Terrain Composer2 a next generation GPU powered terrain tool.

Noted. Thanks

 

As for the heightmap and splatmap resolution and amount of terrains, that shouldn't be a memory problem for Unity to handle. On my machine I can do total 8k heightmap and also 8k splatmap. So are far below this...I'm not sure what is more in your Scene that can influence memory usage. Trees and grass on Unity terrain can take much memory...

Nathaniel

 

Nice, thanks very much!
After reading a lot of RTP forum posts I noticed that my main problem of "Splat 3 is null" errors was caused by RTP generated textures being discarded on save, the solution being this:

I'm totally happy that I could now fix the problem permanently, first thought it was caused by texture-size mismatch above .
BTW: Assigning RTP water-mask images is not yet supported in "Auto Search" mode, is it? Would be a nice addition, if it isn't too much effort.. Or is there a problem with saving the 'special/combined' textures automatically?

Thanks for all your efforts!
Kind regards,
Harald

 

Thanks again Nathaniel. Had something very odd happen last night. I opened another project to look at how I had placed some objects, and when I attempted to load the Terrain Composer project back up I received a "layout error" of some kind. Once the project loaded Terrain Composer was no longer visible where it was previously opened and it was no longer available as an option under Window.

So, I started a new Terrain Composer project, imported everything fresh including the example package. I followed everything as I had previously and generated my terrain. However, when I put in the fps controller it fell through the terrain. This happened no matter how high it was positioned above the terrain. So, I deleted the controller assets and re-imported them. Same problem. I opened a new scene and created a game object terrain and the fps controller was just fine, stopped right where it should. Tried creating the Terrain Composer example again and same problem: controller falls through the world.

To clarify, the controller is not below the terrain, this happens even if positioned from a very high altitude. Also, I checked and "Is Trigger" is not checked on any of the terrains.

This is especially maddening since I'm doing exactly what I had done previously, so I'm a total loss as to why this is happening.

Any hints, help or advice would greatly appreciated.

Thanks...

-dm

Update: After moving the controller around to different X and Z coordinates I finally was able to get it to stick to the terrain. Very odd...

 

If TerrainComposer is not longer visable in the Unity menu, you need to check your console for errors. Because if there's error, Editor scripts (like TerrainComposer) don't get compiled anymore. Once you fixed the errors it should all be working fine.

As for your collider it seems very odd indeed, what version of Unity are you using?

Nathaniel

 

No this is not possible yet. I will look into it, and I will update TerrainComposer when RTP3.1 is released officially.

Nathaniel

 

Are theyre any new tutorials for auto generation Terrains? The layout changed since initially release, and im a little bit confused watching the old tutorial with the old layout.

 

Yes, i agree its very confusing watching the tutorials since it does not match.

 

Hello Mementos and virror,

The layout has changed a little bit, I created tabs later, but you can still display the foldouts in TC Menu -> View -> Terrain tabs.

I changed the default heightmap filter, because some users were loading a raw heightmap with the default perlin in there, giving wrong results. You can get the default perlin by clicking 'Curve' -> Line -> Default perlin. Also I used a normal curve in the procedural terrain tutorials. This is a line that goes from 0 to 1.

At the moment I'm working on TerrainComposer2 and will redo all the video's then. Also I created 6 new videos with (New) displayed behind, which are made with the latest version.
http://www.terraincomposer.com/tutorials

Nathaniel

 

I'm using Unity 4.3.2f1 atm. I know there is a slightly newer version, but I heard that some people had issues with some of the asset packs not loading properly with that version so I'm just waiting a bit before I update.

At this point, fortunately, the controller issue is completely solved. I hate anomalous behavior like this, its a nightmare to track down.

Another question: is it still possible to manually paint grass? In the example I'm working on I have a nice little clearing and I've placed some structures and objects there and wanted to put in some grass/flowers around the objects. When I go to the inspector tab for the individual terrain in question (terrain 4 in this case) and click on the grass tab my grass/flowers are all showing up but if I try to paint they do not show up on the terrain. I looked around to see if this was something I could do directly from Terrain Composer but haven't found anything as yet.

