asset store tomorrow containing a selection of the features listed up here.
     
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  46. Studio_Akiba

    Studio_Akiba

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    Will the next version of DAP (the one mentioned above) be the one that adds increased support for Portals?
     
  47. Gobla

    Gobla

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    Yes, a selection will come with that.

    First proof of concept with the new render pipeline. There should be only minor differences with the old pipeline, however this has great consequences for the features above: http://peculiardeveloper.com/u3d/DAP/Pro
     
    Last edited: May 3, 2015
  48. GrooGadgets

    GrooGadgets

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    Hey there,

    Really looking forward to Unity 5 update, I will buy as soon as it becomes available on the asset store!

    I'm curious, would your system be able to replicate the effect as seen in this level of the Unity game Monument Valley?

     
  49. Gobla

    Gobla

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    You most certainly can!
     
  50. GrooGadgets

    GrooGadgets

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    Excellent! Have you uploaded the latest version to the asset store yet?