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Road Architect: Roads, intersections and bridges for Unity [RELEASED]

Discussion in 'Assets and Asset Store' started by MicroGSD, Mar 5, 2014.

  1. EvilDingo

    EvilDingo

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    Some suggestions for updates:

    Your bridge rails are all polygonal. How about an option to extrude a simple plane or cube with a transparent texture? That should cut down a ton of the poly-count.

    I like the road options to make it more or less defined (higher / lower poly) so the road itself isn't a major issue as far as performance.

    Intersections are difficult to work with. I haven't been able to get them to look right on Mac.

    I know your focus is on realism, but I think a lot of Unity developers will use it for racing games.

    Could you add a dirt road option?

    All of the colliders are mesh colliders. These are much more expensive than basic colliders like box colliders. Is it this way so the collider follows the curve of the rails / walls? Is it possible to break those up into primitive colliders? They wouldn't be as exact I imagine, but would save a lot of processing power.
     
  2. MicroGSD

    MicroGSD

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    Thanks for the comments and suggestions!

    The Mapity developer is very talented and we'll be added in some more functionality to support him by the end of next week. I hope it all works out and the integration goes well but I know it will be a difficult process. Integration with real life mapping data is becoming the most requested feature.

    Regarding the European styling, we will be adding European traffic lights and road markings in the next content update. Roundabouts and similar will be added in future feature updates. Regarding supporting the unique road types seen in historic areas, we hope to support about 99% of the most common road configurations, our goal is to make it look as realistic as possible and be very flexible. The more development time we spend on Road Architect the closer it will get to the 99%, and we plan on developing on it until at least 2016.

    I know you're joking about that massive round-a-bout but with the way we are going to implement roundabouts you will be able to import a 3d fbx of any roundabout setup you want and mark the entry points for the road. So theoretically it should be possible, but you'd have to supply the model. Of course we will supply several default roundabout models to use via the wizard too.
     
  3. MicroGSD

    MicroGSD

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    Thanks for the suggestions!

    The simple railing and dirt road are already on the list for the next content update.

    Another user had some issues on Mac. Could you please email us at support@microgsd.com with a screenshot of what you are talking about with regard to intersections? It will allow us to reference it in our issue tracker easier. We've already fixed a few things specifically for Mac which will be in the next update. Intersections will look the best and realistic if you come in at least 75 degree angles on all 4 or 3 roads. Additionally, using left+right turn lane is not suggested for a two lane road but for use in four lane or six lane.

    Mesh colliders can be toggled off per road section by toggling them off manually in the hierarchy. If you turn them off, it should work with most simple roads as the vehicles would then use the terrain which should only be centimeters below the road (unless you have steep grades). We'll add an option to toggle off all non-bridge mesh colliders in the road.

    The road it would have to be a very straight road for it to use box colliders. Straight line bridges support box colliders. But we should be able to add box colliders as an option for roads without much effort. We did quite a bit of stress testing regarding collision detection on our road system and we never ran into problems- but we never tested on low power mobile devices.
     
  4. quantumsheep

    quantumsheep

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    Mar 9, 2013
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    This does appeal to me as it looks super easy to use, and would fit in with something I'm trying to do.

    Just a quick question - I notice there's no tunnels, and you mention other solutions.

    As a complete noob here I've looked on the asset store and not really found a 'tunnel' solution...

    If I put a road through a particularly large mountain, am I to assume that the mountain terrain would be cut in two to let the road through the flattened area?

    Cheers,

    QS =D
     
  5. MicroGSD

    MicroGSD

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    I agree that tunnels in Unity aren't very well supported. A lot of trickery is involved in making terrain holes involving the player controller and etc.

    The best solution that we could find was https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/#/content/8277 and we're not sure that will even do the trick. We just wanted to provide the 3d assets in case someone does get a solution working.

    If you want to try out tunnels you can mark the tunnel start as a bridge start, and the tunnel end as a bridge end. This will stop terrain deformation. In the upcoming update this will be fixed so you mark it as "tunnel start" and "tunnel end".
     
  6. JoeW97

    JoeW97

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    EasyRoads3D is very good and quick at building the road structure and deforming the terrain.
    But the object system is so convoluted and easily-breakable, that even after months of use I find it frustrating and slow to use. It's very hard to create an object library that "just works", and you'll find yourself re-inventing the wheel every time you start a new project to set up the object-manager from scratch again.
    Hoping this tool turns out to be much more user-friendly, re-usable and quick in that respect.

    +1 for cambers :)
     
    Last edited: Mar 20, 2014
  7. Meceka

    Meceka

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    Terrain deformation is very sharp, in bumpy terrains, or terrain with hills, after making the road, terrain becomes very steep on both sides of the road. I lose lot's of time to fix the very sharp edges of terrain. Is there an easy way to smooth areas around road? If there were some options to optimise deforming terrain in road architect editor, it would be very nice.
     
