[RELEASED] ProBuilder 2.0 : Seamless, Intuitive Level Design in Unity. Finally LIVE!

Just wanted to pop in and say after less than 24 hours of playing with this and ProGrids(so simple yet so nice) I am very happy. I'm building out a quick Rampart style castle game for a programming challenge and it was a breeze to create the walls, towers, etc. and get them scaled and textured appropriately. Welding would be nice as there is some extra geometry here and there but nothing I am too concerned about. Thumbs up!

 

Love it

 

Welding you say? How about welding...plus collapsing plus edges plus extrusion plus even more? v2.2 is nearly out the gates!!

PS, thanks for the kind words, great to hear the tool is helping so much

 

Sounds good, this is part of how we improve

Prototype really is only meant of basic Prototyping, and as as demo for ProBuilder. If that was misconstrued somewhere, I'll fix it up ASAP, but I think the comparision chart, videos, etc, all state this?

Glad you like ProGrids so much

This is partially our fault, for not making it obvious enough (though we have posted it) that ProBuilder is just waiting on a few fixes before it can also include Extrude functionality.

Yep, they can't be run together because they are basically the same tool. Little version and Big version

Forum was overran by spam, hurray. Had to close it temporarily, but it'll be back better than ever. However, I believe most the answers to your questions are here in this forum thread or on our Facebook page posts/twitter.

1) You can in the internal Beta, and will be able to in the "official" version soon. All registered users gain access to the internal Beta, of course.
2) Update script is in the works which will convert Prototype geometry to ProBuilder
3) ProBuilder completely eclipses Prototype
4) Due to it's simpler nature, Prototype was able to include Extrude earlier than ProBuilder. We had hoped this would be beneficial to users, sorry to hear it's been the main source of your frustration.

This is where timezones are rough- I gotta sleep, too! It seems all your issues happened at exactly the times I could not be present to help. Luckily, all those issues should be solved simply by installing the "Beta" version of ProBuilder (which has been emailed out to you).

About the forums, again apologies for those being down, however please try looking back through the thread here, there is lots of mention of these things, and answers + info.

 

does face or vertex move snaps with Pro Grids? or does it just game object move works with it?

 

Hi Atmuc- Face, Vertex, and Edge all snap with ProGrids, you bet!

 

thanks for quick response. as i see it is an internal function for ProBuilder and we trigger it from ProGrid. Both systems have uniform grid sizes as x,y,z. do you plan to make it non uniform and add smart function like dynamically changing grid size by selection boundaries. so we can place objects faster. for example i can place wall piece side by side if grid size is exact match to my wall piece boundaries.

 

Smart functions would be great, for sure. If we have time, I'd love to go in and add that plus much more. However, we're pretty much overrun just keeping ProBuilder caught up, so won't be able to get fancy with ProGrids soon...in the future though, sure thing!

 

I just got Prototype, the stripped-down version of Probuilder. It's currently working great...except I can't seem to make any kind of shape other than a cube or a staircase. If I try to make any other shape, it just generates a ton of blank objects named "pb-MergedObject[Detail]-somenumber", and gives an error message. Here's what is says:

Also, I tried to install the free version of your ProGrids extension(found here: http://www.sixbysevenstudio.com/wp-flexible/project/progrids-for-unity-3d/), but it caused several errors right off the bat.

Code (csharp):

1.  
2. Error while importing package: Couldn't replace asset Assets/6by7/_ProGridsDocumentation.pdf
3. Failed to move asset from Temp/Export Package/99e23f3cc7f9c74418781107954bfb89/ea5ae2fcc2cf78c4683b97d55ed30d60/asset to Assets/6by7/_ProGridsDocumentation.pdf
4.  

Code (csharp):

1.  
2. Assets/6by7/ProGrids/Scripts/Editor/ProGrids_Base.js(55,41): BCE0022: Cannot convert 'UnityEngine.Texture2D' to 'UnityEngine.GameObject'.
3.  

Code (csharp):

1.  
2. Assets/6by7/ProGrids/Scripts/Editor/ProGrids_GUI.js(86,55): BCE0004: Ambiguous reference 'constructor': UnityEngine.GUIContent.constructor(UnityEngine.Texture, String), UnityEngine.GUIContent.constructor(String, String).
3.  

Code (csharp):

1.  
2. Assets/6by7/ProGrids/Scripts/Editor/ProGrids_GUI.js(106,51): BCE0004: Ambiguous reference 'constructor': UnityEngine.GUIContent.constructor(UnityEngine.GUIContent), UnityEngine.GUIContent.constructor(UnityEngine.Texture), UnityEngine.GUIContent.constructor(String).
3.  

Luckily, I was able to get around this by using the grid features found in the Transform Utilities extension instead. Still, I would prefer to switch to the free version of ProGrids since it's what's recommended.

