RTP - Relief Terrain Pack with geometry blend on AssetStore

@gian

Do you use shaders on terrain or on meshes ? First warning is harmless. You could give me PM your invoice no. to verify, I guess you should go to RTP3 asap (even if it's still beta).

Upgrading should be done from scratch (old RTP uses files in different locations and different files).

Tom

 

Hi Tom

I use the shader currently on the terrain. What does that mean, doing from scratch? Would it mean to re-create my scene from scratch?

You will get a PM asap.


Thanks

Gian-Reto

 

From scratch - remove RTP2 before installing RTP3.

Tom

 

How is this shader on opengl/mac? In terms of performance? Is it identical?
Because running with forced opengl mode on the samples you gave (4 layers, 8layers), the shader doesn't seem to work.
So I can't try it myself. And does it fully support lightmapping?

 

Tested on Win in forced opengl mode (on 3 GPUs) - work. Performance should be quite comparable to DX9, but what I noticed in DX11 mode shader works faster. It supports lightmapping.

Tom

 

This is what I get on win7, latest AMD Drivers for my HD4850. Any idea?


Without the force opengl I get all the sweet stuff with really good frame rate!

 

Try to enable opengl in RTP_LODmanager and then recompile shaders. Thi is what comes to mind first.

Tom

edit: P.S. Ouch I haven't seen that this is screenshot from my exe build. Maybe I missed something I exported build (shader seem to use only classical terrain mode). But it works for open gl - tested.

 

Hi,Tom
RTP's dynamic snow can't support terrain trees?

 

Indeed, they can't, because RTP is "terrain surface oriented" solution. I guess some of free forst (larsbertram) packages can do this. Look at:

https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/#/content/4144

but don't use terrain replacenet shaders, only foliage/trees.

Tom

 

I have a HD4850. It does not support DirectX 11.

 

Have you tried to recompile shaders in RTP_LODmanager checking target platform - DX11 ? It should work as I tested this already it on DX11. Anyway - on RTP3 will work with DX11 and I'll test it again, however I've got only nVidia to test it on.

Tom

EDIT: of course DX11 is option to compile in Unity editor while building exe / webplayer. The set of platforms that will be handled have to be set before. In your case probably I just made the player in Unity3 that's why you don't have DX11 support running example exe.

 

I am very intrested in this and will proberly buy it in a day or so most impresive shaders I have seen! but a quick question

Would the new triplanar shader that will come in the next update work for say a planet and apply textures based on distance from the center?

 

Triplanar works on terrains, and on any mesh which has splat control coverage controlled via vertices colors (like voxel terrain solutions). I don't really get what you mean by appyling textures based on distance from the center. Triplanar is like it says 3 times planar projection. In case of classical terrain its top planar, in triplanar it's toplanar + 2x side planar. Results are blended at transition areas.

Tom

 

Sorry I should have explaned myself better, I found this via your Advanced Triplanar shader thread and the example image suggests that I could use that shader for a planet like mesh.

Correct me if im wrong but if I wanted the shader to change textures based on distacne from the center of the planet I could do this by useing vertex colours to then define what textures get projected/used? So if I made vertex colours on the mesh based on elevation of the planet terrain I would get the kind of textuing you would expect in reality.
If this is the case would the shader be local? as I would like to rotate the transfom over time.

If I am understanding this correctly and this is the case I will definitely purchase, this looks extremely very useful for any terrain work.

 

Yes, texturing is realised locally with an option to make them global (via define in shader code). If you'll define your vertices colors the way they depends on elevation (distance from planet center) you'll get what you probably need. Anyway - my shader works the way it takes vertices colors to control texture coverage (where is "grass" and "sand"). More difficult will be proper snow coverage implementing, because it's now dependent on world y axis (height), but it can be made via distance from planet center, too - a small tweak in shader code.

ATB, Tom

 

One last question how meny different textures would be supported I think you said about 4 would be supported if so thats great.

When can we expect to see the new version?

