TerraLand 2 – High Quality Photo-Realistic Terrains from Real-World GIS Data

Here is the rendering of 40 x 40 km terrain surface of Monument Valley, USA.

TerraLand's Offline Streaming system dynamically loads elevation & imagery data from a local server.

In this demo the scene contains 1024 (grid of 32x32) data files placed in a local hard drive location as a geo-server. The server has been created automatically by TerraLand.

Tiles will be streamed and rendered in realtime on demand around the player to sustain performance and memory footprint while dealing with huge amount of data in a server.

Using TerraLand's Offline Streaming system, huge open world environments can be created and edited at runtime. This is what could never be achieved with traditional terrain loading which loads the whole dataset at the level start.

Our test with this demo showed approx. 14 gigabytes of data is needed to be populated in memory in order to generate the whole surface at level start which will eventually cause crash on any machine.

Thanks to the dynamic system in TerraLand Offline Streaming, this limitation is lifted and unlimited amount of data can be fed into the scene in a chunk by chunk loading behavior.

 

Hi, is this coming back to the Unity Asset Store?
Can you please provide some more info as to why it was deprecated instead of doing an upgrade to v3?

 

Yes, this is absolutely going to be back on AssetStore but here's the story behind the temporary deprecation and removal of the asset:


As Unity has decided to remove its unityscript (.js) support from its API, all AssetStore packages which include these scripts were deprecated and removed. This was fine as the support team has already informed us about this and TerraLand has been removed because of 2 little unnecessary .js helper files in the package before we update it.

We have contacted the AssetStore support team regarding the case on February 18th and explained that all the packages including TerraLand has been completely removed even from our AssetStore's publisher account so that we have no access to update/edit any of our packages. Finally it has come to the point where there's a bug in our publisher account's web interface and still desperately waiting for the Unity support team to resolve it!

It's been almost 2 months from this bug in our account as all of our packages have been completely removed and we didn't sell a single copy since then. We have exchanged daily support emails for the case but to no avail which made us so disappointed at this point.

This leads to a forced decision from ours to release the version 3 of TerraLand as a new product. It will be ready in about a week from now and will be uploaded on AssetStore.


Please let us know if you have any suggestions regarding this or have any other questions.

 

The bug in our publisher account has been fixed by Unity AS dev team and TerraLand has been re-submitted and waiting for the approval, so should be live soon...

 

What will be the upgrade path from v2 to v3?

 

The version 3 focuses on Streaming features mainly for cached local databases.


The changes in "TerraLand Dwonloader" interface has been described in here:
https://forum.unity.com/threads/ter...eal-world-gis-data.377858/page-8#post-3339237

The structure of the generated database is described here:
https://forum.unity.com/threads/ter...eal-world-gis-data.377858/page-8#post-3388627


We have already shown 2 types of downloadable interactive demos for generated database use-cases as follows:

• Typical Elevation/Satellite Imagery terrains obtained and created entirely in TerraLand:

https://forum.unity.com/threads/ter...eal-world-gis-data.377858/page-8#post-3383823

https://forum.unity.com/threads/ter...eal-world-gis-data.377858/page-8#post-3388627

• Streaming terrains out of high-res data from external sources and using "TerraLand Terrain" processors to prepare/crop data for database:

https://forum.unity.com/threads/ter...eal-world-gis-data.377858/page-8#post-3396451


And yet there is another demo in TerraLand 3 which is not shared here where Terrain's Heightmap & Splatmap is generated in World Machine and TerraLand's Streaming feature is able to stream, generate and texture high-res (e.g. 8k) terrains out of splatmaps in runtime from the cropped/produced data utilizing "TerraLand Terrain's" processors.

All these 3 types of demo scenes are included in the release with source to get you started on them.

There is also another demo scene which shows possible use-cases for generating/editing existing terrains using "TerraLand Terrain" which has been improved a lot and has a lot of new processors now.


Please note that All above features are reserved for version 3 as a new release stated here:
https://forum.unity.com/threads/ter...eal-world-gis-data.377858/page-9#post-3453477
But current TerraLand 2 users will get discount as an upgrade to the version 3 applicable both from AssetStore as soon as it becomes live again and also from direct customers from our web store.

TerraLand 2 will not get any updates in future and latest features will be added to the version 3 and up starting the compatibility from version 2017.2 of Unity.

More information will be revealed as soon as the new release is ready and when the version 2 is live in AssetStore again.

 

This is what I'm mostly interested in, what will be the upgrade price when it goes live?

 

The original price for ver. 3 will be lower than the current ver.2 as an introductory price for the first month or so and I guess we'll give around 30 to 40 percent discount for current customers, so it won't be that high if you make the purchase at launch.

