Rome: Truly AAA Quality Exterior Enviroment Pack for Unity

I'm not sure if you're familiar with Quantum Theory's work, but he seems especially aware of performance and how to get things looking great while also being super performant.

I think he'll figure it out and provide an excellent solution.

 

Other than the rocks, I am not.

 

I use two GPUs in my PC. One cca 4 year old (GF470) and second the best money can buy (GF1080). I always optimize scenes to run decently at the older GPU. Reality is, that even that 4 years old GPU can run 2m polygons in frustum and 2000+ drawcalls. So stop theorizing about some roof with several thousand polys in the worst case, when nobody seen it in action. QT told, that objects will have LODs, also create some flat version with just NM is quite simple work, so whats the problem?

 

I am not worried. So please, just let me be if you don't mind. No need to be angry about it.

 

@Teila 's concern is valid. Clay tile roofs are arguably the most expensive type of roof to render in terms of pure triangles. And they're a serious pain in the butt to convincingly construct.

Here is a 4x4 chunk of modular roof tile. The final LODs will vary, so this is just for illustration purposes. I can go however far with the lods as needed. That's no problem. The part I'm actually debating with myself on is the workflow of the building construction. I have the roof pieces in 2mx2m chunks that you copy and paste with some other roof pieces to make a completed roofline for a building of any size. The problem is the "any size" part when considering lods.

If I allow you to make a building from scratch using the modular pieces, you would also have to manually reconstruct the building with the LOD chunks too, then manually hook up those LOD meshes to the lod group to make the final prefab. I have ideas on how to streamline that, but it will have to wait until after release. Does that sound like a pain or sound ok?

Keep in mind I'll be including a collection of prefab floors and completed roofs with LODs so the construction step is entirely optional, but cool nonetheless.

 

Not difficult to do at all. Thanks.

 

just a random thought: i remember a project were high tessellated roof tiles caused very heavy aliasing. good bump or height maps might be better here for lod1 + especially in deferred.

 

Give temporal anti-aliasing a try?

 

still beta. and at its current state it looks really blurry...

 

That's unfortunate. I'm sure they'll get it eventually. When I was on The Division, I recall seeing temporal AA and it came out great. There was some subtle blurriness but the benefits outweighed the cons. I'm pretty sure it's in the retail build.

 

Seems to be working out I just wish I had nested prefab support. The amount of options you have for making buildings is pretty impressive. I added those wood support meshes today and they add a nice touch to the structure.

 

Now we just need a few villas for the countryside.

Very lovely work. That house looks like a photograph.

 

Nice. What about some temples, colloseums, statues, etc?

 

I can certainly deliver anything you want. Those ideas are great and certainly something I want to do. The priority right now though is completing what I have, getting it out to you, and seeing what the response is like before proceding with additional content. While I am invested in all the content I publish, if Rome sells well and garners the interest I hope it does, I'll do lots of nice free updates for this pack and publish others in the series just like PolyWorld. I'll need your help to spread the word too!

 

Hope your subscription still works!

 

Hit play and smack the maximize button 'cause here's the fly-through of the demo scene!

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Release is imminent! I'm scripting and recording instructional videos, setting up documentation and website materials (as well as a complete redo of my site), and I'll submit!

I hope you liked the vid! Know anyone who would be interested? Let em know! Thanks!​

 

@QuantumTheory - Very nice!

BTW, I noticed some popping of shadows. Is that the sort of thing that is fixed by lengthening the shadow distance (under Quality settings)?

(EDIT: Oh, I see. The popping of the shadows is probably related to the LOD popping.)

 

epic!
except from that flat looking speedtrees i guess...
i noticed some lod popping but that should be easy to fix.
overall really great and outstanding package!

 

Yep. It's quite likely the lod popping. Of course you can tweak the ranges and all. Unity supports LOD fading, but the shadows probably won't fade like the LODs do.

That's a custom tree I built with a super simple shader. It's on my list to improve, with some other things, after ship. I wanted to get the pack to a really solid visual benchmark, ship it, then compile all the feedback with my own personal to-do list and do a nice update.

 

Are there any objections to using quotes from the replies on this thread as a testimonial?

 

Might be best to ask after we actually see the product in Unity. I am sure it is wonderful, but I have purchased expensive model assets in the past only to find out that in Unity, without all the smokes and mirrors, it was not so impressive. I don't think that will be an issue...but some of those other assets had fabulous reviews when I bought them that turned out to be not so accurate. My word means something to me and I am often asked my opinion of stuff...so want to be accurate.

If it looks as good on my computer, I will be happy to provide testimonials and reviews.

 

Kind of hard to call something a testimonial if a user hasn't actually used the pack. Kind of a putting the cart in front of the horse situation.

 

It looks awesome, jaw-dropping even; but looks can be deceiving as we all know. Once we've used the pack in real world scenarios, then we'll give you real reviews that will be honest. You can ask to quote from those on a case-by-case basis. Let's not fall into any legal issues, including, but not limited to; bribery, false oaths and/or claims, conflict of interest, etc.

 

@QuantumTheory - If you want to launch with quotes, I'd think you'd need to have a beta or some kind of pre-launch sale. I can't think of any other way to do it, as customers would expect the reviews to be from owners or at least people who had used the product.

If you don't mind launching without quotes, you'll probably get some soon enough. I think the quality of your work is high enough that you'll get a Unity "staff pick" designation right away, and that ought to translate into some early sales.

 

Thanks for the feedback everyone. How about a nice sample of props?

 

Absolutelly agree.

