2551 replies to this topic

[Davefevs]

That lake image is amazing......with or without Tara (sorry Tara)

[Dazmaniac]

K11 typed:-

 

So, these last days we had a big draught. We did!

 

Was it windy then?

 

 

Jokes aside, the reflective water looks quality.

[JoeF]

Not windy, Daz, but obviously very  thirsty if he drained it in a single draught. .

[barryverheul]

Hello Guys,

Can anyone tell me what a good book or E-learning for learning Unity?
Thanks!

[IanD]

Try Udemy 3D Enviromental Series.... this worked well for me and gives you the basics needed, rather than a full in-depth look. You don't need the total 100% immersion, just enough to paddle within and you'll soon start trying to walk on water once you're wet..

[barryverheul]

Try Udemy 3D Enviromental Series.... this worked well for me and gives you the basics needed, rather than a full in-depth look. You don't need the total 100% immersion, just enough to paddle within and you'll soon start trying to walk on water once you're wet..

Thx IanD....I will give it a try.

[Kablammo11]

Drought. We so did!

The air was so dehydrated and the land turned so bone-dry that it caused accidental onomatopoetics and random misspellings all over the District of Salixborough*. There was a sharp increase of people meaning to say "have to" but writing "of to". I sent Tara out to kill them all, but luckily for them the rainfalls started and they immediately apologized profusely.

 

(Salixborough*, of course, the famous burgh of willows, sallows and osiers - hence of all trees of the "salix" genus - lies but a quarter hour down the road from Willow Heath)

[IanD]

Something a few have mentioned and certainly a need for... is the art of either paths and roads.. I'm only touching on this because of the road that runs alongside the course I had in mind. I needed to flatten the area and work the terrain alongside some outer edges of the course.. I'm far from anywhere near detailing every aspect of this (not even finished a hole that I'm happy with lol).. but thought I'd drop it in here..

 

[barryverheul]

Try Udemy 3D Enviromental Series.... this worked well for me and gives you the basics needed, rather than a full in-depth look. You don't need the total 100% immersion, just enough to paddle within and you'll soon start trying to walk on water once you're wet..

Hey IanD...was helpful stuff...thanks for your tip!

[IanD]

Glad you enjoyed, see you on the terrain....!

[garynorman]

Ian, what are you using to create the roads?  If it's easyroads, how are you getting the blended edges?

[Kablammo11]

Meanwhile, back at the institute, life goes on. And some huge, mineral hunks have arrived on the premises. This following gallery is dedicated to those silent, sturdy heroes we all take for granted: The forest rocks. 

 

You have to look closely to even notice them. The ones in the foreground aren't the ones. Scan the thicket in the background...

 

 

They are all a bit to the side. Golfers should not get near them at all. I mean computer golfer. Me, IRL, as an occasional 18 handicapper, I would probably be able to slice something at them... yeah, easily. The big slice was by far the best shot in my game...

 

 

I only used two models here, rotated and resized as prefabs, each one low-poly with around 190 or so faces, to add some massive, looming presence to my woodlands. 

 

 

Diffuse bumped texture, of course. And to protect viewers from discovering that these forest rocks are big, cheap fakes, I always place a few trees around them, to let their shadows cover up the artifice.

 

[olazaboll]

Unlike many others in other threads Im not complaining that D-Day hasn´t come yet .... but will be glad when it does ...

I havent posted for a while though, but I must say that the picks in this thread is simply amazing ... thanks to all the "pioneers" and for the time you are spending in this early spring of this game ....

@ IanD ... The Road .... I love it !!!!!

[Mick-S]

? how long have you had the beta, 3 months roughly.

[IanD]

Mick-S, personally, I've only been testing since Feb 23rd... I know that because of a certain post i made in the beta area. Aside from that post, if I was asked without it, I couldn't tell you... it doesn't feel very long! However, Unity and everything draws you in.. it isn't simply the CF, but it plays its own part.. the terrain, the textures, the look, the feel... before you know it, you're starting again or changing something because today was different than yesterday. You learn something, you add it.. as I say, it evolves. As for the K11 and highfade, they will add more when they feel their need to. Their images however, dwarf mine in how gorgeous their work looks.

 

What is interesting, is the varied style we're all approaching from. Whilst very similar, we've likely all noticed subtle differences in how you can start from anywhere really. I've started again a few times and found I've begun in different areas. At present, I'm trying to concentrate on a group of holes, 4 that are adjacent to each other. It's how I think I'll know when it works... that look you have in your minds eye, that once you think is there... you change your own goalposts..lol.