  8. JoeW97

    JoeW97

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    Bought it today… really enjoying it :)

    How do I add side-objects (say, one of the rails) to multiple node sections? When I try to select multiple nodes, the editor disappears.

    Thanks
     
  9. MicroGSD

    MicroGSD

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    We will look into smoothing the terrain deformation edges. One thing you can do when building on hills is proper node placement. If you place nodes along the curvature it should deform nicely on hills, see my crude drawing: http://www.microgsd.com/images/TS/TS9.png

    Note that the "bad" option happens in real life too: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/14/Road_cut.jpg and http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/Sideling_Hill_road_cut_on_Interstate_68.jpg

    Email us at support@microgsd.com if your problem persists and we can take a deeper look at it.

    Hi Steve555 thank you for the comments! And Camber will be in the next update along with better track building support.

    Edge and extrusion objects can only be added on a per node basis. If you setup a node's edge or extrusions objects in a particular way you can save it via the library and then load it via the library on another node.

    If you are wanting to simply extend a railing across multiple nodes you can increase the end parameter on the edge / extrusion object to extend it pretty far.

    What are you wanting to place on multiple nodes at once? Maybe we could implement some kind of copy-paste system across multiple nodes.
     
    Last edited: Mar 20, 2014
  10. JoeW97

    JoeW97

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    I'm adding posts, fences rails… the kind of things that can typically stay consistent over long stretches of road.

    In the meantime, I just tested extending the end parameter and it worked well over a long road, so thanks :)

    Getting some strange artifacts on the road marking, almost like an Aniso level problem. I cranked the level up to 9 on the images which helped a bit but it still looks bad in the distance; the yellow lines (for instance) become faded/blurred in a stepped fashion as they extend in to the distance.
     
  11. sipon

    sipon

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    Camber is coming ! great news !
    Can we see a video how it is integrated ?
     
  12. MicroGSD

    MicroGSD

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    To fix the artifacts change your project quality settings:
    http://microgsd.com/images/TS/TS4.jpg
    http://microgsd.com/images/TS/TS5.jpg
    Changing the quality in the project settings should resolve this issue.

    We probably won't have a video before the update but we can make a video that covers all of the new features and assets in the update.

    Any particular wants and needs in terms of the camber? I figure that offering a tilt option that can be mapped to a curve between nodes should be good?
     
  13. AIS_Rich

    AIS_Rich

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    Excellent product, I recently started using it to create a section of a city for a project. Definitely looking forward to two updates you had mentioned already which are curbs/sidewalks and and intersection between roads of different numbers of lanes.

    A few things I haven't seen mentioned would help quite a bit. Seems currently lane width for intersections must be 5 meters? Is there any plans to change this as many of the roads I'm creating are side streets where 5 meters is way too much? Also, any consideration for one lane roads and intersections with them?
     
  14. MicroGSD

    MicroGSD

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    You are correct, the current minimum lane width limit to comply with intersections is 5 meters. We plan on lowering this limit before the next update but it requires a potentially significant change to the code base.

    I think the limit will be lowered to 4 meters or 3 meters in the next update. If not it will be lowered in the update after that.

    Ultimately I'd like the ability to make small intersecting walk or bike paths with Road Architect.

    We may adjust the entire intersection setup when we implement roundabouts, cloverleafs etc which would solve this as well.
     
  15. AIS_Rich

    AIS_Rich

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    Will these updates, particularly sidewalks, be able to be applied to existing created roads or will I have to replace the roads? So basically, since all my roads are going to need this should I just wait for the update so I don't have to redo a large chunk of a city? Is there an expected time for the release of the update?

    Thanks!
     
  16. MicroGSD

    MicroGSD

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    The update will not interfere with existing roads and you will be able to add the new content to existing roads without issue.

    I expect the next update to be submitted on 3/26 but that is subject to change depending on how many features we're adding in. I'll try and get that limit fix in for the next update.
     
  17. JoeW97

    JoeW97

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    I've set the quality to Fantastic, but it didn't help… this is on a Mac, if it makes any difference.
    $artifacts.jpg



    Could you describe roughly what the GSD/TransShadowMarker shader is doing?
     
  18. MicroGSD

    MicroGSD

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    In the project quality settings, under "Anisotropic Textures" change it to "Forced On" instead of "Per Texture".

    If you wish to change this on a per texture basis you can change the "Aniso Level" in the texture's settings. Click on any road mesh to load the standard unity mesh renderer in the inspector window, and single click on the texture you wish to change the aniso level for. This will highlight it in the project tab.

    The TransShadowMarker shader allows transparency and allows shadows to be drawn on top of it as well.