 

When is the release date for TerraLand 3? Is it compatible with Unity 2017.4? Also, would upgrading a Unity 5.x project with TerraLand v2.2 work in Unity 2017.4?

 

TerraLand 3 is already waiting for release but we still wait for the 2 version to become live again. It's been 15 days now!

Yes, it is compatible from Unity 2017.2 up to the latest available version.

Yes, TerraLand 2.2 is also compatible with latest available versions of Unity including 2017.4 and upgrading your project is harmless; however, always backup projects before upgrading.

 

My Unity 2017.4 project is crashing with TerraLand v2.2. Please help!

 

TerraLand 2.2 has been tested and approved on Unity 2017.4. Import TerraLand package in a fresh empty project in whatever Unity version desired and see if the problem persists. If there are still issues with that, please report us the running platform, Unity version and issue's behavior or send us any errors and warnings you may have received.

 

TerraLand is live again in AssetStore. Current version is 2.3.

 

Just curious, are there plans to be able to pull in real world buildings in TerraWorld?

 

Creating geo-referenced cities is one of the key features in TerraWorld. Our team is working on the implementation using our previous core solutions plus many new features. Following are some screenshots from the initial stages:

Pulling Real-World Data


Detecting Building Elements


Proper Base Texturing


Adding Complex Decorations



Roads & Streets Generation

​

*Please note that these screenshots are from early stages of the upcoming TerraCity in TerraWorld and the whole system is progressing quickly.

 

Oh sweet, that's looking pretty good!

 

TY

 

Finally TerraLand 3 is here: TerraLand 3 Discussion Thread

Click To Buy For Only $25
Upgrade For Only $18
For A Limited Time Only
+ 30% Off For ver. 2 Users​

New users will buy for $25 instead of $49 for a limited time.
ver.2 users receive extra 30% discount and pay $18 as an upgrade.


AssetStore version coming soon
Compatible with Unity 2017.2 & up


If you are already a TerraLand customer, you can login on our website and make the purchase by 30% off and pay $18 as an upgrade.

 

Wow, more than 30 upgrades in the last 24 hours... Just wanted to stop by and say Huge Thanks to you all great supporters

Also wanted to mention 4 main differences between ver. 2 & 3:

• TerraLand 3 now includes full source codes & no more DLLs *
• TerraLand 3 focuses on Cached Streaming of huge datasets for the first time in Unity
• TerraLand 3 is not only for Real-World terrains but also any user-customized terrains whether created by 3rd party programs such as World Machine or other terrain generators in Unity
• TerraLand 3 is a suite of various Terrain Editing Processors without needing any other assets in the cathegory

* This is probably the most significant feature in TerraLand 3 and this decision is based on faster and wider development for the solution. The features are growing and the need of source code for the community is so demanding. Users are no longer facing a black-box and it helps us all for better bug fixes and community contributions.

The journey with ver. 2 is now over and we move on developing the new release. Don't miss the chance and get the new version before the introductory 50% plus 30% upgrade discounts go away.

 

Bought today. Do you have any details on Terrain Enhancer. I am wanting to get more detail to the terrain.
Also is there any walk through on splatmaps and how to use them to add custom ground shader like with CTS.
Or some cleaver tricks that would work with Vegetation Studio for tree and foliage placement relative to the TerraLand 3 ground textures.

 

Thanks for the purchase. TerraEnhancer will be a part of the upcoming bigger product along with many other terrain editing tools, but you still have to wait for the release which won't happen anytime soon. But we'll update the news for you.

If you already have the splatmap for terrain(s), simply use the "ReplaceSplatmap" script in project under TerraLand => TerraLand Core => Editor and replace current splatmap existing in terraindata.asset of the terrain with the new one.

If you don't have the splatmap, use MapsMaker component in TerraLand by going to Unity's top menu => Tools => TerraUnity => TerraLand => MapsMaker and go to the section "Landcover Generator", play with the settings and press Generate Splatmap so a landcover/splatmap will be generated next to the original image. When the "Automatic Mode" is on in the Splatmap Generator, it takes image's most dominant colors to generate RGBA channels of the splatmap.

If you have a large splatmap and want to use it in a streaming system which applies them on terrain in runtime, watch the following video tutorial to get started:

Regarding CTS or any other shading solutions, simply change the terrain material to your custom one and as you already applied splatmaps you are done.

Also if you want CTS or other custom materials to be applied on streaming terrains, you can simply drag and drop the custom material in the "Terrain Material" field of the "Runtime Offline" script in the scene and all streaming terrain tiles will use that material for rendering. Currently you can set 4 textures for your terrains to be used in terrain shaders but can be easily extended. See the following screenshot where it shows the needed parameters for this purpose:

I have no idea how Vegetation Studio deals with built-in terrains and splatmaps, masking... But I think you got the idea.