 

As for the roads image above, Gary.. it isn't Easyroads... it isn't anything but a texture of a road with a white line, tiled at approx 11 on my terrain. In essence, it's a cheat... a very good one at the angle I showed.. but a cheat. there is no easy way to create a road with a line. I could create numerous textures I suppose and map them together across the terrain, but that would be daft. It's an area where I think and believe the CF needs to help out with, and at present, doesn't.  I have more images of how I played with it..

 

 

 

However, the truth is, turn and look elsewhere and you see the magic disappear...

 

 

Not to worry... something will happen or we'll discover a way forward.. we all need roads.. except those who drive De Loreans..

[IanD]

K11, very nice rocks... volcanic looking ! Did you sink them into the terrain...? I'd guess you could create several rocks in numerous places by only showing certain parts of the rock sticking up. But you likely know that... and I'm simply struggling to catch you up.. good work though..

 

You mentioned turning them and creating new prefabs... does that work with the trees..?

[Kablammo11]

Thanks Ian. Regarding your road(s), I suspected they were just a pained texture and that they would work well only in 2 directions, exactly aligned to the x and y-axis of your terrain grid, because that would allow you to paint a straight line. Stil, the least you could do (friendly teasing) would be to import a few car models, then animate them to drive along the roads at certain intervals (a don't forget to make their wheels and tyres rotate as well), and attach matching audio files to them for them to produce the proper noise. Oh, and while your at it, perhaps also attach a particle effect for exhaust fumes...

And yes, EasyRoads free is probably the best current tools for path creation, though I think PP will strive to prepare a similar CF tool that will not only allow path construction but might also double as a fence/wall tool. They are both the same job, after all: define a path along the ground and then make it perform/render a certain action like lining up a ground texture or planting fence elements.

As I tried to hint at a few comments ago, these kinds of trimmings are not top priority to me - I'm much more focussed on the spots where, hopefully, golf will be played. But that's just me.

 

Now for those forest rocks and thanks for the praise:

Yes, I did sink all of them into the terrain, half or 1 third of them is invisible, underground. And yes, this allows me to use the same model again and again as a prefab, by only showing one part of it and rotating/resizing it. Also keep in mind that this also works because, as you play the course, you will never see the same model from the same perspective. As your golfer moves from tee to fairway to green, his field of view will always alter, so that even two identical models, but seen from different vantage points, would look different.

 

Shimonko pointed out earlier that it also would work for trees - and there are quite a few trees in your images that do look a little bit cloned, always the same tree multiplied (Happens to me, too). You could rotate a tree and save it as a new prefab to get more diversity, BUT, very big BUT:

- Trees are very costly in the polygon count (1'000, 10'000s of polys) and would increase the workload of your PC. Yet another mouth to feed for your CPU.

- Also, by pre-fabbing a tree, it is no longer subjected to the tree settings of your terrain engine. It won't fade into a billboard anymore, for instance. It won't vary in color.

 

To get the tree situation a little less uniform, I recommend that you:

- Use many different tree models and mix them up

- Plant less trees, arrange them into clumps and clusters and don't be afraid of empty spaces in between

- Set the height and width and color variety parameters for planting very generously - so that every new instance of a planted tree looks different.

- Never use big brushes for tree planting: Begin with planting those trees that are relevant to the golf hole you are designing, those closest to the playing area. Take your time with these "signature" trees - if one random tree does not convince you, remove it and try again and again until you like what you get. Once you have these done, place the scenery trees. I couldn't possibly claim that my own efforts are flawless in this regard, but all the trees on my course, except those in the very far background, have been planted individually, 1 by 1. Stay away from those big brushes.

[Kablammo11]

So... this weekend was dedicated to finally settling my grass issues once and for all. You may remember that I announced that I was no longer happy with this sort of grass on account on it being too crude and too unrealistic.

 

 

So I went, designed around and then switched out the old grass billboard with new ones. Mercifully, Unity lets me do that without having to replant a single blade. Not more than 2 minutes after I captured the stuff above, I was looking at what you see below:

 

 

...Which was nice. (The Fast Show, got it?)

I quickly surveyed the terrain and found the new grass to my liking. Behold "Frida's Travails" (Name of 2nd hole ), Dave's Bench, Millard's Fence and "Fresnel Fields", the 3rd hole.  And if you think these hole names are a smidgen "out there", I've got 16 more of these. 

 

[garynorman]

The grass is looking great!

[IanD]

Yep, definitely a nice blend in there with the grass. The colours really go well. I know how difficult it is to enhance an area you felt was right, but possibly missing something. What you've achieved is visually great... better than great. Add to that, I know it will all be swaying and dancing, making it so damn pretty that I'd happily volunteer my services to fix that fence....!