    Let me know if this fixes the issue, we've had a few weird ones with MAC.

    Thanks!
     
  19. JoeW97

    JoeW97

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    Hmmmm, tricky one...
    I'd already tried setting the Aniso level to max (9), and using trilinear filtering helps a bit, it at least smooths out the degradation instead of the steppiness.
    But even with all that, and forcing anistropic on in the quality settings, the issue remains.
    It's helped a bit, but beyond about 30m (in real units) the trans layers just seem to fade to nothing.

    I'm starting to think it might be a Unity/OpenGL issue! :
    I tried creating a simple plane with a simple Transparent Diffuse shader, and re-made some yellow marking (just to rule out any possible problem with the image files), and guess what… the problem persists!

    In this image, on the right is RoadArchitect, and on the left is the simple plane/Transparent-Diffuse combo:

    $TransProblem.jpg

    As you can see, the fade-out is still visible even on the simplest possible case.
    I can't believe I've never noticed this before! (But on the other hand it's usually disguised by more complex geometry and scene objects. I guess on a flat road it's all too easy to see)

    I even tried making a new Trans-Diffuse shader myself, but it was no different. I'm no expert though, maybe a shader can access some deep settings in openGL and help the problem?

    Edit
    It's not the distance that causes it, it's the acute viewing angle, which of course becomes smaller in the distance on a flat road. Both RoadArchitect and standard Transparent-Diffuse stuff look fine when viewed at a more perpendicular angle, from any distance. I'll file a bug report with Unity.
     
    Last edited: Mar 21, 2014
  20. sipon

    sipon

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    Sounds flexible !
     
  21. Meceka

    Meceka

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    I have switched build target to android, after setting build target, it reimported everything, and than road architect became glitchy. (Transparent road markers, road, and ground started z-fighting). I have tried increasing terrain subtraction, but it doesn't fix the z fighting of road and the marker.

    I am definitely sure it happened right after I switched build target to android.

    https://www.dropbox.com/s/3np5wdltdadg1kx/Screenshot 2014-03-22 11.28.52.png

    https://www.dropbox.com/s/l1pxn08hw2xi4qq/Screenshot 2014-03-22 11.29.46.png

    I have tried reimport road architect with using project panel, clicking on road architect, and reimport. Unity crashed, and when I've tried to open project again, it have BSOD. After computer restarted unity have begun alright, but i deleted road architect folder and reimported from asset store. It's still z fighting.
     
  22. MicroGSD

    MicroGSD

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    Try double clicking on the terrain in the hierarchy window, any luck?

    Try changing line 14 of "GSDRoadShader.shader" in /RoadArchitect/Shaders directory to "Offset 3,3". Here's a download for the file if you don't want to edit it: http://microgsd.com/images/TS/GSDRoadShader.zip . This will be a temporary fix until we patch.

    Does this fix most of the issue for you?

    We are submitting the next update which includes 7 bug fixes and 12 new features on Monday.

    We should have any of the Android issues solved by then.
     
    Last edited: Mar 22, 2014
  23. Meceka

    Meceka

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    Double clicking terrain in hierarchy didn't do anything.

    I'm on PC.

    If I make marker texture items y position to 0.01 it fixes the problem for that road piece. But having to do this for all markers isn't feasible. (also updating road makes y position to 0 again)

    By the way, isn't there a better way to draw markers on the road? A transparent mesh texture and transparent shader isn't performance friendly. (For mobile)
     
    Last edited: Mar 22, 2014
  24. Meceka

    Meceka

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    Edit: I have replaced it with 3, fixed it mostly, looks better, but they are still z-fighting (road and marker)


    Now if i look to road from far, road becomes invisible, i just see texture.

    https://www.dropbox.com/s/fongpm0ofe56yyp/Screenshot 2014-03-22 12.14.01.png

    I have fixed this by increasing terrain subtraction to 0.1

    Edit: It didn't fix it for the bridge; looks worse :/

    https://www.dropbox.com/s/mbmt4keyq4ik5xq/Screenshot 2014-03-22 12.18.35.png

    If the update is going to fix this, i can use it this way until update, it's not a problem.
    __

    By the way, what is GsdRoadShaderLow? is it more performance friendly?
     
    Last edited: Mar 22, 2014
  25. MicroGSD

    MicroGSD

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    I recommend reverting the shader value back to "Offset -1,-1" then.

    GSDRoadShaderLow is a lower quality shader yes. You can also use the unity default shaders for lower quality shaders. Diffuse for the asphalt and standard "transparent/diffuse" should work for the markers. Using the default basic shaders should result in low draw calls.

    We'll have a fix out for you on the Y position and flickering issue for your Android build. Contact us at support@microgsd.com and I can get you an early copy in 12 hours if you don't want to wait a few days for the asset store submission.