Thanks again, looking forward to TC2.

-dm

 

Yes you can still use the manual Unity terrain tools. But sometimes when not responding you need to restart Unity. This seems to be an Unity bug...

Nathaniel

 

Thanks, will give that a try.

-dm

 

Hi All,
How come when i create 2 Areas in WC and import them to TC the second terrain sits onto of the first one?
is there a way to import so that it all lines up as it would appear in WC?

Thanks

 

Hello,

The terrains will be automatically centered in the Scene. You can easily drag each parent terrain GameObject around (and terrains in it) to your liking.

Nathaniel

 

Are the changes, that you apply with unity terrain tools beeing saved in the TC prefab or in the scene file?

 

They are changed on the terrain (the terrainData in the project), but not saved in TC. So when you regenerate with TC it will reset your manual changes. However you can export heightmaps/splatmaps/trees and grass in TC. So you can save your manual changes that way if you want to generate after making manual changes. You will have to load heightmap/splatmap in a layer again. And trees/grass can be loaded in quick tools.

Nathaniel

 

A videotutorial with a installation guide for the assets will be great, i have purchased the TerrainComposer, WorldComposer, Relief v3 and the folliage shaders and have a couple of problems, they just "dont work", I think that I will fix in a time with the help of the forum data, but a video, or a step by step tutorial in the official website, will be great!

 

+1

 

Hello,

I have a getting started video on my front page:
http://www.terraincomposer.com

And tutorials here:
http://www.terraincomposer.com/tutorials

As for installing you need to install the latest TC after installing WorldComposer, you can read the instructions on both Asset Store pages. I will submit a new TC and WC version now, that don't require install order. Hopefully they will be accepted soon.

If you expierence any errors in the console, you can send me a screenshot to my e-mail Nathaniel_Doldersum@hotmail.com

Nathaniel

 

I'm interested in this asset. Some questions:

1. Can I custom edit TC terrains using terrain brushes (just like a Unity original terrain)?

2. Is all terrain procedural or can I use my own custom height map? (Example, I paint grey scale height map in Photoshop, use it for TC)

Thank you.

 

Hello,

1). TerrainComposer uses standard Unity terrain, so yes.
2). Yes you can import/export heightmaps, there many options in a filter/mask. I recommend to watch the tutorial video about filter, masks and curves:
http://www.terraincomposer.com/tutorials

Nathaniel

 

Would be great, if all these different things (TC, RTP, Unity Terrain edits) could be saved into one file (scene file) - on the other hand: this might be the price for the high degree of flexibility, that TC provides

thanks for your reply!

 

I seem to have a problem when using the World Composer. Every time I create a height map from anywhere on the map and import it into the terrain composer I only get the height map not the image even thought I downloaded the image. I have watched the tutorial video a dozen times and have matched my settings to settings in the video but I only get the height map no image. Any help?

 

Hello,

Do you have `Satellite Images` enabled in the Create Terrain tab?
If not...Can you send me a screenshot from the WorldComposer window, with Heightmap Export/Image Export and the Create Terrain tab enabled to my e-mail Nathaniel_Doldersum@hotmail.com

Nathaniel

 

I have created a 10x10 size mountain terrain map and I am planning on adding more tiles however, is there a way to add additional tiles to the end of the 10x10 and have the tiles stitch together so you can't see the seams? Also, I noticed the tiles in the 10x10 are showing their seams is this normal and can I seamlessly connect the tiles without showing the seems? The plan is to make a huge area that is mountains in the middle and towards the ends will connect to a coastline. Thanks for your assistance.

I am using Terrain Composer.

 

Hello,

Yes you can add more tiles, but with <Fit All> the center of the terrain will always be at the zero world position. As for adding terrain you can watch the tutorial 'Help Creating Terrain'.
http://www.terraincomposer.com/tutorials

As for seams you have to check in runtime, as in the Editor there's always seems visable.

Nathaniel

 

I have the problem that sometimes i can't open the TerrainComposer window. When i click on Window->TerrainComposer nothing happens.
Any idea how to fix this?