EDIT: Sorry for posting in the wrong thread. I didn't realize there was a separate thread for Prototype, as it was buried pretty deep.

 

@falconfetus8- I reposted and replied on the Prototype thread, to keep things sane
http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/21...ak-Instantly?p=1460474&viewfull=1#post1460474

Thanks!

 

Been using ProBuilding for a little while and have been liking it but I ran into an issue tonight. I updated and now I can't get the ProBuilder window to appear. When I go to tools>ProBuilder all I get is mirror tool. Anybody run into this before? Tires deleting and installing from scratch but no luck.

 

Hi there-

Hmm, this has me extremely worried- we just uploaded a major update (v2.2), AND on the 24 hour sale (more on that in a sec).

Have you tried restarting Unity?

FYI, deleting the entire folder will break your ProBuilder objects, not recommended!

Were you able to run the Install script at all?

 

ProBuilder v2.2 has been a MAJOR project, but we are super, SUPER excited to finally announce it is now LIVE and ready for all! Perfect timing, as the Unity Asset Store is featuring it at 50% off in today's 24 Hour Sale! (http://bit.ly/10TBjYR)

ProBuilder v2.2 includes Full Source, the Extrude function, Edges, Bridging, Collapse Verts, and so much more, it's become an incredibly more powerful tool. Check out the (sorry, rather lengthy) "Intro Video" at the link below- I'm off to real sleep for the first time in 3 days! Many thanks to everyone for all the support, patience, and enthusiasm as we finished this awesome update.

 

Funny thing is it didn't break any of the previous objects. I didn't click the install script I double clicked "ProBuilder2-v1536-unity43"

 

Ah, double odd!

The best way to update is to run "Tools > ProBuilder > Update/Install" - but is this no longer available for you?

Could you try in an empty, new project? ProBuilder 2.2 does require a certain version (3.5 vs 4.3) installer now, which is auto-chosen normally, but it sounds like you might have installed the wrong one by mistake perhaps?

 

That's what I get for doing this on little sleep ha, I'll give it a shot thanks.

 

Haha, dito here, no worries I promised myself 10pm today...and now it's 2am. Ah well

 

Works perfectly in a new project, going to see if I can get it to work in my current one. Thanks again, nice work bye the way ProBuilder has come a long way I like using it more than Radiant.

 

You have NO idea how close I came to having a heart attack there

Thanks for confirming! ProBuilder has come an AMAZINGLY long way, for sure. I say that not out of "hubris", since Karl has been the genius doing the actual tech dev since... v1.7.4 I think? But, it really has. I'd post one of the original videos, but people might just run screaming. Good for a laugh though, if you dig on youtube

I've never used Radient, sadly, just Hammer and UDK. Friends tell me ProBuilder (began) much like Radient though- "BSP style", as used to be ProBuilder's catch phrase. So much more now, but still keeping the solid foundation.

For those wondering, we do recognize that UVs and texture editing has indeed fallen behind now- a complete update of those, including a professional-quality manual UVW unwrapping tool is the next major milestone!

 

Just a quick FYI to all those who will likely have questions as the sale progresses- I'll be back in 8 hours, thanks for your patience!

 

Quick question: I am new to the tool, just bought it.

I have it now installed in Unity, but for some reason I cannot select anything.... even in geometry mode it seems to just give me the normal gizmos... what am I doing wrong?

 

Ok, last question I can answer before I crash (sorry!)

I cannot think of a for-sure reason this would happen, however, did you make sure to follow the install guide? Please double-check the documentation (included with the tool, or online here: http://www.protoolsforunity3d.com/documentation-probuilder-and-prototype/)

You can also veiwe the latest video to see it working and see if something is missing here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpQelCVPPZg

Wish I could give a better answer right now, but my best guess would be the install wasn't completed correctly? If you could double-check that, I think it might solve the issue, just be sure to do so in a completely empty project to make sure nothing else interferes.

Thanks for purchasing, hope that fix helps, I'll be back around 10am PST!

 

Just picked up ProBuilder. It has its uses, but there's one big thing I've always wanted from this kind of tool: sliced texturing/modeling. In other words, applying the same techniques used to create resizble GUI buttons and panels with fixed outlines to models. I'm creating maps that look somewhat similar to the VR training rooms from System Shock 2 ( http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18nzs0kbysek0png/ku-xlarge.png ), and it's difficult to make a grid seamlessly transition between a slope and a flat plane, as one might expect.

 

I get release emails, but I don't know if I'm registered anywhere. I'll send you an email.

 

The link redirects to your website, not to a Unity Webplayer. I'm much more interested by ingame building. Where can your realtime demo be found?

 

We have a nice FPS demo somewhere on the site, but I can't find it either. Here's a webplayer of the example scene included with ProBuilder though:

http://paraboxstudios.com/demo/ProBuilderRT/probuilderRT.html

 

Congratulations on the new release! And perfect timing for me as I'm now on vacation for the holidays and can finally dig into this tool proper.