Thanks

 

Splatmap coverage is controlled by vertex color (RGBA) it's implying 4 layers. In some cases we could think about different factors to compute coverage, but that would be custom solution inside shader.

Answer for release is ASAP, that means when docs (at least basic) are ready and demoscene is polished enough.

Tom

 

Hi Tomaszek Thanks for the amazing plugin really help improve unity's poor quality big time ,
Takes a while to get used to from lack of tutorials but I managed to work though with the help of the demo scene,
my problem comes when I want to expand the Layer Properties I get an error

Any help would be appreciated Thanks Again
Sumisuyko

 

Well, RTP isn't free of bugs - as every complex tool. Please forgive and give me PM your invoice # for customer verification and RTP3 prerelease access... . At least this problem shouldn't occur anymore.

ATB, Tom

 

Hi,

I bought RTP last week or so and overall I'm satisfied with the results I get.
You did a quite outstanding work and I can only recommend this package to anyone who's hesitating.

Today while I was implementing the system in our project I notice that as soon as I alt tab I get a white terrain.

Do you have any idea of what might be the cause?

Before alt tab


After alt tab


Im running DX11
windows8
My system has a ATI 6990 (its a dual GPU card) with the latest drivers.

You can find my invoice # in a PM ^^

 

Weird, is it the case on RTP2.1 ?

You might get similar issue on prerelease RTP3 version, but now it's fixed I believe.
What you can try is saving your atlas texture (if you use it in 8 layers in first pass mode).

More important is that if you're able to build working exe player w/o this issue.

Tom

 

This is the latest RTP available from the asset store and I use 4 blendmaps.

I haven't tried to build yet, if it happens there as well I will let you know.

Besides this issue I stumbled on another one; our terrain is a rectangle (its 512x1024) is it possible that this cause geometry blending issues?
I can't make it work at this moment. When I click Init Blend from geometry distance I get a white texture and when I try to paint manually nothing seem to happen. I can do it on the demo project though.

 

Hello,

I just bought the RTP, and i am combining it with Terraincomposer, but i have no idea where to start.

Do you have any documentation or some helpful user manual?

Thanks.

 

Hi ndoxx,

"Startup" docs are available in the pacakge as short pdf file. However, there's need for more indepth description and I realize that. For RTP3 I'm just right in the middle of producing such doumentation. Please give the product some more time to be released or contact me PM.

Tom

 

Hello tomaszek, great assets, Volume grass is amazing too.

I was wondering do you have a rough estimate release date for RTP3?

In RTP3 will you be implementing something like Volume grass but on splat maps or something like that?

 

RTP3 - just finishing the docs. Demoscene is almost ready, so I believe release time is matter of days.

RTP focuses on surface while VolumeGrass is independent grass solution (can be used on anything on necesarilly on terrain). These 2 are separate products.

Tom

 

Having some trouble getting blend working - first pass is pom and add pass is triplaner (I think - still getting used to this) - Hopefully RTP 3 solves this for me - or at least the the new docs make things clear.
Overall enjoying it so for though.
Good luck getting 3 squared away Tom - I'm looking forward to it.

 

Just wanted to drop a line to say that World Weavers Ent. is using RTP3. We've been looking for a AAA solution to use with the terrain we're working on for our upcoming game and so far, we really like it !

I would also like to say that we are looking for a World Designer, skilled with Unity terrains - big plus to already know how to deal with RTP. For more information : http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/203098-World-Weavers-Seeking-World-Designer

 

what I meant was, if I purchase Volume grass, would there be a feature in RTP3 that could utilize Volume grass, for example it would be handy if I could apply volume grass to one of the splat colours.

what do you think? could that be something you might add in the future of RTP3?

also what is the size limit for the colour map and normal map (main overlay)?

The reason I ask is Amplify Texture 2 will support terrains. It will be possible to have huge defuse(colour texture) and normal maps. I'm hoping that RTP3 at some point will be compatible with Amplify Texture 2.

 

VolumeGrass coverage and position isn't something controlled by a texture, but it's a flat mesh that renders "something inside" (volumetrically). That's why it's not possible to automatically put (anyway not simple) volume grass patches to follow one of the splatmaps (grass). It should be rewritten some dya and I've got some ideas about it, but can't tell when I'll find time to implement them.

