3D Rocky Hills Environment Pack - Development Thread

Oh right, best of luck, I feel flattered that I could serve as inspiration! If you saw it from page one you can probably already see the difference from then to now. Improvement gets you so far...

 

Cleaning up the pack was a lot more work than I anticipated but it's perfect and ready for submission. I think I might have to make a few tests in more unity versions just to make sure... Hopefully, It will be uploaded in 1,2 days. I apologize for taking a bit longer! Here's a quick summary of the asset number while you wait:

1. Pack size: 2.40G (I got it down a bit more)
2. Texture folder: 1.99G
3. Prefabs: 296 (raw number)
4. Models: 355

 

The pack has just been sent to Unity for approval just now!!

From here on out it's up to Unity on how long it's gonna take to hit the store. Will give notification when it's up.
Also, I got it down to 2.18G

 

Can't wait to see it!

 

Unfortunately there was a bug and my pack didn't get submitted. I have tried 3 times by now. I contacted Unity and they said it's being investigated. If possible they can't get it unstuck I might have to try to re-upload it again. Idk how long it's going to take now, I guess I just have to wait and hope it gets fixed soon.

 

Good luck with this, hope you get the asset submitted successfully soon!

 

Thanks, I'll have a technical service talk with them tomorrow, hope I find a fix. I'm not sure what's the issue yet.

 

Looks like they couldn't get it unstuck, nothing I can do, I'll try to upload again, bare with me here for a bit!

 

GOOD NEWS! Look like my submission finally went trough last night!

Now just have to wait...

 

THE PACK IS FINALLY LIVE ON THE ASSET STORE!!
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I recommend you try it in a new project first, this is version 2.0 and mostly everything has been updated/replaced. Added new textures and remove old ones. Enjoy using my pack! I left instructions and notes everywhere.

https://assetstore.unity.com/packag...capes/rocky-hills-environment-pro-pack-111436

Review would be highly welcome and helpful.

 

I should have grabbed this when it was $20 cheaper. LOL. I'll add it to my wish list. Looks good.

 

Thank a lot for considering man! Well, it was cheaper but with less content and maybe a bit expensive for the amount of content it had but hopefully, now it's worth it. The amount of content and work just added 20$+ (also now trees work with wind and vegetation shaders)

 

It looks worth it! Top quality work for sure. It's just a matter of financial timing for me.

 

Thanks again man!

Just had someone test it in 2017. The pack was uploaded with version 5 but it works straight away in any version up to 2018. Just remember to follow the setup instructions. If everything looks fluorescent green that's not right so it means it might be in gama so set it to linear! If anyone needs help or support feel free to ask!

 

I was working with my project and I was just not happy with my trees and vegetation. I went and re-watched the video demonstrating your asset again. It looked so good. I figured why should I continue working with what I have when I'm just going to have to redo it anyways after I buy your asset? So I worked out enough finances to get your pack. I can't wait to switch everything out.

If you ever add new trees or create a new pack I'd love to see a collection of creepy\sinister trees and vegetation.

 

Thanks for the purchase, hope it's going to work out well for you. Also do share your work here if it's not a bother!!

Yes good point, I am making a couple of dungeon packs, one of which has creepy dead trees in it. I am thinking of making something more fantasy. I had a lot to learn from making this pack and I'm sure I can do better. Btw, you should keep going with your stuff, there are things I redid more than 10 times until I got it right. I'm gonna go back to a few of my old packs and "re-master" them for sure.

 

Btw, there's also this, I tired everything I had to make sure my video and images looks good enough so I used a few lighting and rendering hacks in unity, hence why the video's moving at 30/20 fps at times. If I'd just use regular post processing it would of run at 60fps and oh man, I only used one voxel because the real time GI and recording at the same time was to much for my computer to record smoothly.

 

Thanks for the info.

BTW, I'll definitely post some screenshots after I've updated my project.

 

Looking forwards!

 

There are a few nice Unity assets where you can record the frames as jpegs to be processed by ffmpeg. That way you an get 4k@60fps.

 

Awesome work! Really enjoying checking everything out. Also, I put together a quick 4k walking animation of the winter map if anyone is interested!

 

I'm amazed it actually looks really impressive! Maybe I should stop using GI hacks to get a solid 60fps video or as the other person suggested get a better video recorder.
How is the animation turning out did you get to solve the issues?

Thanks, I'll check those out!

 

Personally I would focus on 60fps and recording at least in 1080p, 4k is best though! The reason is that two strong aspects of your pack is the textures, and that everything moves with the wind. Those are both best seen in high quality video. Plus, it is a pet peeve of mine that on the asset store there are many amazing assets, but the presentation for them isn't great.

I actually recorded my video on a 2011 Macbook with Intergrated graphics; at 4k this means my computer is only recording at about 0.6FPS. I used the Unity Recorder [1] to capture an image sequence and used MPEG Streamclip to combine those images into a video. That way I have full control over the compression and bitrate of the video. Unfortunately the video recorder in Unity Recorder is capped at a very low bitrate so the resulting video is exceptionally poor quality. If you want crisp video you are pretty much required to use the image sequence technique. In the end though you can get great looking video locked at 60FPS regardless of your capture framerates.