 

The pack is now uploading to the store. Oh this is awesome. I've been working on this for months. Thanks everyone for your ongoing support and well wishing. It has certainly kept me going and pushing towards the finish line.

All of the marketing materials,Youtube videos, screenshots, sketchfab demos, and a playable build of the demo scene, are now available on my new website! While you wait for the submission to go through the store, why not check this stuff out? Tell me what you think! Oh and don't forget to tell your friends too.

Just a fyi: The unitypackage filesize will be 1.1gb due to all the pbr material texture data.

http://www.qt-ent.com

 

@QuantumTheory - When I click on the link (http://www.qt-ent.com) it locks up my browser with a security check loop.

UPDATE: Now it works.

 

argh. Try again. How embarassing.

 

Hmm! A lot of videos for this already.

I thought this list of videos on YouTube might get overlooked by people wanting to research the kit and how to use it, so here's the link to the list of videos: How to use Rome for Unity.

 

Rome is in the store!

 

Whoa that was fast. Thanks for the heads up! I need to update the beginning of the thread.

 

Also, if you decide to purchase Rome, please consider providing a review in the store after you've dug in to it. Reviews are a great way to let customers know what you think and gives them confidence in their purchase. And it is a huge help to publishers like me who do this full time. Thanks everyone!

 

Your videos and demo are fantastic! I do plan on buying this but a busy week for us so will probably wait for the weekend so I am not tempted to play with it.

 

Thanks @Teila ! It means a lot to hear that.

 

I downloaded the demo and the first time I played I was walking around and thinking, "Hmmm... what's the big deal?" Unfortunately I had mistakenly put it on "Fastest".... Once I set it to the "Level 6" and did another walkthrough it was like "OOOOOoohhhh ooooooooooh!".

Beautiful work! This has raised the bar on Asset Store quality. Congrats on making it to release!

 

Hah! Awesome! So glad to hear this Thanks for joining the discussion!

One question: Was "fastest" the default for you when you first loaded the build, or did you choose it?

 

"fastest" was the default... but I'm not sure if it's that way from your demo, or just left over from other builds that I had run recently(?). Are you using SEGI in the demo? Can you say what the difference is between the "fantastic" mode and the "level 6" mode?

 

Just wanted to chime in and say fantastic work! Some of the best I've ever seen on the asset store. It's really stunning!. keep up the great work =)

 

Mine was on fast by default as well, so it must be your video since I never play a demo with fast. I changed it before I played it.

 

this is simply beautiful man. I have no use for it whatsoever but I must have it

 

Thanks everyone for the morale boost!

Now if only Unity would feature it in the store somewhere.

 

Okay, putting pieces together to make a small town square but having issues.

I cannot do this without adding little pieces from the model section. It would have been nice to have some building prefabs but all I see are the buildings, doors, windows and roofs. I would love to see some walls and ceilings with trim pieces added. Also, walls at 8 wide would have been nice. Instead, If i want to build my own back wall for a facade, I have to put smaller pieces together. Kind of surprised you didn't make those. I will have to make one myself.

Of course, I can make my own prefabs. However, many of the small pieces have the wrong pivot placement, making it really difficult to rotate and place. Rather than taking this into Maya myself and having to fix every piece, I would like to see these fixed. The trim pieces are pink, no materials. Those should be added.

These are minor things but they add a lot of aggravation.

Also, it would have been nice to see some less dirty/ruined materials for walls, windows and shutters. While Rome today is old and grungy, there was a day when it was not so bad. I have used materials I have for the walls and they look great. I will have to build my own shutters, windows and doors, but that is fine.

 

Are you looking in the prefabs/architecture/prebuilt folder? There are 3 buildings 12x18 and a number of 3-sided facades that can be used to either expand the footprint of an existing building or build out the perimeter of a town like in the demo scene. Customers will have different needs, so in the first iteration of the pack I wanted to include the source pieces so you wouldn't have to wait for me to add more prefabs to the pack. Also, check the Meshes/Architecture/Prebuilt folder too for additional prebuilt floors.

I'm compiling a list of next steps and I'd appreciate your input.

*edit* I plan on doing a good youtube video on custom building construction as well as modifying the prefab buildings.

Odd. I tested the pivots extensively as I constructed everything with those pieces. Can you show me what you're making? I'll look into the trim.

I agree and I'll fix these pronto.

I suppose I may have went a bit far with the downtrodden look. The goal was to create the contrast between this pack (the lower class) and the next one (the upper class). The materials are substances I authored and they have controls for the dirtiness, so if you have a need I might be able to do it effortlessly and send it to ya.

 

That would be great. I have a bunch of substances myself that work fine, but would love to be able to "unage" yours since they are so perfect.

I will send a screen shots of some of the pivot issues.

I realize you made a few buildings, but I needed more than that. So was constructing my own from your parts.

 

The trim above the pivot belongs to the pivot. It makes it difficult to turn the trim and place it correctly.

 

Looks like the pivot is set in the middle of a 2x2 square so you can quickly duplicate and rotate to get a corner trimmed out

(This is just from my observation of your pic)

 

It is at the end of a piece of trim, not in the center. It is very difficult to rotate and position it unless you just need to move up and down on the y-axis.

 

I downloaded the pack from the store and couldn't find pink objects. I loaded up the scene too and everything looked fine. Which objects were pink?

 

Yes, the trim pivots are aligned to the wall pivots. The assumption was that the pivot of a trim would be at the base of a wall so people would be able to pair them together easier.

If you place a wall, and then place a trim down, they will have the same transform but be placed correctly in relation to eachother.