Terrain Composer2 a next generation GPU powered terrain tool.

Hi,

I want to create TREEs on my terrain ( as bush,plant model/prefabs), but I do anything they dont spawn nothing happens
I tried to modify scale multipler, change the basic model scale , but nothing.
What could cause this problem ? (Same happens with gameobjects nodes sometime, or only the top of the nodes's line will be spawned. )
Any idea please ?

 

Hello everyone!

Was using TC1 and now very excited to use TC2.
Cannot fully describe the awesomeness of this tool, Nath! You and Tom from RTP create truly WorldCreationTools!

And UI of TC2 is amazing after TC1 =)
Still came across a trouble:
1) Was just following You-tube tutorial and trying to place a Stamp in the node
2) Got this message:
The node is in mode "File-->Raw Image" as it should be.

Can anyone help me out here?
I'm sorry if this question was already posted - can't see any "find text" button in this forum...

 

I would think you could do that with an extremely linear and steep "mountain range" in the height map, assuming the player can't actually reach the top of the wall. A flat collider plane just below the top of the wall would stop that.

Terrains are meant to work mostly in the XZ plane, so textures stretch on sheer vertical walls. You can get around that by using a triplanar shading tool like RTP for the walls.

 

The error message says the folder has to be called "RawFiles", but you say yours is called "Raw Image". I run a Mac so can't help you test yet, but I would assume that TC2 is looking for an exact match on the folder name. Note also that it says that's where you put the raw image file, not necessarily the TC2 node.

Hope this helps, and sorry I can't pre-verify it before posting.

EDIT: As a general comment... I am a Linux sysadmin in my "day job", and I should mention that I have learned the hard way over many years that skimming the gist of an error message is often a road o perdition, and the solution to the problem may be right there in the exact text.

 

Thanks for your effort - I would be happy to have such an easy to fix mistake.
Unfortunately, if you look at screenshots, there is a folder RawFiles, as TC2 asks - and it contains RAW files of these stamps. I even tried relocating them, doesn't help.
What I try to put in node is a preview - just like Nath does in You-tube video (1:55).
But thanks for your effort anyway

 

Hi all,
I always check the forum since the release i have it but never really used till now, can't wait to see some of your work!
Till now , would you say it's easy to use?
peace out

 

Hey guys, any advice on the best way to create flat areas in the terrain to put a town square or village area?

Getting to grips with the system and have finally made headway with creating nice terrains and set up rule nodes for splats, trees, grass etc. last thing is objects for buildings and villages.

One of the best assets on the store without doubt and I can't wait to get more proficient with it. Definitely a learning curve but much more intuitive than TC1.

 

There's a manual placement process. The creator posted instructions about it on the terrain composer website. I too am getting to grips with the system and have only used the process a couple of times, but it's pretty cool.
I would like some advice on making roads - Not just overlying an alpha map but making changes to the terrain heights so the resulting roads are "level" as they go across the terrain.

 

Are you using procedural generation or your own height maps? If you're using your own, you just need to make an area all the same color for it to be the same height or level (as far as I know, someone correct me if I'm wrong).

If you're using procedural generation, all I can suggest is working with the settings. See my post here for something I made:
http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/te...ered-terrain-tool.151365/page-95#post-2741329

The way it's set up now you'll typically need to "zoom" or scale up your procedural generation node to get something a bit more level.

 

Well you can make one parent node for your village and then arrange a mask area out of simple shapes such as square, circular, etc. This can then be used to flatten/average the terrain. Then on the splat and object layers you can use a similar setup with the same nodes for texturing and object placement

 

Thanks guys, some really helpful tips for me to implement. .

 

Any eta on this working in OSX? I can't work with it until it does.

Nathaniel hasn't posted here in quite a while.
I hope he's ok.

 

He recently posted that he's spending less time on the forum so he can focus heads-down on finishing the next version. I, too, am waiting for the OSX version. Nathaniel is trying to prioritize improvements and bug fixes that will affect all platforms before introducing the new platform to the mix.

I've been checking the Roadmap for current progress and development. It seems he's getting pretty close to a Beta 7, and then the main change for Beta 8 will be our OSX support, if I'm reading things correctly.

 

Is anyone else having issues with height/angle contour lines showing up in their texturing? Using Unity 5.4 + TC2 (latest beta patch).


I should also mention that this is a WM imported heightmap.

Edit - also altering the pixel error from within TerrainSetup-->Settings has been causing my splat map to get jumbled (maybe flipping axis?). The only way I can fix it is reloading the scene.