AmplifyTexture - I don't know the tech implementation details behind so it's hard to say if it would be easy or not to use it with RTP. Anyway - you can always split your terrain into smaller tiles and apply global colormaps/normalmaps 2k x 2k each w/o problems I guess. We made some testes wih Nathaniel (Terrain Composer author) and it turned that scene worked reasonably fast even for 16x16=256 tiles each using 2k global cololrmap sattelite imgge (however RAM used was high, too).

Tom

 

Thanks for your explanation Tom. I think Ram will always be a problem when doing it that way, that's why I've purchased Amplify Texture. At the moment I'm experimenting with AT v1 and the results are very impressive. I hope that we won't have to worry about making splat maps and have to spend hours and hours of trial and error trying to master all this texture blending ect.

I think there's been a major lack in learning materials when it comes to terrains (high detailed terrains). A few specialist terrain shader experts could have made the experience pleasant by making a few videos, instead we have had to waste a lot of time in the dark and getting annoyed with it all, so I think when Amplify Texture 2 comes out with all it's new features and capabilities, we could end up scrapping a lot of fuss with spats, blend maps, detail maps ect and just have a huge ultra hi res texture map with a huge normal map. Then the fuss will be more to do with foliage placement, but I think Terrain composer has that covered pretty well by the looks of it.

edit: We still have the limits of unity unable to import images larger than 16k so we would have to split the ultra textures. Anyway working with 32k x 32k is real pain to work with, loading and saving times a too long.

Lets say AT2 comes out and we are able to scrap the old way of doing things, I think an advancement in your Grass volume plugin on top of terrains would make it awesome and take it to an even higher level.

What do you think?

Keep up the great work Tom

 

Hi, thoughts about VolumeGrass - it has pros and cons. Main pro is this generates very dense grass with minimal number of drawcalls (and polycount). Cons - while volumetric it's still billboard and we can't make too much varition (we can colorise grass over larger area however) in there.

With AT2 or not - VolumeGrass is terrain independent solution that can be placed anywhere.

Tom

 

For people that follow this thread this will be probably quite interesting. I've just finished alpha version of docs for RTP3.

1.Anybody that doesn't have RTP yet can learn more about its features.
2.Anybody who use current version can learn how it's improved
3.Anybody who use prerelase RTP3 beta can at last find more about its usage

http://www.stobierski.pl/unity/RTP.pdf

ATB, Tom

 

Also, one my refer to new demo scene screenshots (however it's still in progress) here:

http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/486-Cool-images-for-the-Unity3d-com-gallery/page47?highlight=cool+images

Look for Becoming's posts.

 

Excellent Tomaszek, PDF is a Godsend. Thank you.

 

You're welcome. Meantime I polished docs (bugs, spelling, some additional thoughts inside), so they're now as they'll be published I believe. You can get it again from the same location for newer version. Every docs version will be marked with its date and I'll be posting info about updates.

Tom

 

One question: will it be possible to use both triplanar mapping and vertical texturing together with RTP3?

 

Yep, vertical texturing isn't constrained by neither triplanar nor 8 layers mode.

Tom

 

Has anyone tried ShadowSoftner with RTP before? Or Does it look possible/feasible ... for for a shader noob to pull off with some time and effort?
Loving the look of RTP terrain but wondering if I could get some decent shadows without shelling out for PRO.
Thanks in advance.

 

Yep, just bought shader softener (use daily deal now - it's definitely worth it !) and following instructions tweaked RTP shader - works nicely , although as expected - to get very soft shadows (PCF8x8 ) it has its performance cost.

BTW - this shader softener is cool (source code for shadows treatment is very elegant and ... instructive when analysed - no more need to loose yourself in all these unity's built-in cg includes where shadow collecting is implemented - one ShadowSoftener.cginc file to deal with when needed). So - 2 words: great work !

Tom

 

Thanks much Tom!

