TileWorldCreator - Create beautiful tile maps in Unity

Hello,

i'm very excited to announce our latest asset for the Asset Store:

New version 2.0 is now available!
-- see changelog here --​

TileWorldCreator | Website | Demo

Create stunning islands or dungeons for your game with only 5 tiles or quickly build a level for your prototype.
TileWorldCreator is very easy to use and can generate your maps randomly in editor or at runtime.
Paint or modify your maps in the unity scene editor.

Just drag the TileWorldCreator prefab to your scene and you are ready to go.

Scatter objects onto your world automatically with the TileWorldObjectScatterer, great for trees, stones, decals...

Features:

- 5! tile presets with 1-2k textures included to start right away.
- 4 different map algorithms (cellular, BSP, maze and simple dungeon)
- 10 demoscenes included.
- Editor / runtime random map generation.
- Paint maps directly in the scene.
- Layer system to add heights.
- Assign different tile presets to each layer
- Only 5 tile prefabs needed to create a complete map
- Runtime generation works on iOS and Android.
- Merge maps for drawcall optimization and occlusion culling.
- Automatic object scatterer.​

1. paint maps in the scene
2. runtime generation
3. ready for occlusion culling

hope you like it and let me know if you have any questions.

[edit to latest version]

 

Just pushing it a little...

 

It looks pretty cool .. I want to see the map demo using the others' assets
For example

https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/kr/#!/content/7101
https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/kr/#!/content/28234
https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/kr/#!/content/18139

 

are u able to paint at runtime?

 

@thedreamer thank you! TileWorldCreator was build to create maps from squared tiles. Take a unity cube or plane as a reference. I'm pretty sure the Assets from your links does not have a setup like this to create maps properly. You will need 5 tiles: one edge tile, corner tile, inverted corner tile, one flat tile for ground and another flat tile for the "inverted" ground like a water tile for example.

@imtrobin painting at runtime is not supported yet.

 

Very nice !
Yes ! How does it work with other tiles ???

6R

 

Hello p6r,
to create maps in TileWorldCreator you will need 5 different tiles
see image here:
(the cliff island preset does have more tiles because of the additional height level, so i added an extra
preset containing tiles without the water part)


So you'll have to make sure your other tiles meet all requirements. (square size, correct types..) the best way would be to import an existing preset from TileWorldCreator in your modeling software as a reference, when creating new tiles or modifying existing ones.
Assigning tiles to TileWorldCreator is very simple, you just have to create a new preset and assign the prefabs to each slot.
It is also possible to assign different presets for each layer.

I hope i could answer your question.

 

New Update 1.0.1 is available!

checkout the demoscene
now it doesn't crash anymore when creating really large maps.
also play with the cluster size to see how this affects the build time.

changelog 1.0.1:
- Optimized generation for larger maps greater than 200x200 tiles.
- bug fix: changed.DirectoryName in TileWorldCreatorAbout.cs
- updated demoscene
- added camera script
- updated camera script for better navigation on larger maps


i'm already working on the next update which will introduce a nice feature where it will be possible to use layers for mixing presets and not only just for heights.

 

Not really !
A video to see how to make (nice) tiles from scratch would be great. I'm not sure to be able to make my own tiles and to have to use YOUR tiles only !?!
6R

 

@p6r: i'm sorry if that did not answer your question. Basically you will have to model your own 3D tiles with your favorite 3D modeling software and import them into unity to use it with TileWorldCreator.
If you are not familiar with 3D modeling you could still use the "flat" tiles from TileWorldCreator, because they are basically just planes, and replace the textures with your own textures.
I will see if i can make a video from the whole process of creating a 3D tile, to a finished map created with TileWorldCreator.

 

Thanks propeller...
Sure I could make my own "simple" tiles but I'm interested in more complex ones like yours with the wonderful brown "cliff".
A video to show how to make this one would be great, especially how to "cut" the tiles !?!

6R

 

@p6r i will write a tutorial of how i've made the cliff tiles. But as a small hint, i have blocked out the cliffs with cubes and then used boolean operations to cut them in. After that, i have "cleaned" the mesh from unused edges/vertecies. Thats it

 

new update 1.0.2h1 is currently pending review.

the hotfix update will fix the editor freezing someone mentioned in the asset store review.

changelog 1.0.2 (already in asset store)

- New Feature: Build overlapping tiles.
Set to false will allow you to use layers for mixing presets.
The tiles from an underlying layer will not be builded.
- new Demoscene added showing the new feature
- new preset added
- bug fix: there was a bug when setting layers in the settings tab but not in
the edit tab
- presets can now be duplicated
- description text fixed: settings tab regarding the cluster size
- updated runtime demoscene


it's now possible to mix two different tile presets with layers like in the screenshot:

 

I am very interested in buying this but wondering what your long term plans for this are. As far as I can see lots of similar assets have been discontinued or abandoned.

