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3D Rocky Hills Environment Pack - Development Thread

Discussion in 'Art Assets In Progress' started by florianalexandru05, Jan 23, 2016.

  1. florianalexandru05

    florianalexandru05

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    What texture editing software do you have available? I would recommend node based texture editing since it's fast and seamless. You can do this in Substance Designer or other free alternatives to it.
     
  2. Spikebor

    Spikebor

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    For node based editing I guess blender works fine, I can only afford freebie.

    Btw do you use Ray tracing GI and AO volume in HDRP yet ?
    My test shows very good visuals with them on environment but the foliage looks ugly darken.

     
  3. florianalexandru05

    florianalexandru05

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    Unfortunately, I don't have an RTX card so I can't use those features. The only feature I was able to use was SSGI with raymarching. I think the ray traced AO is nice, by the way, turn off the "vertex AO" on the foliage and trees in the shader or set it to 0, that might be a reason it looks too dark. I think most of them have a default of 0.4.
     
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  4. Spikebor

    Spikebor

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    Thank bros I'll try that out.
     
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  5. Spikebor

    Spikebor

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    @florianalexandru05 Hi bro, I switch to URP for juicy fps, then I encounter problem not found in HDRP.
    every of your shader generate tons of variant, like this
    which increase build time significantly.
    Btw if the problem not is in HDRP but is in URP, high chance this is Unity's fault instead of yours.
    Can you try test build (windows 64bit unity 2021.2) on your machine to see if your machine generate this much variants ?
    also this guy have a talk about multi_compile bad and shader_feature good, can you look into this for optimization
     
  6. florianalexandru05

    florianalexandru05

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    That's weird, I wasn't aware of this. Could be the amplify shader editor itself. SRP amplify is still developing and has somewhat limits. Since it's forward only and deferred just recently introduced, it was a bit of a bump to get it working in deferred URP, there aren't many options available. I'm somewhat sure the build time doesn't actually affect the performance of the build but I'll look into it and make a test when I have time. In the meantime you should ask this question here: https://forum.unity.com/threads/bes...er-creation-tool.430959/page-144#post-7899865, they might reply faster than I do.

    Edit: Took a look at the video, very interesting, this is new to me. I think however this is done out of convenience? I'm not a programmer so I only build the shader with the default options. I wouldn't mess around with the code as it needs to be opened in the ASE editor so I want to make sure I don't break anything. The intention is to distribute the shaders as-is for use in ASE. Maybe there are some ways to get rid of those variants in the ASE editor, if there is that'd be great. Let me know what else you find out.
     
    Last edited: Feb 16, 2022
  7. florianalexandru05

    florianalexandru05

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    I took a look at all the URP shaders including not my own, it seems they all show these many variants (compared to build-in and HDRP) so it's a Unity thing. Not sure if it really has that many or there's something weird going on with the stats. The stats for batches for example doesn't display accurately in URP. I have a hunch some of these things are slower by design. It doesn't even let me see the code.
     

    Attached Files:

    Last edited: Feb 16, 2022
  8. florianalexandru05

    florianalexandru05

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    I made a build, I can confirm that's how many variants URP has for some reason.
     
  9. florianalexandru05

    florianalexandru05

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  10. Spikebor

    Spikebor

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    Thank you for your hard work! I got that you're not a programmer, but you can take notes from programmers to make your assets better in performance or some other technical ways :p
    So yeah back to the topic if this is Unity's URP fault then we can't do much other than waiting for their fix!
    I still stick to URP despite the unfinished system here and there because fps is good tho hehe.
     
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  11. florianalexandru05

    florianalexandru05

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    Always a pleasure to learn new things from skilled programmers. I have a programmer friend that helps me out sometimes.

    Yeah, it seems that that issue could be solved through the Unity settings of some sort.
     
  12. magique

    magique

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    @florianalexandru05 I'm creating a playable demo for showcasing my upcoming SoulLink Procedural AI Spawner asset and I've chosen your Rocky Hills Pro pack for the environment.

    upload_2022-2-25_14-41-32.png
     
  13. florianalexandru05

    florianalexandru05

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    Wow, this is looking really cool, keep up the good work and keep the updates coming. Can't wait to see more, especially video footage, or try the demo!
     
    magique likes this.
  14. magique

    magique

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    I'm making great progress. The demo is going to be done this coming week and I'll be sure to post the link so you can try it.
     