 

Good morning. Those offline streaming improvements are amazing! Good job guys.

My current needs demand that I provide scenes with the lastest bathymetry data available, so I'm forced to edit it myself using Unity terrain tools. This workflow is not ideal so I'm looking for alternatives.
With your offline streaming system, it is possible to edit the height data to include the information I need?

Regards
Thiago

 

@Ttravi Thank you.

Take a look at the recent post on the other thread here: https://forum.unity.com/threads/rel...-open-world-environments.532304/#post-3507018

Let me know if it covers your questions and continue to ask on the new thread.

 

Thank you very much for the answer. On that topic you linked, there was an answer for the same question I'm asking again now, I'm sorry for this. I'll be trying to use the adjust heights script to lower only the ocean level terrain so I can fit my bathymetry terrain above it.

 

Is it possible to see a demonstration of TerraEnhancer?
Since I read about it a few weeks ago it's become a must for my project, I would really like to see where it's going?

 

You are welcome, let us know if you need more help on the subject as we receive a lot of questions regarding this.

 

TerraEnhancer will be one of the many components in TerraWorld. However I'm not authorized to share more info/media now but just to redirect you to some posts here regarding this as follows:

https://forum.unity.com/threads/ter...eal-world-gis-data.377858/page-2#post-2595371
https://forum.unity.com/threads/ter...eal-world-gis-data.377858/page-2#post-2598897
https://forum.unity.com/threads/ter...eal-world-gis-data.377858/page-4#post-2780977
https://forum.unity.com/threads/ter...eal-world-gis-data.377858/page-4#post-2794778
https://forum.unity.com/threads/ter...eal-world-gis-data.377858/page-4#post-2794795
https://forum.unity.com/threads/ter...eal-world-gis-data.377858/page-5#post-2863602
https://forum.unity.com/threads/ter...eal-world-gis-data.377858/page-5#post-2921072
https://forum.unity.com/threads/ter...eal-world-gis-data.377858/page-7#post-3121953
https://forum.unity.com/threads/ter...eal-world-gis-data.377858/page-8#post-3292792
https://forum.unity.com/threads/ter...eal-world-gis-data.377858/page-9#post-3404441
https://forum.unity.com/threads/ter...eal-world-gis-data.377858/page-9#post-3497378

Fortunately now that TerraLand 3 is released we are working full time on the new product and getting closer to the release fast. Will definitely share new information when it's time so stay tuned.

 

Thank you for the reply, just 1 more question, will there be an option to purchase terraenhancer as a stand alone rather than purchasing terraworld?

 

Welcome, yes that's what we thought from the beginning to have separate packages for most demanding sections of TerraWorld. But the price for TerraWorld will be reasonable so there's not much benefits to buy standalones. Also we plan to release sections later after TerraWorld release so won't be there soon. Ask any further questions and we are happy to reply.

 

Just 1 more question, I can't find any discord channel for terraland, is there 1?, if not would you consider setting 1 up for the community?

 

I don't know how much it is demanding to have a discord channel and how many people use it for these purposes but sounds like a good idea, will setup later and let you know. In the meantime the forums are your friend.

 

Here you go: https://discord.gg/uZKmAy9

 

Just joined the discord channel, I posted some suggestions for the channel, if you need any help with it be sure to let me know, it will come useful as developers who use terraland can help each other out and take some heat off you guys, it will become very useful over time, thank you for setting this up

 

@iichiversii Thanks for the great suggestions and helping us in this, so much appreciated Yes, it is becoming popular and will be so useful to everyone, will ask related questions in the app. Keep it coming.

 

This looks really awesome! ^^ Are you guys going to be at Unite Berlin? I prefer talking face to face.

 

@SRowlinson Thank you, that would be great to meet you guys but unfortunately can't make it this year... hope to set it up for the next round though.

 

The AssetStore version of TerraLand 3 is now live here: https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/en/#!/content/119097

Those who waited for the AssetStore version can get their hands on TerraLand 3 for only $25 for a limited time as an introductory price of 50% discount.

 

Replacing the default material with a CTS terrain material does work, but CTS also requires each terrain to have a CTS component attached. Is there a good way to hookup a callback so that this component can be added every time a new terrain is streamed in?

 

Is the component the same every time or is it specific for each tile that needs processing?

If it's just a static component needed to be on terrain objects, that's so simple. In the streaming system, all tiles will be generated at the level start and they get reused throughout the whole gameplay, so no new tiles will be generated. For example if you set the Active Grid Size to 8x8, you will have the same 64 tiles from start to finish updating their positions and data.