 

Hi all,

Could anyone tell me if the latest version is from the asset store or link me to where the update is?

I am having real problems controlling the splats with the sliders. Is there a numerical way to do it or any tips.

I am trying to set splats like sand or cliffs by height and angle and I understand exactly how to do it but when i move the sliders they do not behave as they should.

I am really frustrated at the moment because I understand the mechanics now but still no luck.

 

Hello everyone,

After taking a break after being overworked and regained my sleep...I'm back , thank you all for your patience and I will do my best to get support up to date asap. I'm working on releasing Beta 7 as soon as possible, which will fix most multi terrain issues. I wont add anymore feature/improvement and will release if the fixes are done. In the main time I'm working on a solution to improve support, I'm looking for someone to help me officially with it, so I can focus more on developing and will also have more time for releasing new tools, etc.

Nathaniel

 

You can have exact control by using local/global curves. Can you show a screenshot of your TC2 window and terrain, and explain in more detail what you want to achieve?

Are you in webplayer build mode? Need the latest patch for this:
http://www.terraincomposer.com/terraincomposer2-release-notes/

Nathaniel

 

This is not TC2 related. This could be a z-fighting issue. It can happen when the z buffer is not accurate. The longer view distance (near and far clip on the main camera) the more change for z-fighting, as z buffer gets less accurate. Changing to higher near clip plane on camera helps a lot. This is also depending on Shadow quality and cascades that can be adjusted in Quality Settings. What can happen if you have a big object that is a shadow caster, it can make the z buffer less accurate, you can check this as well.

More information about z-buffer here:
https://www.sjbaker.org/steve/omniv/love_your_z_buffer.html

Nathaniel

 

Thank you

 

Is there any reason why the splatmap maxes out at 2048 res? I'd love to go with bigger terrains but would prefer to have the splatmap res match the terrain res.

 

I'm sorry for asking a layman and my poor english
I am looking for the best terrain editor
The most important for me is two things:
- multiterrain, specifically: adding later a new terrain to the existing
- great possibilities later editing finished terrain

 

I bought TC2 and I wonder if there are more tutorials..?

Thank you!

Xander

 

And to add something to this post (noise:voronoi) isn't working.
And can you please add terraces.

Thanks again,

Xander

 

Hello. I would like to know if I could use Terrain Composer to create great landscape, and then convert it into a mesh chunks for mobile games? For example using the Terrain To Mesh. If yes - then where can I read about this opportunity?

 

Thanks for the reply Nathaniel, It seemed I was having an issue with RTP and also mistaking the local for global curves. I am controlling the splats via height and angle much more accurately now but I having one last issue (Always one) It seems that changing the tiling is having no effect on the texture.

For example I change the tile size form 1 to 100 but no difference in the scene. Could this be a overhang issue from having RTP on before? I removed RTP when having the last issue and have not put back on for now.

Edit :- although improved i'm still struggling with height/angle at times. attached is an image with the grass far too low (approaching sea level). I have change the global height but that is not having the expected impact of removing it from the low level. Can anyone see any glaring errors I am making?

 

No object export, no image export...no mobile export tools....use outside assets, is the suggestion....

What percentage is this tool actually complete?.....45%.. look at the roadmap.

P

 

How does everyone handle manual painting with TC2? Sometimes I want to go in and manually paint textures (say for a path or town etc), but if I later want to modify the splatmap via TC2 it overwrites any changes made.

Would it be possible to somehow save your manual texture painting and reapply it after adjusting the splatmap in TC2?

 

Confused here...I been developing games a long time, and been using TC1 and TC2, I also develop now a days with Unity mainly for mobile...You don't have to have a mesh for mobile...Now if that is what you want, that is another story... But we actually develop as a company, and use Height maps we made in TC2....We make alot of our own stamps using World Composer Naths other tool and we use World Machine.... But this is NOT a stamp tool... So you an use ones he gave you which are on the docs to download.... Or you can make your own, which are very easy to do..

But as far as saying you can't export, import is nonsense. Who is saying use outside assets for what????? This asset is to make terrains, and it does that.....Do you want it to make your game for you??? If that is the case good luck with any tool... Does TC2 have some bugs, yes, mainly multi tile issues, which many of us are waiting for, which Nath is working on... So that should be fixed soon... But to say no mobile tools, is total nonsense. Read the docs states what is needed to use for mobile.. We can with no issues minus some bugs which are being worked on..