    Alternatively you can paste this code at the start of the "Construction_Cleanup()" function in GSDRoad.cs :
    Code (csharp):
    1.         Object[] tMarkerObjs = Object.FindObjectsOfType<MeshRenderer>();
    2.         Vector3 tVect = default(Vector3);
    3.         foreach (MeshRenderer MR in tMarkerObjs) {
    4.             if (MR.transform.name.Contains("Marker")) {
    5.                 tVect = MR.transform.position;
    6.                 tVect.y += 0.02f;
    7.                 MR.transform.position = tVect;
    8.             } else if (MR.transform.name.Contains("SCut")) {
    9.                 tVect = MR.transform.position;
    10.                 tVect.y += 0.01f;
    11.                 MR.transform.position = tVect;
    12.             } else if (MR.transform.name.Contains("RoadCut")) {
    13.                 tVect = MR.transform.position;
    14.                 tVect.y += 0.01f;
    15.                 MR.transform.position = tVect;
    16.             }
    17.         }
     
    Last edited: Mar 22, 2014
  26. Meceka

    Meceka

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    I've added the code in the function as you suggested. saved, returned to unity and BSOD again.. I didn't have any bsod's until this day.
     
  27. MicroGSD

    MicroGSD

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    Blue screen of death is caused by hardware and or driver issues. I can guarantee a unity asset is not causing BSOD.
    Please note this quote from official director of unity support, where some users are reporting BSOD since 4.3:
    My guess it has something to do with drivers or memory when switching to Android build. Every asset has significant imports to be done when switching to mobile builds, it is not unique to Road Architect.

    Contact us at support@microgsd.com and we will give you some options.
     
  28. MicroGSD

    MicroGSD

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    Road Architect v1.15 update
    Here's a list of new features and fixes in the upcoming Road Architect update. The update will be submitted on Monday 3/24/2014; expect a few days delay for it to appear on the Unity Asset Store.

    New features:
    • Added none option for intersection stop type.
    • Implemented a more friendly way to programmatically create roads.
    • Added an option to enable or disable mesh colliders on the entire road. On by default. If option is off the terrain / bridge will be the collider.
    • Implemented lower intersection lane width minimum at 4m. Minimum road definition of 5m required at 4m. The road has to be as wide or wider than the road definition for intersections to work.
    • Added brick roads. Select from dropdown in inspector while road is selected. For best results use a custom parallax shader.
    • Added stone roads. Select from dropdown in inspector while road is selected. For best results use a custom parallax shader.
    • Added dirt roads. Select from dropdown in inspector while road is selected.
    • Added new feature: Duplicate road. Clicking this button in a road's inspector window will add a new road and copy the settings of the currently selected road. After creation, the newly duplicated road will autoselect.
    • Added a dropdown for selecting road types: Asphalt, dirt, brick and cobblestone. This dropdown is located in the inspector window of the road below "Use Default Materials". "Use Default Materials" must be checked in order to utilize this feature.
    • Added very low poly railing option (Railing #9) for mobile
    • Added automated intersection creation via c#. Email support@microgsd.com if needed usage.
    • Added sidewalks. Do not work with intersections yet.
    Fixes:
    • Fixed error caused by trying to use 0 materials on a road or intersection.
    • Fixed error that prevented the physical material options from displaying.
    • Fixed error where shoulder edges would go to height 0 if no terrain was present.
    • Fixed issue when terrain heights were not at the standard base level 0.
    • Fixed issue where gizmos would not render when road was created via code.
    • Fixed issue relating to special nodes and T intersections when creating via code.
    • Fixed a bug where some terrains might not be detected by a road during the build process.
    • Fixed road flickering issue on mobile.
    • Fixed several issues on Android and iPhones.
    • Fixed most DirectX11 shader issues. Use shaders "GSD/DX11" when using DirectX11. In the future all renderers will only use one shader so no manual switching will be necessary.
     
  29. desyashasyi

    desyashasyi

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    Hii,
    i want to know, is it mobile 'friendly'?
    Thanks
     
  30. pixelsteam

    pixelsteam

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    It there any thoughts about an arcade implementation such as a hot wheels loop? ;)
     
  31. Meceka

    Meceka

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    I've tested it in mobile, right now it can't be called mobile friendly. Runs on my phone alright, but I can see things not being done properly for performance. Many unnecessary polygons are reducing performance. But Author is going to improve the asset with sharing low-poly side objects, and hopefully some other optimizations.

    Right now a road section is made of 3 meshes if you use shoulders (shoulders are seperate), and at sides there are 2 more polygons to fit the terrain. Also road marker is a transparent texture on road, i think it can be optimized with making a toggle to add shoulders together with road. Also adding default marker to road texture, or sharing road textures that have default markers.

