Official Unity Splines

I am facing two challenges that would seem to be a common use case but are not covered by the library yet. I would really appreciate it if you could look into whether it would be feasible to officially support them.

I am using splines to build a moving platform. A moving platform references a spline container and can be given a SplinePath, which can be composed of multiple SplineSplices that reference Splines in the container. This path can be changed at runtime. A moving platform also has two SplineData lists: speed and delay. Speed determines the speed of the platform at any point in the spline. Delay is discrete and the data simply expresses how many seconds the platform will wait at the specified index in the spline.

My first challenge is I would appreciate more support for discrete spline data in the API. I could have made use of the internal GetIndex function to quickly find the next delay in the spline. I ended up implementing a system that keeps track of the previous delay and thus I can simply check if the next delay occurs at some point between the start and end position of movement. I then take the distance to that delay into account in order to accurately take into account the extra time we would need to wait (this part is specific to delay so I wouldn't expect special handling from the library and I understand falls into user space). What I would really appreciate here is a way to efficiently query any (or the first) spline datas that are between two positions in the spline.

My second challenge is that the spline data is a list that contains a SplineData for each Spline in the container. First, I had to reference some code from LoftRoadBehaviour in the samples to keep the list in sync with the splines in the container. I would appreciate some support for having that be done automatically (by the way, LoftRoadBehaviour has a bug in that it doesn't reorder the spline datas when the splines are reordered).

The actual challenge, however, is actually converting each spline data to be able to be used in the actual path. I had to implement a method that calculates a new SplineData based on each slice in the path, comparing the length of the actual spline compared to the relative length of the slice with regards to the path and using normalized indices to properly map the SplineData.

Additionally, and only for speed data (since it's continuous), I also had to add additional data at the start and the end of each slice to interpolate the desired speed according to the actual spline data (e.g. given a spline with 3 knots that sets speed 5 at 0 and speed 10 at 2, and a path from knot 1 to 2, should result in a splinedata of speed 7.5 at 0 and speed 10 at 1).

I would really appreciate some official support to convert a list of SplineData (as well as a single SplineData referencing a single Spline) to map it to a new SplinePath (the single SplineData implementation would only support 1 Spline in the path). This implementation would optionally allow the user to interpolate the first and last data in the path from the original splines.

I don't think my use case is that esoteric. Discrete events along a spline seem like a very common feature users may want to see when moving objects along the spline. And being able to map SplineData that's authored in the editor relative to a SplineContainer, to a given path, would also be essential for supporting multiple paths from a single spline container with associated data.

 

Hey does anyone have this issue with splines where this message gets spammed after play mode for like 10 seconds and while that happens scene view basically freezes?

Some Mesh cannot contribute to global illumination, because their HideFlags are set to DontSaveInEditor, HideAndDontSave or DontSaveInBuild.

Currently using 2022.2.12 with URP 14.0.6. As for splines tried updating to latest 2.2.0 and still same issue.

 

maybe it's just me, but the documentation on splines is not very accessible for me? I want to know what functions and variables are available, not how to do specific tasks like animating.

 

You know it, we know it. But you need a user to submit a bug report before you'll actually fix it?

Something is wrong with the system.

 

when the company already knows there's a problem, and there's a forum thread about it... I dunno... I'd expect a little rigour, a little care, a little self healing. etc.

 

No need, You started it as a subthread, here, already.

 

Got it working in 2021.3 and I wish Extrude allowed you to use a mesh other than cylinders. Though I'm sure others have already requested that. Tool is very useful otherwise.
I've had no luck trying to modify the script personally so I'll wait to see if future updates both work with 2021 still and add custom meshes to Spline Extrude.

To avoid Double posting, I'm trying to detect if the player is at the end of a Spline however I'm having a hard time figuring it out. At the very least, I just need to get the closest knot index at a int.

 

Custom script currently. Trying to use Rigidbody Momentum to move through the spine similar to a rollercoaster. The current idea I'm looking at isn't the best as I'm trying to get the index based on the closest spline to the player and then check to see if it's the last knot in the spline. Gonna take another shot today, programming at 2am is not a good idea.

 

So I decided to try to make a repro on empty project and found an interesting behaviour.

In my current project when instantiating meshes(using Spline Instantiate component) on spline those meshes are hidden and on heavier scenes editor starts lagging for few seconds when play mode is stopped. Removing instantiate component fixes the issue completely. Empty scenes are ok though.

On new project using same unity version(2022.2.12) and same spline package version(2.1.0) there is no such behaviour. Instantiate component does not hide those meshes, they are visible as child objects of spline and did not see any sort of slow downs.