 

Last few days worked hard on first-steps video tutorial which is now available on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJOn8SJ4zAI

However I couldn't finish submission before weekend (hopefully tomorrow I'll submit and will be revised next week) - so sorry for anybody awaiting. But that's not that bad - you still can get it for $50 and get RTP3 free update.

Moreover - important statemet:

$65 for RTP3 will be only introductory price as I realized that it's still underpriced for value user get (not only terrain shaders with a lot of options, but for example bonus water shaders independent from terrains, or voxel terrain shader)

To be reliable - I won't change it aburptly now, but in a time I'll raise the price even higher so it reflects better real value of the product.

ATB, Tom

 

Thanks Tomaszek, recommend anyone get in on this deal before price goes up. this is one one the best AAA assets available.

 

I am using Unity free version and I have been checking different alternatives to make my 3D visualizations look better. I am using RTP 2 currently but I don't really understand the technology behind these shaders and extensions. If I remember correct there were some statements that Marmoset Skyshop will not work properly with RTP. Therefore, I would like to know how RTP will work with different extensions such as:

- Real time GI system (http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/192009-Realtime-GI-System-Indirect-Ilumination-(WIP))

- FXLab - Unity Effects (http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/204481-FXLab-Unity-Effects-(Does-NOT-require-Unity-Pro))

By the way, thanks for more detailed documentation and that tutorial video. These are just great for beginner like me!

 

I think it's better to ask authors of GI system and FXLab. At first glance GI system works with "paraboloid textures" rendered first (whatever it means - I don't know the technique honestly) that are used to store scene lighting information and then lighting actual objects. If this illumination process is done somewhere behind scenes and can work on the top of surface shaders - RTP could work as far as:

1. GI system doesn't need too many textures. RTP eats a lot of resources - textures for certain features - and interpolators (to transfer mesh geometry values from vertex shader to surface shader). If GI for example needs 2 textures - RTP will work with limited number of features (not that many turned on at once). If GI system needs certain interpolators to be present for lighting - it might interfere with RTP.

2. GI system might realise lighting in separate pass (if possible) and be independent from any surface shaders used. That would be best for you, although I'm not sure if this is possible nor know anything about exact technical solutions used in GI.

Speaking about FXLab and "RenderTextures" for indie. I think it uses grabpass features for rendering postFXes or I'm missing something. This means that this is rendered indepently from shaders used used on scene - that's good news for you. But I don't really get how he realizes reflections, so - can't tell if wthis will work with RTP.

Tom

 

I have a question, RTP is to work with the Terrain Hole System? Have you thought about that possibility in RTP3?

1. DynamicGL does not work yet in free version.
2. DynamicGL works with RTP, but:
2.1. In the scene TerrainScene looks good, but the terrain is illuminated by stronger than meshes (noticeable at high values).
2.2. in the scene Terrain2GeometyScene experiencing the problem

I'm just starting to understand with this system and I'll wait RTP3 before drawing conclusions.

 

Hole system is about making terrain alpha transparent and hadnling collider enable/disable when a character is about to "go thru hole". It's not that hard to implement (or integrating after analyse how THS works), but as RTP has its own terrain surface replacement shaders and THS has its own - it can not be used together.

I'd suggest using RTP3 geom blend features to put a cave on terrain (we've got many very good geom blend shaders that can use RTP features and the same time uses 2 detail layers) and blend its intersection edges with terrain. Would be probably even more robust solution than making alphablend holes in terrain.

Tom

 

Thread closed - moved to RTP3 official thread here

 

Hi Tomaszek,

I just purchased the RTP v3 and Terravol assets from the asset store and everything looks great! However, when I add the triplanar shader to my terrain the ground is all snow and the cliff faces are grass, how can i fix this?

Thanks!

 

Hello,

i have the problem, that after i compile the shader for a scene, all the other scenes lost its own shader. Its also not possible to use the shader compiled in the another scene in the one where i lost the shader. Is there any solution in RTP for that problem? Is it possible to set for each scene different RTP shader?

Thank you in advance for your answer.