What city generators are out there?

Hello

I am looking for a city generator plugin for 3ds Max. I would prefrably like a free one. If you do not know a free one then post a paid one. It does not need to be for 3ds Max but I would like it to be. Can you please include in your posts a download link.

Thanks

 

If you don't need it in 3DS max, then CityEngine is the best. (standalone, exports .fbx, paid.) GhostTown is meant to be quite good for 3DS max. I'm also writing my own, directly integrated into Unity.

 

Not so much city but a free procedural building generator http://www.tysonibele.com/Main/BuildingGenerator/buildingGen.htm

 

This is actually quite good as it gives you complete control over each building.

 

http://www.procedural.com/
CityEngine
The Subscription INDIE retails for $195

 

Yes, the subscription Indie (free updates for a year) is $195, but you have to purchase the software separately ($495). There is a time-limited promotion that let you get the subscription for free if you purchase any of their product... it is a good offer, but it doesn't mean that we can get the City Engine for only $195.

http://www.procedural.com/purchase/commercial-solutions.html

 

ups, I didn´t know that, sorry....so it is 650 dollars for an Indie with subscription......

 

I read something about a script for 3ds max called ghostTown a while ago. The images and videos look very interesting. It's still in beta so it might be buggy but it's free.

http://www.scriptspot.com/3ds-max/scripts/ghosttown-lite

Download can be found on their forum.

 

WoW i like it just dont know what polycount it makes.

 

For Lightwave users there is this old thing.
http://www.kolumbus.fi/erkki.halkka/modpak/CityGen_frame.html

Have to try out if it is still working

 

GhostTown is pretty darn nice, right, even though it`s still very early in it`s beta. I haven`t managed to create anything extremely cool with it yet, but will give it a go again soon. At the moment it`s not exporting the materials/textures from 3dsmax properly, but I think that`s mostly because of the textures that come with the plugin. If you use your own "power of two" textures, I think it should work, but can`t say for sure.. yet

Check out a little workflow video I made here:

 

http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/82974-Huge-City-Free
i tried it, and its amazing.

 

It's the result of a standard city generated by CityEngine. A few clicks and you can create it yourself if you own the software. But beware! there are a lot of pitfalls here. Look at the (lack of) detail, doors going underground, windows getting chopped off on the upper part of buildings/houses etc. CityEngine is a great piece of software but it won't create a city (let alone a village) for you without (a lot of) effort. For this free city it might seem to work, but for close ups and for suburbian areas (no skyscrapers or other x-floor buildings) it still takes a lot of time and imagination to create something that looks 'good' with a low polycount.

 

@BrokenPoly sjoerdN I have been looking for the download for Ghost town but I can't find it I think Ghost town is just about what I am looking for, but I cant download it.

@Zappapa I know what you mean and I definately agree

 

@zappapa:I tried the demo from city engine and was blown away how easy and adjustable it is.

It isn´t much effort at all to create a really good city (without "doors going underground, windows getting chopped off on the upper part of buildings/houses etc") - just try the demo.

 

@kingrat, you have to register at their forums otherwise it won't show the download link (it won't work without being logged in either).

Go to http://www.kilad.net/GTForum/ Register, Log in to the forum and it should be there.

 

@sjoerdN Great I got it installed and everything but now the only problem is it crashes 3ds Max when I attempt to make a city

 

It crashed quite a bit for me as well in the beginning, but make sure your unit setup is correct + that the city area is big enough (+400x400 metres)

 

CityEngine,
I had the chance to get the trial and its ultra awesome! You can generate almost an infinite numbers of buldings variations with just one building facade! Detailed and unique cities/buildings can be build really fast with automatic complex road networks.

 

@brokenpoly I am almost positive that the are was over that amount but not to much over because I used the guide available, I still can't work it out

 

has anyone tried the mega city construction kit sold here: http://www.3drt.com/3dm/levels/urban_set/urban_set.htm ?

I'm looking to buy either this or city engine in the near future and wondering which is better for the price.

 

@drewradley Look really good but I don't want to pay, if all else fails then I might consider buying it.

Ghosttown only doesn't crash if I put the city generation on sci-fi mode which is quite annoying since I want a city that a car can drive through, when sci-fi mode does not offer this but still sci-fi mode is pretty good and the guy(s) who made ghost town have done an excellent job

 

Anyone had success pulling entire cities out of Google Earth?

I'd love to find a good (free) model of Manhattan.

 

What is a city generator?

 

Urban Pad is also one of the solutions....
http://www.gamr7.com/

Videos and demos look amazing.... also available is a demo version....... 30 days free version.....

 

How do you write one of these things? It's easy enough to write a grid-based one, but if you look at a city plan, it's nothing like a grid. So perhaps make a road, and procedurally generate road and building geometry off that? Like you might make a tree? How would you guys do it?

 

@Muzz5

I would definently go with some sort of L-system.

Some documents that should get you started:

http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.92.5961&rep=rep1&type=pdf
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.88.7296&rep=rep1&type=pdf

Also, Introversion has quite a few nice posts about this on their forums

http://forums.introversion.co.uk/introversion/viewtopic.php?t=586

 

Thanks! I was considering using an L-system, but though it could all end up too symetrical (or looking like a tree!) I could throw in a bit of random angle, and perhaps a junction or two?

 

Suicidator City Generator Blender

• Automatic building generator

• Automatic street generator

• Automatic building texture generator

• Terrain elevation control

• Lightweight and fast

Suicidator City Generator Forum Search

Blended Cities
MEL Procedural City Generator Demolition Tools Maya

 

It creates nice renders from the distance, but are the generated cities detailed enough for a videogame?

 

You can always make things more detailed...

 

Imagine being inside a skyscraper and you have large windows, perhaps the lobby or even a penthouse.
instead of using some skybox (pre-rendered) city streets, add extra depth to that city scene using this.

Like muzz5 said nothing is stopping you from increasing texture resolution

I tried it out, and as is it does a pretty okay job, if i don't like the results its not closed source(python)(blender).

 

Can you add textures to the buildings, streets and grass?

 

I don't know if you're still looking.... CityScaper lets you insert any model types Unity accepts, along with any material type, substances included, with density values, and it generates a city using your models.