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  15. magique

    magique

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    You can follow along with the latest developments on the demo and SoulLink by visiting my discord channel. The progress is under playable-demos channel:

    https://discord.gg/revtQjRMPX
     
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  16. florianalexandru05

    florianalexandru05

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    Thanks, I joined and I'm going to take a look! :)
     
  17. magique

    magique

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    Great.

    Quick question. Is there a way to take the existing demo scene and convert it to use VS or VSPro without changing the tree placements and all that? I want to try to get better performance in the scene, but I don't want to make any significant changes to the tree placements, but since the trees are placed as objects instead of terrain trees, I'm not sure it can be done.
     
  18. florianalexandru05

    florianalexandru05

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    I'm not sure how VS conversion works but shouldn't it be as easy as converting the materials?
     
  19. florianalexandru05

    florianalexandru05

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    The problem with unity 2020.3x was been fixed, most versions of Unity 2020.1 and up should work now, there are support packages inside that will fix the issues. To anyone that was struggling with the google drive fixes, just re-download the pack!
     
  20. ShuChuang_1

    ShuChuang_1

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    I bought this pack and created the URP project with unity 2020.3.31f1, but when I opened the scene, I found that the material was lost. How can I solve this problem?
     

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  21. florianalexandru05

    florianalexandru05

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    You need to apply the "fix package" from the "Pipeline support" folder. I'll elaborate more on this in a bit.
     
  22. florianalexandru05

    florianalexandru05

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    Easy fix and if anyone else has issues with this just import one of those if only the CTI bark shader is pink in URP!

    Install this pack.jpg
     
  23. Jesper-Nielsen

    Jesper-Nielsen

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    I just checked your new TFS shaders and I'm really impressed. They seem to be faster than CTI and they look great.
    Since my target platform for minimum requirements is office laptops with integrated graphics this is a big plus.
    (I consider "minimal playable" to be 30 FPS on 1280x768 with low-medium settings and I'm hitting that in my game with the CTI shaders on an almost 5 years old Thinkpad T560.)
    So I'll probably port my project to those in the near future - need to survey them a bit more first before making up my mind:)

    Do you think it would be easy to add an option for dithering/fading in your shaders for objects blocking the camera?
     
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  24. florianalexandru05

    florianalexandru05

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    Thanks for the compliments! :) It could have been much faster and I could actually remove more from it but I wanted branch bending no matter what lol, be it kind of a fail. I'm still working on this shader and trying to figure out how this works, it's still in WIP phase. The branch bending is kind of random and not satisfactory, some trees bend upwards which is weird but if you set these to low settings, it gives the wind a bit more realism. Do give it more testing because at the moment I'm not sure where my shader will fail. The main problem I'm having is custom normals, since specular needs plane tangent normals it will reflect the entire tree like it's on a flat surface thing and you get really ugly specular. basically what you need is to have another pass for vertex normals. Not sure if I can fix that without hacks but I'll make more experiments.

    Dithering/fading doesn't sound too hard but what you said sounds like it needs some raw codding not sure. I don't think I could do that atm but I'll look into it. You could also show me an example of what you mean by that.
     
    Last edited: Apr 22, 2022
  25. florianalexandru05

    florianalexandru05

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  26. cewwsq

    cewwsq

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    I can use and I can sell my game on steam use your asset?

    Can I create and sell my games with this License type Asset?? I want to use some free Assets and make a game. I mean I can sell my games to steam using these Assets?
     
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  27. florianalexandru05

    florianalexandru05

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    Yes I replied already, have fun! :)
     
  28. cewwsq

    cewwsq

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    Thank You So Much
     
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  29. Jesper-Nielsen

    Jesper-Nielsen

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    Something I just noticed - LOD0 and LOD1 leaf meshes for the spruce trees seem identical?