 

I feel the same, I think this is an excellent project too but the price point for an early release is a big concern for me so i'm just watching this for now.

An introductory price will surely help(more customers = more feedback), as of right now that 65$ is just too steep.

 

@ncho @cybervaldez
well it really depends on the popularity it will get. But I definitely have
plans for further updates. Like an additional tileset, support for ramp tiles and object
placement with layers. Although I cannot give a timeframe for all this updates.
Currently I'm working on a new very high quality tile preset, this alone will definitely
be worth the price.

 

Good news!
I was working hard on a new "Art" update and finished an awesome Unity5 PBR SciFi tileset.
It will be included in the next update, which is currently under review. Make sure you download it with Unity 5.
(The SciFi tiles are not included in the Unity 4 version)

Each tile has got four! 2k textures (Albedo, MetallicSmoothness, Normal and a Unity4 BumpedSpecular map)

check out the images and trailer, I hope you like it (btw. Unity 5 is awesome)

 

good job!

 

@bloodseeker thank you!

Update is now out and ready.
Get TileWorldCreator and start making
your awesome SciFi game now!

btw: a nice barrel is also included:

 

impressive. Does the tiles have collider or do I need to apply them manually? How is the drawcell on mobile?

 

@Devision4 Thank you! The tiles do not have an extra collider mesh. Although when merging a map with TileWorldCreator, it will automatically merge tiles with the same materials and apply a mesh collider to it. -> this will reduce drawcalls drastically. For example a map with the size of 50x50 tiles will have about 2000 drawcalls, when using a cluster size of 20 and merge them with TileWorldCreator the same map will only have about 60 drawcalls.

regarding mobile performance: It really depends on how big your maps will be. Runtime generation works great on mobile (tested with Nexus 5) although the maps cannot be huge! Also the tiles comes with 2k textures, when using it for mobile I would suggest to reduce the texture sizes aswell. Best would be to build your maps and merge them in editor, than you can use the generated clusters for occlusion culling. -> this would result in the best performance.

 

Already working on the next update which will have some neat stuff.

Bug fix:
One bug I have fixed for the next update is, that sometimes when generating a map randomly there were some issues where cells only had one neighbouring cell, resulting in not enclosed rows.
This bug especially appeared when using multiple layers.
I have changed the optimization process of random generated maps. So this issue is completely fixed.

Optimization:
I have also optimized the build process, now painting and building automatically is much much much faster now!

New feature:
And I'm also working on a runtime editor so you can paint your maps at runtime.
This will be a simple drag and drop solution, so just drag the runtime editor prefab into your scene, make some settings and you can paint your maps at runtime! This is great for a level editor.
It will have basic features like: create new map, generate maps randomly and save/load maps.
The runtime editor will use all settings from the main TileWorldCreator prefab in the scene.

 

new Update 1.1.0 is now available which includes all the bugfixes, optimizations and the new runtime editor feature mentioned in the post above

 

I am looking at the product carefully from the beginning... It seems to be great
But the problem is Tileset
I do not have the ability to create a Tileset I must use the asset store..
I Wish TileWorldCreator is compatible with Asset Store' Graphic assets

Asset developers working to integrate the product of one another
Asset developers provides integrated list

I want to watch the combination with other assets

 

@thedreamer yes you are right, you will have to create your own tilesets if you wish to use others than those available in the package. TileWorldCreator needs only 5 tiles (4 if you don't need a "floor" tile). 2D tiles are simpler because you can actually just use a quad plane from unity and assign your painted textures on it. So that should be manageable for someone who don't need 3d tiles
But because of the fact that tiles need to match those specs (edge tile, corner tile, inverted corner tile, block and floor tile) you cannot just use some other 3D assets from the Asset Store unless they match those specifications.

What kind of tilesets / theme would you like to have?

btw. I almost forgot to post the new Runtime Editor Demo check it out.

 

This looks very neat! So it looks like you can create maps with multiple height levels. Are there any ramp tiles to go from one height level to another? If not, are you planning on adding ramps in the future?

 

@dylan92 thank you! Yes you can use layers to create maps with multiple height levels. Ramps are not yet supported but I'm currently working on a new update which will introduce a new feature called mask layers. With this new feature it will be possible to add ramps to a border of a map for example. The implementation is almost done just have to iron out some bugs, test it and update the documentation. It will be even possible to create your own mask behaviours.
I will post images to explain it a bit further as soon as I have something to show.

 

Hey @propeller . This looks great
Do you possibly have any progress on allowing runtime tiles addition/removal with map updating?
I think that would be a really usefull feature to have. If more people think so as well, that would be great

Cheers!