    Side objects right now are really high poly. Especially bridges. On lowest polygon bridges, i disable some bridge objects from node, and you have to set side object to KRail, or make an object yourself, other's aren't suitable for medium-performance mobile phones. (I have also checked poly counts on "euro truck simulator 2" with using photo mode, most side barriers are cubes with normal maps (even the curvy ones) , and brigges doesn't have unnecessary objects.

    Right now, with multithreading off, disabling and enabling roads on my game makes difference from about 40fps to 60fps. In my game there are some box buildings, 257x257 heightmap with highest performance pixel error. And roads with k-rail and simplest bridge.

    Even that K-rail (simplest side barrier) can be made with 1/3 polygon count then it is now. (Removing bottom, removing unnecessary polys)

    The best thing is, you can make side objects yourself. I didn't test it yet. But If you are going to make a mobile game, you can give time to build side objects yourself as you wish. Also, saving side object setting is an awesome option, I use it a lot.

    Changing road definiton to high values can reduce poly count significantly. But if terrain is bumpy, or in sharp corners you have to use a lower road definition.

    Side objects and bridges can be made with less sections if they are straight. (I think author should focus increasing usability o this)

    Overall, I still recommend this for mobile, the asset itself is very well made, and you can made very nice looking roads really fast. I will most probably use this asset for my mobile city driving game.

    To add: Author cares about customer satisfaction. He urgently helped me resolve an issue on android build.
     
    Last edited: Mar 27, 2014
  32. desyashasyi

    desyashasyi

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    Nov 22, 2012
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    Hii,
    Thank you for your review and sharing your experience. So, finally, can you produce mobile game with this asset? thanks
     
    Last edited: Mar 27, 2014
  33. MicroGSD

    MicroGSD

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    It should be mobile friendly and everything Meceka said is 100% correct. Most of the triangles can be reduced by changing "Road Definition http://microgsd.com/Support/RoadArchitectManual.aspx#Roadoptions " to a higher value. You can also remove the shoulders. You can also make a bridge perfectly straight bridges (see the tutorial videos) and reduce the tri count further.

    In the next content patch we will be releasing a new set of low poly bridges and railings. You will see at least 3 low poly bridges added to the bridge creation wizard. We added one very low poly railing with this latest update (which I'm not sure if the store has approved yet).

    In short, it can be mobile friendly but you will have to learn the utility by watching the tutorial videos and reading the manual to take advantage of that. The next patch will make low triangle counts a lot more accessible for mobile developers so they don't have to create their own assets.
     
  34. MicroGSD

    MicroGSD

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    That's actually going to be possible in one of the upcoming updates. We're implementing a system where you can use any 3d object and mark road "entry" points so Road Architect's roads can hook up to any 3d mesh such as complex roundabouts, cloverleafs and yes even the hot wheel loop would work.

    I do not have a estimate for when this update will take place but I would imagine towards the end of April or early May. Essentially, the update will allow infinite possibilities with regard to road creation. Of course we will include several basic features such as the roundabouts, cloverleafs and more.
     
  35. desyashasyi

    desyashasyi

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    Hii,
    I already bought this asset a few hours ago. I will try working with it. Thank you for your explanation
     
  36. hlx

    hlx

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    Sep 18, 2012
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    Well, very good news for this upcoming release. I have a question about roads created wit RdAr and Unity native terrain. For now, from it seems (from what I saw in my first tests - I bought your tool today ) that there ANY blending solution between the road meshes and the terrain. Is there something planned to give such a result ?
    I am working for a driving simulation company and I am very curious to know how your tool(s) will treat the different issues that we have to deal with when we have to build road networks in a various virtual environment.

    Congrats for the work already accomplished !

    Regards,

    hlx
     
  37. MicroGSD

    MicroGSD

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    Hi hlx,

    Thank you for the comments and questions!

    Road Architect does not contain any mesh / terrain blending options. I highly recommend Relief Terrain Pack v3 ( https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/#/content/5664 ) for any terrain / mesh blending. RTP v3 offers a lot of ability with regard to mesh and terrain blending: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=H9Z8W7oDNn8

    We want to support 99.5% of the road setups you would encounter in real life. The cloverleafs / roundabouts update will put us near that goal because it will also unlock many other things such as road merging and customized automated placement of sections such as rest stops, gas stations and more. Most of the upcoming features you see at http://microgsd.com/RoadArchitect.aspx will become a reality with the cloverleaf patch.

    --------------------------------------------------

    Separately, the minor fixes and content update released several days ago is still pending in the store so it might be another few days before it is available on the store.
     