 

I need some clarifications regarding the object placement options.
There is nothing in the documentation about the object options - which i think you needs to be addressed asap...
If there is a video which includes information about the options - please direct me to it.

I am referring specifically to these options:


I am trying to understand how i can have a range of scales and rotation for object placements.

 

Hello,

This seems to be a Unity bug since Unity 4.x, what Unity version are you using? I found a fix for this and it will be available in the next update. If you have the issue now, you can send me a e-mail to Nathaniel_Doldersum@hotmail.com, and I will send you the latest TerrainComposer version.

Nathaniel

 

Hello Nims,

With the min/max sliders you can set the ranges. With the scale on the top, you can change the overall scale. I will add these settings to the TerrainComposer manual for the next version...



Nathaniel

 

Thanks Nathaniel,

Just a few more questions:
What do i gain by using the raycast option?
Why are they boolean options beside the scale and rotation options? (I understand it's to show what is linked - but why do you have 2 sets, 1 from each side)?
Regarding the combine meshes option...will need to test that out, but it seems that enabling that would be detrimental when using occlusion culling for objects that span a number of cells?

Nims

 

Nathaniel hello, this morning I was trying to mimic your creating terrain from scratch video and as I followed your exact instructions from your video I am not generating the terrain, I get to the point to where I click generate and the 4 tiles 2x2 stay grey and flat I went back and re did exactly what you had showed several times to see if I missed something and I followed it exactly, but I am unsure what I am missing. Also in the tab where it is listed for Procedural Mountain, plateau, canyons and islands I noticed in your video you had one for procedural landscape and that is one I do not have in the list I seem to be missing that one. I want to make sure I have everything properly downloaded installed and imported. Thanks in advance for your help.

 

With raycasting you can exclude the placement. For example you have a mesh road with a mesh collider, then you can use raycasting for excluding placing on the road.
As for the toggles, it is indeed showing linked. The left is linked to the min value, the right is linked to the max value for the slider. As for the mesh combining, if you will use occlusion culling it's best not to use it now. For TerrainComposer2 it will be possible to combine them on grid size...

Nathaniel

 

Hello JulieKing,

I changed the default heightmap filter, because some users were loading a raw heightmap with the default perlin in there, giving wrong results. You can get the default perlin by clicking 'Curve' -> Line -> Default perlin. Also I used a normal curve in the procedural terrain tutorials. This is a line that goes from 0 to 1.
The procedural mountain = procedural landscape from the older version, but then updated.

Nathaniel

 

I just tried this using Unity 4.2.2 and an empty Unity project:

1) Assetstore - Worldcomposer - import (works)
2) restart Unity
3) Assetstore - terraincomposer - import
4) Console: "Assets/TerrainComposer/Editor/Map_tc.js(5864,49): BCE0018: The name 'buffer_class' does not denote a valid type ('not found')."



And then I tried it with installing TC first:

1) assetstore - terraincomposer - import (works)
2) terraincomposer - update (1.230 to 1.320)
3) Console: "Assets/TerrainComposer/Scripts/terraincomposer_classes.js(1,1): BCE0089: Type '' already has a definition for 'Main()'."
4) delete empty files global_classes.js and terraincomposer_classes.js (Unity crashes when starting TC now)
5) restart Unity - TC works
6) assetstore - Worldcomposer - import
7) Console: "Assets/TerrainComposer/Scripts/terraincomposer_save.js(2298,127): BCE0019: 'colormap_resolution' is not a member of 'area_class'." and several other similar errors
8 ) restart Unity. TC and WC are no longer in the Window menu
9) assetstore - terraincomposer - import
10) Console: "Assets/TerrainComposer/Editor/Map_tc.js(5864,49): BCE0018: The name 'buffer_class' does not denote a valid type ('not found'). "


I also cannot find the instructions you mention on the Asset Store page?

EDIT: and then I got it to work:

11) assetstore - terraincomposer - redownload and import (TC 1.230)
12) Console: "Assets/TerrainComposer/Editor/Map_tc.js(5864,49): BCE0018: The name 'buffer_class' does not denote a valid type ('not found'). "

13) assetstore - Worldcomposer - redownload and import
14) it works again
15) TC update to 1.320
16) delete empty files global_classes.js and terraincomposer_classes.js
17) IT WORKS

So I guess the trick is to ignore the asset store telling you that you already have the latest version and redownload before import.