Nath has also said MANY TIMES THIS IS A BETA... So is your game done yet???Why isn't it??? is it bug free.....We are developers please act like you tested software before... Sorry to rant , here, but just gets annoying to see people throwing a fit , when many of us are waiting, and guess what and many of us do this for a living, but I don't want Nath to release garbage either because people are throwing a fit and then we have to wait longer due to this... so email him, or SKype him... It will get fixed and its a beta... so test it and report like the rest of us.


I'm able to make my own stamps , export, import just fine, just as the docs state....

Reading goes a long ways.
How can I import a heightmap from WorldMachine?Export the file in WM as a r16 file. Rename it to raw and drag and drop the raw file into a RawFiles folder in your Unity project. TC2 will automatically create a preview image for it in the folder before it. This preview image needs to be drag and dropped on a node (this will put the node automatically to the right input) or you can set the node manually with input on Files -> RawImage. And drag and drop the preview image into the ‘Stamp Texture’ field in the Inspector window.



What Nath you should do for UX/UI reasons, is add an export, import on the actually file..So people can see it. Like TC1. That is what I would do, if I were you for TC2 to make it easier for people and make it more user friendly. That is something I can see why people are having issues with, being someone who designs UX/UI, that is a big issue... So should be a fairly easy issue to address.

 

I have to say that ForceVFX is not wrong. recon0303 if people dont download my game, theyre going to get one of the thousands of games available on the app store. Time is quite critical for me personally and what has been happening with TC2 seems unacceptable. After roughly half a year delay I cant even try the tool (osx) let alone use it for a production game and the progress along the roadmap in the last month seems nonexistent.

 

Terrain Composer 2 works with Distingo?

 

I will say it again, you are a developer, you should NOT reply on a tool that is not out of beta yet, when you know clearly it will have bugs...... I can't teach you to understand this...so what do you say to people in your game in beta???? do you lie to them???? or do you state its in beta and expect bugs???

 

What is a beta? TC2?

 

As well as a developer im a customer that purchased something that does not work... I never said I rely on TC2, I do have an alternative workflow, i am just very disappointed with whats going on around with TC2. The fact that its in beta is exactly the point, as it will likely not leave beta until next year despite the fact that it should have originally been out in april (even though only beta).

 

what!!! It never released into beta...I should know I was one of TC2 first testers.... It didn't go into beta release for TC2 until recently.....It got delayed.... So your games never get delayed???? Ever??? I would love to see what you tell people when people report bugs... You sir clearly do not understand what a beta is... I understand the tool is broken more than anyone, as I sit there and actually report bugs..... Unlike some people...That just complain... and I'm a very busy person and have a company to run, TC2 is very important to our game....But to sit there and blame them, is stupid... and makes you look silly .... Nath has said it from time and time again, from DAY 1 it is a beta release....

 

If you don't know what a beta is, I can't help you.. TC2 has been in beta and Nath stated it was released as a beta..... You people are in the wrong business if you have no idea what a beta is...I would love to see some of your games and what you tell people...

 

Im not sure what exactly you are talking about, the beta release itself was delayed by many months. I understand that its in beta and I would live with a few bugs if I could actually use the tool (repeat: osx) and see if does what I need it to do. Of course some of my projects get delayed but thats why I include some cushion when making estimates. My main problem is that I would like to know whether I could include this tool in my workflow in my next project but there has been a lot of silence and very little activity around this tool lately, so now I see that I should not count on it.

 

BETA....

Found it...third paragraph down, on asset store......should be on Top and in BOLD!

 

Well these are not big features (except for DX9 solution for Mac which need quite some work). They will be added soon . I would say 80% is complete by the amount of work it still needs to go out of beta (if you compare to the features that are already in there). I don't think you should interpret a roadmap that way, can say the same for Unity that it's 45% complete looking at its roadmap. Some features in there are promised 2-3 years ago (nested prefabs, new terrain system)...But Unity has a crazy amount of platforms to manage, so it's understandable. Please keep in mind that TC2 is only $45 and for what it can do...It should rather be something like $200.

For exporting Unity terrain to obj you can use the Wiki script:
http://wiki.unity3d.com/index.php?title=TerrainObjExporter

I actually implemented this script in TC1 to export multi terrain tiles, will do the same for TC2.

TC2 is a next generation terrain tool that uses compute shaders. I understand that some get impatient with a single developer that his tool is delivered 2.5-3 months later (it's not 6 months, I never had any deadlines it was just estimations I gave, but was under a lot of pressure and will be more careful with it in the future). Oki but wait....Mac is too lazy with many hundreds of developers to upgrade from OpenGL4.1 to OpenGL 4.3 for 4 years to support compute shaders so TC2 can work on it...And that is acceptable? Me personally I would drop Mac and buy a Windows machine .