Actually, ProBuilder's uncanny in its resemblance to Crytek's Solid Tool and Designer Tool (hoping Crytek decides to merge these soon.) Especially with PB 2.2's Extrusion, etc. Good thing!

Hammer's garbage. Like most, Valve never bothered improving the tool more than a few inches from its roots, ie. Worldcraft circa '97 (poor Respawn). And Epic has all but stripped UDK's BSP features, mostly reducing its usage to "boxes to hold s***".

Radiant's power comes from its intended purpose: speed-building with accuracy. For building real-world geo at real-world scale, Radiant is still unparalleled, and largely why nearly a dozen Call of Duty titles have shipped using it (so far).

However, if Crytek decide to fix texturing on Solids/Designer brushes, and PB integrates paint sizing info (the only real major production feature still missing) - in addition to cleaning up its texturing abilities - things will get interesting

 

I was just speaking about that with a friend- mind reading! That, plus tiling-texture-atlasing, is definitely on my wish list. Tricky items to create, but definitely possible.

Email received! Sorry for the delay, been putting out small fires here and there

Right, I made a mistake when re-directing the site to the new one, and broke a few things. We'll have it all up and running again later, promise

 

Thanks!

Dangerous words...ProBuilder was built from a love of the Hammer engine, haha. Well, the Brush creation methods it have. Most everything else WAS pretty shoddy. CTRL-Z = "Crash and corrupt latest save".

Interesting. Maybe we'll take a look at Radient, too. Next major update will be UV and texture tools.

 

Here's another big example of the kind of outlines I'd love to produce with a tool like PB (from Tank Universal): http://www.zenplay.com/_images/_products/xl/tank-universal-level18_1.jpg

 

Neat! Although, that might be best re-created with a shader?

 

One would think, but I've been looking for a shader solution for a long time without success.

 

Nice!
yahodahan, I presume most if not all features can be used in realtime like in this demo?

 

Can be tricky, yeah. Well, we'll have a solution in the future!

It's fairly basic as-is, but planning to create a much, much more robust version soon.

 

Yes. All of the mesh generation code is runtime compatible, including the advanced operations like extrude and merging / splitting vertices. There's even a bin-packing sort method in there for generating normalized UV2 channels (not currently in use, but you dig through the source and find it - I think I put it in the pb_UV_Utility class).

The only part you'll need to write yourself is the interface.

 

Hmm the asset store listing shows the new version but when I update and import, I get v1023. Odd...

OK. Deleted everything then redownloaded and it worked correctly.

 

Odd indeed. I think maybe it didn't auto-show the Install dialogue?

Just FYI for everyone, be sure to run "Tools > ProBuilder > Update/Install" when you first download!
(unless the Install dialogue pops up automatically, you'll see it!)

 

Thanks for the awesome asset. Only been messing with it for an hour, but it is looking really good so far.

I have run into a problem that I'm not sure is a bug or intended. I have made a cube with a size of (5, 5, 5) and set it as a trigger. I have a script that looks for the trigger, but the enter and exit happen when a side is touched. This is instead of the whole box acting as a trigger. I want to enter the box and call OnTriggerEnter and exit the box to call OnTriggerExit.

Code (csharp):

1.  
2. public class DoorTrigger : MonoBehaviour
3. {
4.     void OnTriggerEnter(Collider _object)
5.     {
6.         Debug.Log( "Enter" );
7.     }
8.  
9.     void OnTriggerExit(Collider _object)
10.     {
11.         Debug.Log( "Exit" );
12.     }
13. }
14.  

I have tried just making a box collider and sphere collider, and they both work like I expect them to. Any ideas?

 

Ah, dangit, I know we had an internal discussion of this, but must have forgotten to implement it.

Select the trigger, and make it's Collider "Convex" (via the checkbox). Then it works fine

Basically, we'll need to update ProBuilder to auto-force "Convex" colliders on objects that are Triggers. Or something to that effect.

 

Is this useless without pro grids? Thinking of buying this but I like grid based systems like hammer or UDK and it doesn't come with that. Its on sale too.

 

Hi CJ31387- Nope, very useful either way. Of course, it is definitely a much better system when grids are added (big-time Hammer/UDK user myself). ProGrids is separate in order to also work with any and all Unity objects. In my opinion (ignore obvious bias, heh), $15 for a full grids solution is a good deal Also, that way we don't have to force it on those who might not want a grid system (madness, I know, but some don't!).

Thanks for the interest!

 

Hmm I would most definitely buy the grids if i got the builder. But I have a question about the grids, are they very script-able? Could I use them for in game actions player could use, like for instance modify them to make a Sim City builder type game based off pro grids? Or modify them to allow the player to craft things or something and place them on the grid system?