  38. hlx

    hlx

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    Hi microGSD,

    Thanks for your quick answer. So, since the blending feature is based on the RTP extension, I guess that you may have a video or a tutorial to show us how this works well with the Road architect meshes. Same thing for the Terrain composer extension. This tool seems very impressive but did you already tested and certifed it as "companion" tool for Road architect ? Again, is there any demo of this combination to show how Rdarchitect could create complex road networks (at least for the incoming releases) on a very wide and realistic terrain (Terrain composer) with seamless visual result between road borders and terrain (RTP3 shaders).
    This way, I should be very interested to use (and buy) all this extensions as production proof tools.

    Regards,

    hlx
     
  39. Layoken

    Layoken

    Joined:
    Apr 19, 2013
    Posts:
    2
    This is awesome! So much better than EasyRoads - yours actually deforms the terrain to the road, instead of the other way around which causes the road to either float (which is impossible to fix by fine tuning thanks to Unity's default terrain modeling tools) or be buried by the terrain.

    Have a few questions, though, if that's ok.

    1. Will all updates be free? Because I'm about to buy it but I want to make sure I get all the upcoming features too ($60 is a lot of money for me ;_; but so worth it for this). Should I wait until then to buy?

    2. You said that On-ramps/Highway Stacks are not currently a feature. Any timeframe for if/when they will be?

    3. I've noticed in your videos that when the roads deform the terrain, it ends up making the edges of the terrain look highly artificial. After creating the road, can I go back and smooth/alter the terrain near/under the roads, or will that mess everything up?

    4. Can I use my own textures on the roads and objects? Or use my own models for road objects and bridges?

    This looks like it has so much potential - once Unity releases 5 and you've got the full version of this (will you make it compatible?) with all the different road and intersection iterations, I can foresee a lot of competition for games like Forza and Need For Speed, or even games like Grand Theft Auto - indie devs doing in a few months what used to take workforces years to complete. Truly amazing!

    PS, to answer two things from earlier, no iRDS doesn't come with their own track builder - they used EasyRoads; and CityEngine is nothing like CityScape. Everything's much more low poly and low res (yet seems to really eat up memory quickly) - it's really only good for making the basic meshes of road networks, though you might want to download the trial to take a few tips from them about intersection snapping/deforming - that's definitely CityEngine's best attribute.

    Thanks so much!
     
    Last edited: Mar 29, 2014
  40. ProfessorEAB

    ProfessorEAB

    Joined:
    Aug 11, 2013
    Posts:
    1
    I've engulfed myself with Road Architect since I bought it last week, and I wanted to just give some constructive feedback with my experience thus far.

    After reading through this forum and your site, a lot of 'upcoming features' will relieve some of my complaints. I hope I can convince you to prioritize some of those future updates because their importance is critical!

    Overall, I am impressed with what RA does. If you follow the rules, you can create some basic roads quickly and easily! If I was making a racing game for example, I can see just how amazing this script would be. The videos don't lie!

    Unfortunately though, I'm not making a racing game. I'm just trying construct some realistic interconnected roadway systems. Nothing unusual - just what you'd find anywhere in America. Right now with some of these functions not yet there, the script unusable for me in production.

    Here is the list of what I feel are the most important missing features:

    Intersecting two or more roads that have different number of lanes. - This is BY FAR the biggest shortcoming of this tool and I hope you really prioritize it for the next update. It is literally impossible to create a realistic road system without it, and the tool would become twice as useful with it.

    Easily create a grid based road system, like a downtown city. In order to do this, you need the above feature. No city is only made up of roads with the same lane numbers. They constantly mix 4/6 lane main roads with 2 lane side roads, and one-way 1 lane roads/alleys

    Intersecting different road types together - like THIS (Link) This is especially useful for connecting dirt roads and alleys to main roads. Also requires the intersection of different lane number roads. I'm sensing a trend here! :D

    One Lane roads - especially useful for dirt roads and alleys

    Y- Split/Merged roads - The ability to split or merge roads with a Y, not a T-intersection. Such as THIS (Link) Maybe this is possible with a bent T-Intersection that doesn't have stop signs/lights? I'm afraid bending an intersection that much would cause the geo to go crazy. Another example would be a highway exit or on-ramp. Like THIS (link.)

    Sidewalks at intersections I know this one is coming - just making a note that, yes - this is definitely wanted!

    The ability to add a middle section/inner shoulder to a road - that functions like the outer shoulders. For Example. (Link)


    I'm not disappointed that I bought this, because I can still partially set up some roads knowing that these features will come online soon. I am just not linking my intersections until then.

    I'm going to be closely following development for these updates - keep up the great work! I'm sure you understand just how important these are!

    Thank you very much!
     
  41. MicroGSD

    MicroGSD

    Joined:
    Feb 24, 2013
    Posts:
    113
    Hlx,

    We will see about making this video. I would like to facilitate tunnels with RTP and it is an issue that we will explore further.

