[WIP] Real Ivy (A prodedural ivy generator) for Unity 5

EDIT:
Update 1.2 released!
This time we have a Runtime Module. Now you can make ivy grow inside your games in real time!

Update 1.1 released!
The new star feature is "Ivy Painting". With this you'll be able to paint with the mouse over surfaces and the ivy will grow after him. Very handy when you nees full precission!

Here's the link to the asset store.
https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/#!/content/86134

Hello everybody!

I am working in my first plugin for Unity, and it's, as the tittle says, a procedural modeling tool for ivy and any other kind of climbing plant.

It's exactly what it seems, but here's a list of the key features for the first version:

Key Features

• Spreads into your levels adapting the shape to the colliders in the scene.
• Presets system
• Normal mapping and PBR materials supported.
  
• Lightmapping UVs
  
• Optimize mesh function
  
• Customizable leaves mesh.
• Activate or deactivate branchs/leaves independently.
  
• Place by clicking in the Scene View.
• Customizable growth trajectory.
• Customizable branch shape.
• Customizable leaves position, orientation and size.
• Save mesh into project and creates a snapshot
• Seed based randomness

The workflow would be like this:

1. Choose the preset you like (included or created by yourself)
2. Place the "seed" in your scene.
3. Hit "Start growth button" and look how it grows!
4. Make final adjustements for the final result.
5. Click "Snapshot" button for save the generated mesh and use it as a regular mesh renderer.

The project is almost ended (the first version at least), but I have no much time now so the release date could be at early March.

I have enjoyed a lot developing this tool, and I learned a lot... So I want to say thank you to the Unity's developers community for all the information, pieces of code and support in general that there's on the internet.

Thank you guys, you are awesome

I'd like to read your opinions, suggestions and feedback! So, please, feel free to leave a reply, I'll appreciate that.

BB!

 

Hi. Looks great.

Is it possible to use this run-time, for procedural levels? Can a seed be set to get the same result every time if the level is the same? How fast is it when you do not animate growth?

Lennart

 

Hi! Thank you Lennart,

-Right now only works in editor-time. However, I'm thinking about make a ultra fast version (less editable during the growth) for run-time, that could be used anyway you want.

-If you don't touch any parameter for a seed, you will have the same result again and again. The randomness of the system is based on a seed.

-Right now the growth speed is framerate dependent (because is meant for editor-time), so it will be faster at the begining, and slow when you have lots of branches with lots of points to calculate geometry of. If I make the run-time version, It would be framerate independent of course.

I hope I have clarified your doubts. Thanks for your interest.

 

Would love to be notified when you release this!

 

Thank you! I will do my best for submit it this weekend! It use to take 10 days for approval, so I hope in a couple of weeks it's released.

I will post it for sure

 

Is wind support for the leaves planned?

 

Looks awesome!

 

You can put the shader / material you desire for the leaves. It's meant to be the fully compatible. You can use any vegetation shader with wind feature such as Advanced Vegetation Shader PBR or whatever you prefer.

So, the short answer is Yes.

Thank you!

 

How's this project going?

 

Well, after 20 days of review, Unity's staff have declined the asset, so I have to fix a thing and submit again. I hope they do not take so long to review the asset this time!

Thanks for your interest, I appreciate

 

Ah that's too bad, I'm sure it'll be quicker the second time!

 

This is amazing!

 

Instant buy. Can't wait.

 

Looks sweet!

 

You're inspiring me to get into procedural generation of vegetation, it's so cool!

 

Thank you guys!! I'm wishing this to be plublished!! >.<

By the way, how much do you guys would pay for this?

 

Maybe you could add a quick poll on the top. How much do you think it's worth?

 

Great Idea! Didn't know that's possible xD
There it is

 

I'd add <£20 and >£40 to your poll since it isn't exhaustive at the moment

 

and I like multiple votes

 

I honestly would say $10 - 15 to make it accessible for all people, but I voted $20, can't wait

 

Are there any future plans for this tool? Like more features, other plants,...

 

Buf! I have a list with tons of features hahaha. Don't know when I'm going to have time to make them. I'm sure you understand. If sales are high, I would be forced to make improvements to keep this alive.

One of the most cool features is to make a path for the plants by clicking on the scene.

Thank for all your opinions!

 

More features? Heck yeah.

@Dynamite3D Will you be able to paint ivy on meshes (kinda like the Tag->COllider->paint method)?

 

This is an instant buy for me if it works well

 

Could we see a clip of the ivy generating on a less even surface?

 

can it generate only branches and then set custom leaf planes with a texture?
because it seems rather heavy on the poly count
edit
maybe add possibility to bake to a decal plane....

 

I think that's what I mean when I say "make the path"

It's a great idea! A new future feature for the tool... An interesting one actually, I've never made a texture by code.
If you don't need so much detail you can optimize it with a few clicks or even disable the branches and keep only the leaves.

Here it is!

The system isn't perfect! but works pretty fine in the most situations.

 

Looks amazing. Decreasing step size will allow for more fluid / smooth curves correct?

 

Exactly!

 

Those 'optimize' and 'refine corners' buttons seem to do an excellent job!!

 

How about an option for multiple leaf meshes that the generator randomly chooses from? We could then create a leaf atlas, and have multiple actual leaves per mesh leaf. And are there any plans for optimizing the generated mesh? I suppose that'd be relevant for a lot of users, because in many cases you'd probably want lots of ivy around.

 

The multple leaf meshes is actually one of the features on the roadmap, as well as to use vertex color for create some color variation. But thank's for the suggestion .

And there's mesh optimization already. Based on an angle bias, the tool will remove the "unnecesary" loops, and you can set the section sides to 3.
Or maybe you mean something different??

 

@Dynamite3D all these features I haven't even seen, awesome!!

 

Hahahaha, thank you!

 

Finally it's released! I hope you guys find it useful and tell me feedback if you purchase ir

Here's the link
https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/en/#!/content/86134

Thank's for all!

 

Congrats! @Dynamite3D does it work in 5.6?

 

Thanks! Just tested it and it works fine!

 

Surely thats an error? $20? Its a steal
Just bought a copy and looking forward to playing with it.

There are so many great tools available at the moment to create your own content within Unity and this is a perfect addition to allow you to further customise this content or enhance existing models.

 

Hi. looks great. I will get a copy now.

Did you do the runtime system? Can I spawn direct without animating over several frames? I want to use this for a procedural level.

 

Thanks! Actually I wanted to put a price around 35$, but after the poll I decided to down to 20$, that's the people choice XD. I will raise the price when I add new and more pro features, so it's a good idea buying it now!

There's no runtime module right now, I'm sorry. You have the source code, if you purchase the asset, you could modify the tool to your needs. But it could be tricky haha.

 

Congrats on the release! Just picked up a copy... impossible to resist at this price!
Super easy to use, and it is really great to watch the Ivy growing in the scene

Awesome work!

 

Haha! Thank you so much! If you like it and want to help me to improve the tool, I would really appreciate a review on the asset store

 

Bought a copy. I will give it a try.

 

Do the leaves react to wind by chance? Or do we need to use a special shader for that

 

Thank you for you purchase! Mail me if you need some help! I will be glad to help

In theory, you can use any shader with the effect you need. I don't include shader's in this package, but there's plenty of foliage and vegetation shaders on the asset store that may work.

 

BOUGHT. So good, thanks!

 

Great! Thank you. If you think the tool is good don't forget to write a review

 

This is a protoype for the next feature. I think it may change the general workflow of the tool!

 

Aaaand some progress here with this cool new feature!