131 replies to this topic

[garynorman]

Here's another fly-by...

 

This is hole 7.

 

I wish that you guys could see it in the standalone .exe because it looks so much better than the web player, but hey-ho...

[IanD]

gorgeous gary..... your new nickname... gg for short...

[Mike Jones]

Gary you can force the webplayer to use whatever quality settings you wish. I basically 'untick' all the low quality options from the quality control panel in regards to the webplayer. This will force the webplayer to use the 'fantastic' settings and it will look pretty much exactly how your exe version looks.

[Kablammo11]

Another beauty.

 

I think you can increase the draw distances for shadows under your directional lights settings, so that they don't fade in so abruptly. 

 

More and more I happen to dislike those terrain brushed paths, because they look so blocky and heavy, no matter what you do. It's not the designers fault, it's just the Unity terrain engine with its terrain resolution and brush sizes being unable to cope with the demands of  realism. I'm sure you are aware of that, gary.

[garynorman]

Again Mike, thanks for the tip

 

K, I completely agree regarding the paths, but after trying EasyRoads, I'm really at a loss for what to do, as that (for me anyway) doesn't look good because you cannot blend the side edges...  What I have resorted to is to create the path with EasyRoads, delete it, leaving the terrain work that it carried out and then paint in the path.   Hopefully, someone will come up with a better solution as we progress.

[garynorman]

I've updated the fly-by now so that it is viewed with better settings.

[Kablammo11]

Again Mike, thanks for the tip

 

K, I completely agree regarding the paths, but after trying EasyRoads, I'm really at a loss for what to do, as that (for me anyway) doesn't look good because you cannot blend the side edges...  What I have resorted to is to create the path with EasyRoads, delete it, leaving the terrain work that it carried out and then paint in the path.   Hopefully, someone will come up with a better solution as we progress.

 

It's unsatisfying, yes… There is the possibilty of using a CF shape to draw a slim path with blended edges… The problem with that is that you need a good texture and shader to cover it, because unlike as with a road path you cant just bend the same bit again and again. The problem with that is also that you can't really make a CF shape overlap another one. You can draw a shape completely inside another shape, or completely outside - but the outlines may never cross. (Unitl Gozer the Gozarian draws near, that is…)

 

Then again, my limited experience with Unity has led me to believe that there always is a way to get what you need. You may not know how to go about getting it, but there must be a way. At worst, that might involve paying some little asset store twerp a bit of money just because he knows how to write a script...

 

Or perhaps Decals might do the trick...

[garynorman]

...something else to learn!!

[Keith]

Stunning work Gary..look fwd. to playing one of your courses down the road. 

[IanD]

Got to say, it's a huge need, paths... I think the guys here realise this though now.

 

As K11 states, the current CF has disadvantages in how shapes won't interact with others, that's the nature of having things tail off.. one thing I did like, was using the bunker option shape for the path on my few attempts. I've not mastered what i have in my head, but having a lip on the paths seems to accomplish the look I was seeking.

 

There has to be improvements made though, and hopefully this will come..

[garynorman]

While I'm still working on Wells Hollows, I'm now approaching the end of what I can do without CF....

 

Here's an overhead view of (from left to right) the 11th, 15th, 8th and 7th holes.

 

 

Time now to start work on a parkland course, I think...

[Kablammo11]

There is no end to what you could do without CF in Unity, gary. But I agree: You do need those fairways and greens and bunkers in there - just to find out what that might be. Thanks for posting again.

[Acrilix]

@garynorman - Great work.

I hope PP soon give you the opportunity to work with CF, as you are obviously a designer who is willing to put the work in, and share your experiences with the community.   

 

btw. I'm also in Bedfordshire - Bedford, actually. Have you thought about doing the Woburn courses for PG?

[Keith]

I continue to be in awe of what you are doing w/out CF Gary.  Try as I might I have a hard time creating golf course shapes with the Unity brushes.  I believe CF will help me out with that considerably.  I can't imagine what type of masterpiece you are going to drop on us when CF is at your controls.

[garynorman]

Thanks all   I'm looking forward to getting my hands on the CF, but then I know that after a while of having it I'll then be itching to play-test the course!!  It will be nice to have some proper control over the shapes on the plot though rather than just spray-painted textures.

 

I'm tempted to do a real course (the father-in-law was a member at Woburn but left just before I met my partner!) but I'm always worried about producing a caricature of the real thing by over-egging the contours...  If I do go for it I think I'll probably have a crack at the Belfry's Brabazon first, as ever since the 85' Ryder cup I've been fascinated by the course.

 

Definitely the hardest part in Unity, without decent measuring tools, is getting the first couple of holes laid out.  Once you can get past that the rest flows a little easier IMO. 

 

Gary

[Kablammo11]

Try as I might I have a hard time creating golf course shapes with the Unity brushes.  I believe CF will help me out with that considerably.  

 

Yes it will, Keith. The Unity terrain engine is utterly bad at anything that requires precision work (its strengths lie elsewhere) and all it can give you, at best, is a very rough approximation. 

[garynorman]

This is shot of the par three 16th.  In the background is the space where the new 10th will be, as I have ripped up the original hole.

I think that slowly the course is beginning to have an identity crisis, as it's now a links/parkland hybrid.  I'm not sure if I'll keep all of the trees, but we'll see.

 

[Kablammo11]

[IanD]

Keep doing what it is you're doing Gary... loving it...

[RobC]

Sorry to bring up an old topic but I have only just started messing with Unity ready for the Course Forge.

Anyway...

I designed and made real courses and structures for TW08 but when I import the structures I made in 3DS Max for TW (at a scale of 1ft in Max = 1ft in TW) they are huge...

Full Scale

 full scale.jpg   89.16KB   0 downloads

 

Scaled down to 0.33

 Scaled Down.jpg   84.88KB   0 downloads

the scaled down size is about the right height I intended the fence to be 4ft (1.2m)

So getting to my question... What settings in Max should I be using and what am I doing wrong for scale

 

Cheers RobC