    As of right now we have no documentation or proof that it would work well with RTP mesh / terrain blending. From personal experience Road Architect works very well with TerrainComposer.

    We will examine the RTP / Road Architect compatibility and see what we can come up with. Ultimately I would like to be able to procedurally create tunnels in RA and blend them with RTP.
     
  42. MicroGSD

    MicroGSD

    Joined:
    Feb 24, 2013
    Posts:
    113
    Hi Layoken,
    1. Updates will be free and the software is guaranteed to be updated until 2016. We are using Road Architect in the development of a simulator.
    2. The onramps / highway stacks / clover leafs / roundabout update does not have a set in stone release date but I estimate late April or early May, but these estimates come with no guarantee.
    3. We are currently looking into smoothing the terrain edges. Sometimes you don't notice this once vegetation and trees come into the picture but for most cases it is noticeable. You can smooth the terrain afterwards but once you update the road again it will re-deform the terrain if it is within the road's width. As a short-term fix you can make the road's terrain deform width about 5 meters wider than usual and update the road. Then reduce the road's terrain deform width -5 meters and you should be able to smooth the edges without it being affected too much by future road updates.
    4. Yes you can use your own textures and objects in all aspects of Road Architect. You can examine in detail with included FBX objects and the 30+ wizard items on how they were created and how they are put together. You can use any combination of included assets and your own. For instance if you wanted to add custom bridge railing you simply import your fbx railing into Unity and select that as a prefab, and you can even save it in the library and select it via the wizard after that permanently. We will have videos sometime on how to do 3DSMax -> Unity -> bridge workflow.
    We will make Road Architect compatible with Unity 5. Our goal is to provide the ability to create massive road systems in a small amount of time. Some of the upcoming features over the next few months should help us accomplish this goal.

    It is really unfortunate that CityScape died out. I wonder what happened with that.
     
  43. MicroGSD

    MicroGSD

    Joined:
    Feb 24, 2013
    Posts:
    113
    ProfessorEAB,

    Thanks for your comments and suggestions!

    We are using Road Architect internally to create a massive simulator and imitate real life road systems, mostly rural.

    The intersection of two roads with different numbers of lanes will be implemented soon. I agree that it is important.

    We will be coming out with an enormous update that will introduce these abilities:
    • Cloverleafs
    • Roundabouts
    • Lane merging
    • Custom road merging
    • Automated rest stop / gas station / generic parking lot placement
    • Customized handling of any FBX object where you can mark road connection points.
    • Basically any object that can be made in a modeling program and imported into Unity can have road entry points marked on it for Road Architect to hook up to which will allow an extreme amount of possibilities and flexibility.
    One lane and one way roads (one lane and multi-lane) will be implemented before or during the big update.

    Specifically the two roads with different numbers of lanes- we will try and fit that in a small content update in a couple weeks. Email us at support@microgsd.com and we will make sure to get you an advanced copy if we get it done before the big update.

    There is a decent chance that we modify the way the road constructs during the big update as well which will allow much more flexibility with regard to medians, shoulders, lane counts and more.

    Internally our goal is to be able to take a drive outside the office in real life and be able to see a similar road system environment within Road Architect.

    Thanks

    -------------------------------------

    The update submitted last week is still pending review in the asset store. Not sure when it will get pushed to the store.
     
  44. Layoken

    Layoken

    Joined:
    Apr 19, 2013
    Posts:
    2
    YES! Very, very awesome! Well I just bought it and began working with it and I've run into a (possibly noob) problem - I can't seem to move the nodes up or down the Y-axis, making the road rather unnatural as you can see here:

    $r001.jpg
    $r002.jpg

    I really like my terrain (texture is just a temporary placeholder btw) and would frankly prefer if I could move the node's Y-axis (well, I technically can but it just snaps back in place after releasing it) to conform the road to the terrain just as much as I can conform the terrain to the road - is there a way to do this, or is this something to be added onto the future? Thanks so much! Everything else works absolutely perfectly, though, and to know that all the updates and upcoming features are free (with initial purchase, of course) is just incredible. Many, many thanks for this wonderful tool!

    CityScape died out because (apparently) they were offering what you're offering (well, once the full version of Road Architect is complete)....at 19,000 USD. They had a free demo but it was limited to a mere 1.6 km x 1.6 km export - to get the full 64 km x 64 km, you had to really lay down the big bucks. Here's hoping the full version of Road Architect will at least be slightly cheaper! :D
     
    Last edited: Apr 1, 2014
  45. MicroGSD

    MicroGSD

    Joined:
    Feb 24, 2013
    Posts:
    113
    Hi Layoken,

    The node's should automatically match the terrain's height wherever you click to add it on the terrain, is this not happening in your case? Did you adjust the terrain after building the road? If you significantly adjusted the terrain after building the road you might want to rebuild the road from scratch or you can adjust each node individually.