To add component on tiles, simply write a script that adds the component right after the "worldIsGenerated" callback which is a boolean set to true after all terrains generation (you'll see "World Is Generated" print in the console). Terrain object tiles are accessible from a list called "croppedTerrains" which you can loop through them and do whatever you want with them.

 

Ok thanks! Just a recommendation for future versions of the API - it would be useful to have either a .net Event or a UnityEvent that gets invoked when the terrain is loaded. This way a user wouldn't have to poll worldIsLoaded or modify the TerraLand API.

 

There are a lot consideration to be taken into account for the TerraLand Runtime API that will be added in future including various callbacks and events in different situations

 

Any ETA on the updated API? Our use case involves changing terrain locations at runtime, so I would rather wait until the new API is released before switching over to dynamic.

 

@tgaldi unfortunately I can't promise that it will be out soon because currently we are working on our upcoming product and its demo for full time. But whatever you need is there in the API and they can be easily exposed through public variables. You can always ask us for specific parameters you need and we will guide you through them.

 

Why TERRALAND 3 costs less than TERRALAND?

 

@megmaltese TerraLand 3 is on introductory sale which is going to be ended at the end of this month. The regular price will be $49. We have to keep the ver. 2 for sometime with its old price until all users made upgrades.

 

Even at 49, it will cost less than TERRA.
I can't understand: doesn't it have more features? What are the differences?

 

Yes, the price has been reduced for the ver. 3 but we have to keep the old TerraLand with its defined price in our webstore and UAS so that old users can upgrade; it will be removed later when it's safe though.

Ver. 2 (as TERRA you mentioned) will not get updates anymore and the ver.3 is the same TerraLand but updating plus some new features such as the streaming.

Find more technical info and comparison between these 2 versions here: https://forum.unity.com/threads/rel...-open-world-environments.532304/#post-3506949

P.S. You can also join TL3's Discord channel here to discuss about it: https://discord.gg/uZKmAy9

 

Hi! I`m making mobile game with open areas up to 4x4 kilometers. I used to make terrains in Race Track Builder.
It`s biggest limitation is that it grabs only one square with one satilete image on it. So image tedail depends on size of the grabbed area. I can export fbx file from it and import it to unity. That gives me terrain model with very low triangle count(from 3000k) with that 4k texture.This is great for mobile performance.
The biggest plus of this software is that it let`s me define which areas of terrain mesh wil have higher elevation detail and which areas will stay low res/triangle count. I can paint in higher elevation detail in certain places wich increases triangles count under the brush to accomodate this higher fidelity detail.
Your software lets user to have multiple squares with highest possible satelite image on each of them. so that is a huge win for me.
But can i control or predefine elevation detail and triangle count for each square or all of them?
Is it possible to paint in or define by any other means higher elevation detail in certain areas of given square?
Can i convert each square or set of squares to fbx or any other 3d format so i wouldnt have to use unity terrain?
Will your latest version work with Unity 5.5.6f2?
Thanks!

 

Yes, that's exactly the way it is.

Yes, you can choose and define elevation detail for the whole surface but each tile must have equal resolution as TL generates terrain objects instead of meshes and that requires them to be in equal resolution for seamless neighboring and stitching. So the active triangle count (active means the number of triangles dynamically change by terrain's built-in LOD & tessellation) depends on the heightmap resolution and Pixel Error in the settings tab of terrain which can also be set from TL UI.

As stated above, TL creates terrain objects instead of meshes and terrains need to have uniform resolution and triangle patching throughout the whole surface to do its built-in lod & tessellation as a dynamic surface based on player position. So terrains can't be TINs and that's pretty much the same for every other engine AFAIK.

Yes, you can simply fire up "TerraLand Terrain" component, go to "Terrain To Mesh" processor section in the UI and convert existing terrains in the scene into meshes. These meshes can be automatically imported and placed in Unity or can be used outside Unity in any other 3D modelling software, it produces an OBJ file.

Then you can simply create TINs out of these meshes for better performance by using any triangle reduction solutions for meshes inside Unity of outside it in preferred 3D modelling program.

TL3 officially supports Unity 2017.2 & later but can be easily backported in Unity 5.x. @twobob has already done this so you can ask him if he can help.

You can also join TL Discord channle here: https://discord.gg/uZKmAy9 and ask questions there.

 

Yeah VS can do what you are implying there with some love and some code to spit the VegetationSystems out at dynamic terrain creation time and some rules to respect the original splatmaps AFAIK. There are details /around/ that subject over on the VS discord and in the docs and in the working examples AFAIK.