which decal system is best

i'm shopping for a decal system and i could use some advice...

so to help me find a decal system ive come up with by quicky searching unity asset store

i noticed decal system pro is on sale, but even with 50% off its far more expensive than any other decal system

Simple decal system FREE (appears to work but has some issues / limits)
https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/en/#!/content/13889

Decal System FREE (limited version, no source code / dll only)
https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/en/#!/content/3779

Decal System Pro $47.50 sale price (relatively expensive even when on sale)
https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/en/#!/content/10608

ats Terrain Decals $5 (limited to terrains, does not work on models)
https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/en/#!/content/4455

QuickDecals 2 $10
https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/en/#!/content/6293

pmjo's Fast Decals $10 (looks like no source code / dll only)
https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/en/#!/content/11019

posts are always appreciated!

 

pmjo's fast decals is this best and most comprehensive system

 

does it work on both models and terrain?

also i could not find web player demo to check

it does not look like they give the source code, its just a dll

 

As far as I can see, pmjo's fast decal system has no built in atlas generation support. The blob shadow function looks very interesting.

 

I was asked by im to reply here. Usually I would not have done it as the author of the Decal System (Pro), as I am clearly biased. Still, I am not going to promote my packages, because there is just no best package. The decision needs to be done on a case by case basis and depends on the requirements.

There are a lot of difference between those solutions. So let me ask you first, what the actual requirements for you are.

• How would you like to use decals?
• Do you only need to place them in the editor or also at runtime?
• Do you plan to place decals on flat areas or also on uneven surfaces?
• Do you want to place them on terrains only or also on meshes or even on skinned meshes?
• Are diffuse shaders sufficient for the decals or do you need to work with bump/parallax maps as well?

 

I'm no author of no decal system, but I love dantus' decal system a lot.

 

@Dantus thank you for stopping and helping me with my decision of which to get

1. basically i would like to be able to do decals on both terrain and meshes. things like bullet holes. puddles, blood, damage, dirt, garbage, ect.

i tried the free simple decal system and it was almost what i needed, but not entirely and it's a little buggy or quirky.

2. im looking to place decals both in the editor and at runtime. runtime being for like bullet holes or perhaps other stuff that can only be known at runtime. would be nice if they faded away after some time and after some limit...

3. both flat and uneven surfaces and place them where part maybe on terrain and part on meshes and part maybe on one meshand other part of decal may be on other meshes.

4. i guess this is answered by 1. and im not sure right now about skinned meshed. i guess so for realtime bullet wounds and bleeding. but perhaps that could be done better using something else.

5. as far as i could tell transparent diffuse should be enough for the decals

6. having access to source code is sort of important, just in case developer goes away.

perhaps your decal system free would be good enough, but you would know best if above could be met by it...

is there some nice table with features list comparing free/pro

 

oh ok thanks!

 

As far as I know, Simple decal system doesn't work on terrains. With that in mind, the only package that meets your requirements is the Decal System Pro. From a technical point of view, the free version would be sufficient, but you are clearly stating that you want the source code.

 

Dantus's Decal System is the best imo

 

thanks im checking out decal system

 

My $0.02:

QuickDecals 2 is fantastic -- intuitive, powerful, and it performs well. Take a look at the video from the Asset Store page.

 

ok, but i invited them to the party, sadly they were no show

 

I don't see a reason why the publishers should share their information here, because all the relevant information you need can be found in the Asset Store.

 

Because this is a lame party. Do you want suggestions and personal reviews, or do you want the asset devs to debate their respective merits? Because my guess is they will each say "Mine is best."

And now I've wasted time making two posts in this thread. I'm leaving the party.

 

I didn't say that

 

I was in a situation where I needed to find the best Decal System as well a while back. I found that Decal System was ideal for what I needed as it offered fantastic API support as well, like the ability to dynamically create and manage Decals on the fly. I can also personally speak to the responsiveness of the Developer Dantus. He is very friendly and willing to help anyone who asks.

Best of luck with your decision.

 

Do any of these systems include surface tagging?

 

I am almost certain that surface tagging can be achieved with all of them in one or the other way.

 

Just a few days ago I came across Easy Decal by NuAssets. I thought I gona give it a try and I was really impressed by its projection functionality. You can project on everything, mask recievers with the unity layer masks, you can use your own materials. And all this just for 15 dollars! - for me it's almost unbeatable.
Here you can check out the main features: Tech Demo