    You should be able to adjust each node's Y axis up and down just like any other gameobject's transform in Unity. Select the node by clicking on the gizmo in the editor view or clicking on the node in the hierarchy window.

    Some other things to note: If you have "max grade enforced" checked it will enforce a maximum road grade limit ( http://microgsd.com/Support/RoadArchitectManual.aspx#Roadoptions ). So if you want to perform some very steep roads you can remove this limit. Keep in mind that 99.9% of roads in real life never go above 9% grade. Additionally make sure your terrain's game object Y position (height) is at 0.

    Email us at support@microgsd.com if this issue persists and we can work on providing a solution.

    ---------------------------------

    Otherwise the patch submitted last week has just been approved, so it should be available via the store in about an hour.
     
  46. desyashasyi

    desyashasyi

    Joined:
    Nov 22, 2012
    Posts:
    73
    Hi,
    I have problem to create brick road. The intersection is using default texture (asphalt). How to fix it?

    $road architect.png
     
  47. MicroGSD

    MicroGSD

    Joined:
    Feb 24, 2013
    Posts:
    113
    Hi desyashasyi,

    Here's how to use the dirt, brick and cobblestone roads with intersections:
    1. Select the intersection object by clicking on the intersection's gizmo or selecting the intersection from the hierarchy window.
    2. Find the "Use default materials" option in the inspector window and uncheck.
    3. Change the center marker material #1 to GSDBrickRoad
    4. Remove all exterior fitted marker materials
    5. Remove all exterior tiled marker materials and put #1 as GSDBrickRoad
    6. Remove all lane marker materials
    Here's a screenshot of how the options should look: http://www.microgsd.com/images/TS/TS20.png

    In the next update I will make this automatically happen when selecting the road type from the dropdown so you don't have to do this manually.

    Let me know if you encounter any other issues with the brick / cobblestone roads.

    Thanks
     
  48. MicroGSD

    MicroGSD

    Joined:
    Feb 24, 2013
    Posts:
    113
    Here is is a minor update which fixes:
    This package will be included in the next store update, it was included here in case any of you guys wanted it earlier.
     
    Last edited: Apr 3, 2014
  49. Rastar

    Rastar

    Joined:
    Sep 14, 2012
    Posts:
    73
    Just bought this add-on, looking really great so far! I have one question/suggestion and one slight hickup, however:

    1) If I interpret this tool's behavior correctly it modifies the terrain data immediately when a new node is added? And the placement for the next node will then be based upon this modified data? I probably would prefer a different mode of operation: Place markers on the terrain (exactly matching the terrain height) and then process them on demand (e.g. button click). As an example, consider the post above with the road rising high above the terrain. If I go downhill, the node I just added might violate the max grade constraint, so the terrain height will be raised at that point. Now very probably the node after that will have an even steeper grade, resulting in an even greater change in terrain height. But in hindsight, it might have been a better solution to carve a little into the hill top by lowering the node before going downhill. This would be a sort of constraint optimization that would be carried out for the whole road. E.g., you could assign a penalty for high terrain displacements and max grade violations (rising lienarly or even quadratic with amount of violation) and then minimize the penalty for the whole road (or section). This might reduce artifacts and unnecessary terrain modifications.

    But then, maybe I'm just talking rubbish... ;-)

    2) When I add nodes by control clicking, the focus after that jumps to the corresponding terrain node. So I have to click on the road node again to continue. This is on OSX 10.9

    Enough for now, I'll go back and enjoy working with RoadArchitect...
     
  50. Djiel

    Djiel

    Joined:
    Jun 25, 2012
    Posts:
    108
    This looks absolutely awesome, even more so with the upcoming update(s). Great stuff!
    I wondered about compatibility with TerrainComposer/WorldComposer, but I saw a few posts back that this works great. Nice!
    Also cool to see you're working on compatibility with RTP. These things are definitely on my to-get-list.

    Definitely purchasing soon :)

    EDIT:
    Purely out of curiosity, can it handle complex sections such as these?
    https://www.dropbox.com/s/bfxlluhmuzg6kma/ChicagoRoads.jpg

    I understood RA will support custom made sections with entry points (like the crazy roundabout shown previously), just wondering if sections like these will have to be made, or can be created with just RA itself.

    Also, roads coming together that aren't perfectly straight T's are definitely a must if you want to cover such a high percentage of road types. It seems this is not so common in the US, but quite so in Europe for example.
    https://www.dropbox.com/s/mlbox5ze24ragc4/RoadSplit.jpg
    Not sure if this was covered and/or worked on already. Just throwing it out there :)
     
    Last edited: Apr 6, 2014