 

Hello Nuitari,

Yes there's a bug in Unity 4.2 that doesn't allow to use empty scripts.

New versions of TerrainComposer and WorldComposer I submit today to the Asset Store, that don't require any install order. If you contact me at my e-mail address Nathaniel_Doldersum@hotmail.com with your order number, I will send these latest versions to you directly.

Nathaniel

 

Hello,

I was wondering if you could give me some advice regarding the best approach to creating a brand new terrain in Terrain Composer. I'm in the process of planning my terrain as far as placement / layout of my terrain is concerned. I don't want to just aimlessly plot my terrain, I'd rather import some type of "template" I've created elsewhere (or maybe I create this template in Terrain Composer) and let Terrain Composer generate the height map based on the template. When I say "template", I mean perhaps some type of gray-scale image, and pending on the shade, Terrain Composer can determine the height map. Is this possible? If not, maybe I can achieve what I want in another way?

Thanks and I appreciate all your input and help so far. Every day I work with it, the more I learn.

Regards

 

In the 'Choose Example' there are Mountains, Canyons, Plateaus, Island. When you load one of them it adds the settings down bottom under the Layer. Is there a way to add all 4 types to the layers that way they can be selected as desired.

For example lets say I have 4 terrains. I want 1 terrain to be a mountain, another to be a Plateau, etc etc. Is there a way to load in each of the layer settings with out wiping out all the other terrains?

 

I'm having an issue in the Terrain Composer where my tiles splat map is white and washed out. I did not have this issue until just recently and I'm not sure what changed. I have the strength set to max for each of the terrain colors with the proper high but nothing changes as all the terrain is washed out with no color but white. Any help is appreciated.

 

So I have just installed this asset and I have opened the Terrain composer interface. I started watching your tutorials that instructs me to download the "examples package" and "tutorial Package". There is no examples package. Only a tutorial package. What am I missing?

 

I believe if you update Terrain Composer you'll see the Examples package. What version are you running? Click on "Check for updates" and update if you haven't already. Hope that helps! Regards.

 

Yes you can import heightmaps. I recommend watching the tutorial for this on:
http://www.terraincomposer.com/tutorials

It's the 'Help Video Importing Heightmaps'. The heightmap you make (e.g. in photoshop), need to be 16 bit raw grey scale image.

Nathaniel

 

Yes this is possible. The easiest way to do this, is to only activate the terrains you want to generate on:



Nathaniel

 

This is proberly do that you imported a package into your project that has an additional terrain shader in it. You will need to find such terrain shader and delete them. For example Michael O packages and Big Enviroment Pack can have such shaders.

Nathaniel

 

As Ryno says, you had to update TerrainComposer first.

But now there's a new TerrainComposer version and WorldComposer version on the Asset Store. So everything is up to date now and also they don't require any install order. WorldComposer has updated documentation and some new features.

Nathaniel

 

btw is there any plans to do a video about placing objects in objects in objects = for example distributing House prefabs in terrain which contains procedurally placed furniture which would contain procedurally placed props or maybe I just need to do it by trial and error

 

I will make a video for this with TerrainComposer2, as now this is indeed possible. But the interface will get a bit crowded with all the different layer levels, so with the node view it will have much better overview. For it to work you need to create a layer level within the Object in settings. Then with the World Area you can devine the custom area around the placed object. Then you can create all the layer types inside that area again...and can do an unlimited level of placement within placement...

Nathaniel

 

hi,

It is possible to manage two terrain groups individually?
I have one group of terrain (4*4), and I want to add a single new terrain with higher resolution in the same scene.

 

I'm not sure when you mean.

When I click [reload] to load a different set of height maps it flattens / erases all my other edited terrains.



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

What you can do is click the [Layer] button > File > Save.. Then save it
Open up which ever one you want and load in that saved layer

 

I still can figure out how to do this. When I click create terrains is or reload is deletes everything.