 

Hi Yahodahan, back in April you mentioned you were going to add in "soft selection" to Probuilder. Has this feature been added in yet?

Also, are there any plans to add in subdivision, for example if you were modelling some terrain to be able to subdivide a face to work in more detail?

 

Hmm, you sure could! It would of course take a good bit of editing/changing/etc, but ProGrids would provide a solid base for that, indeed. Thanks for considering the purchase

Subdivision- that's the next addition! We have it almost working, but couldn't get it completely ready for v2.2. So, that's coming right up!

As for soft-selection, ah, we did say that didn't we? Sorry, just so much to concentrate on! I have a good friend currently working on a tool for geometry painting and other related tasks, I'll make sure he makes it "ProBuilder Compatible", we are planning to make it part of the ProCore toolset as well.

 

After some trying, I completly removed probuilder and Imported + Installed again. Now I can actually select faces and vertices / edges and start building... cool!
Just one question: I got the impression that I should also be able to resize and turn the selection... that does not work for me. Is it not possible or am I doing something wrong?

 

Hi,
you must use short cut keys ( E for rotate tool , R for scale tool , W for move tool ).
PS: I use Azerty keyboard.

 

Yeah, just installed PB 2.2 in an empty project and noticed this, too. Rotation (E) and Scaling (R) shortcuts don't work on the selected brush(es) until you manually click either the Rotation or Scaling button on the toolbar first. Seems like a bug.

Edit: Moreover, if your last selected brush was in "Scaling" or "Rotation" mode, the next brush you select will also be in that mode, but you'll be unable to change this via shortcuts until clicking one of the mode options on the toolbar.

 

@yahodahan @karl_

Had a chance to go over the docs and play with the latest v2.2, and it’s impressive. It’s a great BSP tool, and I hope you find the following suggestions useful.

Requests:

• Paint Sizing Info. This could be bundled into ProGrids since it uses user-set metrics. The GUI visual could be placed similar to how it is in PB 2.2 – basically a widget with ever-changing numerical values (W,L,H). Functionality: When selecting an object, PG simply calculates its dimensions in the set metric format (eg. Meters), then reports that size info to the PG GUI widget on the screen. Bonus if this can work on any selection, not just PB brushes.
• ProBuilder Groups: Selecting an object part of a PB Group only selects that individual object, not the actual group. Could there be an option to select the entire PB group via any object in the group? Individual object selection would then follow the initial group selection, similar to Unity prefab behavior. Otherwise, user is constantly having to scan Hierarchy View to see if an object selected belongs to a group before safely editing it.
• The ability to map keyboard shortcuts to UV-related functionality in the Texture Window, such as offset, scale, fit, etc.
• Ability to copy UVs from one face to another.
• Option for NODRAW as default build material.
• Clipping. Even just 2-point would be enough.
• Remove Set Pivot. Honestly, the perpetually offset pivot is a bug and the Set Pivot functionality should occur automatically on every brush on de-selection, without the need of constant user input. Level design with brushes involves copy and pasting ad nauseam, so it’s important that the pivots on these brushes always be in the right place.

Also, Bugs:

• Translation widgets: Currently it’s not possible to enter Rotation Mode (E) or Scale Mode (R) using keyboard shortcuts until enabling either mode via the toolbar first. Moreover, this is on a per-selection basis.

 

Can't replicate this- could you try the usual, close and restart Unity? I've noticed Unity likes to "eat" the shortcut keys at random times, even in completely empty projects. Keyboard shortcuts are working great for me at the moment. Maybe it's something to do with the install script though, locking your manipulation mode? Let me know what happens when you restart

 

Hmm, I'm not following you here...could you explain further?

ProBuilder "groups" are just a quicky-helper, might even just remove them in the future. I recommend "ProGroups" (www.protoolsforunity3d.com/progoups), if you need serious grouping power, and it works with all of Unity!

Keyboard shortcuts for texturing could be added, for sure. Might get a bit much though...we'll have to think on a way to do that without cluttering up the shortcuts. User-created macros would really be best!

Copy UVs...gah, we've had that feature back and forth so many times, for various reasons. Should actually be working in the current build.

You can set your default Material in the ProBuilder preferences (along with EVERY other shortcut and many prefs!). Edit > Preferences > ProBuilder.

Clipping? As in cut tool? Do you perhaps mean this beautiful (but unfinished!) preview that Karl just sent me:

We did discuss something similar to this, but it was shelved while getting 2.2 out the door. Essentially, the SetPivot auto-function needs to be "smart"- if the user specifies they want a specific point to be the pivot, it needs to stay there. On the other hand, if they never specify a point, it should automatically reset itself to the center every time after editing, yes. We'll have to experiment with this for best results.

Can you double-check this after restarting Unity? Doing my best, but can't seem to replicate it.

Thanks for the detailed input, lod3!