 

HI
thx for the replay

my goal is like this

i have enemy prefabs which moves by splines animations curves

this enemy prefabs resides inside waves scriptable objects of WAVES INFO

using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using UnityEngine;
using UnityEngine.Splines;
[CreateAssetMenu(fileName = "WaveInfo", menuName = "GAME_DATA", order = 0)]
public class WaveInfo : ScriptableObject
{
[Header("what kind of enemies?")]
public GameObject EnemyShipsPrefab;

[Header("true if hasnt neen spawned yet")]
public bool AlreadySpawned = false;

[Header("points for kiiling one enemy in this wave")]
public int pointsForKillingMe = 1;

[Header("BOSS STAGE")] // stop km
public bool bossStage = true;
[Header("Wave Speed")]
public int speed;

[Header("Waves positioning of the spline")]
public Transform transform;

public SplineContainer SplineWavePath;

[Header("Health Settings")]
public int totalHealth=8;
[Header("delay between enemies in the waves")]
public float delayBetweenEnemies = 1f;

public class Shooting
{
[Range(0, 100)]
[Tooltip("probability with which the ship of this wave will make a shot")]
public int shotChance = 80;
[Tooltip("min and max time from the beginning of the path when the enemy can make a shot")]


Inside my waves manager i spawn this waves
i look at the wave info - take the enemy prebafab and pool it
and then connect it to the right spline as is written in waves info

i for example can make for red_enemey three waves - each with its own spline - but i need to asssign the spline to the enmey prefab(by the way - this is netcode game so i do it in the server - i think ag least that what shold i do...)


all in all i THINK I need to go to enemy prefab in runtime and set it to different spline container

public float shotTimeMin, shotTimeMax;
}
}

 

ok - checked it out and it worked great...
this what i did like you said

//here is where the magic happens
IEnumerator SpawnNumberOfTimes(GameObject enemyPrefb, int numberOfObjectsToSpawn, int points, int wavesIndex, SplineContainer splineContainer)
{
if (!IsServer)
yield return new WaitForSeconds(1.5f); ;

for (int i = 0; i < numberOfObjectsToSpawn; i++)
{
// m_theEnemyShipWeAreTryingToSpawn = objectsPool.PullGameObject(position, Random.rotation);
// print("spawn one more :" + " index: " + i + " name: " + name);
// boomServerRpc(name);
// RevisedProjectile enemyPrefab;
//enemyPrefab = m_networkObjectPool.ShootTheGun_ByPrfab_name(name);

NetworkObject NETenemyPrefab = NetworkObjectPool.Singleton.GetNetworkObject(enemyPrefb, Vector3.zero, Quaternion.identity, NetworkObjectPool.Kind_of_pools.Enemy);
NETenemyPrefab.GetComponent<NetworkObject>().Spawn(true);

NETenemyPrefab.GetComponent<Enemy_data_info>().pnt = points;

NETenemyPrefab.GetComponent<Enemy_data_info>().waveIndex = wavesIndex;
NETenemyPrefab.GetComponent<SplineAnimate>().Container = splineContainer;
yield return new WaitForSeconds(1.5f);
}

}


i have to sayy that it so hard to know after which toturial to folow becuse all is changing so fast - also i am trying to usee chatgpt but he is not updated to0 well...
at least so good we have you guys!


thhhanx allot - now alll enemys gooes in differnt dirrectttions like they should

 

Hi,

I have 2 questions/issues.

1. Is there a way to get the Length between two (t) on the same NativeSpline?

2. How precise is the function SplineUtility.GetNearestPoint

I have a scenario with 50 objects placed at a equal distance on spline line with 2 knots:

a) Extend the spline by adding 1 knot so the last element is always behind the knot

b) Evaluate all objects and cache data

Code (CSharp):

1.  
2. using NativeSpline NativePath = new NativeSpline(SplineContainer.Spline, SplineContainer.transform.localToWorldMatrix);
3. foreach(Agent agent in agents){
4.  SplineUtility.GetNearestPoint(NativePath, agent.transform.position, out float3 pos, out float time);
5.  agent.transform.position = pos;
6.  agent.t = time;
7. }
8.  

c) Move all objects in Update

Code (CSharp):

1.  
2. using NativeSpline NativePath = new NativeSpline(SplineContainer.Spline, SplineContainer.transform.localToWorldMatrix);
3. float speed = 0.1f * Time.deltaTime;
4.  
5. foreach(Agent agent in agents){
6.  var pos = NativePath.EvaluatePosition(agent.t + speed);
7.  var dir = NativePath.EvaluateTangent(agent.t + speed);
8.  agent.transform.position = pos;
9.  agent.transform.LookAt(pos + dir, agent.transform.up);
10. }
11.  

d)Repeat again

After a while i can see that placement of the points on the spline is irregular due to the t/pos evaluation. The distance between first and last element is getting bigger by each update.
Is there something i miss?