For you next project I recommend you look into using this for your promo videos. If you every want help with capturing video let me know. It took me a bit to figure out but I have it down pretty good now!

As for the animations, I've decided that I won't post any updates until I get IK working. Everything has been rewritten for a third time, but I am happy with it. Life has been busy though so I haven't had much time to dedicate to that project!

Edit: If you're looking for a different environment to try out maybe look into a subarctic tundra environment [2], [3], [4]. There's nothing as far as I am aware on the asset store. As a Canuck, I am completely biased, but I think the colour combinations are very unique, and the pack would be great practice for ground cover flowers, bushes, and grasses.

[1]https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/essentials/unity-recorder-94079
[2] https://www.worldatlas.com/r/w728-h425-c728x425/upload/c2/e0/0a/shutterstock-602118233.jpg
[3] https://staticserver2.com/edu/static/ms/800/tundra.jpg
[4] http://cdn-photos.vanfun.com/newhouse/2017/09/09/1db32ada-2f50-457d-948e-4fd3ceabd657.jpg

 

Just wow, awesome work, the final shots are astonishing ^ ^ I love the result, what you've made here, evolving your product to this great resource. Getting it soon!

 

I just bought, downloaded, and tried the demo scene.. I am getting some weird behavior.
2018.3.11.f1 on windows 10
See attached image

Thanks!

 

I am having the same thing arrested_games, annoyingly I figured out how to a fix it on another project a week or so back but it was during a late night session and I have completely forgotten what I did now

Seems to be an issue where the leaves only appear at the lod transitions, by extending the crossfade you can get it to show the leaves across all the lods but they still disappear when you get close, hopefully someone who is less of a noob than me can help, if I do figure it out again I will post.

 

Read the installation instructions for unity 2018. I put notes in the folders.

1. Set your rendering color space to linear color space, that looks like "gama" and it's incorrect!
(Go to project settings --> player ---> color space and pic linear)
2. Install the 2018 foliage fix from the "CTI" folder.!

"Setup Instructions

The pack is compatible for most versions of unity starting with 5.6 up to 2017/2018...2019 (For unity 2018 just import the "2018 foliage shader fix" provided in the "CTI" folder otherwise your foliage with not render on screen!) Pack has been tested on all Unity versions and should work fine.

When using deferred rendering make sure you add the "deferred shader" and "deferred reflections" components in the graphics window by replacing the default ones.

All the trees have colliders setup, If you want to use them for the terrain engine just replace the mesh colliders with capsule colliders!"
If you have any more issues let me know!

Try ask about your problem here:
https://forum.unity.com/threads/released-custom-tree-importer.263224/page-10#post-4345144
They should know everything! If you have any more issues let me know!

Edit: Did you install the 2018 pack fix inside the folder and replaced the run time components? Since it was uploaded with Unity 5 installing that should break it for version 5 so that's why you have that small pack inside to overwrite it for version 2018 up.

 

Unfortunately I'll be out of town for a day but I'll be back to give you more detailed advice when I return. For the disappearing foliage that's the fix, (they are in the "CTI runtime components folder and"). It should work 100%. If any more issues I will be available for live chat to assist with the installation.

 

Don't you love it when you go to all that effort to provide instructions and fixes and then idiots come along, miss it all and then come moaning on the forum. Appreciate you giving this the time to help, as a complete noob in all of this getting your pack feels a bit like buying a Ferrari, when I don't know how to drive, and then complaining to the dealer that I can't make it go

Running the fix resolved the foilage issue straight away, which after several days of me frustrating myself over this was a great relief. I will try and pay more attention to the notes from now on.

I have the Pro Pack and the Vegetation Pack and they are truly stunning, The BeechtreeOld looks incredible in VR. Great work, will leave reviews on each of the packs, also just noticed the Modular Dungeon Pack in your signature. I think I may need to pick that up too.

 

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Haha, it's not really that hard if you follow instructions. I wish it would just work out of the box but the wind tools and shaders need a bit of setup for them to work properly, because I used, "Custom Tree Importer", a good tool for realistic foliage in unity. The shaders require the runtime components from the folder and because of the way they shaders read the textures, you need to have the correct color space and the custom "deferred rendering and deferred reflections" in the graphics settings. I could go more in debts with this but I think just having the wind and foliage behave and look correct is more than enough. I am thinking of making an install video tutorial. Speaking of which, this video (not mine) is a good tutorial for the "CTI tools" installation.

6 minutes in he explains how to install the defined shaders and deferred reflections. Anyway, good to know you got it to work and thanks again for the purchase, also yes revies would be very helpful. Now about the dungeon, that's one of my first big packs so go easy on me with that one! I will give it a proper update when I have the time.

 

Wow.
Not helpful.

 

If it looks like this then you did it right!

 

Download: https://github.com/Tobyfredson/RHEPro_Updates.git

Made a golden leaf variation for the people that are interested!