    You can see an example here, where the large pines or spruce trees fade when blocking the player. I can't tell from the video if this is done entirely in the shader or if there's a scripting component to it too. Kinda thinking it might be advantageous to swap the materials in script while blocked, and keep cheaper shader (variants?) on otherwise to support SRP batching.
     
    Last edited: May 17, 2022
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  30. Jesper-Nielsen

    Jesper-Nielsen

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    Did a bit more testing, and at least for spruce trees there's absolutely no doubt in my mind that this new shader is superior for my needs.
    I'm super happy that it can be made both lighter and darker - the CTI has an albedo tint parameter but it's additive so I had to work with the texture itself and never really became 100% happy with it.
    Tinkering a bit with the AO - I think it looks better toned down a bit. Vertex AO seems best - still evaluating performance difference but it doesn't seem crazy.
    A pic - light ones in the background are CTI.
    The ones front right are from your free pack - I'm in the process of replacing them because your new spruces are just a different level - but I still like the way they're built - a bit more christmas tree shape than your new ones. Perhaps they're a different species?

    upload_2022-5-18_12-7-39.png
     
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  31. florianalexandru05

    florianalexandru05

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    Interesting, well there's a easy way to add cross fading in amplify editor but for some reason I couldn't get it to work but I'll try it again when I touch this project. I just avoided it because it's better performance.

    Thanks :)) I'm still not happy with the custom normals, I want to get back the fresnel,
    The pines from the free pack are the first tress I ever made lol. I just wanted to make a more cartoon chirstmas tree version at the time. I wish I could have time to upgrade the free pack too.
     
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  32. Jesper-Nielsen

    Jesper-Nielsen

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    Could you explain how the vertex colors are used in your shaders?
    I would like to convert more of the vegetation in your pack to use them.
     
  33. florianalexandru05

    florianalexandru05

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    Really simple actually, I used Vertex Green on the tip of the leaves for wind, you will notice the center is black and Vertex Red for Ao, on the leaves and bark. That's about all there is to it, also the Green and Red channels are merged with additive blending because there's no other way to do it, not sure if you can have two vertex color channels in Amplify Shader Editor? Maybe you can but I didn't complicate myself. Anyway, you will need a vertex color tool in your 3d modeling app that can merge vertex colors.

    Aside from that, my tree model is merged as one mesh and sub mesh (leaves and bark), the leave cards are all one mesh because it's the most efficient and optimal way to do it to save on performance. This is how I got a good performance on trees. Having multiple pivots or sub-meshes would make more realistic wind but that is too expensive, you can only have a merged mesh if you use something like "pivot painter" which I have but I didn't try it out yet. Maybe in the future, I will if I want to make better wind.

    Vertex Colour Tree.png
     
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  34. florianalexandru05

    florianalexandru05

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    You will need to make the vertex colors and custom normals in your modeling app and the shader will do the rest. I could have done vertex normals in the shader but I didn't like that because it was restrictive and messed up models that came with their own custom normals.
     
  35. florianalexandru05

    florianalexandru05

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    This project is still alive and I'm changing some things. I'm working on improving and developing the new foliage shader more. I just managed to fix the shading, specular, and translucency to work with custom normals better. At the moment I only have a few HDRP tests to show, also I missed compiling the front specular of the mesh so it won't show in trees much if at all in the wips.

    In HDRP, I used "hair shader" because it seems to deliver the best results, it's a bit more expensive but it's worth it. I noticed it eats -3 FPS.

    screen_3840x1818_2022-07-30_18-45-04.jpg screen_3840x1818_2022-07-30_18-45-28.jpg screen_3840x1818_2022-07-30_18-57-43.jpg

     
    Last edited: Sep 4, 2022
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  36. florianalexandru05

    florianalexandru05

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    My pc was dead and I took a break for a month but I'm back now. Here are some new renders of the shaders...
    The hair translucency is self-sufficient (no profile needed) and it looks better than the scattering in my opinion. This shader is more expensive though.

    screen_3840x1818_2022-07-31_23-25-44.jpg

    screen_3840x1818_2022-07-31_22-47-14.jpg
     

    Attached Files:

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  37. Zimnel

    Zimnel

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    It looks so nice, top notch quality as usual :)) I hope you can bypass your PC!
     