The last 3 weeks indeed I did not work much on TC2, I had been working for more then a year like 10-12 hours a day, 6 days a week without a descent break. If TC2 were the only thing, but I'm also working on an Unity game with a team of 5 people. But then moved fulltime on TC2, but sometimes I have to help our team to be able to move forward. Also I moved from Norway to Austria, I took a break because I started to have sleepless nights. My brake is over though. I'm already programming on TC2 update again with long working days, just didn't update the roadmap as I'm working on fixes.

Nathaniel

 

Why the attitude? I only asked what you were referring to. But since you mention it: In the asset store it's listed as "TerrainComposer 2" and not as "TerrainComposer 2 (Beta)" or "Early Access" as it's common these days.

I honestly don't care if it's beta or not with which you can make the awesome looking terrains from the advertising pictures. All I want to know is how to do it.

 

I understand it and i have no regrets. But as you can see, some people comes easily blame others.
Terrain Composer 2 is a great tool. I'm impressed.
Does not work with Distingo (which I have), but can't have everything.

Cheers Nathaniel

 

I don't know why this happened. I was using the example scene and the only other thing I have imported is UFPS. All the heght data is not there. Only the splat data. It happens if I save and close Unity and then open to the scene.

 

Hi team,
As a previous TC 1 user i found importing a RAW file and applying it to an 8x8 multi terrain scene to be a simple process but I am struggling to do the same with TC 2 (I know it is primarily my unfamiliarity with the new interface and concepts)
I opened my old project and exported the existing 8x8 terrains as a single RAW file but I can't see in the docs how I would then bring that in and apply to my new TC2 8x8 terrains. Do I maker a stamp from it and if so how?
I looked at the video and created my own folder with a subfolder RawFiles and placed the RAW file in there. From what I have read TC2 should then make the rawimage is that correct? If so I am not seeing that happen.

Any assistance is appreciated naturally.

Cheers.

 

not trying to give anyone attitude, Nath has stated this many times, and it was on his site.. That it is a beta release. the release notes as well, shows Beta, 6, Beta 7, when it was released , it was released as a beta and was stated many times that it is a beta release. When TC2 was first released it even stated this that it was a beta release on the asset store.

Rowlan even if Nath is not around ask any of us vets and most people will help you with out any problems what so ever...
I been around here a long time and helped many people as well, many have helped me even.. I was one of TC1 biggest supporters but I also was one of its biggest critics about TC1 UI , because I wanted TC to do well, I pushed for a better UI, and others did, and now we have a better UI.. Ask questions and some of us will be happy to help. but also remember the tool can't make the terrain, you still need to have creativity and take time with the tool to get its full power out of it.... I been making Height Maps for over a decade, and I still never got the full power out of every tool.... It takes time to this...These tools don't make your games...Do they make it easier, sure..But that is up to you and , how good you can make your terrain look. Best of Luck on making your terrain.

 

I see what your saying, we too have felt the heat from our investors and my team, I lose money every day..But that is not the developers fault, that is mine, for waiting on a tool...I love TC and have used it in most of our games with a terrain... But with TC2 we are in the same boat... Nath has posted that he was on a break, he is human, the man needs rest ..... As I told many people before, this is why I don't sell any of my tools we made....Doing support for a game, development, freelance work, and assets and support, is nearly impossible to do.... even as a small company..and Nath is doing the asset part alone... He has been open about this and normally gives great support, yes he has been silent for a few weeks. But stated why, he is back, so we should see updates soon... My advice to you is to either work on other elements of your game and wait for TC to be fixed.... Or use another tool.. That is all you can do...We where going to use another tool our selves, and still do with TC, but I love TC that much and see what it can do, so I delayed our game, which is causing me to lose lots of money...But I know it will be worth it.... But I dont blame Nath....That is my fault...

Anyways good luck with your game Rasto61.

 

The animated terrains are for showing the speed of GPU generation, the animation can be stopped and I explain how in the 'ReadMe' file in TerrainComposer2 folder. They are procedural examples. There's also ExampleConvexity Scene included which doesn't animate. Also I included many presets, also TC2 projects which can be opened with TC2 window -> Menu -> File -> Open...

The snow used in TC2 trailer comes from RTPv3, it's a special feature in RTP.