Thanks

 

Hello, I m trying to pass a different material for various splines to the LoftRoadBehaviour Class, is there a way to do this ?

 

We've upgraded to 2.2.1 in our Unity 2022.2 project. There's some Debug.Log spam from each of our splines with SplineInstantiate:

Look rotation viewing vector is zero
UnityEngine.Splines.SplineInstantiate:OnEnable ()

 

Also, we have been getting these errors appearing for loads of our Splines that were created in 2.1.0 before upgrading to 2.2.0.

IndexOutOfRangeException: Index was outside the bounds of the array.
UnityEngine.Splines.Spline.GetCurveLength (System.Int32 index) (at ./Library/PackageCache/com.unity.splines@2.2.1/Runtime/Spline.cs:804)
UnityEngine.Splines.Spline.CacheKnotOperationCurves (System.Int32 index) (at ./Library/PackageCache/com.unity.splines@2.2.1/Runtime/Spline.cs:1023)
UnityEngine.Splines.Spline.RemoveAt (System.Int32 index) (at ./Library/PackageCache/com.unity.splines@2.2.1/Runtime/Spline.cs:676)
UnityEditor.Splines.EditorSplineUtility.RemoveKnot (UnityEditor.Splines.SelectableKnot knot) (at ./Library/PackageCache/com.unity.splines@2.2.1/Editor/Utilities/EditorSplineUtility.cs:352)
UnityEditor.Splines.KnotReorderableList.OnRemove (UnityEditorInternal.ReorderableList _) (at ./Library/PackageCache/com.unity.splines@2.2.1/Editor/GUI/Editors/KnotReorderableList.cs:264)
UnityEditorInternal.ReorderableList+Defaults.DrawFooter (UnityEngine.Rect rect, UnityEditorInternal.ReorderableList list) (at <88872b21b1e746a7ad699974a2be8304>:0)
UnityEditorInternal.ReorderableList.DoListFooter (UnityEngine.Rect footerRect) (at <88872b21b1e746a7ad699974a2be8304>:0)
UnityEditorInternal.ReorderableList.DoList (UnityEngine.Rect rect, UnityEngine.Rect visibleRect) (at <88872b21b1e746a7ad699974a2be8304>:0)
UnityEditorInternal.ReorderableList.DoList (UnityEngine.Rect rect) (at <88872b21b1e746a7ad699974a2be8304>:0)
UnityEditor.Splines.SplinePropertyDrawer.OnGUI (UnityEngine.Rect position, UnityEditor.SerializedProperty property, UnityEngine.GUIContent label) (at ./Library/PackageCache/com.unity.splines@2.2.1/Editor/GUI/Editors/SplinePropertyDrawer.cs:54)
UnityEditor.PropertyDrawer.OnGUISafe (UnityEngine.Rect position, UnityEditor.SerializedProperty property, UnityEngine.GUIContent label) (at <88872b21b1e746a7ad699974a2be8304>:0)
UnityEditor.PropertyHandler.OnGUI (UnityEngine.Rect position, UnityEditor.SerializedProperty property, UnityEngine.GUIContent label, System.Boolean includeChildren, UnityEngine.Rect visibleArea) (at <88872b21b1e746a7ad699974a2be8304>:0)
UnityEditor.PropertyHandler.OnGUI (UnityEngine.Rect position, UnityEditor.SerializedProperty property, UnityEngine.GUIContent label, System.Boolean includeChildren) (at <88872b21b1e746a7ad699974a2be8304>:0)
UnityEditor.EditorGUI.PropertyFieldInternal (UnityEngine.Rect position, UnityEditor.SerializedProperty property, UnityEngine.GUIContent label, System.Boolean includeChildren) (at <88872b21b1e746a7ad699974a2be8304>:0)
UnityEditor.EditorGUI.PropertyField (UnityEngine.Rect position, UnityEditor.SerializedProperty property, UnityEngine.GUIContent label, System.Boolean includeChildren) (at <88872b21b1e746a7ad699974a2be8304>:0)
UnityEditor.EditorGUI.PropertyField (UnityEngine.Rect position, UnityEditor.SerializedProperty property, UnityEngine.GUIContent label) (at <88872b21b1e746a7ad699974a2be8304>:0)
UnityEditor.Splines.SplineReorderableList.DrawElement (UnityEngine.Rect position, System.Int32 listIndex, System.Boolean isactive, System.Boolean isfocused) (at ./Library/PackageCache/com.unity.splines@2.2.1/Editor/GUI/Editors/SplineReorderableList.cs:73)
UnityEditorInternal.ReorderableList.DoListElements (UnityEngine.Rect listRect, UnityEngine.Rect visibleRect) (at <88872b21b1e746a7ad699974a2be8304>:0)
UnityEditorInternal.ReorderableList.DoLayoutList () (at <88872b21b1e746a7ad699974a2be8304>:0)
UnityEditor.Splines.SplineContainerEditor.OnInspectorGUI () (at ./Library/PackageCache/com.unity.splines@2.2.1/Editor/Components/SplineContainerEditor.cs:79)
UnityEditor.UIElements.InspectorElement+<>c__DisplayClass72_0.<CreateInspectorElementUsingIMGUI>b__0 () (at <88872b21b1e746a7ad699974a2be8304>:0)
UnityEngine.GUIUtilityrocessEvent(Int32, IntPtr, Boolean&)

 

Same issue here. Had to recreate the splines.