  38. florianalexandru05

    florianalexandru05

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    Thanks, I fixed my PC now but I have an issue with custom normals that are unresolved. I'm having to rethink what method I should use for foliage if I can't fix this, I'm going to have to take a step back.
     
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  39. Zimnel

    Zimnel

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    At least your PC is working :)))
     
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  40. florianalexandru05

    florianalexandru05

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    The shader is almost complete in HDRP. I have to admit I'm not a fan of the custom normals and the low poly vegetation I have made so I will do better on my next pack and maybe use mixed techniques. This shader will have options of turning on and off custom normals through a static switch toggle, along with other options.

    screen_3840x1818_2022-09-04_22-49-37.jpg

    screen_3840x1818_2022-09-04_23-55-30.jpg
     

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  41. florianalexandru05

    florianalexandru05

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    I know it has been a long time without any updates but I have been working hard on vegetation and going through another learning curve in tree creation, I'm developing new methods that I will document and perhaps turn into tutorials, which might be helpful. Meanwhile, I'm remaking the "Rocky Hills Shader" which is my universal foliage shader. I will change everything because simply, I want to do better. I really want to get to have something close to Vegetation Engine. I'm currently developing the shader as I'm working on this project at the same time. Here's a quick test of some new shading methods I'm trying, nothing new to see here except a WIP of the new tree I was working on.

    What's new here:
    • A new method of removing backface shading for grass
    • New specular backface occlusion option (specular no longer shines on backfaces)
    • New self-translucency method
    • Fixe tangent normals option for models with custom normals (attempts to fix wrong normals facing opposite of the light, still WIP)
    • New branch bending methods



    The new assets will be on another level! I will come back with some showcases after I finish my tree set.
     
  42. florianalexandru05

    florianalexandru05

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    So, I'm making more realistic foliage for the other project. This time I used photos I took from around my place and created my foliage and tree leaves. This is what you should be expecting from now on. I'm also working on renewing the shader, the grass will no longer be using custom normals but a secret method to light backfaces while keeping the specular correct to the mesh tangent.

    Grass_GCATA_01.jpg
    Grass_GCATA_04.jpg
     

    Attached Files:

  43. creat327

    creat327

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    what's the performance of this? does it run on mobile?
     
  44. florianalexandru05

    florianalexandru05

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    The shader is more or less the same so it should run on mobile almost the same as in my Mobile Dungeon Catacombs - Mobile pack. The assets will be a bit more high poly in comparison and some things like shading will be changed which might impact the performance a bit but if I would have to take a guess I would say it should run on mobile just fine with the right optimization. I'm making it for all pipelines so there is mobile support in mind. Out of the box the assets run at 60fps on my lower-end device.

    I'll make some performance tests soon after I finish making my foliage. I might reach out to some people willing to test performance on mobile as well.
     
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  45. Jesper-Nielsen

    Jesper-Nielsen

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    Wow this just looks amazing!
    Are those textures photo-scanned, or do you just use the photographs as a reference?
     
  46. florianalexandru05

    florianalexandru05

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    For the foliage yes, I used my own photo scans. Modeling plants is really difficult, so I did it this way haha. I might show some images of the wips. This project is around 67% done.
     
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  47. florianalexandru05

    florianalexandru05

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    I suggest you take a look at this thread in the meantime!

    GrassShot_01.jpg JuniperTreesShoot_01.jpg
     
  48. vintage-retro-indie_78

    vintage-retro-indie_78

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    crazy - good stuff, for sure interested in getting these from a store . . .

    going to start by getting these from the Unity - store, #thx . . . .

    for a perhaps AAA - AAAA title might be interested in having custom work // for now, these are amazing . . . .
     
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  49. SOL3BREAKER

    SOL3BREAKER

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    Do you support urp14 forward + in the future?
     
  50. florianalexandru05

    florianalexandru05

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    Yes, of course, I will have to keep it up to date. I'm a bit distracted working on the other pack but have you tried it out in URP 14 and up? I noticed URP has not had many compatibility issues so I assumed it should work in the latest versions. The latest version I tested it in is "2022.1.0b4".

    If anyone notices any problems with the latest releases please let me know!