Did you read the documentation and followed tutorial video for TC2?
http://www.terraincomposer.com/terraincomposer2-documentation/

Ah you mean the 24 hour demo, so not the terrain from the TC2 trailer. If you run the 24 hour demo you can see the Assets that were used. TC1 + WorldComposer + RTPv3. This is a real world WorldComposer terrain of 'Mount Rainier'. So the heightmap is exported with WorldComposer and the colormap is the satellite image of mount rainier.
I explain how I made this terrain with TC1 + WorldComposer + RTP in tutorial document here:
http://www.terraincomposer.com/demos/

This was TC1 though, with TC2 can create a much better looking terrain. Out of the box it will soon be possible to use the global colormap/normal map, as I have modified Unity's standard terrain shader to include this, but I had a refresh issue that terrain turns black when clicking play/stop. So wanted to fix this first before enabling it.

If you want a refund for TC2 no problem, I give any time, just contact me at Nathaniel_Doldersum@hotmail.com with TC2 invoice id.

Nathaniel

 

@eagle555: Thank you very much for the explanation. Now please consider my point of view:

I'm new to this whole terrain thing, read the features of the various terrain packages and come to the conclusion that I should purchase and download TC2. The screenshots and videos look awesome.

The first thing I do is to open an example scene. All I get is some stupidly animated terrain with no idea about how to stop that confusing annoyance while trying to find some kind of documentation. As a new user I really don't care about an animated terrain, especially when I'm used to have stuff moving when I hit the play button in unity. The ExampleConvexity Scene does animate like all the others. There is none in the standard package which doesn't animate.

The readme you are are referring to says: "The animating can be stopped by disabling the animating scripts on the layers (green nodes) in the 'Height' output." It took me a while to get there as a new user.

No, I meant the TC2 trailer. I bought TC2, I honestly don't care about an old TC1 when I buy a new TC2.

From a buyers point of view, if TC2 is officially beta, it should say so, i. e. "Terrain Composer 2 (Beta)". And if the images of the terrain are created with RTPv3, then they should be tagged that way. Also, I would expect to have snow in a terrain generation tool.

In my review I mentioned that what I value most when I buy something, it's support. It is now obvious to me that you are dedicated to it, so no refund necessary.

What I would wish though is that you would provide one of these awesome looking terrains as a unity package, especially a large one. Even if you have to remove e. g. RTPv3 from it and I'd have to buy and add it myself then. Better yet would be a tutorial on youtube. I've seen a Gaia tutorial which uses plugins which you have to buy. That you have to do that didn't matter, the important information is how to do that. I also bought Horizon[ON] now because you mentioned it in some documentation. But I honestly have no idea about how to combine it with TC2. However, it comes with a full featured scene of which you can change the parameters to see all the features. It's ready to use and to toy around. I'll get later into the details, first thing that counts as a new customer is to see what you can instantly do. That's why I would also prefer to have a scene instead of having to find out first how to use the presets of which you initially have no idea exist.

Thank you very much for your consideration

 

Yes I agree with your points and thanks for pointing this out. Yes I'm dedicated to support and improving TC2. Also the main goal for TC2 is that it is beginner friendly, so any feedback on how to improve this I appreciate.

As someone that is new to terrains animated terrain doesn't impress. For someone that has been using terrain creation tools its cool to see how fast TC2 gives results, but it shouldn't be the first examples. As with other terrain tools like TC1 you had to wait seconds to see results after a change with the resolution TC2 can handle. This was done with too much hurry...

I will tag screenshots and put which Assets are used in TC2 video's. TC2 was released in a hurry...I can include a snow splat texture as well, that's no prob.

Yes cool examples Scenes are planned. I'm still working on getting my custom terrain shader to work, so I can use TC2 colormap creation. I will first release beta 7 if current fixes are all working. Then I will do another releases for still features/improvements that are planned for beta 7, like my custom global colormap/normal map terrain shader. Then I will make a cool example Scene with dynamic terrain like I have in my trailer.

I released TC2 while packing all our furniture to move from Norway to Austria, then in Austria I had to make the house ready here. Then I needed to take a break as explained before, but now everything is settled here and break is over so these points should be fixed soon...

Nathaniel

 

HI eagle555 Gladto meet you Thanks for your job !

I Have learn tutorial " How to make a terrain from scratch" its beautiful I want to know how to set light iin your tutorial

my scene is so dark .how to so brighteness ?

 

Can you show a screenshot of your Scene?

Nathaniel

 

is it possible to do sth like this in TerrainComposer2