 

Hi, i'm experimenting with the spline tool and the game object instantiate component. The big question i have is how can i bake these gameobject into my scene hierarchy, so i can tweak them and bake lightmaps on them. Right now i can't see any of the instantiated objects in my scene hierarchy.

 

Hi! I create knots from world vectors in a scene, how can I change type of a knot? I need to set it to Auto. By default knot has mode Bezier Broken with zero tangents.

Code (CSharp):

1.             var container = pathManager.gameObject.AddComponent<SplineContainer>();
2.             var spline = container[0];
3.  
4.             foreach (var vector in KnotsAsWorldVectors)
5.             {
6.                 BezierKnot knot = new BezierKnot(vector);
7.                 knots.Add(knot);
8.             }
9.  
10.             spline.Knots = knots;

 

Has the

spawn with spline bounds

script been removed in the latest version?

 

Hi Thomas thank you for your reply, I m using SplineAnimate(), but : 1 : I keep getting Look rotation viewing vector is zero after (in the same frame, after a check on SplineAnimate().Normalizedtime >=1, passing a new Container().Spline), and for one frame, passing from a spline to another jumps the GameObject back to it s 0 position on the spline, creating a glitch. I could nt find a way to safe protect the LookAt, any hint ?

 

Hello how do you convert a SplineContainer.spline into world matrix ?

 

Yes, i think a bake button is certainly needed.

 

Hello, is it possible for you to implement the optional JobHandle argument that can be passed to Dispose() in NativeSpline.cs ?

 

Ah, I didn't see that it was particular to some Native containers, not all of them. It's a pattern I've got in the habit of using with NativeArrays where I can allocate something before a job chain, schedule them all in a row, passing forward the job handles in each case, and then I clear up any temporary allocations with a `Dispose(jobHandle)` call.

Right now the pattern you're suggesting isn't super straight forward for me because of this dependency chaining. I will probably go the Persistent allocation route, and have a longer lifecycle. Thanks for the reply!

 

mmm thank you for your answer. In order to modify the SplineAnimate script, I would need to copy the package somwhere else and remove the original Spline2 package from the packageManager. Do you think it will destroy all my splines ? And even if not, I would have te relink pretty myuch everything by hand, right ? Or is there a way to modify the script at its native location ?

 

I did some performance tests with non jobified splines would appreciate some feedback on the results.

The documentation points out that it is cheaper to call the combined Evaluate instead of evaluating pos, tangent and up vector seperately. I can confirm that but at the same time I was surpised to see how much more expensive the up vector portion of Evaluate is.

100 Evaluate = 3.6ms vs 100 EvaluatePos+EvaluateTangent = 1.1ms (roughly).

So if you don't need the up vector, it is acually better to not use the combined Evaluate.

Additionally I wrote a combined pos and tangent evaluation which took only 0.6ms for 100 calls.
So basically up vector evaluation seems to be 5/6 of the combined evaluation in terms of performance.

Might be worth mentioning in the docs and maybe offering a combined pos&tangent evaluate.

(Tested on a m1 macbook air, in the editor).

 

Any practical tutorials out there for the most common use cases of splines?

Not that many on youtube and most of them on the same thing.

 

Extensibility of Unity Spline Editor

I have the following use case:

I want to add a second button below the "Knot Placement Tool". That is easily possible by:

Code (CSharp):

1. [EditorTool("Create Edge", typeof(ISplineContainer), typeof(SplineToolContext))]
2. sealed class CreateEdgeTool : EditorTool { }

The idea of the tool is the following: Whenever a knot is selected and I press the button, I want to insert one knot before and one knot after the selected one and specify a specific position, rotation and bezier in/out.

However, all the interesting stuff that Unity Splines already has in their editor (e.g. SplineTool-Base, SplineSelection, ...) is internal and not accessible from the outside.

So, either I have to recode a lot of that stuff in order to make my idea work or I don't see any other possibility.
If there is no other possibility, then I want to raise the question, why all that stuff is made internal instead of public to allow the usage and build tools upon those functions?

Thanks!