 

Wow. I read the compete thread too and replayed the video 4 times.

Some thoughts

- handcrafting is visible everywhere
- some color palettes are amazing. in special the desaturatet grass end the canyon or the redish tree corner
- shows of a whats mostly missed in pure procedural generatet environments
- variation from topology and nature is absolutly amazing
- despite of season variations it has some great mood variations. this you could develop further through color, sky and post profile variations.

some visual breakpoints who lower the immersion for me are
- missing little bright speculars on grass
- mostly rounded whitish edges on the rocks. there could be sharp edges too
- some bigger rocks have this laying gras to the side on top.
it s the biggest killer because you look at the perfect sky and it contrast to that it breaks immersion the most. needs a few meter walk still recovered.
- some horizon based ao with color bleeding enabled could smooth out dark gras at ground and could blend some rock better with ground
- some really decent multires ao is nice to to smooth everything out.
like description here in this old but gold article
http://www.iquilezles.org/www/articles/multiresaocc/multiresaocc.htm
or see tomb raider hbao slices
http://www.elopezr.com/the-rendering-of-rise-of-the-tomb-raider/

can t wait to play with it. First i add some butterflys, some specular flickering, some gpu instancer micro grass layer madness and some post processing volumes to cross.)
Would also be the killer level for fpssample. Capture the flag.) One stands is the cave.
Price could be higher.

 

Wow, thanks for reading the compete thread!! All those points are good and I took note of that. I agree about the rocks and the grass textures, was kinda at the stage where I was figuring out how to make stuff so the consistency for the shapes and style was a bit lost. It went through my head to remake some of the elements before upload but I figured I wouldn't get it uploaded on time and I spent a lot of time working on it as it was.

Very useful links, thanks alot for the share!! I think I'll try the ao probes from the HDrp soon...

Wow that would be awesome, looking forward to what you will be doing and thanks for the purchase!! This has been a good learning experience and I'm aiming to do better next time! Speaking of which I think I'll make another nature but something like a spanish country road maybe.

 

This is off topic but one of my friends has made some survival props some time ago and he thinks it's not really worth anything. My question is, how many of you would you think they can be sold on the store as assets and would you buy it?

 

Although those assets don't fit my current game they do look fairly well modeled. Of course, texturing is very important but assuming there is good quality texturing done on them (the ones that are textured look good) I believe they are good enough to sell on the Asset Store.

As far as how well they would sell I wouldn't know but I feel bad for many of the asset publishers. Looks like quite often a lot of work is rewarded with few sales.

 

Hey thanks for the reply, just asking. I really like his modeling and texturing skills. Yeah that is true but it's not all that bad really, sales are made at least some of us do make something for our hard work, but maybe we should learn to work less sometimes lol ;p I'm not doing that great myself but good enough to keep me going. I'm still working on it.

 

What is the size (in units) of that huge location provided in the pack?

 

Like in kilometers? I'll have to look, tbh it's nothing as big as the size of a real small island, I don't intend to make anything that big but there is around around a canyon area on a map I'd say, I'll have to look later, will tell you!

 

Hmm since I don't really have any tool for measurement I guess the map size should do? Maybe this can help you put it into perspective.


The red zone is the largest canyon, the blue x is a cave entrance and the teal x is the player starting point (there is enough space there for a really small yard).

 

Thanks! Terrain width/height is what I was looking for.

 

Writing just to say I'm having a great time with this asset; I'm getting the exact look I was looking for in nature elements terms. Find herewith a few screenies of a scene I'm prototyping:

 

Looks really awesome, I like everything, looking forwards to see the rest <3

 

I am thinking of dropping my price to 45$ while I'll upload the dungeon and when it will be up I'll drop it to 40$ till I make thee 50 update for the dungeon.

 

It's now 45$ or 40.20€!

https://assetstore.unity.com/packag...capes/rocky-hills-environment-pro-pack-111436

 

If anyone is interested, I'll be consistently posting on twitter as well as I'm thinking of opening up a Patreon and make some tutorials and workflow vids. Not sure about the Patreon part tou...

https://twitter.com/tobyfredson

 

Followed on Twitter ^ ^ Patreon is also a good idea : )

 

Sice Unity made some changes as of late It's mandatory that I update all my assets so I noticed my Rocky Hills Nature pack doesn't work with Unity version 2019, hence I'll be updating the "CTI addons" to the ones that work with 2019 along with some other little extra content and changes, I'll be adding.
---

CTI Update: Upgraded version for Unity 2019 and beyond
Asset Update: Will include golden versions of the beech leaf textures, maybe a few more rocks and splats
Other Update: Small changes
Future Update: LW support and HD support when it's out of preview
---

In other news, I have been trying out a new version of SEGI (Real-time GI) and I find it really good. This will make better-looking images for my portfolio to showcase my assets! Testing the GI rn but I need better shadows.

 

Before the pack gets updated!! In case that anyone that bought it and is expecting the wind and foliage to work on 2019, it probably won't, so please contact me through my email so I can provide you with the working shaders for 2019!

florianalexandru05@gmail.com