 

@nuverian Thank you! Actually yes there's a progress.
I have come with a simple solution. It's basically a map cruncher script which can be attached to any gameobject in the scene. It will then subtract or add tiles to the map relative to it's position the map gets updated automatically. This will be also included in the next update I'm currently working at.
Checkout this gif to see it in action:

 

Hey, thats great! Thanks.
Glad to see this

 

New version 1.2 is submitted to the asset store, so it should be out soon

 

Well that was fast! Update 1.2 is out and ready

Asset Store | Changelog | Web ​

 

Hey,

Would it be possible to add a method for removing a tile by it's reference and/or coordinates as well as adding tiles to a coordinate for handlings things in code?

Thanks a lot!

 

@nuverian you mean something like:
AddTile(x, y, layer, preset);
yes that shouldn't be a problem, I will implement that in the next update

 

Hey,
Yes something prety much like this, also for removal if possible
It would be great (and very helpful) to have methods for doing things that are possible in the editor, to do from code

Cheers and thanks!

 

This looks really nice.

 

@nuverian yes I will definitely add more methods to make the whole system more and easier accessible at runtime by code.

@imaginaryhuman Thank you!

 

This looks incredible!
I'll definitely purchase this asset,but i have one question:

Can i achieve this kind of terrain with this tool?



Thx in advance!

 

@Rick- Hello Rick! Don't worry its still in development/support! I was just aboard at a marriage and didn't had the time to reply. I have already sent you an email regarding your questions.

regarding the nice Rollercoaster Tycoon screenshot:
The terrain is rather complex (holes, roads etc.) but a basic
terrain with slopes is definitely doable. See the image:

 

Thanks a lot for the reply,and best wishes with the marriage!
As for the terrain,it looks awesome!
Also,it would be great if you could provide the terrain tiles

I have two more questions before purchase:
.Can i make roads with another tileset?
.Can i set different sizes in the paint tool?

 

@Rick- Hehe well it wasn't my marriage but still thank you

sure i will prepare a package and provide the download link here.
regarding your questions:
- there's no road feature implemented, you will have to come up with your own solution. The tiles and the system that is used to build the terrain cannot be used for a road system.
- as for now there's only one paint size.

 

Ok,thx a lot for the answers
For the roads,i mean,what if i make a different preset with road/path textures and use it as a mask layer and paint it like the other tiles.
I'm not sure but i think something like this would work ,or i'm mistaken about how the painting system works =/

 

@Rick-
ok let me try to explain it to you why that wouldn't work:
the thing is that the system which TileWorldCreator uses to build the terrain is very specific. It uses only 5 tiles to build a terrain. This way the generation process is very simplified for the user. The user only has to create 5 tiles instead of many other tiles like a T, Cross, L, and U tile. On the other hand it comes with some limitations.
If you would try to paint a straight line TileWorldCreator always tries to close a painted cell. This is why in TileWorldCreator the min. size of a painted cell is 2x2. (that would result in an island with 4 corner tiles)
So when trying to paint a straight line it will add border edge tiles on the side and corner tiles on the ends (see example image) to make sure it is a closed "island".
But those border edge tiles are ramps (in our examples with the ramp tiles) so that wouldn't work for a road.
Of course you could replace the edge tile with a simple flat plane, but then again it would not fit the underlying terrain with the ramps.
Hope that makes sense to you.

 

Hi, I don't understand the above statement about merging a map with TileWorldCreator. What map? Where and how is this map created? And I thought that that is what TileWorldCreator does...create maps. Is this map to be merged a different and separate map from the one created with TileWorldCreator?

Also, can each tile be weighted so that the tiles can have values like what kind of terrain it is and if it is passable or not?

 

@TokyoDan The workflow is basically like this:

1. TileWorldCreator generates a map or you paint it in the editor
2. TileWorldCreator builds the map. This is where your tiles will be placed.
3. Merge the map -> This part is optional! If you wish, twc can merge the builded map/tiles. This helps reducing drawcalls. After this step it won't be possible to modify the map, you will have to rebuild it.

regarding your second question, that would be more pathfinding related. I'm pretty sure there are pathfinding systems where you can define different layers for different gameobjects to make sure that certain units can walk on them or not. Another option would be to simply add a class to each of your tiles which includes informations about the tile. Or simply add different tiles to different layers.

 

Can this be used to create fully 3D maps? or just 2D maps that look 3D?

 

@TokyoDan Yes you can use it to create fully 3D and 2D Maps. It depends on your tiles you are using. They can be anything like flat planes or more complex 3D models (like the sci-fi tiles for example)

 

new Update 1.2.1 is out and available at the AssetStore.

This update brings some small features like a floodhole option and the possibility to change the brush size.
There are also some bugfixes.
Read the complete changelog here:
Changelog

there's also an API documentation now available here:
API

 

as promised here are the ramp tiles used in the image some posts above:
Download

I've also made a video which shows how to use them with TileWorldCreator

and another video where you can follow the basic workflow of TileWorldCreator

 

as everybody said already... this looks awesome!
i have a question: would it also work with isometric 2d tiles?